Books for Younger Readers

Disclosure: I was sent these books in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Today I am giving you a round-up of books for your younger readers. These books range in ages from 4 to 12 although one is suggested for 0 months and above. One book is about fears and seems perfect for this week with Halloween. Hazel has had high fears in the month of October especially when she was younger. She still does not like to see the Halloween decorations in the stores or on people's yards. Do you know any child like this? If you do this first book is perfect for him or her. It is Frankie's Scared of EVERYTHING by tattoo artist, Mathew Franklin. It is recommended for ages 4 to 8.

Farms and Zoos

Broad Tailed Hawk at Drumlin Farm

We are trying, but struggling to get back into our weekly rhythm. With my parents here Monday morning still it seems to have thrown us off a bit. Plus Hazel was up quite a bit Sunday night--I think the excitement of the weekend got to her and now I'm sick as a result. Oh, well.

The Silver Box & The Enchantment Lake Series

 

Disclosure: I was sent copies of all the books in this series in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Today I get to share with you the Enchantment Lake series by Margi Preus. This book is part of the blog tour for the third book, The Silver Box. Before I get into this book, though let me talk about the first two. The first book is Enchantment Lake and the second book is The Clue in the Trees.

Virtual Book Club for Kids--Extraordinary Egg

It is time for the Virtual Book Club for Kids. This month the author is Leo Lionni. The book we will be featuring is An Extraordinary Egg. If you have any activities, crafts, etc. to go along with a Leo Lionni book, you can share it below!

An Extraordinary Egg is about three frogs who live on an island. Two of the frogs like to stay near their inlet while Jessica likes to explore the island. Jessica is always bringing back things from her explorations that she thinks are extraordinary. One day she brings back a large white pebble. This time Marilyn and August were truly astonished and Marilyn told them it was not a pebble, but a chicken egg.  Since Jessica had never heard of a chicken, she believed Marilyn.

The egg hatched and a long, green, scaly animal came out and asked where the water was. The frogs called this animal, Chicken. Chicken was a very good swimmer and taught the frogs some tricks in the water. One day Chicken saved Jessica's life when she was stuck in some plants at the bottom of the pond. From that day on, they were inseparable. Chicken joined Jessica on her explorations. One day a bird spoke to Chicken saying her mother has been looking for her. The bird took them to Chicken's mother. Chicken's mother called Chicken her little alligator. Jessica went home and told Marilyn and August all about it. They found it so funny that the mother called a chicken a little alligator.

Reading this book got us to thinking about what animals lay eggs. We too out Chickens Aren't the Only Ones by Ruth Heller to learn more. We learned the word oviparous which is the name for any animal that lays an egg. The oviparous animals are all birds, most snakes, lizards, crocodiles, alligators, turtles, dinosaurs (did), frogs, toads, salamanders, fish, seahorse, octopus, moonsnails, spiders, snails, insects, and the two mammals are the spiny anteater and the duckbill platypus (both mammals live in Australia). We used this information for our activity. We did it two ways: one with a homemade egg craft and one with plastic eggs.

With the plastic eggs, I collected some of the animals that would lay eggs and put them inside the plastic eggs. (Yes, I bought a Toob of animals for this, but used many we already had as well). Then Hazel opened each one to see what was inside. Our flamingo did not fit into the large plastic egg we had, but we pretended it did since flamingos lay the largest eggs of all birds. The animals we had were chick, duck, frog, alligator, flamingo, goose, turtle, beetle and dinosaur. She really enjoyed this activity and it was very easy to do since we had not put away our plastic Easter eggs yet.

Our next activity involved making three paper mache eggs. We did this by blowing up three water balloons and then covering them in strips of tissue paper dipped in a glue and water mix. Then we left them to dry overnight. When they were dry, I popped the balloons and slid an animal into each one. I had to cut the hole a bit bigger for the animals to go in.

Our Eggs

Then I lined them up and had Hazel guess which one was the alligator, the chicken and the goose eggs. She discovered she could see in the holes and changed her mind on all of them after peeking. Then she took away the eggs and animals so she could play with them.

That is our exploration of An Extraordinary Egg. Have you done some activities with a Leo Lionni book? Share it below and join all these wonderful bloggers who host the Virtual Book Club for Kids each month. 

Toddler Approved - Rainy Day Mum - Adventures in Reading with Kids - 3 Dinosaurs - Royal Baloo - The Educators' Spin On It - Inspiration Laboratories - Pleasantest Thing - Edventures with Kids - Two Big Two Little - Playing With Words 365 - Kitchen Counter Chronicles - Outlaw Mom - Mommy and Me Book Club - Crafty Moms Share - No Twiddle Twaddle - The Good Long Road - Ready. Set. Read 2 Me - Reading Confetti - Mama Smiles - Juggling with Kids- Mom to 2 Posh Lil Divas - Creekside Learning - Creative Family Fun - The Usual Mayhem - Teach Preschool - PlayDrMom - CraftoArt - Here Come the Girls - Being a Conscious Parent - Smiling like Sunshine - Crayon Freckles - Train Up a Child - Smile Play Learn - Enchanted Homeschooling Mom - Coffee Cups and Crayons - Having Fun at Chelle's House- Love, Play, Learn - Juggling With Kids - Motherhood on a Dime - Growing Book By Book

- This Reading Mama - Fantastic Fun and Learning
 

An Upcoming Event: This summer there will be a Virtual Book Club Summer Camp at home for 5 weeks. Each week will feature a different theme and you will be asked to share links based on those topics--they do not have to be from books. To sign up, click on the button above! It starts June 24th and is geared to 2 to 8-year-olds.

Happy Family Times #8

 

Kelly at Happy Whimsical Hearts and I run a link party to share your family times every Tuesday. Please link up below and visit Happy Whimsical Hearts to read about her quality family time!

This week we spent Saturday as a family. We started our morning going to the local zoo--Stone Zoo. We have a family membership there, but hadn't used it since we renewed it last month. We finally got a gorgeous day with little plans so we headed over there. The first animal we saw was the American Bald Eagle. They also have a replica of its nest.

Then we went to see the black bears. They are two brothers. Some days we have caught them playing with one another, but I think today it was near feeding time since the one above went to the door and stayed there after having a drink of water in their "pond." His brother however had a great time with the big blue ball!

 Then we saw the llamas and owls. Hazel couldn't see the Great Horned Owl, so Daddy picked her up.

The coyotes could not be found. And usually we always see the cougar and jaguar doing something fun, but today they were both sleeping. Not too exciting. We did see a snake drinking water. The picture of the snake didn't come out too well, but here are Steve and Hazel checking it out.

We saw a few more caged animals and then we went to see Hazel's favorite--the flamingos!!

Then we went into the inside displays. The pictures did not come out well in there for the most part. Some of the "glass" was dirty and it also reflected light. Then we stopped at the gift shop. We picked up some postcards for Hazel's penpals and a present for each of us. Then the river otter was out and swimming.

They have several types of monkeys or monkey like animals. Some were sleeping and one was hanging on the edge of the cage checking us all out.

Next we saw the white cheeked gibbon family. They had a baby in the fall!

The father, the black one, is one armed. He lost part of his arm at his previous zoo when a visitor tried to feed him something or threw something in to his cage. They have a sign telling the story. He gets around pretty well all things considered. Here he was sleeping though.

Next we took Hazel to dig for dinosaur bones. This is the first time we took her to this part because of her age and the crowds that can be there. She seemed to enjoy it. It is also right next to their Birds of Flight Show. We skipped that due to timing, and I think Hazel would be scared and it is not something you can get out of during the show. Then we decided to go have lunch. We had brought some sandwiches but headed over to the grill for some French fries and so Hazel could go on the rides. We brought quarters from her piggy bank for the rides. Here are a couple of them.

Then we went through the barnyard and or course Hazel wanted to play on the playground there. She had fun. Oh, and I got someone to take a family shot of us. And it actually came out pretty well.

Then we saw the zebu. I had never seen or heard of a zebu before going to this zoo.

Then we got really lucky. The snow leopard was out! Steve had never gotten to see it before. And this was the best view I have ever gotten of it.

We walked up to see the wolves but they were not out. We did see the black necked crane. And the snow leopard was still out on our way back down the hill. Then we saw the markhors. Then we quickly went down the path with the foxes, porcupines and barnyard owl. By this time Hazel was getting tired so we hurried through, but on our way to the path we saw this little turtle not in a cage but on the path.

Then we were on our way to our local Rite Aid. They were having a fundraiser today for Children's Miracle Network. All the proceeds from it would go to the Children's Hospital in Boston. They had Elmo there. Hazel did not want to leave once we were there. She loved sitting next to Elmo and she even got pictures of her with Elmo and the store manager and the assistant manager--two of her three friends at the store.  Rite Aid is like a second home to us.

Now it is your turn to share how your family has spent some quality time lately.

~ please link up (family time oriented giveaways are ok, but please no Etsy shops)
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Ok, now for our PARTY!! Please share your FUN Family Times!!

Summer Reading -- Chapter Books for Grades 2-5

Disclosure: I was sent these books free of charge in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own. 

Yesterday I joined in the Penguin Kids Meet the Chapter Books July Summer Reading Program and introduced some chapter books for kids in grades 1-3. To avoid the summer slide it is important to have our kids continue reading all summer long and to make it so it is not a chore it is important to find the books that interest your child. Hazel LOVES to read and will read just about anything, however if it is a favorite I cannot get her nose out of the book. If it is not it becomes more of a chore. So today I am going to share with you four books for the slightly older reader--grades 2-5. (Tomorrow we will have books for older kids.) We will start with the first book in the Microsaurs: Follow that Tiny-Dactyl by Dustin Hansen. The second book in the series comes out next week. 

New Picture Book that Teaches Fears Can Be All in Our Minds

 

Disclosure: I was sent a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own. 

When Hazel was young, she had many fears including the dark. We have spent quite a bit of time dealing with her anxieties. Today I'm sharing a wonderful book that helps kids who are afraid of the dark. It reminds me a bit of the Halloween book, The Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid of Anything. Today's book is not Halloween or even fall specific. It is Barnaby Is Not Afraid of Anything by Gilles Bizouerne and illustrated by Beatrice Rodriquez. 

National Geographic Kids Almanac 2024 -- Review & Giveaway

Disclosure: I was sent a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

When Hazel was young, she always loved flipping through the National Geographic Kids Almanac. When we saw it at the bookstore, she would ask me to get one for her. I was lucky enough to get several to review in years past. Today I get to share with you the newest edition--National Geographic Kids Almanac 2024. It is recommended for ages 8 to 12. I know I shared it with Hazel when she was younger. We would look at it together and I would read it to her. And I also have a link for a giveaway of three copies!! Enter and you may be one of the lucky winners!!

About the New York Times Best-Selling National Geographic Kids Almanac 2024:

The New York Times best-selling Almanac is packed with incredible photos, tons of fun facts, National Geographic exclusives, games, activities, and fascinating features about animals, science, nature, technology, and more.


This new edition features: 

• EXCLUSIVE National Geographic Explorer interviews and features
• EXCLUSIVE Interactive Almanac Challenge 2024, plus the results of the Almanac Challenge 2023
• BONUS SECTION of sidesplitting jokes and riddles
• NEW fun-tastic things to see and do in 2024
• NEW cutest animal superlatives and animal rescue stories
• NEW science and dinosaur discoveries
• NEW fun games, quizzes, and activities
• NEW weird and wacky places around the world
• NEW experiments to do, places to explore, and ways to change the world
• UPDATED reference material, including fast facts and maps of every country

Check out https://kids.nationalgeographic.com/books/article/almanac-2024 for more information and to take the 2024 Almanac Challange, Elephant-Stagram!

Whether you’re looking for homework help, want to learn more about another country, or just need a cute animal fix, the National Geographic Kids Almanac 2024 has you covered!

From Me:

As I mentioned in the introduction, this was one of Hazel's favorites. It is packed full with fun information, riddles, jokes, fun facts, games and more. The topics are all over the place from animals (like the elephants that are part of this year's challenge) and the pages about flamingos and so many others. It also has animals in the news like the ones rescued from the war and more. The book also includes all you ever wanted to know about plastics and the need to reduce our usage of them. There is information about space and Earth as well as wonders of the world, history, geography, culture and science and technology. It is full of photographs galore as well as tidbits that are just fun!

While I was flipping through, I tried to get Hazel to say some of the tongue twisters and then asked her some of the riddles. She claimed I was being annoying (typical teenager mode) until she saw the "Stump Your Parents" section. She took over and quizzed me. Then I found the other quiz and asked her. We had a lovely time laughing and teasing each other over the facts. 

What I love about this book is it is fun and informational. It is perfect for checking out with an adult or to look up something for school. There are so many different topics and lots of ideas and actions to take to make the world a better place. It is such a great book to inspire kids to learn about things they love even if they haven't heard of them yet. I love how it has information about the dinosaurs to the latest technology. There is truly something for everyone and more! I hope you will check it out!

Giveaway:

Three (3) winners will receive a copy of this ultimate summertime boredom buster! Good luck!! The rafflecopter will be live from 12:01am ET 7/24 to 11:59pm ET 8/11. US/Canada.

You can enter here!

Fun New Picture Book about Friends who Share an Adventure and a Collection

 Disclosure: I was sent a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

What do you collect? I have a few collections of things like teapots, snow globes and rocks and shells. Today we are sharing a new picture book about friendship, adventure, wonder and collecting. It is recommended for ages 3 to 7. The book is The Collectors by Alice Feagan. 

Preparing for Michaelmas

Yesterday I shared a bit about the story of St. George and the dragon Now Michaelmas is viewed as a celebration of the harvest as well as the slaying of the dragon. Waldorf Schools like to focus on slaying your inner dragon. I will share a few more dragon books with you and also go check the posts at Seasons of Joy on Taming the Inner Dragons, so far she has done Guilt and Responsibility,  Fear of Failure, Fear of Success and Anger.

• Saint George and the Dragon retold by Margaret Hodges is the story of St. George and the dragon. I found it a little above the level for Hazel's understanding and will not read it to her. However for older children it would be great.
• A Book of Dragons by Hosie and Leonard Baskin gives summaries and a picture of various dragons throughout history including St. George and his dragon. I will read this summary to Hazel.
• The Knight and the Dragon by Tomie dePaola is a cute tale about a knight and a dragon who go to fight one another and have a few issues. In the end they open a restaurant together.

I'm still waiting for three more dragon books from the library. Hopefully I will get them by Saturday. I will let you know if they are any good if I do.

I also have Hazel's things ready to reenact fighting the dragon. We have her sword (inflatable, but traditional Waldorf would be wooden), a yellow cape, a crown and of course a dragon. I just told Steve maybe we would make him a dragon costume and have him dress up as the dragon. Hmmm, come to think of it we have a dinosaur/dragon costume in Hazel's dress ups. I wonder if it will fit him. We'll see if he will go along with it.
Michaelmas is also about the harvest and food is very important. Blackberries are often served due to an old Irish folk tale of Satan landing on blackberry brambles when he fell from heaven and he returns each 29th of September to spit on the fruit of the plants he landed on and of course his spit makes the fruit inedible after that date. (Source)

Source

I think I will try this recipe for Harvest Apple Soup. I'm not sure Steve will like it but it sounds like something Hazel and i will love. We will also make dragon bread as I described yesterday. Our plan is to make it with our huckabuck bread recipe from our parent/child class last year. Then since none of us really like blackberries, I think I will serve either a raspberry tart (I have one in my freezer that we need to use up) or an apple pie.

A Simple Fall Craft Hazel Made from Mostly Natural Things from Walks

There are many recipes available on line for bread, stew/soup, goose, and pie. The tradition of goose has to do with paying quarterly rents in England and for Michaelmas you gave a goose with your rent. (Source) Here are a few:

• Michaelmas Harvest Bread on Copywriter's Kitchen
• Michaelmas Pie on Irish Culture and Customs (Michaelmas Pie always involves blackberries)
• Michaelmas Dumplings on The English Kitchen
• Potato Soup on April's Homemaking
• St. Michael's Oatmeal Waffles on Catholic Culture.org
• Curried Vegetable Soup from the Earth Mom on Lancaster Online

I also plan to make some salt dough to make some dragon and autumn decorations.  Last year I shared a pretty good round-up of dragon crafts if you are interested. Depending on how Hazel is feeling, we will see what we get done. You could also do a harvest or fall craft. Above I shared a simple natural (or mostly--we used fake leaves) autumn wreath. Hazel just glued some things onto a paper plate that I had cut out the center. Most of the things were found on nature walks.

Well, I hope that gives you some ideas on celebrating Michaelmas! Enjoy!!

Sharing Saturday 14-9

Thank you to everyone who shared with us last week!! There was a little technical problem on the part of Linky Tools and I apologize for it. Apparently they were upgrading there servers and had a hard drive crash. It was the one with the images for the linky parties. Of the three back-ups only one was good and it did not include anything from 2014. Thus why all the images for the Linky Tool link parties for 2014 are gone. However the few that linked up after this issue still have their image and all the links still work. However I did still pick many features to share with you and highly suggest you check out some of the great ideas even without the pictures.

My Home Filled with Love -- a Love Letter to Parents in a Picture Book with Gift/Card Craft Round-Up

 

Disclosure: I was sent a digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. I am working with The Children's Book Review and Tabletop Teaching LLC as part of the Blog Tour. I will receive a small stipend for this review.

Today we are sharing a fun new book that reads as a love letter to parents. It is meant to show kids and parents what a nurturing home looks like, however to me it is a love letter to the girls parents. The book is My Home Filled with Love by Desiree Blanchard and illustrated by Hayley Moore. This post includes a giveaway as well as a round-up of gifts and cards kids can make for their parents!

My First Science Book Series Review & Giveaway

 

Disclosure: I am working with The Children's Book Review & Dover Publications by participating in this virtual book tour. I was sent copies of these four books in exchange for an honest review and a small stipend. All opinions are my own.

It is hard to believe it is June. Summer is basically here. For many this school year was a mess. I know many parents are worried about how much their kids learned with all the remote learning the past two years. Every summer kids lose some of what they have learned. This summer it will be more important to keep our kids reading and learning. I am going to be sharing books that will give you extra resources to keep the kids learning all summer long in fun ways starting today. Today I am sharing part of Dover Publication's My First Science Book Series and at the end there will be a giveaway!!