We finished Call it Courage on CD yesterday and what a gripping read listen! Mafatu is a 15-year-old Polynesian boy who loses his mother in an accident at sea. His consequent fear of the ocean leads to the disdain of his people and the disappointment of his father, the chief. He leaves the island to find his courage. Does he succeed? What do you think?
Excitement factor: 10 out of 10
Fear factor: 8 ½ out of 10 (because of the scene with the Eaters-of-Men). I am raising some very brave little girls!
Bonus: Maggie’s Quick Tip
I like to pick up a copy of the book at the same time as the CD. Of course that means that my three readers fight tooth and nail disagree peaceably over who gets to follow along. In any case, the accompanying illustrations are always nice and seeing the text helps with their vocabulary.
*Updated to Add: Today we spent a fair amount of time exploring this website. The videos are wonderful! The kids got to learn about Mafatu’s people and Mom got to reminisce about her visit to this center last year.
And then we all looked out the window at the freshly fallen snow and sighed.
Happy Friday, everyone!
Ad Jesum per Mariam,
Meggie, me still-developing-fluency reader, often sits shoulder to shoulder with me during our evening read alouds, so she can follow along. I know it’s doing her so much good that I try very hard not to be annoyed with that whole “reading over my shoulder” thing. 🙂