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Viewing: Blog Posts Tagged with: Feed Me Books Friday, Most Recent at Top [Help]
Results 1 - 9 of 9
1. Mittens by Lola M. Schaefer: I Can Read! Beginning Reader Series - Shadow by Suzy Lee

When encouraging a new reader, it's important to find books that fit the child. Book Aunt wrote a great post a few weeks back about choosing the right books, if you are looking for specific tips. I've noticed that my daughter has definite preferences when it comes to books she wants to read independently. She loves books about baby animals, especially kittens, and she also gravitates towards books with a little girl as the main character.

We recently stumbled upon an I Can Read! book series by Lola M. Schaefer about a little gray kitten named Mittens. The books are "My First Readers" and are on the easier side of the beginning reader levels, perfect for preschoolers, kindergarteners and emergent readers. She adores this series because a). a cute little kitten is the main character and b.) she can read the books herself without any trouble whatsoever. We own all four in the series, and they've been in her book rotation all week long. The books remind me a of the popular Biscuit series books, except, of course, they are about a cat instead of a dog. My daughter wishes that Mitten's owner was a little girl instead of a boy.


Mittens by Lola M. Schaefer, illustrated by Susan Kathleen Hartung. HarperCollins (April 2007); 9780060546618; 32 pages

Follow Me, Mittens by Lola M. Schaefer, illustrated by Susan Kathleen Hartung. HarperCollins (March 2008); 9780060546670; 32 pages

What's That, Mittens? by Lola M. Schaefer, illus

8 Comments on Mittens by Lola M. Schaefer: I Can Read! Beginning Reader Series - Shadow by Suzy Lee, last added: 4/4/2011
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2. Bridget's Beret by Tom Lichtenheld - My Little Train by Satomi Ichikawa - Famous Works of Art in Picture Books

Two of the books we brought home from our last library visit contain famous works of art. What an excellent opportunity to introduce my children to a few famous artists! This week we talked about Monet, Van Gogh, O'Keeffe, Matisse, Cézanne and more. It was a completely unplanned educational activity.

Have you discovered any other picture books that contain versions of famous works of art?

Bridget's Beret by Tom Lichtenheld. Henry Holt / Christy Ottaviano Books (April 2010); ISBN 9780805087758; 40 pages
Book Source: Copy from local library

"Before Bridget made any kind of art, she'd put on her beret and adjust it just right."

Bridget's favorite pastime is drawing. She has many art supplies, and, most importantly, like all great artists, she owns and wears a beret. Sadly, on a very windy day, her fabulous black beret blows away. Without the special hat for inspiration, Bridget finds herself suffering from -- *gasp* -- artist's block! Thankfully her sister comes to the rescue and helps her remember that when life hands you lemons, you make lemonade.

Lichtenheld's book overflows with creativity, cuteness and plenty of clever quips and illustrations. My family is a huge fan of Lichtenheld's previous books (Duck! Rabbit! & Shark Vs. Train) and love his entertaining comic illustration style. A talking rabbit is just one of the many funny touches. He manages to craftily work in a few interpretations of famous art into this book. Bridget creates lemonade poster renditions including one of van Gogh's "The Starry Night" and another inspired by "Whistler's Mother."

As soon as I read the inside jacket flap and discovered that this book was about a girl who loves to draw, I knew I wanted to read it with my daughter. Bridget's Beret is the perfect book for budding artists.

The book includes a handy "How to Start Your Art" guide in the back that discusses several famous works of art: Giuseppe Arcimboldo, "Summer" - Mary Cassatt, "Child with a Red Hat" - Paul Cezanne, "Still Life with Peaches and Pears" - Vincent van Gogh, "Bedroom at Arles" - Henri Matisse, "Icarus" - Claude Monet, "Still Life with Sunflowers" - Georgia O'Keeffe, "Above the Clouds I" - Pablo Picasso, "Bull's Head" - Rembrandt Harmensz van Rijn, "Self Portrait in a Cap, Open-Mouthed" - Georges Seurat, "Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte" - Alfred Sisley, "The Boat in the Flood"

Related Links:
Tom Lichtenheld Website


9 Comments on Bridget's Beret by Tom Lichtenheld - My Little Train by Satomi Ichikawa - Famous Works of Art in Picture Books, last added: 3/29/2011
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3. 13 Words by Lemony Snicket - Book Review & Sight Words Activity


"It is a beautiful song. It has been a good day. Everyone, everyone, everyone, everyone has cake."

13 Words by Lemony Snicket, illustrated by Maira Kalman. HarperCollins (October 2010); ISBN 9780061664656; 40 pages
Book Source: Review copy from publisher

Word Number 3: Cake. We've consumed a lot of birthday cake this past month. Both kids celebrated their birthdays as well as a couple of their grandparents. That equates to many, many cakes. Lemony Snicket's new picture book, 13 Words, weaves 13 unrelated words together. Cake (word #3) is one of the more usual words in the book, and my daughter's favorite of the entire list. The other 12 words (some normal, some not) are:

Bird • Despondent • Dog • Busy • Convertible • Goat • Hat • Haberdashery • Scarlet • Baby • Panache • Mezzo-Soprano

Now, I imagine you are wondering how all those words fit together in a story. Truth be told, this isn't at all an ordinary book. In fact, it is very odd. But, with Lemony Snicket as the author, one doesn't expect something ordinary! The story starts out with a despondent bird. The poor blue bird is sad, very sad, so a dog does his best to cheer her up, with the help of a convertible driving goat and song-spinning mezzo-soprano. After an eventful day involving hats and more, they all eat cake. The book ends with a quote by Albert Einstein, "The only reason for time is so that everything doesn't happen at once."

Maira Kalman’s whimsical illustrations add to the quirkiness. The humor found in the pictures is just as strange and funny as the text, but the illustrations also convey a much deeper feeling of loneliness and sadness. Underneath a dark rain cloud, a despondent bird sits perched on top a can of mushy peas right next to a book by Kafka? Unusual, yes?

I found the book extremely intriguing. It is both simple and complex at the same time, and school-aged and adult readers will enjoy drawing their own conclusions about the story. My daughter loved learning a few new words and also liked that the book also used some "easy words" for beginning readers. And, of course, a big thumbs up for all the cake, especially the birthday cake with six candles!



Lately we've spent a lot of time exploring words. With a beginning reader in the house, our goal is to foster a love of language and of words. 13 Words provides a fun way to show how random words can connect together to form a story. It is indeed, like the publicity release indicates, "a launch pad for creative minds of all ages."

☁ ☁ ☁ ☁ Sight Words Activity ☁ ☁ ☁ ☁


My daughter picked her 13 favorite sight words from her kindergarten sight word list and wrote them on a

6 Comments on 13 Words by Lemony Snicket - Book Review & Sight Words Activity, last added: 3/7/2011
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4. The Snowman by Raymond Briggs - Book Review

Even though we've received plenty of snow this winter, we still haven't had the chance to build a snowman. The cold weather and a few illnesses have put a wrench in our outdoor play. But there's plenty of winter left to build a snowman, so there's still hope. In the meantime, we'll have to remain content with reading about the white creations and imagining what would happen if one came to life.

The Snowman by Raymond Briggs; Random House (November 1978); ISBN 9780394839738

The Snowman by Raymond Briggs is quite possibly one of the most famous children's books to feature a snowman. A series of small frames on each page tell the tale in this wordless picture book about the adventures of a little boy and his snowman. The softly hued illustrations are action filled and my kids really enjoy narrating the sequence of events.

A little boy wakes up to a snowy morning and runs outside to build a snowman. Later that night, the snowman comes to life. The little boy invites the snowman inside and they explore the boy's home. They do many things together--they switch the lights off and on, eat ice, the snowman tries on some clothes, they skateboards around the house and they even eat a snack. The snowman returns the kindness by taking the boy back outdoors for a magical nighttime flying adventure. Morning arrives and the boy must say goodbye to his friend.

My toddler son enjoyed paging through this book...that is until the last page. He wasn't fond of the ending. However, it gave us the opportunity to discuss snowmen and talk about how they don't last forever. The sun is a powerful foe. We found a few things interesting in the book. The boy doesn't design a typical three-ball snowman. His snowman is made from two segments and has arms and carved legs. Also, there's a little geography in the book. The boy and snowman fly over the Royal Pavilion in Brighton, England.

We own a lift-the-flap version of The Snowman and it ends happily. Perhaps that is why my little guy was shocked after finally reading the original version. He was expecting it to end like his board book version. In fact, several editions and versions of The Snowman exist and not all are wordless. The online reviews for all the books are combined together, making it difficult to determine what to expect if you purchase something other than the original. Here's our review of the Nifty Lift-and-Look Book Series version:


12 Comments on The Snowman by Raymond Briggs - Book Review, last added: 1/11/2011
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5. Doors by Roxie Munro - Feed Me Books Friday


The Adventure of Motherhood

I've decided to participate in today's Feed Me Books Friday meme, held over at The Adventure of Motherhood. Each week she posts a special theme. Today it's all about lift-the-flap books.

Lift-the-flap book have always been a huge hit with my kids. We own several Spot books and you can't beat Karen Katz's huge selection for toddlers. But both kids have their favorites:

My son's current lift-the-flap favorite: Trains (Lift and Look) - Usborne Books

This sturdy board book has managed to remain intact despite the eager hands of both my children. It is well constructed on has multiple flaps per page, making it perfect even for very young children. A teddy bear is hidden somewhere under one of the flaps on each page spread, so it doubles as a fun search and find. My train-loving son likes to look at the book over and over and over. It's part of a series of Usborne Lift and Look Books, but we've never tried reading any of the others. I picked up our copy at an Usborne book fair.

My daughter's current lift-the-flap favorite: Doors by Roxie Monre

Great for preschoolers and older, kids will love looking to see what is behind each door, searching in an I-Spy kind way. The impressive book includes lift-the-flaps behind the lift-the-flap doors. The doors lead you to a fire station, train, barn, doctor's office, boat, refrigerator, garage, theater, space ship, and best of all - a door to an imaginary world only found in a book. My daughter loves the castle in this book.

Do you have any favorite lift-the-flap books?

10 Comments on Doors by Roxie Munro - Feed Me Books Friday, last added: 2/7/2010
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6. Feed Me Books Friday - LOVE-ly Books


The Adventure of Motherhood

Feed Me Books Friday is all about LOVE this week. Here are a few of our favorite love themed books, just in time for Valentine's Day. If you have time, visit The Adventure of Motherhood to link up your favorites.

My toddler son loves to cuddle and give kisses. I don't know how long that will last, but I'm sure enjoying his displays of affection. He is my little love bug, and he adores the book You're My Little Love Bug by Heidi R. Weimer, mostly because of the flashy lights and music. The book consists of rhyming, cutesy endearments and whimsical illustrations. It is super sugary sweet so watch out if you're usually not one to go overboard with the sweetie phrases. It's one of those "small batteries required" books...just warning you. The music from the book doesn't quite match up to the text so you have to either make your story shorter or close and reopen the book to finish singing along. The last phrase is the best, "You're everything that's wonderful/You're all of the above!/But most of all/What you are/Is God's sweetest gift of love!"


My preschool daughter checked out several Valentine's Day themed books from the library. Her favorite is Roses Are Pink, Your Feet Really Stink by Diane deGroat. A furry animal named Gilbert needs to write out Valentine's Day poems for his classmates but doesn't feel like being nice towards Lewis and Margaret. Earlier they made fun of him so he retaliates by writing nasty poems and making it sound like Margaret and Lewis sent them to each other. The book stimulates discussion about classroom dynamics, friendships, apologies and forgiveness. I especially like that the children solve their own problems. One of the girls in the class asks Gilbert why he did such a mean thing and mends hurt feelings.


7 Comments on Feed Me Books Friday - LOVE-ly Books, last added: 2/13/2010
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7. Horton Hatches the Egg by Dr. Seuss - Feed Me Books Friday

On March 2nd, kids from across the nation celebrate Dr. Seuss's birthday by participating in NEA's Read Across America Day events, a huge reading celebration. This week's Feed Me Books Friday theme at The Adventure of Motherhood is "Books by Dr. Seuss in honor of his upcoming birthday". Link up your favorites there.

Surprisingly, I don't really recall liking too many Dr. Seuss books as a child. One of his books that I do remember reading with my mom often is Horton Hatches the Egg. I'm not sure where my mom bought our copy, but she probably found it at a garage sale or maybe she got it for free from the store. If I remember correctly, the paperback copy we owned had a mark on the cover indicating that it was part of a promotion for Crest/Prell/Wondra. Our copy suffered some wear from the frequent readings. I'm not sure if my mom still has our copy, but if it was still in good condition it looks like it would be worth more than many of the normal editions because of it's rarity. Who would guess a once free book would have any worth? Go figure.

Horton Hatches the Egg is one of Dr. Seuss's earlier works, first published in 1940. In the book, Horton agrees to sit on a Mazie's (a lazy bird) egg while she goes off on a "short" vacation. He faithfully sits on the egg through the rain and snow and kept on, even though the other animals teased him and people made him part of a circus act.


"I meant what I said / And I said what I meant.... / An elephant's faithful / One hundred per cent!"
Horton is an extremely lovable character. Readers can easily sympathize with him. The witty, rhyming verses in this book are top notch, showing Seuss's genius way with words. The book does contain an image of hunters with guns, so sensitive children may get a little frightened at this part. Several moral themes run through the book including responsibility, perseverance and keeping your word. In an Anchorage Daily News article from 1978, Seuss says that the idea for Horton came while he was working in his studio one day and the wind blew a picture of an elephant on top of another piece of paper where he had drawn a tree.

In that same article he remarks, "Teaching a child to read is a family setup. It's the business of having books around the house, not forcing them. Parents should have 20 books stacked on tables or set around the living room. The average kid will pick one up, find something interesting. And pretty soon he's reading." Horton Hatches the Egg is on top of one of our piles right now!

We made Horton Handprint Elephants for a corresponding craft. I saw the idea for the handprint elephants on the Learning 4 Fun blog and we added a tree, nest and egg to complete Horton inspired pictures. They turned out pretty cute.

5 Comments on Horton Hatches the Egg by Dr. Seuss - Feed Me Books Friday, last added: 2/28/2010
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8. Eggs and chicks - What we've been reading
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By: Brimful Curiosities, on 4/10/2010
Blog: Brimful Curiosities (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags:  What my children are reading, Feed Me Books Friday, Educational Resources, Book Review, Picture Books, Kid Konnection, Animals, Add a tag

I mentioned in an earlier post that my daughter's pre-kindergarten class is waiting for three duck eggs to hatch. The eggs are inside a mini 3-egg incubator. On Thursday the teacher showed the children how to candle the eggs by shining a bright light through each of eggs. Apparently all the embryos are developing. We checked out a few books from the library about eggs and chicks this week. If you know of a children's book about ducks and eggs, let me know!

An Egg is Quiet by Dianna Aston, illustrated by Sylvia Long.

This informative and detailed book has gorgeous ink and watercolor illustrations of various eggs from numerous different types of species (over 60). My daughter was surprised how varied the eggs are in color, shape and size. A detailed egg diagram shows the parts of an egg. The main text uses the repetitive phrase, "An egg is..." to talk about egg differences. Beautiful book!

This Little Chick by John Lawrence

We picked this book up for its unusual engraved illustrations. Appropriate for toddlers and preschoolers, the simple, repetitive text tells about a little chick that explores the farmyard and listens to the noises the other animals make. He meets pigs, ducks, cows, frogs, and lambs and heads back home to his mom and has plenty to say after his journey. The eye-catching engravings make this book stand out from other barnyard animal books. My daughter loved the duck illustration, of course!

Little Chick by Amy Hest, illustrated by Anita Jeram

Three stories in one book, this gem by Amy Hest is a quiet and thoughtful storytelling read. The short entries include "The Carrot That Would Not Grow," "The Kite That Would Not Fly" and "The Starry Night." In all the stories a wise and kind Old-Auntie chicken patiently offers guidance to a yellow Little Chick. Kids will sympathize with Little Chick's frustration. My daughter commented that she has a hard time making kites fly, too. Anita Jeram's soft watercolor illustrations pair wonderfully with the gentle tone of the stories.

The Adventure of Motherhood

7 Comments on Eggs and chicks - What we've been reading, last added: 4/12/2010
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9. Some Favorite Picture Books - Show Us Your Life
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By: Brimful Curiosities, on 5/14/2010
Blog: Brimful Curiosities (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags:  Show Us Your Life, Feed Me Books Friday, Children's Books, Add a tag

The "Show Us Your Life" topic this week at Kelly's Korner is favorite books. Obviously, I couldn't resist contributing a few favorites in our home. Here are some of our "ripped pages books," a sure sign of a book has been well-loved and read often. Honestly, this is just a start...there are so many more that I could have included. What books would you include in the "ripped pages" category?



Clockwise from top:
Chugga-Chugga Choo-Choo by Kevin Lewis
Olivia by Ian Falconer
The Monster at the end of this Book by Jon Stone and Michael Smollin
Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus by Mo Willems
Corduroy by Don Freeman
Mary Engelbreit's Mother Goose
I'm Dirty by Kate and Jim McMullan

By the way, if you are looking for "the best of the best," here are a couple of stellar book lists, provided by Fuse #8 of the School Library Journal. (A Fuse #8 Production is a great blog to follow if you want to be in the know about new children's book releases).

Top 100 Children’s Novels
http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/blog/1790000379/post/1820053782.html
Top 100 Picture Books
http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/blog/1790000379/post/540044254.html


Show Us Your Life with Kelly's KornerThe Adventure of Motherhood I'm also linking this post up to Feed Me Books Friday at The Adventure of Motherhood.

7 Comments on Some Favorite Picture Books - Show Us Your Life, last added: 5/16/2010
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