Children’s Library Corner: Beetles, Lightly Toasted
Introducing our newest children/family literature expert: Ruhama Kordatzky Bahr. Yes, she is related to me being my sister-in-law. Even so, she is one of the most creative children’s librarians I have ever met. Instead of doing a newly released children’s book review, she wanted to bring to your attention excellent reads that have been overlooked. 
Amazon link
The Summary
The Project Ideas
- Create a revolutionary flavor of ice cream.
- List as many uses as you can for a bedsheet.
- How could you make a birthday (all day long!) super special?
- Design a Halloween costume scenario for your whole family.
- You’ve been selected to go to Mars! What would you pack?
- Come up with a new outdoor game.
- Dream up some hybrid animals.
- Develop a restaurant: what would you serve? What’s the name? How would you advertise?
- Find your own ways to conserve! What is one thing you can change in your house or lifestyle to conserve?
The Food Ideas
Pick up a copy of Deceptively Delicious by Jessica Seinfeld and select a few recipes to test on the family (I would start with one of the following: Macaroni and Cheese I, Burgers I, Pasta with Bolognese Sauce, Quesadillas or Pink Pancakes). Either work the recipe into your family’s meal plan or turn it into a guessing game. I have fond memories of my mom making tomato soup cake, but refusing to tell us about the soup! We loved that cake, perhaps because it was a bit of a mystery.
If you’d like to do a real taste test, do the baby food game often found at baby showers: remove the labels from several jars and then have everyone take a tiny taste, write down (or tell you) what they think it is and reveal the answers at the end of the test!
Resolve, as a family, to try one new food a month (or bimonthly). Discuss ways to work it into your regular meal routine. This could be as simple as everyone tries honeydew melon or whole wheat pasta.
The Lowdown
- Title: Naylor, Phyllis Reynolds. Beetles, Lightly Toasted. NY: Atheneum, 1987.
- Age level: 4th grade and up
- All ages readaloud: yes
- Series: no
More Children’s Library Corner Suggestions
- Children’s Library Corner: Alice-all-by-herself
- Children’s Library Corner: The Song of Pentecost
- Children’s Library Corner: Introducing Dara Dokas, Local Author
- Children’s Library Corner: Spring Books for Kids
- Children’s Library Corner: The Lancelot Closes at Five
- Children’s Library Corner: Hickory by Palmer Brown
- Children’;s Library Corner: Four Fall-Fun Favorite Books
- Children’s Library Corner: Lionel and the Spy Next Door
- Children’s Library Corner: Brillstone Break-In
- Children’s Library Corner: David LaRochelle