Archive for July 2011

Add your post! I have found so many new blogs through this link up, been inspired to try new things with my kids and added fun pins to my Pinterest board to reach even more people.  Our goal is to help parents and teachers, caregivers and kids have fun things to do everyday. Add your best post from this past week to be a part of this resource and take a peek at some of the other links to see what other creative bloggers have been up to .  Have a great week.

Never too young or old to read a picture book!

We are so close to my goal of 20,000 books read ! So far our readers and their kids have read 17734 books ( as of this morning) , can you believe it?!  Reading with your kids is so important not just for their learning but for quality family time too! I know next week the update will be announcing hitting 20,000 books so get your entry in and don’t forget one lucky participant will win a $50 Amazon.com gift card too!

If you haven’t joined our Summer Reading Challenge yet you are not too late. All the details are here but the gist of it is that you read with your kids, tally up how many books you have read, submit a tally sheet once per submission period ( see below) and then you are automatically entered to win a $50 Amazon.com gift card at the end of the summer. Pretty cool!

Submission Periods :

June 3-9th , 10th -16th , 17th- 23rd , 24th-30th

July 1st-7th , 8th-14th, 15th- 21st , 22nd-28th

July 29th – August 4th

August 5th-11th , 12th-18th , 19th -25th.

The winner will be drawn on the 26th of August.

Submit Your Tally Here

Whenever a big change is on the horizon my first place to turn to is the library to grab books that will help explain, ease anxiety and excite my kids. These school themed books are perfect for going to school for the first time or heading back after a fun summer off.

Maisy Goes to Preschool: A Maisy First Experiences Book by Lucy Cousins is not groundbreaking , it’s text is very formulaic but that doesn’t matter to most young readers who are being introduced to preschool for the first time. My daughter loved this book and my son loved helping me read it to her. It was sweet to see my son tell his little sister all about what she will do at preschool between reading. The book covers all the basics and one thing that really stood out was the page showing Maisy and other students in the potty. The reason I liked this was that for many children a big step at the same time as starting preschool is potty training. The bright colors absolutely thrilled my toddler.

First Year Letters by Julie Danneberg is a really great book about a new , eager teacher and her loyal class. My son loved this book because it was filled with funny mishaps during a teacher’s first year of teaching. The mishaps include runaway pets, falling buffalo, visits from the fire department not once but twice, and more every day things like barf. If you have a child like mine that thinks barf is funny, they will love it. I love the premise, letters written by students much like journal entries with coordinating illustrations. It made me want to get back to teaching and my son asked me if he’d get to have a teacher like that some day. I hope he does!

Miss Mingo and the First Day of School by Jamie Harper is a delightful book. Miss Mingo is a flamingo and teacher who wants to know about her students on the first day of school. She starts the exercise by sharing some fun facts about being a flamingo , like why she is pink, and before you know it the whole class of different animals are sharing. This book not only shows kids that it’s okay to share about themselves but it is full of fun facts about animals in the fine print. I learned something I never knew about a Narwhal! It is a bit long for a toddler but each page highlights new animals and it’s easy to skip a few for those that aren’t ready for a book of this length. This is going on my buy list!


The Babies on the Bus by Karen Katz made my daughter squeal at the bookstore when we read it . She loves babies and this book was full of them. The text is the song ” Wheels on the Bus” tweaked a little to be babies on the bus and illustrated with Karen Katz’s adorable babies.  I can not read it without singing though so I sang it loud and proud in Barnes and Noble to my delighted daughter.

I Love School! by Philemon Sturges is a great simple book. I am a fan of this author and his basic books that kids love. He manages to cover all the things that happen at school from the start to the end of the day in an easy rhyming text. What makes this book stand out for me is that the boys and girls were both playing with dolls, something that you see in classrooms every day but rarely in books, it was a nice touch.

I asked my facebook readers which book they would like to see us read next  and then I read through what seemed like endless amazon reviews but kept coming back to this one. Cinderella Ate My Daughter: Dispatches from the Front Lines of the New Girlie-Girl Culture I am part way through the book and I want to find the author and thank her for such a wonderful , thought provoking book. My husband probably doesn’t as he he constantly woken from sleep by me so I can excitedly tell him a new revelation that the book as sparked. Apparently 1am is not a cool time to talk about parenting. I think it’s only fair since both our kids woke me often to nurse at 1am . I finally just told him to download the book to his Kindle because it’s such a great read.

We will have a live Facebook chat August 27th to discuss. This gives us lots of time to read and reflect. Don’t worry of you can’t make the live chat because the questions will be posted along with the discussion for all those who can’t be there “live”.

Owls and squirrels and hedgehogs, oh my! Not as menacing as lions and tigers and bears but so much cuter. Here is a round up of a bunch of our fun woodland creatures crafts for kids.I love digging out old crafts into themed round ups hopefully making it even easier for you to find fun things to do and make with your kids.

  1. Squirrel and Nut Matching Game
  2. Owl O Letter Craft
  3. Hand Print Hedgehog Craft
  4. Toadstool Math Activity
  5. Tissue Paper Snail Craft
  6. Yarn Nest
  7. Paper Plate Lady Bug

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