Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Endowing - Non Fiction

Milena is constantly endowing us as someone other than ourselves. So often, in fact, that last week when she said that I was mama, Jess was daddy, and she was Milena, I found myself a little confused about which game we were playing (and then realized we weren't playing a game! oh yes. I am mama!).

This is a fun (though sometimes tiring) way to play through Milena's favorite stories and bring her favorite characters to life. But I recently realized that basically everyone we "are" is someone fictitious. 


One of  my favorite children's lit finds from this past holiday season was the book "My Name Is Not Isabella" by Jennifer Fosberry (there is another version for boys titled, "My Name Is Not Alexander. In "My Name Is Not Isabella," a little girl goes through her day pretending to be great women from history (e.g. Rosa Parks, Elizabeth Blackwell, Sally Ride). 

This is what I want for Milena! I would love for these women (and men) to be as natural a part of her play as Disney princesses and the Octonauts (our current favorite TV show). So now when we visit the library, we make sure to check out biographies along with our picture books and chapter books. 


 We enjoy the "My First Biography" and "Rookie Biographies" series the most. Today we read the Rookie Biography of Dr. Seuss. Milena was so excited to see pictures of him alongside some of her favorite books, and it was great to finally give her an idea of who Dr. Seuss is, since she's always hearing his name. (I always try to mention the author's name when reading the title of a book; I love when books include pictures of the author (and illustrator)! )
...

And while visiting Amazon to grab the links for these books, I discovered a new Isabella book being released in February! "Isabella: Girl on the Go"

Also, Barnes & Noble sells an Isabella paper doll set, and I desperately want to buy it for Milena! But I think she's a bit too young for them right now ... (but I'm not!).


No comments:

Post a Comment