Chester Raccoon and the Big Bad Bully by Audrey Penn

The fourth book in the "Kissing Hand Collection" finds Chester and his friends facing an all too prevalent problem in today's schools:  bullying.  When Mother Raccoon discovers that there is a bully problem at school, she tells a story to Chester and a gathering of his friends  The fable encourages the group of young animals to deal with the school bully.  Penn deftly handles the subject matter and breaks it down into manageable bits which will certainly be starting points for good discussions with early elementary children.  I found the book very easy to read with the text flowing nicely throughout the story.  It gives a solid example of how to deal with a bully, which is what children need.  Recommended for ages 4-8.

*This review is based on a NetGalley.com electronic version of the book

 

A Bedtime Kiss for Chester Raccoon by Audrey Penn

In this new board book addition to the Chester the raccoon “Kissing Hand” series of books, Chester faces a fear that is very familiar to young children:  being afraid of the dark.  Though in this raccoon twist on the typical topic, Chester is afraid of the daylight with the sun casting scary shadows around his home and his imagination running wild. The simple rhyming text coupled with the adorable illustrations by Barbara L. Gibson present a not-too-scary bedtime story with just the right touch of love and tenderness.  A great introduction to Chester and his friends, recommended for ages 2+.

*This review is based on a NetGalley.com electronic version of the book

Mermaid Mysteries: Rosa and the Water Pony by Katy Kit

Rosa and the Water Pony is book one in the new series for early readers, Mermaid Mysteries from British author, Katy Kit. In a field inundated with fairy books of every shape and size, it was a welcomed change to see a mermaid on the cover!

The story centers on a group of four friends, Rosa, Jasmine, Sulu and Melody, who live in Mermaid Bay. As with most girls, finned or not, they deal with the usual trials of growing up coupled with a bit of mystery. In this first story, the girl’s are planning a display for King Neptune and a chance to win the most beautiful pearl necklace. Rosa’s cousin Coral arrives, seems to be better at most things than Rosa, and you can almost feel the jealousy rise from the pages.

This beginning chapter book is broken up into 6 chapters, each flowing easily into the next and chock full of whimsical illustrations to allow for plenty of white space surrounding the text; perfect for readers who are working at building up their confidence.

Look for this title, and others in the series, July 2011.  Recommended for ages 7-10.

A Storm Called Katrina by Myron Uhlberg

In the six years since hurricane Katrina devastated the Louisiana golf coast; this is the first picture book I have read that captures the pain and devastation in a manner suitable for young children.

Children’s author Myron Uhlberg eloquently conveys the events of that horrific August day through the eyes of a 10 year old boy, Louis Daniel. The reader is swept up into the turbulent events which are so thoroughly depicted, not only by the easily flowing text, but also by the moving illustrations created by Colin Bootman.

Uhlberg tackled a topic that needs to be shared with today’s youth, and he has done so in a way which is easily transferable in a classroom. Children will come away from the story feeling as if Louis Daniel is their friend, and the supporting information and references included on the end pages will supplement their learning.
Recommended for ages 8-12.  Release date: August 2011.

Bunny Storytime

A bunny storytime is perfect during the Spring, but really could be enjoyed any time of the year.  Those cute, cuddly creatures are so adorable and hard to resist.  There are quite a variety of books out there with rabbits or bunnies as the main character. You will find some perfect for Spring weather, a bedtime treat, and to cosy up with for Winter. Here are a few ideas for your own storytime:

BOOKS:

Muncha! Muncha! Muncha! by Candace Fleming
Snow Rabbit, Spring Rabbit: A Book of Changing Seasons by Il Sung Na
Guess How Much I Love You by Sam McBratney

Flora's Surprise? by Debi Gliori

Bunny's Noisy Book by Margaret Wise Brown

Carrot Soup by John Segal

Wolves by Emily Gravett

Danny's First Snow by Leonid Gore

SONGS:

"Did You Ever See a Bunny"

Did you ever see a bunny, a bunny, a bunny,
Did you ever see a bunny, munching his lunch?
He munches and crunches, and munches and crunches.
Did you ever see a bunny, munching his lunch?

Did you ever see a bunny, a bunny, a bunny,
Did you ever see a bunny, flap his big ears?
He flips them and flaps them and flips them and flaps them.
Did you ever see a bunny, flap his big ears?

Did you ever see a bunny, a bunny, a bunny,
Did you ever see a bunny, hop down the lane?
He hips and he hops and he hips and he hops.
Did you ever see a bunny, hop down the lane?



"The Bunny-Pokey"
You put your bunny ears in,
You put your bunny ears out,
You put your bunny ears in
And you wiggle all about.
You do the bunny pokey,
And you hop yourself around,
That's what it's all about.

You put your bunny nose in...
You put your bunny tail in...
You put your bunny foot in...
You put your whole self in...


CRAFT:

There are lots of bunny crafts you can do with your children:  bunny paper bag puppets, bunny masks, fluffy tissue paper bunnies and rolly toilet paper roll bunnies, etc.  What I decided to do on this wonderful Spring day, was to make bunny visors, much like my penguin and cat visor ideas  (***the ears are lying down in the picture, but they are actually pretty long and stand straighter when the hat is on!). 

I first saw the craft in Oriental Trading, but never got around to ordering anything, so instead, I purchased foam and supplies at the local craft store, pulled out my scissors, and began cutting!  Thankfully our library has an Accu-Cut machine with a "visor" die, so the actual hat part was easy, but for something even easier, check out your local craft store - they usually sell children size visors for about $1.00 each. 

I used glue dots to attach the foam pieces and google eyes to the foam visor.  The pipe-cleaner whiskers were simply weaved through the foam behind the nose.  The kids (average aage 3) were so creative with their bunnies!   Multiple ears, various colors, curled and uncurled whiskers - they turned out fantastic!    Have fun with it!

Good Egg by Barney Saltzberg

I love, Love, LOVE this! Check it out:




Also check out Saltzberg's awesome Beautiful Oops.

Lost For Words by Alice Kuipers

All Sophie wants to do is forget.  But it’s not easy now that everything’s changed.

This moving story is about a sixteen-year-old girl named Sophie who has a hard time making sense of her life after the death of her sister.  As she struggles with profound grief, she shuts out those she was once very close to.  She refuses to share her pain with her mother and she begins to dislike and avoid her best friend.  It is only after she seeks help from a therapist that she finally begins to heal.  She is also helped in her recovery by new classmate, Rosa Leigh, who helps her to appreciate the beauty in life again.  Lost for Words deals with many issues in a believable and sensible way.  It’s a quick read I’d recommend to teen girls seeking realistic fiction.

Chicks and Ducks Storytime

Though fun anytime of the year, in Spring I usually get the urge to do a "duck" storytime. Perhaps it is because come late March and early April, I always seem to have a flock of ducks invade my little 100 gallon pond. Over the years (and because of some cute books!) I've also added in "chicks" to the theme - sometimes doing them separate and other times doing them together, depending on how many weeks I have and what I have space for!    It really is a fun theme with many worthwhile stories to share.



QUACK BOOKS:

Duck &  Goose by Tad Hills
Mr. Duck Means Business by Tammi Sauer
Duck on a Bike  by David Shannon
Duck at the Door  by Jackie Urbanovic
Come Along Daisy by Jane Simmons



CHICK BOOKS:

Big Chickens by Leslie Helakoski
Five Little Chicks by Nancy Tafuri
This Little Chick by John Lawrence
Minerva Louise by Janet Stoeke
Chicks Run Wild by Sudipta Bardhan-Quallen
 
SONG:

If you would like to include a song with your feathery stories, a catchy tune that the kids all seem to love is: Five Little Ducks
Five little ducks

Went out one day
Over the hill and far away
Mother duck said
"Quack, quack, quack, quack."
But only four little ducks came back.

Four little ducks
Went out one day
Over the hill and far away
Mother duck said
"Quack, quack, quack, quack."
But only three little ducks came back.

Three little ducks
Went out one day
Over the hill and far away
Mother duck said
"Quack, quack, quack, quack."
But only two little ducks came back.

Two little ducks
Went out one day
Over the hill and far away
Mother duck said
"Quack, quack, quack, quack."
But only one little duck came back.

One little duck
Went out one day
Over the hill and far away
Mother duck said
"Quack, quack, quack, quack."
But none of the five little ducks came back.

Sad mother duck
Went out one day
Over the hill and far away
The sad mother duck said
"Quack, quack, quack."
And all of the five little ducks came back.

CRAFT:

A craft I like to do along with a duck/chick storytime (or any feathery storytime for that matter) is to make wooden spoon feathered friends.  I used to call these "duck puppets", and still do on occasion, but really, they never look anything like a duck.  This is really a very simple project and all you need are some google eyes, craft foam or paper, feathers, markers, tape, glue and a good helping of imagination!

The feathers are attached by using first some glue dots (highly recommended so you do not need to wait for the items to dry!!!) and then taping them down.  A fun alternative is to cut a piece of duct tape (the colorful varieties are fun) to fit the back, and attach it to hold down the feathers more securely. 

This craft is very adaptable to other themes.  Once you get the items out for your children, be prepared to watch them create all sorts of fun critter puppets!   Try this with different wooden implements as well, such as a wooden fork - the prongs make great hair!

Rain Storytime

April showers bring May flowers!  Or so we all hope...    At the rate we have been getting rain, the gardens should be bursting with blooms come May! 

If your weatherman is predicting rain in your forecast, why not plan a fun rain storytime?!   There are lots of books to share and projects to do.

BOOKS:

Mushroom in the Rain by Mirra Ginsburg - a classic story with a great message!

Are you ready to play outside? by Mo Willems - a fun, but wet story in the Elephant and Piggie series by Mo Willems.

 

Rain by Manya Stojic - animals of the African savanna use their senses to predict and then enjoy the rain.

 

Raindrop, Plop! by Wendy Cheyette Lewison - A young girl and her dog find many things to count on a rainy day, both as they play outside and after they come home to a warm, dry house.

 

The Rain Came Down by David Shannon - An unexpected rain shower causes quarreling among the members of a small community.

 

SONGS:

There are many great songs and rhymes for a rainy storytime.  Check these out:

The Eency Weency Spider

3.  The first year I did this craft, I had some silver and gold metallic ribbon (silver on one side and gold on the other).  Instead of using raindrops, we simply taped 8" to 10" strips of the ribbon to the inside of the cloud.  They really turned out cute, but I haven't found this ribbon again!

Eency, weency spider,
Crawled up the water spout.
Down came the rain
And washed the spider out.
Out came the sunshine
And dried up all the rain,
So the eency, weency spider
Crawled up the spout again.

Rain Rain Go Away

Rain, Rain.
Go away.
Come again another day.
(insert name) wants to play.
Rain, rain, go away.

Whether the Weather

Whether the weather be fine, Or whether the weather be not, Whether the weather be cold, Or whether the weather be hot, We'll weather the weather Whatever the weather, Whether we like it or not!

 CRAFT:

The craft project I provided for my "rain" storytime is pictured above; a rain cloud with rain drops dangling underneath.  For this project you need some blue and some white construction paper, some sort of string, scissors, tape, and a glue stick.  Simply cut out two identical clouds (TIP: fold an 8 1/2" X 11" piece of paper in half and cut out your cloud shape.  You will be left with two identical clouds). Cut out raindrops and cut 3-5 pieces of string (enough for your raindrops).  You can tape the raindrops to one end of the string and then tape the other end of the string to the inside of one cloud.  Do that for all raindrops.  When you are finished, glue the other cloud on top to hide the strings. 

Alternatives:

1.  Punch a hole at the top of your cloud and attach some string.  You can then hang your cloud.

2.  Instead of attaching just raindrops, cut out several clouds and many raindrops... attach them all together for a very long "storm" mobile!