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Jan 30, 2012 by Karen Lewis Taylor |
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With the unseasonably warm temperatures we've been having this month, it may seem like the winter wonderland of Ezra Jack Keats' The Snowy Day takes place in another world altogether--but perhaps that gives us extra reason to revisit this wonderful children's picture book, now celebrating its 50th birthday.
Together with your child, you can explore the excitement of a day when fluffy snow covers the ground and a little boy in a bright red snowsuit explores his neighborhood with wonder and delight. Perhaps your child remembers when we had a snow like that right around Christmas 2010 and what kind of fun you had playing outside. You can imagine together what you might do if you woke up tomorrow to find we'd gotten another coating of the fun stuff.
NPR recently covered the anniversary of The Snowy Day's publication, exploring the then-groundbreaking decision of the book's author, who was white, to make a little African American boy his story's hero. The choice was noteworthy because he did so with no fanfare (and, more importantly, no caricature); it was just a story about a boy, who happened to be black, enjoying a special day in his little corner of the world. Yet the simple tale reverberated with communities across the country as its readership grew, and African American children everywhere began to feel that they, too, had a place in the stories of their country--proving that thoughtful children's books can help change the world!
Learn more about the impact of The Snowy Day by reading NPR's story. While you're there you can also listen to LeVar Burton, host of the long-running award-winning PBS Kids show Reading Rainbow, read the book. Just scroll down a bit and look under the photo of Keats for the link.
Jan 24, 2012 by Karen Lewis Taylor |
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Okay, so it doesn't rank up there as a top holiday for kids, but Groundhog Day is coming soon (Thursday, February 2), 
and you can turn it into a celebration of reading and nature with your child.
Our friends at the NC Museum of Natural Sciences in Raleigh are hosting the capital city's celebration featuring furry prognosticator Sir Walter Wally and our new "groundhog whisperer," Raleigh Mayor Nancy McFarlane. The festivities run from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. (with the will-he-or-won't-he shadow ceremony at 12 noon). While you're there, you and your kids can learn about the history of Groundhog Day, meet another animal that was once used to predict the arrival of spring, and get the scoop on how snakes and arthropods survive the winter. Visit the museum (it's free!) and have fun exploring our state's natural history. Details are at http://naturalsciences.org/programs-events/groundhog-day-3.
If your child is as excited about groundhogs, nature and weather as Sir Walter Wally is, you can explore the topic with these fun books (list courtesy of http://www.apples4theteacher.com/holidays/ground-hog-day/kids-books/; visit that site for links to individual book descriptions). Cap off a great day by coloring pictures of your child's favorite animals or taking a nature walk to search for signs of an early spring. (Hey, even groundhogs can use a little help!)
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Animals in Winter
by Henrietta Bancroft |
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Geoffrey Groundhog Predicts the Weather
by Bruce Koscielniak |
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Go to Sleep, Groundhog!
by Judy Cox, Paul Meisel |
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Gretchen Groundhog, It's Your Day!
by Abby Levine, Nancy Cote (Illustrator) |
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Groundhog Day (Rookie Read-About Holidays)
by Michelle Aki Becker |
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Groundhog Gets a Say
by Pamela Curtis Swallow |
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Groundhog Stays Up Late
by Margery Cuyler |
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How Groundhog's Garden Grew
by Lynne Cherry (Illustrator) |
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It's Groundhog Day
by Steven Kroll, Jeni Bassett (Illustrator) |
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Punxsutawney Phyllis
by Susanna Leonard Hill |
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The Groundhog Day Book of Facts and Fun
by Wendie Old, Paige Billin-Frye, Wendie C. Old |
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The Secret of the First One Up
by Iris Hiskey Arno, Renee Graef (Illustrator) |
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Time to Sleep
by Denise Fleming |
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What Animals Do in Winter
by Melvin Berger |
Jan 16, 2012 by Karen Lewis Taylor |
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Following our previous post on books your 2-year old will love, I'd like to share these Eric Carle titles, with reviews courtesy of British blogger Rainy Day Mum (http://rainydaymum.co.uk). The initials refer to her own children and how much they're enjoying the books.
Brown Bear, Brown Bear what do you see? is the first of our selection. J loves colours and this is brilliant, each time the animal spies a different-coloured animal and repeats the same rhyme over and over again. We got the book out on Friday and already T has been read to with the book. J is doing well on his colours and I love every time he reads “Nellow Duck Nellow Duck what do you see?”.
Our second book is Do you want to be my friend this is really good for discovering what animal is next by looking at their tail. We’ve been look at it for the colours and guessing which animal is next based on the tiny bit of the animal that we see before turning the page.
1, 2, 3 to the zoo: a counting book is our 3rd book. This combines J’s two favourite things, animals and numbers. We’ve been counting the animals on each page as they go to the zoo, spotting the mouse, naming the animals and looking at the different colours for each of the pages.
Although having a few more words than I would normally choose for J he picked this up and refused to put it down because it had a "Cock a doodle doo" on the front! So Rooster’s Off to See the World is our 4th book. I would really recommend this for older readers as although it’s a great rea.d J isn’t getting as much out of it as the other Eric Carle books we have this week (but he’s a toddler and picked it up – so last time we read it he changed the story and made up his own story about it!).
Well no Eric Carle list would be complete without The Very Hungry Caterpillar and this is a firm favourite – we have various copies of this including board book – a version attached to the buggy about colours and J picked up a pop up one from the library (which I’ve decided we’ve now got to get).
Do YOU have a favorite Eric Carle book? Please share it with us using the "Comment" function below. And learn more about his work at http://www.eric-carle.com.
Jan 2, 2012 by Karen Lewis Taylor |
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If your New Year's Resolution includes spending more QT with the little people who live in your house, you've come to the right place. Lucy's Book Club will soon--very soon--release the suggested reading list for January 2012 to help you find the very best books to nurture your child's emotional health and social development. Stay tuned for that and for exciting updates about Bookmarked! 2012, our spring festival celebrating children's literature, scheduled for April 27-May 6.
In the meantime, here's a list of books your 2-year old is sure to love, courtesy of Sixty Second Parent (http://www.sixtysecondparent.com/_webapp_132017/Books_your_2-year-old_will_love). Which is YOUR family's favorite?
Time for Bed by Mem Fox and Jane Dyer
Dec 20, 2011 by Anna Quarles, LCSW, MPH |
Filed in: General
As the parent of a young child you may already know how your skills of focus, patience and empathy are needed on a daily basis! Did you know that research has shown that long-term stress can in fact override these parenting efforts and significantly impact children?
With holiday seasons can often time come stress. These can include coordinating travel, planning for relatives or just having spouses and kids home for an extended period of time! Luckily, these stressors are short-term and there can be many ways that parents can avoid becoming over-stressed during holiday breaks. One easy way is to add activities or excursions to your plans. Changes in schedules as well as the lack of a daily structure can be hard for kids that have settled into the rhythm of preschool or school. As you look ahead to the next few weeks of unscheduled time look back over our blog posts for ideas about reading, crafts or other activities (below are just a few). Adding a few extra minutes to plan something can help you and your children to take time to enjoy each other and offer positive ways to fill downtime, which both can help make family time as stress free as possible.
Local activities
Personal Gift Idea
Game/Craft Idea
Dec 12, 2011 by Karen Lewis Taylor |
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Yes, indeed, December is a busy month for most families, but if you're looking for some 
special activities to enjoy together--and perhaps create new traditions for your family that aren't about "the gimmes"--here are some ideas your children might enjoy:
- Explore the theatre: The vibrant Triangle theatre scene puts on many wonderful shows for the holidays. Introduce your child to the theatre with Raleigh Little Theatre's Cinderella, Carolina Ballet's The Nutcracker, or Theatre in the Park's fun, family-friendly take on A Christmas Carol.
- Enjoy some art: The NC Museum of Art scored a major coup with the opening of their historic Rembrandt exhibit, which is a must-see for art lovers. But the museum offers a whole lot more than that for families this month: Family Fun Saturdays, music programs, an evening of holiday fun, and more.
- Get some fresh air: Pullen Park has impressed local families with its grand re-opening following extensive renovations. Stop by to see what the fuss is all about!
- Give back: Holiday gift, coat, and food drives abound. Teach your child the value of sharing by participating in collections of both necessities and treats for the less fortunate. A quick Google of holiday drives will help you find your connection to the area's charities and foundations.
Do you have some other suggestions? Please share, using the "Comment" function below!
Dec 5, 2011 by Nikki Edmondson |
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Now that the holidays and cold weather are right around the corner, it is time to think about getting you and your children in the spirit. Whether you are a crafty family, a movie watching family, or a family who likes to cook together, here are some activities that might become new family traditions.
Looking to have some fun? A fun game that your children will love is “Tic-Tac-Snow.” This quick two-person game is easy enough for young children offers enough strategy to be played by older children as well.
Draw the board shown on a piece of paper, marking a dot at each intersection (eight around the edges and one in the middle). Older children may enjoy helping you make the board, and it is a great opportunity to practice measuring and artistic skills. Game pieces can be made from cotton balls glued to pennies and marked with dabs of paint in two contrasting colors will do just the trick. Give each player 4 pieces. As in tic-tac-toe, the object is to get three pieces in a row. To begin, Player 1 places a piece on any dot, then Player 2 goes and they continue alternating until all the pieces are down. If no one lands three pieces in a row, on the next turn a player may slide his or her piece to the next dot, trying to make a row of three. Play continues until one person makes tic-tac-snow. Repeat as many times as you like for family enjoyment.
If your family is more into cooking, and your children always want to take special treats to share at school or with a special friend, a great idea is to make “Snowman Soup.”. Learning to follow step-by-step directions has been proven to help children develop self-care skills.
Assemble in a small zipper food storage bag mix the following ingredients:
1 individual pack hot chocolate mix
3 Hershey's chocolate kisses
10-15 mini-marshmallow
1 small candy cane
Have your child write the poem below, then staple the tag to the top of the Snowman Soup baggie.
Was told you’ve been real good this year. Always glad to hear it!
With freezing weather drawing near, you’ll need to warm the spirit.
So here’s a little Snowman Soup, complete with a stirring stick.
Add hot water; sip it slow, it’s sure to do the trick.
For more holiday fun ideas, go to familyfun.go.com and you will find many more activities and recipes to enjoy the season with your children.
Nov 29, 2011 by Patti Wilt |
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Much-beloved children's book author/illustrator Eric Carle has recently published a new book, The Artist Who Painted a Blue Horse. According to Carle, the book was written in honor of the Expressionist painter Franz Marc, whose work made a strong impression on Carle when he was a young man. From Mr. Carle's website, http://www.eric-carle.com/bluehorse.html:
"I am an artist..." begins Eric Carle's vibrant tribute to the creative life. And just like an imaginative child, this is one artist who paints the world as he sees it--a red crocodile, an orange elephant, a purple fox, a black polar bear (!) and a wonderful polka-dotted donkey. Filled with some of the most magnificently colourful animals of Eric Carle's career, this is a book that celebrates imagination and the artist within us all.
When you share this wonderful book with your child, take the opportunity to talk together about the creative choices Carle made with the book's illustrations. Talk about nature and imagination and the fun of being able to color animals--and other things--in whatever way he likes. What wondrous new images of the world would your child create if he had the chance to do what Carle has done? Then take the experience a step further, as the author recommends, by getting out paper and crayons or paint and making art together.
Enjoy a brief video about the book at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6LaEDbkcKds. Enjoy an NPR interview with the author at http://www.npr.org/2011/10/08/141057271/the-blue-horse-that-inspired-a-childrens-book.
Do you have another favorite Eric Carle book? Please share it with us, using the "Comment" function below.
Nov 22, 2011 by Jenn Reid |
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Holidays such as Thanksgiving can bring about many changes to a family's daily routine. Some families have guests while others travel to visit friends or relatives. School is out for a couple of days, dinnertime and bedtime routines change, and the whirlwind of holiday activity can be both exciting and overstimulating for some children. What can you do to help your child maintain a sense of stability during times of change?
While time together with extended family can be fun and exciting for young children, changes in routine may be challenging for some children. Help your child know what to expect ahead of time. How many days will you be out of town? Or, if you are staying home, how many people will be visiting? If you are visiting relatives who you do not see very often, share pictures of them with your child so he or she has a sense of who is who. Packing your child's comfort objects (e.g., stuffies or special blankets) and favorite bedtime stories will help bedtime feel safe and predictable. At the end of a busy day of visiting with extended family, settling down with familiar routines helps children to feel more grounded and will give you and your child a chance to have some time alone to reflect on the day.
Most importantly, talk about the changes with your child. Explain your own reasons for why families get together around this time of year and why you have certain traditions in place. All of this will open up conversations about what is happening and will help your child have a better understanding of the changes. A better understanding ultimately leads to increased comfort during times of change.
Nov 14, 2011 by Karen Lewis Taylor |
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Since its inception in 2009, Lucy's Book Club has shared recommended reading lists on eight developmental topics (including our current topic, Families) with an estimated 30,000 children each year. How do we do it? In addition to this website, we distribute our lists with the help of sponsors, whose generous donations and in-kind gifts offset the costs of our outreach program, and dozens of partners in and around Wake County who display our materials and distribute bookmarks to interested families. Click here to see the list of our sponsors and distribution partners for 2011-12.
How can you help us? First and foremost, by sharing LBC titles with your child and by subscribing to this blog via the RSS feed (found on any "blog" page, in the right-hand column under the archives listing). Share this great resource with other parents looking for quality early childhood enrichment materials. Encourage your friends to join LBC via our "Become a Member" function and to "like" us on Facebook.
But there's more you can do to help us reach our goal of connecting with even more families in the coming year:
1. You can volunteer to distribute bookmarks to some of our partners whenever a new list is ready (typically three times per year: in September, January, and May). Make it a team effort with friends or co-workers.
2. You can ask your child's preschool or day care provider if they are currently partnering with us and, if not, let us know whom we might contact about setting up a partnership. It's free and easy to do!
3. If you run a family-friendly business, consider becoming a distribution partner yourself. We are particularly interested in branching out into Durham and Orange counties, and we appreciate your support and guidance as we seek out possible partners.
More information about all of these opportunities is here. And if you have other ideas, please use the "Comment" function below to share them!
