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!
Llama Llama Red Pajama By: Anna Dewdney
Ages: Toddlers through Kindergarten
The Llama Llama series of books are a must read for young children. Llama Llama Red Pajama deals with a common bedtime issue that many parents have when children do not go to sleep right away. Baby Llama creates a lot of “Llama drama” before Mama Llama is able to console him. This delightful book is done in rhyming verse and conveys a great lesson for young children.
Tips for Reading:
- Before reading the story, discuss with the child his/her bedtime routine.
- While reading the story, discuss with the child any new vocabulary that he/she may not know such as fret, whimpers, pouts, etc.
- After reading the story, ask the child to tell you why he/she thinks that Baby Llama was so upset and how Mama Llama made him feel better.
- After reading the story, go back through and find rhyming words such as drink/sink, yet/fret, etc.
Additional Books by Anna Dewdney:
- Llama Llama Mess Mess Mess
- Llama Llama Mad at Mama
- Llama Llama Time to Share
- Llama Llama Loves to Read
- Llama Llama Misses Mama
Cooking Time:
French Toast Sticks
Since Llama Llama Red Pajama is about bedtime, we decided to make breakfast food. Most children love French Toast and this recipe is great because you make it ahead of time and freeze the sticks to be baked whenever you would like. Children can help by cracking the eggs, adding the ingredients, coating the sticks and kitchen cleanup.
You will need an ungreased 13 by 9 inch baking dish and a greased 15 by 10 inch cookie sheet.
6 slices (1 inch thick) of Texas Toast or French bread
4 eggs
1 cup milk
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 cup crushed Frosted Flakes, optional
Maple syrup for dipping
- Slice the bread into serving size sticks.
- Place the sticks into the ungreased 13 by 9 inch baking dish.
- In a bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, sugar, vanilla and cinnamon.
- Pour the egg mixture over the bread and allow to soak for a few minutes, turning at least once to make sure all of the bread is soaked.
- While the bread is soaking, crush the Frosted Flakes.
- After the bread absorbs the egg mixture, coat the sticks with the cereal. This is optional. We did half coated and the rest not.
- Place the sticks on the greased 15 by 10 inch baking sheet, separating each piece.
- Place in the freezer for an hour.
- Take the sticks off of the pan and place in a ziplock bag and return to the freezer until you’re ready to bake.
- When you are ready to bake the sticks, preheat the oven to 425 degrees.
- Place the frozen sticks on a greased baking sheet.
- Bake for 8 minutes and flip each stick.
- Return to the oven for another 8 to 10 minutes or until golden brown.
- Serve with warm maple syrup for dipping.
Makes 6 to 8 servings.
Frozen Fruit Smoothie
This healthy drink is great to serve with your French Toast Sticks, but is perfect for any time of the day. The frozen fruit makes this drink very refreshing and delicious. Children can help by adding the ingredients to the blender and hitting the blend button.
You will need a blender that will mix smoothies.
1 frozen banana, sliced
2 cups frozen strawberries or raspberries
1 cup milk
1/2 cup vanilla Greek yogurt
1/2 cup orange juice
3 tablespoons sugar or honey
- Prepare the bananas ahead of time by peeling, slicing and putting them in a container to be frozen.
- In a blender, combine the frozen banana slices, frozen fruit, milk, yogurt, orange juice and sugar or honey.
- Blend until smooth. The mixture will be very thick.
- Pour into 2 serving glasses and enjoy.
Makes 2 large servings.
