Ice Cream.... YUM!

I don't know about you but when I think of summer, ice cream almost ALWAYS comes to mind.  There is something about that cool, sweet treat on a warm day that can make you forget all about how hot it is.

If you are an ice cream lover, like me, then you probably already knew that yesterday, July 20, was National Ice Cream Day!  If for some reason you missed it, don't worry Ronald Reagan designated the entire month of July National Ice Cream Month- so you still have 10 days to celebrate and enjoy.

I have a couple of suggestions of how to enjoy the last 10 days of National Ice Cream Month.  First, if you are in the Louisville Area, try out some of these local ice cream treats.  I am sure that they are all AMAZING!

Then, you need to have an ice cream themed read aloud.  Although there are several high quality books about ice cream for this occasion I am going to recommend Should I Share My Ice Cream?  by Mo Willems.

Should I Share My Ice Cream? is an Elephant and Piggie book, that will speak straight to any ice cream lovers' heart.  Gerald the elephant loves ice cream (what elephant doesn't right?) and is so excited when the ice cream man shows up that he buys a cone.  As he is preparing to devour his cone he remembers his best friend, Piggie and wonders if he should share his ice cream with her. Then the ever indecisive Gerald goes back and forth between sharing his ice cream and not sharing his ice cream until... his ice cream melts and drops on the floor.  He is beside himself with sadness.  Not only can he not share his ice cream with Piggie, but he can't even eat any ice cream.  In the words of Gerald he, "blew it." Piggie shows up and saves the day with another ice cream cone for the two to share, teaching us there is nothing better than sharing a yummy ice cream cone with your best friend on a hot day!

I hope you enjoy the rest of ice cream month as much as I will!

Happy Reading!
Laura

Geisel Honor Books

The Geisel Honor Books are all books that are written for early readers.  What is neat about this year's honors is that all the books hit different spot on the spectrum of "early reader"

First on the spectrum is the book Ball by Mary Sullivan.  This book is written for your earliest readers because there is only one word in the entire book... you guessed it ball.  Most of the story is told through the humorous pictures and the punctuation included with the word ball.  Ball is the story of a dog who loves to play ball.  As soon as he wakes up he has is ball and is begging his little girl to throw the ball.  When she has to go to school he is left alone and has no one to play catch with.  He tries mom, the baby and the cat but no one wants to play.  He takes a nap and dreams of catching the ball.  Then finally the little girl gets home from school and they can play ball again.  What is neat about this book is that anyone can read it because all it says is ball!  My 21 month old loves this book and will bring it to us saying, "ball."

The next book on the spectrum is ironically also about a ball.  A Big Guy Took My Ball by Mo Willems.  Willems is no stranger to writing award winning book, but he really knocked it out of the park with this one.  This book is for an early reader who has great knowledge of sight words and can use some other decoding strategies to figure out harder words, most first graders could probably read this by the middle of the year.  In this Elephant and Piggie book Piggie was playing with a big ball when a big guy came and took it.  Gerald wants to play the hero so he decides to go and get Piggie's ball back.  Then he sees the big guy and he is BIG.  Gerald gets scared and does not get the ball back for Piggie.  While Piggie and Gerald and talking about how BIG this BIG guy is they hear a loud voice say, "EXCUSE ME."  It's the big guy.  It turns out the ball belonged to the big guy and he is sad because no one ever wants to play with him.  Elephant and Piggie make the BIG GUY feel better by offering to play with him.  This book not only teachers the concept of big and small but also about how to make others who are different feel welcomed.  You will find out very quickly that if you read this one out loud children will love it and will be laughing out loud!

The Geisel Honor book on the spectrum is Penny and Her Marble by Kevin Henkes.  This book is a short beginner chapter books, your child should be able to read this on his or her own by then end of first grade or beginning of second.  You can see what a big difference there is between A Big Guy Took My Ball and Penny and Her Marble, children really develop in their reading during first grade.

In Penny and Her Marble Henkes takes Penny on yet another adventures (this is the third book so far in the Penny series).  This time Penny is taking a walk and finds a marble in her neighbor's yard.  She picks the pretty blue marble up and takes it home.  Once she is home she feels guilty for taking the marble, thinking that it might belong to her neighbor.  She could not eat dinner, she couldn't even eat dessert!  That night Penny had bad dreams about the marble.  The next morning she decided to take the marble and put it back in her neighbors yard.  Just as she was turning around to go home her neighbor stopped her.  Penny's neighbor wanted her to have the marble!  Penny was so excited to get to keep the pretty, blue marble!

Hope you enjoy all of these great early readers!

Happy Reading!
Laura

The Caldecott Honors

The Caledcott Medal honored three books this year in addition to the winner (which I will blog about Friday).  Each of the three books honored this year were wordless, which I feel speaks greatly of the illustrators who were able to tell moving stories using only their artwork.

Flora and the Flamingo by Molly Idle is a sweet story of a young girl, Flora, who meets a flamingo.  Flora, who is dressed in pink decides she will mimic the movements of the flamingo.  Through the turning of the pages and the lifting of the flaps the story of friendship unfolds.  One move is a little hard for Flora and she falls, embarrassed.  The flamingo doesn't skip a beat and helps Flora up.  The two then dance a beautiful ballet together, like great friends.  The illustrations are simple but the pink stands out on the plain white pages.  The perfect book for any young ballerina in your life!

David Wiesner is no stranger to the Caldecott Medal.  His books Tuesday, Three Pigs and Free Fall have all either won or been honored by the Caldecott Medal.  His latest wordless book, Mr. Wuffles, is a 2014 Caldecott Honor book.  Just like his other books, Mr. Wuffles, is fully of fantasy.  Mr. Wuffles is a cat, who is picky about the toys that he plays with.  One day he finds the perfect toy, which unbeknownst to him, is a UFO.  Wiesner goes on to tell the story of Mr. Wuffles and the UFO through a comic book style layout.  When Mr. Wuffles breaks the UFO, the aliens must leave their flying saucer to fix the broken piece.  The aliens receive help from some ants hidden behind the radiator, all while Mr. Wuffles is waiting for them.  When the aliens finally make a dash back to their UFO Mr. Wuffles is ready, but not for an ambush!  The ants and other bugs help the alines get safely back to their UFO and they fly off, leaving Mr. Wuffles with no toy to play with.  Wiesner's pictures sure to are spark the imagination of any child, telling a different story every time it is read!

The last 2014 Caldecott Honor book was one that many believed should have won the medal.  Journey by Aaron Becker is a wordless masterpiece taking us all on an adventure to magical lands.  The story starts with a little girl sitting on her front porch looking bored.  She goes inside, picks up her red crayon and lets her imagination take her away.  She travels through her imagined world, sometimes getting into trouble but always using her red crayon to find a solution.  Her red crayon even helps her to make it back home safely.  This is an amazing book with even more amazing pictures and a MUST for every bookshelf!

Here are links to the trailers for all 3 of the 2014 Caldecott Honor books.

Flora and the Flamingo

Mr. Wuffles

Journey

Happy Reading!
Laura

2014 Award Winners

Last week the American Library Association announced its award winners for 2014.  This month I am going to take the time to share the books that won and the books that won and the runners up.  The American Library Association gives out several awards each year.  The most popular awards are the Newbery, Sibert, Caldecott and Geisel.

The Newbery Medal is awarded to the "most distinguished children's book published the previous year."  So this year's Newbery Medal winner was published in 2013.  The medal has been awarded since 1922.  The first book to recieve the medal The Story of Mankind by Hendrik Willen van Loon.  All winners receive a gold seal on the cover of the book. The runner's up are called Newbery Honor's books and receive a silver seal on the cover.

Just like the Newbery Medal, you are probably familiar with the Caldecott Medal.  The Caldecott Medal is awarded to the best illustrator of a picture book.  The award was first given in 1938 and its first winner was Animals of the Bible illustrated by Dorothy P. Lathrop.  Just like the Newbery Medal the Caldecott winner receives a gold seal on the cover and the honor books a silver.  

The Sibert Medal is a newer award, first given in 2001.  This award goes to the author and illustrator of the previous year's best informational book.  The first book awarded with this honor was Sir Walter Raleigh and the Quest for El Dorado by Marc Aronson.  Just like with the other awards the book receives a gold seal and the honor books receive a silver seal.

Lastly, there is the Geisel Medal, named after the oh-so-popular Dr. Seuss, who has helped millions of children learn to read.  This award is given to the author and illustrator of the best early reader.  This will often be books with fewer words so that the beginning reader can read on their own.  The first winner of the Geisel Medal was awarded in 2006 to Henry and Mudge and the Great Grandpas written by Cynthia Rylant and illustrated by Sucie Stevenson.  These books also receive seals on their cover.   

So all throughout this month I will be sharing with the this years medal winners and honorees.  Check back often to see what the American Library Association thought were last years best books!

Happy Reading!

Laura

"Souper" Bowl Sunday

I have a great book for "Souper" Bowl Sunday this year- no other than the classic Stone Soup.  I could have gone with a book about football like  Family Huddle by the Mannings or You Can Do It! by Tony Dungy.  But let's face it, I like to eat Super Bowl snacks more than I like to watch the Super Bowl Game.  So no matter if you are cheering for the Broncos or the Seahawks, you will love this book.

Stone Soup is an old folk story found in many different cultures.  The version I am sharing with your today is written and illustrated by Jon Muth and uses and Asian culture to tell the story.

If you are unfamiliar with the story of Stone Soup it is a story of kindness and generosity.  You see in the story there are three travelers who come across a village who has seen very hard times.  Because of these hard times neighbors are strangers.  There is friendship or community, everyone is on their own, until the three travelers arrive.  Upon arriving in the village no one greets them or offers them a place to stay and the three travelers all agreed that "these people do not know happiness."  They decided to make stone soup.  The three travelers make a fire in the courtyard and fill a small pot with water.

A little girl approaches the men and asks what they are doing.  They tell her they are making stone soup and need three round, smooth stones.  The little girl quickly finds some stones for the travelers and even offers her mothers larger pot so that more soup can be made.  The travelers went on poking the fire and making their stone soup and as the fire grew so did the curiosity of the villagers.  They began coming out of their homes to see what stone soup was about.

As people asked about stone soup the travelers would make comments like, "This soup would be better with salt and pepper," or "Carrots would make the broth much sweeter."  With each suggestion on of the travelers made the villagers would full fill the request bringing carrots, onions, mushrooms and anything else they could think of to make the soup more delicious.

"Something magical began to happen among the villagers.  As each person opened their heart to give, the next person gave even more."

When the soup was finished all the villagers game together at one large table to share the delicious meal they had made from their generosity.  They shared stories, sang songs and opened their doors to give the travelers a place to stay.  The travelers had reminded the villagers that sharing makes us all richer.

So whether you are going to a Super Bowl party or enjoying the day at home with only your family, enjoy some soup today and have a truly "Souper" Sunday full of richness and generosity.

Here are some of my favorite soup recipes.

Broccoli Cheddar Soup

*Cut in half if you are making for 4 or less people or you will have a lot of leftovers.

1 1/2 qt. water
3 potatoes peeled and diced
3 carrots
1 onion
20 oz frozen broccoli and cauliflower
3 chicken bullion cubes
3 TBS parsley flakes
pepper
2 cans of cream soup (your choice)
1 lb of Velveeta

Cook first 8 ingredients until tender.  Use immersion blender or regular blender to slightly puree the vegetables.  Return to the pot on low heat and add cream soup and Velveeta.  Stir well.

Chicken Stew with Tortellini

2 c. water
1 14 oz, can chicken broth
1 med. yellow squash cut
6 c. spinach or greens
1 green pepper
1 c. dried tortellini
1 med. onion cut in thin wedges
1 med. carrot sliced
1 1/2 tsp. rosemary
1/2 tsp. seasoning blend
1/4 tsp. pepper
2 c. cooked chicken
1 TBS basil

In dutch oven bring water and broth to a boil.  Add squash, greens, pepper, pasta, onion, carrot, rosemary, seasoning and pepper to dutch oven. Return to boil.  Reduce heat. Simmer covered for 15 min.  Stir in chicken.  Cook covered 5 min.  Stir fresh basil in soup.  Top with grated parmesan.

Don't forget reading recipes is just as great as reading books!

Happy Reading!
Laura

Girl Power

It is always very difficult to find good quality biographies to read aloud.  Sometimes biographies tend to be long or wordy, not ideal for a read aloud.  Who Says Women Can't Be Doctors by Tanya Lee Stone, is not only a great biography to read aloud, it also encourages young girls to work hard no matter what their dream is.

In this book the author tells the story of Elizabeth Blackwell becoming the first woman doctor.  The story starts out giving a history of what the world was like in the 1830's.  It's great to start the book like this because it might be hard for girls now to understand that not too long ago women did not have many choices.  They were expected to stay home and take care of children, or perhaps become a teacher.  Then it goes on to tell about Elizabeth as a child.  From this part of the story children will be able to infer many different character traits like strong, curious, smart and determined.  Then a sick friend encourages Elizabeth to become a doctor, she wasn't sure at first but eventually decided to go for it.

When Elizabeth began applying to medical schools and she always heard back the same answer, "NO."  The author spends a few pages on the fact that Elizabeth was constantly told no, but never gave up.  What an important lesson for our children today- sometimes we have to fight hard for what we want.  Finally, Geneva Medical School accepted Elizabeth, but that didn't mean the job got any easier.

Elizabeth was teased, ignored and disliked by other students and people in the town, but that did not stop her from working hard and studying.  She graduated from medical school with the highest grade in the entire class and the first woman doctor in American, inspiring many others.

We need to make sure to make time to read about amazing women and their resiliency to achieve greatness so that our young girls know they can also achieve greatness!  This book is great from grades 4 and up.  The back of the book also gives more information about Elizabeth Blackwell after she graduated from school.

If your girls like learning about Elizabeth Blackwell check out Clara Barton and Florence Nightingale also!

Happy Reading!
Laura

Books With Repetition

I know I have written about this before, but reading books with repetition to young children, even pre-readers is a great way to build many different emergent reader skills.

One book with repetition that is fun to read is The Napping House by Audrey Wood. This book is all about a house on a rainy day where the grandma, the child and all the animals are napping... in the same bed.  That is until the wakeful flea bites the mouse and wakes everyone up!

So what makes this book so great for young children?  How does it help them to learn to be readers?  Well the first feature is the predictability in the repetition.  In the napping house each page ends with "in a napping house, where everyone is sleeping."  Children catch on to that repetition very quickly and soon they will begin saying the words with you as you read them.  Next, when the child is "reading" the book by themselves you will notice that the say the repeated phrase over and over."  Then, when you are reading to them you will notice that they will begin to point to the repeated phrase and that will slowly evolve to pointing to each word in the repeated phrase.  This is called one-to-one matching or corresponding- and early reader skill.  It is repeated phrases like this one that help children to become readers.  

A few other things that this book has that helps children become readers is pictures that match the words.  The Napping House is a progressive book.  On each page someone new climbs into the bed.  For a child that is beginning to read they will be able to use the picture to figure out who gets in the bed next.  The pictures help to give meaning to the text. 

Lastly, this book has great vocabulary.  Here are all the different words that the author uses for the word sleep: napping, snoring, dreaming, dozing, snoozing and slumbering.  What great words for kids to learn.  When reading this aloud take time to point out how all those words mean the same thing- sleep!  

Here are some other books we love to read that have repetition to help young children become readers:

Goodnight Gorilla

Click, Clack, Moo

Jump, Frog, Jump

No David

Brown Bear, Brown Bear

Happy Reading!

Laura