Books of the Week – Oct. 24, 2009

We have found so many good books lately, I honestly don’t know where to begin.  I try to keep these posts short so they’ll actually get read, but this one may be a tad bit longer. :)

My favorites this week:

In the Woods: Who’s Been Here? and Around the Pond: Who’s Been Here?, both by Lindsay Barrett George, who is also the illustrator.  These are both fabulous books if you have a nature-lover in your home.  They feature a brother and sister who take a walk in the woods and around a pond (which is also quite woodsy), and find different signs of wildlife.  Each page has a beautiful picture, (for example, of a white feather floating) and the question “Who’s been here?”.  The following page shows the answer (a great blue heron).  They are just beautifully done and hold M’s attention very well.  They appeal to us grown ups quite a bit too! :)

M’s favorite this week:
Bumpa Rumpus and the Rainy Day by Joanne Reay and Adriano Gon.  This is a book for when you are in a silly mood; it’s a lot of fun!  Bumpa Rumpus wakes up on a very, very, extremely, rainy day and listens to all the sounds the rain makes – plup-plup from the gutter, tik-tik from the glass, tom-tom on the roof, and ta-toosh on the grass.  Every page is filled with fun sounds and it has an overall great rhyming rhythm.  It’s pretty fun to read out loud!  I have to admit I’m happy when M picks this one. :)  There is a fun *sorta-surprise* ending too!!

And one more!  This is the one I’m most excited about because I bought it from the sale cart at our library for 50 cents!!!We’re Going on a Bear Hunt by Michael Rosen and illustrated by Helen Oxenbury.  I should mention, anything by illustrated by Helen Oxenbury is sure to be a good book.  I haven’t found one yet that we didn’t absolutely love.  This is a classic, and I’m sure many of you have read it.  If you haven’t, read it as soon as you can!  This adorable family goes on a bear hunt through tall, wavy grass, a deep, cold river, some swampy mud, and on and on.  Each part of their trek has a great sound effect that goes along with it - “squelch squerch” through the mud.   And of course, they are not afraid, not one tiny bit… until they actually see a bear. :)  The ending is just terribly exciting if you are a 3 year old boy!  This is on our top ten list and I’m so happy to have found it at such a bargain!
Go here for more book reviews!
Have a beautiful day! :)

Books of the Week – {#7}

We have not been to the library for the past two weeks. This is probably a record for us – we usually go at least once a week. M was sick last week and I was on the verge of sick this week. Thankfully, we are both feeling much, much better! And this week I’ll share two of our favorite books from our own bookshelves. :)
First, Gregory, The Noisiest and Strongest Boy in Grangers Grove by Robert Bright. We actually have this book from my husband’s childhood stash. It is absolutely hilarious. Especially if you happen to have a “noisy” and “strong” little boy. M loves this book, but for completely different reasons than his father and I do. We love it because as Gregory goes overboard to do a simple chore for his grandmother (expecting of course that she wants him to do something strong, brave, and noisy since that’s what he is good at) it reminds us of the simplicity and fun, and plain silliness, of boyhood. M loves this book because Gregory is, well, very much like M. :) Loud, extremely energetic, and the strongest boy in Grangers Grove. Gregory wants some of grandma’s griddle cakes and to that end, he rides a bear, pushes a stubborn mule, gathers eagles’ eggs, and a lot of other silliness. He ends up getting so mad he “hollers and jumps” until “he jumped so high you couldn’t hear him holler any more”. When he comes down he lands in the well and the cold water finally subdues him a little bit. It has a very sweet ending with grandma getting a strawberry jam kiss. :)
Next, “Stand Back,” Said the Elephant, “I’m Going to Sneeze!” by Patricia Thomas. This one is a book from my childhood. My brother and I would read this to each other and laugh till we couldn’t breathe. M loves it too, and it’s pretty frequently requested at nap time. The last time the elephant sneezed, he blew monkeys out of the trees, stripes off the zebra, and spots off the leopard. He tries warning his friends that another sneeze is coming and panic ensues. Our favorite part is the crocodile’s snout turning inside out. :)
For more great book recommendations go see Mouse Grows, Mouse Learns!
Have a beautiful day! :)

Books of the Week – {#6}

We have 3 super-good books to share with you this week. These are books we’ve gotten from the library several times and are really such favorites that I should just go buy them.
Let’s start with one of M’s all-time-favorites first – Tractor Day by Candice Ransom.This book is about a child who gets to ride the tractor with her daddy all day as he plows and plants their field. There are some friendly black crows who come along, as well as a sort of sub-story shown in the background pictures of the mother, baby, and dog. This is a warm, fun story and would appeal to any child who is nuts about tractors like mine is. :)

Next, The Growing Story by Ruth Krauss (who is an excellent author by the way and has written many children’s classics).What a timeless story this is about a boy who wonders if he is really, truly growing or not. He sees the world about him changing and growing – trees, grass, flowers, his dog, the chickens – and continually asks his mother if he is growing too. The illustrations (by Helen Oxenbury) take the reader through the seasons beautifully and when fall comes around the little boy tries on his warm clothes from the previous winter and realizes they are too small and that he is, in fact, really growing after all. As the mother of a boy who is constantly trying to see if he can touch the ceilings yet (I’m not kidding) and keeps asking if he will be as tall as Daddy when he grows up, this book feels like the story of our life. :) I love this book.

Next, You’re Just What I Need by Ruth Krass (again!).

This is another mother and child book about the simple fun of hiding under a blanket and letting mommy make silly guesses about what the “bundle” could be. It’s just so sweet (sorry to keep using that word, but it really is!) and something all we mothers can relate to. In the end the girl pops out, of course, and the mother discovers that the bundle was exactly just what she needed! :)

Pop over to Mouse Grows, Mouse Learns for more book reviews!

Have a beautiful day! :)

Books of the Week - {#5}

Matthew’s absolute favorite this week is Minerva Louise and the Red Truck by Janet Morgan Stoeke.This is the first book we’ve read in the Minerva Louise series, but we will definitely be back for more of them! Minerva Louise is a very silly, very loveable chicken who thinks a handkerchief is a cape, upside down flower pots are a table and chairs, and work trucks grow on truck farms. For some reason the silliness that this book is filled with really appealed to my child. Go figure. :) He even took this book to church with him and it kept him occupied and quiet the entire time so it is a winner with me too! :)
My favorite this week is a classic – Ten Apples Up on Top by Theo LeSieg (aka Dr. Seuss).This book somehow escaped my notice until I had M, and I am so glad I found it. It’s been mentioned in a few blog posts by other bloggers doing apple themes with their little ones, and I just had to get it again, so off to the library we went. The last time we had this one M was pretty small and he wasn’t crazy about it (although hubby and I thought it was hilarious!) – something about the mop scared him. He talked about that mop for a long time, silly boy. This time around he loves it as much as I do. A lion, a tiger, and a dog keep piling apples on their heads and do all they can to keep them there, despite some angry bears who are chasing them out of town. The crazy idea of having to keep apples on one’s head, no matter what, just tickles my funny bone. :) I highly recommend this one if you haven’t already read it!
For more Books of the Week posts on other blogs, click here.
Have a beautiful day! :)

Books of the Week {#4} – More of Autumn

More books about autumn this week!

First – Red Leaf, Yellow Leaf by Lois Ehlert. In my opinion, pretty much any book by Lois Ehlert is a winner. :) This one is no exception. The book describes the leaves and seeds of a maple tree, as well as what the tree looks like in each season, and describes how seedling trees are gathered, brought to nurseries and sold so people can plant a tree of their own at home. The pictures are lovely works of art, textural collages using fabric, ribbon, and a variety of other materials. We have a sugar maple tree in our front yard, so I was super excited about this book! I’ve read it once with M, and he was interested, but some of the information may have been a little over his head.

Next – Up, Up, Up! It’s Apple-picking Time, by Jody Fickes Shapiro.This is a sweet, warm story about a family who goes apple picking together. It describes the sounds and scents of the orchard and the feel of partaking in a family ritual. We are lucky to have our own apple orchard (it feels bizarre to even type that) on my husband’s family farm, and I want M to have all the wonderful experiences the boy in this book has. This is a very feel-good cozy book and I love it. I haven’t read it to M yet… I’m waiting for our apples to be ready for picking sometime in October before we start too many apple activities. I’m sure he will love it.

Lastly – The Apple Pie Tree, by Zoe Hall. Zoe Hall’s books are all highly recommended! I had never read this one before, but I really like it. Two young girls have an apple tree in their yard and they watch it through all the seasons, until time for apple picking and making pies. It’s a great story and a very cute part is the family of robins that live in the tree, going through their own stages of growth as the tree goes through the seasons. I think this book does a great job of describing the life-cycle of apples and I will be using this with our apple life-cycle cards.

I hope you are all enjoying some good books with your little ones! Go here for more reviews.

Have a beautiful day! :)

Books of the Week {#3} – Autumn

I’ve been preparing an Autumn theme of learning activities recently, and so I thought I’d share three of the books we are going to read to get us started!

1. Mouse’s First Fall by Lauren Thompson, Illustrated by Buket Erdogan:

We love all of Lauren Thompson’s books and this one is no exception. I believe there is a “Mouse” book for every season, and I plan to check the others out too at some point. In this book, Mouse discovers all the beautiful colors of leaves, their textures and shapes. He has fun running, skipping and kicking his way through them, piles them up and then… well you can guess what happens with a happy little mouse and a big pile of leaves. :) It’s the same thing that happens with a happy small child and a big pile of leaves. ;) This is just a really delightful book to read and I am so glad we found it.

2. Fall Leaves Fall! by Zoe Hall, Illustrated by Shari Halpern:

This is written in the voice of two children who watch autumn arrive as the leaves begin to change colors. They talk about all the beautiful colors, the shapes and sizes of the leaves, try to catch them, stomp and crunch them, and watch them fly through the air. They collect some leaves (an idea I love) and examine them. They rake them into a pile and jump in. This book has great illustrations of leaves, which are labeled with the type of tree they came from. We will be learning about just this thing and this book will be a great addition to our leaf identification project. This book also has a cute idea for making pictures with the leaves. You have to check this one out – it’s definitely a favorite!

3. It’s Pumpkin Time! by Zoe Hall, Illustrated by Shari Halpern:

This is essentially a Halloween book – the favorite holiday of the two characters - and it has a great lesson about the life-cycle of pumpkins. The children plant the seeds, water them, watch them grow into vines with flowers, and then green pumpkins which slowly turn to orange and are ready to be picked, carved, and have more seeds inside to plant next year! Halloween is mentioned, but thankfully, nothing scary or spooky is in this book. We try to stay away from that kind of thing because I have no desire to be up at all hours of the night with a little boy whose imagination is working over time… but I digress; the book is great and I plan to use it along with some pumpkin life-cycle cards. And if you have a small child who isn’t sure what Halloween is exactly, this is a good introduction – it talks about costumes and trick-or-treating and is a fun book to read!

Go to the MckLinky at Mouse Grows, Mouse Learns to see what other kids are reading!

Have a beautiful day! :)

Sunday School on Friday – Daniel in the Lion’s Den

We were in a hurry this past Friday – trying to get out of town for the big Labor Day weekend (hope you all had a wonderful weekend!), so we only had a short amount of time to spend on our Bible story.
We read Daniel in the Lion’s Den in both of our Children’s Bibles (see them here and here), one in the morning and the other at nap time.
We learned this song with motions (from Hubbard’s Cupboard, click the picture to go to the site):
And we made a paper plate lion. I drew inspiration for this idea from both DLTK and Making Learning Fun.
You will need a paper plate, paint, paintbrush,glue, a triangle cut from construction paper or foam, googley eyes, and 6 strips of black yarn.
First, paint a paper plate orange. We are running low on paint, so we mixed red and yellow together. You could do different color combinations too – maybe yellow for the face and orange or brown for the outer edge of the plate (lion’s mane), but we made it simple and did orange all over.
Glue on googley eyes, and a triangle nose (we used brown construction paper).
Next, glue on whiskers. For the whiskers I put the glue lines on the plate so M could see where to stick the yarn pieces.
For a little scissor practice, I drew black lines for M to cut on the back of the plate, around the mane at about 2 inch intervals.


Ta da – our finished lion:
We also read a library book that sort of tied in to this story. It is titled How Loud is a Lion? by Clare Beaton.

This is a fun book that goes through characteristics of several animals, always asking at the end of each page, “But how loud is a lion?”. Finally, at the end you see the lion and he ROARS (very loudly at our home, but only as loudly as you wish at yours :) ). We discussed how lions are loud and have sharp teeth and claws that could hurt people, and how wonderful it was that God sent an angel to keep Daniel safe – the lions didn’t even touch him!
Have a beautiful day! :)

Books of the Week {#2}

My favorite this week:

Clifford’s Manners by Norman Birdwell.  I usually do not like character books, but this is a huge exception.  M loves all things Clifford lately and this book about manners is exactly right for the “learning to be polite” stage we are in.  Clifford is helpful, polite, kind, and thoughtful in this book.  The only problem, and I’m not even sure M picked up on it, is that it states “Clifford has great manners, and that’s why everyone loves Clifford!”  Obviously, I love M even when his manners are lacking, so I’m not crazy about that phrase.  However, it’s easy to edit as you are reading it, and it is overall a great and very helpful book!
M’s favorite this week:

Tool Book by Gail Gibbons.  There’s not really a story here, but it is full to overflowing with tools, tools, tools.  Every tool a little boy could possibly want to know about.  And I have a little boy that wants to know about every single one.  From files, to planers, to hand drills, to hammers… it has a lot of tools!  It’s illustrated so well, and does a great job satisfying the hunger for knowledge that kids (not to be gender-specific, but especially boys!) have about this kind of thing.  A great, great book.  M wants to read this one several times a day, and that makes it a winner!
For more Books of the Week, check out Mouse Grows, Mouse Learns!
Have a beautiful day! :)

Books of the Week

I’m excited about the linky for weekly book reviews at Mouse Grows, Mouse Learns.  We LOVE books at this house!
I’m pretty sure this will turn out to be a review of library books we check out, since that is what we read most often.  Once in a while, however,  we might add in a book that M owns, because he has a lot of good ones that we tend to forget about!

This week, my favorite was The Listening Walk, by Paul Showers, illustrated by Aliki.  (Just because I’m not listing this as M’s favorite, don’t get the wrong idea – he loves it too!!)  The little girl in this book takes walks with her dad along the street, where there are many noises, and in the park, where there are fewer noises.  The book is absolutely fantastic at imitating the sounds – everything from crickets chirping to wheels screeching.  The book ends with an invitation to sit quietly and see what sounds you hear.  We play this “game” quite often, even before we found this book, and M loves it.  It is very relaxing.  And if you have an energetic little boy like M, you need some relaxing activities!  I highly recommend this book!

M’s favorite book this week has been The Rattletrap Car by Phyllis Root, illustrated by Jill Barton.  The story is about a small family (3 kids and their dad) on a hot, hot summer day.  They want to go to the beach and play in the cool water, but it’s questionable whether their old car is up to the task.  Parts fall off, which M loves since he loves all things destructive, and the characters get creative in replacing them (beach ball for a tire, for example).  It’s pretty funny and a lot of fun to read.  The words have a great rhythm and the sounds the car makes are fun to read and hear. 
Go here to check out what books other kids are reading!
Have a beautiful day! :)

Tot School – Sept. 6, 2009

M is 36 months old.

Tot School is just becoming more and more fun (for both of us) as we go along. This week M kept saying “That was fun!”, “I’m having fun!”, and various similar exclamations at random times. I hope he meant it and wasn’t just trying to talk himself into it!

In winter we were in the routine of doing something with the sensory tub almost every day. I’d let him pick lentils, rice, noodles, or whatever each day and he’d basically play with his little cars or little people in it while I had a little Mama-quiet-time in the mornings. You know, time to pray, read, actually put two thoughts together in a row, or simply sit and stare at the wall. :)

For some reason I never tried hiding things in the tub for him. This post from Jolanthe made me change my mind. So I grabbed his letters from his See and Spell and hid them in some rice. There wasn’t enough rice, so I mixed the lentils and pasta in too. Who says the sensory tub should only have one sensory experience in it at a time?

This is how he started – looking for the letters:
But it quickly turned into this:
I guess old habits die hard. We did get a lot of rice and lentils and noodles on the floor, but it was vacuuming day anyway, so I wasn’t too worried. Plus, it’s always fun to give him the dustbuster and make him vacuum with it. The dustbuster could keep this kid occupied all day if the battery didn’t run out. :)
I made up some new activity bags over the weekend; I was really excited about them. First, sandpaper and yarn (I’ve seen this on a lot of blogs, but first read about it in The Toddler’s Busy Book, by Trish Kufner).
It was not a big hit at all; apparently it was very boring:
So, we did a little scissor practice. I’m still trying to figure out where I first found these pages to print. I need to print out some that are a little more difficult, because M did these perfectly this time! He just loves cutting!
Then we did this little book from the Mailbox (June issue, I believe). It is a book about a seed that gets planted, then sprouts, grows a stem, gets leaves, and finally flowers into a sunflower. On each page M had to pick the correct picture to glue on, depending on the stage of the plant. He did fine with this, but wasn’t really “into” it, and didn’t want to color it.
Next we played checkers. Rather, we tried to play checkers. I know, I know, this is way too advanced for him and I was way too impatient to keep explaining it to him. BUT he has been asking for a checkers game since he saw a picture of one in a magazine.
This is how far we got before we both gave up:
Another activity bag I made up for him was these foam shapes. I cut slits in them and you can fit them together to create… well a bunch of shapes that fit together. :)
He loved this activity, although it didn’t really turn out like I hoped it would. I think the slits should’ve been shorter.
Another activity bag I made him was this “Silly Critter” game from the most recent issue of our High-Five magazine. I put magnets on the back and we used a pan to match up heads, bodies, and legs to make “silly critters”. We both liked this one!

We used our animal flashcards from Target for a matching game with M’s little zoo animals:

He did his name puzzles with milk jug lids (always a favorite!):
This is our newest addition to the flannel board – 10 in the Bed (found here):
He LOVED it and did it several times that evening with Daddy. Again, I have to get a post done about how great the flannel board is and all the things we do with it. Soon, I hope!
We read this GREAT book – Clap Your Hands, by Lorinda Cauley . It has activities on every page that the child (and the mama) can act out. It is a huge hit!
Then, in keeping with the actions theme, we did these movement cards* from Sparklebox. I put them in our pocket chart and M turned each one over, then we did whatever it said. They are fantastic – there are ones for balance that you do standing in one place; some you do while “traveling”, like skipping; and some you do on the floor, like rolling like a pencil or somersaulting. (There were others, but they were a little advanced; I only printed the ones I knew would be fun for M.) I was hot by the time we finished and even a little bit sweaty I am embarrassed to say, hee hee. These will definitely give you your exercise for the day!
Here’s M at the end of his somersault (I did NOT do a somersault), I love the goofy expression on his face!
For more great Tot School ideas, go here.
Have a beautiful day! :)
*I got the idea to do movement cards like this in the pocket chart from somebody’s blog and I wish I could remember who!! If it was you, please let me know and I’ll add your link. I decided to use the movement cards from Sparklebox, but there were some others available too, and they were linked on the other blog, so I’d like to share them!!