12 Projects---Continued

I am so thrilled about how my projects did at the county fair last week! These are the results:

1. Poem about horses (1st place)

2. Poster on wildflowers (1st place)

3. Knitted pillow (3rd place)

4. Pencil sketch (1st place)

5. Crayon picture (1st place)

6. Story sequence of 5 pictures (1st place)

7. 5 pictures of animals (1st place)

8. My best photograph (1st place)

9. Another poem (1st place)

10. Poster on my top 10 favorite books (1st place)

11. Book review (1st place)

My book review, on "Katie John," originally appeared on this blog.

12. A display showing project work (1st place, and Best of Show!!)

My display was of the ribbon bookmarks I make. This was the description I gave for my display, along with the bookmarks I set out:

For my self-determined project this year, I've been making ribbon bookmarks.

To make my bookmarks, I bought velvet ribbons, clamps, and jump rings from online shops. I constructed them by cutting out about 10" of ribbon and then attaching clamps to each end. I did this with pliers.

Then, I collected vintage charms and fastened these onto the clamp by using a jump ring, and securing it with the pliers.

I showcased my bookmarks at the Land O' Lakes Art Impressions show on July 23rd. I sold a few, and it was an interesting experience.

Thank you!

I'm really happy with how well my projects did. I look forward to entering more at next year's fair.

More Winter Reading

TITLE: Depend on Katie John

AUTHOR: Mary Calhoun

COPYRIGHT: 1961

ORIGINAL PUBLISHER: Harper & Row Publishers, Inc.

NUMBER OF PAGES: 181

PLOTLINE: The highly entertaining sequel to Katie John is just as good, if not better than its predecessor.

Katie John’s family has just turned their home into a rooming house, and Katie is excited. She’s going to help with the housework, find boarders and everything!

Unfortunately, the excitement soon fizzles out when Katie John realizes that living in a rooming house isn’t as much fun as she thought it would be. The boarders are fussy, and the housework is hard. She can’t even escape to fun when she goes to school, because she’s still a new girl among the other kids, and no one pays any attention to her. But maybe, she reasons, if she changes herself from a tomboy to a lady, things will be different.

“Things” don’t exactly turn out the way Katie had expected, but in the end, she discovers that it’s all for the best.

Depend on Katie John is an interesting book about a funny almost-eleven-year-old girl.

*****

“They were playing checkers on Cousin Ben’s bed, or at least they were supposed to be playing checkers, but mostly Cousin Ben was talking.” - Depend on Katie John

Another Book Review

TITLE: Katie John

AUTHOR: Mary Calhoun

COPYRIGHT: 1960

ORIGINAL PUBLISHER: Harper & Row Publishers, Inc.

NUMBER OF PAGES: 134

PLOTLINE: Katie John’s family moves to Missouri---right when Katie is old enough to become a Campfire Girl! For years, she’s been waiting to go on the camping trip in the Sierras, and now she’s stuck at a hundred-year-old house, just recently inherited by her mother from Great-Aunt Emily.

Katie John is positive that she won’t like living in the sleepy little town of Barton’s Bluff, even if it is only until her parents can sell the house. But by the time summer is over (and many escapades later), Katie realizes that she loves living in Missouri and doesn’t ever want to leave.

But time is running out---can Katie John convince her parents to stay before it’s too late?

This wonderful book is accompanied by refreshingly excellent writing, and the copy I own has beautiful illustrations by Paul Frame. If you’re in the mood for a good story about the adventures of a ten-year-old girl and her best friend, then this is the book to read!

*****

“It’s all my fault!” {Katie} cried in despair. “I wanted to make a nice fire, but the smoke didn’t go up the chimney.”

“Because the chimney is capped!” - Katie John