More Than Hot Air - Volume 1 ch. 5

March 24, 2009 by gracefrombrazil.

There are so many enjoyable living books one can read while doing a study on transportation. I really wanted to re-read Jules Verne’s classic Around the World in 80 Days, but the two week time frame of unit 5 prohibited it. I found such pleasure in reading this with my children years ago.  The ending of Around the World is one of my favorites.  If you have only seen the movies than you are in for a wonderful surprise.  I hardly recognize the book in what passes as the movie renditions.

I have had the book Twenty-One Balloons by William Pene du Bois on my shelf for sometime and since hot air balloons are covered in this unit I decided to give it a go. Although it was not what I expected it provided some light hearted reading and inspiration during our study. My older two children were not as entertained by it as my 9 year old but that is okay since I usually read on their level and expect my youngest one to appreciate it. I had hoped that it would have been more factual about Krakatoa so I was disappointed. I am glad that I did not save it for a study on volcanoes and read it now. But what it did do was allow my daughter and me to enter into our hot air balloon making with a sense of adventure. My daughter even added a “bamboo” house, complete with provisions, for our balloon ”The Forea-Un”. But just like the ill-fated Globe we had to also cut our shelter loose for it to gain any height.

My son read The Wright Brothers by Charles Ludwig and had no problem finishing it so it must have been pretty good ; )

Next time I will float some other books your way…when we study famines, water and the ocean.

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