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
