Last week I finished a delightful book - Toto: The Dog-Gone Amazing Story of the Wizard of Oz - which is the story of the Wizard of Oz told from Toto’s perspective. Not only was it so sweet to view the story through Toto’s loyal dog eyes, but it was also good fun (the audio was excellent!).

This book was written by Michael Morpurgo. After I finished it I realized just how many books we have read by Michael Morpurgo over the years, and how much we have loved each one of them.

(In my own reading life, I’ve also included several books by Michael Morpurgo - because as an adult reader I want to read widely and well.)

You might be familiar with his most famous book, War Horse, but we have loved at least ten of his books in addition to War Horse.

Whether you use them as a read-aloud “just because” or choose titles that will coincide specifically with your history or science studies, there are so many choices! (I could even see challenging your avid readers to a month of Michael Morpurgo!)

Our Favorite Children’s Author: Michael Morpurgo

Michael Morpurgo is a British author, born in 1943. He has written over 100 books - including short stories, novels, picture books, and chapter books.

Because he was born during the Second World War, many of his books are informed by his childhood experiences and those of a nation plagued by war from the early to mid-1900s.

Rudyard Kipling and Robert Louis Stevenson are his favorite authors - and you can see those influences in so many of his books.

I always enjoy learning about authors and what motivates and inspires them. These resources will help your children learn more about Michael Morpurgo:

Why We Enjoy Books by Michael Morpurgo

These books are perfect for upper elementary/middle grades (or adults like me who love to read children’s books for fun!).

A few reasons why we love his books:

Many of the books have a historical connection - based on true stories
There is always a whimsical element to his books
Mopurgo doesn’t shy away from strong emotions or difficult events - but he presents them in such a way that helps us facilitate discussion through the events and characters in his stories
Many of his characters are children - faced with difficult decisions who act heroically
He obviously loves animals, and this shines through in so many of his stories
Many of Morpurgo’s stories are just plain funny!

Favorite Books by Michael Morpurgo

The first Morpurgo book we read was The Butterfly Lion. It was so good my children had me read it to them in just one day. It is the story of a young boy who rescues an orphaned white lion cub from the African bush. They are inseparable until the boy (Bertie) must go to boarding school and the lion is sold to the circus. What happens next is emotional - and ultimately very touching.

We then found Morpurgo’s adaptations of classics - Beowulf and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight were favorites! We read them aloud in elementary school, and then revisited them when the kids read the actual works in high school. They are FABULOUS introductions to these classic works.

Several of his books have been heart-wrenching and touching - teaching us so much about history. The Elephant in the Garden and Private Peaceful are two stand-outs.

My recent favorite is Toto: The Dog-Gone Amazing Story of the Wizard of Oz - which is the Wizard of Oz told from Toto’s perspective. I found myself laughing out loud in so many parts, and the audio was delightful! This would be such fun to use in a compare/contrast with Baum’s original Wizard of Oz.

Below you will find all of the books we have read and loved, and there are SO MANY MORE to explore. Remember, this is only a list of ten of his books - he’s written over ONE HUNDRED!

An Elephant in the Garden: Inspired by a True Story BUTTERFLY LION War Horse Shadow Private Peaceful Born to Run The Mozart Question Sir Gawain & The Green Knight By Michael Morpurgo Beowulf Toto: The Dog-Gone Amazing Story of the Wizard of Oz

I hope you get a chance to include literature by Michael Morpurgo during your reading times with your children.

We have formed beautiful memories and made valuable connections because of these books - and I hope you can, too.

I’m curious - have you read books by Michael Morpurgo?

Do you have a favorite? Leave me a comment and let me know!

When Homeschool Doesn’t Go As Planned

Favorite Children’s Books for Spring

There is nothing sweeter than reading a beautiful story to a wide-eyed child, who hangs on your every word because the story is just THAT captivating.

When my own children were little, we used the Five in a Row curriculum, which provided regular experiences with beautiful children's literature. Those days were full of wonder, creativity, and relaxation.

Now that my children are older I get my "little kid fix" through tutoring the Abecedarians (in our case that means the 5-7 year olds) in Classical Conversations. I'm looking forward to sharing some of our adventures with you - and one of those is a recent science and art activity with the FIAR title, Miss Rumphius.

Cultivating Beauty with Children - music, botany & literature: Miss Ruphius

“The object of education is to teach us what is beautiful.”

— Plato

There is so much truth in that one simple statement. When we educate our children at home we have a multitude of opportunities to expose them to BEAUTY. It is my goal to make education beautiful and meaningful - not only for my own children, but also for other children I am lucky enough to work with along the way.

Setting the Stage: Miss Rumphius

Music, Botany & Literature with Miss Rumphius

Miss Rumphius longs to travel the world, live in a house by the sea, and make the world more beautiful. I introduced this book to the children by telling them the author and illustrator were the same person (which is not very common), and also that I wanted them to watch for the illustrations of flowers throughout the book.

I speak in a quiet voice and encourage the children to keep their eyes open for anything that strikes them as beautiful as I'm reading the book.

I also explained to them that Miss Rumphius was called "The Lupine Lady" - Lupines (a member of the pea family) are beautiful flowers that attract butterflies.

Right away we've already learned so much BEFORE we ever start reading the book:

what an author and illustrator mean
what Lupines are
a little bit about Lupine taxonomy
attention to BEAUTY

SIMPLE Activities with Miss Rumphius

In keeping with the Classical model, I wanted this activity to be simple and low stress - requiring just the book, paper, pencils, and a few fresh flowers.

*This activity can be used with a group of children or just one - it's very simple and effective.

While I was reading the story I stopped periodically and asked questions to check comprehension. There's always a few in a group that need to be led along while listening!

When I finished reading, I asked the children to talk to me about the book - What did they like? Did they spot anything beautiful?

I am always amazed (although I shouldn't be) by some of their observations:

"The lady who drew the pictures really knew how to dry skies good."
"Didn't Miss Rumphius ever get married?"
"Can we plant Lupine seeds next week?"
"I think she DID make the world more beautiful."

Don't you love it?

Botany, Art, Music, Linnaeus & Miss Rumphius

Using Discovering Great Artists as our guide, I read to the children about Carl Linnaeus - a Swedish botanist, physician and zoologist.

I told them Linnaeus was most well known for his system of classifying animals, but today we were going to focus on him as an ARTIST and BOTANIST. Linnaeus would observe plants and then sketch them.

So, to be just like Linnaeus, we pretended we were botanists, too.

I provided the children with a few actual flowers, which I laid down in front of them, and also with some flower field guides.

Miss Rumphius was also put front and center so they could look at how the author/illustrator drew the Lupines, too.

This was very open-ended - the children were free to choose what flowers they wanted to draw and if they wanted to look at the real flowers, field guides, or storybook. Kids like choices and this was such an easy one to give them.

Flower Drawings to go with Miss Rumphius

Flower Drawings to go along with Miss Rumphius

While they were sketching I had music by Bach playing in the background, and several of the kids remarked how nice it was to have the "pretty music" (This also helps to keep them from talking too much, because when they were sketching I asked that they be quiet and thoughtful).

We sketched for about 15 minutes, then shared our drawings.

I think the children left with an understanding of Linnaeus, Botany, and so much more.

More importantly, I believe they had the opportunity to slow down and CREATE something of beauty, to listen to a beautiful story, and to be quiet with their own thoughts and ideas.

This is a gift we can give to our children on a daily basis if we are intentional.

Extension Ideas for Miss Rumphius

If you want to extend learning beyond this, I've come up with a few ideas for you. (If I had my own little ones right now this is what I WOULD DO!)

Have a Book Dinner

One of our favorite things was to read a book and then host a "book dinner" for extended family. We would make a themed recipe, our own table decorations, and read the book at dinner. It was so much fun! (We did this once with Lentil and created a fabulous memory!)

You can get many ideas from the Five in a Row volume Miss Rumphius is featured in.