 My two children love Eric Carle books.... so we searched the house for all of our books and games by this author and set forth on a really fun week with friends!
The kids loved this caterpillar craft. They used lots of tape to make paper rolls and had fun using a paper hole punch.
 We read dozen of books by this Massachusetts author and made coordinating crafts.
One day we read Pancakes Pancakes and then made butter, just like Jack in the book. Simply put 1 cup of heavy cream in a sealed jar and SHAKE. The kids shook the jar for awhile and then I finished the job. We added a dash of salt and enjoyed our butter on homemade pancakes for lunch.
 We made three kinds of pancakes- blueberry, pumpkin, strawberry. The children voted on their favorite. The winner was strawberry.
 After reading
The Very Hungry Caterpillar we made beautiful butterflies with dot markers and painted hands.
 I found lots of Eric Carle printables on Pinterest and on he web.
We practiced writing we colored, and we made our own Eric Carle puzzles.
The children practiced both writing and drawing when we made our own Brown Bear books, with animals of each child's choice. We had pink flamingos and purple skunks!
At the end of an author study I help my 4.5 year old write a letter to the author. This is a nice way to close the week and recap all of the books that we read and activities that we did. Online you can find mailing address for almost every living author. We have even heard back from a few authors.
What book collections do you have that could be the start to a really fun author study?
Honi Bean Barrett is a local stay at home/work at home mom of two young children. Her background is in teaching, her passion is photography, and her love is her children! Visit Honi's personal blog at www.tryvermontfirst.com
Since I am on the computer all day at work I spend precious little time online for recreation...maybe an hour a week ..but you know where I can be found for a good chunk of that time (besides a certain British gentleman's fansite or reading Downton Abbey Season 4 pre-gossip)?
Etsy.
Yeah, Etsy.
Just reveling in the deliciousness of people handcrafting, making their passion and vision manifest in kooky and wonderous ways helps me feed my inner artist. There are plenty of children's craft books, on the market, ones that connect art directly to the words on a page but none like my latest treasured find.
Show Me A Story: 40 Craft Projects to Spark Children's Storytelling by Emily Neuberger is a revelation. Simplicity, beauty, and so much wide open space to create! Ideas like Story Dice (crazy-cute and so easy), Magical Mailboxes to receive notes from real and imaginary friends, and games like Truth or Tale and 1,2,3, Scribble and Tell ---
This is about creating moments not projects... and it has given me inspiration-a-plenty to start my long hoped for writers circle for ages 6-10 at KHL that will launch in March!!
Get in line for this book!!
Librarian Linda can be found in the thick of the rambuncious-train table-Storytime crowd at Montpelier's Kellogg Hubbard Children's Department. Linda was cofounder of Mama Says (2004), Mama Says Action! (2006), and Vermont Birth Network (2007). Once a teacher of prenatal yoga, bellydance, creative writing...Once owner of Vermont Diaper Company/Sorella Luna (2006-2011). Linda lives in Montpelier with her husband, Triple Gemini daughter, and two felines.
That’s what Jack and Annie say as they begin yet another Magic Tree House adventure. As I read these words aloud for what feels like the hundredth time, I admit I’m thinking, What I wish is that we could read something else. But I can’t discount how much my daughter, like so many other children ages 4-9, loves these books. So to help myself tolerate their repetitiveness and simplistic language, I’ve been trying to figure out why they’re so compelling to so many kids. I realized that they must successfully tap into the developmental tasks and needs of children this age, taking them on fictional adventures with just the right balance of excitement and safety for kids who are getting ready to explore their own worlds in new ways.
The Magic Tree House series by Mary Pope Osborne, now includes almost 50 short chapter books, written at a 2nd-3rd grade reading level. The short sentences and simple writing do not make them ideal for reading aloud, but that doesn’t seem to bother kids (even those who also like more sophisticated writers like E.B. White).
So, what’s the big deal? Lots of other books have magic and adventure, and even a puzzle or riddle for the characters to solve. This series also offers information about history, animals, nature, and mythology, with extra facts and fact books for those who want even more. But it must be more than that because some kids will seek out every single book, whether it’s about space or the first Olympics or the Arctic.
It must have to do with the transition from early to middle childhood. At about age 6 or 7, children make the shift from a grounding in home and family to a grounding in the earth and the wider world. They are ready to explore an ever-expanding world, to try out newfound independence and responsibility, to take more steps out of that warm circle of firelight that is the safety of home and parents. Which is exactly what Jack and Annie are doing, rather dramatically, and the Magic Tree House stories manage to hit that developmental period just right.
It’s easy for kids to identify with one or both of the main characters as they travel in the magic tree house to all different times and places. Jack, age eight, loves books and learning and likes to do research and take notes. Seven-year-old Annie is bolder and wants to dive right into each adventure, and she makes friends easily with both people and animals. The gender stereotypes are limited, which helps broaden the appeal. So, part of it is that children get to explore the world, past and present, with Jack and Annie.
The two siblings have all sorts of adventures where scary things threaten them, from Sabertooth tigers to horse thieves to tsunamis. They’re often pretty scared, especially Jack. Yet they’re always together and they protect each other. They have magical friends looking out for them from a bit of a distance, beginning with Morgan le Fay, a somewhat grandmotherly sorceress-librarian from Camelot. They are always excited to be whisked off to various times and places (despite the crazy danger they’re often in), and they complete each mission despite their fears. Yet in the end they are always glad to go home.
The books manage to convey the right amount of excitement, adventure, and even peril for many children this age. Another parent told me that they have helped her son a lot with his fears; Jack and Annie might be afraid, but he isn’t. The repeated structure of the books reassures readers that Jack and Annie will always say, “I wish we could go home” and the tree house will take them there safely.
In addition, Jack and Annie are entrusted with important and difficult “missions,” despite their youth. They save ancient stories from destruction, break spells that have been keeping people enchanted, learn to use magic responsibly, talk with famous people from Plato to Clara Barton, and even find the secrets of happiness(!). All at great risk to themselves. In some of the books they even have the opportunity to help people or animals escape disaster, getting children into a lifeboat from the Titanic or rescuing pandas from an earthquake. Rather than being victims or merely observers, the children have agency and power within the forces of nature and history. That’s huge when you’re a small person at the whims of the adult world.
This is what children increasingly want and need as they grow into middle childhood—to explore and investigate the world around them and to have the power to affect it in meaningful ways. And they want adults to give them the trust and the responsibility to do something that feels important. Yet they also want to come home safely, each and every time. So this may be why Jack and Annie and their magic tree house loom so large in the imaginations of children on both sides of this transition. The Magic Tree House takes children through fantasy after fantasy of what it could mean to be a “big kid,” magic included. No wonder kids love these books so much.
Rebecca Yahm is the parent of a five-year-old daughter and a homeschool teacher and consultant. She has a background in progressive education and previously taught in public and private schools. She has been providing support services, tutoring, and classes for homeschoolers since 2003, when she started
Open Path Homeschooling Resources <http://openpathhomeschooling.com> to support homeschooling as
an educational alternative. She also teaches at Pacem School and Homeschool Center <http://pacemschool.org>.
After Diary of a Wimpy Kid you could read……
Suggestions for those readers ensnared by the graphics, the weight of the paper, the fonts, oh, now your child ONLY wants to read the Diary of a Wimpy Kids books!!! The publishing world with dollar signs in its eyes is riding a wave and ready to help….
The Strange Case of Origami Yoda (Angleberger)
Barnstormers (Bildner)
Jacob Wonderbar and the Cosmic Space Kapow (Bransford)
Bad Kitty series (Bruel)
How to Train Your Dragon series (Cowell)
Owen Foote series (Greene)
Martin Bridge series (Kerrin)
Alvin Ho series (Look)
Stink series (McDonald)
The Rise and Fall of El Solo Libre (Nelson)
Captain Underpants -a series of course- (Pinkwater)
Corby Flood (Stewart)
My Life as a Book (Tashjian)
Shredderman series (Van Draanen)
and lots more at Kellogg Hubbard Library!!
Librarian Linda can be found in the thick of the rambuncious-train table-Storytime crowd at Montpelier's Kellogg Hubbard Children's Department. Linda was cofounder of Mama Says (2004), Mama Says Action! (2006), and Vermont Birth Network (2007). Once a teacher of prenatal yoga, bellydance, creative writing...Once owner of Vermont Diaper Company/Sorella Luna (2006-2011). Linda lives in Montpelier with her husband, Triple Gemini daughter, and two felines.
We librarians have many ways of classifying information. Reading people is as much fun as reading books and a long time secret favorite of mine is to ask myself which one of the following questions is a particular person's favorite question: Who? What? When? Where? Why? ( I know I should add 'How" but I find the how people give "What ' as their default "W" answer)...
For your little budding philosophers/chemists/naturalists/performers doing this exercise can be very telling! ( Not to mention the insight you could glean doing the same with a partner, coworker, parent...) Now, if your favorite happened to be "Why" or "What/How" let me introduce you to a wonderful non-fiction series you'll want to share.
"Let's Read and Find Out Science" is a collection of titles to peak the curiosity of readers/listeners as young as 4 or 5 years old... These are some of the most thoughtful, curiosity inspiring early non fiction titles. This is the whole package: remarkable marriage of text and illustration, careful attention to detail while presenting a solid, basic foundation of facts, and best of all instilling a sense of wonderment at the workings of our world!
Don't miss Rock Collecting by Roma Gans, Feel the Wind by Arthur Dorros, and What Lives in a Shell by Katherine Zoehfeld....
Hurrah! Librarian Linda can be found in the thick of the rambuncious-train table-Storytime crowd at Montpelier's Kellogg Hubbard Children's Department. Linda was cofounder of Mama Says (2004), Mama Says Action! (2006), and Vermont Birth Network (2007). Once a teacher of prenatal yoga, bellydance, creative writing...Once owner of Vermont Diaper Company/Sorella Luna (2006-2011). Linda lives in Montpelier with her husband, Triple Gemini daughter, and two felines.
So Many Stories....
We are, all of us, in the process of weaving our stories day by day. Each early summer morning to autumnal twilight to cold bright winter's noon our tales are being told. At KHL, we have a truly outstanding collection of picture book biographies that remind us there are so many spectacular stories, lives, voices, and legacies to share with our children. Here are just a few of my favorites:
Mermaid Queen by Shana Corey
The Boy Who Drew Birds: a story of John James Audobon by Jaqueline Davies
Fanny in the Kitchen by Deborah Hopkinson (PS read everything by this woman!!)
My Great Aunt Arizona by Gloria Houston
Ruth Law Thrills a Nation by Don Brown
Strange Creatures by Lita Judge
Librarian Linda can be found in the thick of the rambuncious-train table-Storytime crowd at Montpelier's Kellogg Hubbard Children's Department. Linda was cofounder of Mama Says (2004), Mama Says Action! (2006), and Vermont Birth Network (2007). Once a teacher of prenatal yoga, bellydance, creative writing...Once owner of Vermont Diaper Company/Sorella Luna (2006-2011). Linda lives in Montpelier with her husband, Triple Gemini daughter, and two felines.
Don’t miss our beautiful collection of Vermont fiction, nonfiction, biographies, picture books and more…Here in the Children’s Library- tucked over at the end of our juvenile fiction section. (Read: not the train table side!!) A few of my favorites?
Eliza and the Dragonfly by Susie Caldwell Reinhart (ages 4-10)
When a dragonfly lands on Eliza’s toothbrush (!) the adventure begins. Gorgeous artwork and wonderful dragonfly life cycle information.
Farming by Gail Gibbons (ages 4 and up)
Hail, Gail Gibbons! Always spot on combos of text and illustrations. The vet giving the calf a checkup illustration is too cute.
Nora’s Ark by Natalie Kinsey Warnock (ages 5 and up….but preread for sensitive ones)
During Vermont’s 1927 flood a girl and her grandparents share their home with neighbors (and animal neighbors) in need of refuge. When the rain starts falling Grandma gets to work on baking bread in a kitchen beautifully rendered by favorite picture book artist Emily Arnold McCully.
Tricking the Tallyman by Jacqueline Davis (I’d say best enjoyed by second – fourth graders)
It 1790, the folks of good old Tunbridge, Vermont are suspicious of Phineas Bump the tallyman who wants to count them—but why? Village antics abound. A neat history theme introduction.
Keeker and the Sneaky Pony by Hadley Higginson (Kindergarten- Third Grade)
Keeker (Catherine Cory Keegan Dana) is eight years old and needs to win the trust of a very sneaky pony named Plum. Luckily this is a series because you can pop them like bonbons and still want more.
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Librarian Linda can be found in the thick of the rambuncious-train table-Storytime crowd at Montpelier's Kellogg Hubbard Children's Department. Linda was cofounder of Mama Says (2004), Mama Says Action! (2006), and Vermont Birth Network (2007). Once a teacher of prenatal yoga, bellydance, creative writing...Once owner of Vermont Diaper Company/Sorella Luna (2006-2011). Linda lives in Montpelier with her husband, Triple Gemini daughter, and two felines.
Pie by Sarah Weeks (grades 3-6)
When Alice's beloved Aunt Polly passes away she leaves the secret of her world famous piecrust recipe to her sourpuss feline. (Or so everyone in chatty, nosy, small town Ipswitch believes!) Poignant scenes of Alice's deeply felt loss, goofy antics with her mischevious best friend Charlie, and a different delecatable pie recipe to mark the start of each chapter. Read Aloud points to being able to ham up all of the minor characters while offering a beautiful opportunity to discuss love, life, and the individual gifts we bring and discover on that journey.
The Legend of Diamond Lil: A J.J. Tully Mystery by Doreen Cronin (grades 2-5)
J.J. Tully is a retired serach and rescue dog who walks a pretty boring beat these days in a tired old farmyard. But watch out for sweet ol' Diamond Lil, trouble with a capital T. Mega read aloud points for being able to pile on Southern Belle Lil's Gee-o-gah accent...but wait, is it for real?! Sweet mystery, hope this series continues.
Gooseberry Park by Cynthia Rylant (grades 2-5)
Oh Cynthia Rylant, can ye do no wrong? An ice storm threatens Stumpy the squirrel and her brand new babies. Luckily her best friend, brave Kona the Labrador Retriever will risk a journey through the storm. Murray the bat's role is best read with a broad Brooklynese approach. Laugh out loud stuff...
The Ugly Princess and the Wise Fool by Margaret Gray (grades 3-5)
Pretty is as pretty does...so toss the whole princess thing on its ear with the help of Princess Rose and the Wise Fool Jasper. And sorry for the spoiler but any book where the lead marries her best friend at the end and thumbs her not-necessarily-aqualine nose at convention works for me!
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Linda Pruitt (aka Librarian Linda) can be found in the thick of the rambuncious-train table-Storytime crowd at Montpelier's Kellogg Hubbard Children's Department. Linda was cofounder of Mama Says (2004), Mama Says Action! (2006), and Vermont Birth Network (2007). Once a teacher of prenatal yoga, bellydance, creative writing...Once owner of Vermont Diaper Company/Sorella Luna (2006-2011). Linda lives in Montpelier with her husband, Triple Gemini daughter, and two felines.
Brisson, Pat. Wanda's Roses.
Cooney, Barbara. Eleanor.
Fleming, Candace. Gabriella’s Song.
Hoffman, Mary. Amazing Grace.
Hopkinson, Deborah. A Band of Angels.
Isaacs, Anne. Swamp Angel.
Lowell, Susan. Little Red Cowboy Hat.
Schaefer, Carole Lea. The Squiggle.
Steig, William. Brave Irene.
Manna, Anthony and Christoudoula Mitakidou. Mr Semolina- Semolinus.
Current Favorite:
Tia Isa Wants a Car by Meg Medina (2011)
Whoa. Aye mami, get a load of Tia Isa who wants to buy a car (old-school with fins!) but doesn't have the money. She saves what she can from her job at the bakery, but sending money away to family "at home" means working even harder (and smarter) to make it happen. Fortunately, she has an enterprising and wholly endearing niece on her side. Beautifully illustrated (great color palette and Tia Isa hand- on- hip making breakfast is priceless) and fantastic text.
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Librarian Linda can be found in the thick of the rambuncious-train table-Storytime crowd at Montpelier's Kellogg Hubbard Children's Department. Linda was cofounder of Mama Says (2004), Mama Says Action! (2006), and Vermont Birth Network (2007). Once a teacher of prenatal yoga, bellydance, creative writing...Once owner of Vermont Diaper Company/Sorella Luna (2006-2011). Linda lives in Montpelier with her husband, Triple Gemini daughter, and two felines.
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