Review of Teddy's Button

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Lamplighter Publishing is giving me a free copy of Teddy's Button by Amy LeFeuvre for reading it and posting a review on my blog. I read it to Colin (4 years old) during Circle Time in the morning, one chapter a day. We finished it yesterday, because he wanted me to read another chapter before dinner. Who's going to say 'no' when their kid asks them to read to them?!

Although it is a chapter book, Teddy's Button is age-appropriate to read to kids probably about three and up. Brennan (two years old) wasn't very interested, so I let him run off to play when I started reading it to Colin. Reading on their own, it's not a beginning-reader book, but most kids who are proficient at reading would be able to enjoy it, maybe needing some help with the big words. One thing I like about Lamplighter's books is that the harder vocabulary words are defined at the bottom of each page, as are the references to Bible verses mentioned in the text.

As the story begins, Teddy tells the story of his father, who was a soldier and was killed in battle while bravely standing against the enemy. When his body was brought home, there was only one button left on his jacket, which has since become Teddy's prized possession. Teddy is also set on becoming a soldier when he grows up.

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A new girl, Nancy, comes to the village, and she doesn't believe the story of the button. Her father is a sailor, and she insists that sailors are better than soldiers. This becomes a source of contention between the two.

Mr. Upton, the rector of the village church, invites Teddy over for tea one Sunday after witnessing an encounter between him and Nancy. Mr. Upton tells Teddy about Christ, who wants him to be a soldier in His army, and tells him what he needs to do to enlist. Teddy goes home to think about it, and later, by himself, accepts Christ as his Saviour. This is a turning point in his life.

Teddy befriends Nancy, starts telling everyone about Christ, and tries to stop playing many of the tricks he used to play. He doesn't always do good, however. His greatest enemy is Bully, the name he has chosen for the bad side of himself. Nancy has not accepted Christ as Saviour, because she wants to be a sailor in God's army, and says she will never be a soldier.

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The climax of the story happens because Teddy is fighting with Nancy. Nancy takes his button from him, and he tries yanking it out of her hands. He succeeds, but the button ends up flying into the river. Without a thought, Teddy jumps into the river after it, and hits his head on the bottom. A passing farmer rescues him, and brings him to the doctor, but Teddy hangs between life and death for days.

Does Teddy live? What happens to Nancy? Is the button ever found? Read the story yourself and find out!

Blueberries!

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We went blueberry picking this weekend. One of my friends told me about this blueberry farm about 45 minutes away that had you-pick blueberries for $1 per pound. That's such a great price, and getting to pick them yourself! I knew it would be a lot of fun, so Heather and I brought the boys on Saturday. We got there around 9:45, and ended up picking for about three hours. We had never been to pick blueberries before, and were surprised at the way they grew. Blueberries grow on large bushes, averaging maybe 6-7 feet tall, in clusters kind of like grapes. To pick them, you just run your hand along the branch. The ripe ones will fall into your bucket, the unripe ones will stay on the bush to ripen.

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Colin and Brennan found another little boy, and the three of them played together for a time, drawing in the dirt with sticks, running around, and playing hide and seek in the blueberry bushes. Niko sat in the stroller for a good while, until he got hungry and wanted out. I held him for a bit while I continued to pick berries, and I'm not sure if a berry fell into my hand (the one that was holding him), or if he'd grabbed one off of the bush (this baby seriously has the best hand-eye coordination of any 6-month-old I've seen). In either case, I found him nom-ing a blueberry against my fingers. I fed him several blueberries that way, and he seemed to like them. He ended up with a diaper rash and spitting up the rest of the day, though. Today when I gave him a couple more blueberries, the spitting-up started almost immediately. Poor guy :( He just isn't ready for solid foods, yet.

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We took a break for a while when Colin and Brennan got tired, and ate peanut butter sandwiches by the car. And then we picked even more! When we finally finished, we had three pails full of blueberries, plus some Colin and Brennan had each picked in their pails.

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Colin ran ahead as we were bringing our blueberries to get weighed and pay. The man at the booth poured Colin's into a box and gave it to him, free. He had about a pound, maybe a little more. I was impressed he'd picked so many! Then he gave Brennan the little bucket he had with the (dozen?) blueberries in it, free. Bennan had eaten most of the blueberries he picked! It reminded me of a story I read to the boys last year, Blueberries for Sal.

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Heather and I gave our berries to the man, and he weighed them at about 18 pounds. We'd talked to him for a few minutes prior, and he'd seen the Marine Corps bumper stickers on our van. So he asked if we were military, and I told him my husband was a Marine. He said, "Okay, I'll give you a military discount. How does $5 sound?" He gave us 19 pounds of blueberries for $5! I was so excited! We thanked him, of course, and paid, and got all of the boys 'n' berries in the car. I gave Colin and Brennan a cup of berries to eat on the way home, but those poor guys fell asleep almost as soon as we started driving.

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After we got home, I sorted through the berries, and put them all in baggies. We filled 9 1/2 quart baggies! Most of them went into the freezer, but I left some out to munch on, and some to make blueberry pancakes for breakfast. Yum!

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