Lab
Compiled and edited by Kate Kessler
Fall! Is there a better season? In our
warm climate, when fall comes to
town we all celebrate with trips to
apple farms and pumpkin patches
and purchase cranberry cinnamon candles
to scent our homes. It is still quite a long
way from cool weather here in California,
but we try to pretend. So grab your favorite
drink, settle in your comfy chair—
®
welcome to The Old Schoolhouse
Magazine’s Fall Laboratory.
As I have mentioned in previous issues,
some of our reviews are shortened due to
space limitations. When this happens you
will see this: (. . .). You can always find the
review in its entirety, as well as many
others, on our website, www.TheHomeschool
Magazine.com, in the Resources section.
While you are perusing this column,
make sure you take time to check the
Contests for Readers section. That is where
you can win some of the items we write
about below. All contest entries are due by
January 15, 2009. It is possible to enter only
via the postal service, so make sure you
enter in time! All entry details are found
on that page, but on the insert card, don’t
forget to check all the boxes next to the
contests that you wish to enter!
Have you seen our Apple Contest A
few generous companies join with us to
bring you a truly exciting prize. All you have
to do is count the apples found scattered
throughout the magazine—any apple in the
magazine is fair game (even in the ads)!
Give it your best shot, write the number on
the insert card, and then mail in the card
(specific contest details can be found on
the Contests for
Readers page).
Ten of you will
win the following
four products:
As the fawn witnesses the changes, his
mother shares: “All things change. All
creatures must prepare to follow their
heartsong.” I like this way of putting it. I
believe that God is the One Who places
that heartsong in all His creatures—that He
is the One Who gifts His creatures with
those “distant memories.” Even though the
book does not state this fact implicitly, that
truth is evident in all of God’s creation, and
the book conveys this message well.
I love the profound beauty on each and
every page. The change of seasons and the
First Snow in the Woods
By Carl R. Sams II and Jean Stoick
Carl R. Sams II Photography, Inc.
www.strangerinthewoods.com
1-800-552-1867
First Snow in the Woods is such a beautiful
book. Every page is covered with gorgeous
full-color, close-up photographs of animals
readying themselves for the first snow of
winter. You will meet a monarch butterfly
and a brightly colored hummingbird
“following a distant memory” as they
prepare to leave before the first snow
comes. You will meet a very busy squirrel
lightly chastising a very puzzled young
deer that is unaware of the coming cold.
The grumpy woodchuck, announcing
“Hibernate! Hibernate!” will make your
little ones giggle.
As you look at the double-page spread
of gorgeous red and yellow leaves over a
calm creek with a turtle on the rock, you
read: “Leaf by leaf the green world gave
way to blazing reds and golds. The painted
turtle climbed onto a rock warming
himself in the fading rays of the sun.
‘Soon I will bury myself into the thick
mud and sleep until spring. It’s what
turtles do.’ ”
