Lunches October 8th - 12th

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.

Crazy Like A Fox: A Simile Story by Loreen Leedy
We love Loreen Leedy's books, especially the ones that play with language. I know I have said it many times, but Boogs really likes to make comparisons. This book is full of well known similes woven into a cute story. Rufus the Fox tricks Babette into following him to a meadow for a special surprise. Boogs had fun trying to guess what each simile would be before turning the page to find the answer. The last page of the book is an activity page with a list of simile starters for the reader to create their own simile story. I read the simile starters to Boogs and he gave me an ending for each one. We are still working on turning them into some kind of story.
Here are Boogs' simile endings:
     As slimy as a slug.
     As useless as a fish on land.
     Messy like a Chipotle burrito.
     Amazing like not getting stabbed by a cactus prickle in a field of cactus.
     As grumpy as a bear woken up in the middle of hibernation or a hungry toad who ALMOST catches a fly.
     As soft as an octopus. (I don't understand his thinking on this one.)
     Tough like a crab shell.
     As loud as mad bears in a parade. (Or this one.)
     Silly like silly string flying everywhere.
     Peas are like eating a slippery sponge with onion sauce and a snail. That's how disgusting peas taste. (This one was my favorite! I went ahead and put peas in another lunch this week anyway.)

In the Laptop lunchbox: pb&j fox sitting on top of "fresh as a daisy" pb&j flower petals, black as coal olives, dark as night blueberries, bright as day cheese sun, swim like a fish Goldfish Crackers, salad, and yogurt.

A closer look.

Here is a lunch I posted last year inspired by a different Loreen Leedy simile book:

There's A Frog In My Throat by Loreen Leedy
Boogs was very intrigued by this book. For the past several years, he has been interested in "sayings". We frequently discuss common idioms, metaphors, and similes. We only read about half of the book at bedtime. The next day, Boogs used a few of the sayings when we were chatting. He really liked his lunch, but did not eat the hornet. In the lunchbox: cereal bar worm for "opening a can of worms" and "the early bird catches the worm", salad for "rabbit food",  ham & cheese for "I've got butterflies in my stomach", tortilla hornet for "mad as a hornet", and strawberries for "red as a lobster".


Shortcut by David Macaulay

This book has nine short chapters that each tell what happened to one individual on a certain day. At first, Boogs did not realize all of the individuals were connected by the cause and effects of their actions. He started flipping pages back and forth to try and find the root causes of some of the things that happened. Boogs said, "This book is funny 'cause it makes me see everything is connected. Do you think it is like that in real life?" We talked a little bit about the butterfly effect (The term butterfly effect was applied in Chaos Theory to suggest that the wing movements of a butterfly might have significant repercussions on wind strength and movements throughout the weather systems of the world, and theoretically, could cause tornadoes halfway around the world.) and how things we do effect others around us. Then we went back and read this book again. In the ELB lunchbox: pb&j pig being pushed by pb&j train, hot air balloon marshmallow floating away, Pirates Booty clouds, veggie chips, and green clover kiwi slices.


LMNO Peas by Keith Baker

Boogs picked this book off of the library shelf because of the cute peas all over the front cover. It is an alphabet book filled with peas who are naming their chosen careers and favorite hobbies from A to Z. Boogs loved examining each page to see the actions, clothing, and accessories of the peas. There are yogis in tree pose, miners digging tunnels, eaters, readers, and so many more cute illustrations. We especially liked the P page "We're painters, and plumbers fixing leaks. We're pilots, parachutists, we're peas and we're unique." In the lunchbox: cheese LMN letters, salami O with cheese underneath, peas (Boogs did NOT eat one single pea), pita chips, blueberries, and salad.


Good Job, Sam! by Hadley Ruddock

This was one of Boogs' reading homework books. The story is about a bear who only wants some peace and quiet so he can read his book. Things keep getting in the way of Sam reading his book. He has to clean his room and watch his baby sister. Finally, he gets so tired he falls asleep without getting a chance to read his book. Boogs said he would rather read his books than clean his room. Who wouldn't? I got a late start the morning I made this lunch. Luckily, I had the CuteZcute cutter to quickly make a little bear sandwich. In the Laptop lunchbox: ham & cheese Sam sandwich, Baby sister boiled egg (the face did not show up well and I did not have time to food color its features), orange ball, broccoli, celery, Chex Mix under Sam's boat book pita chip.

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I went back to work about three weeks ago. Last year, I had time to drop Boogs off at school before I came home and got ready for work. This year, I have to be ready to leave when he leaves for school. We are adjusting well to our new morning routine. We used to play card games and do arts/crafts before school but now it is just time to get ready for the day. Boogs said he would rather I spend the 15 minutes making a story lunch than playing half a game of Crazy 8s with him. He still helps me decide what to put in his lunches.

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.