Archive through August 21, 2002
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TV ClubHouse: archive: Library - Miscellaneous thru May 2003: Children's Books: Archive through August 21, 2002

Bookworm

Sunday, March 17, 2002 - 03:22 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
Maybe we can get some more action going on in the library.

Since there are so many parents and grandparents here, I thought I would create a spot to share thoughts about children's books. I teach Head Start (preschool for 3-4-5 year olds), so many books I write about will be for children that age. Hopefully others will post here also and I would love to hear about books for any age of children. My thought is that I will share a book every day or two, depending on my availability to the computer.


Caps for Sale by Esphyr Slobodkina

This is the story of a hat peddler who wears his wares on his head. While taking a nap some monkeys swipe his hats. The peddler finally tricks the monkeys into giving back the hats.

This is my absolute favorite story to read aloud. I have also used it with elementary aged children. It has been on Reading Rainbow (PBS) at some point as well.

Bookworm

Sunday, March 17, 2002 - 03:25 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
I would also like to add that reading to children is soooo important even when they are old enough to read to themselves.

I love to purchase books from garage sales (for five to fifty cents-- you can't beat that price) or from book orders or second hand stores. You can also visit your local library to find wonderful books.

Myjohnhenry

Sunday, March 17, 2002 - 04:15 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
I love to get books from garage sales!

I use books quite a bit in my job as a SLP too as they have many uses for me and I just plain like to have them around.

I also like books on tape for kids. My parents bought us books on record (45's before the day of books on tape) and at a very young age I already knew that the words on the page matched the words on the record and would "pretend" to read. It was a great start to learning to read and loving to read.

Teatime

Sunday, March 17, 2002 - 04:56 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
Great idea for a thread, Bookworm!

The books on my 3 year-old's shelf that are sporting the most tape:

"Big Red Barn" by Margaret Wise Brown
"Goodnight, Moon" by Margaret Wise Brown
(both favorites since infancy)

"So Many Bunnies" by Rick Walton (a great read-aloud that has it all: numbers, abc's, rhymes, nice pictures, and so many cute bunnies)

"This is the Way We Go to School" by Edith Baer (shows modes of transportation around the world; nice multi-cultural rhymey book)

All Clifford the Big Red Dog books.

The book she checks out of the library every week, so it's now on our book order:
"Click Clack Moo, Cows that Type" (too funny!)

Bookworm

Monday, March 18, 2002 - 04:37 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
The Very Grouchy Ladybug by Eric Carle-- A grouchy and a friendly ladybug meet at breakfast one morning. The grouchy ladybug spends all day grouching to bigger and bigger animals. By that evening the grouchy lady bug is no longer grouchy, only hungry.

The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle-- On Sunday a caterpillar hatches from an egg. Throughout the week the caterpillar eats and grows. At the end of the book the caterpillar becomes a beautiful butterfly. This book has holes in the pages where the caterpillar has chewed through.

The Very Quiet Cricket by Eric Carle-- This is the story of a baby cricket who wants to talk to several bugs that it meets up with, but no sound comes out. At the end it meets another cricket and makes the most beautiful sound. Turning the last page activates a cricket sound.

The Very Busy Spider by Eric Carle-- This spider is very busy spinning its web despite the distractions the farm animals create. The web is raised and children enjoy feeling it.

The Very Lonely Firefly by Eric Carle-- This firefly is looking for a friend but keeps running into other sources of light. Turning the final pages activates several blinking firefly lights. Read this one in a darkened room.

The Very Clumsy Clickbeetle by Eric Carle-- I just purchased this one. This is about a clickbeetle that has landed on its back. It keeps trying to flip over and finally does, just in time. Sound effects included.

These books include predictable text that children enjoy to chant with you while you are reading. Eric Carle does beautiful illustrations. Many of his books include something special (as mentioned above) that surprises and enthralls children. Whenever I read one of these to children I am usually convinced to 'read it again'.

Bookworm

Wednesday, March 20, 2002 - 03:45 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
MJ I remember books on record too. We actually still use records at school tho the kids call them CDs. We had a great grandma volunteer last year and comment on our 'victrola'. (Since we still use records but are slowly upgrading to CDs, we bought a stereo with turntable, cassette, and CD capabilities-- It's huge!!)

Teatime, we just got Click, Clack, Moo for the center and I thought it would be dumb. But its quite funny!! Gotta love Goodnight Moon and Clifford! I will have to check out the rest of your suggestions.

Another classic tonight...
Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What do you See? by Bill Martin Jr, Illustrated by Eric Carle-- Simple, predictable text and wonderful pictures. I have a flannel pictures of each animal that we use in school, I hand them out to the kids and when their animal is mentioned they can come put their picture on the flannel board. They request this book over and over and it is an easy one for them to learn and 'read' on their own.

The same author and illustrator did Polar Bear, Polar Bear, What do you Hear. I am sure this is another great one, but I have to confess that I have not read it.

I am looking forward to other posters here. I love to see what others are reading. Now that I have a little one at home I have a personal interest as well as a professional interest in children's books.

Jewels

Wednesday, March 20, 2002 - 04:30 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
My son is almost 2 and some of the first books we bought him was a 4 pack of Dr. Seuss...Mr. Brown Can Moo, The Foot Book, ABC, and There's a Wocket in My Pocket. He loved them from the beginning and we still read them everyday. I had read that repetiveness is really important in the beginning, so for a long time these were the only 4 books we read to him. He know "reads" along with us and knows all the sounds in Mr. Brown can Moo, he can practically do the whole book by himself, in the ABC book we say "Big A", he says "Little a" and does that throughout the whole book with all the letters. We have incorporated other things into the books, like counting the "ten tired turtles on a tuttle tuttle tree" in ABC and he is now learning how to count because of that. And when he sees someting in another book, he recognizes it from these books. They have been amazing books for us and really have helped his language development alot, I would recommend these to all new parents.

Maris

Thursday, March 28, 2002 - 09:57 am EditMoveDeleteIP
Polar Bear Polar Bear was the first book I bought my niece and it is still has a special place in her heart a dozen years later.

Board books - we loved the Carl series which had no words in them but were about the adventures of a rotweiler and his baby charge.

Myjohnhenry

Thursday, March 28, 2002 - 10:26 am EditMoveDeleteIP
Bookie....I absolutely LOVE Click, Clack, Moo!!! I found at at a scholastic book fair at school and bought one for my sisters first grade class and one for me to use in my therapy groups. The kids all love it too.
I use books a lot in language therapy with elementary students...of course my mind is blank at the moment.

Ohhhh...Mercer Mayers wordless books are great too! The pictures are simple, but tell a story and can get the creative juices flowing (not to mention that it tells me a lot as a SLP). :)

Julieboo

Thursday, March 28, 2002 - 11:03 am EditMoveDeleteIP
MyJohn

You are a speech therapist? Guess I should move this to your personal folder. But I do have a book question: Are there any books you'd recommend for a 2 (almost three) year old with moderate apraxia. Are you familiar with Apraxia?

Teatime

Saturday, March 30, 2002 - 07:22 am EditMoveDeleteIP
DK Publishing puts out some wonderful books for all ages, and we have some of their children's books that our youngest spends a lot of time with. These books have first-rate photographs of everyday objects and also new objects, so talking about all the pictures is a great vocabulary builder and conversation launcher. We first found DK books at a home & garden show booth, but now find a lot of them at Walmart and all bookstores. Their website is dk.com.

Some of our favorite titles are:
My Big Book of Everything (800 photos of weather, tools, toys, vegetables, earthworms, you name it)
My First Animal Board Book
My First ABC Book

Many more! These make great gifts for new little people. I sound like a commercial, I know. But we were very happy to find these cool books. Happy reading!

Teatime

Saturday, March 30, 2002 - 07:41 am EditMoveDeleteIP
A couple of sources for purchasing books: Scholastic book orders and school book fairs.

Book orders through schools are an inexpensive way to add to your home library. Students' orders earn bonus points to purchase books for their classrooms also, so everybody benefits. If you don't have a school-age child yet, contact one of your neighborhood teachers and ask to look at the latest book order form. They may be thrilled to let you help out their classroom!

School book fairs: These usually run for a week or so. Some have "open" times they will sell to the general public. I like to go later in the week though, to give the school kids a chance at their favorite titles first. Contact your local public or private school.

And if you haven't introduced yourself to your local librarians, go soon! They are incredibly helpful, and their book prices are the best yet

Myjohnhenry

Saturday, March 30, 2002 - 11:21 am EditMoveDeleteIP
Very good ideas Tea! I love DK and I especially love School BookFairs!!!!!

Some districts even have the bookfairs twice a year and sometimes it is even buy one get one free.
As an added plug....very often the teachers can make wishlists of books they would like to add to their classroom...I appreciate it when people add to my therapy room library and I always have purchased at least one for my kids teachers....sure helps in the days of budget crunches. :)

Bookworm

Sunday, March 31, 2002 - 06:30 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
Wow, glad to see all these posts in here! I have been busy the last week or so and haven't been able to post in here.

If You Give a Mouse a Cookie
If You Give a Moose a Muffin
If You Give a Pig a Pancake
by Laura J Numeroff
These books are 'circular'. Each time you give the animal something it wants something else. In the end it wants the first thing you gave it. Very cute, kids love to join in and 'help' you read the stories. I always intend to make up flannel pieces to go along with the story or collect actual objects from the story in a basket to use with retelling the story, but I haven't yet.

Snee

Monday, July 29, 2002 - 10:57 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
thanks for the library plug, teatime! i love the bookfairs and book orders too. they are a great way for kids and libraries to get some good books at great prices! i love earning the bonus points! yeah, baby. yeah.

Snee

Monday, July 29, 2002 - 10:59 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
oh, and i was meaning to say that kids at the middle school level still benefit from being read to. they may pretend sometimes that they aren't interested but soon enough they are engrossed. actually, i like to be read to!

Wargod

Tuesday, August 13, 2002 - 01:36 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
Alright parents, I need some suggestions, pleaseee!

Over the past year, I've read the Harry Potter series to my 5-6 year old son. A chapter (or on the longer ones half a chapter) a night til each book was done. He loved it. I would like to find some more books like those...chapter books (with shorter chapters,) the action type stuff for him with a story that grows. He gets board easily if there is not alot of action.

I do read all his books ahead of time, so that I know if there are parts that might be too mature for him. I leave those scenes out. I also find that books can be a springboard for discussions with him, just like certain tv shows we watch together.

Reading has always been a big part of my life, and I want my kids to get the entertainment and love of reading from the books we share. I don't want our reading time to be an agony for either one of them.

Moondance

Tuesday, August 13, 2002 - 02:09 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
My nieces listen to & read

The Chronicles of Narnia
C. S. Lewis's magical land of Narnia.

http://members.lycos.co.uk/Jonathan_Gregory76/

The seires is amazing... very magical, fun & imaginative!

They are 6 now but have reading them, watching video, listening to audio since 3 & 4

Wargod

Tuesday, August 13, 2002 - 02:33 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
Hey Moon, thanks! Just checked out the website and like what was there. We have a trip planned to the library next week, so I think I'll see if they have any of those and try them on him.

I love reading the books I find interesting as well as them. Mostly because I think story time is more fun if I can get into the story with them!

Moondance

Tuesday, August 13, 2002 - 02:49 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
I love these books ... when I baby-sit I always want to read them ... hey I have needs! They remind me of Harry Potter:)

They are in Monisory school until the fall ... it is a GREAT school and they put on the most amazing plays/productions... all from these books:)

Honey51

Friday, August 16, 2002 - 01:32 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
Bookworm, I agree Eric Carle books are the greatest.

For a child just beginning to read, try books by Janice Spaht Gill. Her books are great for beginners. They are rated not only by grade but by third's of grades.

The ratings are KA, KB, KC, 1A, 1B, etc. My grandson started reading them in kindergarten and found them exciting.

Caliogirl

Tuesday, August 20, 2002 - 08:41 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
hey Bookworm, I love Eric Carle -- I mean my kids love Eric Carle LOL. He also has an anthology volume - very beautiful. Full of poems for kids and the like with the same style of illustration his other books have. An excellent addition to any library.

I also started a tradition amongst friends -- instead of a traditional babyshower we started to throw book showers for baby. A wonderful way to start off a junior library for someone special that already has most everything else.

Reading is an important part of our day. This thread is great for new book ideas. Thanks!

Caliogirl

Tuesday, August 20, 2002 - 08:42 pm EditMoveDeleteIP
Moondance -- great suggestion for Wargod. I was about to do the same until I read your post. I loved the Narnia stories as a kid and I actually chose "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" for my book club to read last year -- we loved it and had quite a lively conversation afterward.

Schoolmarm

Wednesday, August 21, 2002 - 07:08 am EditMoveDeleteIP
War...for your son, I agree that the Narnia stories are good. I have a little boxed set of all seven C S Lewis books.

He might enjoy the Lord of the Rings series...start with the Hobbit. He might need to be a little older for this one.

Also check out the Wizard of Oz SERIES. There are over 15 books! My second grade teacher "Miss Dorothy" read them to us after noon recess every day. Everyone who went to my school for decades loves these books. You can get them in paperback.

As a music teacher, I absolutely love the books by Iza Trapani. "Eensy Weensy Spider" "How Much is that Doggie in the Window" "I'm a Little Teapot", "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" etc. etc. She has beautiful illustrations and has writting additional verses to the songs. Gorgeous and wonderful books.

Bill Martin has a wonderful Alphabet book "Chicka Chicka Boom" (or something like that...I'm at home and my kiddie lit books are in my office).

Happy reading, everyone!

Seamonkey

Wednesday, August 21, 2002 - 10:56 am EditMoveDeleteIP
Chicka Chicka Boom Boom is absolutely WONDERFUL!!

And it is a MUST to get it combined with the cassette tape (not sure it is out on cd, but could be available that way). I actually met the other author/illustrator John Archambault; he even drew a coconut tree when he signed my copy :)

THE cassette to have is the one that includes
Ray Charles among others.. just infectious!