Book Review

Book Love: Help Your Child Grow from Reluctant to Enthusiastic Reader by Melissa Taylor 

I am very excited to share with you this wonderful book and resource written by one of my very favorite bloggers, Melissa Taylor from Imagination Soup.com.  As a former elementary school teacher, and creator of Mommy and Me Book Club, I often get asked questions about how to help children learn to love to read.  I get asked how to help children who are frustrated, bored, or downright combative about having to read.  I now know how to answer these questions, I will tell them to read Book Love.  It is a wonderful book filled with great tips that teachers use in their classrooms. Now you can learn them so that you can use them at home.  There are flashcards, games, book lists divided by interest topics, and online resources.  Ideas are included for improving comprehension, fluency, phonics and learning site words.   There are even short assessments that you can do yourself at home with your child, to try and determine the cause of your child's frustration, and then gives you ideas to help alleviate those concerns!  

Taylor goes in depth to the 4 main reasons children give for not liking to read. 

1-Too boring
2-Too tricky
3-Too blurry
4-Too "sitty"

Then she gives practical, easy solutions all contained within her book.  I think my very favorite are the discussion questions she suggests you ask your child, to help determine their real feelings about reading.  And of course, her suggestion to create a Book Club.  :) 

The book is a short read, but filled with useful ideas and information on every page.  I think parents of children ages 4-10 would find this information very helpful.  I don't have anyone who dislikes reading yet at my house, but I found lots of new ideas and games I want to play with my 3 children.  And some fun games that you might see us play one day soon in Mommy and Me Book Club!  

Melissa is offering some neat gifts when you purchase her book this week in celebration of her book launch, so head over to Imagination Soup for all the details! There are free printables available to everyone who purchases the book and you can even enter to win several other gifts including books and gift cards! 


 The kindle edition is available today at Amazon.com !  

The Children's Bookshelf- Nov 12

I had originally planned to share with you my very favorite Thanksgiving books this week on the Children's Bookshelf.  But last week, Stacey from Boy, Oh Boy, Oh Boy! shared a fantastic list in the linkup that included ALL of my favorites.  So instead, I am going to send you to her fabulous blog!  Her blog is a new find for me, and I am in love! 

If you are looking for fun activities inspired by A Turkey for Thanksgiving or Ten Fat Turkeys, click through to see our Thanksgiving themed Mommy and Me classes from the past two years.  This week, we will be featuring Run Turkey Run, so make sure you come back and check out our Mommy and Me Book Club fun!!!  

So, now, it is your turn to share with us all of your kid lit inspired posts this week. Please link up any children's book posts below and don't forget to follow The Children's Bookshelf on Pinterest or visit TCB's co-hosts: What Do We Do All Day?, No Twiddle Twaddle, Smiling Like Sunshine, Mommy and Me Book Club, My Little Bookcase and Mouse Grows, Mouse Learns.

By linking up you are giving permission for any of the co-hosts to pin and/or feature a photo from that post on a future The Children's Bookshelf post. Thank you for joining us each week!  I love seeing everyone's fun with books!  And just a reminder, please do not link up any posts that are not children's book related.  Those will be removed.

Cindy Moo

Our activities this week were inspired by the book Cindy Moo by Lori Mortensen. 

Gathering-Cow Spots 
(One to One Correspondence and fine motor skills)

We printed off plain white cow coloring pages for each child, and drew 10 circles on the cow. 

We gave each child 10 black buttons to place in the circles. 

We did not glue down, because we wanted to let them take the buttons off and then do it again. 

Our Circle Time and Book Review

Cindy Moo by Lori Mortensen is a beautifully written and illustrated rhyming book.  It tells the story of a cow who is determined to follow in her ancestor's footsteps, and jump over the moon herself.   She tries and tries again.  Others tell her to give up, but she refuses.  In the end, she finds her own unique solution to her problem and achieves her dream.  I love the life lessons it teaches.  I love the flow of the language.  And I am absolutely IN LOVE with Cindy Moo with her pink bow and her positive attitude.  This is one of those books that the Mommies enjoyed as much as the children.  We checked ours out of the public library, but it is one I would not hesitate to purchase and add to our home library. 

We had learned the poem “Hey Diddle Diddle” previously at Mommy and Me, so we sand this again today. 

Art: Cindy Moo Clothespin Cow Craft 
(artistic exploration, fine motor skills, following directions, literacy connections)

I loved this cute cow craft I found at Busybee Kids Crafts. You can head there for complete directions.  We made our own, and added a pink bow so they would look like Cindy Moo.  

Don't you love our cute herd?  

Snack: Cow jumped over the moon snack & milk

We were inspired by this cute idea at Meet the Dubiens and created our own with tortillas, meat, and cheese! 

Activities

1-Jumping Over the Moon: 
(Gross motor skills, jumping, balancing, taking turns, cooperation)

I have a large white exercise ball and we allowed the children to take turns jumping over the pretend moon.  

2-Milking a Glove Activity
(fine motor skills, real life connections, sensory development)

This was one of my favorite activities when I taught kindergarten, and my little Mommy and Me friends loved it, too!  

We used white paint and a latex glove.  We poked small holes in each fingertip of the glove.

 We had three children share each glove and squirt the paint onto a plate.  It was messy and fun!

The Children's Bookshelf

Thank you to everyone who linked up last week!  So many book related fabulous Halloween ideas to love that I will pin for next year!  We had a few non-Halloween ideas, too.  One of my favorites was this one by At Home with Ali.  She created wonderful sensory play to go with the story We're Going on a Bear Hunt.  Make sure you head over to her blog and check out all of her messy fun!  My little girl saw it and said "Let's do that today!"

So, now, it is your turn to share with us all of your kid lit inspired posts this week. Please link up any children's book posts below and don't forget to follow The Children's Bookshelf on Pinterest or visit TCB's co-hosts: What Do We Do All Day?, No Twiddle Twaddle, Smiling Like Sunshine, Mommy and Me Book Club, My Little Bookcase and Mouse Grows, Mouse Learns.

By linking up you are giving permission for any of the co-hosts to pin and/or feature a photo from that post on a future The Children's Bookshelf post. 

November Virtual Book Club Author

This month our featured author is Tomie dePaola!  If you want to participate,  all you need to do is pick a favorite Tomie dePaola book, do a fun activity inspired by the chosen book, and come back here and share on November 19th!  I love seeing all of your wonderful ideas!   

Come back and join all of us who are participating in our monthly virtual book club for kids!

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 -  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

Miss Fiona's Stupendous Pumpkin Pie

This week's fun was inspired by Miss Fiona's Stupendous Pumpkin Pie by Mark Kimball Moulton.  It was also our Halloween Mommy and Me Book Club, so the children dressed up in costumes.
 

 

Gathering Activity: Pumpkin Pie Playdough 
(Fine motor skills, creative play, sensory play)

• 2 cups flour
• 1 cup salt
• 2 cups water
• 2 tbsp. vegetable oil
• 1 tbsp. cream of tartar
• 2 tbsp pumpkin pie spice
•  yellow and red food coloring

*I always add the food coloring to my water before combining all the ingredients. 

*Combine all the ingredients in a saucepan and stir over medium-low heat. Continue to stir until the mixtures reaches a good consistency. Remove it from the heat and knead it when it's cool enough to handle.  Store in an air tight container.

Circle Time
(Pre-literacy skills, rhyming, music, listening skills, language development, gross motor skills)

 
We read Miss Fiona's Stupendous Pumpkin Pie by Mark Kimball Moulton.  The pictures in this book are very sweet and remind me a little of Mary Englebreit's artwork, which I love.  There are no frightening pictures.  The story is written in a pleasing rhyme that is enjoyable to read aloud.  It is the tale of a kind witch who loves to plant pumpkins and make pumpkin pie to share with everyone in town on Halloween night.   The children all love to come to her home.  When asked her secret ingredient, she says she puts spiders and bat wings inside, which made our little ones giggle. 

 After our story, we enjoyed 3 different songs. 

First I shared the 5 Little Pumpkins Traditional finger play and flannel board story. 

 

We sang "5 Little Bats Flew Out One Day."

"5 little bats flew out one day, over the trees and far away.  When the Mommy Bat said "Eek ack come back."  Only 4 little bats came back."  Repeat until no bats.
"No little bats went out to play, over the trees and far away. When the DADDY bat said "EEK ACK COME BACK!" 5 little bats came flying back.   

And a favorite every year, "I'm A Little Scarecrow."  (sung to the tune of "I'm a Little Teapot") The children stand with their arms straight out like a scarecrow.

"I'm a little scarecrow, filled with hay.   Here I stand in the fields all day.  When I see a crow I like to shout..."HEY! YOU CROWS, YOU BETTER GET OUT!" 

 


Art: Decorate Pumpkins
 (Creative exploration, fine motor skills, art, spatial reasoning)

We decorated pumpkins with foam stickers, ribbon, buttons, pipe cleaners, pom poms,  sequins, glue, and these adorable felt witch hats and pirate hats one of our talented moms made!  I loved them!  

 


Snack - Mini Pumpkin Pies
(Communication, making connections with literature, self-help skills)

 
Of course we had to eat pumpkin pie with our story.  These were the perfect size. 

Activities
(Gross Motor Skills, Fine Motor Skills, Cooperation, Communication, Sorting, Listening Skills)
 
1-Pumpkin Toss and Roll

The children took turns tossing and rolling small plastic pumpkins into a basket. 

2-Making Fiona's Stupendous Pumpkin Pie Game 

 
I placed one large plastic cauldron in the center of the room.  I then scattered several objects around on the floor of different ingredients (pumpkins, eyes, spiders, worms, etc.....) 

I called out the name of one of the items and had the children run and find that item on the floor and place it in the pot.

  Then they returned to their places.  I had enough of each item that every child could do each one.  This game didn't last too long.

   It ended up with the children playing and sorting all of the objects together.  Which was also very fun.   I think that is one of the most important part of teaching children, allowing them to take the game where they want it to go.  

So, now, it is your turn to share with us all of your kid lit inspired posts this week. Please link up any children's book posts below and don't forget to follow The Children's Bookshelf on Pinterest or visit TCB's co-hosts: What Do We Do All Day?, No Twiddle Twaddle, Smiling Like Sunshine, Mommy and Me Book Club, My Little Bookcase and Mouse Grows, Mouse Learns.

By linking up you are giving permission for any of the co-hosts to pin and/or feature a photo from that post on a future The Children's Bookshelf post.  

Charlotte's Web Sensory Bin

My son's kindergarten's class is reading Charlotte's Web by E.B White as part of an integrated farm unit this month.  I couldn't resist making this fun sensory bin for one of the centers.  

I used deer corn as the base.  It was inexpensive.  I only needed 1/2 of a bag.  I gave the other half to another kindergarten class.

I was able to find a little doll from the Dollar Tree to represent Fern and this great Wilbur pig there, as well. 

Charlotte and Templeton were both found at Wal-mart. 

At Michaels, I found these great wooden boxes with lids to use as scoops. 

In the book, Charlotte's Web, Charlotte writes special words in her web.  I wrote all of the sight words that the class had covered this quarter on to laminated webs and added those to the box.

Did you have any book inspired fun this week?  Link up on our Children's Bookshelf below!