Read it: Pssst!

by Adam Rex

New in 2008

This book was quite unexpected. The art is very different, but I love it (Recognize it from another of his books: Frankenstein Makes a Sandwich?)! There are so many things to look at on each page as a girl makes a trip through the zoo. As she approaches each cage, she is asked by each of the animals to bring them back an item. My little guy couldn't stop laughing when a sloth fell out of a tree onto his head (after the girl asked him why he wanted a bike helmet).

As for me, I can't stop laughing every time I hear my little 4 year old boy use the phrase, "Psst!" now when he wants to get someone's attention on the sly.

Enjoy the artwork and the story that "comes together" in the end.

image via contentcafe.btol.com

Read It: Guess What I Found in Dragon Wood

by Timothy Knapman

illustrated by Gwen Millward

I don't want to tell you much about this book, except that you'll read the first couple of pages, then go back and read the first page again.  I love books that aren't what you expect.  I think school-aged kids will really get a kick out of this one (especially when they "get it" all by themselves.)

image via ecx.images-amazon.com

Read It: Good Night, Gorilla

by Peggy Rathmann

The zookeeper says goodnight to gorilla, who silently slips the keys off the zookeeper's belt.  As the zookeeper says goodnight to all the animals, gorilla walks behind him, quietly opening the cages as he goes.  All the animals follow the zookeeper home where his wife is already asleep...

This is one of those books you can't imagine anyone would dislike.  But, with an average of 5 stars (as I suspected), out of 184 reviews on Amazon, three people gave it one star.  One of them reasoned that they didn't like seeing the animals in cages (seriously?), others that there wasn't much to the written story.  It's true, the writing is very simple, but the story that's being told goes beyond what is being said.  I would be very disappointed if every book spelled out exactly what is happening in the story.  And when I see my pre-reader proudly "reading" the book, I'm not complaining one bit. 

I highly recommend buying the boardbook version of this story.  It will be well used (especially if there happens to be a little "Goodnight Gorilla" in your family).

image via hellobigbook.com

Read It: Miss Nelson is Missing (and Cookie Bouquets)

by James Marshall

Seriously, is there anyone who hasn't read this book yet?  

Remember your teacher as the end of year approaches.  He or she is such a big part of your child's formative years.  Thank your teacher.

We've been getting together everything for the end of the year, making things for the end of year gift for my kindergartener's teacher.  We're doing things a little different this year because of what happened this winter.  The day before Christmas break it snowed over a foot.  School was cancelled, so of course the class Christmas party was cancelled, and our gift to the teacher went undelivered and moldy (I'm lying.  It never got moldy because I ate it the same day I found out there was no school.  I needed it.).  The teacher really gets a hefty load of gifts at Christmas, and school being out meant she really missed out (on the appreciation and the tasty treats).  So we really put some extra effort into this end of year gift to make up for it.

This isn't exactly what we did, but it's the closest picture I could find.  Our flowers weren't frosted quite as ornately.  I know she likes scrapbooking, so I tucked in a gift card to JoAnn's.  

To let my sneaky side show through, part of the reason why I liked this gift so much is because it was actually our church's young women's camp fundraiser.  Dads could buy the "flour bouquet" for Mother's Day, or moms could buy it as an end of year teacher gift.  We also sold individual cookies on a stick.  All thanks to Holly's sister, Kristin, who got the good idea together with a useful purpose.   

It was a very successful fundraiser, especially because we would have otherwise been selling hotdogs in front of Sam's Club with the Boy Scouts.

images via lee-knight.com and T-Woods through flickr.com

Read it: Planting a Rainbow

by Lois Ehlert

I just got back from buying all kinds of flowers that I will inevitably kill.  Just being realistic here.  

My adventures in gardening reminded me of this book.  The colors are brilliant, and everyone can learn a little because it lists the names of the different flowers in the "rainbow."  My kids now love identifying the different flowers in our own flower garden.

So, it's memorial day weekend.  Have you finished planting your rainbow yet?

image via syndetics.com

Read It: Nothing

by Jon Agee

Otis has sold everything in his antiques shop and is about to close up when a wealthy woman walks in and asks what's for sale.  Otis simply replies, "Nothing."  He has nothing left.  When the woman hears this, she replies, "I have a lot of things, but I've never had nothing.  I'll pay you three hundred dollars!"  

Otis believes it is a ridiculous request, but the words of his father come to his mind, "The customer is always right."  So Otis packs up nothing and the town's richest woman drives away with $300 worth of nothing.

News of her stylish purchase travels fast and soon everyone will do anything to get nothing.

I love this book.  It's a great story to talk to kids about how the latest trend may not be worth what we think it is at the time.  And maybe it's a good lesson for us, too?

image via hyperionbooksforchildren.com

Read It Again: Are You My Mother?

by P.D. Eastman

A classic!!!

A baby bird hatches from his egg while mom is off in search of food.  The baby decides he must find his mother and leaves the nest in search of her...but he doesn't know what she looks like.  

His search for his mother leads him to ask different objects and animals, "Are you my mother?"

Happy Mothers Day!

image via whatihaveread.net

Read It: A Chair For My Mother

by Vera B. Williams

Life is hard sometimes...but then we have the moments we get to curl up in a comfy chair with our little ones and it's easier to see why we're doing it all.  

A tribute to mothers--you'd be surprised what your kids notice about what you do for them.

image via thereadingnook.com

Read It: My Monster Mama Loves Me So

by Laura Leuck

illustrations by Mark Buehner

Mother's day is coming up.  Want a sneaky way to remind your family that it's just around the corner?  Stock up on Mother's Day books from the library!

While this book isn't necessarily an official Mother's Day book, it's one of my favorite books about a mother and child.

Anybody have a favorite "unofficial" Mother's Day book?  We really do love to get your comments and suggestions!

image via psychobabyonline.com

Read It: Tops and Bottoms

by Janet Stevens

 A Caldecott Honor Book

Whatever happened to that Hare after he lost the race to Tortoise?  He hasn't exactly changed his ways.

When Mr. and Mrs. Hare ran out of food for their big bunny family, they hatched a plan to change their lot.  The next morning the Hares proposed becoming business partners with the lazy (but wealthy) bear.  Hare and his family would do all the work farming on Bear's land.  At harvest, Bear and Hare would split the produce "right down the middle."  All bear had to do was choose if he wanted  Tops or Bottoms.  You can probably guess what this clever Hare did...he taught Bear that laziness doesn't pay.

It's Spring!  Are you planting a garden?  Some plants grow the part we eat underground while others grow those parts above the ground.  Talk about that before starting the book so you don't have to stop in the middle to explain. 

A very good book for teaching values:  After the book my kids and I had a discussion about whether or not what Hare did was honest or not.  It was a good intro into talking about how half-truths are still lies.  We also talked about what Hare could have done instead to deal honestly with Bear.  Our children certainly need to learn that just because someone has more money, that doesn't mean you can deal dishonestly with them.  Honesty doesn't depend on the circumstance.  I personally would not read this book without the plan for a follow-up discussion.   

image via www.pbp.fcs.msue.msu.edu

Read It: The Tale of Three Trees

retold by Angela Elwell Hunt

illustrations by Tim Jonke

Sometimes things don't always work out the way you'd planned.  Three trees on a hill had great visions for their futures.  One wanted to become a beautiful chest to be filled with treasure.  The second wanted to become a great sailing ship to travel mighty waters and carry powerful kings.  The third wanted to remain on the mountain and grow so tall, people would see her and think of God in heaven.

But all three met a woodcutter's ax and turned out to be something far different from what they had dreamed.  One became a feedbox, the second became a fisherman's boat, the third became a beam, tossed aside in a lumberyard.  But that wasn't the end for those three trees.

Like I said before, sometimes things don't always work out the way you'd planned.  However, when we fashion ourselves to be useful to God's purposes, we can become so much more.

It may be too late to get this book before Easter, so I've attached a youtube reading of this book.  The actual book has full pages of pictures.  The video only shows small sections of the pictures on each page.

Have a wonderful Easter.  

image via ebooknetworking.com

Read It: Once There Was a Bull...(frog)

by Rick Walton

illustrated by Greg Hally

I'm on a roll... last week it was a book with idioms, this week it's compound words (if only Mrs. Allred could see me now.)!  A compound word is really just two words joined together- -like "bullfrog."

The bullfrog in this wild west story has lost his hop.  He looks under a dog...(turn the page)...house, but his hop isn't there.  

He takes another approach and lands in a field of straw...(turn the page)...berries.  Still no hop.

On bullfrog's quest to find his hop, we find that just one word in a sentence can change a sentence-and a story-completely.

Just like last week, this is probably best for school-aged kids, but my pre-k little guy still enjoys the pictures and likes to yell out the word on the next page (so proud he can "read") "BERRIES!!"

Do a little more with the book:  I think this is such a great book to lead your kids into making their own books with compound words. Depending on their age/ability, they could use the same story of the bullfrog looking for his hop, or they could make up their own story completely.  Great idea for homeschool or afterschool kids alike!

And a little shout-out (a compound word!) to Utah...both author and illustrator are from the Beehive State.

image via rickwalton.com

Read It: Parts

by Tedd Arnold

Soliloquy... oxymoron... onomatopoeia...          Jibberish?  Or do they linger somewhere with your vague memories of sort-of paying attention in English class?  Plain old memorization of terms doesn't work with me, but show me a cute book like this and I've firmly planted the definition of "idiom" in my brain (and no, I didn't mean "idiot," thank you very much.)

 

So what's an "idiom"?  The boy in this book doesn't know an idiom is an expression that doesn't literally mean what the words say.  See how disturbed he becomes as he thinks about his coach "jumping out of his skin," his friend's baby sister "screaming her lungs out" and what his grandma wants him to do when she tells him, "hold your tongue."  (All idioms...see, you're getting it already!)  Don't worry, this isn't a grammar book.  You won't find the word "idiom" anywhere on it.  It's just a fun book that's apparently good enough to have a sequel...  

and another....

Great book for any age--even if your child doesn't understand the common phrases in the book, he will spend countless hours loving the pictures.

images via imperialbeachkids.webs.com, and vanillajoy.com

Read It: Bean and Plant

by Christine Back and Barrie Watts

Are you getting a garden ready right now?  Even if you aren't, this is a fantastic book for showing kids what's going on under the dirt with plants that produce our food.  The pictures are excellent quality and very close up, so you can see exactly what's happening.  

The book can be read by a beginning reader if they just read the top line of each page.  If you want to learn more about what's going on in the picture, you can read the smaller print.

The end of the book has 6 pictures for your little one to put in a sequenced order:  first the seed, then the root grows...

I highly recommend this book.  I like it so much I'm going to go ahead and recommend the book "Tadpole and Frog" by the same authors, without even reading it.  I'm sure they will not disappoint.

Read It: Tim O'Toole and the Wee Folk

An Irish Tale Told and illustrated by Gerald McDermott

Tim O'Toole and his family are very poor. When they haven't a thing left to eat, Tim sets out to find work. At first I was uncertain why he would wait so long, but as the story goes on you learn that Tim O'Toole is quite the O'"Tool."

After searching for work with no luck, Tim comes across a troop of leprechauns. For discovering them in the daylight, the leprechauns give him a goose that lays golden eggs. After being warned to tell no one and head straight home, Tim becomes tired on his journey home and stays the night at the McGoon's home. Tim brags of his new treasure and then goes to sleep. As he sleeps, the McGoons trade Tim's goose for one of their own. In the morning Tim shows the ordinary goose to his wife. The goose lays no eggs, and Tim returns to the leprechauns, accusing them of cheating him. Although the leprechauns provide Tim with another treasure, he repeats the same mistake as before. Surprisingly, it's the leprechauns that help Tim come out on top despite his poor choices.

Although this isn't my favorite of the St. Patrick's Day books, I like it because it tells a different story of the leprechauns. For those of us who have met one, we know leprechauns are held bound by their word. Other books tell stories of how leprechauns try to get out of their promises without breaking them. This book shows leprechauns going the extra mile to make sure their promise is fulfilled. Just something a little different this time...

This is a classic tale. You will find many variations of the same story line. Instead of leprechaun's, another book we've read used Father Wind.

Gerald McDermott has quite diverse styles in his artwork. Although he typically retells folklore in his books, his artwork is untraceable between some of his books. You probably didn't recognize that he is also the illustrator of the popular "Anansi the Spider" book.

In my little family we have a tradition of looking for leprechaun gold on the morning of St. Patrick's Day. Theresa's family's leprechaun is far nicer than ours, because our leprechaun hides the gold. Dad usually tells the kids he thought he saw a leprechaun in the (pick a room), and that is where they rush to find chocolate gold coins hidden throughout the room. It's fun, and we use the coins to decorate the table for our St. Patrick's feast.

image via library.camden.rutgers.edu

Read It: How Ben Franklin Stole the Lightning

by Rosalyn Schanzer

"I am for doing good to the poor, but I differ in opinion of the means.  I think the best way of doing good to the poor is not making them easy in poverty but leading or driving them out of it."

-Benjamin Franklin

Politics and the economy have been on my mind lately.  Yours too?  Reading is usually an escape from everyday worries for me, so I'll spare you here.  Although I shared a quote from Benjamin Franklin's political views, this book covers only his life as a scientist and inventor.  A fast moving history book with interesting (and entertaining) pictures.  

Best for school age children, but my three year old did enjoy the pictures.

Want to do more with the book?  We don't have cable, so we occassionally enjoy watching "Peep and the Big Wide World," online.  It's a kids' cartoon with a little bit of science mixed in.  I was particularly impressed with the website's full page of ideas for science experimentation with kids.  There are scientific experiments everywhere!

"A house is not a home unless it contains food and fire for the mind as well as the body."  

–Benjamin Franklin

image via rosalynschanzer.com

Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss!

" From near to far, from here to there, funny things are everywhere!"

-One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish

Theodor Seuss Geisel was born March 2, 1904.  Under the pen name of Dr. Seuss, Theo. LeSieg and Rosetta Stone, Geisel published over 60 books.  One of the most important things he taught us is that learning to read could be fun.  "The Cat in the Hat" came about in response to how boring books at the early reader level were at that time.

He died September 24, 1991.  If he were alive today, he would be 105.

Looking for free Educational (not mindless) computer games?  Go to Seussville.com where you will find these:

Appropriate for kids who can maneuver a mouse:

The Lorax Sticker Game (finish the pattern game)

One Fish Two Fish Concentration (A memory game)

For kids 1st grade and up (my guess):

Fox in Socks Matching game (put together the words to describe the picture)

"In 2000 Publisher's Weekly compiled a list of the best selling children's books of all time.  Of the top 100 hardcover books, 16 were written by Geisel." (source: Wikipedia)

Geisel's books were the inspiration for the creation of the Read Across America event that takes place around the time of Dr. Seuss's birthday every year.  Many Target stores participate, so if your local library doesn't have activities, feel free to check out what's going on in your area here.

In the meantime, if you'd like to learn more about Theodore Geisel...

School is out for us tomorrow.  It's funny how you don't have to look hard to find something to celebrate.  We are reading our Dr. Seuss favorites, making Cat in the Hat... hats and eating green eggs and ham for lunch.  Yessss, another reason to eat birthday cake....

images via barnesandnoble.com and usps.com

Read it: Big Al (and get a free book)

by Andrew Klements 

illustrated by Yoshi

You couldn't find a kinder fish than Big Al, but he still had no friends.  The problem was Big Al was a very, very scary looking fish.

Big Al really wanted friends, so he tried disguising himself, changing how he looked and even  hiding himself in the sand.  Nothing he did made any fish get close enough to find out how great Big Al was on the inside. 

Big Al finally gets through to the fish not by hiding his ugliness, but by using it to protect them.  But the story doesn't end there...

I thought of this book while grocery shopping this week.  I found my 3 year old intensely staring down a woman who was missing all fingers on both hands.  Later reading this book helped us talk about how we will never know how beautiful people are on the inside if we treat them like they are scary (like the fish did).  Just because some people are different on the outside it doesn't mean they are different on the inside. 

images available for purchase as giclee prints through yoshikogo.com

Feeling the pinch from the economy, but want to keep up your addiction to children's books?  Remember our post about Little Scholastic Books?  Act now and you can receive info on how to get a Little Scholastic book for free here! 

Read It: Somebody Loves You, Mr. Hatch

by Eileen Spinelli

illustrated by Paul Yalowitz

Mr. Hatch was tall and thin and did not smile.
Every morning at 6:30 sharp he would leave his brick house and walk eight blocks to the shoelace factory where he worked.
At lunchtime he would sit alone in a corner, eat his cheese and mustard sandwich, and drink a cup of coffee. Sometimes he brought a prune for dessert.

Everything changes for Mr. Hatch when a Valentine arrives at his house with a note, "Somebody Loves You."  Mr. Hatch has no idea who it could be from, and then something happens that has never happened before....he smiles.  Mr. Hatch begins to act differently, knowing that somebody loves him, and because of this he reaches out and makes new friends.

The postman returns to Mr. Hatch's house to give him bad news about his Valentine, and Mr. Hatch is left to believe nobody loves him.  The story continues to a happy ending for Mr. Hatch and his new friends.

Fun Activity:  Work with the kids to cut out a simple heart that says, "Somebody Loves You."  Secretly work together (or separately-depending on your child's age) and do a good deed for a family member or friend and leave the heart behind.  My kids go crazy for doing stuff like this, and doing just one good deed isn't usually enough.

Happy Valentine's Day!

images via thereadingnook.com, workplaceliving-uk.com

Read It: I'm the Biggest Thing in the Ocean

by Kevin Sherry

Ha ha ha!  I have to admit that many of my book recommendations are funny books.  Some days you need a reminder to laugh, and a book is a great way to snap you back to where you want to be.  Although I try to make all my book recommendations a good read for any age, this book would be absolutely PERFECT for preschoolers or early readers.  The story is simple, the pictures are simple, and it has an unexpected ending that will make your little one roll with giggles (because you will be, too!).

The story follows a giant squid who swims around finding things he's bigger than.  He sees that he's bigger than shrimps, a crab, a shark, and others.  Continue the fun when the book is over by helping your preschooler find things he's bigger than.  A great book to introduce the concept of "bigger" (and "smaller").

Buy the book, and I'm pretty sure all editions come with bath clings at the end.  Have the little one retell the story in the bathtub!

Giant squid are actually incredibly interesting.  Did you know we have only had photos of a living giant squid since 2004?!!  Do your kids want to learn more about giant squid?  A great way to remind your kids the Internet isn't the end-all, tell-all for information: pull out a book!  "Outside and Inside Giant Squid" is a great non-fiction (only 35 page) book with color photographs.

images via www.brookslibraryyouth.wordpress.com, flickr.com and amazon.com