THE MAGIC OF BOOKS

Preschool Fall Activities - Part 5

2009-11-14T21:26:00.006-05:00

(This one was a miniture pumpkin we did.)

Ah, did you save those gourds and pumpkins? Good then let’s get started. We had a variety of these fun fall decorations this year. Unfortunately, for us the gourds didn’t last as long as they usually do. Gourds like pumpkins tend to eventually give way to a number of things such as funguses or mold. With many gourds especially the ornamental kind they tend to have an unusual drying process that rather has an unattractive look to them when their inside moisture is trying to escape. Anyway, we took a number of our gourds (and will do so when the time comes to our pumpkins) and decided to harvest the seeds and keep them for planting next year.

Activity 5 – To harvest the seeds is really quite easy and a great activity for a preschooler on up. We cleared a spot and set up several paper plates and a strainer. I took a knife and cut the gourds open and then handed them over to my 4 1/2 year old and let her take out the seeds with a spoon. (We kept the seeds separate as we wanted to avoid any mix-ups later.) She was carefully not to damage them when she went digging. Once she had the seeds out we tried to remove as much of the pulp or strings as she called them before we put them in the strainer. She then washed the seeds under a gentle flow of water.

We then spread them out on a paper towel to blot dry and then moved them to a regular plate to dry. (Leaving the seeds damp on a paper plate or towel will cause them to stick later and not dry properly.) The hard part for the young one was waiting for them to dry. After two days they were dry. She has since created an envelop with her “picture” of the gourd to store them and we’ll plant some in the spring. Because there were so many seeds the young one is creating more envelops with planting instructions and giving these out for Christmas gifts this year. There are a lot of teachable moments in this fairly quick and easy activity. Most of all though it was just plain fun.

Preschool Fall Activities - Part 4

2009-11-06T19:41:00.011-05:00

Now before we get started with this one - do not throw away those gourds and pumpkins just yet.

Okay, with that said let's move on. If you planted flowers this year and had some success, why not extend that over to next year. Our flowers actually did fairly well this year, I think mostly because we had pretty good weather and didn't require too much maintenance from me. Anyway, we did spend more than I had planned on acquiring the flowers though. Unknown to me when I planned the garden was that rabbits enjoyed feasting on marigolds. I had heard otherwise for years. I had thought by encircling the typical flowers we get with marigolds the rabbits would not munch and all would be safe and survive. Oh, how this is so not true. I cannot count how many times we would look out back and see one of our regular six rabbits of varying size enjoying our marigolds as if they were the cream of the crop. Then when I would go out front, sure enough I would be missing a number of them there as well. Of course they then went for the petunias and other flowers. Silly little rabbits.

So why go into all this, well the next activity has to do with harvesting marigold seeds. Yes, that's right.

Activity 4 - If you haven't had a hard freeze yet and still have these out then now is the time (if not sooner) to get out there and collect the dead heads. (See them circled in red in above picture.) As the blossom dies out there are seeds housed within the base of the flower. Have your preschooler or older one help snap off those dead heads and open up the base. Carefully take the seeds and spread them out to dry. You do not want any moisture in the seeds when you pack them up for next year. There are lots of internet and book resources that can teach you how to do this with most flowers. Marigolds are one of the easiest for little kids I think though. My little one is decorating the envelops and handing them out as gifts this year. She had a great time learning about the life cycle of the flower and can't wait to plant them in the spring. She is also learning some patience as well as things take time to grow just like her.

Preschool Fall Activities - Part 3

2009-10-29T10:39:00.006-04:00

Okay, I know I should have started with these two activities at the very beginning. Call it Autumn brain or something like that. Anyway, we been having so much fun with activities, it is hard to keep track. We finally got ourselves some pumpkins late in the month. Until we had them we made our very own out of paper plates. Just think no gooey inners or decay and you can put them in places you normally couldn't decorate with a pumpkin.

Activity 3 - So, here is how we did it. We took those cheapy paper plates that you really should never serve food on. Turned them either direction it didn't matter. We colored it orange and drew our faces. (We use paper plates for lots of arts and crafts around. They make great lion masks as well and African style necklaces.) You can attach a craft stick to the other side if you want to make like a sign or punch holes in them to hang, etc. You get the idea. It really is all about lots of fun family time.
But, once we got the pumpkins we had a fun time painting them. We didn't go for the basic faces on many of them, but our bookworm girl painted hers in some very artistic creative styles. A tip though, those washable paints do not work well. We used acrylic and covered everything well. If you aren't into painting, try permanent markers in various colors. Again, those washable markers do not do well either. If you are working with older kids you could try dressing up the pumpkin. Hot glue guns are great for adding decorations. One year I did a simple dog and cat by using a marker for the faces and gluing on ears and cat whiskers. Have fun and enjoy the seasonal treats it has to offer. Oh, and there are a number of books out there with pumpkin decorating ideas. Visit your local library or bookstore for ideas that or the latest family magazines.

Preschool Fall Activities - Part 2

2009-10-27T13:00:00.000-04:00

Well, this one is probably a little late to do in many areas, but can be done in some areas all year long.

Activity 2 - Leaf Rubbings! Yeah! One of those all time favorites of mine and many, many others I know. The trick to this activity is you need either still on the tree leaves or ones that have just fallen. We picked a variety earlier this past week, but by the next day and especially the day after the leaves were a bit too crunch to work with. Luckily, we still have some available in the neighborhood and parks to choose from.

Some like to put the leaves between two pieces of everyday usage white paper, while others like to tape them down (which I recommend for smaller participants) to keep from moving around too much. We have so many crayons with the paper peeled that there were lots of colors to choose from. We did find the triangle crayons not as good for rubbings as the basic big ole' fat washable ones. The skinny ones work well too, but these are not as easily washable, so beware of the surface being worked on.

One of the things we do with this activity is talk about the leaf life cycle and reasons behind the color changes. In some areas, like where my sister lives in California they don't lose their leaves, but rather go through at least two "blooming" seasons like her lemon and orange trees. Again, lots of age appropriate books at the library can be used to supplement the activity or not. Just doing the rubbings is fun enough and provides lots of great memories.

Preschool Fall Activities

2009-10-25T20:50:00.000-04:00

Ah, Fall or Autumn as some would say has been upon us for a while now. However, it is never too late to do some fun fall activities. There are so many that we have tried these past few weeks I think I'll post them in a ultra mini series here. There are a number of books at the library that can give you ideas on fun activities for all ages, good luck though on finding any at this time. We have found even limited fiction books with a fall theme available.

(Seems libraries are seeing quite an increase in usage with disposable incomes being down these days. Unfortunately, our library system will take its first cut in decades in its collection budget this next year. They have cut the salaries, operating hours, and the staff so much there is literally nothing left to cut other than the collection now.)

But, back to fall activities. I named it preschool as that is the age I'm working with on these projects.

Activity 1 - My daughter calls these activities nature explorations and I agree. She loves doing little "science" experiments. A week ago she discovered a number of "nuts" and wanted to open them up. This is a great time to grab a tree book and/or animal book to use afterwards to extend the fun and bit of lesson. I'm still not sure what acorn type nut we had, but I did know what it wasn't, so we started there. We talked about how nuts can be cracked, what is inside, how it is edible for animals and at times for people. We compared them to spring tree seeds you find on maples and such versus walnut and oak trees have nuts as their seeds.

We discussed terms and of course she was free to completely dismantle the nut. We kept one whole to do comparison. The funny part was trying to crack the nut. It took so much strength that we all agreed squirrels must have extraordinary teeth and techniques to open these things. There are lots of books suitable for all ages about trees, leaves, animals, etc. at the library. Check it out and find a nut for a little fun.

Later, we did something similar with the crabapples found on various trees in these parts.

Audiobooks - Winnie-the-Pooh and The House at Pooh Corner

2009-08-24T21:18:00.009-04:00

Not quite a year ago, my husband indulged me with an iPod. For the longest time I thought they seemed a bit silly, but then I discovered their uniqueness that was very handy. (Not crazy about their battery replacement life though or having to give the iTunes people my credit card just to download free music, which I still haven't and probably won't every do.) Lucky for me the podcasts are free and come in audio and video.

Anyway, this past spring/summer I had the unfortunate event of dealing with the ominous breast tumor surgery,etc.. Fortunately, it is all working itself out and healing is still progressing. My awesome four year old bookworm though had it tough from time to time with limited mommy time. However, we did discover she really likes audiobooks. The story goes like this.

It was just a spur of the moment idea that I had one day as I headed out once again for the umpteenth time to the doctor's office. I thought hum, the awesome girl likes to hear me read I wonder if she would listen to someone else through a headset? She loved the music station with headphones at preschool, maybe this can work. So, I perused the download section from the library and there it was. One of the awesome girl's favorite friends. Pooh and his buddies available for download to the iPod just like checking out the book itself. How cool. (We started with Winnie-the-Pooh then ventured over The House at Pooh Corner, which includes stories with Tigger.)

Since the awesome girl had shown previous interest in mommy's little apparatus, I asked her if she would like to try it. Oh, the excited response. (Probably thinking something different to to keep her from getting bored or restless). Little did I know how she would be hooked. We arrived at the doctor's office and I set the iPod up. Made sure the volume was appropriate for little ears and set part one in motion. -- It was approximately a 55 minute part with three individual pooh stories read by the same guy who did the narration of the older shows. These two audiobooks are divided into 4 parts with 3 to 4 separate stories within each part, which makes it easy to listen too. --

As the doctor and I were reviewing the most recent issue, the awesome girl sat quietly in the corner listening and being very still. Mind you she has always been exceptionally good at doctor visits, veterinarian visits, dentist...well you get the picture. How I was blessed with this very active child being so still when it is really needed only God knows that. Anyway, after the visit was all over with I let her know it was time to turn it off. Oh, the look and attitude that came with it. Finally, I convinced her we do not go into parking lots listening to anything on an iPod and that she could start it up in the car.

We have since downloaded a few more books from the library and made a list of those she would like to try. We found a number of early chapter books like The Magic Tree House series and the Mercy Watson series all available and appropriate for her age. I can't say that all four year olds are up to audiobooks, but I'm sure there are a number of six and ups that would really get into it. Our library provides downloads in a number of formats and not just to iPod (that actually was just provided in the past few months). We are even trying some from the library's regular collection on her CD player. If you haven't already, think about giving audiobooks a try. The key though is who the narrator/reader is and how they read the story.

Chapter Books - The Tiara Club 4: Princess Alice and the Magical Mirror

2009-07-13T10:06:00.003-04:00

We are definitely into the "first chapter" books nowadays. It is fun watching my 4 yr old bookworm enjoy listening to me read these more drawn out stories and understand the plot. What is even more fun is that she remembers a series premise and gets right into the next book so quickly. We are trying a variety of these "first chapter" books and have come across The Tiara Club series by Vivian French . This series is prefect for those girls that are into anything princess or just plain girly. The cover and then title is what first caught my wee bookworms eye. The series takes place in a boarding school type setting where young princesses go to learn the ins and outs of being a princess.

In this 4th book we find it centers around Princess Alice. She and her roommates need to still pass the "descending the staircase as if floating on air" test. Although Alice has practiced she has yet to master it. While getting ready for the test, she accidentally gets some of her friends in trouble. So, she goes to help make things right and misses her test. Knowing that without the points from passing the test she won't be able to go to the Garden Party, it is even harder knowing that she'll miss getting a chance to look into the Magical Mirror.

One of the fun things about this particular book is the underlining moral sense and the honesty that Princess Alice displays even though it would cost her something dearly. Great lead into some discussions about making good choices even when it is really hard. Never to early to plant little seeds I think. Even though this is a series, these books need not be read in order to enjoy.

It is hard to find this series at our library as these and many of the other "first chapter" books tend to be checked out. Plus, the summer reading program is in full swing here. The covers I have noticed do tend to be different between the UK publications versus the US. I personally like the UK's better. There is also a fun website that is connected with these books. Each book has a secret code word that you can plug in and get some fun activity pages. We did the coloring page and used the stickers that came with the book to fill it in. Read and fill your inner princess needs.

Chapter Books - Rainbow Magic Fairies

2009-06-14T19:20:00.005-04:00

Oh my, where to begin with this series of many series. My wee four year old bookworm was first introduced to the Rainbow Magic fairies at her fourth birthday party. One of her little preschool classmates gave her five of the seven Rainbow Magic Weather Fairies for a gift. Little did I know then how big of a hit they would be. I have been a bit out of touch with the latest and greatest in the book releases, especially series. Our wee bookworm got so interested that we had to immediately go and find the last two of the weather series, plus we needed to find out how it ended.

As with many kids series, like my beloved original Nancy Drew being one of them, there is generally a set formula that is used to write these. No doubt author Daisy Meadows is using a method as well, especially being able to crank them out so quickly. From what I have seen there seems to be no end in the type of fairies the series will address. We of course started with the weather fairies, which follows the series introduction of "the" Rainbow Fairies. These being the color fairies. Then we moved on to the Petal Fairies for flowers. There are also fairies for dances, parties, jewels, pets, fun days, sports, and the all encompassing special fairies.

The books are written in a seven part series with of course seven fairies. The lead characters are tween age girls Rachel and Kirsty who meet in the first series and become best of friends. The stories goes sort of like Jack Frost causes some type of grief for a set of fairies in Fairyland and some how their magic item/being/or event has been sent to or affected in the human world where the girls are able to help sort it out. Of course, this all the while trying to avoid Jack Frost goblins who are pretty much bungling fools who are not too evil for the most part just make bad choices and hang out with a mean leader. The series can be read out of sequence, but it helps to go in order for some readers.

They are not scholarly books or scary, but are a bit of fantasy magical fun. One of my favorite times with my wee bookworm is curling up together on the sofa and reading away for the about 30 minutes it takes to read one of these out loud to her. She totally gets the story line and remembers the key elements that make the stories their own. Plus, a key liking for her is throughout the book on almost every page small illustrations can be found. A choice series pick for kids 4 to 8 and that enjoy a bit more complex story line than found in the typical early readers and picture books. Probably more of a girls series. Most of these books can be found either online or the larger bookstores. They are hard to get at several of our library branches as they are checked out most of the time.

Picture Book - AlphaOops!

2009-06-11T13:00:00.001-04:00

AlphaOops!: The Day Z Went First by Alethea Kontis and illustrated by Bob Kolar

Although published in 2006, this is a delightful and humorous take on how the letter "Z" is tired of being last. He takes it upon himself to rearrange the alphabet. The letters then begin a bit of chaos in taking turns. All this fun yet filled with lots of new words, which themselves will bring out more laughter. The illustrator has provided on the bottom of each page the correct alphabet position in outline format. The kids can then see how the order the letters are following do not match up with the traditional flow. This is great for kids that know the alphabet and great for shared reading, especially when the reader adds the attitude and emotions the letters are expressing. Probably good for ages 4 to about 8 or so. Also, a great gift for the alphabet enthusiast out there of any age.

Good Grief!

2009-06-11T12:04:00.003-04:00

These are the days my mama told me about...or something like that. It has been a long journey of chaos with my hard drive. Way back in the first of January I discovered the first of several hardcore viruses on my computer. Let's just say that the good thing that came from that is how much more knowledgeable I am now in computer software and hardware. I already had a small bit, but now I border on geekness. I even ended up proving the Geek squad wrong and fixed some of the damage they didn't think was possible. Of course, I'm wondering if they purposely led me down the path of little faith to sell me new things. My old, but trusty hopefully once again computer has been "well" for a few month.

However, it has been other fun things and chaotic life with a preschooler and activities that have kept me from posting. Can't say that this is much of a priority like it use to be. Although home improvements, which took up most of the spring would have to be the lowest of lows, but demanded my attention. We are still reading books by the truck load. This has been accomplished both in the from of buying and visiting the library. I still have my bookish habit of buying, but still love to visit the library with the wee one. She loves to choose books for herself and has her own little card and book bag in which she enjoys with this process.

I will be sharing a number of books that she is really into, especially these new chapter books that are so predictable, but lots of fun for her. So, hopefully I will talk with you more often now. Also, I'm not sure the term wee one still applies to her any more as she turned four back in February. Guess I will come up with something soon enough for my little bookworm. Ta Ta for now.

Merry, Merry Christmas to All

2008-12-24T12:11:00.006-05:00

Yes, I did disappear for quite some time and chose this day before one of the biggest non blogging days to attempt a reappearance. I could go into many details for the absence, but lets just sum it all up in had wrist/hand surgery that took several months to recover from, can type now, handwriting looks worse then ever, various family illnesses, enjoying busy family life, wee one started preschool, we're doing lots of fun activities and projects, and now may attempt to keep this site up to date again.

So, let’s just start slow with a mention of a great group of books that we discovered these past few months and hope to enjoy more of. They are by the author Crystal Bowman and illustrated by Claudine Gèvry. We first found the book A Star for Jesus (2006). It tells the story of a special star that was put in the sky long ago to mark the birth of Jesus. Simple easy rhyming text that is engaging and has an easy to remember message that kids can keep in their hearts for years to come. This is indicative of the other books that we picked up by the same author such as J Is for Jesus: The Sweetest Story Ever Told, Christmas Angels and My Christmas Gift.

Bowman and Gèvry have a number of other books with different themes that are in a similar style. The ones we found are large/oversized die cut shaped board books. They would be great for first time Christmas books for babies, and preschoolers would love them too, at least ours does. I do think even some early elementary age kids would enjoy them as part of a story time, but would find them on their own a bit too simple.

Well, enjoy your holidays whether it be Christmas, Chanukah, Kwanzaa or just the New Year.

School's Out - Yeah! or Hey?

2008-05-28T21:24:00.002-04:00

Oh, it is hard to believe, but our school district’s traditional calendar schools ended today. Although I haven’t worked in the local elementary school library since the 2003 school year this day always brings back memories for me. One of the hardest things I found as part of my library work was collecting books back from all the kids. Taking back books rather then checking them out seemed like such an anti-librarian thing to do.

At one time our school was located next to the local branch library then the school was rebuilt down the road a bit. There were times I would see some of the students at the branch, but unfortunately most of the 700 or so students did not visit the library for one reason or another. I also knew many of the students didn’t have books at home and only read at school. For many of the students the last week of school would be the final time they would see a book until the next school year.

So on the last day of school, for me it was really doing lots of cleaning up, inventory, and so forth. As the doors would close behind me and lights went out, it really saddened me to know that those magnificent books would remain on the shelves until a summer school session and then only read, not checked out by the visiting students for a few weeks until August came around. I would have such great memories of working with the students all year, learning their favorite reads, helping open up a mind to different works, watching a student blossom with their research, and so forth. But on that last day, the kids rejoiced for a break, yet the books looked lonely without a child’s hand wrapped around them.

What's in a name?

2008-04-30T16:50:00.003-04:00

I am not sure what to think of my wee one’s latest information gathering. As I have mentioned before commercial television is pretty much off limits in our house for her. PBS is the only station she has any knowledge of, or I thought. However, it seems my quick glances at the local all weather station has had a bit more impact on her than just “what does the weather say mommy?” Apparently, those quick little five-minute news updates especially the political ones has come to rest upon her wee little ears.

Today she was finishing up her breakfast when I tuned into catch the day’s forecast. And, there he was the newscaster talking about how Barak Obama was going to be in the state again and his agenda. Then the wee one perks up and says “is Rock Obama here?” “Is he going to be the one?” At first I was in the, what are you talking about frame of mine, then I put it together. I explained he with several others are running for president and at that moment a picture of Hillary Clinton was on the screen as the newscaster continued on about her agenda for the state. The wee one then asked “is that Rock Obama?” After a good chuckle, I said no, but then tried explaining that was another one of the people also wanting to be the next president. With the primaries here next week and one of the few times our state’s votes will make a difference at least for the democrat party nominee the news has been littered with national and local candidate discussions.

So, as with all new things the wee one will be asking questions about Rock Obama for a number of days until another interest over takes it. Funny how of all the names thrown out in these quick news reports hers picked up on his. Maybe after she devours a few books today she will more interested in Pooh or Fancy Nancy again. That is what turning three should be more about, I think?

Early Readers - Fancy Nancy at the Museum

2008-04-29T17:59:00.003-04:00

Ah, we have discovered Fancy Nancy in our home and what a delight she is. Fancy Nancy along with a few other fun books kept us company a few weekends ago on a short trip. The one we acquired was Fancy Nancy at the Museum by Jane O'connor and illustrated by Robin Preiss Glasser part of the I Can Read series level 1.

Now as we all know not all Early Reader books are created equal. This particular series I like as it is a bit more on target in my opinion for the age and reading level it addresses. One of the fun things about this book is how the author throws in some “fancy” words that really do add to a kid’s vocabulary like observant and masterpiece.

We haven’t read any of the other Fancy Nancy books, but if they are as engaging as this one we will be on the look out the next time we are at the library. Definitely a cute book for girls getting read to read or just learning to read. Boys may like this particular Fancy Nancy just for the vomit incident, but I doubt they could relate to her overall girlie style.

Picture Books - As seen on DVD

2008-04-07T17:32:00.007-04:00

Oh where, oh where has the time gone. No matter where it went, gladly it has given way to spring weather. Although, I haven’t posted about books of late, be assured we have not lost interest or in my case passion about the written word. Some may call my passion a bit over the top, but I like knowing we have a home that you literally cannot step into any room without being able to pick up a book. Why even in the bathrooms you will find a bucket of books or even a step stool with hidden storage just waiting to fulfill your bookish desires. Most of course are of the children’s literature genre, but getting in touch with your inner child is a good thing.

Even though books are great, we also like our quality shows as well. PBS has been putting quality kids programming together for some time and I have just been loving their Jane Austen series over these last few months. But, wait we also have spent a buck or two or three on DVD’s besides books. I’m not a big fan of commercial television especially for kids. So, whenever I get a chance I pick up a DVD or two of entertainment like VeggieTales, Little Einsteins, or Angelina Ballerina. Some great finds of late include The Little Polar Bear (2003) based on the book by Hans De Beer and the recent purchase of The Very Hungry Caterpillar and Other Stories (1995) based on the classics by Eric Carle. (I use the word classic in the sense that Carle’s books have on many levels in my opinion reached that status.)

My wee one loves pretty much all books, but it is fun to sit with her and watch Carle’s books unfold on screen word for word as she has heard them from us and also can pretty much recite on her own. Oh, I still think the book version is the best, but when looking for a quick change of pace or in our case this week working on removing a splinter from the wee one’s hand, the DVD version is quite mesmerizing for her. There are many books that have gone to DVD, but some like Stellaluna have deviated from the original text. This isn’t bad and can actual be a good teaching tool in comparing and contrasting story versions. Some books that have been put to DVD include the text viewing as an option. Great for early readers or if you have special needs children.

So, where am I going with this post? Don’t know. Have spring fever. Enjoy a book or watch it unfold on screen. Either way have a great day. Oh, and many of these DVD's are available at the library for check out.

Picture Books - Easy Street

2008-02-18T15:20:00.003-05:00

Typically in our area road construction runs from about March to November, but there are always those “quick” patches that are done year round. Previously, when I have been slowed or stalled from road construction I have usually tried to make light of it to our wee one by pointing out the various pieces of equipment. However, I really haven’t ever gone into to the “why’s” other than explaining the road needs fixing.

In Easy Street (2006) the author Rita Gray has gone the extra mile to explain the road building process in simple terms with the use of rhyming text. Surprisingly, the details behind constructing a road are there in the words and the unique artwork depicted by illustrator Mary Bono yet it isn't overwhelming to the reader. This is definitely a book to read with the coming construction season for those looking to be sitting in traffic. Also, this does have the familiar Bob the Builder look, but it is a bit more than that. Good for both boys and girls and probably a good reminder to us driving that road building is a process that is good, but tedious. My recommendation for ages would be newborn to 5.

Hey There All! How Have You Been?

2008-02-12T20:26:00.000-05:00

Wow, it has been a long time since I posted. I even missed my two-year blogging anniversary in January. Well, my typing abilities have always been a bit rough with proofreading even being rougher. But, with my wrist not working well these past years and even worse over the last three months, I can’t promise quality type here. Anyway, I have had a very, very painful shot of cortisone in my wrist that has eased the pain that was from shoulder to fingers and has allowed for increased usage of this very helpful appendage. Now, all I have to do is schedule surgery and we may be on the way to a more permanent recovery.

What has been very encouraging during this two month hiatus was to see my readership actually increase rather than decrease. After reviewing many of the statistics it appears that the increase is from readers reviewing past book postings and routing through the various children’s resources listed. One of my goals when starting this blog was to be a useful spot in finding or directing readers to children’s resources and commenting on some books. Looks like my little itty-bitty spot on the World Wide Web has been find useful to some. Yeah! And, thanks for tuning in.

Hopefully, over the next week or two I will start posting about books again and updating the resource list. Until then I hope you are enjoying your day and that the winter weather especially for those of us in the colder states aren’t getting too caught up in the gloomy weather.

Hiatus

2007-12-22T12:38:00.000-05:00

Sorry to say, but carpal tunnel and cubital tunnel have forced me on a hiatus for a while. So, in the meantime enjoy the holidays, read lots and lots of books, and give lots and lots of books to everyone. Oh, and one of many books I would recommend giving is the recent release of Andrew Clements, Dogku. Excellent use of the hiaku style of poetry with a found stray dog as its lead character.

Easy Reading Found Here!

2007-12-02T17:38:00.000-05:00

Was taking a stroll through the children's lit blog world this afternoon and noticed several were participating in a reading rating. Now, one thing I try to really strive at is to keep it simple with most everything in life. So, I like to think I have extended that philosophy to this here quaint little blog world of mine. When "taking" the blog test I was very pleased to learn that my keep it simple practice is working well here. Read on my friends!

Boxes and Tissue

2007-12-01T12:28:00.000-05:00

As the season of gift giving is upon us, I as usual have been doing some wondering. Yes, for those that don't know me well, I am a girl that ponders those unusual, everyday, and even quirky things of life. One of the many ponderings that have been passing through my brain of late is that of tissue paper. No, not the kind we use to blot, wipe, or blow our noses with, but rather the stuff in a bag or line a box kind.

As long as I can remember, which is a long, long time all the gifts given or received within my side of the family we have always used tissue paper to line our gifts with especially boxes. Even looking back at some old, old photos of Christmas past there were boxes all over my mom and grandparents home with tissue sticking out. Now, I totally understand the tissue in a bag thing, but of course it adds to the mystery of what is inside for the receiver.

So, what brought about this pondering moment? Well, I was wrapping a few gifts and could not locate any tissue paper and it put me in a quandry. Every bit of my inner gift wrapping mantra said "you must use tissue in the box, you must use tissue in the box". Well, I now have a 120 count package on hand and the dilemma resolved, but my pondering is still unanswered. Why have I been using tissue to line boxes all these years? It seems like a good idea and makes things a bit more elegant plus when wrapped around books it helps perserve the dust jacket, yet why for everything?

Picture Books - Big Smelly Bear

2007-11-27T18:09:00.000-05:00

Big Smelly Bear by Britta Teckentrup 2007 has the smell of a delightful book. If you have a small one that just hates to take a bath or just a little one with a funny bone this is a book that will bring lots of smiles. Our little one really loves to take baths on most days. Luckily for us she is a bit on the dainty side and so far doesn’t play with too much mud.

What we have here is a case of Big Smelly Bear who has an itch. Could be due to not ever taking a bath or could be his fur hasn’t been groomed or something else all together. But, whatever it is the itch needs some tending to, but he can’t find the solution. About this time Big Fluffy Bear speaks up and offers to assist only after Big Smelly Bear takes a bath. Well, you can probably see where this is heading.

Both boys and girls I’m sure will enjoy the situation, but I have a feeling boys could probably relate more to Big Smelly Bear’s situation. Recommend for ages preschool to about 2nd grade.

A Lone(ly) Wolf

2007-11-22T21:12:00.000-05:00

Some days I really wonder about nature. A few weeks ago on the way to church we saw a wolf lying beside the road that had unfortunately been hit by a car. Now it seemed odd to see a wolf that close to city limits, but we were traveling towards and almost in a rural area. So, it didn’t seem too odd. However, this morning on our way to Thanksgiving dinner we saw another one only this guy was inside city limits and in an industrial park area (opposite direction of our last encounter). We had to do a double take and then slowed down to get a better look. Sure enough it was a wolf and a large one at that and meandering a bit anxiously along. However, it made my heart sink when I noticed that he was heading in the direction of the interstate. Hopefully, he found a different and safer path to get were he was heading. I have heard about coyotes and even a fox or two in city limits heck there was even a beaver in my old neighborhood, but this was my first wolf sighting. The picture posted here is almost identical to the one we saw today. Had I not been driving I would have grabbed the camera. The cool thing was both my husband and wee one got to see it too. Hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving.

Picture Books - Library Mouse

2007-11-06T14:54:00.000-05:00

Library Mouse by Daniel Kirk 2007 was such a treat to find. Back in September my husband surprised me with a mini-date night to celebrate my birthday. With no idea of what to do in the spare hour or so we had, we headed off like most booklovers or those married to one to a bookstore. There we perused my favorite section, children’s of course. We found many wonderful selections and came home with a few. However, my favorite of that night was Library Mouse. Of course, I love to find books featuring a library as the setting and this one fit perfectly. Yet, the story isn’t so much about the wonders of a library, but rather the possibilities that can come from knowledge learned through reading. Sam the library mouse loves to read and enjoys all the books of the library when the doors close and lights go off. Then one night he gets an idea, how about writing his own story, then another and another. He begins to leave his works around (in the correct subject area of course) where others can enjoy them. Soon the librarians get the idea to have the mysterious Sam to a “ meet the author” event. However, Sam would rather encourage others to explore the stories within themselves and sets up a different type of event. This story is charming and would really be of use in encouraging young children to write. But, it is also a good story just for pleasure reading. I would suggest to kindergarten to 4th grade.

Where oh where is spring?

2007-11-03T20:25:00.000-04:00

Well, it was a lovely day and we took great advantage of it by planting over 150 spring bulbs today. (For some reason the pervious owner of this house didn't have spring flowers.) About half of those were daffodils and the other half various shades of pink tulips. We still need to add some more dirt and mulch this week, but the weather won't effect the bulbs until another week or so. Last year I waited a bit too long and only planted a few, but this year I thought we should up the spring time bounty.

Unfortunately, we didn't have much time this afternoon as we went running around trying to find a replacement for our garage window. Not an easy task we found and now we are going to have to settle for something that really doesn't match nor does it function the same as we don't have time for a special order. But, hey the builder of this home and its previous occupants have given us numerous challenges and this too shall be overcome. At least we have started the heating season off with no gas leaks so far. It seems that was becoming too much of a common aliment for this house. Although this is generally the time most of us read harvest season type books to the younger crowd, don't forget to throw a book or two in about preparing for the next growing season. Watch it Grow by Ivan Bulloch 2000 is one to consider. It is very general and more geared to actual spring planting, but worth a look for an overall view of gardening.

Picture Books - Babar's Little Girl

2007-10-26T15:07:00.000-04:00

There are so many books I want to share with you, but we have been busying regrouping from last week’s vacation and this week's odd happenings. Right now the wee one is battling a mean case of the croup. Unfortunately, for me she woke up this morning after an extremely difficult night without her voice. Although she is only 2 1/2 she really has an amazing vocabulary that I have come to rely on for communication. Now she is a bit frustrated with me because she is trying so hard to tell me things and I truly have no idea what she is saying. So, I’m having to revert back to what I did before she had this marvelous way of expressing herself.

In the meantime we are reading a wide variety of books and watching some of those great educational videos. One of the books she is really enjoying is from the Babar series. Ah, you can’t go wrong with a classic Babar book in my opinion. We picked up Babar's Little Girl by Laurent De Brunhoff a few weeks ago at the library. I am amazed at how well she sits for an extend length picture book. The story is a fairly straightforward tale of how Babar’s little five-year-old wonders off without telling anyone and worries everyone. Although she is safe, the story explains without drama how wondering off is not a good idea. With so many unfortunately incidents of today’s world this would make a good introduction to the topic of staying safe and letting others know where you will be. The wee one is a bit too young to understand this from the book, but a seed planted here and there at this age can never go wrong. Most sites recommend this for ages 9 and up, but I think preschool and up would work if the audience is one with patience or sits well for longer stories.

Harvest time - Pumpkin Books

2007-10-15T20:46:00.001-04:00

Oh, what a beautiful day for a stroll in a pumpkin patch. The family is taking some time off this week to treat our wee one to her first pumpkin patch/hayride experience. What a treat she had (we all had).
These beauties are just a few we selected. The place we went to was great in that they had already “picked” the pumpkins and just left them around the patch making it so much easier than trying to cut our own off the vine. Prior to the visit we have been reading the typical fall books with many including pumpkins as the theme. As I have mentioned in the past we are not Halloween people, but we sure love the harvest season.

This weekend I had a delightful trip with the wee one traveling just about an hours drive north of us to visit with a longtime dear friend. Along the way we had the pleasure of seeing field after field being harvested. There were trucks loaded or being loaded with grain while other fields that were complete were being tilled under for the winter. The drive and scenery made this wonderful harvest time so real and makes me so thankful we are able to have a table of plenty.

I won’t go into too much about the following books, but we found them entertaining and informative also they are varied in content when it comes to the text. Hope you find an opportunity to check one or two out from the library. They range in age interest from about one to eight years or so.

Pumpkins: A Story for a Field by Mary Lyn Ray illustrated by Barry Root 1996 - A man harvests and sells a bountiful crop of pumpkins so that he will be able to preserve a field from developers.

Biscuit Visits the Pumpkin Patch by Alyssa Satin Capucilli and illustrated Pat Schories 2004 (available in board book as well) - Biscuit visits the pumpkin patch where he not only finds the perfect pumpkin, but a new friend as well.

From Seed to Pumpkin (Let's-Read-and-Find-Out Science 1) by Wendy Pfeffer and illustrated by James Graham Hale 2004 - Pumpkins can be baked in a pie. Pumpkins can be carved into jack-o'-lanterns. Pumpkin seeds can be roasted for a healthy snack. But how does a tiny seed turn into a big pumpkin? Read and find out what a pumpkin seed needs to help it grow!

Plumply, Dumply Pumpkin by Mary Serfozo and illustrated by Valeria Petrone (board book) 2004 - Peter finds the perfect pumpkin so that he and his Dad can make a jack-o-lantern.

Patty's Pumpkin Patch by Teri Sloat 1999 - Rhyming text and illustrations featuring the letters from A to Z follow Patty as she plants pumpkins and watches them grow.

Bee Careful!

2007-10-11T20:24:00.000-04:00

Ah! The fall weather has really moved in. After 90 degree weather this week and the past several months, it has been nice to feel the crisp air. As with every year this being no exception, the bees have been out trying to get their winter supply taken care of. Unfortunately for me, I accidentally interrupted one of those bees yesterday. The wee one and I were at the park enjoying some great sunshine and mild weather, plus helping her get over the horror of that morning’s flu shot. Upon leaving the park I bent over to pick the wee one up before we entered the parking lot at the same time a bee came buzzing by. We collided and the bee proceeded to become entangled in my hair. I placed the wee one quickly on the ground and tried to frantically remove the frustrated bee from my way too long hair. As I “helped” it to freedom it flew into my jaw and promptly stung me.

Now of all places it had to be on the under side of the jaw line right out of my eyesight. Being somewhat visually challenged it has been difficult to see if I really did get the stinger out or if it is still what is irritating me. Boy does this sting itch and hurt at the same time. From a distance looking into the mirror I can see the redness, but can’t really see the entry area. But, one of the many nice benefits having a great husband is that when he gets back tonight I can have him look it over. And, I’m sure he will do it without mentioning the many humorous comments that this can generated. Almost felt as if I was playing a comedic role in some silly show the way it happened.

Anyway, this is a great time of year to visit your local library and checkout some interesting books about how bees spend their fall season like - The life cycle of a Honeybee by Ruth Thomson.

DVD - Letter Factory

2007-10-04T16:47:00.000-04:00

Yes, this is a blog for books, but there are some really good tools that can add extra fun in learning those letters. We here have discovered (I know I'm a bit behind the times) the DVD put out by Leap Frog back in 2003 titled Letter Factory. This is one of many entertaining and yet useful DVD's available from this mega marketing and "Toy" company. With the hubby out of town this week I haven't had much time (read in there no time) for myself. So, to save my wee one from a crazed mama I picked up this rated G, appears to be okay, DVD and plugged it in for a bit of peace while doing the dishes. And, to my and wee one's delight it was so much fun. She has seen the 35 minute DVD each day this week (no judging here there have been at least 6 to 8 books a day to add to that). Now I am not an advocate for this company nor do I think it is "the" tool to use in teaching reading or phonics, but it sure is a nice bit of change from the norm and the wee one is having fun talking about tapping "T"'s and jumping "J"'s. If your in a spot or need some extra support, I would try this DVD out. It is recommended for ages 2 to 5, which seems about right. Also, helpful for those struggling with there letters.

Board Books - It's a good Thing!

2007-09-26T15:16:00.001-04:00

Ah, board books! Don’t you just love these types of books!? Well, at first I wasn’t a big fan. I must admit I was swayed by others thinking and didn’t do my own thinking. Plus, I lacked experience with them, as we really don’t carry this type of book in the elementary (K – 5) library setting. Unfortunately, I went into parenting with a slanted view thinking these books were really only for babies and many were just used to teeth on. I am happy to say that I have now truly experienced board books and have seen what great joy they can bring to little ones.

We have had board books since the wee one was born and have found most of them to be a delight. Many of the books we started with were the basic infant books with simple pictures, words, shapes, numbers, etc. Then about a year ago we added board books with more depth to them. It was then I noticed a number of picture books were being re-released into board book format and I wondered is this really appropriate for the toddler age group. Of course, my ignorance and lack of experience were definitely doing the thinking and speaking here.

Although my wee one enjoyed looking at picture books and their stories as with most her age group it can be difficult at times to turn those slippery pages. Now the board book pages at times can be difficult to turn as well, but they at least hold up to the try, try again mantra that wee ones everywhere attempt when turning pages. We have found that she really loves all her books, but I am so grateful that board books come in more complex stories than they use to.

Recent finds at the library and local bookstore have included:
1. Eric Carle’s The Very Hungry Caterpillar (which is great considered the pages are odd sized)
2. Alyssa Satin Capucilli Illustrated by Henry Cole Katy Duck (looks to be the start of a series)
3. Amy Hest & illstrated by Anita Jeram Kiss Good Night
4. Susan Boynton’s The Barnyard Dance
5. Jany Yolen & illustrated by Mark Teague How Do Dinosaurs Play With Their Friends

These are just a few of the great books available in board book format. They are also really a good size and strength for special needs children. Any of these authors are great to checkout and they have a number of stories in board book format. Don't limit these books to just the toddler and under set you would be surprised at the reception the pre-k and bit older set would give them.

Jumpstart’s Read for the Record

2007-09-20T19:41:00.000-04:00

What a fabulous day we had here. Everywhere we went there was a reading going on to support Jumpstart’s Read for the Record. We thought we might miss it because of a trip to The Children’s Museum today, but even there we found they were also reading on every floor The Story of Ferdinand. The library system here was sponsoring the readings at all of its 22 branches and also giving away a copy of the book to all the participants today just like the museum was.

However, I must say for the record we officially did not participate due to the wee one’s total dislike of the first gentleman with a beard that approached her with an invitation to join the group. Now, you really need to first know that the wee one loves and I mean really loves to have books read to her and “reads” them herself. But, the catch here was she truly and I mean truly dislikes beards. Once the first gentleman invited her she was so adamant about not being a part of this that when the second gentleman who also sported a beard invited her I thought we might have to put her in padded room. After visiting another museum display we passed another Jumpstart reading area and they were so sweet to even just offer her the book without participating. Alas, she said in a very stern 2 year old voice “no thank you” and promptly took the book walked over to the partitioned area and laid the book back on the stack and said “no thank you" again. I was then dragged by the hand to another part of the floor. At least she has manners.

Well, we here do our best to also foster and support any and all early reading programs and hope that if you didn’t get to participate today that you have found another way to encourage and inspire our youth to enjoy a good book.

Picture Books - All Afloat on Noah's Boat!

2007-09-13T13:46:00.000-04:00

It has been almost two weeks of illness chaos for us here, but mostly me. Fortunately for us the last visit we made to the library provided some really good reads. The wee one is having such a good time with the treasure trove of books we borrowed. One of my favorites has to be All Afloat on Noah's Boat! by Tony Mitton and illustrated by Guy Parker-Rees 2007. We’ve all heard the tale of Noah and his ark, but did you ever wonder how all the animals got along while hold up together for a really, really long time in an ark? Well, Mitton does a great job in putting an imaginative spin on how Noah kept the animals from getting too restless. From the building until dry land Mitton keeps the text flowing with humor and rhyme and keeps the listener engaged. The illustrations are comical and colorful. It’s wonderful book for preschool and up.

Picture Books - Millie Waits for the Mail

2007-09-05T14:00:00.000-04:00

Millie Waits for the Mail by Alexander Steffensmeier 2007.

What a hysterically funny book or at least I thought so and so does the wee one. Nothing like having a stealth like cow conducting covert operations against the mailman. Millie is a cow on a mission and that is to spend everyday scaring and chasing the mailman. The artwork depicting Millie’s hiding places are very humorous. Originally published in German the translation and appeal to an American audience makes a pretty good transition. An explanation about the differences between the appearances in postal dress and delivery methods may be needed for some little ones. This makes for a good pre-school and up read.

Picture Books - Vulture View

2007-08-31T12:16:00.001-04:00

You never know what you will see on a walk in this neighborhood. So far, since we moved in about 2 years ago the wildlife hasn’t been much in variety as our previous home. Oh, there is the standard geese, ducks, rabbits, and chipmunks, but the birds aren’t as plentiful and no squirrels to date. Of course, we did previously live near a large park with a bird sanctuary. However, for living in the city we had a number of fun sightings including a beaver one-day. After today though, I’m thinking this neighborhood is starting to pick up a bit in some interesting creatures.

The wee one and I were out for a walk/stroll in our small size nicely squared neighborhood. As we rounded the corner we noticed two large animals in the street. Continuing up the sidewalk we then noticed they were very, very large birds. Then it dawned on me these weren’t your everyday neighborhood birds, but rather Turkey Vultures. Oh, how I wished I had my camera with me. The pair stood picking at a carcass in the street and didn’t budge until we were about 10 feet away. It was amazing. I know Turkey Vultures are common through out the states, but when you see these enormous birds fly off with their 6 feet wing spans, we think hum I’m extra glad our cat stays indoors.

A book that would have been great to have on hand today would have been April Pulley Sayre’s new release Vulture View. According to her website she describes the book as “It explores the life of vultures, surely some of the most underappreciated cleaners in the world. It also teaches kids about warm air rising and cooling air sinking. Steve Jenkins has created gorgeous art for this book. The text is young, lyrical, with a push, pull, and refrain that kids will love. It works for surprisingly advanced audiences. Older kids seem to like the gritty facts of a vulture's life.” Our library has the book on order.

Picture Books - Over in the Meadow at the Big Ballet

2007-08-29T20:30:00.000-04:00

Ah, with all the too many to remember toy recalls of late it really makes you wonder. Unfortunately, again this year like previous years there has also been a recall of toys given out at the end of summer reading programs. Makes me question whether the incentives are worth the risk for reading? Anyway...

Need a book to encourage someone who has to perform in front of a crowd? Or, maybe you have a little one that loves ballet? Either way Over in the Meadow at the Big Ballet by Lisa Shulman and illustrated by Sarah Massini is a must read book. It fills the reader with encouragement and inspiration. Swan’s ballet coach has a way of bringing out the best in her while pushing her in the right way. Miss Faye is a great example of how you hope most coaches or leaders in a child’s life are firm yet faithful in the commitment. Swan’s had the strength all along, but needs that extra push to find it to perform in the meadow ballet recital.

Picture Books - My Life as a Chicken and Papa, please get the moon for me

2007-08-23T12:10:00.000-04:00

What better way to beat the 98-degree temperature than to pop into the library for a story and books. We went yesterday, but it wouldn’t be a bad idea to do it again today. With the wee one being a very, very active girl we are fortunate to have a home with a few unused rooms (i.e. dining room). So, between reading, coloring, and other stationary activities we have set up a portable soccer goal in one of the rooms for her to kick the balls in. Being that she is only 2 1/2 years there isn’t too much danger (knock on wood) of breaking things so far. Boy, I sure can’t wait until the weather is much cooler and her indoor soccer class starts. We miss hanging out in the backyard (which has no shade) and going for walks in the neighborhood and I miss a calmer wee one.

However, we are finding some fun books to read and re-read from the library of late. Two of the recent entertaining ones are My Life as a Chicken by Ellen A. Kelley and illustrated by Michael Slack 2007 and Papa, please get the moon for me by Eric Carle 1986. My Life as a Chicken would be a so fun to read aloud in a dramatic voice to a group of 2nd and 3rd graders. It is the story of a chicken that is on the run (after hearing the farmer read a recipe for chicken pie) and the adventures and perils she encounters. The story is told in a “chicken” biography style with opportunities for some hilarious sound effects. (I pictured Anne of Green Gables reading it in the dramatic voice she uses while reciting the Highwayman, but with a clucky accent.)

The other book Papa, please get the moon for me is an oldie, but goodie. As Monica looks upon a beautiful full moon one night the desire to play with it over takes her, but alas she can’t reach it. So, of course like all little girls she asks her Papa for the moon. Like most fathers he does his best to get it for her. With large and some unusual size pages for illustrating the task Papa undertakes, the reader gets a feel for how the moon goes through its phases and goes from big to small to big again. Only caution here is with letting the little ones turn the unusual pages they tend to rip. Nice book for preschool on up.

Picture Books: Ant, Ant, Ant & Two Sticks

2007-08-14T14:56:00.000-04:00

Know a wee one that is into bugs? If so, then run to the library and get Ant, ant, ant!: an insect chant by April Pulley Sayre and illustrated by Trip Park. This fun chant is so simple and it teaches the names of a number of different types of insects like slugs, brush-footed butterflies, and various other wiggly and flying critters. It makes for a really good read aloud. The illustrations are nice, but do caricaturize the insects some in funny ways others in a bit more grotesque manner. A definite must for those who have bug interested wee ones in the house.

Another off beat humor book that we found this week was Two Sticks by Orel Protopopescu and illustrated by Anne Wilsdorf. It is about a girl named Maybelle who desperately wants to play the drums. She finds a number of things to “bang” on with her two “drum” sticks. Unfortunately, she is unsuccessful in persuading her parents to get her drums until she happens to bring home some crocodiles she is currently using as a drums.

What is that sound you hear?

2007-08-07T14:23:00.000-04:00

It's me sounding like a Sicilian miniature donkey braying. Well, I’m thinking I need to write a children’s book about the constant ever-present never-ending driving-you-crazy home repairs. I believe I was going to post book notes this week, but turns out of the 20+ books we checked out of the library most were not even worth listing the titles. Of course, with the thousands of children’s books published each year there are bound to be a few duds, but it seems we picked a good percentage of them this past week. Good thing we are going back tomorrow.

Anyway, two weeks ago we fixed yet another of many and I mean many gas leaks in this house and this time it was in that nice new ultra expensive high efficiency gas furnace. Gee, I wonder if you really save on any gas usage when it keeps leaking out? Well, as I sit here wondering about how we managed to buy a house that provides me a full-time maintenance job where I get to pay someone else on a regular basis to fix it, the roof repair people are here. Let’s see we had hail damage last year and it took over six months to get the new roof up and now it leaks. Hum, is that noise you hear a banging head against the desk sound?

And, let’s not forget the endless paperwork that I have been administrating for my father’s affairs, which hopefully I signed off on the final document today to close the estate. You would have thought my father had a complicated and wealthy life, but in reality he was living a retired and fixed income lifestyle with only a thousand square foot house, older model car, and small bank account. The state I live in is still one of the few that requires umpteen taxes and court papers for even the simplest of estates. Thank you state government for adding to the grieving process.

Good thing I get to read children’s book each day as being with my wee one and her books makes life seem simple and wonderful. So, I am now off at the request of the wee one to come and color with her. No problem there. The laundry and rest of the world can wait.

Public Service Announcement

2007-08-02T18:24:00.001-04:00

I don’t know about you guys, but these virus-spreading geeks with nothing else to do really are getting on my nerves. Instead of maybe using their technical knowledge say for doing good they like to wreck havoc with the rest of us. Recently, I found I was infected with some window snatching device that tries and at times takes over your computer. If not, it at least minimizes the efficiency. Fortunately, I am not a hosting device and you can’t “catch” it from me. Apparently, it came from some email or upgrade that I received. Hopefully, you all will not fall prey to it.

There is quite a bit of information on it out there, but I really do question some of the “authority” sources and the methods or lack of to eliminate it. Not sure how it affects the system if I type the name of it so here is how I discovered it. When looking at the history of typed in sites on the address bar I noticed a two-word phrase without a typical full URL attached to it. One word was “about”. The second word was “blank”.

One of many really great things about books is the ability to read one without catching a virus. Well, unless you are a school or even public librarian. Some of those books come back with some nasty germs attached. Or maybe it was just when the kids handed them to me directly, but I swear I got sick from some of those books back in my elementary school library days.

Anyway, I will be back to semi-regular book notes later. One book note is how excited we are in this house about the latest Jane Yolen and Mark Teague book in their dinosaur series. The next picture book to come out is this fall titled How Do Dinosaurs Go To School? Great books for toddlers on up and the board books are really good for babies and up.

Absence Makes the Heart Grow Fonder!?

2007-07-31T10:49:00.000-04:00

Oh where, oh where has the bookish woman gone? Well, let’s see there was this book called Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, then the ever present home repairs that seem to keep me way too busy, and then there were the amended taxes for my mom because she hired someone from 2004 to 2006 to do them that apparently lacked basic reading skills (she now has returned to her bean counting daughter who is free). Ah, but the best of the last two weeks was hanging out with my family. My hubby, wee one and I spent some us time together over that last four days. We hung out at the zoo, went to the butterfly conservatory, checked out the botanical gardens, and visited with family and friends. What fun we had and memories we made. Check out a few of the delightful photos we took.

Hope you have been enjoying your summer and it has been filled with books that are entertaining and pleasurable. We have been trying various genres and I hope to get back to some regular book notes later next week. In the meantime, I will probably post a few more zoological photos and fun notes.

The top photo is of a plumeria. The one to the right is that of a 12-day old baby reticulating giraffe and its Momma. The bottom photo is that of a blue morpho butterfly. This is one I tried last year to get and did, but this time I was able to get a picture of it in full spread. They are a beautiful brown on the outside with this brilliant blue on the inside and are about 4 to 6 inches in size.

Journalism My Butt!

2007-07-19T17:02:00.000-04:00

Some people are just spoilsports, especially when it comes to something that is successful. Maybe they just want their 15 minutes of fame whether it be good or bad. Those that are posting early and questionable reviews of the upcoming not yet released final Harry Potter book are really riding the coat tails of someone else’s hard work and dedication. Instead of waiting patiently like the majority of us who want to enjoy the book without being shouted the plot pivoting points they would rather spoil the anticipation for millions.

So, do you think now that the New York Times has printed their review from an unauthorized stool pigeon that other media sources will hold back? I doubt it! In my many years on the receiving end of the daily news and some years spent in broadcast studies and participation (yes, I at one time was on the radio and studied broadcasting, one of my many endeavors in high school and college) I have yet to witness many true news journalist with an once of integrity. Between the one-ups-men attitude and the let's draw the biggest audience for advertisers mentality politicians are closely followed in sliminess by those that claim to be reporters of news.

Oh, yes spoiling the book for millions is news, but how many will hold it at that? Let’s see how many broadcasters are actually going to go on and reveal the details. I will be doing my best to ignore the news and such until I obtain my copy of the book on Saturday to enjoy it for myself. Best of luck to the rest of you. And, I hope the publishers who spent big bucks for security on the book's release win a round or two in court with these spoilsports.

Kid friendly simple to follow Harry Potter page

2007-07-19T07:52:00.000-04:00

Kidsread.com has launched a new page titled Harry Central. According to them "You are about to embark on an incredible journey as you take a peak at the world of Harry Potter!" It is simple and straightforward. It doesn't include all the gobbly-guck that other sites are entrenched with. Harry Central would be a good tool to use with a reading group or for those like my adorable husband who just can’t keep up with who’s who and what is what. He made it through the first book (sort of) and only halfway through the second. To his credit though he is not a fiction guy, but rather likes to have a clear path laid out when he approaches a book. Non-fiction books are definitely his thing.

What's your oldest book?

2007-07-08T22:39:00.000-04:00

Have any treasures to share? So, what books do you have that you hold onto that you do not re-read or maybe have never read, but rather have them more for sentimental or monetary value? Did you inherit them or were they given to you years ago as a child and just can't seem to part with them?

In every room of our home we have books, and occassionally even the bathroom will sport one or two from time to time. However, in the living room there behind the glass front bookcase is where I house a number of really, really old books. This is were I keep the books I inherited from my grandparents. Several of the books date back to their grandparents ( I think that is two greats for me). These I keep for sentimental and historical reasons.

There is the Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte an 1847 edition from The Star Library series. Then there is the A First Book in American History by Edward Eggleston a 1899 second printing. Ah, then the little bitty picture books from the same era. Not what we see now days and makes one very thankful for Beatrix Potter. One of these is Pictures for the Little Ones whose title page states Picture Story Book from D. Lothrop &Co.1875. I believe it is what one would call children's literature of the time. It is filled with a number of short stories preceded by an illustration. My favorite book though is from my Grandfather's Aunt Lottie. It is Kathrina: Her Life and Mine, in a poem by J. G. Holland. It was a Christmas gift to her from her parents in 1868 and beautifully inscribed on the front page. Another is a sentimental gift I actually received from my husband when we were dating. It was a reminder of a visit we had made to the home of James Whitcomb Riley. My sweetie had found an 1897 edition of Riley's Neghborly Poems (yep, that is spelled correctly). No, I haven't read any of these and probably won't, but I do get them out from time to time and just flip through them and ponder how our language and text has changed so much in this last century.

Happy Independence Day

2007-07-04T10:11:00.000-04:00

It may be overcast today with storms to come, but no matter the weather freedom is always good to celebrate.

Happy 4th to you.

Until It arrives! Harry Potter

2007-07-03T15:54:00.000-04:00

After it arrives, we've read, seen it, and written about it do you wonder what book will next step up and create such a stir in children's literature? Do you think it is going to be a while before another book can even be looked at in the same way? It isn't often a book let alone a series can make such a ripple affect. With only a few weeks to go a number of sites are answering with their thoughts to the following meme. What would you say to the following?

1. Butterbeer or pumpkin juice?
I always imagined Butterbeer tasting like butter rum lifesavers and pumpkin juice like cold delicious pumpkin pie. I like both real well, but I’ll choose pumpkin juice.

2. What House would you most likely (or want to) be in at Hogwarts?
My first choice would be Gryffindor, but the sorting hat could pop me in Ravenclaw.

3. If you were an animagus, what animal would you turn into?
A cat with the best of both cat and dog qualities would be a plus.

4. What character do you empathize with, or resemble best?
Hermione is my first choice, but with my auburn hair and occasional don’t mess with me attitude that resembles Ginny Weasley’s bat bogey hex, I would lean toward Ginny.

5. What position do you play at Quidditch?
Use to have some athletic ability, but I’d do better on the sidelines as the announcer with the style of Luna Lovegood.

6. Which teacher is your favorite?
I would imagine in Dumbledore’s teaching days he would have been the best, but I will go with Professor McGonagall as the favorite even though we don’t see much of her in action in the classroom.

7. Any Harry Potter 7 predictions?
That something of significance with be discovered at Godric’s Hollow and RAB will be Sirius’ brother Regulus. The Weasley’s will suffer at least one loss and Dumbledore will have left behind some helpful information for Harry. Also, I am leaning heavily toward Snape playing a large role in saving Harry and that he is good, but will die in the end.

I wonder if when J.K.Rowling first set thoughts to paper, if she ever thought adults as well as children would have been as big of fans of the book? Visit others such as Big A little a and others for additional meme responses.

Picture Books - Time to Say Goodnight

2007-07-02T15:31:00.000-04:00

We have been into lots of various bedtime books of late and one of the many favorites is the delightfully illustrated book Time to Say Goodnight by Sally Lloyd-Jones and illustrated by Jane Chapman (2006). I would be the first to admit that I would probably pick up anything with Jane Chapman as the illustrator. This particular picture book takes a wonderful rhyming looking at how the woodland animals are told to go to bed by their own parents with the exception of the owl who is waking up the little ones. After reading how each of the animals are tucked in for the night with reassuring words of comfort and security, the animal parents then address the reader in reminding them it is also time for them to say goodnight. My wee one gets a kick out of the parent animals “talking” to her. Of course, you need to add that little subtle message in how you read it. Makes for a great selection for toddlers through probably 2nd grade.

What's Your Rating?

2007-06-29T15:07:00.002-04:00

How's this for a blog rating? Liz over at A Chair, A Fireplace & A Tea Cozy had this fun little rating link. Appears to be a freebie service offered by a dating service. Although as A Chair, A Fireplace & A Tea Cozy discovered it has an interesting definition of what a bad word is.

Mingle² - Online Dating

Have a great weekend.

Seek and Find

2007-06-25T14:29:00.000-04:00

Don’t you just love seek and find books. These were some of the favorites amongst the elementary school kids especially grades 3 and 4 at my former school. If you have fond memories of these books or the seek and finds like those in the magazine Highlights, take a look at the following. Can you find the mommy and baby robin? Have fun. (Oh, I took this in my backyard this weekend. We have two trees with robins' nests. This is the only nest that was successful. Also, I’m several feet away and stretching my short legs as far as they go to get it.)

Picture Books - Little Quack's New Friend

2007-06-22T15:48:00.000-04:00

Everyone needs a reminder now and then about friendship. The great thing about Little Quack’s New Friend (2006) is that Little Quack ignores his siblings and plays with a new friend even though the new friend is a frog. Ribbit too helps provide a little insight on how it is best to forget a slight and invite those that originally snubbed him to join in the fun. Of course, I doubt seriously if my wee one took away the same thoughts from reading this book as I did, but I hope it lays a foundation of acceptance that all kids should have as they grow. Luckily for us most kids do not see the differences adults see. Too bad us adults aren’t as accepting of others different then ourselves like Little Quack and as forgiving as Ribbit. I don’t know what author Lauren Thompson’s intent was, but this is a really good picture book to share with toddlers on up. In addition, illustrator Derek Anderson created a unique family for Little Quack that also can be used in a meaningful way as well. Each of Little Quack’s siblings is very different in features from each other, which may be useful for families dealing with something similar. If the subtle meanings don’t do anything for you, the text is just plain fun. Give it a look-see. There are several other Little Quack stories, but we have yet to test drive any of those. Happy quacking.

Picture Books - When Sheep Sleep

2007-06-18T13:51:00.000-04:00

Ah, with the previous said now I can return to the regularly scheduled program about books. We are having a great time as usual with reading books. Fortunately, we have a wide variety to select from. One of many favorites we are reading at nighttime is from Laura Numeroff and illustrated by David McPhail. When Sheep Sleep (2006) is a unique take on what to do if you can’t sleep and the sheep you try to count are already asleep. The illustrations are so wonderful the story almost tells itself. Suggested (by me) for toddlers on up. Sweet dreams.

Social Commentary - Code for Opinion

2007-06-16T10:31:00.000-04:00

I’m sure many of you are aware, if not affected by, the constant battle of late in the news about “working moms” versus “stay at home moms”. First, let me say everyone needs to do their own thing that is best for them and their family. But, it is funny how so many women seem to be up in arms over this issue and seem to think everyone should be like this or that.

Back when I was a wee one my mother was a single working mom. In those days there were no daycares, but just neighborhood moms that watched my sister and I. From kindergarten through probably at least 6th grade my sister and I were the only ones in school that had a working mom. And, we lived in a fairly large metropolitan area. Even when my mom remarried she still worked as my dad didn’t have medical benefits and to help make ends meet. It wasn’t easy, but I think my sister and I turned out pretty good. When I graduated from college years later it seemed women and working outside the home had totally flip flopped. It became more of a trend for women to work and the majority of families became two outside income homes.

So, for me I spent 20 years in the “work” force before I became a stay at home mom. I spent my years climbing the corporate ladder, bought my own home, paid off school debts, started an IRA, traveled the world, obtained my masters, and lived a relatively social life along with the companionship of a great dog and cat. I never really entered the “working mom” versus “stay at home mom” debate, as it didn’t really affect me. Plus, I am a firm believer that one should not try to push their lifestyle ideas upon others.

However, recently this debate came up in several instances and it really caught me off guard. I met my husband as some would say late in life followed by having a wee one later in life when most of my friends’ kids are either entering high school or graduating. It seems that when I got married then became a stay at home mom, people that I have known for years all of sudden have forgotten my previous life of working overtime, traveling non-stop for work, and having successfully lived on my own without being in debt.

One instance came up this past week when a former classmate contacted me. During this call it was mentioned a number of times how fortunate I am to be able to stay at home and have all the things that my husband and I have. Then it was mentioned how spoiled I must be especially with all the things my husband does for me. At first I thought yeah I am pretty spoiled, but then I realized the comments were genuine and not the jesting kind. I didn’t say anything, but when I got off the phone I thought hey what a minute. Both my husband and I worked hard for the lifestyle that we have and I have contributed equally to it. Now, I personally think single working moms have the hardest lifestyle and responsibilities bar none. However, I still believe that stay at home moms work hard and have enormous responsibilities as well, we just do not get a cashable paycheck for it. So, where am I going with this? Since I know for sure this classmate doesn’t read this blog, I am using it to vent rather then waste my time confronting someone who has closed minded views. The one good thing that came out of the call was a reminder to myself that everyone is different and one should not try to put their way of thinking or lifestyle on another because very few shoes fit the same feet.

So, no matter if you are a “working mom” or “stay at home mom” being a mom is a blessing and we all know it is a difficult and challenging task, but so worth it. To those that have overbearing and demeaning views on either side of the fence, get off your soap box and worry more about what you are doing in your life then everyone else’s. And, to those that think women are wasting their higher education to stay at home, I say what is wrong with having a little extra knowledge when raising your own kids? I am so thankful to the many children’s authors that create books that fit the many lifestyles that kids live in.

Chapter Books - The Dragon of Lonely Island

2007-06-14T11:48:00.000-04:00

Okay, I had this fairly interesting write up completed for Rebecca Rupp’s The Dragon of Lonely Island (2002), but for some reason it has disappeared. Unfortunately, for me once I empty my brain of its thoughts about a particular topic it seems also to have a retrieval problem. So, let me just say this about the book (re-release). It involves two sisters and a brother who accompany their fiction-writing mother for the summer to an island inhabited only by a caretaker and his wife, or is it? They are staying in their Great Aunt’s home and soon find that there is an adventure to be undertaken. While searching the house and the island they discover their Great Aunt’s secret friend Fafnyr, a tridrake. The three-headed dragon lives in a cave on the island. After overcoming a brief uneasiness the children come to know and cherish the story telling dragon. The tale is brief, but captivating and leaves the reader wondering, but luck would have it that the author has since written a sequel that I have yet to check out. It is a good quick summer read for probably 3rd graders and up.

Picture Books - Emma Kate

2007-06-05T11:59:00.000-04:00

Well, it is going to be hard to top the fact that an author has visited this site and included a kind message (Thank you Vivian French you made my day). But, I will move forward and see what else the book world has in store of me. So, let’s start with a shout out for the picture book Emma Kate by Patricia Polacco 2005. We just picked this one up in the paperback form a few weeks back. This is a story about a little “girl” and her imaginary friend Emma Kate. The artwork is very interesting in that it is almost completely done in pencil with just a splash of color. Spoiler - At the end of the story you find the splash of color is our little “girl’s” imaginary friend. For some reason my wee one has taken an extraordinary liking to it. It is a good book, but I just didn’t picture the wee one head over heels for it. She usually reserves the extra love for a different style of book. But, hey the fact that at 27 months she can name the titles of all her books and requests particular ones throughout the day is amazing to me. Emma Kate would be a great gift to a preschooler up through 8 years or so girl. Young boys may like it as well, but it tends to lean heavily toward girlie situations.

Picture Books (& Mother's Day Books) - A Present for Mom

2007-05-24T15:00:00.001-04:00

Ah, did I ever tell you that my husband is the one that feeds my book habit? Probably, and on a number of occasions. Well, for Mother's Day my husband surprised me with a copy of A Present for Mom by Vivian French and illustrated by Dana Kubick 2002. What a delightful book about the youngest child's dilemma in finding the right gift for his mom. The illustrations are very sweet and captures kids (kitten) expressions so well. This would be a great story to read with kids around a parent's birthday as well. It helps the little ones understand that some of the best presents of all to give are from our heart and imagination. Also, this would be a good book for those single parent households out there as well. What's even better is it doesn't come across as a single family home. I didn't even notice at first until I read my previous notes on it from years ago when I put together my Mother's Day book list. Good for ages preschool and up.

Thinking Award - Thanks!

2007-05-24T12:18:00.000-04:00

What a nice honor and surprise I received from Back in The Day and Return of the White Robin. Each awarded me a thinking blogger award. Both of these sites provide some refreshing views and thought provoking posts that well rather make my little effort here a bit quiet and lacking in influence. However, not one to be shy in being excited about an award especially one provided by those that you admire makes ones day. So, for those that are not familiar with this award, check out the orgins of the Thinking Award at the thinking blog. The rules from the original meme are as follows:

Should you choose to participate, please make sure you pass this list of rules
to the blogs you are tagging. I thought it would be appropriate to include them
with the meme.The participation rules are simple:

1. If, and only if, you get tagged, write a post with links to 5 blogs that
make you think,
2. Link to this post so that people can easily find the exact origin of the
meme,
3. Optional: Proudly display the 'Thinking Blogger Award' with a link to
the post that you wrote (here is an alternative silver version if gold
doesn't fit your blog).

With so many really great reads out there it was really tough to narrow my top five list. So, even though there are numerous great book blogs, here are my five choices today in no special order.

1. A Chair, A Fireplace & A Tea Cozy

2. The Edge of the Forest (it is an online children's literature monthly put together by a blogger with contributions by bloggers)

3. Big A, little a

4. Book Moot

5. The PlanetEsma Plan

All five of these sites have well put together thoughts on books, authors, and libraries on a consistent basis and they provide a wealth of information. In the children's literature blog world there are so many worthwhile sites to visit you can't go wrong. Start here with one of these and check out their lists for even more sites to visit.

Discussion Books - What Will Happen In Harry Potter 7

2007-05-20T23:22:00.000-04:00

As a fun little treat, my husband picked up a copy of What Will Happen In Harry Potter 7 (2006) this past week for me and what a delight it was. In general, I am not one who usually gets into any deep conversations about books. I always figure that most people are like me and enjoy a one on one relationship with their reading experience and do not usually discuss it with others. (Hum, why do I have a book blog then?) This is probably why I have never really been much for book clubs and similar get togethers. I do not mind chit chatting about books, but I’ve never been much for getting down into the muck about why the author decided to do this or that and what other books have similar ramblings, etc.

Now with that said, I must admit I really got a kick out of reading the various thoughts, discussions, and theories that are put forth in What Will Happen In Harry Potter 7, especially those that totally agreed with what I was already thinking. Plus, the quick little chapters that delve into a particular topic made me do a little additional thinking, which really made me want to get my hands on number 7.

The book is put out by Mugglenet.com’s founder and cohorts, which supposedly is one of the largest and most read Harry Potter related site. The authors like the site are some very dedicated enthusiast as well as a very talented youthful group. Like with books I am also not one to peruse the Internet for discussions or latest thought about what is going to happen with Harry and other Hogwarts friends and classmates. When I do stumble across something I will share it with those I think might be interested. I had not previously visited the Mugglenet.com until after I read the book. I still didn’t really look into it much, but if you are a fan this is probably a regular stop and I am behind the times as usually.

So, to sum this up, if you are having a hard time waiting until July and want to get a quick fix and a mini recap as to where things stand or might stand, then pick this up. The book is a very quick read and I think even those in 5th or 6th graders and up would really enjoy it.

Henry David Thoreau had a way with words

2007-05-01T14:48:00.000-04:00

One of the great things about being married to my thoughtful husband is how he tries to constantly feed my many interests. On a trip to New York he came across a street that had wonderful quotes set along the sidewalk. I believe it was near a place they have dubbed Library Way. Knowing that I am a big fan of libraries and of course books, he took the time to snap a picture of some of these quotes. The one pictured here is by Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862) "Books are the treasured wealth of the world and the fit inheritance of generations and nations." Well said, plus the coins that are imprinted on the plaque add an extra meaning.

Young Adults - Size 12 Is Not Fat

2007-04-24T15:09:00.000-04:00

If you have some time and are looking for a good summer time book to read, then try Meg Cabot’s Size 12 Is Not Fat (A Heather Wells Mystery). I read it this last week while sitting on the beach and just laughed. I am familiar with Cabot’s Princess series, but have never read them or any of her other books. Not sure why, other than time as I try to read most works by former or current Indiana residents. The title was too funny not to pick up and really hits home with today’s current trends of what is fat and what isn’t. The book really has a sense of humor, which is set amongst a few “accidental” college students’ deaths. Although it would probably fall into your typical adult cozy mystery genre it also seems to really fit into its marketing for young adults.

Anyway, the book is one of what appears to be a series involving the former teen pop star Heather Wells who is trying to start life over without recording contracts. Add a bit of unrequited love, bankruptcy, and college life and you have a funny yet heartstrings tugging book to keep your summer time fun going strong. The story is set in New York, where the main character brings her own little dramatic history and “baggage” with her into a new job as a college residence hall assistant director. (It is funny though to see the various fictional references to locations and buildings that have a very familiar ring to them.) Many issues plague the main character including her mother running off with all her money and her big time singer boyfriend having an affair. Heather not only has to deal with overcoming her past identity, but try to build up her self esteem and face the new challenges ahead of her while trying to convince the police that the "accidental" deaths are really murders all while being a size 12.

Being a bit on the conservative side I would recommend this to high school age (16 or so) on up due to the liberal dialogue and descriptive romantic encounters. As a side note some of the backdrop brought back memories of the 80’s and silly shopping mall singing sensations like “Tiffany” and the 90’s boy bands. According to the author’s notes another in this series was released this past January and another is coming next winter. Also, Cabot lists this book for adults, but most bookstores and libraries I have seen lump it in with Young Adults.

Earth Day and ponderings

2007-04-19T14:11:00.000-04:00

With earth day just around the corner (April 22), I did actually stop and think about this while watching the tide roll in every day sitting on the beach. The beautiful clean beaches do attest to the fact that many are doing their part in helping the environment, but we all still have ways to go. There are so many small ways we can help, but the big environmental impacts sometimes amaze me and what really can be done(?). Hang with me hear as I ponder (or check out this link to a previous post I did with kids resources last year).

The place I was just visiting this past weekend recently built a new airport in amongst a wildlife area. We are talking acres upon acres of natural habitat that now have an airport sitting in the middle of it. Plus, for the first time ever since I have been visiting the area I saw these crossing signs on the drive from the airport to the beach. Makes me think is tourism and its convenience worth it? What was wrong with the old airport? Granted I was use to an armadillo sign here and there, but now they have stirred up the panther population.

While visiting an old friend who lives about an hour and half north of this airport we drove through many wildlife areas that were being developed for housing and shopping. In my friends neck of the woods, they live on the farthest point of the peninsula that can be developed due to the water ways and marsh areas. But, despite their being no beaches and such their house is among many that were built around bird sanctuaries and they now have alligators in the water ways behind their home along with various other natural habitat critters and the occasional bobcat. Is the desire to live in an resort and tropic like setting too costly to the environment? Again, no idea of right and wrongs here just pondering.

Anyway, don't forgot to keep Earth day and its purpose in mind everyday. There are plenty of online kid resources at US Gov't Earth Day Kids . Plus, there are so many books and magazines available at your local library.

Sunsets and books! How Grand a time!

2007-04-18T13:38:00.000-04:00

Oh, how lucky am I. My fabulous husband sent me away. Yes, I said sent me away this past weekend. It was part of a wonderful Christmas offering that I was somewhat reluctant to take him up on. The going away meant the first time I wasn't going to be without my wee one since she was born. Plus, she is too dang funny at times to miss out on. Anyway, I left the wee one in the trusted hands of my husband and headed south to visit an old friend whose father lived next to mine for 44 years and they both passed away within months of each other this past year. Plus, I got to spend a few days on this glorious beach with my mom and just READ. I used to visit this same beach for years with both of my parents before I became so smitten with my husband.

What you see here are two of the beautiful sunsets that I enjoyed. These were taken right outside the place I was staying at on the beach. This one is at low low tide (my nautical term) where you can see the shells digging down in the sand for cover until the tide comes back in.I was able to enjoy this scenery for three nights before I boarded the plane and headed home with weeping eyes and dripping nose from the allergies that infest many of the Floridian residents. Unfortunately, the same wasn't true for my mom who is spending the entire week she is allergy resistent, but developed a nasty head cold instead.

Now, as I return to motherhood I am renewed and actually do not mind the stacks of laundry, dishes, constantly dirty floors, household repairs, bills to pay, meals to prepare and general stay-at-home-mom duties, which I love that I get to do my way. And, I get to read lots and lots of books to my wee one everyday and listen to her laugh and laugh as well as see my husband's handsome face. What else could a girl ask for? Ah, maybe another weekend in 6 months for good behavior?

Picture Books - Dr. Duck

2007-03-30T15:14:00.000-04:00

Is there a doctor in the house? A reading doctor perhaps? Well, if there is I’m wondering is it normal for a wee one of just 25 months to want so many books read before nap and bedtime? Don’t get me wrong, I love the fact she wants to hear and look at so many books, but it is hard to cut it off. However, I have been successful in reducing the books to four at naptime and six at bedtime. Of course, this doesn’t include the numerous ones throughout the day. Occasionally, I have even suggested she watch a show, yes, I said show on television even to take a break from reading. (PBS here in town have some really good shows that are great for wee ones.)

One of her many favorite books lately is that of Dr. Duck by H. M. Ehrlich and illustrated by Laura Rader 2000 - This is a must read every night for the wee one. We meet Dr. Duck as he starts his morning neighborhood rounds in his big red van. Through Dr. Duck we meet all kinds of animals and what is ailing them. As Dr. Duck wraps up his day, it is soon him that falls ill. The animals rally round and help nurse Dr. Duck to health again. Unfortunately, our wee one gets upset when one of the animal cries out, “don’t die Dr. Duck”. I have learned to skip that sentence and it doesn’t interfere at all with the rhythmic text.

Picture Books - Going to the Zoo

2007-03-29T15:27:00.000-04:00

Ah, don’t you just love spring weather, we are taking walks, visiting local sites, and trying to take it all in. With usually having mild winters these past few years, the late nastiness of this past February made for a bit cranky cooped up feeling in many around the area. I think it gave us a bit more appreciation for the newly greening grass, daffodils blooming, and fresh spring air.

Today, we dropped by our local zoo and visited with a number of animals. The wee one even got to pick up a few new books (as if we needed anymore). One of the books we found I couldn’t pass up as it was based on the “Going to the zoo” song. It was overpriced and a tad beat up, but it was so worth it to see her face when we “sang” the book. It is great to find books to connect with a memory.

If you like the song or just want to recreate a fun zoo memory try this book out. Going to the Zoo by Tom Paxton and illustrated by Karen Lee Schmidt 1996. The illustrations do great justice to the song/text and the ending is so cute.

The elephants say Hi and come visit!

Picture Books - Kiss, Kiss!

2007-03-13T14:30:00.000-04:00

Kiss, Kiss! by Margaret Wild and illustrated by Bridget Strevens-Marzo 2004

Although this book has been around awhile, it sure makes for a fun one on one lap book. The text invites the reader to make a number of entertaining sounds while following Baby Hippo through his morning adventures. While Baby Hippo is out and about following a dragonfly, he notices that the other little ones in the neighborhood are kissing their mamas good-bye. It is then he suddenly remembers what he forgot to do before leaving in such a hurry earlier that morning. The reader has a great opportunity to add a whimsical sense of urgency to Baby Hippo’s quick return to the waterhole in search of his mama. It is an enjoyable book to cuddle up with to your special little one and share funny kisses. Prefect for babies through pre-K, plus the illustrations are really cute, bright, and eye catching. It is just the right length for little ones, plus not too bad for the ever re-read syndrome of this age.

Where has the time gone?

2007-03-09T14:33:00.000-05:00

Ah, it is time to change the clocks once again. Being a native of the Hoosier state I grew up in a “state” of confusion. When I was a wee one myself we paid homage to the time honored activity of springing ahead and falling behind at the government-approved times. Then for some miraculous reason the Hoosier state decided to wise up like a few others and stop the madness. But, to my chagrin the current governor decided to be like all the other states again so as to improve the state’s business economy and image. Hum, I never really did buy into that. I did think yes it would be easier for folks to remember what time it was here if we all did the same thing everyone else did. However, as a free thinking being and one that tries to see logic and practicality of actions, I still think this whole time shifting thing is for the birds, especially when trying to accommodate wee ones schedules and explaining the whole meaning behind it (no matter what Mr. Benjamin Franklin thought).

Have you ever tried to find a children’s book on the subject of daylight saving? Oh, there are a number of “science” books that explain the general reasons, but I tend to disagree with most of the so-called statistics they back up their information with. I do agree with trying to conserve energy, so why not just stick to one time that fits the best. Instead, now we have from March until November on one time then for a measly 4 months we are on another time. Time change interrupts so many activities, but for some reason the vast majority have been brainwashed into seeing the “right” in doing it. When working at the elementary school the kids had great questions as to why time changed. However, not being a believer in the “system” I really had a hard time explaining the benefits when they were trying to stay awake to listen. Yes, it is great to have more daylight at night. So, why not stick with the spring “time” all the time? Daylight saving comes up in a number of children’s literature and I have even seen it used as a pivot point. In a recent acclaimed children’s book about Ben Franklin they credit him with this fascinating idea. I say yeah he had some good ideas, but he also had some duds too, and I would put this in with them.

Today, I listened to some brainwashing bureaucratic talk up all the benefits of moving the spring change to March and how everyone will be safer (children on a darken bus stop through out most of the school year, hum) and more energy will be conserved (lights on in the schools in the dark morning hours, hum). What he didn’t say is what his data was based on. Then the reporter being on the quick side put forth that a study is being mandated to begin in November to see if this change really does benefit us at all seeing how the last bit of data used for this current change was compiled in the 70’s. Well, if it were the 70’s again those driving SUV’s would be waiting in long lines at the gas pumps and paying more than what we pay now. And, maybe we would really be taking energy savings more seriously as many did then. But, really folks this daylight saving time has been going on so long now, I think the “do it because we always have” factor is the driving force.

Maybe what I really need in order to accept this twice a year silliness is a good children’s book that will explain it to me in a logical manner. If that were so, I might be able to with a clear conscience and believability explain it my child and other kids.

As a side note, Canada made the recent March change as well because of the states, but the European Union did not. Hummmm! For some quick information go to Time zone change.

Library "Service"?

2007-03-04T11:23:00.000-05:00

Oh woe is me. My inner selfish beast has surfaced over this weekend during a trip to the library. Over the years I have come to have a love hate relationship with our library system. It is very large with more than 20 branch locations. As a little girl and again as a teen (working as a page) I spent many hours in the library. However, I was always intimidated by the arrangement and service. Back in the day there was usually just one librarian on duty and one check out clerk. Now days the branches are very large (and more used) and usually have two or three librarians and a dozen or more clerks. In the olden days we didn’t have “children’s” librarians and to use the reference desk you had to be accompanied by an adult to ask a question or at least that was the implied message sent to the young ones. But, in the late 80’s and through the 90’s the library was very focused on customer service and programs and the library was an easy place to visit and find materials.

As I visited our library yesterday I discovered they have yet again cut back on services, librarian qualifications (a whole posting in itself), and hours. I was “informed” as I entered the queue to check out my books that there were other self check stations opened. I wasn’t sure what the smart mouthed young adult meant, but ignored her sarcasm and waited until the familiar clerk was available. It was then that another person behind the desk “informed” me that all the libraries are now self-check out and they no longer do it for you. Mind you there are no posted signs or instructions nor had I seen any previous notices about this change. I proceeded to the opened window area to be greeted by a monitor and scanner. Being familiar with grocery store checkouts I had a reasonable idea as to how it worked. As I started to scan a few books wouldn’t enter. I was then informed I must have too many books already checked out. Interesting as this was the first visit in a while and we have no library books currently checked out. After some verbal debate and card confirmation I asked them to see if the books were on hold and that is why they couldn’t be checked out. Nope, they don’t know why they wouldn’t scan so just go ahead and take them with out checking them out. I thanked the clerk, but declined, as I didn’t want to be responsible for books that aren’t in my name. The clerk was very adamant that I take the book so I did.

The real sad part of this whole exchange was the lack of help those asking for received and the layout didn’t looks as if young ones could reach the scanners. (This then brought up questions about elderly that are computer phobic and those that are new to libraries like our immigrant population.) There were a number of people asking for help with the scanners or just trying to locate books. But, the smart mouthed young adult was more than rude to so many insisting she was not allowed out behind the counter and that those asking should see the librarian. These librarians being only two that day were already swamped helping others. As a side note checking out the books could have been a breeze, but then you have to add a print out receipt to each book’s pocket to keep the security from buzzing on the way out. If you have a lot of books it can be a hassle, plus where are those cards they used to use that would make it so much quicker?

So, in addition to not only having to locate your own "hold" materials sitting out for anyone to select from, but you have to check your own books out, and the collections held at each library now change as they no longer send other branch books back to the original collection. So, if the computer says the book is in the branch’s collection that will not always be the case. I totally understand the need to cut back on expenses, but it seems the system did a quick jerk the band-aid off change without informing their public. I am looking at this new change from a customer side and selfish at that. If I were the library I could see some justification in the changes, but I am not working for them at reduced again wages like their grumbling staff is.

Blood and Taxes?!

2007-02-27T14:35:00.000-05:00

I can’t believe how long it has been since we went to visit our library. The weather for the last three weeks accounted for a good portion of it, but now we are dealing with taxes. Long before I reacquainted myself with children’s books and followed my dream of being a librarian there were the many years of bean counting. Some of that was making sure others counted correctly and some of it was counting the beans myself. Now, with the tax season upon us I have set up my tax sign again. With that comes extended family taxes, but no one else’s. I am strictly a part, part-time tax girl.

Unfortunately, taxes can be complicated when there is a death, inheritance, social security caps, or prior bad accountants creating the need for amended returns. And, yes several in the family ventured into all these areas this past year. So, between cleaning up blood spewing from the wee one's mouth (teeth through the bottom lip from a fall) this past weekend and being knee deep in taxes my brain has been deprived of new reading delights. Luckily we have a vast quantity of books to keep us re-reading here, but it is nice to interject some new pages of imagination from time to time especially with these past weeks and weekends of bitter cold, snow, and ice that have kept us in doors for most of the time. We were fortunate not to have any lost electricity, but still dealing with plumbing issues to add some spice to the mix. Here’s hoping you can get out and enjoy your library and all it has to offer.

Picture Books - Variety to Choose from

2007-02-24T14:08:00.000-05:00

A little over a week ago we had a celebration for my wee one's 2nd birthday. Being from a family of avid readers and fans of books she received a number of them from just about everyone. She was delighted and enjoys them all (and so do I). The interesting thing about receiving books for gifts is that sometimes there will be duplicates. However, we still after all this time have not received one duplicate, which in itself is amazing. The wee one received over a dozen books so I'm only going to list a few here. (Did I mention we are looking to add a few more book shelves for the house?)

Anyway, the books ranged from old classics to new award winners and each with their own unique appeal. The first is the recent Not a Box by Antoinette Portis 2006, which was a 2007 honor Theodor Seuss Geisel Award winner, and inspires the mind with the many fun things an imagination can find to do with a box. And, our wee one definitely loves boxes.

Another recent one Little Pea by Amy Krouse Rosenthal and illustrated by Jen Corace 2005 takes on the love of vegetables and the ick of eating candy a little pea has to deal with. Then there are also the tales that highlight cultural myths like Two Bear Cubs: A Miwok Legend from California's Yosemite Valley by Robert D. San Souci and illustrated by Daniel San Souci 1997 and Coyote in Love by Mindy Dwyer 1997. In some libraries these would be found in the folktale section.

Then there were some older classics like the Caldecott winner Song of the Swallows by Leo Politi 1948 and the good old Golden Books Scuffy the Tugboat by Gertrude Crampton and illustrated by Tibor Gergely 1946.

Happy Birthday Cat in the Hat!

2007-02-19T16:17:00.000-05:00

Wow! Who would have thought that Dr. Seuss' The Cat in the Hat would be still such a sensation after all these years, 50 to be exact. In honor of this milestone there will be a nationwide read-aloud on Dr. Seuss' birthday of March 2. Interested in more information about this event check out the website for details.

Happy New Year (lunar that is) again!

2007-02-18T21:26:00.000-05:00

Hope you all are enjoying the Chinese New Year today. We celebrated with a take out Chinese dinner and remembered that my husband was also born in the Year of the Pig as is this New Year's animal. However, in the past we have seen this lunar year animal more often called the Year of the Boar rather then pig. We like the boar reference better as it seems a bit more of a masculine kind of rough and tumble animal than the image a simple farm pig conjures.

The newly released picture book The Year of the Pig: Tales from the Chinese Zodiac by Oliver Chin and illustrated by Jeremiah Alcorn (2007) offers the reader a humorous insight to the Chinese Zodiac and a fun little tale about Patty the pig. Check your library shelves for this amusing tale and enjoy a coming of age story and a bit of Chinese culture. I think this is the second in what looks to be a new series about the zodiac.

Cold days and Warm hearts

2007-02-14T15:07:00.000-05:00

What a lonely site this mailbox can be on Valentine's Day. Luckily for me I found a sweet and hand delivered Valentine from my favorite man on the kitchen counter after he shoveled the drifting snow from the driveway and sidewalks again this morning.

For others in our neighborhood I hope they have some one that hand delivers as well. Seems the postal service here had the option of "to deliver or not" yesterday and it looks to be the same here again today.

As you can see the road looks somewhat passable, but our mailman who is probably the least liked by me doesn't deliver when there is anything that may potential or even remotely looks like an obstacle from a mile away (I'm really not exaggerating too much). I have no idea why he took a job he so clearly doesn't like or doesn't do most of the time. We have only lived here a little over a year, but in that time he has found every reason possible not to deliver the mail.

Anyway, although it may be a bitter cold day and for the rest of this week, my heart warms at the thought of spending time with my husband and wee one this evening. The only thing that could make this day any better would have been to have the last Harry Potter book to read on a day like this instead of waiting until the hot days of July.

Valentine's Day Board Books

2007-02-13T14:50:00.000-05:00

Ah! Valentine's Day! Tomorrow we will celebrate loving others in generally and then also those that have an extra special place in our hearts. Here at our humble abode we have lots of love and lots to be thankful for on the romance day of the year that so many look forward to and so many dread.

We are celebrating simple as we have a winter snow storm in progress. The storm I am viewing almost like a layered cake. We received about 5 inches here so far at least that is what the say, but my husband shoveled about 12 inches out of the driveway and walkways this morning. Now, we are receiving several hours of the "icing", which will then be topped with another 5 or so inches of snow. Lucky for us, my sweetheart is able to work from home today in between the shoveling.

For the wee one, who turned the big "Two" over the weekend we found some special books to share with her tomorrow. The first two books are small little picture board books with sweet pictures of puppies and kittens with even cutier sayings. Kitty Love and Puppy Love were published by Dalmation Press in 2006 and we found them for $1.00 each in a large discount retailer's store a few weeks back. I haven't seen them elsewhere, but I'm sure will be well received by the wee one.

The other book we found for her is by Sarah Wilson and illustrated by Melissa Sweet. This particular version of Love and Kisses was released as a board book in 2002 and earlier as a picture book in 1999. The caption reads "Blow a kiss and let it go, You never know how love will grow!" The simple yet humorous short story follows a kiss as it is first shared between a girl and her cat and then amongst various other animals. So, to you and yours we wish you a day filled with more than normal amounts of love and fun.

Picture Books - Go To Sleep, Groundhog

2007-02-06T20:07:00.000-05:00

We have read a number of Groundhog Day books around our house and Go to Sleep, Groundhog by Judy Cox and illustrated by Paul Meisel (2003) was by far one of the best. And, to my surprise there are a lot of picture books on the subject and many not so good. With this past Friday being Groundhog Day and supposedly we will have an early spring (ha ha ha) I thought I would bring this particular book up. The summary for it indicates: "When Groundhog is unable to sleep, he experiences autumn and winter holidays he never knew about, and then he finally falls asleep before Groundhog Day." However, it really doesn’t do it justice. The story is adorable and just makes you think how cute. Since Groundhog is unable to get to sleep he wonders about through the holidays and meets up with a kindly witch, a turkey, and Santa who all try to help him get back to sleep. One of my favorite parts of the book was the end where you get to learn the facts behind how Groundhog Day came about. With the weather outside being a bit fridged and snow covered (at least here) this one would be a good choice for reading during an indoor hot chocolate break.

Current score - Pipes 2 Homewner 0

2007-02-04T17:35:00.000-05:00

Just call me Plumber PJ. It has been very, very cold here this last week and this week is even going to be colder. This type of weather isn’t unusual for this area, but we haven’t had it for a while. We moved last year to a new home and I am still not completely familiar with all its maintenance issues and quirks, yet. We did find out last year that our bathroom had pipes that ran in an outside wall, or did they? Our pipes froze last year when the outside temp was around 28 degrees. According to the plumber this is unusual as it takes around 22 or so before they freeze. But, what do I know last I checked water started to freeze at 32 degrees. Anyway the pipes last year worked themselves out with some strange method the plumber suggested, or did they?

Ah, where is she going with this? Well, turns out we woke up to frozen pipes on Saturday morning. After trying the last year’s plumber’s “method” for 8 hours I finally called a different plumber. And, yes we do have piping in an outside wall, but turns out not the water pipes the former plumber thought were there. When the kind and knowledge current plumber took my word based on the last guy and cut a large hole in the wall we learned the pipe in question was a drainpipe. So, based on the hunch I had last year, which the first plumber dismissed as just female nonsense this plumber looked and suddenly found the builder for this home did indeed run exposed water pipes in the attic above a non-insulated garage. Before yesterday the farthest I have ever been in our attic was standing on the ladder going “here Honey can you put this up there too?”

So, when I came back from one of the large do-it-yourself retail stores this afternoon with dry wall repair supplies (yes, I’m the handyman in the family) to repair the oversize hole in the wall, I was a little befuddled to learn yet again we had frozen pipes. Only this time it was the hot water not cold. #&*@! Excuse my swearing, but now I had to really buckle down and crawl around the attic into this creepy corner to try a hair dryer and hope the pipe wasn’t cracked. Fortunately for me I had asked the kindly plumber yesterday for tips to help if this happened again. Yes, I did let the water drip from every faucet as I had been doing for the last week. (I forgot one on Friday night, which is why our bath went dry as they say.)

Lesson learned is next time at home repair store get some insulation with the dry wall supplies. Will need sooner than you think. No, I am not going back to the store as it is the current high for the day of 14 degrees. Plus, I just can’t stand the thought of being in that attic again freezing my fingers and trying not to get any more splinters in them for today. So, I am going against my better judgment and running both the hot and cold all night until tomorrow.

Black History Month

2007-02-03T21:55:00.000-05:00

Black History month is one of those times I have some really special memories of working with the elementary school kids. One of the things I miss the most in working with young minds everyday is when they had a project and needed to learn some skills in how to find information. Since Black History month falls into the second semester for most schools the kids would already have a pretty good idea about how to use the library. I also would have a sense of which students would try to cut as many corners as possible to get the project done. But, it was good to see how much of the first semester’s efforts were used during this time.

Most of the teachers of all the grades would do some sort of project or research for individuals and events during this special history month. The 4th grade teachers would have their kids pick a name from a list and prepare a research paper on a person who wasn’t quite a household name like Garrett Morgan or Benjamin Banneker. Our library had a really nice selection of biography books to find information, but we also had pathfinders for particularly useful websites and various reference books. The kids had such great fun or at least in the researching part of the paper. The writing of the paper is where many of the students did most of the grumbling.

Well, anyway this is a great month to discover more about American History and those that made significant strides not only in helping shape our nation, but bring different cultures together.

Soon it will be March and hopefully many schools will also celebrate Women’s History with the same spirit. The following are just a small, small number of sites that might be useful for those doing research.

Library of Congress- the African American Mosaic
Encyclopedia Britannica's Guide to Black History
Scholastic- Culture and Change, Black History in America
KidsClick!- African-Americans
Black History: Then to Now

Online Resources - America's Story

2007-01-30T13:19:00.000-05:00

It has been a while since I have noted some helpful children’s resources. With so many assignments now asking students to site an electronic source of some sorts for a paper or research project it is important that the source be one that is reliable. Many schools are starting students out at a very early age on computers and teaching them how to tap into the vast amount of information online. (Hopefully, they are still learning about using book resources too.) However, as we all know just because the information is online doesn’t mean the source is accurate or reliable. This is probably one of the hardest things to teach to pretty much any age student, adults included.

So, with this thought in mind I have tired to only list reference and book sources on this site that are credible or at least from an authority that has been known for their authenticity. Now, we all know there are numerous children’s literature and reference sources out there that well literally would fill a library. I have only listed a tiny amount available online and from time to time add a new one. I’m trying to not have an endless sidebar list that is too expansive to manage or have anyone try to wade through. Those sources that are on the list I have personal used and have found useful for one reason or another.

One I am adding today can be found through the Library of Congress site. America’s Story from America’s Library would be of great help to any elementary or middle school student doing a paper on someone or something in history. There is fact information available on states and even a place to hear audio clips or movie segments from the past. It is an interesting site to visit just for the fun of it as well.

Score one for Reading

2007-01-28T22:20:00.000-05:00

Do you ever have one of those moments where you just are so happy that you can’t stand it? Well, I had several of those today. Now, if you are not a parent the following may bore you to tears because this is one of those I’m so glad to be a parent moments. No, it isn’t like the times I traveled across Europe and saw some of the most wonderful architectural sites. No, it isn’t like the time I sat on the beaches of Hawaii and gazed at the beautiful ocean while smelling fragrant blossoms. And, no it isn’t like the time my heart pounded with excitement the day my husband asked me for our first date. What I heard and saw today was probably small in many parental moments, but it just made my day. As my husband and I were discussing dinner options we heard our wee one say the letters “I” and “J” and then a mixture of other letters. Then she began to repeat “I” and “J” as if she were reciting the whole alphabet. She has been known to sing along during the alphabet song, but really doesn’t enunciate most of the letters.

In addition, she does have a fairly wide vocabulary recognizes her shapes and colors as well as her numbers through 10. Plus, she has been a avid fan of the letter "A" and number "2" for a while now. However, just listening to her master two of the alphabet letters and say them as confident as she did put the biggest smile on her daddy's and my face. But wait! To top it off she walked up to her daddy as he sat on the family room floor and said “P”. No, that isn’t the potty type “P”, but the letter version. He was confused at first until I reminded him that he had the letter on the sleeve of his sweatshirt he was wearing.

Yes, the wee one also was recognizing some of the letters of the alphabet today. I realize this is probably very normal for an almost two year old, but for us its one of those watching the wee one grow moments. She is like a sponge and soaking everything up. Somewhere in the back of my mind I am hoping that reading to her everyday and providing a large quantity of books for her own “reading” pleasure helped spur today’s happy moments. I do give some credit to Sesame Street’s Cookie Monster and his letter of the day. Of course, watching her when she smiled for the first time and stuck her feet in her mouth the first time and all those other first times still rank up there too. The first time podium is becoming very crowded with wonderful first time memories.

Chapter Books - The Goose Girl

2007-01-25T15:22:00.000-05:00

The Goose Girl by Shannon Hale 2005

I enjoy fairy tales, but do not often venture into the chapter book length ones. The Goose Girl for me almost borders on being a fantasy book versus fairy tale, but there is no mistaking the basics that keep it in that category. The author definitely has a way with words. The text is filled with descriptive writing and the pages are loaded with unique similes and metaphors. The bases to the story has a familiar Cinderella quality to it, yet is still different enough that you really don’t notice it at first.

There are many twists and turns in the plot and the situations at times can be uneasy for animal enthusiasts. As the reader follows the life of Anidori-Kiladra Talianna Isilee, Crown Princess of Kilendree, at times the unusual names and circumstances can be a bit confusing if one doesn’t read carefully. Stories with this type of complexity I find can trip up a reader who occasionally will skim pages with an over abundance of imagery like myself. Definitely worth reading, but the suggested age is 4th grade and up. I will go out on a limb and actually say maybe 5th grade and up, but think those a little older would really enjoy this. It is lengthy so would recommend for a cold or snowy weekend reading. As a side note for some of the younger readers, when I can’t figure out the correct pronunciation for character’s name or most of them like in this book, I usually give them a nickname. For Anidori-Kiladra, I used Andi.

Shelve Those Comments

2007-01-20T23:05:00.000-05:00

Do you ever find yourself just so tired of hearing advice from so called well-meaning people? Yes, it is true I am about to rant and rave about those well-meaning people, but first let me give you the background. Today is Saturday and it usually means in our little neck of the woods a day full of promise and opportunity to catch up on things we have been putting off or to just enjoy each others company. But, no today is day seven in our battle to get healthy. It all started this past Sunday morning. Our wee one woke up with the worse sounding croup she has ever had. Mind you she had been battling the sniffles for a few days. So here we go, three steaming shower treatments and a walk in the cold weather to help relieve the swelling that is closing off her throat. Throughout that night it starts all over. By Monday morning we are off to the doctors, as this croup would not subside with home remedies. The doctor takes a look and was surprised at how bad she was and put her on a steroid to help her breath.

On to Tuesday night and we have a low-grade fever that just wouldn’t go away, she wouldn’t eat, drink, and is attached to mommy’s leg. Off we go again Wednesday morning to the doctor’s office. Doc is concerned as she is losing weight and shows classic signs of pneumonia. Here we go to the radiologist for chest x-rays. Good news lungs clear other than filled with some virus mucus crap. By Thursday she is just getting crankier, but sleeps half way decent, which is code that mommy final got a few hours. But, wait mommy also had to go to the doctor and also went for x-rays. Now, I bet you are wondering what is daddy up to. Well, he too has picked up the virus from the wee one and is coughing up a lung or two. So, he goes to the doctor on Friday while, yes you guessed it the wee is back again to the doctor’s as her fever will not break and she has now been dubbed cranky pants. Between Wednesday's visit and Friday the wee has added an ear infection to her list of ailments.

So to recap our week, that is three office visits, two prescriptions, and a chest x-rays for the wee one; one office visit, one prescription, and a series of x-rays for the mommy; and finally an office visit and prescription for the daddy. Of course this all follows daddy’s bout with whooping cough a month ago that we all had to be treated for. Did I mention we each have a $525 deductible?

In conclusion, the next well-meaning person that says it is good for kids to be exposed to all these germs now is going to get some medical bills shoved up their nose. This is where I ask you to please don’t be like the idiotic moms that take their so obviously sick and hacking kids to gym class or play groups because they don’t think it is a big deal. Washing hands and using anti-bacterial gels only work so well. Okay, off to sip some hot tea, read a calming book, and be thankful I have a venting source such as blogger.

Chapter Books - Cam Jansen and the Valentine Baby Mystery

2007-01-19T22:35:00.000-05:00

Cam Jansen and the Valentine Baby Mystery by David Adler 2006

Looking for a fun book to give as a Valentine gift to your elementary reader then I would try David Adler’s latest Cam Jansen mystery or any of his others. The Cam Jansen series is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year. Adler has a proven record of attracting young readers and with this simple yet fun mystery series he sets Cam and her friends out to problem solve in their own unique way. Although the book’s covers sometimes suggest more of a girl’s series, the stories would definitely appeal to boys as well since Cam’s best friend Eric is usually by her side through out each adventure.

The Valentine Baby Mystery has Cam awaiting the arrival of a new brother or sister on Valentine’s Day. However, as usual with Cam there is always a mystery to solve no matter where she is. This time it takes place at the hospital. In addition to this book, the library has a number of Valentine Day book selections so be sure and check them out and read something special with your young Valentine.

Bam Bam Bam said the hammer to the head!

2007-01-11T14:01:00.000-05:00

Okay, I thought I would start stockpiling today a few extra book notes for later postings, but like yesterday I have been listening to the non-stop pounding of men on my roof. Yes, it is January and I have roofers tearing off the old and putting on the new. And yes, it was back in April 06 that the hailstorm swept through the area damaging 150,000+ houses. (The endless coordination with insurance companies, adjusters, contactors, and weather.) One part of the house had to be resided, which took place in November 06. Now all we have to do is fix the little stuff that keeps on breaking.

So, no I am not stockpiling like I had hoped instead I am keeping my sweet 16 year-old cat from jumping out of her skin and trying to get the wee one to focus on lullaby music versus the constant bam bam on the roof for a short nap. At least they will be done today and hopefully without any later incidents of roof leakage. Now all I have to do is submit proof to the insurance company all the work has been done to collect the final 20% to reimburse our share that they had us pay up front. Owning your own home is great, but for some reason it is more like adding a full-time job to the endless list of things to do. At least the freezing rain and snow are holding off until the weekend.

This and That - Picture Books - Dear Bunny

2007-01-09T18:10:00.000-05:00

Hope your holidays were enjoyable and filled with great memory moments. There are so many books to tell you about, but no time. We enjoyed the gift of giving and receiving books these past weeks. The wee one “gave” family members children’s and young adult books with the thought of one on one moments to share with later over time. Hopefully, creating future special memories. We tried to tie the books around a favorite subject, interest, or idea that was unique to that family member.

My California sister and husband couldn’t make it back this year, but sent a box loaded with fun books for the wee one (of course the mommy will really enjoy them too.) Fortunately, my sister was able to visit a number of different places and events this year. From these adventures she found books to share (she too is a book enthusiast). The wee one received books about Chicago, King Tut, Scotland, and England along with some fun children’s one-book encyclopedias. I love the idea of regional or specific area books. She found cuties like Dragon of Navy Pier, Nessie the Loch Ness Monster, and a Greyfriars Bobby picture book.

For some the first month of the New Year is a bit slow for others it starts at lightning speed. Well, for us it has been a bit of supersonic mixed with “man do I really have to get up” and start the day. Our holidays around here are bookended with birthdays. We are now in the second half with the first of the year birthdays in full swing and continuing on through mid March before a break for the usual springtime celebrations.

So, for now I will be even more sporadic in my book sharing with a goal to share at least one book a week. To tide you over until next week I would suggest looking at some of those fun Valentine books that are popping up at the stores. One book that will surely be included, but really isn’t worded as a Valentine Day book is Dear Bunny: A Bunny Love Story by Michaela Morgan and illustrated by Caroline Jayne Church 2006. It is a great book to give to a spouse (just trust me on this one). It is a story of two bunnies that are very shy, but really would like to meet each other. Through a series of events and with the help of a family of mice the two are brought together through a letter of words written by each of them. I know that sounds vague (and is intended to be so), but it really is a sweet book that brings an "awe" sound to mind when you finish the story.

(For January B-days Happy Birthday Beth, Barb, Aunt Phyllis, Frema, and Lisa.)

Non-Fiction Picture Books - Happy New Year Everywhere

2006-12-31T20:09:00.000-05:00

Happy New Year Everywhere by Arlene Erlbach 2001

Haven't had a chance to refresh myself or find any new books for the New Year celebration, but found this book that offers some interesting information on how New Year's is celebrate around the world. Something worth exploring with your young one. "The author shares traditional customs and traditions of celebrating the New Year from 20 different countries. Different cultures may celebrate the New Year using different calendars and holiday names. Each section highlights a different county, the date(s) of their New Year observance, the name of their New Year holiday as well as a traditional greeting, a related game, recipe, song or craft. There is a world map that pinpoints each country that is being discussed. Colorful line art accompanies the projects." Suggested for preschool age and up. Here's wishing you all a happy and peaceful New Year.

Christmas Joy To You

2006-12-23T20:31:00.000-05:00

Singing to you a joyous Christmas! (Will be back after the 29th.)

O come, all ye faithful, joyful and triumphant,
O come ye, O come ye to Bethlehem;
come, and behold him, born the King of angels;
O come, let us adore him, O come, let us adore him,
O come, let us adore him, Christ the Lord.

And of course:

Silent night, holy night, all is calm,

all is bright round yon virgin mother and child.

Holy Infant, so tender and mild, sleep in heavenly peace.

Sleep in heavenly peace

Picture Books - Santa's Book of Names

2006-12-23T19:58:00.000-05:00

Do you know a little one having trouble learning to read? Then enjoy a fun and encouraging book for Christmas. David McPhail’s Santa’s Book of Names (1997) is beautifully illustrated and heartwarming. Read it together and emphasis that with some patience it will all come together in time. Great for ages preschool and up. This book leads the reader into the sequel Edward and the Pirates (1997), which is really fun to read aloud to a young audience. It picks up with Edward from Santa's Book of Names. Also, Pirates quietly teaches the importance of taking care of library books. Just as a side note Edward and the Pirates was published before Santa's Book of Names.

Merry Christmas and thoughts...

2006-12-18T14:22:00.000-05:00

I have made it a point not to post any pictures of my family in order to maintain a certain level of privacy. In addition, my husband is pretty adamant, as I am, about the safety of our wee one. But, for this holiday season where so many around the world are taking time to be with their families and friends whether it be for Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, or some other occasion I felt the urge to brighten this blog with a face that is so dear to me.

Our year has been filled with much, much sorrow with the passing of so many in the family with the most recent this past week. It is hard to face the holidays with a bright smile, but I just look to the wee one and remember the joy she brings and why we take the time to celebrate.

So, here she is the bright spot in my day (of course her daddy is a another bright spot too). Whether celebrating any occasion or staying close to home with all the familiar creature comforts, may you enjoy a peaceful time over the next few weeks.

If you are looking for last minute gift items or just some thoughts for gifts to give later on then of course I am going to suggest books. And, yes I will even go as far as saying giving a children's book whether it be a picture or chapter book to adult is a grand idea. Nothing says happy more than relating to your inner child. There are a number of creative ways to give a book, but I really like some of the ideas that Mother Reader shares in her Twenty-one ways to give a book posting. Very funny and creative. Check her out.

Chapter Books - Pride and Prejudice

2006-12-16T13:22:00.000-05:00

Ah! One of my favorite books was authored by the English writer Jane Austen, who happens to have been born today December 16, 1775. So, I say celebrate by reading one of her many wonderful novels. My personal favorite is Pride and Prejudice although Sense and Sensibility is a close second. Pride and Prejudice is unique to me in that it is considered a children’s classic, but is also widely enjoyed by adults. For me I would group this book with titles such as Little Women or Wuthering Heights, but I didn’t really have any interest in it until adulthood.

Although I have always considered Little Women to be more of a traditional children’s classic I tend to think books by Austen and even Bronte more in terms of young adult and up. So, when I see them on the shelves in the juvenile section of the library and bookstores, I am reminded these are good options for those more mature middle grade readers. Plus, it reminds me of a very advanced student I once worked with who was in the fourth grade and had just finished Anna Karenina by Tolstoy. She had asked me for some other works of similar quality, but for some reason I hadn’t thought of Austen (nor had I read Tolstoy). Suggest away to all those seeking a good book or author.

Picture Book - Amy, Ben, and Catalpa the Cat: A Fanciful Story of This and That

2006-12-09T13:00:00.000-05:00

Amy, Ben, and Catalpa the Cat: A Fanciful Story of This and That by Alma S. Coon Illustrations by Gail Owens 1990

Ahhh! A bit of history wrapped in an ABC picture book. This is a humorous little story that follows Amy, Ben and Catalpa the cat through their chores and streets of the colonial town of Williamsburg. For anyone, especially the younger set, chores can be somewhat boring and time consuming. But, for Amy and Ben they have a way of adding a bit of fun to their chores and are still able to get into a little mischief with Catalpa on their way to the fair. From baking an apple pie to Market Street’s marmalade to wearing Tri-cornered hats the author has managed to work in a historical story around the alphabet. The reader/listener gets a taste of what life might have been like for a couple of typical young citizens of Williamsburg. The artwork is very vivid and really adds to the imagery of the story. The text is written in an entertaining rhyme and I would suggest this to the kindergarten age crowd on up. This particular copy came via a visit to Williamsburg, but I believe it is available online through some smaller retailers.

Picture Book - Edwina: The Dinosaur Who Didn't Know She Was Extinct

2006-12-04T12:10:00.000-05:00

Edwina The Dinosaur Who Didn't Know She Was Extinct by Mo Willems 2006

So much has already been written or noted about this recent publication of Willems that it is hard to add anything. But, with the holidays of various origins upon us, I say what a great gift it would make to give. Edwina, who is a very likeable and almost mesmerizing dinosaur, makes a community shun the thought she really mustn't be. However, there is one in the community, a Reginald Von Hoobie-Doobie, that doesn't like Edwina. He wants his knowledge of dinosaur extinction to be heard and hopes to make Edwina disappear with a poof. Willems provides a book that helps us all learn that being right doesn't mean you will find satisfaction in being right. Great book for preschool age and up and for those that also think being right is more important than letting things be. Plus, Willems book reaches into the heart of most everyone that enjoys chocolate chip cookies. (Spoiler- Has a great ending.)

Board Books - Animals A to Z

2006-11-29T13:21:00.000-05:00

When life is crazy and you want a little slow down then I suggest an ABC book of the fun kind. One of my favorite author/illustrators, David McPhail has a really cute and clever Animals A to Z board book that will add pleasure to anyone’s day. At first glance it appears the book is a pretty straightforward ABC book, but then you start to realize there is more to it than that.

For instance, the first page starts of course with letter “A” where we find an ant and armadillo, but wait. The ant is conversing with the armadillo while standing under an apple tree with an arrow through an apple as an airplane flys overhead and an alarm clock sits in the corner. So, let’s see that is two “A” animals with four additional correlating “A” objects. It goes on like that throughout the alphabet. Only the letter “X” is missing a “companion” object, but in all fairness that really is a tough letter.

This book makes the alphabet fun and grows with the reader. Most kids will only first “get” the animal part of it, but it builds into a fun game of find the other items that begin with the same letter. The illustrations of course are captivating to the young ones and many include comical features such as a bear reading a book in a boat or a crocodile wear a crown. For all ages, but especially babies up through 1st grade will really enjoy this book. (It is also available in paperback too.)

Picture Books - Thanksgiving is for Giving Thanks

2006-11-23T17:28:00.000-05:00

Thanksgiving is for Giving Thanks by Margaret Sutherland and illustrated by Sonja Lamut 2000

There are lots and lots of children's books about Thanksgiving. Some are even known to spark controversy about the day's origins, but this book is just simple and to the point. The reader is able to "count" with the book's characters the reasons they are thankful. The story really focuses in on the special idea behind the day. Basically, being thankful for family, friends and the simple pleasures of life. The pages are colorful with easy to read text. Great for little ones that you are trying to explain the day to and those just learning to read. Suggest for ages 3 or so and up to around 6.

Hope you all have a wonderful day and have many, many things to be thankful. I know I sure do.

Board Books - Zoophabet ABC

2006-11-21T21:03:00.000-05:00

There are so many great reasons why I like board books. Even as the wee one grows older and is becoming quite good with handling traditional picture books, we both still like a board book’s ability to withstand rugged “book loving”. A recent find that the wee one and mama like is an ABC book. Ahh, do not turn away just yet let me explain why this ABC book is in the entertaining class versus the don’t bother group. I know there are a lot of ABC books out there that are just borrrring.

However, Zoophabet ABC by Kathryn Knight and illustrated by Cathy Heck I think is just adorable from the point of artwork and its content. I picked this up at that mega huge worldwide discount chain store for the upcoming holiday drive. It takes the reader through the idea of what animals would you put together to start a zoo(phabet). The text does a really nice job in finding animals for every letter (including “V” and “X”) along with humorous situations. For instance, would a rhinoceros wear ribbons on her tail and horns? We have found a number of ABC books that are fun and I think I might just start adding one here every week. This particular book would be good for little ones up through about 5 years old. I am not sure, but it appears the distribution on this book is limited for now and will be more widely available at the first of the year. It was a fall 2006 release.

Booklists for middle graders with reading difficulties

2006-11-16T14:34:00.000-05:00

If you are looking for some books that would appeal to older readers of grades 4 through 8 that have difficulty with reading, then check out Multnomah County Library’s list of Shorter Books for Taller Readers 4th-5th Grade and Shorter Books for Taller Readers 5th-8th Grade. Many of the books included in the list are also good for that not-so-interested-in-reading of the same age group, but would like a quick read which is geared toward their social or interest level.

The lists include a wide variety of selections such as:
Salt In His Shoes: Michael Jordan in Pursuit of a Dream by Jordan
How to Eat Fried Worms by Rockwell
The Rope Trick by Alexander
There’s a Boy in the Girls’ Bathroom by Sachar
The Paper Doorway: Funny Verse And Nothing Worse by Koontz
Define "Normal": A Novel by Peters

Give the lists a “look see” to help you find something for those struggling or who lack interest. I’m sure there is something on the lists that would be appealing and maybe spark an interest. One author I didn’t see on either list was that of Jerry Spinelli. Any of his books would be great for this group, but I especially like his “The Library Card” book. It is a very unique book and it can be read like four short stories.

It's Children's Book Week all week

2006-11-15T22:54:00.000-05:00

Don't you just love this poster! "MORE BOOKS, PLEASE!" It is funny how I just love children's books, but for some reason totally spaced that this is Children's Book Week. Well, it is all week so at least I'm not too behind. So you ask, what is Children's Book Week? Here is the low down on it.

Children's Book Week: November 13-19, 2006

"A celebration of the written word, Children's Book Week introduces young people to new authors and ideas in schools, libraries, homes and bookstores. Through Children's Book Week, the Children's Book Council (CBC) encourages young people and their caregivers to discover the complexity of the world beyond their own experience through books."

In addition - "The Children's Book Council has initiated a nationwide book donation program in honor of Children's Book Week 2006 and, in association with its members, will donate more than one hundred thousand books to charity." To find out more go to First Children's Book Week Great Book Giveaway Gets An Early Start article.

Take a moment and enjoy a children's book this week and next week, or even the week after.

Jackets! That is book jackets.

2006-11-14T12:26:00.000-05:00

Dust jackets (as some would say)! You either love them or hate them or maybe you just don't care. Well, anyway let's talk book jackets for a minute.

Do you remember when book jackets were not common? Or, how about when jackets were added and really wowed you because the book itself wasn't illustrated and its cover was a bit bland? Adult books still tend to have un-illustrated book covers, and even many of the children and young adult chapter book covers aren't illustrated unless they are soft or paper backs. But, when you add those jackets I find it really makes a difference when deciding to select one book over another. I know, I know home libraries do have a nice aesthetic look to them when all the bindings and book covers are simple and jacket free, but where is the fun in that.

There are a number of libraries I have been to that actually discard the jackets as soon as the book is unpacked. Other libraries send the jacket off to be encased in a clear, but smooth plastic cover to help preserve it and the book through many circulating hands. There are even book jackets that arrive from the publishers already in a plastic cover courtesy of a small fee. I personally love book jackets. Plus, they usually offer a bit more information about the book, author, and illustrator. However, the jackets, if not encased, do tend to look shabby after a number of handlings. I have gotten into the habit of taking the covers off here at home when reading them to lengthen its life.

Recently, I had this idea about using some of the wee one's book jackets for other uses. I am sure it is not a new idea, if anything many stores that sell artwork do this, but it was a new idea to me. That is to say I plan on using a few of the jackets to decorate. I have a couple of rooms that really are in need of some color. So, I thought how about framing some of these jackets. With so many jackets beaming with great artwork it seems a shame to just leave it wrapped around a book shelved amongst others where it can't be seen that often. Of to the arts and craft store I go where I plan on finding white mat board with black framing for the jackets.

So, have you done anything different with a book jacket other than read and enjoy it?

Books and Blogs

2006-11-11T12:19:00.000-05:00

For some reason as my brain was being idled by germs these past weeks, the world of children’s books has continued on without me, which is a very good thing. I am trying to catch up on my reading of other book blogs and have discovered several new ones in this process. Plus, there are so many books that are mentioned that I would really like to check out. (The germs may disable the main functioning part of my brain, but nothing can stop the bookish love part.)

If anyone else besides me has been living in a cave like state for a while, please do yourself a favor and check out the blogs listed to the right of here under the title “Have a minute? Then check these out!” There are a wide variety of styles and content that can be found on the list. Unfortunately, I haven’t updated the list in a while, but please check out those listed and their lists. There are a number of awesome book resources and reviews with wonderful insight. Also, if you are looking for book gifts to give in the up coming holidays these are great places to look through for ideas.

A place to start would be Big A Little a, Kidslit, Jen Robinson's Book Page, The PlanetEsme Book-A-Day Plan, Chicken Spaghetti, Fairrosa's Reading Journal, etc. Or, any of the others. They all have worthwhile information and reading.

Nice selection of comfort titles. Thanks!

2006-11-10T18:44:00.000-05:00

In terms of comfort books there were definitely a wide variety offered up. Thank you so much to all that contributed. Many of the titles I haven’t read before and really wished I had some of them. Besides needing comfort books to peruse this past week we needed about a gallon of chicken soup. As I dropped my husband off at the airport this last Sunday, I remember him saying are you sure you will be well enough to pick me up Thursday night? Of course, I said with a gurglely and horse voice and as my wee one sat in the back with a glazed over hypnotic look. There we were two very sick girls on our way home to try and heal ourselves with vaporizers, tissues, and a stack of Baby Einstein videos.

As the week wore on I kept saying to myself we are on the up side just a day or two more (I remember saying that the week before as well). But, once the cat got sick (with something different) I thought I yield it is time to see the doctor. Now it has been two doctors, a chest x-ray, and several antibiotics later and the wee one was mending on her on, but the Mom needed the heavy-duty stuff. Luckily my husband arrived safely home last night courtesy of his brother and sister-in-law to a wife coughing up a lung and the wee one doing better. Yeah!

What I need now is to send my wonderful man out to get me some of those titles you all have shared, another box of tissues, and maybe an extra large ice cream cone and I will be as good as new in morning. Right? Okay, once the lungs are back to a mild wheeze I will be right as rain.

Comfort Books?

2006-11-02T14:53:00.000-05:00

For those who have read Inkheart the following may seem like a plagiarized thought, but I must admit Inkheart and Meggie’s bookish love can be something many of us book enthusiasts can relate to. So, have you ever found a book or books that you keep coming back to and re-reading and re-reading that just provides a sense of balance or comfort? I am sure these thoughts and questions have been put forth a dozen or more times now, but I am in the midst of a book transition (that is code for I haven’t had time to gather my read books and put describing words to them). So, maybe the questions are more from a self-serving pursuit, but other points of view are always of interest. And, I thought “hum” I could use this time for discovering what others think. Because when it comes to books there are so many genres, likes, dislikes, and generally a lot to choose from.

The question would be what children’s book be it picture, board, or chapter do you still read and re-read even today? The nice thing about having a librarian background (opposed to when I was a bean counter) and now having a child is I don’t have to try and justify to other adults why I am reading a children’s book. I never quite understood the mentally of “that’s a children’s book” so adults can’t read it. There are so many reasons why reading a children’s book is the right book. I do love my “adult” books as well, but there are times when the comfort of a familiar character or simplistic plot just seems perfect for the moment. I have several books I could name, but I am interested in your comfort book(s). Feel free to enlighten me. Thanks.

Back and with an opposing opinion

2006-11-01T15:49:00.000-05:00

First, let me say wow when I said I was taking a vacation, my readership did to, but I am taking that as a positive. Well, I hope you had a nice week and Halloween day (I say that last part with sarcasm). We didn’t really do anything for vacation this year too many things going on. As far as Halloween, yes I am one of those who do not get all excited, wrapped up, and adventurous when it comes to this “holiday”. There are so many people that do enjoy the day and all the festivities and to them I say have a great time. Even as a kid I never really got into the “trick or treating”. I went a few times, but mostly because my mom made me go with my sister. Anyway, what I used to like most about this time of year were the costume parties. They were so much more fun then walking around and knocking on doors for candy. So, I may not be a part of the “in crowd”, but I have found it rather odd that so many people expect you to participate and enjoy this form of candy “extortion”. All right calm down, I am not saying kids are extortionist, but doesn’t it have a bit of that resemblance. My business background though tells me this “holiday” has been given an enormous boost from the candy manufacturers, who by the way were one of the leading rally cries for extending the daily savings time to the first Sunday in November starting next year. Supposedly, they have suffered greatly because their main profit day doesn’t get an extra hour of daylight. However, most politicians are saying it is because of the energy we will save.

For the last two weeks I have heard endless questions of what are we going to do, what costume is your wee one going to wear, etc. I am amazed at the countless people that seem to think I have committed some heinous crime for not dressing my wee one up and in addition taking her out. First, I have to remind these people that she isn’t even two yet. I really do not think she will be forever scared by this non-conformity at this age. Secondly, they wouldn’t be the ones carrying her around all evening, as she tends to take off unless bundled into a stroller. Umm, that’s a nice picture Mom strolling baby door to door for candy that the baby can’t and shouldn’t be eating yet. Third, why is it a problem for the other person that I am not dressing up my child on a specific day? So, as a bit of a sound off to all those strangers, repair people, acquaintances, and just the general public do not look down your nose at me or my little family for not participating in a day that really doesn’t have any earth shattering significance to daily life. I applaud those of you who find this a fun way to spend family time together and enjoy yourselves, but please do not make it out as a crime for those of us that do not take the same interest. As always this blog reflects personal opinion and is not meant to be a voice of authority.

Vacation and Bath Time Books

2006-10-19T14:59:00.000-04:00

Wow, what a season of life my wee little family has had these past months. We entered summer with a home damaged from a spring storm, the sudden passing of my wonderful father, endured countless dealings with attorneys, still dealing with roofers and insurance companies, several illness with the wee one, husband’s increased work demands, family events, wrapping up estate matters, trying to keep up with things breaking all over the house, and started the fall with the death of a dear family friend all this while trying to have a regular daily family life. Hum, I was wondering why this book blog has been looking a bit thin lately.

Well, even though we are not going anywhere next week, my wee little family is going to take some time off and just be. Maybe a trip to the park, a pumpkin patch, or maybe another zoo trip, whatever it is I plan to enjoy it. Plus, I am determined to catch up with those dust bunnies that have invaded the floors. So, it will be another week or two before I post about some really good books that I have come across recently.

But, before I leave you for the next week and half I wanted to give a big thanks to whoever was the great mind behind the concept of bath books. May their pockets reflect well. My wee one who just can’t get enough of books has found another way to get some book time. My fabulous husband discovered bath books for us and now we have splash and read time. So far, we have a few Baby Einsteins and a Dr. Seuss. The rhyming is fun and I especially like how she tries to mimic the bath sequence as we read the Mimi’s Toe Baby Einstein bath book.

Ta ta for now. Get out there and enjoy those beautiful fall colors. If you are in the sunny warm states that skip this season, I hope your flowers are still blooming and trees are full of fruit like my sister’s in California.

Picture Books - Who Wants a Dragon?

2006-10-11T16:04:00.000-04:00

Who Wants A Dragon? by James Mayhew and illustrated by Lindsey Gardiner 2004

Need a quick and fun story to read? Then go grab Who Wants a Dragon. The book is filled with colorful artwork that amusingly expresses a little lost dragon’s journey through a simple yet charming rhythmic storyline. The little dragon is looking for some companionship and someone to love and cuddle with. He meets various characters as he enters a kingdom (many appear to resemble notables from well-known fairytale stories), but unfortunately each for some reason or another rejects the little dragon. But, just when the little dragon begins to lose hope the right companion who will love and cuddle him the most appears. I would recommend this book for toddlers on up to 2nd grade. In addition, it works well as a read aloud. As a side note Mayhew is also the author of the Katie books such as Katie Meets The Impressionists.

Library up in smoke

2006-10-10T17:28:00.000-04:00

It was another sad day for libraries Monday. A recently built library in Williamsport, Indiana suffered from total destruction at the hands of an arsonist. The building was a total loss as was its collection of over 40,000 books. Although volunteers are trying to save a few items this town is rallying in a big way with many new donations that are being set up in the old library building. This small community of around 2,000 people is located near Lafayette, Indiana and famed Purdue University. When I saw the news on television it was great to see how the public is pulling together and supporting their library and its purpose and benefit to those in the community. If you are interested in more of the story additional information can be found through this newspaper report. Library materials are not a good “match” for fire.