Hello Book Bums families!
This week in the newsletter we are digging into flowers - books, poetry, artwork, and the meanings behind them all. We also share some great tips for building writing skills and enriching language learning. Read on and enjoy!
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Word of the Week
missive (mi-siv) noun/person, place, or thing - written communication, a letter
Most missives are electronic these days, but I still enjoy a hand-written letter.
Literary Calendar
- On August 11, 1937, Edith Wharton died.
- She was the first woman to win a Pulitzer Prize in Fiction (originally the Novel category) for The Age of Innocence.
- There was some controversy over the prize that year. You can read the details in this article.
From our Bookshelves
I’m working with my granddaughter in preparation for a baby shower to welcome baby Rosie into the world. I thought a garden theme with roses might be lovely—and that reminded me of a book I once read called The Language of Flowers, by Vanessa Diffenbaugh. I read this book years ago, but it’s one of those stories that is called to mind more than others.
I thought it was a good book. It’s a bit of a downer, but for me, the idea that pushes the story along is that people have long communicated emotions through flowers.
The main character, Victoria, is a child of the foster care system; because of abuse and abandonment she has become a bit of a misanthrope, and therefore a bit difficult to like. The only person Victoria had ever loved was Elizabeth. Elizabeth was the one who taught Victoria all she knows about flowers. Because of her vast knowledge, Victoria earns a job in a flower shop where she meets someone who changes her life for good.
This book was inspired by a Victorian-era flower dictionary that shares what different types of flowers could mean.
Please observe this painting of Ophelia and read the message following.
I find this whole idea captivating, so I’m sharing some additional flower information below.
According to one source, the listed flowers can represent the following messages:
• begonia - beware
• bells of Ireland - good luck
• carnation - divine love
• chrysanthemum - you’re a wonderful friend
• daffodil - unrequited love
• forget-me-not - true love
• gladiolus - I am sincere
• heather - admiration
• hydrangea - thank you for understanding
• calla lily - beautiful
• orange lily - hatred
• white lily - purity
• yellow lily - I’m walking on air
• tiger lily - wealth and pride
• orchid - love, beauty, refinement
• peony - shame
• tulip - perfect lover
All this, and I still hadn’t gotten to the “meaning” of roses. Then I found an article all about roses that said roses are believed to have been first cultivated in southern China around 500-400 BC, but there are fossil records that date roses from up to 30 million years ago!
There are three main types of roses: garden roses, wild roses, and modern roses. Most roses seen today are modern roses that have been bred for continuous blooming.
Rose meanings vary according to culture, color, and the number of roses given. Generally, roses symbolize love—particularly red roses. They symbolize passion and desire, and the deeper red color can symbolize a desire for commitment.
Pink roses symbolize admiration and gratitude.
Peach roses symbolize gratitude, genuine feelings, and loyalty.
Yellow roses symbolize warmth and happiness. These are known as the friendship flowers.
Orange roses convey admiration and enthusiasm and are great to give someone who’s beginning a new responsibility.
Purple roses symbolize enchantment and can be given to show “love at first sight.”
White roses are symbolic of purity and grace, so they’re often used as wedding flowers.
Ivory roses symbolize purity and grace without the romance, so they’re a good friendship flower.
You should know that the number of roses given also conveys meaning.
one - love (at first sight or renewed love)
two - mutual affection
three - I love you
six - infatuation or desire
nine - eternal love
twelve - Be mine
thirteen - forever friends OR secret admirer
fifteen - expresses remorse, and apology
twenty-five - congratulations
twenty to fifty - grand and/or sincere love
MORE FUN FACTS ABOUT ROSES
• Ecuador, Columbia, and Kenya are the top rose producers of the world.
• In the late 1800s, adorning the horse winning the Kentucky Derby with a garland made of 554 roses became tradition, and the race then became known as “The Run for the Roses.”
• Dan Fogelberg was commissioned to write the song “Run for the Roses” which is quite lovely.
• Roses are edible.
• The rose is the national flower for the United States and England.
Pause For Poetry
One Perfect Rose
by Dorothy Parker
A single flow’r he sent me, since we met.
All tenderly his messenger he chose;
Deep-hearted, pure, with scented dew still wet—
One perfect rose.
I knew the language of the floweret;
“My fragile leaves,” it said, “his heart enclose.”
Love long has taken for his amulet
One perfect rose.
Why is it no one ever sent me yet
One perfect limousine, do you suppose?
Ah no, it’s always just my luck to get
One perfect rose.
Tips for Families
This is Greg, from social media, and he’s become famous for his Gregisms. My husband sent me this post and I cracked up. There’s so much truth here!
But I sincerely believe that kids will not love reading until what they’re reading makes them feel something. Not all books have to make us cry—thank goodness—but we need books that take us out of the everydayness of our “every days” so we can step into something different.
A dear friend shared with me that some books are like mirrors because they reflect back lives similar to our own, while other books are like windows because they help us see into other lived experiences. I wholly believe that we need both kinds of books. Please don’t shy away from books because you’re afraid they may break your kids’ hearts. Just be sure you’re there with a warm hug and a tissue if they need it.
Tips for Raising Readers and Writers
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Practical Grammar
I mean, we can make fun, but in defense of the one who posted this ping pong table, the sounds for /b/ and /p/ are formed in nearly identical ways. Try it right now. Make the most common sound for the letter b. Now make the most common sound for the letter p. Make their sounds again in quick succession. There’s not much there to differentiate the sounds, BUT if you put your fingers on your throat and make the sounds, you’ll find that /p/ is an unvoiced sound (there’s no buzz in the throat) and /b/ is a voiced sound (there is a buzz in the throat).
We’ve all had words we were surprised to see in print because we know we wouldn’t have spelled them properly, right? Am I the only one?
News from Book Bums
Did you know that we’re seriously looking into opening a third Book Bums location? We are loving a spot in Monroe and are praying about stretching into a great space that’s close to home and gets us into another local school district. We have folks who travel to West Chester all the way from Lebanon, Edgewood, Oxford, Springboro, and other not-so-close areas so their kids can receive outstanding instruction using explicit, systematic phonics with a focus on FUN. If we make the move, we would need to move some teachers and families who’d like to make the switch—and hire some new teachers for new students. It sounds like a lot of work—but it also sounds like a lot of fun. What do you think?
Tips for Teachers
This is a photo of my white board on the first day of school in second grade. I have no idea why I took the picture, but I’m sharing it here because it reminded me of how I really made the most of every opportunity to share with my students about how words work.
I can see that I began teaching about money on day one. I did this because it’s difficult for some kids to remember the names of coins and their values. I wrote the words one cent and explained the irregular spelling of the number word one. I used pronunciation marks to show what o-n-e sounds like. I remember saying that the number word one has one penny (the o) at the beginning.
I shared that that c in cent didn’t represent the sound /k/. I shared that in words with c-e, c-i, and c-y the sound for c can change to /s/ like we see in cent.
I shared that in the word Thursday the r is being bossy and the u makes no sound at all.
I shared that y’s at the ends of longer words (like in penny and Christy) can sound like e’s saying their names.
Pro Tip: If you say it over and over again, kids come to learn what you’re sharing. Some kids are ready for it right now. Other kids aren’t. It’s okay. Keep sharing how words work when opportunities present themselves—even if it’s not reading time—and your kids will be equipped to read and spell well. Reinforcing phonics concepts during math, science, and social studies instruction is exactly what kids need.
Just for Fun
Initially, when I saw this graphic, I was looking to the white letters and was confused. But then I saw that the dark letters, when read from left to right across the word, make a synonym for the whole word! Who in the world sat around looking for words like these?! It’s cool though! Evidently this has been a pastime for some folks since the fifties. With a quick bit of digging, I found some others.
Chocolate contains the joey word cocoa.
Observe contains the word see.
Separated contains the word parted.
Now you want to find more, don’t you?
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