During spring vacation we visited the Cape Cod Museum of Natural History. It is one of our favorite things to do. This time my kids especially enjoyed the shark exhibit! Me, I was humbled all over again by the poster that greets you. It quotes Dunford & O’Brien’s Secrets in the Sand… Continue reading
Everyone enjoys a happy ending and surprise endings can be fun, but clever ending are my favorite! Clever endings are often happy and can be a surprise but they are also uniquely resourceful, smart, and creative. There is nothing like reading a book with a clever resolution for the first time! These are the books I like to own and are often destined for greatness or already classics.
Here’s a handful of my favorite children’s books with clever endings… Continue reading
I drive down the same streets all the time as probably most moms do. I go to the school and back, the grocery store, my sister’s house, and the library. That is about it. It can get pretty boring so when I see something new or different I get all excited and want to share! Of course it would be dangerous to snap a picture while driving and it isn’t always practical to pull over so I am going to turn it into a mini series of illustrated posts from memory… I Spy (my observations from behind the wheel).
I saw this fox yesterday…
First he was in a yard and when I passed he walked into the street and stared back at me. Others have seen foxes around here but I never have.
Foxes appear in lots of children’s books. One of my favorites is One Fine Day, a folktale retold by Nonny Hogrogian with Caldecott winning illustrations. This fox gets his tail cut of for stealing. Read the book to find out how he gets it back!
Do you see foxes? What is your favorite fox story? Please share!
We had such a great time in Florida this winter! I think the most valued part of the trip was the down time at my parent’s place just exploring and enjoying the Florida sun in the yard. Kids love being outside and winters are long in the northeast. We found lots of interesting yet somewhat expected things in their southern Florida yard. We also found something quite unexpected… Continue reading
Don’t you think it would be cool to find a cave and discover a long lost treasure?! In The Secret Cave: Discovering Lascaux by Emily Arnold McCully a group of boys do just that! They discovered perfectly preserved cave paintings of animals estimated to be 17 thousand years old! Caves are fascinating from a geological standpoint and also for their ability to hide and preserve something so old! Continue reading
We’ve been having a magical time exploring the deep blue sea and getting caught up on the happenings at Trident Academy!
The Lost Princess (available May 7th)
Trident Academy is a prestigious school for mer-kids from the fun chapter book series Mermaid Tales. Debbie Dadey, the award winning and prolific coauthor of the Bailey School Kids series, writes for the reluctant reader which I think is awesome since I was a reluctant reader early on. My seven year old daughter isn’t exactly a reluctant reader in the classic sense but she does have some tendencies. She reads above her first grade level but is very reluctant to tackle big words and long books. I encourage but I don’t push. After all, I have a 350 page limit on books I read for myself. Honestly I love reading but I read slow and there are lots of other activities I enjoy too. These books are really manageable. They are under one hundred pages each and have generous line spacing which makes tracking easy. My daughter and I took turns reading the first four books and my five year old son listened in (and sometimes out). Continue reading
Today I am serving up some egg books! This is the second egg themed post in very ambitious egg series where my goal is a dozen (of course!) egg themed entries in time for Easter! So lets get right to business with some awesome egg books!
Starting with a new fun interactive and minimal egg book… Continue reading
We read a great book last night. My kids love sea animals and I love biographies so when I saw “Life in the Ocean” on display at the library I grabbed it. As is often the case with books I pick, my kids has no interest especially after seeing the high word count and as is ALWAYS the case I hooked them on the first page. I’m the best! Continue reading
It wasn’t that long ago I was thinking about how books with flaps were kind of redundant. I mean why not just have another page? I don’t think anyone would deny their basic value to babies obsessed with peek-a-boo, but for older kids? Not necessary. Then recently we discovered some great ones and it reminded me of other great ones. When they are good they create further interactions with the book and add suspense. They invite your child to make discoveries. When they are great they can do even more! It made me realize that flaps, folds, and die-cut pages when utilized and executed thoughtfully and creatively can really add value and richness to a story and a picture book reading experience. Continue reading
