Monday, February 17, 2014

Maxilla: A story of respecting nature (and a giveaway!)


Recently, we were blessed to receive a copy of "Maxilla" to read. This book is based on a real-life story of Reuben, who finds a caterpillar in the school garden. He names the little creature Maxilla, and decides to keep her as a pet. However, he finds out that Maxilla would not be able to thrive in captivity, and has to decide whether he should continue to keep his new pet, or return her to her natural habitat. 

I read the story to both the older boys, and Junior J enjoyed the simple story. Lil J was busy looking for the caterpillar in the lovely illustrations. I particularly loved the message of the book: to respect nature and how sometimes being loving means letting go. We go on walks frequently, and I think it is important for the boys to learn how to respect nature, and not disturb the living creatures they encounter during those outdoor forays.  


From the learning point of view, this book was useful in teaching the life-cycle of the butterfly (the book also includes a description of the life cycle from Maxilla's point of view). To complement our reading, we did a couple of butterfly crafts. 


The boys painted on toilet rolls and paper cut into the shape of butterfly wings...


... and we added goggly eyes and antennae using pipe cleaners.


We also made these caterpillar/butterfly crafts (you can get the instructions here). These were supposed to unfold into butterflies:


What was interesting was that Junior J folded the ice-cream sticks around the caterpillar and declared that was the chrysalis, before unfolding it to reveal the butterfly wings!


These activities aside, you could also try getting the butterfly kit from Oh Farms so you can observe the caterpillars pupating and turning into butterflies. Or try this pasta activity (that comes with a lovely printable), which used different shaped pasta to represent the different stages in the life cycle of the butterfly.

And if your child loves hearing stories being read to him/her, there would be story-telling sessions by the author of the book, Lianne Ong, in March:
      - 15 March, 1 to 2pm at MPH Bookstores, Parkway Parade
      - 21 March, 12 to 1pm at Woodlands Regional Library, Programme Zone

~~~~~~~

MPH Bookstores is kindly giving away a copy of "Maxilla" to THREE blog readers! Just follow the instructions in the Rafflecopter widget below to enter in the giveaway (please remember to leave your email address in the comments so we can contact you if you win!):
a Rafflecopter giveaway

PS: You can follow our book recommendations over here at our Facebook page.

PPS: The usual disclaimer. We received a copy of "Maxilla" from 
MPH Bookstores for review purposes. No monetary compensation was received, and all opinions are our own.

46 comments:

  1. My son's current favourite book is 'The Gruffalo'. Name: Gina Tan; email: beloved.gina@gmail.com.

    ReplyDelete
  2. My boy's favorite read now is Jack and the Beanstalk

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hope to get hold of this book for my little missy. She likes me to read-aloud to her the pop-up book - Charlie and the chocolate factory. fionacll@gmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  4. Her current favourite is princess books. Anything that has to do with princess, she would ask to be read over and over again.

    Lilium Day
    walk_of_life(at)live(dot)com

    ReplyDelete
  5. Regan's current favorite book is Frozen. Thanks for hosting the giveaway!

    Shirley Yong
    shirley@yong.sg

    ReplyDelete
  6. My son's current favourite book is Under the Sea, Under the sea.
    Amie Chen
    amycpj@gmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  7. Looks like an awesome read! Angel's favourite book is now Gruffalo's Child but she is so into nature and animals so I think she will love this! Thanks for hosting!

    Summer
    summer0704@gmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  8. My daughter's current favourite book is The Hungry Caterpillar. Thanks for hosting the giveaway!

    Beverly
    beverlywoo.bw@gmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  9. Noah's current favourite book is My Big Book of Trucks and Diggers.
    Adeline / growingwiththetans@gmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  10. My girl's current favorite is the princess and the wizard.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Currently, my son is into Aseop's fables. Of late, we realised it is cheaper to buy in Malaysia since the exchange rate is in our favour. And we bought lots from the borders in KL which meant to give away as birthday goodies for his coming birthday celebration in school.

    Hope to win the book. Thanks

    Evelyn
    evelynngst@gmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  12. My girl does not have any favourite as she loves reading but current reading is The Swan Queen. We always bought new books for her o her birthdays. Her 8th birthday us coming soon, in April.

    Hope to win this Maxilla for my kids.

    Rowena
    roliew@yahoo.com

    ReplyDelete
  13. My boy's current favourite book is The Door to Time. Thank you hosting this giveaway.

    Cheryl
    cheryl_siew@yahoo.com

    ReplyDelete
  14. Current fav book is The day the crayons quit
    Angeline
    annnsh@gmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  15. Isaac is currently steadily making his way through Enid Blyton's Five-Find-Outer Series. he enjoys it very much and has proclaimed that he wants to read all of Enid Blyton's books! :)pamela emailpamela(a)yahoo.com

    ReplyDelete
  16. Ha, that is a nice work! Love the caterpillars on the ice-cream sticks.

    ReplyDelete
  17. Her favourite book is The Hungry Caterpillar
    Cynthia
    edenie98@yahoo.com

    ReplyDelete
  18. The hungry caterpillar
    cyn_lau32@yahoo.com.sg

    ReplyDelete
  19. The Tale of Mrs Tittlemouse
    Teo Yee Long
    trantrulla@hotmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  20. Ian currently loves reading the 'God I want to talk with you about...' series.

    Robert_sim@yahoo.com

    ReplyDelete
  21. My son's current favourite book is Room on the Broom!
    Rina
    rinarinalim@gmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  22. We are going on a bear hunt is my kid favourite.
    Chueimei@gmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  23. The Little Mermaid
    Teo Chin Long
    johnteo1978@gmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  24. The Grouchy Ladybug
    Teo Han Choo
    teohanchoo@gmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  25. Eli's all-time favourite book is Dazzling Diggers.

    Cmeilim@gmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  26. My daughter favourite book is Magic Kingdom

    Cindy Tan
    cindy.tanwl@gmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  27. Love the fuzzy caterpillars! And this is a difficult question! It's hard to choose one but I think my daughter likes "Why the Animals Came to Town" (a book on looking after the earth) and my son loves "The Gruffalo".

    ReplyDelete
  28. Oops! I forgot my email, it's princessandtherock@gmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  29. My son's current favourite book is 'The Gruffalo'.
    Name: Angela Tan
    email: taznpiglet@gmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  30. My daughter is currently crazy about stories from the old testament. She has been making us read to her from our Bibles those stories not found in hers like that about Esau and Jacob.
    Meijun
    Colortypesink@gmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  31. My boy's all time favourite books is Hungry Caterpillar. This book would complement his love for bugs. Thanks

    Eunice
    nikki_wee@hotmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  32. Cinderalla
    Tan Choon Chai
    tanchoonchai72@gmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  33. currently my boy is self reading Stone arch Readers series. "Let's Paint the Garage"! :)
    Kudos to your effort to do follow up activities after reading a book!
    evespiration@gmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  34. Hope to win.
    Gordon
    ngiamkm@yahoo.com.sg

    ReplyDelete
  35. Current fav has got to be Frozen!

    M Lim
    nursingcow@gmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  36. My child enjoys reading Leo Lionni books a lot, such as Frederick.

    sacredtea.order@gmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  37. The hungry little caterpillar :) sylvia.globetrekker@gmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  38. kyle's favorite book is actually a very wordy book about zombies! He cant read but he will bring to me to read it to him. I used a few pictures from the book to spin a story for him.

    tinkene@gmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  39. Butterflies have always fascinated Evan so this book will be great for him!

    ReplyDelete
  40. Bible Stories For Children
    Joeanne Shim
    joeanneshim@hotmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  41. Xav's favourite are now the stack of The Young Scientist Magazines !

    Thanks for hosting the giveaway !

    serene_seah@hotmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  42. My son's favourite book now is LEGO Minifigure year by year.

    Chan Xgg
    chanxgg@gmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  43. My eldest son's fav book is thomas and friends treasury : )
    Veryfatmum99@gmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  44. Mummy do you love me

    Chin Ling
    chinling83@yaho.com.sg

    ReplyDelete
  45. My son's favourite book is still The Snail and the Whale.

    Thanks for this great giveaway, hope to win :)

    Audrey
    sweetsweethalo@yahoo.com

    ReplyDelete

LinkWithin

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...