Oh how I love the above book! We read it today for our #abookagameaday challenge from thewaldockway.com. I love how the central message is the power of mother love, and the reciprocal love a child has for her mother. So tremendously transcendant! Dear William Steig must have genuinely loved his family. This book and his Sylvester and the Magic Pebble exude family togetherness.

We had a birthday girl in our midst today so we played games she chose to help celebrate the occasion. Here’s what we did:

Have I mentioned before how much I love Bananagrams? Yes! Great taste, girlfriend! 5 out of 5 stars! So much better than Scrabble! We allow abbreviations in our games, hence “P.E.” in the winning grid below. Sorry about the confusing background, I keep maps and US state flashcards under my plastic tablecloth. (You know us homeschoolers, always wanting to capitalize on a captive audience around a table!)

Then Whoonu by Cranium. It’s $64 on Amazon! Maybe I will sell my copy! I got it free when a Veggie Gal girlfriend moved to Oregon and dejunked. “Whoonu” it would get so much loving play out of it years later? This is the third time we’ve played it in a month. The girls especially love it. I guess it’s out of print so the price is high. It’s such a great “getting-to-know-you” game. You get to learn what every player’s favorite things are with guessing cards and a secret envelope. Such a clever concept. It’s great because kids who don’t do well at trivia/academic knowledge quiz games still have a fighting chance at this one. 5 out of 5 stars.

Then Reverse Charades. This one is fast becoming the kiddos’ favorite. We have played it two days in a row for gameschooling. The kids get so intense. You have two teams and then one person on each team has to guess the word while the other teammates act it out. I love seeing their creativity to act it out and then see them succeed at guessing, especially when the cluewords are obscure but they still get it. I bought the game for $4 while thrifting in Tucson two weeks ago. Such a great bargain for so many laughs and connection to boot! 5 out of 5 stars.