Our co-op book was specifically Another Celebrated Dancing Bear, and we all enjoyed it! Juanito's favorites were the traditional Russian tales, Soldier and Tsar in the Forest and The Fool of the World and the Flying Ship. Rosie's favorite was Babushka's Doll. And I personally really enjoyed Patricia Polacco's books, Thunder Cake, The Keeping Quilt, and Rechenka's Eggs. We always love Jan Brett's books! And the Russia ABCs book was very interesting as it shared many facts about Russia that we had encountered in the stories! We used the Around the World Coloring Book and Dolls of the World Coloring Book.
And we had to go watch some Riverdance, the Russian dancers:
Juanito's narrations:
The solider ran into the forest, and the tzar got lost. And then they found a place, but it was a robbers' house. So robbers came in and the woman told them that they were in the attic. Then the soldier took a sharp knife and killed the robber and off rolled his head. The tzar was sleeping. And then the solider asked the woman to give him all her money. The soldier asked the tzar, "Do you want some?"
"No, I don't need any."
And then the tzar went back to the city and told the soldier to come back to the city. The solider didn't know he was the tzar, when the solider went back to the city, all the soldiers saluted him. And the tzar made him a general.
- Soldier and Tsar in the Forest
Hace un tiempo había dos osos. Uno un bailador y uno no. Boris entra en la casa y Boris vi un señal con Max bailando. "Te enseñaré como bailar," dice Max. Y Boris estaba feliz. Y los monos estaban chistosos a Boris. Y Boris dice, "¿Tienen un buen día?" a los monos. Y Boris baila con la ayuda de Max. Y Boris baila a su casa. Y Boris baila y baila y baila. Boris le gusta bailar y está en el circo con su amigo y baila también."
- Another Celebrated Dancing Bear
And Juanito was inspired by the stories to make his own palace with a czar and soldiers!
Rosie's narrations:
The turnip didn't come out! The turnip didn't move. The horse, the goat, the badgers and the hedgehog tried to pull it out. It didn't move. It got in the beds, the bears' bed. The bears said, "Up and away!" The turnip didn't move. The rooster pulled it out, the bears helped him. They ate the turnip."
- The Turnip
Es un cuento de una niña Natasha, la abuela y una muñeca. Natasha no estaba paciente. Ella grita y patea. La abuela da la muñeca a Natasha. La muñeca estaba actuando como Natasha. Natasha siente triste y cansada. Natasha cambia, la abuela pone la muñeca arriba, y Natasha estaba feliz. Natasha es feliz y obedece.
- Babushka's Doll
We made ragalini from my favorite cookbook, Extending the Table, and then also made Russian apple pie for co-op, which we served along with brown bread and strawberry jam thanks to what the bears eat in Another Celebrated Dancing Bear.
For co-op activities, we played Edible-Inedible, created etchings (since the artwork from Another Celebrated Dancing Bear is etching), and made our own versions of St. Basil's Cathedral.
Next we are heading to West Africa!
Here are the previous countries in the series:
About Hannah Hinojosa...Hannah is a long time Compassion sponsor and writes about her sponsorship journey at Because of Shamim. In addition to being a wife and mother, she is a part-time math professor and loves to read.
