Hannah's Reading Room

© Hannah Babiak/Dreamstime.com "I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not,  when I came to die, discover that I had not lived." - Henry David Thoreau " Walden, or Life in the Woods " © Hannah Babiak/Dreamstime.com The Delavan Memorial Arboretum is a beautiful spot in Delavan, Wisconsin that I love to go to.  It is beautiful any time of year and has a lot to offer.  I am always surprised at how many local people don't even know it exists.  There are lovely walking trails, a lake for fishing or kayaking and a wide variety of trees.  There are benches for bird watching an arbor for outdoor weddings and scenery that changes from week to week.  It is located at 440 North Terrace St. in Delavan, WI.   © Hannah Babiak/Dreamstime.com The arboretum is located along the northeast shore of Lake Comus which is a great place for fishing, canoeing  or kayakin

This post contains Amazon affiliate links.  I receive a small commission if you purchase from my links.  Every purchase helps keep this blog going.  © Hannah Babiak/Dreamstime.com This past week, my friend and I took a road trip to  Woodstock, Illinois   to see what we could discover on a very cold, blustery, winter day.  Because of the freezing temperatures, we didn't plan to spend much time outside, just mostly photographing from the car.  We found a lot of neat things, so come along as I share some of my favorite things we saw.  As usual, you may purchase any of my photos by clicking on the copyright link underneath each photo. © Hannah Babiak/Dreamstime.com We weren't quite to Woodstock yet when we found this adorable Christmas tree farm.  I believe we were in Harvard, IL at this point and the  vintage Ford truck almost buried in the snow says, "Wild Pines" and has a Christmas tree in the back all covered with snow.  We loved the teal color and it reminded me of

   This post contains affiliate links.  I receive a small commission if you purchase from my links.  Every purchase helps keep this blog going.  We just finished our unit study on the state of New Jersey.  The list of children's books below are all the books we read together to help us discover and explore this state, along with a short review of what we liked about each book.  Do you have any good ones that I missed?  If so, leave a comment and let me know so we can read it.  We hope you find this list helpful as you use living books to help you learn about New Jersey. G is for Garden State: A New Jersey Alphabet   by Eileen Cameron is a great introduction to the state of New Jersey for young and old.  There is a cute little rhyme that goes through each letter of the alphabet for the younger children and then there is more information for older children and adults.  The illustrations are beautiful. The Mars Family: M&M Mars Candy Makers  by Joanne Mattern tells the story