Fun with Letters!

There are so many wonderful alphabet books to share, and The Zoo I Drew by Todd Doodler is one of them. It features an animal per letter, and both the text and the drawings are playful and engaging.

Learning letters is an important early step towards reading, but sometimes alphabet books can seem just a little too long when read A to Z. One of my favorite ways to read an alphabet book is to hop around and spell things that mean something to the child who is listening. For example, the first letters we learn to recognize are usually those in our name. So one great way to break the book up might be to start with the letter "K" for Kate. I wonder who we'll find on that page?

Let's see...

It's a Koala! We could keep looking for the letters in my name, or we could look for Mom, Dad, or anyone else who is special to us. Be creative with your words and don't be afraid to get silly with it! You'll be amazed at how much fun an alphabet book can be.

Miss Kate

Real Animals!

If your child is a budding zoologist, check out the Amazing Animals series all by Valerie Bodden. These books are a perfect fit for preschoolers and may even enlighten you! Each of the titles focuses on a particular animal, showcasing it with over sized photos and short bits of interesting information, all packed into a picture book-sized package. Bodden's book on polar bears, for instance, equates the size of the bear (1,500 pounds), to something young children can relate to: "eight grown-up men put together". She goes on to say that "a polar bear standing on its back legs could touch the rum of a basketball hoop", and that "polar bears sometimes stand up for a look around".

Oppportunities to introduce new words to your child's vocabulary abound, and the book even includes a short explanation for some of the more unfamiliar words (like "predator" or "Arctic").

You will probably want to read all of the titles available in our library. In addition to Polar Bears, these include Monkeys, Penguins, Lions, and Sharks.

Minji's Salon

An ice cream shampoo and watercolor highlights--what more can a dog ask for? When Minji sees her mother enter a beauty salon, she knows her fluffy-eared dog deserves nothing less than to be the lucky recipient of her own prodigious styling skills.

The author/illustrator, Eun-hee Choung, displays a great sense of fun throughout Minji's Salon with parallel shots of the mother and dog's makeovers. Children everywhere who have ever gotten into their mother's makeup stash will enjoy Minji's "salon's" grand opening.

Minji's problem solving skills are creatively highlighted through complimentary text and artwork. The language is simple and humorous, making it easy for young readers to relate to Minji's unabashed exuberance. Adults will appreciate the author's tongue-in-cheek commentary and deft handling of Minji's mother's surprise homecoming.

Mighty M

Bears on Chairs

Counting! Rhyming! Bears on Chairs! There is a lot to like about Bears on Chairs. This book combines Shirley Parenteau's bouncy, preschool-friendly rhymes with simple and sweet illustrations by David Walker.

While children already have strong ideas about right and wrong, Bears on Chairs tackles two important concepts for preschoolers that can sometimes seem to be in conflict: fairness and sharing.

All is well in the pastel world of bears Calico, Fuzzy, Yellow and Floppy. Each is happy to be sitting on his or her own chair. One chair apiece is clearly a fair and equitable distribution of seating resources, but the arrival of Big Brown Bear complicates the situation. How to share four chairs between five bears? After some experimenting, a solution is found to satisfy even the most stringent of pint-sized moralists. All of the bears share by pushing their chairs together into a kind of bench that can hold everybody.

There are many points to talk about as you read this book with your child. How many bears and how many chairs do you see on the cover? How do you think Calico, Fuzzy, Yellow and Floppy got their names? What would you do to help Big Brown Bear? You probably have everything you need at home to keep the story going into playtime with your own stuffed bears and your own chairs.

Check it out! Use Bears on Chairs as a fun way to read, talk and play with your child today.

~ Miss Robin

The Creative Family

Do you like to play, create, sew, imagine, and explore with your children? Having a hard time coming up with just the right project or running out of ideas? Then it is time you checked out The Creative Family and two other inspiring books by Amanda Blake Soule. In her introduction Soule writes about how her need and desire to create was initially sparked when she became pregnant with her first child; how she feels more complete when her creativity is expressed; and most importantly how she has nurtured her children's growing, creative spirits. Soule's book of simple projects and activities is arranged in four parts; gathering, playing, living, and connecting. There are projects for felting, drawing, finger knitting, and weaving; recipes for natural glue, henna and earth dyes; patterns for bedtime bags, birthday banners, and wool blocks. One of my favorite ideas is creating a musical banging wall (outside, of course) made up of pots, pans, plastic bottles and other items found around the house. (see page 196) Soule's writing has inspired and enriched my life. May it do the same for you. Her other books are Handmade Home: simple ways to repurpose old materials into new family treasures and The Rhythm of the Family: discovering a sense of wonder through the seasons.

Miss Julie

Keiko Kasza -- Picture Book Author & Illustrator Extraordinaire

Isn't it wonderful to come across an author-illustrator that is able to combine entertaining storytelling with appealing illustrations that young children just love? Keiko Kasza does both combining funny stories that contain messages about sharing, self-esteem and friendship, with watercolor illustrations of adorable, expressive animal characters. Here are a few of my personal favorites.

In her story, The Rat and the Tiger, children learn about the importance of sharing and taking turns. Tiger is not very good at either and almost loses his best friend when he starts bossing Rat around, doesn't equally share at snack time and karate chops the block castle Rat spent a long time making. Children will automatically sympathize with Rat as he struggles through hurt feelings and anger towards Tiger. It all works out in the end as Tiger goes about proving that he can be a good friend after all.

Another fun story, especially if you have a young worrywart in the family is, Ready for Anything! Duck is all ready to go on a picnic until his good friend Raccoon starts to imagine all the bad things that could go wrong. After all, "what if" they were chased by killer bees, or got stuck in a terrible rain storm, or met up with a scary dragon? Luckily, Duck has a much more optimistic outlook and is able to reassure Raccoon about all the good things that might happen instead.

 And finally, one of my favorites provides a twist to the classic bad wolf image found in a lot of children's tales. In, The Wolf's Chicken Stew, the ever hungry wolf is set on making a delicious chicken stew. He has chosen the perfect chicken and is just about ready to pounce when he decides it would be better to fatten her up instead. Children will laugh out loud as they see images of Wolf making 100 scrumptious goodies over three days which he leaves outside chicken's door. At the end of the story, you'll end up saying "ah shucks" along with Wolf after he meets 100 endearing little chicks that shower him with kisses and call him "Uncle Wolf." Needless to say, a change of heart occurs and instead of making stew, Wolf ends up making lots of new friends.

Check out other books by Keiko Kasza and be on the lookout for her newest book called, Silly Goose's Big Story, coming in March 2012. I can hardly wait!

Miss~Mary

Stars are Everywhere

"A star is how you know it's almost night." So begins this comforting story of children discovering stars in the night sky and all around them in the natural world. There are star shaped flowers on the pumpkin vines; snowflake stars on wintry days; and thousands of stars floating from a dandelion puff. Observe the world from a child's eye and I promise you'll discover stars where you never looked before. Mary Lyn Ray and Marla Frazee have created what I believe will become a childhood classic, full of wonder and delight. Ray's poetic words and Frazee's charming illustrations are in perfect harmony. Do yourself a favor. Check out Stars. Share it with your children and during this magical season enjoy the night. Wrap your kids up in blankets & head outside with a thermos of hot chocolate. Daily snuggling up with a good book and sharing a few moments of quiet will make a lasting impression on your children.

Miss Julie