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If your son enjoys intrigue, excitement, and a good book, the Crogan Adventures may be just the series he’s looking for. Written by Chris Schweizer, these action-adventure stories follow the lives of the Crogan men throughout the generations.

The first in the series, Crogan’s Vengeance, tells the story of “Catfish” Crogan, an honest sailor who boards a ship with a merciless captain. When the ship is waylaid by pirates, Catfish his shipmates join the crew. What follows are mutinees, storms, and sword-fights — all key ingredients to a great adventure.

The second book, Crogan’s March, follows Corporal Peter Crogan, a French legionnaire in Africa in the early twentieth century. In the story, Peter must endure both long marches and sandstorms as his loyalties are torn between his captain and his sergeant. When his entire squad is killed and he is captured by Tauregs, he makes a daring escape, leading other prisoners to safety with him.

The Crogan adventures are definitely books geared for boys, particularly those in middle school or older. Violence is depicted, as you would expect in a pirate or war story, and is probably too much for younger readers. Women have only very small roles (there’s not one in the first book at all) — these are definitely books intended to be read by boys, just for the enjoyment of the action.

And there are more books to come! The inside cover of the book reveals all the characters of the Crogan family, including a ninja, a trail blazer, a lion tamer, a pilot, a diamond miner, a private eye, and Revolutionary War soldiers.

You can find the Crogan series in bookstores, online, or in your library. So if you have an older son, check one out — and let the adventure begin!

A couple of weeks ago, a friend approached me about putting together a writing camp for the homeschoolers in our area. I was able to get in touch with another friend, author Pam Zollman, who has taught writing classes for years. This week we met to decide the details, and I think the camp is going to be really good.

Pam has written over 40 books for children, and she also worked as an editor at Highlights Magazine. As I listened to her talk during our planning meeting, I could tell she has a knack for getting the information to across to students.

During the camp, we’ll follow a similar schedule each day. To begin, we’ll read a favorite picture book, then together the class with discuss the story elements found in the picture book: characters, setting, and plot. This camp will focus on illustration, too, so we’ll look at the pictures to determine the medium used and the mood created.

Then Pam will start with the writing instruction, and the kids will work on their own original stories. Next, I’ll give the children some drawing tips so they can develop illustrations to go along with their books. Throughout the camp, Pam and I will be available to help them out as they work on their projects.

One of the best things about this camp is the educational experience it affords — and during the summer, too! Kids will spend five days learning, reading, writing, drawing, and putting their own book together. It can certainly be counted as school time, even if the children are having too much fun to realize it!

Do you have a friend who likes to write? Does she enjoy teaching as well? If so, encourage her to set up a class for the homeschoolers in your area. It doesn’t have to last all week — even one or two classes can inspire a young writer to start creating.

Our lazy days of summer haven’t been too lazy yet. We’ve had family visit, spent a week with art camp, and worked on math. There’s so much we can do, and even for those (like us) who are on a tighter budget this summer, much of it is free.

If you’re looking for things to do as a family, check into some of these:

Library Programs:  Many times libraries will bring in presenters for programs. They might be magicians, animal handlers, scientists, musicians, or puppeteers, and the hour-long program can be a lot of fun. Some libraries also offer free craft classes for kids.

Kids’ Movies: Check with your local movie theater to see if any free movies are being offered. Our area has three theaters that offer free movies in the summer, usually once or twice a week. One of our local universities is even offering free kids’ movies in the evening.

Concerts: Often, community bands will offer free concerts in the summer. Check the Sunday paper or your city’s website for more information.

Festivals: Our state has festivals going on all through the summer, from the Peach Festival to the Watermelon Festival to Fourth of July Festivals. Take along some extra water and enjoy the arts, crafts, and music.   

Parks: Enjoy the outdoors with your family with a picnic at a city park. Pack your food in a cooler, take along a Frisbee or football, and enjoy!

Zoos and Museums: Depending on where you live, entrance into the local zoo and museums may be free as well. Check your city’s website or visitor’s guide for more information. You might even want to get a group of friends together and make it a field trip!

Whatever your family does this summer, be sure to slow down and enjoy it!

This week, I worked at a local art camp teaching a writing class and helping with the crafts. Because we were working on stories in the writing class, the children spent time making books during art. These were conventional-looking books — with very unconventional covers.

The books themselves were small, about 4″ x 5″, though you could make them any size. The covers were made out of pieces of mat board, and for this project, a light color would work best — either white or cream. After cutting the paper to size, the art teacher then place a cover on either end of the paper stack and drilled two holes all the way through using a small bit. String was then threaded through the holes to hold the pieces together.

What made the covers so pretty, however, was the way in which the kids decorated them using tissue paper. We did this before putting the books together.

First, we mixed up a small amount of white glue with water. Each child then took a paintbrush and “painted” the mat board cover of their book with the mixture. Next, they chose from the colorful scraps of tissue paper we had on hand and placed them on the now sticky surface of their covers. They went over the tissue paper again with a little more of the glue/water mixture, making sure the tissue paper was lying flat. Overlapping the paper was fine — it created even more colors.

The mat board worked really well with this technique, as it was strong enough not to bend or warp when the glue mixture was applied. If you don’t have a drill, however, you can still use this technique to make an accordion-style book that you just put together with glue instead of string. To do this, have your child fold the paper like a fan, then glue each end to a rectangular piece of mat board that the child has decorated.

Whatever method you use, try making one of these beautiful books this summer. It will be a keepsake to last a lifetime!

In 2008, I received my first contracts for illustrating picture books. The largest (in length of time and actual painting size) was one for Alma Little Publishing. And just a couple of weeks ago, I received my copy of the book in the mail: Cathy’s Animal Garden: Enter at Your Own Risk.

Cathy’s Animal Garden follows two boys, Henry and Andy, as they wander through Cathy’s garden in search of Henry’s homerun ball. Signs throughout the garden warn of the animals there: tigers, elephants, dragons, spiders, monkeys, leopards, foxes, and more. The boys are frightened but continue on — until they meet Cathy. She explains to them that they are in her animal garden, a garden made of plants and flowers with animal names.

This was such a fun book to illustrate. I love painting animals, and this garden is full of them, even if they’re in the boys’ imaginations. Because children will sometimes study the paintings in a picture book, I also added lots of other animals for them to find — ones they actually might find in a garden. They can spot a turtle, a chipmunk, a worm, a caterpillar, a ladybug, a lizard — so many creatures call a garden home! To add a little more fun, I also included a dragonfly in every illustration.

The author of Cathy’s Animal Garden, Stacy Tornio, is the editor of Birds and Blooms , a magazine featuring information and photographs of songbirds and flowers. Stacy is also a master gardener, and her passion for gardening shines through. The end pages of the book contain references about the different types of “animal” plants, as well as a planting zone map for the United States.

Of course, I’d have to recommend this book, but for more than the obvious reason. It’s a great starting point for any child interested in gardening and could be easily incorporated into a unit study. Actually, one of the best recommendations I’ve heard has been from my daughter, Lillie. After reading through the story together, she asked, “When can we plant an animal garden?”

This past week, I’ve seen some great changes in my oldest son’s behavior. And the best part is, I didn’t have to tell him to do it.

John is almost 14, and this year at co-op he’s made a lot of new friends. Between his old friends, co-op friends, and scout friends, he’s been invited to a lot of events recently, from birthday parties to air soft parties to just hanging out for an afternoon. The result: his attention had often turned away from doing things with his siblings to preparing for the next get-together.

Part of me understood that this was a natural occurrence with growing up and moving into adolescence, but part of me was saddened by the change in the relationships, especially that with his six-year-old brother. “Play with Luke. He looks up to you,” I would say. John would be obedient, and do what I asked — but I felt discouraged that I even had to ask.

That is, until a couple of days ago. I was walking through the house, when John called me over. “Watch this, ” he said as Luke stood beside him, grinning from ear to ear. “This is ‘Man-Fighting.’” The two then began to wrestle on the floor, rolling around and punching each other. Finally Luke pinned John down and told him to say “uncle.”

Then, yesterday at the pool, Luke was swimming around in the shallow end by himself. John had been jumping and diving in the deep end, when suddenly he came up to Luke and started playing a game with him. Luke shrieked and laughed in delight the whole time.

Last night, Luke decided to make up an obstacle course in the yard. He had placed several objects in a line, such as pieces of wood, sticks, balls, etc., and the goal was to run and jump over them as quickly as possible. I did it once, my husband did it once, and then John came out; he did it over and over again with Luke, as they raced together, fell down together, and laughed together.

What caused the change? I’m not sure, but I’m so thankful for it. Instead of reminding John to be kind to Luke, I can just smile and tell him what a great job I think he’s doing. Must be a sign that he’s growing up.

During our family camping trip, my mom brought along a Boggle game, one of my favorite games but one I hadn’t played in years. Though no one played it during the trip, it made its way to my house afterward, and my son John got it out. I told him briefly how to play, and he tried it out with his cousins who were visiting. They really enjoyed it.

Boggle is made up of 16 dice that have letters instead of dots. The dice fit into a container that can be shaken, and the letters then fall in a random order. The object of the game is to make as many words (three letters or more) from the dice, using only those letters that touch each other in some way, either horizontally, vertically, or diagonally. Players have three minutes to find as many words as they can. Points are earned only when a player finds a word that no other player has found.

After most of our company had left, John asked me if I would like to play — he didn’t know I used to be pretty good at the game. My mom played too, and she is more knowledgeable about words than I am, having worked crossword puzzles for years. He was in for some tough competition.

Although I still sometimes let my six-year-old win a game, we didn’t let John (13 years old) win — he had to work for every point he got. Then Cassie joined in (11 years old), and naturally, she found even fewer words. While I wasn’t sure what their reactions would be to such a challenge, I was pleasantly surprised.

Round after round, Cassie came up with no points — someone else had found every word she did. Yet still she continued to play. It wasn’t until we had played about 15 rounds over two days that she finally got some points.

John, being older, did get more points, but he never scored as high as my mom or me. But he too, continued to try.

On the last day my mom was here, my daughter Lillie, age 9, joined the game. She found even fewer words, but she kept at it, too.

These past few days of playing Boggle have turned out to be great opportunities for learning. It was good to watch as the children learned:

*New words, as my mom came up with some old English terms and words none of us had ever heard of.

*Definitions, as we questioned her words and had to look them up

*How to correctly spell certain words

*Persistence, as all three of the kids kept at the game, even though they never won a round

*Sportsmanship, as they continued to play with good attitudes

Boggle has become a favorite game for our family. Perhaps it’s even time to break out Big Boggle. 

At a Doe River Gorge, a Christian campground in Elizabethton, Tennessee, my family was introduced to the game Octoball. An easy game to learn, it’s been a hit with all of my children, and it’s a game they can all play together.

Octoball is an outdoor game played in an octagonal “ring” made of eight boards, each one 12′ x 8′ x 2″. New wood from the lumber store can be expensive, but older pieces can be used. Once the ring is set up, all you need is a volleyball, and you’re ready to play.

The object of the game is similar to that of dodgeball — avoid getting hit by the ball. The last person standing in the ring is declared the winner.

To play, one person starts the play by throwing the ball and hitting it on the side of the ring.  Then players try to hit each other with the ball. If a player hits the ball and it touches another player below the knee, then that player is out; if it hits above the knee, the player is still in the game.

Additional rules include:

• No player may hit the ball twice in succession unless the ball hits the wall in between hits.

• If a player hits the ball and it goes out of the ring without touching the wall, that player is out.

• If a player hits the ball and it touches the wall and then goes out of the ring, that player is still in the game.

While older kids can usually hit the ball with more force and better direction, the younger ones can run and jump quickly out of the way. The last two left in the ring often differ a great deal in age, making it a fun game for everyone!

This past month, we’ve been to the strawberry farm twice for strawberries, once to pick them ourselves and another time just to purchase them. Even though it’s already June, fresh strawberries are still available at the farm and roadside markets. If you have extra berries in your refrigerator or freezer and aren’t quite sure what to do with them, visit the website Easy-Strawberry-Recipes.com.

I stumbled upon this clean and easy-to-use site not long ago. It’s a great resource for anyone who loves to cook and loves eating strawberries. Here you’ll find breakfast recipes for smoothies, muffins, jams, waffle toppings, pancakes, and crepes. Click on the “salads” link and you’ll find a number of fruit salad recipes, as well as ones for different types of Jello salads. There’s even a recipe for Strawberry Turkey Pasta Salad!

And, of course, there are dessert recipes listed as well. You’ll find directions for making strawberry cheesecake, strawberry cakes, strawberry shortcake, strawberry pie, and strawberry cookies. There are also instructions for strawberry ice cream and strawberry sorbet, as well as strawberry milkshakes and strawberry punch.

Often when I’m in a rush, I find myself preparing the strawberries and making the dishes myself. If you find yourself in a similar situation, just place the strawberries in your refrigerator until you have a little more time. Then, invite your children to come help you. Show them how to rinse the berries, pat them dry, and remove the caps. Choose a recipe you will all enjoy, and take them through the steps in preparing it. Show them how to mix, measure, stir, and blend. You’ll find that even young children like the challenge of following a recipe.

With some strawberries, a little time, and recipes such as those on Easy-Strawberry-Recipes.com, not only will you be able to cook delicious food to eat, but you’ll create a learning opportunity as well as make a memory with your children — and all at the same time!