Max’s ABC by Rosemary Wells.
The beloved bunny siblings Max and Ruby return in an alphabet book. Nicely, the book can be read as an alphabet book or simply as a story. Max’s ants escape from their ant farm and climb up on him to get his cake. When Max tries to get them off him by pouring juice on himself, Ruby has to come to the rescue. The story is silly and filled with the simple fun you expect in a Max and Ruby book. This one is a gem worth sharing on that first day of an alphabet unit.
Month: May 2006
Changing Kindergarten
No more naps in kindergarten is an interesting article on how kindergarten curriculum has changed in recent years. It is far more academic now, and preschool is seen as the entry-level class where children learn socialization. Kindergarten is now where children learn to read, learn to do math, and start writing.
Library of Congress Webcasts
The Library of Congress has Webcasts that focus on poetry and literature. Some of the featured authors are children’s book authors! They include Mary Pope Osborne, Neil Gaiman, R. L. Stine, Meg Cabot, Sharon Creech, Patricia Reilly Giff, Walter Dean Myers, Pat Mora, Jack Gantos, and Jerry Pinkney. Hours and hours of webcast pleasure for you to enjoy!
Nursery Rhyme Site
Mama Lisa’s House of Nursery Rhymes offers illustrated nursery rhymes from the more popular ones that everyone knows to more obscure ones that are fun to read through. You can also read her blog that offers commentary on languages and cultures with emphasis on children’s songs and traditions.
Papertigers Articles
PaperTigers.org has added a couple of articles to celebrate Asian Pacific American Heritage Month. The articles offer list of favorite Asian Pacific American picture books and a reading list of Asian American literature for children and teens.
Grow Up Reading
The West Bloomfield Township Public Library has a fantastic online resource that encourages parents to create an environment for their children that will get them reading. They have ideas for babies through first grade. The tips they give are easily achieved and very important. This is quite simply an inspiring site.
Bridging the Gap
School Library Journal has an interesting article about how to deal with award winners like Criss Cross that bridge the levels between library collections for teens and children. What do you do in your library? Do you buy two copies and place them in both sections? If not, how do you decide where to place them?
In our tiny library, we don’t have enough money to purchase two copies, so we place them as best we can, often agonizing over the choice. We currently have Criss Cross in the children’s department, though I have wondered over the months if it is the best place for it. It seems to be circulating well, or I would definitely have moved it to the teen area. I think it is most troubling when teens would enjoy the sophistication of some of the titles more than younger children, yet the book has been marketed to children. That is when reader’s advisory comes in, though teens may refuse books you pull from the children’s section even with a lot of pushing.
My Father's Shop
My Father’s Shop by Satomi Ichikawa
Young Mustafa helps his father in his Moroccan rug shop. His father wishes that he would pay attention and learn to speak in different languages to their customers, but Mustafa thinks it is boring. When he sneaks out of lessons with a torn rug over his head, he discovers that learning languages can be a lot of fun.
I really enjoyed this book. The illustrations are vibrant, from the colorful rugs to the many different people Mustafa encounters in the market. The text is just long enough to work in a storytime for preschoolers who will also have fun learning how to crow like a rooster in different languages just like Mustafa. It is a great way to share multicultural awareness with children, letting them see just like Mustafa did that all these cultures are what make up the rug of life.
Mo Willems
Yahoo News has an article: Mo Willems draws on the funny side of failure. It is a sweet and funny article on Willems, author of Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus and Knuffle Bunny, two of my all-time favorite children’s books. Willems captures exactly what children love, pure fun and humor with an ironic twist. They are books that beg to be read again and again and books that simply MUST be shared aloud.
Waking Brain Cells 