Jamberry

by Bruce Degen

Hello friends!

It's almost summer, and that means one thing: Berry Season! Whether the juicy jems have arrived at your Farmer's markets or you still have a few weeks to wait, you can celebrate the mouthwatering bounty with this week's book. 

Bruce Degen has captured the essence of early summer joy and given us the delicious gift Jamberry. Your days will be filled with chanting and rhyming once you are under the spell of this tale of a boy and a bear as they frolic their way through a silly and magical adventure in Berryland.

The text is whimsical and fun and moves along with a musical, poetic beat sure to enchant everyone within earshot, as this book is best read aloud. Adding to the frivolity are the joyful, engaging illustrations. Each page is a seek-and-find of well-placed treats that only add to the joy of returning to these pages over and over again. 

As You Read

Make a game of finding as many of the silly details as possible. Can your young reader find the marshmallow cattails? the butter pat water lilies? 

In this Issue

• Jamberry Crumble Bars
• Pop Art Jamberries

 

 

Whole Wheat Jamberry Crumble Bars

Jamberry celebrates all things berry, from strawberries, blueberries, and blackberries to hatberries, shoeberries, and canoeberries. So it is only fitting that this week's recipe be centered around the beautiful fruits of early summer.  

Normally, the words 'whole wheat' elicit a definate blech from kids. But in this recipe, half of the whole wheat comes in the form of old-fashioned oats, and half from whole wheat flour. It adds a perfect nuttiness that balances the sweetness of the jam. 

Now for the scrumptious, sweet filling of the bars: jam of course! The best part is that you can use any type of berry jam you like, homemade or storebought.

  

Young Readers in the Kitchen

Kids can help measure and stir together the oat mixture, pat the crust into the pan, spread the jam over prepared crust, and sprinkle the crumble over the jam.

Whole Wheat Jamberry Crumble Bars

Makes a 8x8 inch pan, 9 to 16 bars

Ingredients

• 1 cup old-fashioned oats
• 1 cup white whole wheat flour
• 1 stick butter, melted
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup blueberry, blackberry, or raspberry preserves (we used seedless blackberry)

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Butter an 8x8-inch pan.
2. In a mixing bowl, combine all ingredients, except preserves, until the mixture is crumbly. 
3. Reserve 1 cup oat mixture. Using hands or a rubber spatula, pat remaining oat mixture into prepared pan. 
4. Spread preserves evenly over bottom crust. 
5. Sprinkle reserved oat mixture evenly over preserves layer.  
6. Bake for 25-30 minutes until top crust is lightly golden brown. 
7. Allow to cool for about 15 minutes, then run a sharp knife around edge of pan to loosen. Slice bars and remove from pan, and let cool completely. 

Try Homemade Strawberry Jam as your the filling for the Jamberry Crumble Bars! 

More Whole Wheat: Whole Wheat Apple Oatmeal Cookies

 

Pop Art Jamberries

 

With a nod to the bright colors and bold images of pop art, this activity extends the silly fun and surreal nature of Jamberry into a whole new way to paint.

Pop Art Jamberries

Supplies

• Bubble wrap, in with either large or small bubbles (we used large)
• Paint in berry colors 
• Paintbrushes
• White paper
• Crayons, markers, and/or colored pencils

1. Cut bubble wrap into rectangles sized to fit on the sheets of paper. 
2. Thoroughly coat one rectangle of bubble wrap with a single color of paint. An easy way to do this is to squeeze the paint over the bubble wrap, then use a paintbrush to evenly distribute the paint. 
3. Place a sheet of paper onto the painted surface of the bubble wrap and pat the paper, covering the entire sheet. 
4. Carefully life the paper off of the bubble wrap and lay on a flat surface to dry. 
5. Repeat the process with new pieces of bubble wrap and other paint colors to make multiple prints.
6. Once the prints have dried, use crayons, markers or colored pencils to add stems to some of the “jamberries”.

 More Printmaking for Young Readers: Styrofoam Plate Print Making

More From Off the Shelf

• Blueberries for Sal
• The Little Mouse, the Red Ripe Strawberry, and the Big Hungry Bear
• The Giant Jam Sandwich

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Comments

[Smilinglikesuns]

This sounds like a lovely book.Thanks for linking up to Book Sharing Monday.