Kids Learning Stuff

Please help! Does anyone know the name of this book?

2011-08-26T09:08:00.000-05:00

I asked about this about a year ago; got several interesting answers, but still have not solved the mystery so I'm asking again. We got it from the library many times, 20-some years ago, and my daughter LOVED it! Only question is, what was the book? Does anyone recognize it?
I don't have any more information about the book than what's shown in the photo.
It's possible there is a character in the book named Elizabeth, but I'm not certain of that.

The kids nobody wants

2011-08-26T06:20:00.008-05:00

Right now I'm reading Ask Me Why I Hurt: The Kids Nobody Wants and the Doctor Who Heals Them
He operates a mobile van and serves homeless kids in Arizona. Anyone who cares about children and their outcomes should read this book. It is absolutely shocking to realize that so many children have been discarded like stray animals. One boy was put on a bus to Arizona from Alabama with little else than a piece of paper with a nonexistent address. It's the most compelling page-turner I've read in years. I will confess, though, that his story of a little gray cat in Hurricane Katrina made me cry more than anything else.

Somebody loves you, Mr. Hatch!

2009-02-03T08:06:00.000-05:00

Here is a great book for Valentine's Day! Mr. Hatch leads a sad existence, alone and friendless and working at the shoelace factory. One Valentine's Day, he gets a giant box of candy, with a card saying "Somebody loves you". Of course Mr. Hatch wonders who sent it to him, and becomes outgoing and friendly with everyone he sees, thinking this may be the person who sent it. He shares the candy at work, and gets friendly responses. He helps people he knows, and even gives parties. By the time the postman arrives with the news that the package was delivered to the wrong address, Mr. Hatch has completely transformed his life. I love Somebody Loves You, Mr. Hatch.

You need this book!

2008-07-11T20:12:00.003-05:00

It's impossible to raise children without this book, so I HOPE you already have it! It explains the importance of reading aloud,in Jim Trelease's inimitable and readable style. In the back of the book is a "Treasury" of hundreds of the best books to read aloud, for children from birth through high school.(Parents and teachers stop reading aloud by middle school, when coincidentally reading achievement plummets.) This book has been invaluable to me as a parent, a teacher, and a librarian, and has steered me to fantastic books I would never have found otherwise.
I bought the first edition when my oldest child, now 26, was two years old, and own all 6 editions, and have used them when teaching, working in a library, and choosing books for my own children. While the fifth and sixth edition are still available from Amazon, earlier editions can be found at used book stores and libraries. Older editions have unique articles and list wonderful books that may now be out of print but can still be located.

Teach your kids to eat healthy

2008-07-07T04:16:00.003-05:00

I have been freaking out about a kid at the preschool where I volunteer this summer. Someone brought in ice cream and cake for a treat, and several kids requested cups of water to drink with it. Another child asked for either chocolate milk or Kool-Aid, and said "I don't drink water". That was astounding to me. Bad enough to have ice cream and cake as a preschool snack, but the thought that they would have to be washed down by a sugary drink...
There are a lot of great books around that help to teach kids about nutrition
Eat Healthy, Feel Great by William Sears, is a good one. Despite its emphasis on meat and dairy, which are not essential for a good diet, it does discuss the concept of foods that should not be consumed, or only be consumed occasionally, the idea of green light, yellow light, and red light foods.

Duck for President!

2008-03-03T06:39:00.010-05:00

What a great book to use when discussing the Presidential election with children! It's hilarious, with humor that can be appreciated by both adults and children. Look for the parody of the famous photo of President Kennedy in the Oval Office, when you read Duck for President.
When I worked as a school librarian during the 2004 election, I found Duck for President campaign buttons on the Simon & Schuster website, and soon students were streaming out of the library, proudly supporting Duck for President.

The Cow Buzzed

2008-02-06T09:01:00.001-05:00

Now this is a funny book, warning of what could happen when you don't cover your mouth when you sneeze. A bee sneezes and the cow catches the cold—and his buzz. Then the cow sneezes and the pig catches the moo, the duck oinks, and the dog gets the quack. Kids of a certain age think this is hilarious. Don't miss The Cow Buzzed, by Andrea Zimmerman.

2008 Newbery and Caldecott winners

2008-01-15T07:56:00.000-05:00

The Invention of Hugo Cabret,by Brian Selznick, won the Caldecott medal. What an unusual book! As the author says,
"My new book, The Invention of Hugo Cabret, is a 550 page novel in words and pictures. But unlike most novels, the images in my new book don't just illustrate the story; they help tell it. I've used the lessons I learned from Remy Charlip and other masters of the picture book to create something that is not a exactly a novel, not quite a picture book, not really a graphic novel, or a flip book or a movie, but a combination of all these things."

The people choosing the top books are looking for something that stands out, is different from other books, and this time they have outdone themselves!
The Newbery medal book has an interesting story too. It began as a reader's theater sort of set of monologues, written by a school librarian, Laura Amy Schlitz. Good Masters! Sweet Ladies is a masterpiece.

Caldecott Honor books are Henry's Freedom Box: A True Story from the Underground Railroad, illustrated by Kadir Nelson, written by Ellen Levine; First the Egg, by Laura Vaccaro Seeger, The Wall: Growing Up Behind the Iron Curtain by Peter Sis; and Knuffle Bunny Too: A Case of Mistaken Identity by Mo Willems. (My students, preschoolers through fifth grade, all loved Mo Willems. This book is a winner.)

Newbery Honor books are The Wednesday Wars by Gary D. Schmidt; Feathers by Jacqueline Woodson; and Elijah of Buxton by Christopher Paul Curtis.

Learning about art

2007-10-04T07:13:00.000-05:00

Some more art books: Feed Matisse's Fish is part of a series called Touch the Art books, which also includes Make Van Gogh's Bed,Brush Mona Lisa's Hair,and Pop Warhol's Top.
These interactive board books bring famous art works to life. They have flaps to lift, fabric to touch, and other 3-dimensional and tactile items, reminiscent of Pat the Bunny.
Kids will love these fun, colorful books and they, as well as their parents, will learn and remember the art works. It will be so exciting for them to recognize the art works when they visit a museum someday.

I love this art book!

2007-09-25T04:58:00.000-05:00

Have you seen Carnation, Lily, Lily, Rose: The Story of a Painting by Hugh Brewster? What a gorgeous book! It describes a painting by John Singer Sargent, from the viewpoint of the child model. There are many other beautiful paintings and drawings in the book.
There are so many ways to expose your child to the world of art; back in the 1980's I couldn't resist the books by Mike Venezia, who has beautiful and accessible books about both artists and composers for children.
And who can resist Linnea in Monet's Garden, both the book and the DVD?
And follow these books up by spending a rainy afternoon pushing a stroller through an art gallery.

Two books for parents to read---

2007-07-01T15:17:00.000-05:00

Be afraid...be very afraid...Buy, Buy Baby: How Consumer Culture Manipulates Parents and Harms Young Mindsby Susan Gregory Thomas describes how marketers are targeting young children.
"It’s no secret that toy and media corporations manipulate the insecurities of parents to move their products, but Buy, Buy Baby unveils the chilling fact that these corporations are using— and often funding—the latest research in child development in order to sell things directly to babies and toddlers. Thomas offers other, perhaps even more unnerving epiphanies: the lack of evidence that “educational” shows and toys provide any educational benefit at all for young children; and the growing evidence that some of these products actually impair early development, and could harm our kids socially and cognitively for life."

I've written before about Baby Einstein, a typical one of these products that play into parents' insecurities and hopes for their children, and make them feel that if they buy expensive products they are doing something better for their children...
Think about it. Simply pushing your child's stroller through a shopping mall, or even just down a sidewalk beside a busy street, provides a myriad of sights, sounds, movement and color. And a parent holding a child, looking at him and talking, singing, or reading, is more beneficial to the child than a truckload of videos and gadgets.

My other current favorite book, the one I recommend to everyone, is The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Mealsby Michael Pollan. In it, he discusses factory farmed meats and vegetables and the omnipresence of corn and corn syrup in our diets...and makes a plea for humanely grown meat and locally grown produce. If you read this, you will never think about food in the same way again, and will not feed yourself or your children in the same way. This book was on both the New York Times and the Washington Post's top 10 books for 2006, and is changing the way people think about their food everywhere.
You owe it to yourself and your children to read it.

I love anthologies!

2007-05-31T08:57:00.002-05:00

When I was a little girl, I owned two anthologies of children's literature, both published by Better Homes and Gardens. The first had a variety of poems and stories for younger children; the second had chapters excerpted from famous novels for children. I still own those books, and have read them many times. Does anyone besides me remember the Reformed Pirate? Sadly, they are no longer published, but recently I came across something similar, The Little Big Book for Moms . Not only does it have stories and poems, but it has recipes, songs and activities for children. It has old-fashioned illustrations you may be tempted to cut out and frame. And, there are others in the series, with different content:The Little Big Book for Dads.
Anthologies are wonderful. They will invariably remind you of a wonderful book or author you have forgotten, and must immediately introduce to your child!

Kids Learning Stuff went to Alaska!

2007-05-23T06:40:00.000-05:00

I've just returned from a ten-day cruise through the Inside Passage, from Seattle to Alaska. One of my regrets (other than regretting I can't go back right away) is that I didn't take a child along with me. Visiting Alaska would be wonderful for children--from the humpback whales, orcas, puffins, totem poles and glaciers to the Tlinglit and Haida Native Alaskans in their colorful regalia, to the sea lions catching fish in the harbor only a few feet from the cruise ship--and a few feet from a group of bald eagles. Then there were the mysterious petroglyphs on boulders in Wrangell (according to Tlingit oral tradition, these petroglyphs were there when they settled the area, which may have been 10,000 years ago---are they from a people who no longer exist, or are they, as some suggest, carved by visitors from another planet?) The Gold Rush days are brought vividly to life in Skagway, where a movie in the National Park Service visitor's center depicts the hardships of the thousands who carried supplies through the snow over the mountain passes. For the brave (and non-acrophobic) a narrow-gauge train ride climbs past the tree lines (and past bears and mountain goats), through tunnels and to the mountain top at White Pass, for a while through a cleared passage with snow as high as the roof of the train.
There are many books for children about Alaska--one I read wasThe Klondike Cat, about a young boy who goes to the Gold Rush with his family, smuggling along his beloved cat, which turns out to save the day for his father.
Another book my second graders loved, a few years ago, was Prince William about the Exxon Valdez oil spill in Prince William Sound, and a fictional little girl who saves a baby seal.

A resource for parents and teachers of gifted children

2007-05-02T06:22:00.000-05:00

I just discovered the Duke Gifted Letter, which has interesting articles related to educating gifted children. In my view, all children are gifted, so this newsletter is for everyone.
You can bookmark this site, or by providing your email address, have it sent to you online.
The current issue discusses the use of the school library, a subject dear to my heart. More on that later...

Get your child ready for kindergarten!

2007-04-29T16:27:00.000-05:00

I just read an article in the University of Florida School of Education newsletter which cites research showing that children who have certain reading-related abilities in kindergarten are much more likely to do well in school.
Most of the students who struggle with reading had a lack of early exposure to print and language development.
Besides the all-important reading to children, the researchers recommend the bookStarting Out Right: A Guide to Promoting Children's Reading Success which provides tips on teaching reading skills to your preschooler.
Such activities as rhyming, clapping out the syllables in their names, and taking apart simple compound words such as starfish (recognizing that it is made up of two other words) are important in preparing children for reading.

It's TV-Turnoff Week!

2007-04-23T07:27:00.000-05:00

Ever since 1995, schools and other organizations have sponsored TV-Turnoff Week.
Today is the beginning of this year's turnoff week: seven days of finding other things to do than watching TV.
It's intended to make people think about how much time they, and their children, spend watching TV, and to spend a week focusing on other things to do.
If your child's school doesn't sponsor it, consider starting it yourself---today.
I first heard about this yearly event in Jim Trelease's Read-Aloud Handbook but today's Washington Post KidsPost also discusses it.
According to the article in the Post, pediatricians recommend that kids spend no more than one hour a day watching TV, using computers, and playing video games. "The more time you spend in front of the TV, the less time you spend reading, writing and doing arts and crafts and sports.
If your kids are not familiar with The Wretched Stone by Chris Van Allsburg, this would be a great week to read and discuss it. In this book, sailors find a glowing stone on an island and bring it aboard the ship. Soon they are mesmerized by it, and all they want to do is sit and stare at it. Hmm---what could this symbolize?

books for Earth Day, April 22

2007-04-17T08:57:00.000-05:00

It's so important to teach children about the environment. Even the youngest child can make a difference. There are many books on this subject, but these are some of the best:
The Day the Trash Came Out to Play by David Beadle and the similar story The Wartville Wizard by Don Madden. In these stories, the trash runs amok and gets back at the people who litter.
The Great Kapok Tree: A Tale of the Amazon Rain Forest and A River Ran Wild by Lynne Cherry are beautifully illustrated books with a somber message. The second of the books discusses the pollution, and eventual rescue, of a river in New England.
The Lorax (Classic Seuss)by Dr. Seuss..."I am the Lorax, I speak for the trees", says the Lorax in this, the granddaddy of Earth Day--Hooray! by Stuart J. Murphy --not only a good environmental lesson, but this book is one of the MathStart series, and also teaches about place value.
Just a Dream by Chris Van Allsburg explores two different possibilities for our future. This book is better for older children, and is yet another treasure from one of our most important author/illustrators for children.

Two of my favorite books are The Wump World and Farewell to Shady Glade by Bill Peet. With his instantly recognizable illustrations and clever verse, he brings home the message of caring for the earth. Unlike the animals in Shady Glade, and the Pollutians in Wump World, we may run out of clean places.

Shades of Shady Glade--in Where Once There Was a Woodby Denise Fleming, the animals are displaced by a subdivision.
Earth Day Birthdayby Pattie Schnetzler, is great! This book gives us a song, to the tune of Twelve Days of Christmas, featuring endangered animals.
The Great Trash Bash by Loreen Leedy is an amusing book for younger children that nevertheless has an important message.

Have you heard about the 1000 book project?

2007-04-16T06:26:00.000-05:00

The 1000 Book Project is offered through many elementary schools. Families participating in the Project borrow from a series of 100 tote bags each filled with 10 childrens' books. The goal of the Project is for each child to have listened to 1000 books by the start of first grade.

The idea behind this is simple. Imagine that you read one book to your child almost every day from birth on. To make it simple, if you read 300 books a year to your child for 5 years, that will be a total of 1500 books. Many parents do much more than that. I remember that my husband and I each read to our daughters on most days, and on some days it was several books. Just think of the advantage many children bring with them when they start school: they have been read to 1000 or more times, they have favorite books and authors, they know how to sit and turn the pages in a book...And think of the DISadvantage so many other children bring with them to school: What if a child who has never been read to, and has no books in his home, is sitting in a kindergarten classroom next to another child who has been read to daily at home. It is frightening to think of how far behind that child is already, and whether and how he might "catch up".

If you have children in elementary school or preschool or work in a school, it is worth thinking about how such a project could be started very inexpensively. It's my understanding that it does not involve 1000 different books, but only 1000 books. Repetition is valuable, even essential, for children, and even a small number of quality books would be fine. Books and bags could be donated or found inexpensively at yard sales, library sales, and other book sales.

All parents are teachers...

2007-04-08T08:38:00.000-05:00

Yes, all parents are teachers, and as such, it is interesting to read books by the best teachers of our time, describing how they reach and teach children. In his bookTeach Like Your Hair's on Fire: The Methods and Madness Inside Room 56 Rafe Esquith continues the story of his inspired work with impoverished students in Los Angeles that he began in There Are No Shortcuts. Esquith is intense, devoted to his students, a true workaholic, and comes across as more than a little nutty. He spends almost every waking hour working with his 5th and 6th grade students, and achieves dramatic results. His book is both inspiring and disturbing to me.
There are a number of good ideas in the book, such as the best way I've ever seen to prepare kids for standardized testing. He is also to be commended for his accurate belief that all students can learn, and can usually learn a lot more than people expect of them.
On the other hand, he achieves his results by adding several hours to each school day and working with his students on weekends and in the summers. Now I understand the negativity about teachers who do as little as possible during the school day, stay at school as little as allowed by contract, and take no work home; however, his schedule is not realistic for many people. I must assume his wife takes care of things on the home front, which frees him up to do all the extras. His schedule is just not realistic for many teachers. Once I worked at a school where a teacher was repeatedly praised for staying until midnight on many evenings to make costumes for a school play. It was wonderful that she did so, but she lived alone and had no necessity to be home. If one must put in those kinds of hours to be rewarded, it is very discouraging for teachers with families or other responsibilities.
Nevertheless, his books contain good ideas for parents and teachers. Another such author is Ron Clark, whose book The Essential 55: An Award-winning Educator's Rules for Discovering the Successful Student in Every Child gives the 55 expectations he has for his students, 55 rules every parent and teacher should consider.

My thoughts about IQ testing...

2007-04-01T13:35:00.001-05:00

Recently someone asked in an online forum whether she should have her preschool child's IQ measured.
For one thing, IQ tests do not measure everything. There was an article I read several years ago (and remember at one time kids and their parents were not shown IQ test results) about someone who won a Nobel prize in science who went back to his old high school and got a copy of his files for some reason, and learned that his IQ, as tested by the school system was NOT in the gifted range. Obviously, his IQ test did not meaure him properly.

Also, IQ isn't everything. There are a lot of good attributes that are not measured by IQ. When I taught 2nd grade, a parent asked that her son's IQ be tested, and it came out around 100. Her response was to be very upset that he was only "very average". I replied that he was not average, he was a very well-behaved, kind child who was very considerate of others and well-liked by his peers and his teachers, that he was doing very well in his schoolwork, and that she should not focus on that number. There are many people with lower IQs who, by virtue of diligence, people skills, and sheer hard work have been more successful than those who have a higher number on a paper in a file somewhere.
Another issue is that IQ can change, depending on whether a child has an enriched or a deprived environment. I once knew of a child who was adopted at around age 6, after having a very chaotic earlier life of foster homes and adoptive homes that did not work out. At that time, his IQ tested at around 80, which is not indicative of future academic success. He was adopted by someone who gave him a very enriched environment and a lot of help with schoolwork. He eventually graduated from college and thus far has had a very successful career.
If you are concerned about whether your preschooler has a high IQ, your focus should be on giving him the most enriched environment possible, as long as it is done in a fun way, not by force feeding them flash cards or phonics whatever. Reading to them, visiting interesting places, a lot of conversation with older people, toys that require the child to do things (such as Lego, Duplo, and other building toys) rather than toys that the child just watches, are valuable. Arts and crafts which are creative--drawing and painting, rather than coloring in coloring books. (Now, coloring books are not fatal, children enjoy them and coloring within the lines helps hand/eye coordination but they should be a small part of a balanced diet of activities) Helping adults in any way that they can help safely is also valuable (see my earlier cookbook recommendation).

In short, do not be concerned with your child's IQ unless your pediatrician or a teacher has expressed concern about developmental delays. And in that case, they will help you locate testing.

Have you read The Higher Power of Lucky?

2007-03-22T16:32:00.000-05:00

I just finished reading The Higher Power of Lucky which won the Newbery Medal this year. That's the prize awarded annually by the American Library Association for the most distinguished American children's book published the previous year. "Lucky" is the story of a little girl who lives in the desert--in Hard Pan California, population 43. The book is very entertaining, with a dizzying array of eccentric characters, including Brigitte, her father's first wife, who came from France to look after her after her mother (the second wife) died in a bizarre accident. I enjoyed it, but I'm wondering if this is one of those books that kids don't like as much as adults do. (Does anyone know a ten year old who has read it?)
Oh--almost forgot. The book's claim to fame, other than the Newbery, is its use of the word "scrotum" on the first page, referring to a dog's being bitten there. It raised a huge controversy in the school library community: some people concerned about age appropriateness (the book seems aimed at 4th graders, in terms of the difficulty and length), and others concerned about censorship...

Curious George--everyone's favorite monkey!

2007-03-20T14:24:00.001-05:00

One of the most dramatic stories in publishing is the story of Curious George. German Jews Hans and Margret Rey were living in Paris during the Nazi invasion in 1940. They were not able to escape the city until Hans found some parts and managed to build two bicycles. H.A. and Margret escaped on bicycle from German-occupied Paris, with just their winter coats and several picture books (including a draft of Curious George, then called Fifi) strapped to the racks. They rode their bikes to Marseilles, got a boat to Lisbon, and eventually reached America.
(Thanks to information in Anita Silvey's book 100 Best Books for Children which lists her idea of the 100 best books for children of the last 100 years. She has several fascinating pages about each book)

I am in the greatest volunteer program!

2007-03-15T13:06:00.000-05:00

I just went and sat in on a session for the volunteer program I'm going to be doing, and that I'll be a substitute volunteer for next week. The program is called Play Partners and teams of two people go to day care centers or family day care homes 1 hour a week for a month, each time reading a book and doing activities based on that book, Because of grants received by the organization, the day care provider and each child in the group all get a copy of the book to keep at the end of the month. If there are infants in the group, they each get a board book every month too. The program has huge plastic storage tubs of materials to go with each of the books, as well. The book we did today was Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?, and there were actually little stuffed animals or plastic figures for every animal in the book! A green frog, a yellow duck, a blue horse, etc. We began the session by singing a greeting song, calling each child by name and singing about the color he or she was wearing. Then, we read the book, with the kids, who had heard the book before, chiming in. Then, the woman who was leading hid the animals under a cloth, and picked up the cloth along with one animal, and the kids guessed which animal was missing. After that, we went into the kitchen where each child had two brushes and two colors of paint and we painted and talked about the colors and the results of mixing the colors. After painting, the children played with some toys that were also in the kit, a Lego Primo Set - Stack 'n Learn, a color and shape puzzle, and other toys emphasizing colors. The session closed with more songs,
including
Twinkle Twinkle Traffic Light
On the corner shining bright
Red means STOP! (Hold up red card)
Green means GO! (Hold up green card)
Yellow means go but VERY SLOW (Hold up yellow card.)
Twinkle twinkle traffic light
On the corner shining bright.
I talked with the day care provider who was very enthusiastic about the program, especially the library of books she has built through the program. She was particularly happy about how responsive the children are to the books after they have experienced them in a multisensory way.

Stop that pickle!

2007-03-14T08:56:00.000-05:00

If your kids know and love The Gingerbread Man they will think Stop That Pickle!is hilarious!I read this to my kindergarten students and they thought it was the funniest thing they ever heard. We compared and contrasted it with The Gingerbread man. You will be glad to know there is a happy ending for the pickle. He lives to run another day...
Kids love these fractured fairy tales. (Refer back to my post of February 5 for some more)

Have you read The Big Green Book?

2007-03-12T10:19:00.000-05:00

The BIG GREEN BOOK which is by Robert Graves, and is illustrated by Maurice Sendak is a real crowd-pleaser. Kids love seeing the adults fooled by a little boy, with a bit of help from the Big Green Book of magic. It is amazing that this book is no longer in print. It's available used and in Spanish.

Send a birthday card to The Cat in the Hat

2007-03-08T09:31:00.000-05:00

The Cat in the Hat is turning 50, and here's how to celebrate:

Go to firstbook.org and send the card and Random House Children's Books will donate a book to First Book, which gives books to low-income children who do not have books in the home.

Next, click here
The Cat in the Hat and buy a copy for your favorite kid!

Having fun with Broadway show tunes

2007-03-07T11:11:00.000-05:00

This movie was a favorite of my daughters when it came out. They loved everything about it, the story, the characters, the actors, and the music. I can still see them up on the raised hearth in our house singing and dancing to "It's a hard knock life". For some reason, Amazon gives Anniea bad review, but no doubt the reviewer lacks the discernment of a 6 year old. Thanks to this movie they picked up a lot of vocabulary, learned who Herbert Hoover was, and learned to say "We love you Miss Hannigan" to me whenever I made demands they thought unreasonable.
Songs are a wonderful way to enhance your child's vocabulary. Imagine having these movies to show to your child: any or all of them: This DVD set,The Rodgers & Hammerstein Collectioncontains The Sound of Music, The King and I,Oklahoma, South Pacific,State Fair, and Carousel. Songs like "It's a grand night for singing", "Getting to know you", "Oh what a beautiful morning", "Doe, a deer", and many others which are a part of our cultural heritage.

Online interview with children's author Toni Buzzeo

2007-03-04T15:52:00.000-05:00

1. Please, tell us a little about yourself to start:
I am a Jill of many trades and a wearer of many hats. Two things have always been true, though. I have always been a writer and I have always been an educator. I continue to be both! I hold a Masters degree in English and a Masters degree in Library and Information Science. Before I was a school library media specialist, I taught English at the high school and college level. Two of the great honors of my career have been to be named the 2005 Distinguished Alumnus of the Year by the University of Michigan Dearborn School of Education and to be named the 1999 Maine Library Media Specialist of the Year
I write many things including children's books, professional books, and many professional articles. I’ve published five children’s books and seven professional books and have four and three more (respectively) in the pipeline.
I also speak at schools, conference, and inservice trainings all over the country. In fact, next spring I will be speaking in Berlin, my first international speaking engagement, though I have taught in Morocco.
You can read more me and my books on my website at www.tonibuzzeo.com
2. Tell us something about each of your books...
I have published five picture books for young readers so far:
Little Loon and Papa (Dial 2004) is a story of fatherly love and the courage of one little loon who must learn to dive despite his fear.
Dawdle Duckling (Dial 2003) and Ready or Not, Dawdle Duckling (Dial 2005) are companion books about a loveable little duckling who is a champion dawdler and dreamer, but whose strengths lie in knowing when to get on board and when to enlist the help of one’s friends.
The Sea Chest (Dial 2002) is the retelling of a mid-coast Maine legend about a baby who washes ashore on a lighthouse island and the keeper’s family who adopts her.
Our Librarian Won't Tell Us Anything!: A Mrs. Skorupski Story with Book(s) (Upstart 2006) draws on my library experience and tells the story of a librarian who won’t tell her students anything--though she will teach them anything they need to know to become independent library users.
3. What books do you have in progress? Still forthcoming are:
Fire Up with Reading: A Mrs. Skorupski Story (Upstart 2007) in which Mrs. Skorupski sponsors a schoolwide reading incentive program.
Adventure Girl Goes to Work (Dial, 2009) is about a spirited young girl who has to go to work with her mom when the “big report” is missing. She causes chaos AND find the report.
A Lighthouse Christmas (Dial 2009) is based on the Flying Santa Service and is about a lighthouse family whose Christmas may not be possible when the supply boat is weeks late.
No T. Rex in the Library (McElderry, forthcoming) features a young girl whose “time out” turns into an adventure when she pulls a T Rex from a book and joins him on a library rampage.
In addition, I have some unsold and in-process manuscripts that I’m working on including a third grade chapter book and a picture book about a little puffin who learns to make her way in the world.
4. Many of my readers are writers or aspiring writers. Tell us when and how you first started writing, when and why you started writing books for children, and how you first got published.
I started writing in junior high--poetry. In fact, I was first published as a poet in my college and graduate school literary journals. I credit my success as a picture book author with those early years of writing poetry. Picture books aren’t all that different!
I started writing for children in 1995 because my husband reminded me that I’d always professed a desire to do that and I ran into a priceless story of a giraffe in a swimming pool when I was touring for a month in Kenya.
The reason I am published, I think, is that I have talent as well as an enormous amount of perseverance! There’s absolutely nothing quick or easy about being published (I have 150 rejection letters from the early years), but if you systematically divide your time by writing new manuscripts, seriously revising and improving your completed work, attending conferences and joining a critique group, and making connections with editors (at conferences) and building relationships with them over time, I believe you will get published. And by all means, join the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators www.scbwi.org, both the national organization and your regional chapter. Take advantage of all they have to offer you.
5. Is there a question interviewers don't ask you that would be a smart question for them to ask?
What’s the most important thing a children’s author can do?
I think the most important thing a children’s author can do is to read widely and critically in the field. As a children’s librarian, I have always done that, but I think it is essential for us all to be aware of, involved in, and excited by the work of our fellow writers, to note creative trends as well as marketing shifts.
Sadly, too many people who aspire to write for children don’t take time to invest themselves in the world of children’s literature!
Happily, though, that world has become more and more credible in society at large and more readily available to us all!

Sing, sing a song!

2007-02-28T05:30:00.000-05:00

It's so important to sing with your children, from birth on up. Not only are songs a part of our cultural heritage, but you are teaching language and vocabulary when you sing to/with your child. Notice that when you sing, you enunciate your words more clearly, and you say them more slowly than when you speak. This is ideal for young learners of language.

A Treasury of Children's Songs: Forty Favorites to Sing and Playis such an essential book for children! There are 40 songs with words and music, including such classics as "Red River Valley," "Home on the Range," and "Shenandoah," as well as childhood favorites like "London Bridge," "Lazy Mary," "Pop Goes the Weasel" and "The Mulberry Bush." The songs are illustrated with art from the Metropolitan Museum.
There are so many picture books with just one song--kids love to see illustrations as you sing to/with them. How about Take Me Out to the Ballgame or There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly?
If I were buying books for a new baby today, this would be first on my list:A You're Adorable--a popular song from the 1940's that goes on to "B-you're so beautiful" and right on through the alphabet. Just what the new parents will want to sing to their baby!
And I love this book and CD! Lullabies: An Illustrated Songbookis also by the Metropolitan Museum, and also has illustrations from famous artwork, with classic lullabies to sing to the littlest listeners. Lullabies: A Songbook Companion is a CD with beautiful arrangements of these songs.

2007-02-26T16:40:00.000-05:00

(If you are looking for the mysterious book to identify, it's Monday February 19th's post, below.)

Happy Birthday, Dr. Seuss!

2007-02-26T16:36:00.000-05:00

March 2 is Dr. Seuss's birthday. Why not celebrate by having a Dr. Seuss-reading marathon. Go to the library and stock up, or get this wonderful book,Your Favorite Seuss: A Baker's Dozen by the One and Only Dr. Seuss which has 13 great Dr. Seuss stories, including The Cat in the Hat, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, Green Eggs and Ham, the Lorax,and many others! Often we forget the longer stories written by Dr. Seuss. The books like Green Eggs and Ham and Hop on Pop are really meant for beginning readers, not to be read to children...

Books with a religious message...

2007-02-24T08:57:00.000-05:00

Two books have long been favorites of mine:The King at the Doorby Brock Cole and Yellow & Pinkby William Steig.
These are beautifully written and illustrated books by well-known authors---although the two books may not be as well-known. They deserve a wider audience.
No matter what your religious beliefs, they will give you something to think about. In The King at the Door, an old ragged man shows up at the door of the inn. He claims to be the King, and no one believes him but Little Baggit, the boy who works there. The old man claims to have been walking over the kingdom without his money, and requests food, water, and various other things. The innkeeper, not believing him, offers him various insulting garbage. When the king wants a coat to wear, the innkeeper offers him the old coat the dog has been sleeping on. Little Baggit rushes to give the old man his own coat. The old man promises to return in his royal carriage and bring Little Baggit to live with him at the palace. The innkeeper ridicules this. And on the final page.....a royal carriage returning for Little Baggit.
Yellow & Pinkare two wooden puppets, lying out on a hillside with wet paint on them. They theorize on how they might have gotten there, how, over millions of years, chunks of wood could have fallen from trees, been carved and shaped by the weather, and then eventually paint could have fallen on them. At the end of the book, a man walks up, puts them under his arm, and walks away. "Who is this guy?" Yellow asked Pink. Pink didn't know...An interesting counter to the theory of evolution.

Developing the sense of touch

2007-02-22T09:39:00.000-05:00

I wanted to hug the woman I saw in the supermarket, with her small child in the cart. She was showing him the things she bought, and keeping up a running commentary. She showed him an eggplant and talked about the color, than had him touch the skin of it. Remember that odd feeling? Think of all the sensory experiences in the supermarket: eggplant, peaches, pineapple leaves...

Some time ago, I posted about using colored rice in a sand table or large tub for a winter day at the beach (rice definitely picks up more easily than sand). A related activity is to have a smaller container if appropriate for the item, and frequently give your child different things to feel and play with (using cups, scoops, funnels, etc), such as gravel,cornmeal, different types of dried beans,oat groats,popcorn kernels, cotton balls, noodles, birdseed, unsalted sunflower seeds in shells,and many other things. Try looking in the bulk food bins at your supermarket; if the item is mean to be cooked and eaten, then rinsing it off and boiling and eating it after it's used (with close supervision) for play will mean you get double mileage from it! As with any activity using small objects, supervise your child carefully until he is past the age of tasting or swallowing random things.
If you're into sewing, you can make simple shapes---square, rectangle, circle, triangle, or other shapes, from wildly different types of fabric--velvet, terrycloth, burlap, etc., and either stuff them with cotton balls or rags or make them into beanbags.
For a different sensory experience, try mixing 1 part water to 3 parts cornstarch. Add a few drops of food coloring if you like. This is truly weird to the touch and makes what is called "slime" or "oobleck". You can read Bartholomew and the Oobleck by Dr. Seuss and color your stuff green!

Can your child solve these mysteries?

2007-02-21T12:00:00.000-05:00

Do you know the story of the Mary Celeste? In 1872, this ship set sail, and it was found adrift less than a month later, with everything in order. The only thing was, all the people on board had disappeared! It was a sensation at the time, widely discussed in the press. No one ever found out what actually happened. I read this to many classes of 4th graders and thereabouts, and they loved trying to come up with an answer. This book would be even better with a parent and one or two kids: every page has fascinating detail, as well as side notes pointing out clues and giving information. At the end of the book is a list of possible things that might have happened, some silly and some reasonable. See if your children can solve the mystery of The Mary Celeste: An Unsolved Mystery from History! Some other books in the series are Roanoke: The Lost Colony--An Unsolved Mystery from History and The Salem Witch Trials: An Unsolved Mystery from History. These books are such fun to read, and in the process, kids are learning some interesting historical facts.

A few books for Black History month...

2007-02-14T14:57:00.000-05:00

Goin' Someplace Specialby Patricia McKissack is a wonderful book for elementary age children. Tricia Ann, a young African-American girl, is going alone for the first time to "Someplace Special". On the way she encounters prejudice and symbols of prejudice. She wants to rest on a bench, but on the back of the bench is carved "For Whites Only". She steps into a hotel lobby and is ordered out. Finally she arrives at "Someplace Special", the public library which was integrated in the 1950's in Nashville and was a special place for the author during her childhood.
Nettie's Trip Southis a book which shows slavery from the perspective of a white child during the time of slavery, who visits Richmond and sees a slave auction and other sights which are profoundly disturbing for her.
Follow the Drinking Gourdis a picture book with wonderful illustrations which deals with the Underground Railroad and slaves following the North Star to freedom. The Reading Rainbow episode for this book is a must-see, featuring the singing group "Sweet Honey in the Rock".
The Voice That Challenged a Nation: Marian Anderson and the Struggle for Equal Rights is a book for older children that tells the story of Marian Anderson and her performance at the Lincoln Memorial, after she was not allowed to perform in the DAR's Constitution Hall. It won a Newbery honor in 2005.

Books for a new baby

2007-02-12T13:17:00.000-05:00

If you are looking for books for a baby, here are some every child should have. Most are available in board books. If you get board books, make sure they have all the text of the original book.
Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?by Eric Carle
Caps for Sale by Esphyr Slobodkina
The Carrot Seedby Ruth Krauss
Chicka Chicka Boom Boom by Bill Martin
The Doorbell Rangby Pat Hutchins
Each Peach Pear Plumby Allen and Janet Ahlberg
Freight Trainby Donald Crews
From Head to Toe by Eric Carle
The Gingerbread Man illustrated by Karen Schmidt
Goodnight Moonby Margaret Wise Brown
Harry the Dirty Dogby Gene Zion
Is Your Mama A Llama?by Deborah Guarino
Jump, Frog, Jump!by Robert Kalan
The Mittenby Jan Brett
The Napping Houseby Audrey Wood
Rosie's Walkby Pat Hutchins
The Snowy Dayby Ezra Jack Keats
Ten, Nine, Eightby Molly Bang
The Three Bearsby Paul Galdone
The Three Billy Goats Gruffby Paul Galdone
Tomie's Little Mother Gooseillustrated by Tomie de Paola
The Very Hungry Caterpillarby Eric Carle
Where the Wild Things Areby Maurice Sendak

Only a few authors have won both Newbery and Caldecott medals

2007-02-09T12:35:00.003-05:00

I mentioned recently that William Steig was one of the few authors and illustrators to have won both Caldecott and Newbery medals. It's a short list. As far as I have been able to determine, only William Steig,Kevin Henkes, Holling Clancy Holling, Robert Lawson, Arnold Lobel, Ludwig Bemelmans, James Daugherty, and Alice Dalgliesh have won both awards. Just to clarify, the "honor" indicates a silver medal award for that year. The Caldecott is the medal for the most distinguished picture book, and the Newbery is for "the most distinguished children's book published in the previous year. (The award is limited to authors who are United States Citizens or who live in the United States, so you will never see Harry Potter on the list!) Some people say the Caldecott is the best picture book, and the Newbery is the best chapter book, but that is not always true. As you will note, Doctor De Soto, a picture book, won the Newbery medal.
The most recent to win both is Kevin Henkes, who won the Caldecott medal for Kitten's First Full Moonin 2005, won Newbery honors in 2004 for Olive's Ocean and in 1994 won Caldecott silver for Owen.
Holling wrote and illustrated a number of books including Paddle-To-The-Sea (Caldecott Honor) and Seabird (Newbery Honor).

Steig's Abel's Island and Doctor De Sotowon Newbery honors, while Sylvester and the Magic Pebble won Caldecott gold.

Robert Lawson won the Caldecott Medal in the 1941 for his family story They Were Strong and Good. In 1945, he won the Newbery Medal for Rabbit Hill. In 1958 he received Newbery honors for The Great Wheel (not currently in print).
Bemelmans won a Newbery honor for The Golden Basketwhich appears to be no longer in print. He won Caldecott honors for Madeline and the gold medal for Madeline's Rescue.
Alice Dalgliesh won a Caldecott honor for The Thanksgiving Story and THREE Newbery honors, for The Courage of Sarah Noble The Bears on Hemlock Mountain and The Silver Pencil.
James Daugherty won Newbery gold for Daniel Boone in 1940 and the Caldecott Honor in 1957 for Gillespie and the Guards--neither is in print now.
Many of these books and other medal-winning books, by other authors and illustrators, are still in print. I should caution you that for a few of the books that have won medals in the past, they were not books that have stood the test of time. Before telling your child to read all the medal books (as I've seen people do), I'd read reviews and see if the books still rank among the best books available for your child to read.

Two inspiring books for high school boys

2007-02-07T11:36:00.000-05:00

Recently I gave a copy of Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story to a talented African-American 9th grader I know. His mom reported back that he read the book, took it to show his teacher, wrote a report on it, and now wants to be a surgeon like Ben Carson. Carson's story is fascinating. I am always interested in stories of people who come from poor families, from minority or immigrant groups, with uneducated parents, and go on to achieve prominence. In Carson's case, he was African-American, his mother worked as a maid, and he was doing badly in elementary school. Although his mother was not educated, she was smart. She figured out what was going wrong for her sons, and then laid down the law. She made them stop watching TV, read two books a week, and write book reports. Information Ben learned from one of his books was enough to impress a teacher, and as he says, "It was at that moment that I realized I wasn't stupid." He went on to become Chief of Pediatric Neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins; his brother became an engineer. Anyone who reads this book will realize it's possible to get from where you are to where you want to be.

Another amazing life story is A Sense of Where You Are: Bill Bradley at Princeton by John McPhee, and although Bill Bradley came from a privileged background (his father was a bank president in the Midwest) he surpassed what might have been expected of a well-off boy from a small town by sheer diligence and determination. His motto was "When you are not practicing, remember someone somewhere is practicing; and when you meet them, they will win." The author began writing the book as a profile for the "New Yorker" magazine while Bradley was still in college, BEFORE Bradley's days as a Rhodes Scholar, NBA athlete, or U.S.Senator. Bradley was an athlete who still has numerous mentions in the record books, for example, he still has the record for the 2nd highest number of points scored in a college game, and he played that game in 1965. To see more records he set, search here. His record for achievement, modesty, and sheer hard work is unsurpassed.

Mythology....ewwww.....we love it!

2007-02-06T09:55:00.000-05:00

Just as you need to venture forth from the picture book section at the library and look in the Dewey Decimal numbered 398's for fairy and folk tales, you also need to look at the Greek and Roman mythology books, in 292. Cinderella, Snow White, Hansel and Gretel, and other fairy tales are a part of our cultural heritage, and so are stories like Pegasus(gorgeous illustrations in this book) King Midas Cupid and Psyche(Beauty and the Beast is based on this story)Pandora Perseus and others. I was once very impressed when I heard a 2nd grade boy tell a classmate that her hair looked like Medusa. Not impressed with the child, but with the parent or teacher who had taught him about Medusa. Upper elementary school boys love Cyclops.

Fractured fairy tales

2007-02-05T13:09:00.001-05:00

A while back I featured Jim and the Beanstalk --and there really seems to be a lot of interest in fractured fairy tales.
One of my favorites is Sleeping Ugly in which the prince is poor, the beautiful princess Miserella, who is asleep, was put to sleep because she was mean to a fairy, and the ugly girl lives happily ever after. Then there's The True Story of the Three Little Pigs the "real" story, from the wolf's point of view. Kids love The Principal's New Clothes with the fashionable principal getting his comeuppance.
I have a video of my daughter, about 7 years old, sitting in a white wicker chair in a pink nightgown, looking angelic, and reading aloud from Roald Dahl's Revolting Rhymes. It is not for the faint of heart, and has Roald Dahl at his worst (which is great)! This is a book to preview before reading it to kids. He puts his own grotesque spin on a number of classic fairy tales. Another such anthology is The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales.
Kids will enjoy these stories---but make sure they are familiar with the original story first! They will also enjoy writing their own fractured fairy tales.

Predictions about Harry Potter?

2007-02-03T10:15:00.000-05:00

Everyone is enjoying the buzz about Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Book 7). This book will come out in July, right after the movie release based on Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Book 5).
People are predicting all sorts of things about Harry Potter 7, which is to be the last book in the series. The word is that one or more major characters, maybe even Harry Potter, will die in the book. So, what do you think? Will Harry die? Ron Weasley or Hermione Granger? Minerva McGonagall? How about Draco Malfoy, the boy we love to hate? And did Albus Dumbledore really die in Book 6?
And perhaps more importantly, will J.K. Rowling start another series, or write other books? Does she feel she has more to say, about the world of magic and muggles? Does Rowling feel content having more money than the Queen of England, or would she like to have even more than that? And of course, what or who will be on the cover?
Anyway, what do you think will happen? Please give me your comments. If your comment is SHORT and SWEET and deals with nothing other than the Harry Potter books and movies, I'll leave it up at least through July and we'll see what actually happens!

Do your kids do origami?

2007-02-02T09:31:00.000-05:00

I used to do origami (Japanese paper-folding) with my 2nd graders. There are a number of very easy patterns that kids enjoy doing. At that age, they needed my help and I learned that if I wore a solid color shirt and held up a large sheet of origami paper against my shirt and had them copy what I was doing, most could follow along. You'll need some instructions for things to make, and a piece of origami paperfor each child. If you're not familiar with origami paper, it's colored paper that is white on the back side and is square. You can make your own paper from giftwrap, but it's labor-intensive to cut out the squares. If you need larger paper to demonstrate to the kids, you may want to make a few large squares for yourself from some giftwrap.
Easy Origami (Reading Rainbow Books)is a good book with simple patterns kids 2nd grade and up can do with help. It's like anything else you try with your kids: there are some kids who really enjoy it and have a flair for it, and may want to move on to harder patterns later on. There are many, many books out there on origami, and my advice is that the person who's doing it should preview the book: some patterns are hard to follow.

2007-02-01T16:38:00.000-05:00

Here's a cute book about Groundhog Day. There's just enough time to run out and get it this evening! It has a story about Phyllis, who wants to take over the job of official groundhog from her Uncle Phil. She is told she can't do it because she's a girl. All ends happily for Phyllis, and the book also explains the origins of Groundhog Day and Punxsutawney Phil. Punxsutawney Phyllisis the best Groundhog Day book I've seen.

When do you stop reading picture books to kids?

2007-01-31T08:00:00.000-05:00

"Can Snowflake Bentley be read to 5th graders?" That is the Google search that brought someone to my blog site. My first thought was that they were wondering if it's too hard or too long for them--it takes a while to read it aloud. But they may have meant that they wondered if it was okay to read a picture book to "big" kids.
Actually, you're never too old for picture books! When I was a school librarian, I read Wild About Books(see my post about it, below) to all the students, from grades K through 5, and they all loved it! I have read such books as The Little Ships: The Heroic Rescue at Dunkirk in World War II and The Christmas Menorahs: How a Town Fought Hate to 4th and 5th graders, and the length of the books and the ideas in them were certainly not beneath the students. Even the simplest picture books can be enjoyed by older kids: I read Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus!to older kids when I shared all the Caldecott medal winning books with all the students, and I read it again to 5th grade when they were learning about persuasive writing in class!
There are a few of the simplest picture books, really meant for infants and toddlers, that might not do for older kids, but there are many picture books that are perfect for them!
Jim Trelease says in The Read-Aloud Handbook: Sixth Edition(you need this book!) "A good story is a good story, whether it has pictures or not. All those pictures in museums don't have a lot of words under them but they still move us, right?" He goes on to say "I remember talking with a remedial class of ninth-graders in California one day. Of the twenty-one students, not one had ever heard of the Pied Piper, none had heard of the Wright brothers, and only two had heard of David and Goliath. Their mainstream cultural references were a bit shallow and ripe for planting"
He goes on to recommend Johnny on the Spotby Edward Sorel, The Man Who Walked Between The Towersby Mordicai Gerstein, and An Orange for Frankieby Patricia Polacco for older students.

I'm WILD about books!

2007-01-30T11:00:00.000-05:00

"It started the summer of 2002, when the Springfield librarian, Molly McGrew, by mistake drove her bookmobile into the zoo." In this colorful book by Judy Sierra, which is illustrated by Marc Brown of Arthur the Aardvark fame, this starts off a book-reading extravaganza. Molly sets up in the zoo, and the animals all begin reading books! The vividly-colored illustrations will be riveting for even the youngest baby, and the vocabulary is wonderful. Just in one page,it lists "a mink and a moose, a wombat, an oryx, a lemur, a lynx, eight elephant calves, and a family of skinks", AND there are illustrations of all those animals! And all the animals find books they enjoy-the crocodiles are reading "Peter Pan"--or at least books that rhyme--otters reading Harry Potter. Adults will enjoy the wordplay and illustrations too! Everyone will be reminded of Dr. Seuss and his way with rhymes and words.
Wild About Books turned into quite a vocabulary lesson for my students: not only did they learn or review all the animal names, but only a few students in the entire school had ever heard of a bookmobile, so that was a lesson in itself.

Give your child the gift of his family history

2007-01-29T11:59:00.000-05:00

One of the greatest gifts you can give a child is his heritage. Before it's too late, do a family history project with your children. Interview older relatives, ask about their childhood, their school, their parents, and what they can remember of their grandparents and great-grandparents. This could be videotaped or written/typed into a scrapbook. It would be wonderful to find photos to go with some of the pages. My Family Tree: A Bird's Eye Viewis a fun book to go with this project. It explains concepts like what is a stepsister, a half sister, a cousin once-removed. It includes blank record pages or family listings and photographs, and a poster that children can use to create their own family tree.

What are people saying about Baby Einstein, mentioned in the State of the Union?

2007-01-26T06:27:00.000-05:00

Read what news sources have been saying about children under age 2 and television.

"The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends no screen time, in fact, in the first two years of life."
MSN Health and Fitness

No evidence these videos are helpful--
Slate

TV may be harmful for babies and toddlers--
Mother Jones

Children need parent involvement...
Web MD

Although most parents use TV for young children from time to time, scientists are worried-
New York Times

Bill Peet: author, illustrator, Disney filmmaker

2007-01-25T09:43:00.000-05:00

Bill Peet had an extraordinary career! He worked for 27 years at Walt Disney studios, doing story boards for numerous movies: Cinderella Fantasia 101 Dalmatians The Sword in the Stone Dumbo, and many more. Not only that, he wrote and illustrated numerous books for children,Huge Harold Cowardly Clyde The Ant and the Elephantand many others. Two books my students really loved were Capyboppy and his Autobiography. A capybara is a 100-pound rodent from South America, and Capyboppy was brought back by Bill's son and was a household pet for years. The illustrated account of Capyboppy's enjoyment of the bathroom shower, backyard pool, and other suburban amenities is hilarious! Peet's autobiography, with large illustrations on every page, chronicles his life, from his childhood through his Disney career, and on to his work as a writer and illustrator. Bill Peet fans will love to look at this book. Even if they are not ready to read the text, the pictures tell the whole story.

Your baby needs board books!

2007-01-24T17:11:00.000-05:00

to look at, to chew on, to explore! So many of the great classics for young children come in board book format, and they will hold up to a baby's enthusiasm better than regular books, which are better read with someone older at first.
When my older daughter was a baby,she was often fussy when I was trying to make dinner. She liked to lie on a blanket on her stomach, so sometimes I would put an array of board books all around the edge of a playpen so she could see them easily. She would very excitedly turn her head back and forth, back and forth, looking at the pictures. It would take a while for her to get tired of them, and when she began to fuss, I'd turn the pages of some of the books and she was happy again for a while.
I can't tell you often enough to give your child books to look at and hold as soon as you can. It's even better when you can hold your baby and show him the pictures and read the story or tell him about the pictures. Every word he hears is helping him develop speech and vocabulary, and looking at the pictures is stimulating as well. I remember also when my daughter was only a few months old, holding her in my lap as I looked at a catalog that had come in the mail. Somehow I realized she was avidly looking at the bright pictures too!
Besides The Very Hungry Caterpillarthere are many, many other board books. There are editions of many of the classics you would want to have anyway: Goodnight Moon Board Book, Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?,The Runaway Bunny,Good Night, Gorilla(kindergartners love this book!) and a myriad of others.
More about babies and reading in this article in:
The Ithaca Journal, Ithaca, NY

Caldecott and Newbery 2007 winners announced!

2007-01-22T12:26:00.000-05:00

Newbery winner: The Higher Power of Lucky by Susan Patron
Honor books:
Penny from Heavenby Holm
Hattie Big Skyby K. Larson
Rules by Cynthia Lord

Caldecott Winner is Flotsam by David Wiesner
Caldecott Honor Books are
Gone Wild: An Endangered Alphabet Book
Moses: When Harriet Tubman Led Her People to Freedom by Weatherford.

Caldecott and Newbery watch...

2007-01-20T15:48:00.000-05:00

The Caldecott and Newbery medal books and honor books will be announced on Monday! During my most recent job as an elementary school librarian, I used to run out and get the medal and honor books on the day they were announced, so I could share them with the students right away.
The Caldecott medal is awarded every January to "the artist of the most distinguished American picture book for children" and the Newbery medal is awarded at the same time to "the most distinguished American children's book published the previous year." Some people will tell you the Newbery medal is for a novel-length book, and it usually is, but it has been given to picture books, such as William Steig's Doctor De Soto(Newbery honor-silver medal).
In 2005, I had to call more than ten bookstores to find a copy of The Red Book. It is a wordless book, and the owner of the bookstore where I finally found a copy said she thought it would not be popular, with no words to the story. It turned out that the kids loved it! The pictures show a little girl sitting in class looking at The Red Book. She sees a little boy on a beach, and he finds a Red Book in the sand and when he opens it, he sees a city, and then the little girl. She goes outside, buys a bunch of helium balloons, and flies into the sky, dropping the red book. We see the boy and girl together on the beach, and another child picking up the red book. Through the magic of a book, a child can go anywhere...Only two more days, and we will learn the magical selections for this year.
P.S. Sometimes people will ask what books are nominated, and the answer is, there is no "short list". It is simply any books for children published during the previous year, by authors and illustrators who are citizens or residents of the United States. When I was a school librarian, the kids were upset to discover the Harry Potter books are not eligible for the Newbery Award!

For future readers of Stephen King

2007-01-18T14:54:00.000-05:00

Bill Brittain's books are weird, creepy and eerie. They are straight out of The Twilight Zone. The Wish Giverhappens in Brittain's favorite town, Coven Tree, and this is how the events begin:

At first the ragged, mildew-spotted tent down under the birch trees seemed like nothing more than a mound of earth with canvas thrown over it. I must have walked by it two or three times before even noticing the little sign hanging out in front:
Thaddeus Blinn
I can give You
Whatever
You ask for
only 50 c
People take the mysterious little man up on his offer, with horrible results. Other stories of Coven Tree are revealed in Devil's Donkey and Dr. Dredd's Wagon of WondersThese books are from the 1980's and some may only be available in libraries, but they are classics of humor, horror and fantasy.
P.S. They are written with 4th or 5th graders in mind, but adults like them, too!

Cook with your kids!

2007-01-17T11:10:00.000-05:00

I just found the greatest book, when I was looking for something else! It's a cookbook for parents and children to use together, and it has interesting and creative recipes. Just a sample, from scanning the index: Arugula and Prosciutto Pizza, Garden Vegetable Soup with Pesto, Marble Swirl Cheesecake, Grilled Spicy Red Snapper Tacos, and on and on. It's called The Family Kitchen: Easy and Delicious Recipes for Parents and Kids to Make and Enjoy Togetherand it is really intriguing. I see several recipes I'm going to try this week; too bad there are no little kids around to help me! Each recipe is very clearly written, and each has a box entitled, "Call the kids" listing what things they can do in the preparation of the dish. Some also list "Use your judgment" tasks, which involve handling hot things, or using a food processor or knives. For example, for the Garden Vegetable Soup, "Call the kids" to peel the carrots with a hand-held peeler, rinse and drain the canned beans, break up the spaghetti, tear the basil, and stir the soup. "Use your judgment" as to whether they can cut the other vegetables and mix the pesto in the food processor.
There are also recipes plus other information at Kids Health/Recipes. These recipes include special ones for kids with cystic fibrosis, diabetes, celiac disease and lactose intolerance, as well as a section for vegetarian recipes.

Don't forget the fairy tales and folk tales!

2007-01-16T11:22:00.000-05:00

Are you reading fairy tales and folk tales to your children? One thing I didn't realize for a while when I went to the library with my kids (way before I went to library school) is that these books are often in a separate place from the other picture books. Go over to the books with the Dewey numbers and look through the 398's for fairy tales and folk tales. Cinderellais a good place to start. There are many different versions of Cinderella, astonishingly different illustrations and retellings of the story. Just look at this version of Cinderella where the illustrations are so different from my featured story, and the story is different as well. Find a version of the story you like and read it several times to your children. After that, try another version. Let them compare and contrast the two different versions of the story.

No one does illustrations like Chris Van Allsburg...

2007-01-14T23:47:00.000-05:00

Of course everyone has read The Polar Expressand seen the movie, but in my experience, one of the favorite read-alouds for kids is The Garden of Abdul Gasaziwhich is both written and illustrated by Van Allsburg. In this book, a little boy goes out for a walk with an ill-behaved dog he is taking care of for the day. The dog runs away, past the "no dogs allowed" signs, and they meet a sinister magician, Abdul Gasazi. He is angered by the dog's trespassing in his garden, and turns the dog into a duck...or does he? The surprise ending has the kids gasping. Like Gasazi The Wreck of the Zephyris a creepy fantasy with a surprise ending that takes a little while to figure out. In it, a boy is proud of his sailing ability and, against everyone's advice, sails out into a storm. He finds a magical island where people have learned to sail their boats up into the air. He learns a little of the technique and heads for home, only to meet with disaster.
Oh, and Jumanjiis yet another example of why you should ALWAYS read the book as well as see the movie. It's so interesting for kids to compare and contrast the two.
Many of the best teachers I know use The Mysteries of Harris Burdickto do creative writing with their students. This book begins with a fictional introduction, in which a man drops off a package of illustrations with a publisher, and then is never seen again. These pictures are downright weird. In one, a man tries to hit a moving lump under a carpet. In another, a boy is skipping a stone on a pond, and the stone boomerangs back to him. Yet another shows a woman holding a knife over a pumpkin, and as the knife nears the pumpkin, it begins to glow. There is a portfolio edition of this book, which has large copies of the illustrations ready to frame, and the Internet is full of lesson plans to go with it.

Jigsaw puzzles keep kids busy for hours!

2007-01-12T11:04:00.000-05:00

My kids loved to do puzzles,beginning with puzzles with only a few pieces and working up to those with 500 or more. Puzzles develop visual and spatial skills, and give a sense of accomplishment when they're completed--most of all, they're fun to do! For years we had a Christmas tradition of putting several puzzles out on the dining table, and everyone worked on them in shifts. The brand we liked the most was Ravensburger; they have such beautiful, clear pictures of things that interest kids. Their puzzles range from 6 piece wooden puzzles to intricate picture puzzles with thousands of pieces.

Are you from outer space?

2007-01-11T13:23:00.000-05:00

>This morning I was flipping through The Read-Aloud Handbookin search of the answer to a question someone had asked me, and came across Space Race.Jim Trelease says "It is a bit sad that some truly worthy books were overlooked in the hullabaloo over Harry Potter, and this is a case in point". I totally agree. This book and its two sequels were on the shelf in my school library when I started working there, and I tried to read as many books as possible in my collection, so I picked it up...and couldn't put it down...and couldn't wait to read the rest of the series. Imagine an 11-year old boy, happy with his friends and school, who is actually from another planet and does not want to return when his father says it's time. In its sequel,Earthborna twelve year old girl is in the same situation, although it comes as a complete surprise to her when his parents tell her the family is not from Earth and must leave. Upper elementary students will love these books!

Helping children (and adults) understand death

2007-01-10T15:13:00.000-05:00

I was asked by someone this week to recommend books to help cope with the death of her mother. Since she has children as well, I asked other librarians and looked through my information and came up with a list of books for both adults and children. (Most of us know that books for children are often very helpful for adults.) One of my favorite books is The Tenth Good Thing About Barney,about a little boy whose cat dies. He thinks of nine things to say about Barney for the burial and funeral, and the next day thinks of a tenth. The classic book about death for children.

BOOKS FOR ADULTS

The Goldfish Went on Vacation: A Memoir of Loss (and Learning to Tell the Truth about It), by Dann (this just got a wonderful review in the New York Times)
On Grief and Grieving: Finding the Meaning of Grief Through the Five Stages of LossElisabeth Kubler-Ross
How to Survive the Loss of a Love -McWilliams--short consoling poems and sayings
The Year of Magical Thinking -Didion --story of the death of her husband and her daughter’s illness)
When Bad Things Happen to Good Peoplepeople by Kushner
For One More Day, and Tuesdays with Morrie: An Old Man, a Young Man, and Life's Greatest Lesson by Mitch Albom
Chicken Soup for the Unsinkable Soul: 101 Stories (Chicken Soup for the Soul)
Yesterday I Cried: Celebrating The Lessons Of Living And LovingIyanlaa Vanzant.
Motherless Daughters: The Legacy of Loss by Hope Edelman.
A Grief Observedby C.S. Lewis

BOOKS FOR CHILDREN
Tear Soup, by Pat Schwiebert
The Next Place, by Warren Hanson
The Fall of Freddie the Leaf, by Leo Buscaglia
Michael Rosen's Sad Book, by Michael Rosen

DEATH OF PARENT
Mama, by Schick
Flamingo Dream, by Napoli- death of father from cancer
If You Listen, by Zolotow -about a father who is far away
Everett Anderson's Goodbye, by Clifton -father
The Memory String, by Eve Bunting -mother

DEATH OF PETS
Cat Heaven, Dog heaven, by Cynthia Rylant
The Tenth Good Thing About Barney
DEATH OF GRANDPARENTS
Nana Upstairs and Nana Downstairs
Hugs on the Wind, by Arnold-actually about a grandparent who moved away, but still works
The Hickory Chair, Faustino (grandmother)
Grandad's Prayers of the Earth, by Wood
Thank You, Grandpa, by Plourde
The Two of Them, by Aliki (grandfather)
The Wall (Reading Rainbow Book), Eve Bunting-boy’s grandfather died in Vietnam, he and his father visit the memorial in Washington DC

DEATH OF A SIBLING
We Were Gonna Have a Baby, But We Had an Angel InsteadSchweibert

William Steig is an amazing author and illustrator

2007-01-09T07:12:00.000-05:00

One of the very best books for kids is Sylvester and the Magic Pebble.I was introduced to this book when I picked up my 3 year old daughter from day care. She was hysterically excited and demanded to go to the library and get the book her teacher had read to them that day. Of course she didn't know the title but I figured it out before she reached total meltdown. We got the book and read it over and over, and I have been reading it to children ever since. It wasn't the kind of book I would have chosen for her. Often she brought books to me in a library or bookstore and I said "Too many words. We'll get it when you're older". Steig's books are often "too many words" books--many of them contain a lot of text for a picture book, and there are words sprinkled here and there that will send a parent to the dictionary. Even so, Sylvester and his predicament struck a chord with my 3 year old as well as her classmates. The teacher told me the book was reread several times at school, by popular demand, and the kids even developed and acted out a play based on the story. All Steig's books are amazing; he is one of the very few authors who have won both the Caldecott and Newbery medals. Some of the best are Amos & Boris, Doctor De Soto, and The Amazing Bone .

In memory of Jeannette Caines

2007-01-08T06:00:00.000-05:00

---one of my favorite African-American authors. She wrote a number of picture books; this one was a Reading Rainbow book! One of the reasons I am her fan is my serendipitous meeting with her some years ago, in Charlottesville, Virginia. I was attending the Dogwood Festival parade there, and was sitting on the steps of the downtown library, waiting for the parade to start. Of course I was reading, what else would I be doing if I'm sitting down? Ms. Caines sat down beside me and introduced herself and said, "I would like to meet you, since you are the only one reading, of all these thousands of people." We went on to talk for several hours, throughout the parade, and exchanged contact information. Sadly, I did not get together with her again, and she died in 2004 due to complications from cancer treatment. Let's don't forget this wonderful woman. Be sure to read Just Us Women and all her other books.
Click here for more information about her life and career.

Read to your baby!

2007-01-05T10:26:00.000-05:00

OK, here is one of my "don't get me started" issues. If you have children, you need to start reading to them at birth (or earlier--many parents do, and studies have shown that newborn babies recognize books that were read aloud by their mother before they were born!)The way children learn language is by hearing it, and the more they hear, the better they will be at talking, thinking, and learning. My standard gift to new babies is a book, and I cringe when the parent says "I can't wait til he is old enough for me to read to him". I have to think of a way to say nicely, "Guess what, he is already". For the youngest kids, the name of the game is repetition, so choose the books carefully to find ones you won't mind reading and hearing many, many times. This new book will give you tips and suggestions:BABY READ-ALOUD BASICS: Fun And Interactive Ways to Help Your Little One Discover the World of Words.

Is it bigger than a breadbox? is it animal, mineral or vegetable...

2007-01-04T16:51:00.000-05:00

Did everybody get one of these for Christmas? I first encountered it when shopping at Thanksgiving. If you ever played TWENTY QUESTIONSthis is an automated version!
When my kids were little we got in the habit of having cookouts in the summer, and eating on the back porch and somehow that became associated with playing "20 questions". Someone thinks of something, anything, and the object is for the other players to guess it in 20 questions or less. One traditional question is, "Is it bigger than a breadbox?" (eventually one of my children asked just how big IS a breadbox) This gadget asks a series of sometimes odd questions, and often comes up with the answer. It's a lot more rewarding if you've already played the game the old-fashioned way, but it's surprising how often it comes up with the right answer. One of ours it guessed was "lemur"!

JIM and the Beanstalk!

2007-01-03T11:01:00.000-05:00

Your child knows about Jack and the Beanstalk, but what aboutJim and the Beanstalk? In this hilarious story, Jim discovers a beanstalk outside his window and climbs it, to find a very old giant who has no teeth or hair, and can't see very well. Unlike Jack, who stole the giant's most valuable possessions, Jim tries to help the giant. Ask children to compare and contrast the two stories.

"Snowflakes that stay on my nose and eyelashes..."

2007-01-02T10:41:00.000-05:00

Have you seen Snowflake Bentley ? This book won the Caldecott Medal in 1999. It's an amazing picture book and an introduction for children to the concept of biography as well. It's the true story of Wilson Bentley, who was born on a Vermont farm in 1865 and became fascinated with snowflakes. After he found a camera that incorporated a microscope, he made it his life's work to photograph snowflakes. Kids are astounded to think of the hours, the days, the lifetime spent in freezing cold taking those photographs. Try to find Bentley's book Snow Crystals which has over 2,000 of his actual photos of snowflakes. You won't believe how much time kids will spend looking at these photos and marveling at how many different patterns there are within the basic 6-sided snowflake shape. Can you believe Snow Crystals first came out in 1931 and is still in print?!

Don't let the pigeon drive the bus!

2007-01-01T05:17:00.000-05:00

Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus!The pigeon wants to drive the bus, and whines and pleads until the end of the book. Children seem to recognize themselves in his creative pestering. They love telling the pigeon "no" every time he asks to drive the bus, and they love the "Driven to Read" shirt available from Wonder Shirts which also has shirts for many other children's books. When I was a school librarian, I read this book to all the elementary grades. With the older kids, I used it to introduce a discussion of persuasive writing. I have heard of teachers making a reader's theater play from the book. And, if you want coloring sheets for the pigeon, or instructions on how to draw him just like Mo Willems does,just look at the Hyperion Books site.
Have you seen Knuffle Bunny? This book, also by Mo Willems, was a Caldecott Honor book. Kids think it's hilarious, and if they know "Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus" they will go nuts when they see the man wearing the pigeon shirt in Knuffle Bunny ! And for more essential information about the pigeon, read Don't Let the Pigeon Stay Up Late! and The Pigeon Finds a Hot Dog!

What your child needs to succeed in school

2006-12-29T10:03:00.000-05:00

As I mentioned earlier, kindergarten teachers complain about children starting school not knowing the very basic stories and nursery rhymes that make up our cultural heritage, and that they must know to understand references that will be made in literature later on. E.D. Hirsch's series of books, from kindergarten through 5th grade, give an overview of the basics of cultural literacy. Unless your child's school uses the Core Knowledge curriculum, or every teacher happens to use these books as a supplement to the school's curriculum, he will not learn all these essentials. These books are useful as a "shopping list" when you go to the library or bookstore, or look for books on Amazon. Look for quality books, with good illustrations, that teach your child these concepts in an enjoyable way. What Your Kindergartner Needs to Know: Preparing Your Child for a Lifetime of Learning (Core Knowledge Series)begins the series.

A holiday movie for you

2006-12-27T07:15:00.000-05:00

A beautiful little Christmas movie for the elementary-age child; it's old enough to be lost in all the newer holiday stuff out there. It features a child whose mother recently died, and who finds an injured reindeer she believes to be Prancer.Who knows, maybe a Christmas miracle happens, and she brings her bereaved father back to her. Pranceris warm and reassuring but bittersweet.

your child should know Paul Galdone's illustrations!

2006-12-22T10:55:00.000-05:00

If you're still looking for a gift for a small child, Nursery Classics: A Galdone Treasury is a great idea! It contains several classic children's stories, "Three Little Pigs", "The Three Bears", and "The Little Red Hen", as well as "Cat Goes Fiddle-I-Fee". Many parents will recognize Galdone's illustrations from their own childhoods, as he started illustrating books for children in the 1950's. There are numerous other picture books illustrated by Galdone, such as The Three Billy Goats Gruff, The Gingerbread Boy,Rumpelstiltskin, Jack and the Beanstalk, and many others. Kindergarten teachers have lamented to me that many children these days do not know these stories that are part of our cultural heritage. Make sure your children, and other children you love, are familiar with them.

Let's go to the beach!

2006-12-21T12:49:00.000-05:00

It may have been a long time since hot weather, when your child was outside playing in the sand, in the backyard or at the beach. Here is something to do to recapture that feeling: Start with a 40 pound bag of white rice from the Chinese grocery, Sam's club, or wherever you can get a bargain. Mix a tablespoon of rubbing alcohol and a few drops of food coloring in a large ziploc bag, then add a few cups of rice and shake it around to color it. Color as much rice as you like in different colors. Place the colored rice on an old plastic shower curtain to dry. When it is dry, mix it with any white rice that is left and put it into a large plastic underbed storage container. Put the container on top of a low table so it is easy to reach, and add sand toys. A sheet or shower curtain under the table will help with cleanup!

Nothing's too good for my baby...

2006-12-19T14:56:00.000-05:00

Your child deserves to hear stories by a Nobel Prize-winning author. This wonderful book was written by Isaac Bashevis Singer, who won the Nobel Prize for literature. Even if you don't celebrate Hanukkah, these beautifully written stories truly shed light on a beautiful belief and tradition.The Power of Light: Eight Stories for Hanukkahis a holiday essential. The book Christmas Menorahs, also described on this site, is a memorable and thought-provoking holiday story for everyone.

Just one more!

2006-12-18T14:48:00.000-05:00

This edition of The Night Before Christmas is actually illustrated by the great-grandson of Grandma Moses. The pop-up version I listed last week is so gorgeous, but I have to admit, this will be more durable. The quiet, traditional illustrations in this edition have their own beauty.

Charlotte's Web

2006-12-15T07:51:00.000-05:00

The new movie of Charlotte's Web is out and receiving wonderful reviews but it is the book itself that's the star. The New York Times movie review today called it "not only one of the most beloved children's books, but as close to perfect as any book I can think of".

Of course every child should see this movie, but for the ultimate in experiencing this book they should hear the audio version, actually read by E.B. White. His voice and accent are beyond description, and make this my most memorable audiobook.

"Twas the night before Christmas and all through the house...

2006-12-14T15:32:00.000-05:00

Wow, this pop-up book is beautiful! Only one of many editions available, though. Every child needs to know this poem. I still remember a boy at my elementary school who went from classroom to classroom during the holidays reciting it! Look for this beautiful book at Amazon.

On the first day of Christmas...

2006-12-13T14:39:00.000-05:00

When my kids were little we sang this in the car---and not always just in December! It's a lot of fun, and kids take great pride in knowing all the verses.The Twelve Days of Christmas is available at Amazon. This edition is illustrated by Jan Brett; check out the many, many other books she has illustrated, all gorgeous.

Fun paper-and-pencil math activities

2006-12-12T12:17:00.001-05:00

Can you imagine worksheets that kids love? This book has them! And,there are two more editions, for grades 4-6 and 7-12 (if you order, make sure you are getting the level you want). They are really meant for the classroom, but wherever you are, you can make copies from the book and thus use it over and over. I have used it with kids from grades 2 through 8, and it makes a wonderful supplement to the math curriculum, whether at home or in the classroom. Many students asked for more copies to take home, especially the dot diagrams for completing a pattern Critical Thinking Activities for Grades K-3 is a great resource for parents and teachers.

Set is the BEST math game for kids!

2006-12-09T02:09:00.000-05:00

This is the best game I've used with students or my family. It does not require reading, or even speaking English; and can be played competitively by anyone age 5 or 6 and up. Age or education do not give players any advantage. I have known 6 year olds who can beat me at this game; my daughter played it with her beginning English students in Mongolia! It develops thinking skills and concentration, and kids love it. They recognize they are working hard and learning, but enjoy it anyway. Kids have told me over and over, "It's hard, but it's fun!" It can be purchased at most toy stores or, the best price I've found is at Amazon.
For teachers, if you go to setgame.com you can get transparencies for teaching the game, and even Set t-shirts.

Mr. Willowby's Christmas Tree

2006-12-07T15:15:00.000-05:00

What a charming Christmas story! Mr. Willowby buys a Christmas tree and it is too big, so he cuts off the top and gives it away to someone who finds that even the top is too big for her, and she cuts the top off and gives it away, and so on until a mouse family is celebrating around their tiny tree.Mr. Willowby's Christmas Treeis a classic book that kids love.

Light the Lights!

2006-12-06T14:35:00.000-05:00

My students loved this book which describes a family celebrating both Christmas and Hanukkah. We talked about the similarities between the two holidays, and the children listed lights, gifts, family and food. They were so excited to talk about the relatives they would see during the holidays, clearly the highlight of the season for all of them. Light The Lights! is a holiday classic.

A new Christmas book by Tomie de Paola

2006-12-05T11:45:00.000-05:00

A new Christmas book by Tomie de Paola! If you are not familiar with his books, there are many, and they are all wonderful. This one is for older children and adults. In it, there are a number of short stories telling his favorite holiday memories throughout his life.Christmas Rememberedis a beautiful book.

Let's make Rice Krispies treats!

2006-12-04T11:30:00.000-05:00

Ingredients
3 tablespoons margarine
1 package (10 oz. about 40) regular marshmallows
or 4 cups miniature marshmallows
6 cups Rice Krispies®
Directions
1. Melt margarine in large saucepan over low heat. Add marshmallows and stir until completely melted. Remove from heat.
2. Add KELLOGG'S® RICE KRISPIES® cereal. Stir until well coated.
3. Using buttered spatula or waxed paper, press mixture evenly into 13 x 9 x 2-inch pan coated with cooking spray. Cut into 2-inch squares when cool. Best if served the same day.
Yield: 24 squares
MICROWAVE DIRECTIONS: In a large microwave safe bowl, heat margarine and marshmallows at HIGH for 3 minutes, stirring after 2 minutes. Stir until smooth. Follow steps 2 and 3 above. Microwave cooking times may vary.
Note
For best results, use fresh marshmallows.
1 jar (7 oz.) marshmallow creme can be substituted for marshmallows.
Diet, reduced calorie or tub margarine is not recommended.
Store no more than two days in airtight container.
To make chocolate rice krispies treats, melt 12 oz. chocolate chips with the margarine and marshmallows and complete the recipe as stated above.
The Family Kitchen: Easy and Delicious Recipes for Parents and Kids to Make and Enjoy Together has other recipes to make with kids, and is very user-friendly.

Truman Capote's Christmas memory

2006-12-01T11:28:00.000-05:00

Here is the 50th anniversary edition of one of the best holiday books, Truman Capote's memoir of a long-ago Christmas in rural Alabama. It's most suitable for older children,3rd or 4th grade and up. It is memorable for Capote's evocative language, which makes the sights, sounds and flavors of the holiday come alive. It is a pleasure for adults as well as children, providing an interesting background to the Capote we have viewed in recent movies. It's available at Amazon. There is also a videoof the story. It's slow-paced and quiet but enjoyable if you liked the book.

The BEST read-aloud book!

2006-11-30T11:37:00.000-05:00

I never get tired of reading this book to children: it is so enjoyable to see their eyes widen with surprise and delight as the story unfolds. It also extends into a discussion, art, or writing activity by simply asking the children at the end of the book "What would YOUR house look like?" In the story, Mr. Plumbean lives on a "neat street" where all the houses look the same. Things take a surprising turn when a seagull flies over and drops a can of orange paint on Mr. Plumbean's house.His neighbors all tell him he needs to paint his house--and he does. But what happens then is a surprise to everyone, including Mr. Plumbean. Don't miss sharing this book with all the children you know. You will definitely enjoy it as much as they do!! The Big Orange Splot is a book every child should own.
P.S. I first learned about this book in an early edition of Jim Trelease's Read-Aloud Handbook-an essential resource for parents and teachers.

It's fun to build with Rig-a-Jig

2006-11-29T11:40:00.000-05:00

This is a toy I discovered when I bought a large set from a school supply store while teaching second grade in Florida in the 1980's. I stored all the little parts in an old tackle box and then had to referee the kids who all wanted to play with it during free activity time. They loved building with it; it was even more popular than Lego. Any such 3-dimensional building sets develop a child's spatial perception, which will be useful in math later on!
Unfortunately it is no longer on the market, but old sets frequently pop up on ebay and other online sales. You need this construction set!

The 100 all-time best children's books

2006-11-28T14:31:00.000-05:00

This book is a great resource for parents! Anita Silvey is an editor and publisher of children's books. She looked at books published for children between 1902 and 2002 and chose what she thought were the 100 best for the 100-year period. Of course she left out your all-time favorite, but there are many old favorites you may have forgotten and will want to share with your children. She has a short essay on each book, telling fascinating things about the author and how he got started in writing or illustrating, and about the writing of the book. Who knew that Maurice Sendak was "discovered" while decorating department store windows? It's available from Amazon.

Christmas menorahs

2006-11-27T12:34:00.000-05:00

The perfect holiday book! This is a fictionalized account of actual events in Billings, Montana, in 1993. Someone threw a brick through a window displaying a menorah, and other vandalism directed at racial and religious groups took place. People in Billings who were not Jewish began displaying menorahs in the windows of their homes, and the local newspaper printed pictures of menorahs which were displayed as well. Eventually thousands of homes and businesses displayed the menorahs. Later, a photographer posed hundreds of Billings citizens holding menorahs. It can be viewed at this Library of Congress site; just scroll to the bottom of the page and click the photo to enlarge it.
The book is available from Amazon. It's appropriate for older elementary children.

Let's borrow Grandma's button jar!

2006-11-24T11:39:00.000-05:00

Once your child is old enough to stop swallowing anything that fits in his mouth, he may enjoy playing with a jar of buttons. You may be lucky enough to have people in your family who have saved buttons over the years, and to be able to get these buttons for your child. I am told that people also sell quantities of buttons cheap on ebay. Kids of a certain age enjoy pouring buttons from one container to another, sorting the buttons by color, size, or shape, or arranging them in patterns. There's even a book about this activity,Grandma's Button Box by Linda Williams Aber and Page Eastburn O'Rourke, which is part of the Math Matters series-fun books for kids that tell about mathematical concepts.

Amazing resource for learning about music!

2006-11-22T11:39:00.000-05:00

The Metropolitan Opera Guild has amazing CDs which contain the very best selections of various types of music. They include Broadway, ballet, music, opera, and piano. Sets are available at a reduced price. They can be purchased online from the Metropolitan Opera Guild. Just click here to go to their website:

Growing Up With- Series

Turkey for Thanksgiving!

2006-11-21T11:41:00.000-05:00

My favorite Thanksgiving book. Little Mrs. Gumm finds an egg that turns out to be a turkey egg. She then begins looking forward to having turkey for Thanksgiving. All year long she is anticipating her Thanksgiving turkey, and that's exactly what she has. The turkey is a guest at her Thanksgiving meal! It's available from Amazon.