Redwall School--The Best Kind

On a whim (actually to give myself a few minutes of peace while trying to make dinner) I let our kids begin watching the Redwall series on netflix. I figured it is based on a book how bad can it be? (don't answer that)  It ended up being a HIT. Like mom made a homerun (I hit it outta the park!)
I then told them the cartoon was based on a series of books written by Brian Jacques. They were interested.  A quick trip to the library and we had Redwall in hand. Now pause here for just a sec. I was really going out on a limb with this book. It is LONG. 300+ pages long, no pictures...just reading aloud. I knew the big boys (8 and 7 years) were ready for it, but I also knew going into it we would only be able to read during Ben's nap or in the evenings when Brian could keep the little rascal out of trouble. I also knew that chances were pretty good that Ean our four year old would lose interest quickly--so reading (for more than 15 minutes with no pictures)involved snacks and some special toys or coloring to keep him engaged physically. (he is a busy guy) 
Anyway long story short (hehe no pun intended) we finished Redwall --it took us about a month to get through the 300 plus pages but it was so very worth it. We has many lively discussions about the differences between the cartoon, the book and even the graphic novel. We talked about how different people have different interpretations of a story--and how artists use creative licence. We learned what a stoat is, and how they are different than weasels. We researched almost all the woodland creatures--reading about habitat, diet and behavior in the wild.  It was awesome.
No longer were they passively watching a cartoon but analyzing the differences between the book/cartoon and discussing why the cartoon writer might have decided to omit this or change that. Discussing animal behaviors in the wild vs. what they saw in the cartoon. WOW. Accidental School.
We later discovered that Redwall is actually the tenth book in the series so now we are rewinding and reading Lord Brocktree. I admit I am hooked too. I love the characters and I love the medieval setting. I look forward to our afternoons of laying on the trampoline reading or our evenings before bed. It's all I can do not to plow through the book on my own and leave the kids in the dust, especially at the intense parts.
Well now the kids want to play Redwall. We do not own furry woodland creatures for toys. none. zip. There must be some Redwall toys out there right. Nope. not a one. I looked --hours of internet searching nothing. Plan B. Find woodland creatures and make them costumes (that sounds way more fun anyway). So my search yielded some woodland creature toys...Calico Critters to be exact. I showed my oldest (he's 8) he took one look and snorted derisively..."mom those are too girly." Sigh. Back to looking. There really was nothing. So we moved to covert Plan B--buy Calico Critter set off ebay (cheap) and make them costumes. I bought the Milky Mouse family.The two main characters are Mathias and Cornflower so these were the characters I decided to make costumes for. I took socks we  bought at the dollar store from another project and fabric scraps and made medieval-ish mouse costumes. I placed them on the kitchen table that night and went to bed. Morning brought exclamations of disbelief--you found Redwall toys. um nope. I made them --they were Calico Critters. The shock on their faces turned to excitement as they realized they could get more of the woodland creatures and re-outfit them. So to ebay we went. We found creatures that could play Basil Stag Hare, Cluny, Mattimoe, and Slagar (to name a few). They are all currently in the throes of being re-outfitted with much discussion over artistic license and personal preference/imagination vs sticking to how the tv series dressed them. Here are some pictures of what we have worked on...

Mathias and Cornflower

Cluny and Basil Stag Hare

So what are you reading with your kids this summer?