Knights!

Knights: the chivalry, the glory, the intensity, and the hard work

Little boys and even little girls are fascinated by these heroic figures from the past. However, who are the knights really, what is their job, what was it really like in the middle ages. These are questions that will encourage children to dive into a topic and explore all the different avenues and information to be found. Fly Guy creates a world of humor to companion the facts to inform children on history and other nonfiction topics.

Title: Fly Guy Presents Castles

Author: Tedd Arnold

Series: Scholastic Reader, level 2

Publisher: scholastic Inc. 

Publication date: January 2017

Call #: 728.81 Arnold

ISBN: 9780545917384

Age range: 5-7 years

This humors and informational story finds the favorite character, Fly Guy, touring castles and discovering medieval times. Fly Guy, the pet fly, and Buzz, the human, discover the purpose of castles and a little about their history. 

Tedd Arnold is an amazing author and illustrator for children. 

He has combined the art of photography with illustrations to create an engaging tale to educate and inspire. 

In Fly Guy presents Castles, the reader is introduced to timelines and photographs of real castles. Arnold also includes humous comments from the sideline cartoon characters as the learn more about castles, drawbridges, dungeons, kings, queens, and knights. 

This book is a great introductory work to the topic of castles and medieval times. It will give the reader a starting point to asking more questions. Because this books is a level 2 reader the content is simple and a great read aloud choice for a preschool class desiring to know about castles. 

DK Eyewitness: Knights by Christopher Gravett is an excellent companion book to go along with Fly Guy. It is a resource for the children to study the illustrations and photographs on their own. It also provides a resource to ask more questions. Dk Eyewitness: Knights includes maps, charts, photographs, timelines and cutaway illustrations. 

I love a good STEM project to go along with a book, giving the information a hands on learning approach. Creating your own catapult or castle are great ways to apply engineering and learning. 

Little Bins Little Hands:

An instructional video and blog about making popsicle catapults.

https://littlebinsforlittlehands.com/popsicle-stick-catapult-kids-stem-activity/

Other ideas for activities to encourage preschoolers to apply their learning on castles are creating a coat of arms, lancing with pool noodles, or building a castle out of various objects (brown paper bags, blocks, cereal boxes, magnet tiles). The ideas are endless and this fascinating period with its many different topic avenues, will capture the attention of any child. 

Campanion Books:

                 

Inspiration to "Float"

Title: Balloons over Broadway: The True Story of the Puppeteer of Macy's Parade

Author: Melissa Sweet

Publisher: HMH Books for Young Readers

Publication Date: November, 2011

ISBN: 9780547199450

Age Range: 4-7 years

Balloons Over Broadway is a beautiful narrative nonfiction story of puppeteer, Tony Sarg, the man who inspired the helium balloons that are now used in the Thanksgiving Day Parade. Melissa Sweet utilizes collage styled illustrations to captivate the reader, creating a beautiful cheery story of inspiration and passion. Through this exquisite story the reader will learn the power and importance of curiosity, imagination, and determination. 

                     

 

“Tony Sarg, the man who invented the giant balloons of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, has found a worthy biographer in Caldecott Honoree Sweet. The rush that comes from inspiration, the cliffhanger moments of creation, the sheer joy of building something and watching it delight the multitudes—Sweet captures it all in what is truly a story for all ages"—Publishers Weekly, starred review

“It’s a history lesson, inventor's sketchbook, and inspirational story all rolled into one marvelous mixed-media masterpiece. Sweet's beautifully rendered true-life tale will have your child's imagination soaring to new heights!”—education.com

In Sweet’s biography on Sage, she creates a world of wonder and imagination through her multi-media illustrations. She utilizes collage, water colors, scrapbooking, newspaper clippings, and other styles of art to capture the attention of the reader. She provides multiple facets of illustrations to tell the story of this inspirational man. 

Sweet includes an authors note which includes a description and purpose of the art used within the book. Another excellent tool that Sweet includes within her nonfiction book is a bibliography and sources page, documenting her research and resource to track down more information. 

                     

 

Not only does this story make a great family or class read aloud in light of Thanksgiving, it inspires creativity, ingenuity, persistence, and courage. A excellent activity to go along with this story is to create your own balloon “floats” with string, markers, and other art supplies. Have a parade of your own! Show off your creativity!

Other enjoyable books that relate to Thanksgiving:

                              

 

“Holidays Around the World: Celebrate Thanksgiving: With Turkey, Family, and Counting Blessings” by Deborah Heiligman 

• National Geographic brings to life the historical tradition and cultural aspects of Thanksgiving. It includes recipes and resources for more research.

“Thanksgiving Jokes: Funny Thanksgiving Jokes and Riddles for Kids” by Uncle Amon

• This knee slapping book includes child appropriate and approved jokes and riddles that will have the whole family laughing. It also includes mazes and puzzles for extra entertainment.