Category: Blog

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Love From the Crayons

Dear Readers,

This Blog is designed for the parents, grandparents and caregivers of young children.  Each post will highlight a great book that all children should hear, with tips to enrich beginning reading skills.  You will also find fun recipes that go along with each story.  Enjoy reading and cooking with the children in your life.

*Read to the children in your life every day.  You are giving them a gift that will last a lifetime!

Love From the Crayons            By:  Drew Daywalt and Oliver Jeffers

Ages:  Toddlers through Kindergarten

 

 

The Crayons are back!  This is a great book to read around Valentine’s Day, but is good for any time of the year.  The Crayons use color to describe the many forms of love with perfect pictures to match.  This is a great book to review colors with younger children and color words for preschoolers and children in kindergarten.

 

 

 

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The Pigeon Finds a Hot Dog

Dear Reader,

This Blog is designed for the parents, grandparents and caregivers of young children.  Each post will highlight a great book that all children should hear, with tips to enrich beginning reading skills.  You will also find fun recipes that go along with each story.  Enjoy reading and cooking with the children in your life.

*Read to the children in your life every day.  You are giving them a gift that will last a lifetime!

The Pigeon Finds a Hot Dog            By:  Mo Willems

Ages:  Toddler through First Grade

 

Pigeon is very excited about finding a hot dog until he runs into Duckling.  Pigeon gets very frustrated with all of the questions that Duckling asks and really wants to keep the hot dog for himself.  Guilt finally comes into play and Duckling comes up with the perfect solution.  This book is about problem solving and sharing.

 

 

 

 

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The Snowy Day

Dear Reader,

This Blog is designed for the parents, grandparents and caregivers of young children.  Each post will highlight a great book that all children should hear, with tips to enrich beginning reading skills.  You will also find fun recipes that go along with each story.  Enjoy reading and cooking with the children in your life.

*Read to the children in your life every day.  You are giving them a gift that will last a lifetime!

A Snowy Day             By:  Ezra Jack Keats

Ages:  Toddlers through Kindergarten

 

This is a classic story about a child’s adventures on a snowy day.  Peter does all of the things that children love to do on snowy days.  He makes tracks in the snow, makes snow angels and builds a snowman, but he learns that you can’t save the snow in your pocket for the next day.  This lovely book was a Caldecott winner for its illustrations.  Children will enjoy sharing this snowy day with Peter.

 

 

 

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The Mitten

*Read to the children in your life every day.  You are giving them a gift that will last a lifetime!

The Mitten            Adapted and illustrated by:  Jan Brett

Ages:  Preschool through Second Grade

Jan Brett is an amazing story teller and illustrator, as can be seen in this amazing tale of the white mitten that got lost in the snow.  The lost mitten becomes a refuse for a number of animals trying to stay warm, but it eventually makes its way back to its owner.  Ms. Brett always provides side pictures in her books to help the readers predict what is coming next.  The Mitten provides opportunities for vocabulary development and sequencing.  It is just a beautiful winter experience that children will love.

 

 

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Judy’s Top Ten Posted Read Alouds

*Read to the children in your life every day.  You are giving them a gift that will last a lifetime!

Hello Readers,

I decided to reflect on the 40 Blog entries from this past year and do my personal top 10 list of great children’s books that we have highlighted.  My choices aren’t based on anything other than my pure love for the stories and illustrations.  As I talk to adults about children’s books, many of them remember specific books from their childhood.  For example, a young man was at my home working on my furnace, and as we talked in my office, he looked at a copy of The Very Hungry Caterpillar sitting on my desk and immediately began to smile as he remembered the book.  Wow!  Reading to children makes an impact that we cannot underestimate.  So here we go!   Thanks for indulging this enormous love I have for great books for children.

Book #10

 

 

 

Cookies, Bite-Size Life Lessons teaches children true life lessons such as honesty, respect and sharing through the process of making cookies.

 

 

 

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Click, Clack, Ho! Ho! Ho!

Dear Reader,

This Blog is designed for the parents, grandparents and caregivers of young children.  Each post will highlight a great book that all children should hear, with tips to enrich beginning reading skills.  You will also find fun recipes that go along with each story.  Enjoy reading and cooking with the children in your life.

*Read to the children in your life every day.  You are giving them a gift that will last a lifetime!

Click, Clack, Ho! Ho! Ho!              By:  Doreen Cronin and Betsy Lewin

Ages:  Toddlers through First Grade

 

 

You may remember the wonderful book, Click, Clack, Moo!  Cows That Type.  Well, the farm animals are at it again!  Duck tries to deliver a present just like Santa and it doesn’t go well.  Children will need to follow the pictures carefully to see what happens in the story.  This is a funny Christmas tale that everyone will enjoy.

 

 

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Turkey Trouble

Dear Reader,

This Blog is designed for the parents, grandparents and caregivers of young children.  Each post will highlight a great book that all children should hear, with tips to enrich beginning reading skills.  You will also find fun recipes that go along with each story.  Enjoy reading and cooking with the children in your life.

*Read to the children in your life every day.  You are giving them a gift that will last a lifetime!

Turkey Trouble           By:  Wendi Silvano           Illustrated by:  Lee Harper

Ages:  Toddlers through Second Grade

 

 

The turkey in our story has a very big problem to solve.  Thanksgiving is coming and he knows that he might be the main course for dinner.  He tries many different disguises that “almost” work, but not quite.  Read and find out how turkey’s problem is finally solved.  This is a great read-a-loud for predicting and problem solving.

 

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My Truck Is Stuck!

*Read to the children in your life every day.  You are giving them a gift that will last a lifetime!

My Truck Is Stuck!           By:  Kevin Lewis and Daniel Kirk

Ages:  Toddlers through Kindergarten

This is the perfect book for toddlers and preschool children because of its vibrant illustrations and repetitive rhyming text.  The dogs in our story have a heavy load of bones to deliver, but unfortunately, the truck gets stuck.  Many kind friends try to help, but just can’t get the job done.   Readers need to make sure to look at the pictures carefully to see what happens to the truck load of bones.  This delightful book also reinforces counting and number recognition through five.

 

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If You Give a Mouse a Cookie

*Read to the children in your life every day.  You are giving them a gift that will last a lifetime!

If You Give A Mouse A Cookie                    By:  Laura Joffe Numeroff          Illustrated by:  Felicia Bond

Ages:  Preschool through First Grade

 

When the little mouse is given a cookie, the question is,  “What will he want next?”.  This popular book gives children the opportunity to predict as they go from page to page.  It also gives children a chance to practice sequencing of events which will help develop memory skills.  Enjoy the mouse’s adventures and be sure to read the companion books.

 

 

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The Book of Shadow Boxes, A Story of the ABC’s

*Read to the children in your life every day.  You are giving them a gift that will last a lifetime!

The Book of Shadow Boxes, A Story of the ABC’s            Written and Illustrated by:  Laura L. Seeley

Ages:  Preschool through First Grade

 

 

What a book of surprises!  Each letter of the alphabet has a poem of its own with pictures displayed in the shadow box.  There are many additional items with the letter on each page that supports vocabulary development.  The vibrant illustrations and musical verses delight and reinforce the child’s letter recognition as well as letter sounds.  The author provides a guide to each shadow box at the end of the book.

 

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