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July, 2006 @ BeTwinned

Children’s Book Review: Mordant’s Wish by Valerie Coursen

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Mordant's Wish

Mordant’s Wish by Valerie Coursen
Photo from Amazon.com

Review by Sandra Horning

Just this week I saw a turtle trying to cross the road. I stopped the car, and my older son hopped out and helped the turtle across the road.

This reminded me of one of my favorite books, Mordant’s Wish. When we came home that night we read Mordant’s Wish and that led me to write this review, which came about in the true spirit of the story, as it is about the way one thing leads to another in an unpredictable, but, nevertheless, interconnected way.

As the story opens, we see Mordant the mole staring at a turtle-shaped cloud in the sky and wishing for a turtle friend. Mordant’s wish is set in motion by blowing on a dandelion puff and thus begins a wonderful chain of events. Because, at that very moment, Calum is riding by on his bike and he sees the dandelion seeds, which remind him of snow, and this makes him decide to stop and get a snow cone. Peanut the bird sees the drips of Calum’s snow cone in the shape of a hat, which reminds her of Aunt Nat, and so off she flies to visit her aunt.

The story continues with each character unknowingly affecting the actions of the next until we get to a turtle being helped across the road and Mordant’s wish finally coming true. It’s a lovely story of serendipity!

Coursen’s beautiful watercolor illustrations flow from one page to the next. Young children of all ages will enjoy this book and, perhaps, it will inadvertently lead you on to a new adventure or to make a wish yourself.

Ages 3-8

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TwinWatch: NPR ‘Storycorps’ features identical twins sharing their story

About TwinWatch @ BeTwinned

Identical twins Janice Morris and Caroline Satchell Morris talk about silly questions people ask twins, identical childhoods and twin pranks on NPR’s Storycorps.

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TwinWatch: Survey shows that many would love to have twins or triplets

About TwinWatch @ BeTwinned

The British expo The Baby Shows conducted a survey to see what people thought about the idea of having multiples. A whopping 74 percent of respondents said liked the idea!

Read the article to see why they felt this way.

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Children’s Book Reviews: The Children Who Smelled a Rat by Allan Ahlberg

About Children’s Book Reviews @ BeTwinned

The Children Who Smelled A Rat

The Children Who Smelled a Rat by Allan Ahlberg, illustrated by Katharine McEwen
Photo from Amazon.com

Review by Sandra Horning

The Children Who Smelled a Rat is the fourth book in the Gaskitt series by Allan Ahlberg.

The Gaskitt family, Mr. and Mrs. Gaskitt, the twins Gus and Gloria, the baby Gary and the cat Horace, each have their own zany adventure within the book.

First, Mrs. Gaskitt finds a mysterious package in the back of her taxi, next Mr. Gaskitt loses the baby, then Horace meets a bird. Finally, Mrs. Fritter, the twins’ favorite teacher, turns into a crazy lady.

Each chapter zig-zags in and out of each adventure. The twins, Gloria and Gus, are determined to solve the mystery of their teacher gone crazy. Some triplets make a surprising appearance near the end of the story!

My seven-year old-son is having a great time slowly reading each chapter - an excellent book for children just starting to read chapter books. My son was especially fond of chapters 2 ½ and 2 ¾, each of which is only a half page long.

The spreads have lots of interesting little pictures and additional cartoon text to keep young readers interested. My three year old listens in too. Although he misses some of the humor, he gets more than would be expected, and he thoroughly enjoys studying the bright watercolor and crayon illustrations. And the crazy, twisting story easily brings on the laughs.

The book includes many examples of literary devices: chapters, a glossary, a table of contents and even footnotes referencing previous Gaskitt adventures. It’s a great introduction to reading and writing.

The Children Who Smelled a Rat is a fun read with lots of twists to keep children hooked, as well as guessing and laughing, Of course, we’ll now have to find and read the previous Gaskitt stories!

Ages 5-9

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TwinWatch: Convention offers triplet families a chance to connect

About TwinWatch @ BeTwinned

Nearly 100 families attended a recent convention held by the Triplet Connection in Phoenix, Arizona.

Parents had the opportunity to talk with veteran parents and to learn parenting tips and time and money management.

If you missed the convention this year, don’t fret — check out the Triplet Connection website for information about next year’s event.

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