Lunch

by Denise Fleming

The story of a mouse who gets very hungry, leaves his mousehole, and finds a whole table of delicious fruits and vegetables to eat.  He approaches each one, each a different color.  You can see just a corner of the produce to give you a clue as to what it is that he is going to eat on the next page.  The words also prompt you to guess.  Mouse eats  "sweet yellow".... (with the corner of a cob of corn on that page).  Turn the page and it's confirmed that it is corn, which is being sloppily devoured by the mouse.  I love the hilarious body language of the excited mouse.  At the end of the book he is thoroughly filthy, leaving a trail back to his mousehole.  Great for ages infant to preschool. 

Have a little fun: As you're reading, have your child guess what the fruit or vegetable is that the mouse will eat next (you can see a corner of the vegetable on each page to give a clue).  Sing this song (complete with actions) with your child.  This is better with a group of children who actually are wearing different colors, but you can make it work.  Cut circles in different colors and put them on your body when you sing about that color.  Or, you could take clothing of different colors from their closet and throw them on for singing each color.  A fun dress-up game! If you'd like accompanying music, go to the National Institute of Health site.   I like this site because it includes a lot of the music to accompany songs for children.

If you are Wearing....(Sung to the tune "If You're Happy and You Know It")

If you are wearing red, shake your head

If you are wearing red, shake your head

If you are wearing red

Then please shake your head

If you are wearing red, shake your head

If you are wearing blue, touch your shoe 

If you are wearing blue, touch your shoe

If you are wearing blue,

Then please touch your shoe

If you are wearing blue, touch your shoe

If you are wearing green, bow to the queen 

If you are wearing green, bow to the queen

If you are wearing green,

Then please bow to the queen

If you are wearing green, bow to the queen

If you are wearing yellow, shake like Jell-O 

If you are wearing yellow, shake like Jell-O

If you are wearing yellow,

Then please shake like Jell-O

If you are wearing yellow, shake like Jell-O

If you are wearing black, pat your back 

If you are wearing black, pat your back

If you are wearing black,

Then please pat your back

If you are wearing black, pat your back

If you are wearing brown, turn around

If you are wearing brown, turn around

If you are wearing brown,

Then please turn around

If you are wearing brown, turn around

images via www.pabook.libraries.psu.edu and guitarati.com

Mouse Paint

by Ellen Stoll Walsh

"Once there were three white mice on a white piece of paper.  The cat couldn't find them."  One day while the cat sleeps, the mice find three jars of paint: red, yellow and blue.  They each jump inside and are no longer white mice, but red, yellow and blue mice.  The mice discover that when two of the colors are mixed together, it creates a new color!  After a nice bath in the cat's water bowl, the mice set off and use their new knowledge to paint not 3, but 6 colors on everything....well, almost everything.

Great book for PreK kids, but older kids could appreciate it as well.

Have a little fun: Experiment with color.  Put the primary colors in puddles on paper, put on some music, and let your child's fingers "dance" in the music (like the mice did).  Point out how the colors change when combined. 

For slightly older children, overlap colored tissue paper to see the color change.  Make a collage out of the tissue paper.

image via efollet.com

Mufaro's Beautiful Daughters

by John Steptoe

If you can't read Disney's Cinderella even one more time, introduce your little princess to a different kind of Cinderella story. A Caldecott Honor, for its beautiful pictures.

Set in Africa, Mufaro has 2 beautiful daughters, Manyara and Nyasha. Although both were beautiful, they couldn't have been more different. Manyara was always bad tempered, selfish and unkind. Nyasha was hard working, loving, and kind, despite her sister's harsh words to her.

One day, the King sends an invitation for the most worthy and beautiful daughters in the land to appear before him, so he can choose a bride. Mufaro, who knows nothing of Manyara's bad treatment of others, is proud to send both his daughters. However, Manyara wants to get to the King's palace ahead of her sister, so she steals out in the night to get a head start.

Along the way, Manyara meets 3 people who are in need of kindness from her. Manyara is bitterly cruel to them and continues to the palace, presuming herself to be the next queen.

The next morning, Nyasha sets out for the palace and comes across some of the same strangers her sister met the night before. She is kind and generous with each of them. As Nyasha approaches the castle, Manyara is frantically running from the steps and tells her sister of a terrible beast within that claimed to know her faults. Nyasha enters anyway, and finds that her kindness pays off in the end.

Have a little fun: I actually enjoy this story more than Disney's Cinderella, because in Disney's Cinderella the prince seems to fall in love after only one dance. The prince has time to get to know Nyasha, and sees that she is just as kind as she is beautiful. Beauty is another issue in this story. Both girls are beautiful, but one chooses to act ugly.

Depending on the age of your child, you can talk about the differences and similarities between the classic Cinderella and this one. You'll be surprised how alike stories in two very different settings can be.

A little more fun: A good book to get your child interested in another country, especially with the Olympics going on right now. Point out where Africa is on a map or globe, and compare it to where you live.

images via Baldwin Library of Historical Children's Literature

Joseph Had a Little Overcoat

by Simms Taback

Joseph had a little overcoat, and when it becomes ragged, he turns it into a jacket. When the jacket gets too worn, he turns it into a vest... The long-ago overcoat is slowly whittled down and remade until it is nothing more than a button. Joseph loses the button. So what can he do now that he has nothing? This is a story that teaches you can always make something from nothing. Another message I particularly enjoy is that the crafty mind can always make something useful beyond its original purpose.

The pictures are a story of their own. The pages have holes in them, so when you turn the page, the new article of clothing is cut out of the old one. Also, the pictures include so many details! Many of those details include references to Jewish history, with pictures of real people on the walls of Joseph's home, and Hebrew writing on his papers. This is a very deserving Caldecott winner.

image via www.global-b2b-network.com

Have a little fun: This story has a particularly personal impact for me. Before reluctantly turning an old shirt into a rag, my great-grandmother would cut all the buttons off and put them in little jars. Those buttons went on to be useful on another article of clothing. I was given that box of button jars before my grandma died, and they have been repurposed to being a sorting game for my kids. Every once in a while I'll even find the need to pull out the box to replace a lost button. The little jars of buttons are more than a useful or sentimental item, they are a reminder to me that maybe I should think twice about throwing away that box of wire hangers just because I have a million of them....or that chair with a leg that could be fixed.... 

If you don't feel crafty enough to tackle repurposing something, give it to someone who is! A forum with increasing popularity is freecycle.org. Join the group in your area and someone local is guaranteed to pick it up and reuse it. If you want a little money for it, try your local Craigslist.org You don't need an account to post for free on Craigslist, just remember to post it in the correct state and area. Definitely submit a picture with it (of the item, not you...ha ha!) for best results!

Bedtime!

by Ruth Freeman Swain

illustrated by Cat Bowman Smith

Bedtime! is a non-fiction book about the history of and different kinds of beds. We all sleep, but it's amazing how differently we all do the same thing. This book follows beds through various times: ancient Egypt and China, the Middle Ages, and every time in between. My kids especially loved seeing beds in different locations: the desert, trains, semi-trucks, boats, the side of a mountain (yikes!), and outer space. My kids were delighted to see that the book made special mention of one bed in a manger.

Sometimes fact-books are overstimulating because of their hodge-podge of information strewn throughout the page. While great for older kids, younger kids could easily get lost. In Bedtime! the facts are given to form a continuous "story," not a spattering of facts.

If you love this one, check out Ruth Freeman Swain's other fun fact books.

While I enjoyed both of these books, Bedtime! is still my favorite of Swain's collection. However, you may enjoy these others even more, considering that these are both better sellers than Bedtime!

Have a Little Fun: You've reached the end and you're aching for more? Turn the last page to see facts about sleep. It includes a part that talks about how when we're getting ready for bed, someone on the other side of the world is just waking up! This led me to teach my kids about the position of the sun with the rotation of the earth and how that effects day and night around the world. I assure you I explained in it more simplistic terms. ha!

I used a mirror to reflect light from the sun onto our globe (but you could just use a ball). It shows how while one side of the earth gets light, the other is in shadow and it is night there. I've found this works best, because a flashlight simply isn't bright enough...but I guess you could go in a totally dark room to do this with a flashlight.

The Poky Little Puppy

"One of the original 12 Little Golden Books, The Poky Little Puppy has sold nearly 15 million copies since 1942, making it one of the most popular children's books of all time."*  Someone read it to you, have you read it to your kids?

by Janette Sebring Lowrey

illustrated by Gustaf Tenggren

Five little puppies dug a hole under the fence and went exploring. After a while they could smell rice pudding. So home four of the puppies ran, only to find their upset mother scolding them for digging a hole, and sent them to bed. The fifth puppy, a poky little puppy, came home late and ate up the rice pudding and went to bed happy.

The next morning there was a sign by the fence from Mother that warned the puppies not to dig holes. But, they dug a hole again, and four little puppies got into the same punishment again when they returned. The poky little puppy came home later and enjoyed chocolate custard before heading to bed.

The puppies finally learn to repair their mistakes and listen to Mother, and so does the poky little puppy, but just a little later than the rest.

I've been feeling reminiscent the past couple of weeks. Perhaps it was having to call poison control twice in one week, or hearing my 5 year-old-daughter say, "You are ruining my life!" Whatever it was, I'm appreciating my mom a lot more lately. I remember this book as a childhood favorite, and now it reminds me I'm not the only one who struggles to be a good mom. Here's celebrating non-toxic doses of old cough drops and the 5 year old who secretly sings songs about having the most wonderful life. They do things wrong, but they learn (after a while), and so do we (after a while)!

image via howtobeachildrensbookillustrator.wordpress.com

Be Nice to Spiders

I live in the Midwest.  My basement was flooded when 12" of water fell in 6 hours.  I can survive that.  What I cannot survive is the resulting infestation of mosquitos!!  I'm being mummified alive!  Reading this book gives my murderous feelings toward those, and other flying insects, a little satisfaction.

by Margaret Bloy Graham

Billy had to leave his pet spider, Helen, to a good home when he moved, and the zoo seemed like the perfect place.  Helen escaped her box soon after her surprise delivery, and quickly started eating the flies that troubled all the animals at the zoo.  She moved from cage to cage until the flies were finally under control and all the animals were content.

One day, the Keeper orders the cages cleaned of all the "unattractive" spiderwebs because the Mayor was coming.  During the cleaning of the camel cage, one of the workers spotted Helen and swatted, but missed.  Scared of being discovered again, she decided to only stay in the camel cage.  Over the next few weeks, the flies returned to the other animals' cages, but not the camel cage, thanks to Helen.  The Keeper finally learns that we should be nice to spiders because they really are useful.

Those who know me well, and sometimes the occassional complete stranger watching me scream and run away, know that the title of this book is not my creed.  However, I am a firm believer that all life should be treated with respect.  Every life has a purpose, and sometimes we have to identify the good each does in order to appreciate it.  That's where mom comes in, to answer the little one's question, "Why do we have spiders, anyway?"  To be honest, if every spider had a cute little smiley face like Helen, I would be less inclined to shiver when I see one.

Margaret Bloy Graham is more well known for her illustrations in books about Harry the Dirty Dog, which is also an enjoyable vintage book.

Have a little fun: Check out a book about insects and arachnids that live in your area.  I don't know what it is about looking at those pictures, but my kids love it.  Teaching them how to identify a Black Widow or Brown Recluse spider might be a good idea.  Or do you want them getting that close?  Hey, you might learn something you didn't know...like not all spiders spin webs!

images via vintagechildrensbooksmykidloves.com

Enemy Pie

by Derek Munson

illustrated by Tara Calahan King

It should have been the perfect summer for this little boy, but it wasn't because Jeremy Ross moved in next door to the boy's best friend, Stanley. Jeremy Ross laughed at the boy when Jeremy struck him out in baseball. Jeremy Ross had a party on his trampoline and didn't invite the boy. Jeremy Ross was the first person, the only person on the boy's enemy list. (The boy doesn't have a name, because I guess it's supposed to make him more relatable to the reader.)

The boy tells his dad about his problem with Jeremy Ross. His dad, wisely seeing this was not a bully issue, pulled out the recipe for Enemy Pie. The boy was informed that the only way Enemy Pie could work was if the boy spent one whole day with his enemy, Jeremy Ross.

The boy imagines all the horrible things that would happen to whoever ate Enemy Pie, and what kind of disgusting things were inside. Although he really doesn't want to spend the day with his enemy, he ultimately rings Jeremy Ross' doorbell and asks him to play. After spending a day of throwing waterballoons, playing sports, and having a great day together, the boy realizes he doesn't want Jeremy Ross to eat Enemy Pie! Dessert is served, and the boy needs to act quickly to save his new friend!

The author, Derek Munson, is a great storyteller. I have yet to find a text I have been more impressed with. This is a great book for teaching kids that an enemy might just be a friend you haven't gotten to know yet. My daughter is barely 5, so I had to tell her what an enemy was before we began (ah, innocence!). 

Have a teaching moment: Do a "picture walk" through the story, not reading the words, but just looking at the pictures (but not the last few pictures!). As you go, have your child predict what is happening in the story, and what they think will happen next. Teach and use the word "predict" since it will definitely come up at school. Remember, any guess is a good guess!

images via wrjih.wordpress.com

Strega Nona

by Tomie dePaola

My last posting about spaghetti reminded me of another pasta classic--Strega Nona!  Just in case there's a chance maybe one person out there has never read this must-read.

image via 100scopenotes.wordpress.com

More Spaghetti, I Say!

This is supposed to be a "leveled reader," (the kind teachers use to match the right book with each child's reading level), but it's one of the books we have worn the cover off of with so many readings. A great book about Minnie monkey, who is so committed to her love of spaghetti, she has found a way to incorporate it into everything she does....skiing, biking, and so on! Unfortunately, she takes a good thing too far and gets sick from eating too much spaghetti. Great ending, and one that your little pre-reader will be proud to take over reading someday soon!

Have a little fun: Make a pile of spaghetti just to play with. Squish it, pile it, talk about what it would feel like to stand on a mountain of spaghetti. This might be a good time to talk about how your body feels when it is full.

If you're careful with hand washing, you could probably make a cold spaghetti dish to accompany dinner.

Even more fun: Watch Freddy's face throughout the story. He is very expressive of his feelings when he's excited, when Minnie says she won't play with him, and in other ways. A good book to identify how what we say makes people feel good/bad.

images via mortgerberbooks.com