Feed Me Books Friday: I Spy, In the Rearview Mirror

Two Happy Road-Trippers

Rather than a big summer vacation, we’ve made several shorter jaunts this year – which has meant a considerable amount of time on the road. As a result, I’ve been on the lookout for car-friendly entertainment. Scored a Crayola dry-erase lap board on clearance at Target, found travel scavenger hunt cards in the dollar bin at Joann’s, and we keep the portable DVD charged and stowed under the backseat just in case. But my favorite find this season has been a toy combined with (you guessed it) a book!

Look – in the backseat – it’s a toy, it’s a book, no it’s a lifesaver!

Ok, so lifesaver might be a better descriptor for the carseats my kids are riding in, but I really had no idea how cool this would be when I ordered it! I have had my eye on I Play’s Peek a Book Bags for some time now – car toy, church toy, diaper bag toy – many possibilities. Then I as I was checking for new options and price drops, I found the Peek a Boo Pack. It combines the Everything A to Z Peek a Boo bag with a board book in a travel friendly fabric case. The bag is made of cloth with a clear vinyl window. Inside, tiny plastic and rubber objects representing all the letters of the alphabet are hidden among tiny white beads. The user (you’ll find this as entertaining as your child) manipulates the beads by squishing and turning the bag while peeking through the window to find the objects. The book features pictures and rhymes highlighting the hidden items and giving children a master list as well as increased motivation to search for them. We had a blast with it on a recent 4 hour car trip. Not only did we search for the objects as directed by the book, but we made up our own games like who could find objects the fastest, finding objects in alphabetical order, finding an object then identifying its beginning sound, and finding an object then challenging a partner. I also purchased the Language Development Eye Spy Bag; while it does not include a book, it does come tagged with a card giving suggestions for vocabulary building activities like practicing letters, colors, shapes, even prepositions, and pronouns. By having two bags we avoided sharing issues and both are definitely entertaining. Your child can benefit from both the cognitive as well as the physical challenge of finding the objects among the beads. This is an item that will be part of my travel bag from now on – B even asked for one this week during a short ride to the grocery store!

Appropriate for babies, toddlers, preschoolers, primary grades.

photo courtesy M Kuhn via Flickr

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Feed Me Books Friday: Bring on the Bravery!

Curing the Cowardly

B started swimming lessons this week. He was totally looking forward to it, thrilled by the idea of learning new skills to use in the pool at home. We’ve been talking about class starting for weeks. He made it in the pool for the first class, was in tears by the end, and has refused to return. His cowardice has nothing to do with actual fears – he’s a decent swimmer already, he can touch the bottom of the pool, and he dives for toys in our pool like they’re pirate treasure. His teachers are friendly young women energetic enough to motivate a snail. So what’s he so afraid of? It’s COLD (relatively). We keep a solar cover on our pool, and thanks to our sunny climate, we enjoy balmy pool temperatures all summer long. The public pool is outdoors and considerably less like bath-water. I’ve tried all sorts of reasoning (the ocean, the sprinklers, and the slip-n-slide are all colder, but fun, he’ll be warm once he gets moving, etc.) I’ve tried bribery (we’ll stop for a treat after if he gets in for lessons.) I’ve regrettably resorted to threats (we won’t be able to sign up for sports any more if you don’t keep your commitments.) Nothing seems to entice him. So for now, T and I are splashing away in the parent-tot class I signed up for thinking I’d need to keep T busy while B swam. Help! What’s a mom to do?

Humor Helps

It’s easy to get wrapped up and weighed down by frustration like I’ve experienced this week with the swimming lesson stand-off. I’m trying to walk a fine line between taking it seriously enough to show B that his fear is irrational and his commitment is required, and taking it lightly enough to not let it ruin my day. Books that turn expectations upside down are just the thing to lighten the mood. One we recently enjoyed that fit right into our discussion of bravery is Ogden Nash’s The Tale of Custard the Dragon. I came across it on Brimful Curiosities during poetry month (yes, mentioned Janelle last week too – she’s awesome) and requested it from our library. Loved the funny, rhyming verses, vibrant language, and entertaining illustrations by Lynn Munsinger. Custard is a cowardly dragon belonging to a young lady named Belinda. She and her other pets find cowardice a surprising trait for a “realio, trulio” dragon and he even endures some teasing from them. However, in a moment of truth involving a menacing pirate, Custard and his mouthy friends show their true colors. There’s not a moral here about bravery or friendship – don’t look for it. Instead, enjoy it for the fun rhymes, silly language, and curious plot. And when life has you rolling your eyes, try to face each challenge with a “realio, trulio” smile.

Appropriate for: preschoolers, primary grades

How do you coax a reluctant child to try something new? We’ve got one week left!

photo credit: capl@washjeff.edu

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Feed Me Books Friday: Not Your Average Picture Book

Kid-Friendly Comics

When we think of comics, most of us will either think of super-heroes like Spiderman or the Sunday funnies. Perhaps you’ve even been introduced to Captain Underpants or the Wimpy Kid series aimed at tweens. But if my experience is any indication, you may not yet have heard of the Toon series of books for emerging readers. After reading about the series in a Lit Lad review, I was thrilled to receive two Toon books from Candlewick, the publishers of Toon books, for our own review!


Appropriate and Accessible

The major plus-points of this series are that the content is appropriate for preschoolers and the language is accessible to early readers. The plot lines, while not necessarily action-packed thrillers, are relatable to youngsters, which is vital in engaging them as readers. Most preschoolers don’t have the cognitive ability to imagine in the abstract just yet. Their pretend-play is usually variations of their own experience or things they’ve witnessed. Appealing books will fit this description as well: they are imaginative enough to be entertaining, but not so fanciful that they are hard to grasp. The text of Toon books is thoughtfully crafted to be within the grasp of those children beginning to read independently. They are divided into 3 levels, characterized by number and complexity of words and sentences, complexity of plot-line, and comic panels per page.


Unique to the Bookshelf

The titles we received are Silly Lilly in What Will I Be Today? (Level 1) and Patrick in A Teddy Bear’s Picnic and other stories (Level 2). Silly Lilly’s plot line highlights the options open to an adventurous yet indecisive young girl and provides practice in the days of the week. B is not quite ready for independent reading, and the text was pretty simple for a read-aloud, but he enjoyed Lilly’s experimenting since he thoroughly enjoys role-play pretend games. Patrick’s stories include the title picnic story as well as Patrick Has a Nap, and Patrick and Big Bear. The title story follows the many adventures of Patrick and his mother on their picnic. Any mom who has tried to sit still for more than 3 minutes will relate. While their picnic is rained out, Patrick and Ma still enjoy the day together. Patrick Has a Nap is a shorter sequence demonstrating his strong will to avoid his nap which later catches up with him. Patrick and Big Bear features Patrick’s challenge to face Big Bear, a local bully. Patrick stands up to Big Bear’s bullying by roaring like a dragon, which while effective in the context of the story, might warrant a little discussion with a young reader to discuss what other appropriate responses might be. I appreciate that Patrick looks for a solution with his parents’ help and feels empowered at the end of the story. B enjoyed this one as a read-aloud more thanks to the slightly more complex language, plot structure, and illustrations.


Making our Own Comics

Toon books has an extensive array of resources on their website, which you should check out whether you purchase the books or not. We first checked out the comic-creator tool. B had decided that he wanted to imagine what he would be like Silly Lilly, so he chose an animal to represent himself and a background related to his current fascination with explorers. Creations can be saved or emailed. Other tools at the Toon site include an interactive reader featuring several of the Toon titles and teacher lesson plans correlated to many titles. I also looked up another comic generator I used to use in my classroom. At Make Beliefs Comix, you can choose the number of panels, add various characters, backgrounds, and objects, and then print or email your creation. Since the image was not save-able, I used the screen capture tool and pasted it into a photo program to save.

 Appropriate for preschoolers, primary grades. I hope you’ll go check out Toon Books for yourself and a reader in your life that could use a change of pace or a little extra motivation.


Disclosure: I am grateful to Candlewick, the publishers of Toon books for providing me with two books and the opportunity to review them. The opinions expressed are mine alone and I received no other compensation for this review.
Comic call-outs photo courtesy arichards63 on flickr.

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Feed Me Books Friday: Hip Hip Hooray For Teachers!

Teacher Appreciation Week: May 2-6

I can tell you from experience, being appreciated by a student or her parent feels almost as spectacular as being appreciated by a child or spouse. I firmly believe our appreciation for the educators in our children’s lives should not be limited to one celebrated week, but expressed all year long. However, teacher appreciation week is a fun reminder to let that person who is shaping your child’s development know how grateful you are.

A Poem of Honor
B and I have been brainstorming ideas to show our appreciation to his preschool teacher next week. So far, we’ve considered painting her a picture, taking her some flowers from our garden, baking cookies for her, and getting her a new book. (any other suggestions?) For some inspiration (and to squeeze a few more poems into the last days of poetry month) we read some selections from Kalli Dakos’ Mrs. Cole on an Onion Roll and Other School Poems. Most of the poems in this book are more suited to the elementary set, who can appreciate the humor and relate to the experiences better than my preschooler. However, he enjoyed plenty of them and enjoying the rhyme and rhythm of poetry builds language and cognitive muscle. Our favorite was titled, “Hip Hip Hooray.” Each stanza identifies a student and a gift bestowed upon the teacher (Sally brings flowers, Byron brings an apple) and the teacher responds to each gift by yelling, “Hip Hip Hooray!” until the Ben brings a radish, and the teacher queries, “Why a radish?”

And Ben said,

“Because I love radishes!”

Ben brought a radish

For the teacher today,

And the teacher yelled,

“Hip Hip Hooray!”

I love the message that Ben shares a gift that he really loves, and the message that the teacher is grateful for Ben sharing something important to him. It’s simple text but rich with meaning given a little consideration.

Appropriate for: preschoolers, primary grades


If you’re enjoying poetry with your child this month, or if you want some ideas to squeeze in a little before month’s end, head over to Brimful Curiosities poetry challenge or Poetry Friday hosted by Tabatha Yeatts.





photos courtesy www.freefoto.com and www.capl.washjeff.edu

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Feed Me Books Friday: April is National Poetry Month

A Poem is More than a Rhyme

Lots of children’s books are full of rhymes, but that doesn’t really mean they are all poetry. From where I stand, a book written in rhyme may or may not be a poem, and a poem may or may not be a rhyme. I adore poetry – reading it, writing it, sharing it – so how do I define it? I really like this definition:

Poetry is an imaginative awareness of experience expressed through meaning, sound, and rhythmic language choices so as to evoke an emotional response. […] The very nature of poetry as an authentic and individual mode of expression makes it nearly impossible to define. (From about.com)

If poetry is an imaginative awareness of experience, then exposure to that awareness could certainly promote growth in any of the developmental domains, depending on the experience! I keep a section on B’s book shelf reserved for poetry books, and I’ve been trying to give them a little extra attention this month, but unfortunately haven’t gotten any up to post yet – hopefully this will be only the first of at least a few special features.


Couplets on Common Characters

One poetry book that B has enjoyed enough to request repeat performances is Douglas Florian’s Beast Feast. Florian is known for his accessible and often humorous children’s poetry, but he refrains from downright slapstick jokes and imbues his poems with a quietly curious quality. I especially like this excerpt from “The Ants,”

While down below

Beneath the mound
They’re building tunnels
Underground.
And so it’s been –
And it will be –
Since greatest
Ant antiquity.

Simple and yet profound. Also love that much of Florian’s work includes really meaty language that is just the ticket to passively building vocabulary. Florian also illustrates his poetry with very kid-friendly paintings. They are colorful and attractive without being cartoonish or immature. Beast Feast, as you might guess, is a collection of animal poems. Besides “The Ants,” you’ll also find “The Walrus,” “The Armadillo,” “The Camel,” and “The Sloth,” among others. Florian has several other themed poetry collections, many of which are living on my wish list right now!
Appropriate for: everyone!

Kids’ Poetry Challenge


Janelle at Brimful Curiosities is hosting a Kids’ Poetry Challenge for the Month of April. The first two weeks got away from me, but I’m excited to be able to join in this week. Even if you don’t have a poem to share (try next week!) you should check out her explanation post – she’s got a ton of great poetry resources and links listed there! Janelle’s post also reminded me that there’s more great poetry to be found (some kids some not) each week at the Poetry Friday Round-up, hosted this week at Random Noodling.

Do you have a favorite poem book to read with kids? Even if you don’t have a post about it for this week, I’d love to hear suggestions in the comments! Don’t forget: There are a couple days left in library appreciation week – check out our activity if you haven’t already!





[*Poetry Month Logo from poets.org*]

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Feed Me Books Friday: Library Appreciation Week

A Little Goes a Long Way

As a former public school teacher, and as a mom, I can attest to the fact that it only takes a few words of gratitude to make someone’s day. At our public library branch, National Library Week comes and goes without much hoopla. I have to imagine the drastic budget cuts and short-staffing don’t leave much room for celebration, but I don’t want the caring staffers who entertain, motivate, and instruct to go unnoticed. Last year, we made a poster with a short “thank-you” verse highlighted by some strategically placed candies. (If you’re interested in the full text of the verse, leave me a comment and I’ll email it to you.) This time, our project is a combination of this year’s theme (Create Your Own Story @ Your Library) and an extension of a library-themed book we recently found – where else? – at the library!

An Alphabetic Introduction:

When I came across L is for Library during one of our weekly visits, my first thought was “yikes! I hope I didn’t miss library appreciation week!” My second thought was, “If I didn’t, I’ve got to do something fun with this book!” Sonya Terry’s rhyming tour of the library functions both as a review of the letters of the alphabet and a introduction to library vocabulary for young listeners. A is for author, D is for Dewey decimal system, F is for fiction, and while the couplet on for each letter gives a brief explanation, opportunities abound for extended explanation of the vocabulary presented. The illustrations include lots of humorous details that invite close and repeated readings. While the bouncy rhymes (April is poetry month, after all) and funny illustrations are enough to keep listeners entertained, the language begs for expansion and cognitive development.
Appropriate for: Toddlers, Preschoolers, Primary Grades


Our Story:

Letters and beginning sounds are the topic of conversations, questions, and games more and more often lately. So I decided to use L is for Library as a jumping off point for our appreciation project. We are actively building our list of alphabetic words that B associates with the library and his activities there. So far, we have B is for book, F is for friends, and S is for songs, among others. My plan is to have B illustrate each word on a square of paper, then assemble the squares quilt-style for presentation to our children’s library staff. I’ll add a picture once we complete the project this weekend.


A Couple Worthwhile Links:

• Use this page from the American Library Association to find out current political issues facing libraries and how you can become involved.
  
  
• This interesting compilation of 85 reasons to be thankful for librarians is sometimes serious, sometimes tongue in cheek.
  
  1. You can find a bunch of lesson resources if you want to expand on library appreciation with your little on at home. There’s even a playlist of library songs, including: "The Story of My Feelings" by Laurie Berkner, "Tell Me Another Story" by Barney Saltzberg, "When You Start to Read" by Russ, "Go Wild - READ" by Lucas Miller, "Seven Nights to Read" by The Good Rockin' Daddies, "Hangin' Out with Heroes at the Library" and "Take Me to Your Library" by Monty Harper, "At the Library" by Hap Palmer, "Library" by Meeka and her Cool Cousins, "The Library Boogie" by Tom Knight, and "The Library" by Barney.If you’d enjoy another great library-themed book, check out my Comin’ Down to Storytime post from last year’s Love My Library link-up at Little Page Turners.
     
  
  
  Give your library a shout-out in the comments!
   
  
  
  
  
  
  

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