As adults, we don’t always understand things from a child’s perspective. This is particularly true when it comes to moving to a new home. We forget how hard it is to say goodbye to dear friends, familiar surroundings and comfortable routines. In the book, “Paper Planes,” by Jim Helmorea, Mia and Ben are best friends, who love to make paper airplanes. But when Ben and his family move away, Mia struggles with her feelings of sadness. At the same time, she wonders if Ben is lonely too. In “Bad Bye, Good Bye,” by Deborah Underwood, a young child uses rhyming words to express their feelings about moving: “Bad day, bad box, bad mop, bad blocks.”
How can we make moving easier on our kids? Continue reading “When It’s Time to Move”
Ahhh, fall!
The best time of the year for:
- cozy sweaters
- pretty leaves
- hot apple cider
- & drippy noses!
Maybe it’s a bad case of the sniffles, a runny nose, a scratchy throat or a dreaded short-term fairytale curse? Either way, we’ve got some great reads to help your young ones navigate their sick day woes.
Sick Day Picture Books
“A Bad Case of Stripes” written and illustrated by David Shannon
In this fun sick day classic from David Shannon, poor Camilla Cream is worried about pleasing everybody. Camilla loves lima beans, but she decides not to eat lima beans at school in case the other kids make fun of her. Once she makes this decision, Camilla suddenly comes down with a bad case of stripes. No one knows where it came from or how to cure it. As the case of stripes gets worse, Camilla is changing at every person’s suggestion. It cannot be stopped until Camilla decides to just be herself. Continue reading “Sick Day Picture Books”
For several years now I have participated in the Teal Pumpkin Project. The Teal Pumpkin Project started in 2014 and is the brainchild of the Food and Allergy Research & Education Organization. This is a wonderful movement to make trick-or-treating on Halloween safer for children with food allergies. To do this, Teal Pumpkin Project participants have non-candy treats to give out. Houses with these allergy-safe options display a sign or a painted pumpkin to let trick-or-treaters know safe treats are available.
Not only does the Teal Pumpkin Project make Halloween safer, but it also makes it healthier. When given the choice of a treat or toy, many children will choose the toy, especially if there are a few options to choose from. Parents are often grateful for a baby-safe option as well; something they can give to a little one in a stroller without worrying about choking or a melty mess.
Here are some non-candy treat ideas: Continue reading “Teal Pumpkin Project”
Did you know that our state lies on the ancestral lands of the Chickasaw nation, the Otoe-Missouria tribe, the Illini tribe, the Osage nation, the Ioway tribe and the Quapaw tribe? Because the federal government does not formally recognize any Native American communities currently living in Missouri, we often forget about this part of our state’s history and culture. It’s important to remember that this is the direct result of forced removal and violence at the hands of the U.S. government. Entire thriving nations were forcefully confined to reservations in neighboring states like Kansas and Oklahoma and stripped of their land, language, culture and most basic rights. Continue reading “Honoring Indigenous Peoples’ Day 2021”
The time of Halloween and all things scary is upon us again, so as a sequel to a blog post I wrote last year, here are some more books that will hopefully deliver a horror fix to older grade-school readers who love being creeped out and terrified:
Starting furthest back in the past, we have Ray Bradbury’s darkly poetic classic, “Something Wicked This Way Comes,” about two boys who witness the arrival of a strange carnival into their small Midwestern town and discover the dark secrets it holds. It’s shelved in our adult fiction section but is appropriate for older kids. Bradbury’s only novel written for children, “The Halloween Tree,” is (as the title suggests) another great seasonal classic about a group of boys who go out trick-or-treating and encounter the mysterious Mr. Moundshroud, who shows them the history and the meaning of Halloween. Continue reading “More Scary Books for Older Kids”
October is here, and we’ve hit the ground running!
Spooky? Scary? Monsters with sharp teeth?
Monsters are nothing to be afraid of! In these picture books, tackle your fear of monsters and learn to say, “Go away, monster!”
“If You’re a Monster and You Know It” written by Rebecca Emberley, illustrated by Ed Emberley
Turn into a monster with this instant classic!
Based on the tune of, “If You’re Happy and You Know It,” this book invites kids to become monsters and snort / growl / smack / stomp / twitch / wiggle / roar with the other monsters! Continue reading “Not-So-Scary Monsters”
“Old MacDonald Had a Farm” was always a favorite with my kids, and now my grandkids like singing it too! Making animal sounds is so much fun. Want to learn all about farms and farm animals? Here are resources to share about the work it takes to run a farm. I’ve included some fun farm songs and hands-on activities too! Continue reading “Virtual Activity Bundle: Farms”
I’m just horn over hooves for all of the fabulous new unicorn books that are magically appearing at the library every day! Unicorns are one of the hot new trends in kids lit right now, and they are soaring off the shelves. Today, I want to take a moment to highlight some of my favorite unicorn books for fantasy lovers of all ages.
Best for Babes
“Uni Paints a Rainbow” written by Amy Krouse Rosenthal, illustrated by Brigette Barrager
On a dreary, rainy day, Uni brightens things up with her magic horn. Littles can name the colors of the rainbow with Uni and then celebrate the rain disappearing with a big rainbow. Continue reading “Unicorn Magic!”
If you’ve read any of my blogs from the past couple of years, you probably have picked up on how much I love Grogu (a.k.a. The Child or Baby Yoda). When I saw the new Star Wars cookbook, “Star Wars Galactic Baking: The Official Cookbook of Sweet and Savory Treats From Tatooine, Hoth and Beyond” I knew we’d have to put on our aprons, get out the flour and start baking!
First we pored over the cookbook, which has a lot of great recipes with pictures! It was a hard decision since there were so many great recipes like TIE Fighter Ice Cream Sandwiches, Cloud City Marshmallows and Carbonite Cakes, but eventually we landed on Sith Cookies. (Because, while you can go wrong with the Dark Side, you can’t go wrong with cookies!) Continue reading “Cookbooks We Love: Star Wars Galactic Baking”
Quick, answer these questions without googling the answers! The House of Representatives has how many voting members? We elect a U.S. senator for how many years? Name one of the U.S. territories? Applicants for U.S. naturalization answer questions such as these during the civics (knowledge of U.S. government and history) portion of their test. How did you do? Continue reading “Let’s Talk About the Constitution”
