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.

image via psychobabyonline.com

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

Miss Nelson is Missing

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 my good friend 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

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.

Have a wonderful Easter.  

image via ebooknetworking.com

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 isan 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

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.

*update: I've read Tadpole and Frog---and LOVE it!

images via images.albiris.com

Big Al

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 aboutLittle Scholastic Books?  Act now and you can receive info on how to get a Little Scholastic book for free here! 

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 easyin 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

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.  Tim's mistakes lead him back to the leprechauns again and again, so the leprechauns finally take matters into their own hands to change Tim's luck.  

 

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.  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.

images via library.camden.rutgers.edu and missionaryideas.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 toSeussville.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