As a former elementary school teacher and a parent, I've seen lots of alphabet books. As we all know, alphabet books are a fun way to introduce the alphabet and encourage young children to interact with books. In his new book, LMNO Peas, author Keith Baker presents the alphabet in such a fun way that it is sure to delight the preschool crowd. As the title suggests, this book is about peas, and it is dedicated to "pea-ple everywhere--young and old, large and small, green and round." The adorable little peas "work and play in the ABCs." Each letter of the alphabet includes peas in different roles, like acrobats, artists, and astronauts or kickers, kayakers, and kings. The sing-song text makes a perfect read-aloud, and the whimsical, bright illustrations ...
Category Archives: ages 0 – 3
Books on Screen: Despicable Me Tie-ins
A kids' movie just isn't produced any more without all sorts of tie-ins. For a movie that we really enjoyed (as we did this one), I think of a tie-in as something to help us remember the movie -- a sort of souvenir. As part of my press junket goodie bag, I received a few neat tie-ins that I wanted to share. Sleepy Kittens Just the fact that this book exists makes me happy. The bedtime story theme is so sweet in the movie, and having this as a tie-in is a lot of fun. There is not a little brush that comes out of the book, like in the movie, but it's still a lot of fun. The little kitties are finger puppets like in the movie. And even though it's supposed to be the ...
Children’s Classics Award Winners– July
Welcome to the first installment in our Children's Classics Award Winners Challenge! From now through December, we'll be asking you to share your love for those children's books that have been honored by the powers that be with the shiny stickers that indicate outstanding writing and illustrations. In my family, this past month has involved extended out-of-town visiting for me and the kids (to be away from our house which is under some serious DIY renovations), which translated into zero trips to the library and a whole lot of exploring the scads of books on our own shelves. I found it to be a lovely experience discovering how many award winners we're fortunate to have in our collection. For July, I'd like to focus on a few picture books that my four and two year ...
Teddy Bear Sing-Along Books
When I saw the Teddy Bear Sing-Along titles were to be released by Silver Dolphin Books, I knew I wanted to check them out for Bookworm2 (age 15 months), my little kinesthetic learner. Give a book sounds and touchy-feely fluff and he is all over the book. I figured the cuteness of the teddy bears and familiarity of songs like "Old MacDonald" and "The Wheels on the Bus" would be fun for mommy to interact with him a bit. I was not wrong. Bookworm2 absolutely adores both Old MacDonald Had a Farm and The Wheels on the Bus, both by David Ellwand Both of these books contain photographs of stuffed teddy bears interacting within a scene ...
Books on Screen Stage:
Knuffle Bunny: A Cautionary Musical
There are some picture books that I've read hundreds of times over the years, either as the teacher reading to a group of preschoolers or as the mom snuggling with her own brood. When I can read a story again and again (times 100!), and still do it with joy and gusto, I believe it says something pretty remarkable about that book. At the top of that list are the wonderful and funny works by author/illustrator Mo Willems. With a collection of characters that continues to grow (he's certainly one prolific writer!), my children and I happily consume his books like crazy. This month sees the transformation of one of Mo Willems' most beloved stories from the page to the stage, with the opening of Knuffle Bunny: A Cautionary Musical at The Kennedy Center in Washington, ...
Picture Books for Moms
There are some picture books out there that are not really intended for their target audience. Yes, the three-year-olds and the seven-year-olds may listen, they may like the artwork, but perhaps what they like most is being close to Mom as she reads words that speak to her heart. I have to admit that I am likely as not to get teary-eyed when I am reading Are You My Mother?. It does warm my heart when the baby bird recognizes his mother and they are finally reunited, but this is a children's book. The rhythm is perfect for children, the drawings are appealing in their simplicity, but there's no question that it speaks to moms in a completely different way (or is it just me?). Now Love You Forever is an entirely different category. I remember being a baby showers ...
Picture Book Round-Up, 2nd Edition
Last month, Carrie shared six new children's releases that she reviewed as engaging and fun in the post Picture Books for 2010! I'm happy to follow in her lead and showcase a handful of books that have been released this year that I have enjoyed reading with my own crew of kids. With a mix of fantastic books like this, all kids' age groups are covered! For the very youngest among my own children, Time for Bed, Baby Ted by Debra Sartell and illustrated by Kay Chorao, has proven to be the perfect just before bedtime reading material in our family. With Baby Ted pretending to be many different animals in what appears to be some classic bedtime-stalling-technique action, Ted's father gently guides him through the series of getting ready for bed tasks while playing along ...
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Jennifer Donovan
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