I Live Again... next book review for Mrs. B.

For my next Ancient Faith Publishing book review I will be listening to the book I Live Again: A Memoir of Ileana, Princess of Romania and Archduchess of Austria. This will be my first audiobook book review and I am very excited to listen to it!
Check back soon for two book reviews written by ASA students for Shepherding Sam!

May it be blessed,
Mrs. Blankenstein

Kind Words...

Happy New Year! I am including a card that we receive from a monastery. In July one of the first things that I did was to write to all the Orthodox monasteries in the United States and ask them to pray for our school. We added their addresses to our mailing list to keep them updated on our school and to continue to ask for their prayers. Here is a lovely response from our Christmas card. Prayer is vital to the success of our school.
May it be blessed!
Mrs. Blankenstein

The Barn and The Book by Melinda Johnson- Book Review

The Barn and the Book by Melinda Johnson

Please go here to read my review of Shepherding Sam by the same author.

The Barn and the Book is the follow up book to Shepherding Sam, both by Melinda Johnson. I highly recommend reading Shepherding Sam prior to reading The Barn and the Book- only because you are introduced to the characters in the first book and I believe that it makes the ending of The Barn and the Book that much more powerful after having witnessed Sam's struggles in the first book.

We follow Sam and Saucer on another adventure at the monastery. Sam is a boy who struggles with spending time at the monastery, going to church services, and, now, staying focused in Sunday School. Saucer is a corgi who continues to look for opportunities to herd- whether it be animals or children (especially Sam). This book takes place during the Nativity season and there is an opportunity for the children to publish a story in the anniversary book about the monastery. The children in the book all have ideas for their stories except Sam who is completely focused on a story he heard. The story is that on Christmas Eve, all the animals are able to speak at midnight for one hour. Sam wants to know what Saucer is really thinking and makes it his mission to stay up until midnight at the monastery.

This is an excellent follow up to Shepherding Sam. Sam continues to make strides in his ability to focus at the monastery through Saucer's help. Plus we are introduced to some new children and nuns who are each going through their own struggles, too. Sister Anna is a wonderful character that both adults and children can relate to with her struggles of finding her gifts to use at the monastery for the Glory of God. I especially loved the story around Sister Anna and, of course, the very wise Gerontissa! And the book is written in a way that I believe children would be able to identify with her struggles as well as the struggles of all the characters.

To find out if Sam is able to hear Saucer speak, purchase this book! Great for all ages- especially 5 years old and up (including adults). This book would make a great read aloud but I highly recommend reading Shepherding Sam before The Barn and the Book.

I was gifted a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Purchase your own copy at Ancient Faith Publishing 

Shepherding Sam by Melinda Johnson- Book Review

Shepherding Sam by Melinda Johnson

Full disclosure: I love corgi's! I once owned a sweet corgi many years ago and have always wanted to own another one. They are wonderful dogs and really great with families. 

A lovely story about a dog and a boy and a monastery. Sam is an active boy that struggles with church and spending time at the monastery. Saucer is a dog who only wants to herd- sheep, nuns, animals, maybe even Sam. 

I loved this book! I loved that the main character reminded me of my own children- not always super excited to go to church, somewhat distracted by everything that is going on around them. I love that this story shows the struggle that Sam goes through to be at the monastery. Sometimes our church stories skip over that struggle. To have a character experiencing apprehension about visiting the monastery and figuring out his place is refreshing especially for those readers who feel the same way as Sam. 

The other great thing about this book is it includes dragons, animals, swords, and a dog and boy who are trying to figure out their own purpose in all of this. 

This book would be a great read aloud with younger children and older children can easily read it on their own. I am very excited that this is now the first book in a series and look forward to reading book two- The Barn and the Book by the same author. 

I was gifted a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Purchase your own copy at Ancient Faith Publishing 

Importance of Reading Aloud- Kate DiCamillo

As if we need more reasons to read aloud to our children/students...
Here is a link to Kate DiCamillo talking about the magic of reading aloud.
Click Here :) 

Enjoy! And if you do not know what to read aloud to your children, any Kate DiCamillo book is an excellent choice!

Have a blessed day!
Mrs. Blankenstein

Ps. Here is a list of Kate DiCamillo's books. My personal favorite is The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane followed by The Tale of Despereaux.

Novels[edit]

• Because of Winn-Dixie (2000)
• The Tiger Rising (2001)
• The Tale of Despereaux (2003), illustrated by Timothy Basil Ering
• The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane (2006), illus. Bagram Ibatoulline
• The Magician's Elephant (2009), illus. Yoko Tanaka
• Flora & Ulysses: The Illuminated Adventures (2013), illus. K. G. Campbell
• Raymie Nightingale (Candlewick Press, April 12, 2016)
• Louisiana's Way Home (2018), jacket illus. Amy June Bates^[16][17]

Chapter books[edit]

• Bink & Gollie series, text by DiCamillo and Alison McGhee, illus. Tony Fucile
  • Bink & Gollie (2010)
  • Bink & Gollie: Two for One (2012)
  • Bink & Gollie: Best Friends Forever (2013)
• Mercy Watson series (Candlewick Press), text by DiCamillo, illus. Chris Van Dusen
  • Mercy Watson to the Rescue (2005)
  • Mercy Watson Goes for a Ride (2006)
  • Mercy Watson Fights Crime (2006)
  • Mercy Watson: Princess in Disguise (2007)
  • Mercy Watson Thinks Like a Pig (2008)
  • Mercy Watson: Something Wonky This Way Comes (2009)

Picture books[edit]

• Great Joy (2007), illus. Bagram Ibatoulline
• Louise, the Adventures of a Chicken (2008), illus. Harry Bliss

Short stories[edit]

• "An Ordinary Boy", in Spider magazine for children (vol. 8, issue 9, September 2001)^[18]
• "Super Tulip", Spider (vol. 8, issue 9, September 2001)^[19]
• "Visit", Spider (vol. 9, issue 1, January 2002)^[20]
• "The Third Floor Bedroom", in Chris Van Allsburg, et al., The Chronicles of Harris Burdick: Fourteen Amazing Authors Tell the Tales

Book Review- A Daily Calendar of Saints by Fr. Lawrence R. Farley

https://store.ancientfaith.com/a-daily-calendar-of-saints/

As the principal of our school, I was very excited to have the opportunity by Ancient Faith Publishing to read and review this book  Every morning, as a school, we gather for morning prayers. I have been looking for a way to incorporate short readings of the saint of the day into our morning prayers and kept coming across either very lengthy readings of saints lives or the readings incorporated language that is way over the heads of our youngest children (our Montessori preschool begins at age three). This book is the perfect balance of length and difficulty for even our youngest students. In fact, I may have our 5th graders eventually read the life of the saint to the children during our morning prayer time. As we use this book everyday, my prayer is that over the years, the children will remember these lives of the saints (not just the well known saints, but even the lesser known saints). 

I highly recommend this book for families with children at all age levels. It is easy to read and comprehend. Most of the daily lives of the saints are a short paragraph while the more well know saints are a bit longer. 

I was gifted a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. 

Hulafrog- local things for kids to do...
check out their website and "love" ASA!
https://hulafrog.com/beaverton-or/agia-sophia-academy/?fbclid=IwAR3APthepnrJ7zVf5VeNr-1HirkzFrKPMWqaiRAl3_ILED7q_cW2YgVm1ZY

News from around the school... and ways to support our greater Beaverton community and support our school.

Fundraiser going on now! Click here to find out more information.

We are collecting food for Oregon Food Bank - theme is Ducks v. Beavers- support your favorite college team by placing food in the appropriate barrel. Let's see who wins this battle!

And, to continue withe the Ducks v. Beavers theme, and to take part in the BottleDrop is running a promotion for the month of November that can earn us an extra % of the total bottles and cans that we bring in! So, we have set up, next to the food barrels, Ducks v. Beavers recycling stations to easily return your cans and bottles- each bottle or can is worth $.10 so let's take advantage of this great opportunity. And may the best team win!

For other ways to support Agia Sophia Academy, please check out our website for "everyday ways to contribute" here-
- donate your car
- donate stock
- shop with Amazon? Login through smile.amazon.com and choose ASA as your nonprofit. A small    percentage of what you purchase goes back to the school!
- Fred Meyer rewards card- you can choose to have ASA as your designated non-profit.
- Twice a month we order Scrip cards (gift cards)

Check out the other ways that you can support our school!

May it be blessed,
Mrs. Blankenstein