Lunches September 2nd - 6th

Boogs' lunches are inspired by the books we read at bedtime the previous evening. Each night, Boogs reads one book to me and I read a book or a chapter of a book to him. I usually post his lunches once a week. Click on the "lunches" label at the end of this post to see lunches from previous weeks.

Balloons Over Broadway by Melissa Sweet

In the Laptop Lunchbox: salami & cheese caterpillar balloon, Sarg hummus face, carrots, cucumber, blueberry sky, and yogurt (not pictured).
 
Boogs and I loved reading this book. It is based on the biography of Tony Sarg. Tony Sarg was known as The Father of Modern Puppetry in North America. He moved to NYC and had his own Tony Sarg Marionettes company. Macy's department store was impressed by his work and asked him to design a puppet parade for their holiday window. He used gears and pulleys to make his story book creations move. Macy's had its first Thanksgiving Parade in 1924. Sarg designed floats and costumes for the parade. Live zoo animals were in the parade, but they scared the children. Macy's asked Sarg to create puppets for the parade to take the place of the live animals. Sarg designed puppets made of blimp material held up on rods. Soon he decided to use rubberized silk filled with helium to make the puppets strong, light, and more visible to the crowd. These were like upside down marionettes, controlled through wires beneath them instead of above them. These became the starting point and model for balloon character  floats still used today. Boogs was very interested in how Sarg's interest in art and making things work, led Sarg to such an unusual career.

I thought it would be fun for Boogs and I to design our own parade balloons. Boogs made a bird and I made an elephant. We still need to decide if we want to add a few wires or rods to them.

Momables had a simple mini quiche recipe on their weekly menu plan last week. Boogs and I made the quiche for breakfast on Labor Day. It is always fun to spend time in the kitchen together. The quiche turned out great and went perfectly with yogurt, a plum, and some toast for a yummy breakfast.

Momables is a subscription service whose mission is to help parents pack quick, healthy lunches filled with a variety of fun and nutritious food. With your subscription, you receive access to a new menu of lunches, packing tips, recipes, and a grocery list each week. If you would like to receive a free week of the subscription service, stop by the website and sign up for it by clicking the "free week" tab on the home page. I think is it a wonderful service and I was not compensated for saying this. :-)

 The Magical Life of Mr. Renny by Leo Timmers

Mr. Renny is an excellent painter whose paintings do not sell. One day, he was so hungry he wished he could eat the realistic looking apple he had painted. A little man appeared and granted his wish. The man also told Mr. Renny that anything he painted would turn into the real object when the last brushstroke of the object was complete. At first, Mr. Renny was delighted with his new talent. He painted everything he had ever wanted - car, plane, mansion, boat, and many other material objects. When an old friend stopped by to see if Mr. Renny would paint something for her, Mr. Renny realized that he was no longer an artist. None of his paintings remained paintings. He soon fixed this problem and realized that having all the materials things in the world cannot make you happy. Boogs and I discussed this concept. Boogs said he would paint the Pokemon White video game. Then he decided he would also paint a Sandals Resort (we saw it on Wheel of Fortune) and Disney World so his whole family could take a nice vacation together for some family time.

In the ELB lunchbox: cheese Mr. Renny flying his airplane on top of a pb&j sandwich, Pringles canvases, sunflower seeds painter's palette, rainbow of colors salad, and fruit. 

When I Grow Up by Al Yankovic

This was a fun book about an eight-year-old boy, Billy, who had wild ideas about the kind of jobs he wanted to have when he grew up. The illustrations were detailed and vibrant. Billy's job choices had Boogs and I laughing and groaning. I tried to include many of the jobs Boogs thought were amusing in his lunchbox.

In the Laptop Lunchbox: ham & cheese snails for Master Circus Snail Trainer, pickles for Pickle Inspector, Zbar shaped like a foot for Foot Model, yogurt for Giraffe Milker, grapes with hat & boot picks for Rodeo Clown, kiwi, and salad.

Kat Kong by Dav Pilkey

Several months ago, Boogs received a pet hamster for his 7th birthday. He is slightly obsessed with books and stories about hamsters, mice, guinea pigs, and the like. Boogs loved reading Kat Kong to me. This book is a spoof of King Kong with photos of real mice portraying the human roles and a cat portraying King Kong. There were several puns/sayings in the book that had Boogs laughing out loud. After reading it, he immediately asked when we were going to read Dogzilla, the companion book to Kat Kong.

In the ELB lunchbox: Kat Kong almond butter & jelly CuteZcute sandwich on top of cheese Mousopolis buildings, Babybel mouse being held captive, carrot chip search lights, spinach for the jungle, and a container of pineapple on which Boogs wrote Kat Kong.

Where The Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverstein

I absolutely LOVED Shel Silverstein's poems when I was a kid. Boogs likes to hear them over and over again, too. My favorite poem in this book is Sarah Cynthia Sylvia Stout Would Not Take the Garbage Out. You can clearly imagine how disgusting the trash at Sarah's house is by the desciptive words used in the poem.  Of course I had to make Boogs a garbage lunch to go with this poem!

In the ELB lunchbox: garlic green baloney, chunks of cheese, gristly bits of beefy roasts beef jerky, cold french fries, withered greens salad, crusts of black burned buttered toast croutons, and peach pit plum pieces.


Be sure to check out the wonderful sites I link to on my sidebar! If you want to see more book inspired lunches, click on the "lunches" label at the end of this post or go to My Story Themed Lunches board on Pinterest. I would love for you to leave a comment to let me know you stopped by.