Black Friday

Are you a Black Friday shopper?  I am not, would much rather sleep in and shop on the Internet than deal with traffic and crowds.  I did however find a book that made me think of Black Friday that you could read to your kids!

Llama Llama Mad at Mama by Anna Dewdney is all about shopping from the Llama Llama's point of view.  It's shopping day and Mama Llama makes Llama Llama stop playing with his toys and get in the car.  Then to make it worse when he falls asleep on the way to the store Mama wakes him up.  Then once in the store it is crowded and Mama keeps making Llama Llama try on clothes.  Llama Llama keeps getting grumpier and grumpier, he just wants to go home!  Eventually all the shopping gets to be too much and Llama Llama throws a fit tossing everything out of the shopping cart.  Mama calmly talks to Llama (which seems to help him stop being so grumpy) and clean up the mess.  They finish the shopping together and Llama Llama gets a treat at the end. 

So, just remember if you are heading out shopping with your little ones today be patient, they might not like shopping as much as you (but please DON'T reward them with a treat if they throw a fit like Llama Llama!).

Happy Reading!

Laura

Happy Thanksgiving

I'm going to be way too busy tomorrow eating all the yummy Thanksgiving food so I wanted to share my favorite Thanksgiving book with you today.

'Twas the Night Before Thanksgiving by Dav Pilkey is my go to read every Thankgiving.  This book has everything- humor and sweetness.

Using the rhyme and rhythm from 'Twas the Night Before Christmas this tells the story of a few kids who find out what happens to turkeys on Thanksgiving day.  It is the day before Thanksgiving and the class is taking a field trip to a turkey farm.  When the class meets arrives to meet Farm Mack Nuggett's eight turkeys (affectionately named Ollie, Stanely, Larry, Moe, Wally, Beaer, Shemp and Groucho) they fall instantly in love.  The class is distraught when they fine out the fate of their new turkey friends and decide they must do something about it.  Each of the kids "stuffed" a turkey under their shirt and and climbed aboard the school bus.  All of Farmer Mack Nuggett's turkeys were gone! The story ends with each of the children having the turkey to their Thanksgiving feast as a guest.  A true Thanksgiving story of love and thankfulness!

To go along with this book I always make a turkey craft.  The one I am sharing with you is great for a small number of children.  There is just a lot of prep work involved so it does not work well for a full class.

Materials:
- Construction paper or real feathers.
- Clear plastic cup
- Needle
- Thread of string
- Small square of sponge
- Glue
- Scissors

1) Poke a small hole in the top of the plastic cup and thread your string through the whole.  Tie a big enough knot so the string cannot be pulled through.
2) Tie a piece of sponge to the end of the string that is hanging through the cup.
3) I chose to trace my sons hands to use as the feathers.  You can either do that, cut feathers out of the paper or use real feathers.  Glue whatever you are using as feathers onto the back of the cup.
4) On the construction paper draw and cut out a turkey face.  Glue to the front of the cup.
5) Moisten the sponge that is hanging on the end of the string. Reach the sponge to the top of the string and drag it down.  You should hear a sound like a turkey.

Kids love playing with this little "craft".  Below is a video of what it looks and sounds like when finished.

Happy Thanksgiving!
Happy Reading!
Laura

A New Favorite

My kiddo has a new favorite book.  First the obsession was trains, then alligators, now we have moved onto excavators and other construction machines.  Lucky for me, there is a super cute book out there all about excavators, dump trucks, bulldozers and more.

Goodnight, Goodnight, Construction Site by Sherri Duskey Rinker is the perfect book to indulge in this latest obsession.  The lyrical and rhyming text slowly puts each of the "rough and tough" construction trucks to bed.  The text describes the jobs of crane trucks, cement mixers, dump trucks, bulldozers and my son's favorite, excavators.

Even more than the rhyming text, my son loves the pictures.  Tom Lichtenheld, author and/or illustrator of many other New York Times best selling books like, Duck! Rabbit! and Shark VS Train, does a wonderful job incorporating the artwork with the text.  One of my favorite pages is when the dump truck is falling asleep.  In the picture the sleeping zzzzz's are floating above the truck and continue into the framework of the building.  It is cleverly subtle, I love it!

 My son loves pointing out the different machines that are found in the pictures and telling each of the trucks good night, even though we are currently reading this five or more times a day!  So for now this is our favorite book.  What is your kiddo's favorite book to read over and over these days?

Happy Reading!
Laura

Fairy Tales

We all are familiar with fairy tales, and probably even have our very favorite.  In most fairy tales a handsome young prince comes to the rescue of a beautiful princess and the live happily ever after.  In recent years popular culture has taken to rewriting fairy tales to show the female stepping up to save the day and not needing "Prince Charming" to come to her rescue.  So if you know a little girl who likes to take charge and do her own rescuing The Paper Bag Princess by Robert Munsch, is the perfect book for her.

The Paper Bag Princess starts out much like any other fairy tale with a beautiful princess and handsome prince about to get married.  However, before Princess Elizabeth and Prince Ronald could get married a fiery dragon burns Princess Elizabeth's clothes and escapes with Prince Ronald.

Princess Elizabeth immediately took charge and set off to rescue her prince, wearing only a paper bag (everything else had been burned to a crisp!).  She finds the dragons lair and tricks him into performing different tricks until he was too exhausted and fell into a deep sleep.  While the dragon is sleeping Princess Elizabeth finds Prince Ronald who immediately complains about her dirty hair and paper bag clothes, not even thanking her for rescuing him.  Elizabeth is so put off by his rudeness that she promptly leaves him and there is no wedding after all!

What confidence Princess Elizabeth has to not only rescue the prince but to realize she can do better than someone who only likes her for her pretty looks and nice clothes!  Way to go Princess Elizabeth!

What is your favorite girl-power "fairy tale?" I would love to share more!

Happy Reading!
Laura

50 Years Ago...

I am sure that if you have turned on the news today, or really anytime this week, you know that it was 50 years ago today that John F. Kennedy Jr. was assassinated.  I think that often when we talk to children about different presidents we focus a lot on Washington, Lincoln and our current president Obama. Today would be a great day to take time to focus on Kennedy and read aloud to your children about his inspirational life.

Doreen Rappaport has a knack for elegantly writing biographies.  She writes them in a way that keep children enthralled as well as teach them a thing or two about the topic.  In her book Jack's Path of Courage: The Life of John F. Kennedy, she intertwines her rhythmic text with quotes of his to paint a great picture of the type of man Kennedy was.

Children will get a good idea of his entire life because the book starts in his teenage years and continues on through his presidency.  They will get a good picture of his personality and charm that so many American's appreciated and adored.  As a bonus they will know more about him than the fact that he was assassinated and is known for saying, "Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country."

Here is the book trailer, check it out today!

Happy Reading!
Laura

Throwback Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays and with it being just one short week away I thought I would share a couple of great Thanksgiving poems for you to read aloud.  

The first poem I want to share with you is "I Ate Too Much Turkey" by Jack Prelutsky.

I ate too much turkey,

I ate too much corn,

I ate too much pudding and pie,

I'm stuffed up with muffins 

and much too much stuffin'

I'm probably going to die.

I piled up my plate

and I ate and I ate,

but I wish I had known when to stop, 

for I'm so crammed with yams,

sauces, gravies and jams

that my buttons are starting to pop.

I'm full of tomatoes

and french fried potatoes,

my stomach is swollen and sore,

but there's still some dessert,

so I guess it won't hurt,

If I eat just a little bit more!

This poem is a little bit on the sillier side, but who does this poem not describe on Thanksgiving day? I know that I always enjoy eating all the yummy food everyone has brought to the table!  My favorite is the corn pudding and butter fluff rolls.  What's your favorite Thanksgiving food?

Now for a poem, that is much simpler but hits right to the meaning of Thanksgiving.  This is a short verse from Ralph Waldo Emmerson. 

For each new morning with its light, 

For rest and shelter of the night, 

For health and food, 

For love and friends, 

For everything Thy goodness sends. 

Sisters- hanging on the porch swing.
Thanksgiving 2006, the first of many at the farm!

What are you most thankful for this Thanksgiving?  I hope you find the time to read aloud some fun or thoughtful Thanksgiving poems this year!

Happy Reading!

Laura

Dragons

A few years ago the movie "How to Train Your Dragon" was a huge hit.  At the time I was teaching in an elementary special needs classroom and was always looking for good books to read aloud with my class.  I chose How to Train Your Dragon by Cressida Cowell so that I could use the movie as a visual for the book.  It was also a great book for a classroom full of boys and I was able to easily adapt the book to meet their needs.  If you are a special needs teacher for students with moderate to severe disabilities click here to see a sample of my How to Train Your Dragon book adaptation.

Needless to say my classroom full of boys loved the book and the movie.  I wish that three years ago I knew about Kate McMullan's series, Dragon Slayer's Academy.  Her first book The New Kid at School  reminded me a lot of How to Train Your Dragon. A young boy, Wiglaf, who is forgotten in his family and ignored by peers, steps up to play the hero in the dragon world, much like Hiccup did in How to Train Your Dragon.  

The great thing about McMullan's series is that they are short easy reads.  I would have been able to easily read aloud a chapter a day to my class, with out having to adapt or omit parts. Plus, I would have been able to extend the dragon theme out that they loved so much.

If you are a teacher, or parent, with boys grades first through fifth I would check out How to Train Your  Dragon and Draon Slayer's Academy as read alouds.  They are funny, creative and packed with action.  As a bonus "How to Train Your Dragon 2" comes out in theaters in 2014.  Going to a movie could make great reward for meeting a reading goal!

Check out the trailer for "How to Train Your Dragon 2."

Happy Reading!
Laura

Who am I?

Here is another book to share with toddlers that either 1) love animals  2) love lift the flap books 3) love guessing what something might be.

City Animals by Simms Taback is dubbed as a "giant fold-out book" because the flaps are huge!  On the left side of every page the book has the words, "Who am I? with just a fraction of the city animal showing.  The right side of the page gives a clue that you can then flip up to reveal another clue and more of the animal.  When you fold out the second clue a full picture of the animal is revealed as well as the animal name.

Here are some pictures of how the book works.

My toddler loved lifting the flaps of this book so much I thought- we should just make our own!

Here is how I did it:

Materials
- 1 piece of 18x11 construction paper
- Glue
- 3 pictures of objects your child is interested (I printed mine from the internet, just make sure they are about a 1/2 page when printed)
- Scissors
- Instruction on how to make a mini-book found here

1) Use the 18x11 piece of construction paper to make the mini-book.

2) Cut the 3 printed pictures into rectangles and then fold into fourths so that your picture looks like this.

3) Cut one slit in the middle of the picture like this:

4) Glue only the bottom half into the book like this:

5) Then you can add the text to your book, like this:

6) Now your book is ready for your little one to enjoy!

You could make this type of book for or with almost any aged child.  Obviously, my toddler could not make the book, but he loves reading it.  If you have an older child they could help with the cutting, gluing and writing!

Happy Reading!
Laura

What Do You Do With a Tail Like This?

Back for round 2 of Informational Fridays.  This week I want to dispel the myth that all informational books are wordy, technical and difficult to read aloud.  Steve Jenkins is a very popular author of children's informational books.  His book What Do You Do With a Tail Like This? is a great example of informational books that can be used for primary children.

This book has a question and answer format.  On the first two page spread a question is posed and on the next two page spread the question is answered.  For example, on the page, "What do you do with a nose like this?" there are pictures of 5 different animal noses.  It is fun for kids to try to guess which animal the different noses belong to.  When you turn the page it shows each of the 5 animals in full with a fact about how that animal uses its nose, "If you're a hyena you find your next meal with your nose."

The book is perfect for younger children because of the short facts and their ability to interact with the text by guessing what animals the author might be getting ready to teach you about.  It also gives children many opportunities to connect with the book by sharing their own knowledge of any of the over 30 animals that are represented.  As an added bonus, if the child or class you are reading to has a particular interest in one of the animals you can turn to the back of the book to find out more information.

So I will leave you with one question for the weekend.

What do you do with a tooth like this?

Happy Reading!
Laura

Throwback Thursday

It doesn't get more Throwback than our old pal Aesop.  I know most of you have heard of Aesop's fables but what do you really know about Aesop?  Before I share with you my book today I want to give you a few tidbits of information about Aesop so next time someone tells you one of his fables, you can say-

Did you know...
1) Aesop was a slave who lived in Ancient Greece.
2) His stories have been passed down through many forms of media including the written word, artwork and the most common, word of mouth.
3) Socrates passed his time in jail reciting Aesop's Fables.
4) There is now way to really tell is Aesop was a real person.
5) Many tales that had no literary source were credited to Aesop.

Now onto the book that I want to share with you.  Jerry Pinkney, a Caldecott illustrator of The Lion and The Mouse, has now illustrated a version of The Tortoise and The Hare.

 His version of the fable is mostly told in stunning pictures and he uses very few words.  I like that the words are few and far between so that young children can examine the picture and grasp meaning from them, essentially telling their own fable.  By looking at the picture you can see the difficult time that the tortoise is having and how easy the race is for the rabbit.  Just like in the original tale the rabbit stops (Pinkey has him stopping to gobble up lettuce before he takes his nap) and the turtle is able to pass him to win the race.

Pinkney cleverly chooses his words.  He slowly sprinkles the lesson of the fable onto the pages of the book.  He starts with the word slow and then every few pages adds another word until the phrase reads, "Slow and steady wins the race."  It is such a simple yet effective way to get the message across.

What is your favorite Aesop fable to share with others?

Happy Reading!
Laura

Manana

It is so easy to say, manana, I'll do it tomorrow.  I know we are all guilty of this!  In the book Manana Iguana by Ann Whitford Paul Iguana teaches his friends a lesson when they are always telling her they will help manana.

In the story Iguana and her friends Rabbit, Turtle and Snake, all decide to have a party to celebrate spring.  The party is going to be on Saturday.  Iguana immediately takes charge and starts getting ready for the party.  First she must make the invitations.  When she asks her friends for help they all give her an excuse of why they cannot help no and tell her they will help tomorrow.  Knowing that the invitations cannot wait, Iguana completes the task by herself.  The excuses continue all throughout the week.  Iguana ends up delivering the invitations, stuffing the pinata, cooking the food and hanging streamers all by herself.  When Saturday comes and Rabbit, Turtle and Snake show up to the fiesta to greet the guests Iguana finally speaks up angrily telling her friends that she did everything to prepare for the party so she will greet the guests without them.  Rabbit, Turtle and Snake feel very badly and sit in the corner while everyone else has a great time at the party.  When the party is over Iguana is too tired to clean up and says, "I'll do it manana."  Rabbit, Turtle and Snake decide to clean up the mess for Iguana and the next morning Iguana is happy with her friends again.  "Gracias!" Iguana says and offers her friends leftovers!

Not only does this book have a great story but it also sprinkles Spanish words throughout the books.  Instead of rabbit, the author uses conejo and instead of snake the author uses culebra.  Using the spanish is just another way to interest kids in the book.  Don't worry, if you are reading the book aloud there is a nice Glossary of Spanish words and pronunciations in the beginning of the book.

If you like this book be sure to check out more by Ann Whitford Paul like Fiesta Fiasco or Count on Culebra.  I am sure I will feature them on this blog one day!

In the mean time, don't put of until manana what you can do today!

Happy Reading!
Laura

Abbott & Costello

I know baseball season is over but I saw this book and thought it was too great not to share.  Abbott & Costello's "Who's on First?" is probably one of the greatest comedy skits of all time and now it has been made into a children's book.

 
The book is the exact script from the comedy skit but includes great illustrations and dialogue bubbles to help children follow along with the conversation.  Some of my favorite illustrations are the maps that show all the players and where they play.  Poor Costello is just not understanding the names of his other teammates and get more frustrated by the minute.  In the end Abbott brings out all the other players and Costello gets to see and meet them all.

A little history about Bud Abbott and Lou Costello.  The skit "Who's on First?" was introduced in the 1930's, roughly 80 years ago.  The duo simply called the famous skit, "Baseball".  Both Abbott and Costello are in the National Baseball Hall of Fame because of this comedy skit.  The skit has been acted out by a variety of different celebrities over the years but no one performs it quite like the creators.

So, if you child likes baseball, comedy or you just want to share with them a piece of history check out this book and before you do so check out Abbott and Costello in action.

Happy Reading!
Laura

Informational Fridays!

I started to realize that I have not posted any informational books (informational books are what we used to call "non-fiction").  I hate that I have totally ignored this genre for reading aloud because it is often the favorite of many children.

One reason we tend to not read aloud informational books is because they can be wordy and technical. It can also be very hard to find a "good" informational book to share with a child or children.  Before I share with you my informational pick of the week I want to offer you some tips for reading aloud informational books.

1) Pick a topic that interests the child.  Think animals, biographies, places or even how-to books.

2) Preview the text.  Before you sit down to read the book to a child or an entire class look at the book.
If it is wordy and technical pick out a few pages that are the most interesting and then leave the book setting out for the child to pick up and look through on their own.

3) Read only a section at a time. There is no hard and fast rule that when you read a book aloud you need to read the entire book.  Begin reading the informational book and when you can tell that interest is lost put it down only to pick it up and resume reading later.

4) Read the text features.  Informational books are known for their great pictures and text features (maps, diagrams, labels, charts etc.) If there are too many words on a page simply read and talk about the text features.  Sometimes that is the part that is the most interesting anyway!

So, now onto my recommendation.  This week I chose a book by Gail Gibbons.  She is a very popular informational text author and has written over 100 book on a variety of topics.  The one I am sharing with you today is Alligators and Crocodiles.  

I chose (actually my son chose) this book because right now alligators are an obsession in our house.  When we arrived at the library he immediately wanted a book about alligators so after setting out a few choices this is the one he decided to bring home. 

At first I was worried because I thought that this book might be a little too much for him but it has the perfect combination of words and pictures to keep him interested and learning about alligators.  Of course since he is only one and a half he mostly likes looking at the pictures but there are some interesting facts in there for me!

The book covers everything from habitats, diets, body features, babies and even threats to the alligators and crocodiles.  Gail Gibbons uses a lot of labels on her pictures to give even more information about the animals.  It is a lengthy book (32 pages) so we have read it in several different sittings but if you were using it in a classroom you could definitely pick out the relevant pages to read aloud.  

So make sure to add some informational books to your daily read alouds!  I am sure your audience will love them!

What are some of your favorite informational books to read to children?

Happy Reading!

Laura

Throwback Thursday

What better book to share on Throwback Thursday than The Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams, published in 1922.  I think most of us are familiar with the story of the much loved toy that becomes real.  It is such a touching story with a plot that came straight from a child's dream.

This is a particularly special book to me because it was used as the theme for my high school freshman retreat.  The book's theme of "Be Real" spoke volumes to teenage girls, starting out at a new high school just trying to fit in.  The story of the Velveteen Rabbit taught us that being the real you comes from having real love and real friendship.

At Mount St. Francis in 2013, sixteen years after becoming "Real" on Freshman Retreat!

Here are some great quotes from The Velveteen Rabbit:

“It doesn't happen all at once,' said the Skin Horse. 'You become. It takes a long time. That's why it doesn't happen often to people who break easily, or have sharp edges, or who have to be carefully kept. Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in the joints and very shabby. But these things don't matter at all, because once you are Real you can't be ugly, except to people who don't understand.” 

“Real isn't how you are made. It's a thing that happens to you. Sometimes it hurts, but when you are Real you don't mind being hurt. It doesn't happen all at once. You become. Once you are Real you can't be ugly, except to people who don't understand. Once you are Real you can't become unreal again. It lasts for always.” 

"The Rabbit sighed.  He thought it would be a long time before this magic called Real happened to him.  He longed to become Real, to know what it felt like; and yet the idea of growing shabby and losing his eyes and whiskers was rather sad.  He wished that he could become it without these uncomfortable things happening to him."

"'Give me my Bunny!'he said, "You mustn't say that.  He isn't a toy.  He's Real!' When the little Rabbit heard that, he was happy, for he knew that what the Skin Horse has said was true at last... He was real."

If your child loves Toy Story  read The Velveteen Rabbit.  It was making toys real long before Pixar!

Happy Reading!
Laura

A Good Read

My recommendation today is not a read aloud for children.  It is actually an article about some new research, that in my opinion, supports the case for reading aloud to children early and often.

The article, from Time Health and Family on October 29, states that some research shows children who live in poverty have smaller brains.  The reasons for this vary.  It could be from increased stress and anxiety due to living conditions or the lack of verbal interaction between children in poverty and their caregivers.

The article is a bit gloomy until the end.  Here is the last paragraph from the article:

"The good news, however, is that the effects may be reversible. Families don’t chose poverty, but changes in caregiving, especially during early childhood, could avoid some of the physical changes the scientists measured. “By studying socioeconomic status within a neuroscientific framework, we have the potential to expand our understanding of the biological signatures of poverty,” said Nina Kraus, professor of neurobiology, physiology and communication sciences at Northwestern University and an author of the second study, in a statement. “And a better understanding of how experiences shape the brain could inform educational efforts aimed at closing the socioeconomic achievement gap.”

To me this means that by reading to ALL children, beginning AS SOON AS POSSIBLE, we can reverse some of the effects poverty may have on children.  

To read the full article click here. 

Be sure to read to a child today!
Happy Reading!
Laura