Connecting the Dots
My thoughts on art, books & life.
Books to be ‘Thankful’ for:
My #1Top pick Thank you, Sarah The Woman Who Saved Thanksgiving by Laurie Halse Anderson, illustrated by Matt Faulkner Officially my favorite Thanksgiving story ever! Follow the 'heroic' efforts of Sarah Hale, a lady ahead of her time, who was incredibly determined. Packed full of impressive multi-cultural ink & watercolor illustrations you will find more and more things to appreciate (and...
Cybils, Poetry Friday, the Kidlitosphere and more!
I just wanted to share what I have learned this week through blogging. Just think, cue A Whole New World from Disney's Aladdin or if you'd rather Dvorak's New World Symphony. Can you hear the music? Good I had no idea the kind of people I would meet through book blogging. It really is a whole new world for me and my sister and we're having a lot of fun. We've learned so much and met some...
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis Illustrated by Pauline Baynes
I have fond memories as a child reading this book. It was one of my favorites when I was kid and I wanted to share it with my children. I saw the Disney movie version when it came out in theaters in 2005 and really liked the movie. The special effects were so much better than an older movie version. It liked it a lot. So I had my daughter watch the movie and then to my horror I realized that she...
The Crunching Munching Caterpiller by Sheridan Cain, illustrated by Jack Tickle
Adorable illustrations bring this wonderful board book to life. Children will love the vivid colors and love to crunch and munch along with the caterpillar. The story is brought to life with many creatures telling the caterpillar that he is going to have to get used to the idea that he is not made for flying. A beautiful butterfly encourages him that his dreams of flying may come true one day....
Thank You to All the Veterans!
As Veteran's day is fast approaching, Tuesday November 11th, I want to pay tribute to the many veterans who have served our country. My family and I look up to veterans as heroes. How many times have you thanked a vet only to be told, "I was just doing my job"? My son recently told me a story passed down from this Great Grandpa Julius about narrowly escaping death on a night when under heavy...
Alphabet Books 1-7
Okay so here are the alphabet books for this week. The first two I will just put the links so you can check them out. The other five will be listed below Alphabad Mischievous ABCs by Shannon Stewart Illustrated by Dusan Petricic This book is hilarious as it chronicles some very "bad" kids through some alliteration adentures. Kids getting themselves in trouble for doing some...
Louise, The Adventures of a Chicken by Kate DiCamillo & Harry Bliss
The cover of this book fascinated me when I saw it displayed on the library book shelf. A chicken riding a wave on a log like a surf-board just cried out, “Read me!” So, I did. The adventure is composed of three chapters, each with a new story, starring Louise, the Chicken. I have to admit, my hopes were dashed a bit when I discovered that Louise doesn’t actually surf, she just hangs onto a...
Ode to Reading Grandparents
Reading is an important skill and helping children develop a love of the printed word often is a family affair. Part of why we love reading so much also has to do with our grandparents reading to our parents and taking them to the library. So we thought we'd give a thank you to our grandparents (who also let us eat lots of ice-cream). Grandparents B and Grandparents O read to us as children and...
Amelia to Zora Twenty Six Women Who Changed the World by Cynthia Chin-Lee Illustrated by Megan Halsey and Sean Addy
This alphabet book was on a recommended biography list in a book about literature. The author Cynthia Chin-Lee also has written several other alphabet books including A is for Asia and A is for the Americas. Amelia to Zora is a picture book for older children 3rd grade on up. Each page gives a brief history of the particular woman and their contributions to the world She uses examples from all...
Dr. Seuss’s ABC
"Big A little a what begins with A? Aunt Annie's Alligator A A A" I couldn't resist and I just had to start the alphabet review books with Dr. Seuss's ABC. I love the rhymes, and zaniness of Dr. Seuss. This one comes with lots of alliteration and fun pictures I think it is a great book to use with young children to introduce them to the letters of the alphabet. My daughter loved the book. There...
La Mariposa by Francisco Jimenez Illustrated by Simon Silva
I first heard of this book when our local library advertised a presentation by Book-It Repertory Theatre. We love library activities, so we made sure to note the date and make plans to attend. The day of the presentation we arrived to find that the library wasn’t big enough to hold all the people who wanted to participate, so they had arranged to move it next door to the City Hall. My children...
Franklin’s Halloween by Paulette Bourgeois and Brenda Clark
Franklin and his friends prepare for a Halloween costume party as most typical children do- trying on different outfits and changing their minds until they are ‘just right’. Franklin makes the perfect little Franklinstein and has fun scaring his family members. At the party, everyone soon realizes that the ghost is not Bear as they had assumed- he’s home sick. So, who is the ghost that’s flying...
What is Halloween? By Harriet Ziefert illustrated by Claire Schumacher
Everyone loves the lift-the-flap story format (until the flaps get torn off). My children and I delved into this one tonight for bedtime stories and enjoyed hearing a simplified version of what Halloween is all about. I know there are some parents who don’t ascribe to the whole history of Halloween. However, I know there are also a lot of parents who find that celebrating our power over...
The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros
The House on Mango Street is like a breath of fresh air. Part funny, part tragic and part hope. It's a lovely coming of age story for a Chicana girl growing up in Chicago surrounded by messages telling her not to succeed. Somewhat biographical it details what life is like in the barrio. I read it for the first time in Spanish and since Spanish is my second language it became clear that I missed...
Trick or Treat, Smell My Feet by Diane deGroat
This story cracked me up! A little boy plans to be a Martian Space Pilot for Halloween confident that he is the only one in his whole school who will think of that idea. When sent to change for the costume parade in the boy’s bathroom he discovers that nearly everyone was on the same wave-length with him. As he pulls out his costume, he nearly faints when he discovers that a mix-up left him...
Gallop! A Scanimation Picture Book by Rufus Butler Seder
What a fun way to bring life to pictures through patented scanimation technology. The animals literally move across the page encouraging parent-child interaction and adding to any child’s wonder of the world. Ours was a gift from generous ‘Uncle Charles’ who purchased it at Costco for my little horse-lover. Can we say brown noser? Needless to say it was and continues to be a hit in our house!...
The Candy Witch by Steven Kroll
I think I was in the second grade when I first read this book. I was excited to see it at my local library and so of course I had to read it. I loved the story of the little witch who is feeling neglected (something I could relate to as a child and what child doesn't?) and so she stirs up some Halloween trouble by taking all the Halloween candy among other things in order to get some attention....
Hope is an Open Heart by Lauren Thompson
A book filled with beautiful, serenity inducing photographs written by Lauren Thompson. This book was inspired by the tragedy that unfolded on September 11th and else where. Thompson reminds me that hope is always there. After reading this book I felt very calm and believe in the humanity of all people. It is so easy to turn on the news and think this world is full of despair. Thompson gives me...
Twilight by Stephanie Meyer
After much reluctance and foot dragging, I finally gave in and read the 'Mormon Vampire' book. I was pleasantly surprised. It wasn't gory and disgusting and terribly frightening- which were the main reasons I couldn't bring myself to read a book about vampires- I don't like creepy things. It was interesting and fun with just the right amount of creepiness. I will probably read the rest of the...
Paint the Wind by Pam Muñoz Ryan
First off I love Ryan's books. I think she is a fantastic writer. This is 6th book I have read written by her. The others being Esperanza Rising, Becoming Naomi Leon, Amelia and Eleanor Go for a Ride, When Miriam Sang and Riding Freedom. All of which I highly recommend. Paint the Wind is about a girl named Maya and a paint horse named Artemisia. Maya is orphaned when her parents are killed in a...
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