Here we go again with the fabulous Virtual Book Club for Kids. Last month we featured the incredible Dr. Seuss, one of our favourite authors. This month we met an author who is new to our family, Julia Donaldson. Julia Donaldson is the author of the uber-popular children's book, The Gruffalo. It seems that somehow everyone in the world has read this book, except us. However, when we were deciding which book to read we somehow landed on "Jack and the Flumflum Tree".
In the meantime, my eldest daughter sat at the computer and wrote up a fact sheet about the Fofo tree. She detailed everything from where the tree grows, what eats the tree, what fruit grows on the tree..the Fofo fruit, of course!
Finally, just when I thought they were done, my youngest daughter pulled up to the computer and wrote a complete story called "Lilly and the Fofo Tree". In her book, Lilly's mother has the flu and needs the fruit from the Fofo tree to make her feel better. So, Lilly sets out on an adventure...on her surf board! I love reading what my girls write. They always amaze me.
The book "Jack and the Flumflum Tree" really inspired my girls. This is the best part about meeting a new author...watching the wheels turn in my girls' minds as they create something. Taking the premise from a book and creating an alternate story is a great way to develop story comprehension skills and story development skills. The act of reading a story and then writing a story is a simple way to get children excited about reading, writing and typing. We have even read a few more of Donaldson's books and we are planning on finally reading The Gruffalo.
