Monday, November 10, 2008

Review #2: Arnie the Doughnut


Dad:  Today's book is "Arnie the Doughnut" by Laurie Keller.
Isaac (age 10):  This is probably the funniest book we have.
Lily (age 5):  I picked it out today!
Isaac:  It's about this doughnut that got made at the doughnut store in the morning.  A person named Mr. Bing - he has a big oval head - he picked Arnie the doughnut and brought him back to his house to eat him...
Lily:  I know why Arnie has sprinkle eyebrows - Arnie is a sprinkle doughnut!
Isaac: ...when they got to his house Arnie screamed.  Mr. Bing decided not to eat him, and they made lists of things he could do instead.  But Arnie and Mr. Bing didn't like any of the ideas so Arnie left.  But after Arnie got to the 'no dogs allowed' sign, Mr Bing ran as fast as he could up to him with a new idea...
Dad:  How did Laurie Keller make these pictures?
Isaac:  They're made out of a whole bunch of different things...
Gracie (age 8):  Cut paper!
Isaac:  Paint.  Pencil.
Lily:  This part is made out of marker.
Isaac:  A stamp.
Gracie:  Cut magazines.
Isaac:  She took some kind of paper, like newspaper or something, and she put a little paint on it.
Lily:  That road is not cut newspaper...  it's made out of a map thing!
Dad: ...which is a good choice for a road, isn't it.
Isaac:  Yeah!  A map!
Lily:  So you know where to go!
Gracie:  "Where do I go?  I'll look on the road!"
Isaac:  The story has a lot of these little side things.  She makes the main story, but off to the sides there are a lot of little guys that are talking.
Gracie:  They're fun and funny.
Isaac:  Like, one guy says, "The French word for 'me' is 'Mo-wee'..."
Gracie:  Moi!
Isaac: ...then the guy says, "Arnie learned that from 'mo-wee'..."
Gracie:  Moi!!!
Isaac:  I can't say it!
Gracie:  "Moi."
Dad:  Lily, why did you choose this book today?
Lily:  Because it makes me feel happy.  And it makes me feel like I want to eat a doughnut.  A sprinkled one!
Gracie:  It makes me NOT want to eat a sprinkle doughnut!  Because of Arnie, I'm not going to ever eat another sprinkle doughnut.
Lily:  I like the doughnut with the blue frosting on it.
Gracie:  I would eat Eclair - that looks good!  Eclair looks like a yummy one.
Lily:  Arnie is in love with Apple Fritter.
Gracie:  Arnie is very dramatic: "You are trying to EAT ME!!!"  I bet Mr. Bing was shocked when he heard that...  I bet he thought, "This doughnut is magical...  This doughnut is freaking me out..."
Dad:  Does your food ever talk to you?
Gracie:  I pretend it does...  "I want to go into the big cave... Wait - it's not a cave, it's a mouth!"  Maybe when Laurie Keller was a kid, she talked to her food.
Dad:  Why don't the other doughnuts care that they are going to be eaten?
Isaac:  They know what's coming.
Lily:  They are bored.
Gracie:  They like the sound of tummies?
Dad:  Why didn't Arnie want to be eaten?
Gracie:  Well I would never want to be eaten.
Dad:  But you're not a doughnut.  You're a person.
Gracie:  I know, but still...  Arnie feels like me.
Dad:  Oh...
Gracie:  Dinosaurs eat people!
Dad:  Uh...
Gracie:  Dinosaurs don't eat doughnuts.
Dad:  What... what are you talking about?
(Laughter from all....)
Gracie:  I have no idea...
Dad:  Now that Mr. Bing and Arnie are together, do you think he will ever be able to buy more doughnuts to eat?
Isaac:  His doughnut days are over forever.  Now it's ice cream days!
Lily:  Maybe he'll buy more doughnuts to be Arnie's friends...

sprinkle sprinkle, by Isaac

Arnie the doughnut, by Lily

"Hey, that dog looks like Arnie," by Gracie


Author/Illustrator: Laurie Keller
Published, 2003: Henry Holt
Like it? Find it

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

I loved reading your kid's commentary and their drawings are fun. How do you remember everything they say? Do you record this?

I noticed you signed up for the comment challenge over at Mother Reader and that you are new to book blogging. So am I - my sister and I started a kidlit blog together in October.

ElizT said...

I just bought some gummy worms...

Sherry said...

This is the first time I've been to your blog. What a great idea! We homeschool, and I may just steal your idea as a way to document our reading and learning.

Becky said...

I love the inclusion of artwork :)

Becky

Z-Kids said...

Thanks for taking the time to comment everybody!

Caribookscoops,
Yep we capture via tape recorder, and then I transcribe later...

ElizT,
Gets my gears turning for a children's book idea! The secret lives of gummy animals...

Sherry,
Welcome! We are a homeschooling family too. My wife and I have visited your site often in the past and bookmarked it some time ago...

Becky,
The kids draw constantly -- it's a fun challenge for them to do art inspired by a book from time to time, instead of just always drawing random fancies. We love their random fancies too -- people can find a selection of those on our "Chicken Nugget Lemon Tooty" blog...

Z-Dad

Anonymous said...

What a great idea for a site.
I wonder if I could get my 5 year old to give a review for me.

Anonymous said...

Love, love, love your site. What a great idea to review the books with your kids! Bravo! You are immediately added to my blogroll. I love the kids' illustrations, too. Marvelous fun! My five year-old will love this book, as she loves sprinkle doughnuts. (We have a Dunkin' Donuts within walking distance, which can be a dangerous thing.)

Z-Kids said...

I wish I lived next to a doughnut store. That would be fun! It is almost as good because I live next to an ice cream store. Thank-you for doing our comments!

- Gracie

Anonymous said...

Great doughnuts!

Anonymous said...

Z-Kids, we used to have a Dairy Queen, too, but that closed down recently. The new place bought their machines, though, and they'll be serving frozen yogurt with fruit and granola--yummy! It actually opens today! Hooray!

Anonymous said...

I was excited to see Arnie the Doughnut. No kidding, that is one of my favorite books. I think I may even like it more than my kids (I have a 5 year old son and daughter who is 7). The pictures you made are great too.

balqees said...

This book really sounds fun. I'm going to put it on my list of books to get :D

Thanks Lily for a great pick!