Celebrating Picture Book Month

Today is the start of Picture Book Month.  As you probably can guess by my frequent book reviews, reading updates, and blog posts, I am a huge fan of picture books.  I will most definitely be celebrating Picture Book Month.  Yay!  Having the realization that Picture Book Month protocol may not be clear and we may need guidance for how to celebrate, I’ve come up with ten ideas to celebrate Picture Month Book in your classroom, in your home, on your own, or with others. 

1. Read lots of picture books.  Make a goal of reading at least one picture book a day or one new picture book each week.

2. Visit your local libraries. Pull picture books off the shelf and discover new authors and illustrators!  Ask the librarian for assistance in find the right book for your and your child/students.

3. Find your favorite picture books from when you were a child.  My husband recently found his two favorite childhood picture books online.  Thanks to the selling power of Amazon, he found Disney Classic Button Soup.  It was such a pleasure to see Nana reading Button Soup to our Lil Guy.  (The Big Guy was listening too!)

4. Visit book blogs that are celebrating Picture Book Month.  There are so many amazing book blogs out there that may cater to your picture book tastes.   You can easily blog hop from one book blog to another just by checking for ‘blogs I follow’ links.

5. Check out past Caldecott winners.  The Caldecott medal is given to picture books by a committee that recognizes excellence in story and illustrations.  Click HERE for the official Caldecott website with a lits of previous winners and honor books.

6. Stock up on picture books as gifts for birthdays, holidays, or give them as children (or adults) just because.  I love giving (and receiving) books as gifts. Work a book into a themed gift! (Give sporting goods plus a book about a favorite character playing sports.)

7. Visit a local book store.  Book stores are one of my true vices.  I love seeing the full book shelves and new books ready to be discovered.  I also love used book stores where I can grab a stack of picture books from the clearance section for a steal.  Try local indie book stores for unique local reads!

8. Participate in PiBoIdMo.  Picture Book Idea Month was started by Tara at Writing For Kids.  You can sign up on her blog.  The idea is simple.  Get your ideas for picture books out of your head and into notebooks, onto paper, write, sketch, and get organized.  If you are the writing type, check out herideas along with the other participants HERE.

9. Reread your favorite picture books.  Grab those favorites off the shelves.  Enjoy them or look at them critically for a new perspective.  Use fun voices for the characters or read a book in the dark with only a flashlight.  (Kids love that!)  Try reading book for younger students to an older audience and see their reaction!

10. Join a reading community.  Connect with other readers of picture books online at GoodReads or on twitter.  Check for your favorite author or illustrator’s website.  Go to story time with your children or encourage older students to share non-fiction picture books in the classroom.  (It’s worth it, I promise!) 

Overall, have fun and enjoy picture books.   

Have a great Picture Book Month and for more information, 

visit Picture Book Month Blog HERE.   

Anyone else planning to celebrate 

Picture Book Month?

Halloween and Spooky Reads

It’s October and before you know it, Halloween will be here.  We’ve been reading Halloween and spooky reads the last few weeks and here are a few I have to share with you today:

Creepy Carrots  by Aaron Reynolds and Peter Brown (Illustrator) is a spooky book for young readers.  The story isn’t just for Halloween and features Jasper a carrot loving bunny.  The book is styled like a graphic novel with sometimes multiple panels on a page.  Many people have been featuring this book lately, I read one review from School Library Journal that mentioned the coloring in the book is mostly black and white with tons of shadows and interesting ‘film angles’.  Add in the little touches of orange focusing your eye throughout the book and you have a nod to Film Noir.  Maybe young readers won’t recognize the homage, but teachers and parents might appreciate the details.  Overall, the book was loved by my 3 yr old Lil Guy.  We’ve been rereading it and going back through to find details in the illustrations.  Highly Recommended to Preschool to Grade 3 who are look for a scary but not too scary book for read alouds, 2-3 grade independent readers, and Halloween readers who like film noir.

Pumpkin Heads by Wendell Minor is a picture book for the youngest of readers.  Each 2 page spread features a beautiful depiction of fall or Halloween with simple text.  This book would be great for a read aloud or for young independent readers.  It’s great to see a children’s book that treats children respectfully, offering a sophisticated view of Autumn.  The sparse text begs for readers to slow down and note the details.  Recommended for readers who want to connect to the natural part of fall.

The Hallo-wiener by Dav Pilkey is a fun picture book with Pilkey’s trademark sense of humor.  The story features Oscar a wiener dog who is miserable and getting picked on at school.  When Halloween comes around, Oscar has the worst possible costume, a hot dog.  Little Oscar becomes a hero when the tables are turned on his bullies.  The book’s illustrations are extremely appealing to K-3 readers.  The overall story is funny and predictable, but it lacks a bit of restraint with the name calling and pranks.  Recommended for a fun and light read before Halloween.

Don’t miss my Blogiversary Giveaway!  

 Just leave a comment 

and mention one of my favorite books listed 

for a chance to win a new copy of that book.  

 Visit the post HERE to see the details!

Happy Easter! Happy Passover!

Happy Easter!  Happy Passover!  In our family, we are celebrating both Easter and Passover this weekend.  I truly love holidays, so having a double holiday weekend is a treat for me.  In the spirit of all holidays and special occasions, we like to celebrate by reading of course!  Since the library’s selection of Easter and Passover books were quite picked over, I decided to look at our own shelves and baskets of books.  I had been meaning to go through my 3 year old’s books , redistributing the books so some new books might take favor.  I found: Company's Coming: A Passover Lift-the-Flap Book  by Joan Holub and Happy Easter Little Critter.

Company's Coming: A Passover Lift-the-Flap Book  by Joan Holub is perfect in the hands of a Lil Guy like mine.  In the book are enough flaps to keep pre-schoolers busy, enough text to reinforce family traditions, and enough to charm to make the book likable and fun.  Company’s Coming features one family sharing its traditions: setting the Seder table, small bits of Hebrew, favorite Passover foods, and a few other customs.  If you celebrate Passover, the book has a very recognizable sequence of events.  If you are not familiar with Passover, the book offers a glimpse into a family Seder.  There is a glossary in the back of the book offering kid friendly definitions lf unfamiliar terms: Afikomen, gefilte fish, matzoh, haggadah and others.   My favorite part of the book is also my favorite part of the meal: the Seder plate.  This version offers lift the flap foods that explain the food and what it represents for the meal.  I enjoyed this book because it doesn’t sensationalize the holiday, it reinforces it.  It shows the strong Jewish tradition of celebrating holidays with those you love in your own home.  Don’t pass this up if you have 3 – 8 year olds, it’s a perfect companion to the holiday.

Happy Easter Little Critter is of course from author Mercer Mayer.  The Little Critter series is a favorite in our house.  We have several book, e-books, and apps all featuring Little Critter.  Kids really like the playful and expressive Little Critter who is often featured with his family.  This book is no different, showing the fun and exciting parts of Easter as well as some obligatory and tiresome parts.  All in all the book is a sweet book just right for adding to your lil one’s Easter Basket. 

  

… and: I promise next year to take the time to find better Easter books to share with my Lil Guy and the blog.  Hope you enjoyed seeing 2 simple books that can be part of your holiday.  Let me know if you have an Easter or Passover book that I should check out.  What's your favorite read of the season?  Happy Easter, Happy Passover, and Happy Weekend to us all.

Happy 100th Birthday to Girl Scouts

Happy 100^th Birthday to Girl Scouts this week.  I have been a girl scout for over 30 years and some of my best memories have been made with this amazing organization.  From when I was very young, I enjoyed camping, crafting, and friendship.  As I grew older I took on leadership, self-esteem, and community service.  Today I still feel Girl Scouts has shaped me into the strong teacher, mother, and reader that I am today.  That’s why I was thrilled to find a new book featuring the Girl Scout story.

Here Comes the Girl Scouts! written by Shana Corey and illustrated by Hadley Hooper is a new picture book for both Girl Scouts and non-scouts who are looking for an inspiring story.  Author Shana Corey starts out the book by tell about young Daisy who is adventurous and imaginative.  Daisy, of course, later becomes the founder of Girl Scouts in the U.S. and starts an organization based on the principals of honor, loyalty, and friendship.  The book also features quotes from Daisy herself, along with the some famous girl scouts everyone will recognize.  A fact filled section in the back of the book also highlights some other Girl Scout ideals like diversity, conservation, and the legacy of Girl Scouting.

This book has an obvious target audience for school aged girls, but also would be a great read aloud for Women’s History Month.  The fairy-tale like story intermingled with quotes, and print rich illustrations may not be my favorite style, but showcased Girl Scout’s humble beginnings well.  Also, while the story does a good job telling about the foundation of Girl Scouts it does read more like a biography of Juliette ‘Daisy’ Gordon Lowe.  Overall I was more than impressed with the modern interpretation of Daisy and Girl Scouts.  This book will be a welcome addition to Girl Scout meetings and lifelong Girl Scouts, like me.