Thursday, September 5, 2013

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.

42 comments:

  1. I love how you match lunch with a book! It's a great way for kiddo to think about the book again!

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    1. Thanks, Sara. I take the photos with my phone. Occasionally, Boogs will scroll through the photos which will make him remember some of the great stories we have read together.

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  2. I LOVE this! We've been doing some themed lunches too...mostly just dinos so far since school just started. I'm adding this to my Healthy School Lunch Ideas board on Pinterest!

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    1. Thanks, Sarah! We accidentally started story themed lunches on the first day of Kindergarten and my son still asks for them in 2nd grade.

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  3. what a wonderful way to teach and learn! wish i had book inspired lunches when i was growing up! thanks for linking up to Kids in the Kitchen :)

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  4. I love the garbage lunch! My son would laugh and laugh about it. Great lunches!

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    1. Thanks, D. Boogs had fun eating his garbage.

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  5. Great imaginative lunches as always. Has Boogs settled back into school okay now? I do hope so.

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    1. Thanks for asking about Boogs. He is still not enjoying 2nd grade, but he is calm about having to go to school. He mentioned yesterday, "You know, without my friends in my class, I don't get into as much trouble as I did last year. Maybe it is better if I just stay alone." He has some sweet kiddos in his class, hopefully he will be open to making new friends soon.

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  6. What a great idea! It makes me think about how I can incorporate some of the books we're reading into some food ideas. Thanks for the inspiration!

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  7. Wow, your lunch boxes look absolutely appetising! What a great way to tie them in with the stories you're reading.

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    1. Thank you. For some reason, my son will eat more of his "cute" lunches than the plain ones.

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    1. Thanks! The wonderful stories and illustrations in children's books are great for the imagination.

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  9. This is so cute! I have started doing some themed lunches for my daughter, and I'll definitely have to try some of your ideas. Thanks!!

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    1. Thanks, Andrea. Your letter lunches for M are cute!

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  10. This is a wonderful find! I haven't heard of momables before. I love how creative the lunches have turned out and the books chosen are really good reads! Thanks for sharing on Kid Lit Blog Hop!
    -Reshama @StackingBooks.com

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    1. Thank you, Reshama. Thanks also for co-hosting the Kid Lit Blog Hop. I read some great reviews there.

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  11. Lovely collection of lunches!

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  12. Wow, what great lunches, Keitha! I reallllly need to start making a list of all these great books you read with Boogs! And OMG, I didn't know weird Al wrote a children's book! Had to wiki it an apparently it's one NY Times' bestseller list! Who woulda thunk it? :)

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    1. Boogs and I laughed all the way through the Weird Al book. Billy's career choices were very interesting.

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  13. I wish my mom packed lunches like that when I was a kid. They are gorgeous!

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  14. Making lunches around books is such a cute idea. Thank you for sharing the Momables link, I've signed up for a free week! (You should become an affiliate!)

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    1. Oh good! I hope you enjoy the free week. Laura (Momables) works really hard to provide tons of simple meal ideas with a great variety of foods.

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  15. I've always loved how you make lunch/book combos. Very nice!

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  16. Those mini quiches look yummy!

    Thanks for linking up to TGIF! Have a great week!

    Beth

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    1. They are delicious. Momables has a lot of great recipes. Thanks for stopping by.

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  17. Cat Kong...LOVE it! Thank you for linking to 15 Minute Fridays!

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    1. Thanks, Rebecca. Now, I just have to do Dogzilla. I wish the CuteZcute cutter had a dog face to help me out.

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  18. Well, I am in awe! What a fabulous idea. Wish I had your energy! Thanks for sharing on the Kid Lit Blog Hop! Cheryl, Hop Hostess

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    1. Thanks, Cheryl! Boogs and I have made almost 400 story themed lunches. Thanks for hosting the Kid Lit Blog Hop.

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  19. Wonderful lunches and books!! Several we will have to check out. Thank you for sharing at Sharing Saturday!

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    1. Carrie, thank you so much for stopping by and leaving a kind comment.

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