help me, mr. mutt!

i may be slacking in the "sharing reviews of the 2010 picture book nominees," ... and i really have no excuse! forgive me!

help me, mr. mutt was the perfect transition back to book-world. this lovely 'dear abby' type for dogs, is hilarious and taylor LOVED it. (It was, however, a tad long for the baby's teensy attention span.)

the letter format it's written in is great. dogs of all walks write in to mr. mutt with their problems, and he writes back as best he can with his advice. his fellow office-mate, however, gets the last word every time ... the queen (cat)—complete with her fancy pink stationery.

plus, how can you see that cute puppy face and not love him?!

hmmmm.

do you ever feel like you have so much to say and so many thoughts flying around in your brain that you don't even know where to start ... so you just don't?

i'm totally there. stay tuned.

a visitor for bear. (2010 nominee.)

bear doesn't like visitors. so much so, that he even has a sign to keep them at bay. and when a mouse shows up at his door, he's not pleased. he turns him away ... but mouse doesn't give up. he keeps coming back. over, and over, and over, showing up in the most curious places ... and bear is NOT having it!

super funny, and WAY fun to read aloud (yes, i said WAY FUN). also makes good use of vocab words!



author: bonny becker
illustrator: kady macdonald denton

2010 children's choice picture book nominees.

the washington children's choice picture book award focuses on picture books for grades k-3. Various titles are discussed, based on things like: balance of male and female focus, ethnic diversity, and a variety of reading levels (plus lots of other really important things like illustration, how much the kids love them, read-aloud coolness, etc).

the nominees are in, and the deadline for voting is coming to a close april 1st! there are 20 books on the nominee list, and starting today, i'll be going through each and every one—sharing thoughts, comments, and adventures with each. if all goes well, i'll have the last one finished on march 29th ... right before the deadline! this year's nominees are:

a visitor for bear—bonny becker
astronaut handbook—mehgan mccarthy
bats at the library—brian lies
bedtime at the swamp—kristin crow
bone soup—cambria evans
critter sitter—chuck richards
dirty joe, the pirate: a true story—bill harley
help me, mr. mutt!: expert answers for dogs with people—janet stevens
mrs. muddle's holidays—laura nielsen
ms. mccaw learns to draw—kaethe zemach
one is a feast for mouse—judy cox
the pencil—allan ahlberg
peter spit a seed at sue—jackie french koller
the pink refrigerator—tim egan
snoring beauty—bruce hale
timothy and the strong pajamas—vivianne schwarz
too many toys—david shannon
two bobbies—a true story of hurricane katrina—kirby, marcy, and nethery laron
wangari's trees of peace—jeanette winter
woolbur—leslie helakoski

happy reading!

chicken little.

yesterday was library day, and lucky me! i had the chance to read steven kellogg's hilarious rendition of 'chicken little' to taylor's class! giggles ensued throughout, and concern that the gang of chicken little, henny penny, lucky ducky, loosey goosey, and turkey lurkey would be gobbled up by the big, bad fox was all over each little kiddos worried face—but this version has a goofy twist at the end that the kids LOVED! (hint: the fox does NOT end up eating well that evening.)

it's an awesome read-aloud, and the kids LOVE chanting (or yelling ... however you would describe it) 'the sky is falling! the sky is falling!' over, and over, and over ... and over. and the dialogue is funny, repetitive, and fun. plus, it's a great way to share a traditional story ('henny penny,' by paul galdone is the most recognized) and show how it's changed over the years.

by FAR my favorite version of this classic to-date. if you haven't seen or read much steven kellogg, click here to see a list of books ... odds are, you've seen more of him than you think!

baby's first colors.

number one ...
who wouldn't want a pair of super-snazzy rainboots like these?!

number two ...
what baby doesn't love a fun book about colors—especially one that uses bright colors and fun pictures to boot!?
number three ...
looking at these with your baby over and over ... and over, saying the colors out loud, pointing and saying the object's name; will guarantee they learn their colors early—and they'll be pointing out cutely, "boots! boots!" everywhere you go before you know it!

number four ...
if anyone finds socks like these for sale—do share! i want them!
there are tons of baby books out there on the shelves ... just weed through and find the ones with objects and colors your baby will actually see (so they can show off their new vocab throughout the house)! ... odds are, your baby won't need to distinguish 'sage' or 'apricot' anytime soon. and big letters with words they can go back and read once your little genius starts learning how (when they're like, 18 months, of course)!

read across america day.

merry merry birthday, dr. suess!


as i slowly wandered through the kitchen this morning, i heard a happy little 5-year old girl running across the floor, jumping up and down, singing, "it's jammy reading day! it's jammy reading day! la la la la la! jammy's and reading ... all. day. long!"


in celebration of the lovely dr. suess' birthday, march 2nd has become a day of reading awareness across the nation. the nea (national education association) offers activities, lesson plans, printables, book recommendations, and SO much more for teachers, librarians, parents, and kids to share in their love of reading.

reading is such an important part of educating our children—and anything we can do to motivate them should be greatly promoted (especially if it means our kids get to go to school in their jammy's and read all day)!

take a few minutes to read with your children (or the children in your life) today and every day. i can't even begin to share how powerful such a simple, easy, and FUN can be. reading is a perfect chance to spend quality time with your children and keep their minds busy, at the same time! if you don't already read with your kids every day ... what a great day to start! one book a day makes a HUGE impact!

read, Read, READ, R-E-A-D!