The War That Saved My Life by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley

Ten-year-old Ada has never left her one-room apartment. Her mother is too humiliated by Ada’s twisted foot to let her outside. So when her little brother Jamie is shipped out of London to escape the war, Ada doesn’t waste a minute—she sneaks out to join him. 

So begins a new adventure for Ada, and for Susan Smith, the woman who is forced to take the two kids in. As Ada teaches herself to ride a pony, learns to read, and watches for German spies, she begins to trust Susan—and Susan begins to love Ada and Jamie. But in the end, will their bond be enough to hold them together through wartime? Or will Ada and her brother fall back into the cruel hands of their mother?

Book description from https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com

Snacks

• Scones (Page 124: “A lady came over and Miss Smith asked for scones.”) [I got the scones from Target--Favorite Day Bakery brand.]

• Apple (Page 52: “At one point Miss Smith said, ‘Ada, would you hand me three of those apples?’”)

• Make-your-own pony cookie (Page 44: “The pony named Butter stood in the bigger space, facing the house, eyes and ears alert.”) [I gave the girls the materials to make the cookie. I got the idea from https://www.savoryexperiments.com/no-bake-horse-cookies/. This is a picture from the website.]

Activities

• Using nondominant hand -- The girls divided a piece of paper into two sides and then tried writing letters, shapes, etc. with their dominant hand on one side and their nondominant hand on the other. (We did this because Jamie is left-handed in the book, and his teacher at school makes him write with his right hand.)

• Sewing on a button -- In the book, Ada learns how to sew on a button to help with the war effort. So I gave the girls various small pieces of felt, a flower pattern, some buttons, thread, and a needle. Then they cut out a flower shape and sewed the button on. Then I gave them ribbon or a thick popsicle stick so they could make it into a bookmark. I got the basic idea from the blog post here: http://paper-and-string.blogspot.com/2013/03/freebie-day-part-three.html?m=1 This is a picture from the website.