Psalm 127:1
Unless the LORD builds the house, its builders labor in vain.
This is a place for me to share my journey of faith and life as a stay-at-home mom. My prayer is to inspire and encourage others and record those precious moments of my son's childhood.
Showing posts with label What My Child is Reading. Show all posts
Showing posts with label What My Child is Reading. Show all posts
One of J's favorite activities is reading books and I absolutely love cuddling him on my lap and reading. I like to link up to What My Child Is Reading blog link-up. Not only is it a great way to record the wonderful books we've read, but I've found so many new good book ideas by visiting each week.
We have started doing home preschool and this week was a unit on The Farm. Our books followed that theme.
Click on the button below to see what others have been reading!
Richard Scarry's The Animals of Farmer Jones
Richard Scarry books are always a favorite in our house. This was such a sweet and simple story. All the farm animals are anxiously awaiting Farmer Jones and wonder why he hasn't come to feed them. Happily, they all end up with their food.
The Noisy Farm by Marni McGee
This book was so much fun for us as it takes you through a day on the farm with all the lovely sounds the farmer hears. Very fun making all the cute animal noises together.
Picnic Farm by Christine Morton-Shaw
We love picnics and what's great about this book is it shows kids the different types of foods that come from a farm. The kids visit the farm and all the animals and then they have a picnic with the food from the farm.
Let's Go to the Farm by Vermont Story Works
This book was very educational. It's a real working farm and the pictures are photographs that are painted over. Pretty neat and I like the detail about farm life.
One of J's favorite activities is reading books and I absolutely love cuddling him on my lap and reading. I like to link up to What My Child Is Reading blog link-up. Not only is it a great way to record the wonderful books we've read, but I've found so many new good book ideas by visiting each week. Click on the button below to see what others have been reading!
Can You Move Like an Elephant? by Judy Hindley I didn't know just how interactive this book would be. My son had me re-read it over and over so he could crawl around like a tiger, slither like a snake, swing his trunk like an elephant and other fun animal antics. I loved reading and then watching my son act it out!
Clinks the Robot by Christianne C. Jones This is just a simple story about a boy and his toy robot but it was a hit here. The books takes you through a day following the boy and his robot and then at night the robot has fun. J is just starting to get interested in robots and he had fun with this one.
Ducks go Vroom by Jane Kohuth I was drawn to the title since J uses "vroom" as a verb too when he talks and plays with his cars and trucks. It was a little too simple for him, but he liked the cute pictures of the ducks in the car and visiting Auntie Goose. I liked how it rhymed too.
Franklin and the Tin Flute by Sharon Jennings We just recently found Franklin books and I like them as much as our love for Berenstain Bears books. The stories tell wonderful lessons, like this one where Franklin finds a tin flute in his home and ends up trading it for a fancy green marble. He later finds out this flute was a special toy his Grandpa gave his father so he goes on the hunt to get it back. He goes to one animal friend after another finding out the flute was traded again and again. He almost loses hope but with his father's help, they are able to get this wonderful heirloom back. I also like the variety of animal friends Franklin has too.
Grandma's Garden by Mercer Mayer I loved Mercer Meyer books when I was little and now I get to share that with my son. This was a new one for us and we enjoyed it since it's about gardening. J likes to come out and water with me and watch things grow so it was fun reading a story about planting, watering and watching the seeds turn into vegetables. Then the best part, eating them. It's a cute story of working in the garden with their Grandma.
I Dream of an Elephant by Ami Rubinger This is a great book for naming colors as each page shows you an elephant in a new, fancy color. The words are in a wonderful rhyming rhythm and they lead the children to guess the color by leaving the color word out. The pictures are so colorful and it led to some great conversations about the colors around us. Not to mention the elephants are cute as they match their surroundings.
Little Cricket's Song by Joanne Barkan This is actually a Reader's Digest book I found when searching their book list. We love how it has plastic crickets on the front that you can click, just like in the story. The pictures are very colorful and it's a great story about how the crickets click and make their own little song.
Pest Fest by Julia Durango My son has really loved this book! I am teaching him that all God's creatures have value, even bugs and we are finding some good books to have fun with this theme. In this book, the bugs are having a talent show and it's the pesky house fly that ends up winning! My son was inspired to have his own talent show using musical instruments after several readings of the book. He also wanted to sleep with the book in his bed!
One of J's favorite activities is reading books and I absolutely love cuddling him on my lap and reading. I like to link up to What My Child Is Reading blog link-up. Not only is it a great way to record the wonderful books we've read, but I've found so many new good book ideas by visiting each week. Click on the button below to see what others have been reading!
Giraffes Can't Dance by Giles Andreae This is a cute little story and the title explains it well. There is a giraffe who just loves to dance, but he is very uncoordinated. His legs are always buckling when he tries to run around. He felt very left out as he watched all the other jungle animals dancing at the Jungle Dance and the others just made fun of him. On his way home, he met a cute little cricket who encouraged him that being different is OK. With the cricket's help, he was able to find his own music to dance to by listening to the swaying grass and branches blowing in the breeze. All the animals came by to watch and were amazed at his wonderful dancing. Gerald was just happy that he was really and truly dancing. (We also found this at our library and watched it on DVD, in the Scholastic Series.)
If Peas Could Taste Like Candy and other Funny Poems for Kids by Crystal Bowman I can't remember how I came across this, but I'm so glad I found it! The Mouse Grows, Mouse Learns blog has encouraged me to look into poetry for J but I just didn't know what would appeal to him. These poems are so fun. They have great rhyming and rhythm and they also come from Zondervan so many of the poems are related to God and faith. We read a few of these before his afternoon nap.
It's Fun to Share by Michael Anthony Steele, a Zonderkidz book We love Boz! He's a big green bear with blue eyes created by Zonderkidz the makers of the NIV bible. We like the books and DVDs too. They teach wonderful lessons and J loves them. This one for sharing is something we get from the library every couple months since this is such a hard thing for kids to learn. They share cookies, a ball, learn to take turns and even share a story.
Little David's Big Heart by Crystal Bowman This is the author of the funny poems. It is a rendition of the story of David told by mice! The illustrations are just wonderful and the story is great. Little David mouse learns that he will become king and his brothers are jealous. David's response was to get some food that he shared with his brothers. He does other brave things and we see his lovely heart. He is kind and helpful and will make a great king.
Olivia Acts Out by Jodie Shepherd We found Olivia when we visited at my sister's and watched NickJr (we don't have cable at home). We saw this on DVD first, and then I found they had the book. This is about Olivia wanting the lead role in a play and ending up being "cow number 2". It is very humbling for her and she doesn't take it very well. J and I were able to talk about what to do when you don't get what you want; good ways to respond and not so good ways to respond.
Toot and Puddle by Holly Hobbie Toot and Puddle are two cute little pigs who live in Woodcock Pocket. J found Toot and Puddle when we spent some time on Nick Jr on the computer. They have videos you can watch online and he really enjoyed this so we found the book. In this story, Toot wants to travel the world while Puddle prefers to stay around home. The story is told through Toot's postcards he sends to Puddles from his travels. I had fun reading the postcards with the accent from that country. Then they have a fun reunion at the end when Toot returns.
We're Going on a Bear Hunt by Michael Rosen I first found this on You Tube after we heard the story (via Ipod) acted out at library story time. The rhythm is so catchy J and I kept singing it. I checked out the book and we have a lot of fun reading it. It gets a teeny bit scary for J when they find the bear in the cave at the end of the book and run home. But he always asks to hear it again. Here's the link to the version we heard at our library: We're Going on a Bear Hunt
What's In the Egg Little Pip? by Karma Wilson This was a book we got after seeing it reviewed on the Mouse Grows, Mouse Learns reading linkup. We love any book that has penguins in it and this one was cute too. It's about Pip, a baby penguin and her family as they have an egg to take care of and await a new arrival. Pip is feeling left out and isn't convinced they need the egg until the egg hatches and she falls in love with her little brother.
I found a great blog hop that highlights the current books we are reading with our kids. J and I don't usually focus on a theme. We go to the library often and I just pick books that he would be interested in that also have a good message or lesson.
Click the link below to see what others are reading!
The Berenstain Bears say Please and Thank You Needless to say, we really like the Berenstain Bears. I like the messages that they teach. Our family embraces good manners so we regularly work on using them and teaching them. My son is very good about saying thank you, but we continue to work with him on please. He will say please, but it's usually after I have to say "How do you ask when you want something?" The book takes an interesting look at what happens within the family when they forget the simple niceties like please and thank you. It's Grandma Bear (Gran) who helps them all remember. She brings them what they call a framed sampler to remind them. In many of our books, I like to improvise the words by adding the Lord to it. So the sampler says "Matters Manner" and I added "Matters Manner to God" when I read it. I add little things like that to plant seeds in J's heart.
The Day of the Dinosaur, Stan Berenstain Dinosaurs remain one of J's favorites and we liked this simple book. J is starting to explore more about how dinosaurs came to be and what happened to them. This was a good introduction for him and a real easy read. I think his favorite part was where they show a dinosaur dig with a big dinosaur skeleton being unearthed. I took the opportunity to explain to him what a paleontologist is and what they do. He loved just trying to say the word "paleontologist". One of the next times we read it, we got to that part and I almost turned the page until I realized he was asking me to point again to the paleontologist.
If Animals Kissed Goodnight, Ann Whitford Paul We have had this book since J was born. Lately, he's been wanting to read it more at nap or bedtime, sometimes both. I love the illustrations in this book, there's something soft and inviting about them. The variety of animals is nice too. On one page, there is a seal daddy and his baby and a couple of fish swimming with them in the water. J was super excited to tell me there were "goldfish" (like the kind you eat) in the picture! They do look just like goldfish. Even more funny was when we were driving home later in the week and he was eating goldfish and says, "These are just like the goldfish in the book mommy! In the page with the seal!" Amazing how his memory is sometimes exceeding mine.
Going to the Zoo, Tom Paxton This book actually has a song that goes with it and the words are repeated in a sing-songy way. The illustrations are really neat in that the main theme is a sort of picture frame and the zoo animals can be seen surrounding the edges. My son loved naming the animals by looking at their feet! (You'll have to check out the book to see what I mean.) In the story, the kids are really excited to be going to the zoo with their daddy. This was really fun for us with the rhythm to the words. J thought it was hilarious that the lion ate a lot of steak and then was out cold sleeping.
Rumble in the Jungle, Giles Andreae J is really into animals, especially animals like this that we can see in our zoo. This was another fun one for us from the library that I think we'll keep around for a bit. As the reader, I really enjoy the books I get to read that have some rhyming and rhythm fun like this one does. A fun thing about some books are the "hidden" things you find in the pictures. This book has tiny little ants that show up throughout the book. I would have fun asking J where the little ants were and once he found them we would count them. They hid them so well sometimes that I had to help.
A Turkey for Thanksgiving, Eve Bunting We brought out a Thanksgiving favorite this week. We got this last year from a friend of the family and J wanted us to read it nonstop. He still does! He loves it. It is a very sweet story about Mr. and Mrs. Moose who are having their friends over for Thanksgiving dinner. For Mrs. Moose, dinner is not complete until they have a turkey. Mr. Moose goes out "hunting" for a turkey who does join them, and you find out at the end to Mr. Turkey's surprise, he is AT the table, not ON the table.
Two Blue Jays, Anne Rockwell If you have been following my blog, you know that I love to engage my son in feeding and watching the birds with me. This is something that my mom did with me when I was a child, and I'm so grateful that she spurred that interest and appreciation in me. We live in a pretty suburban area, so we get the usual sparrows and only a few other types of birds including chickadees, junkos and yes now a resident blue jay. Recently he (or she) started bringing a friend so sometimes we have two blue jays also! Even though I learned as a child that the blue jay can be a nasty bird, I have grown fond of them again. As J has grown excited waiting and watching for the jays to come, I was really happy to stumble upon this book in our library. It takes place in a classroom, where the teacher is introducing her students to two blue jays who are building a nest outside their window. She takes the class from watching the mother sit on the eggs all the way to the jays taking their first flight. I really enjoyed reading this story with J. The first page has a great illustration of several different types of bird eggs too so this was new learning for my little one.
Want more book reading fun? Click below to visit the other book blog carnivals where I enjoy linking up:
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I found a great blog hop that highlights the current books we are reading with our kids. J and I don't usually focus on a theme. We go to the library often and I just pick books that he would be interested in that also have a good message or lesson.
Click the link below to see what others are reading!
God Sees Me All the Time I found this book for J at the local thrift store. I had no idea that J would like it so much. We had it sitting around for a few weeks, but once he asked me to read it to him he wanted it again and again. The story is about a little girl tempted by chocolate chip cookies and learning that God can see her all the time. There's a neat part of the story when she gets scared and the teaching from her dad that God is always watching over us comforts her. Towards the end she's learning about little things we can do to serve the Lord that pleases Him. I really like that there are several lessons about God in the book.
The Nose Book This book is just adorable. It's a Dr. Suess book and has an elephant on the cover, an instant draw for my son. He loves Dr. Suess and elephants are his favorite right now. It was fun watching his reactions to the story line, especially a part that has you imagine life without a nose. I like reading that part while holding my nose and J can't stop laughing and tries to imitate me. We also enjoyed naming all the animals in the book, with a couple that were hard even for me to identify! This is from the library, but I think we'll have to add this to our permanent collection.
One Drowsy Dragon I was drawn to this book at first because of the dragon. J likes anything dragon or dinosaur related, but what was really cool is that this is actually a counting book. There are dragons marching, dragons dancing, dragons laughing and playing and more. It was a fun read.
Please say Please! Penguin's Guide to Manners I'm always looking for good books on manners as we are regularly encouraging J's use of please, thank you, excuse me, etc. This book has lots of different animals in it and that made it extra fun. The illustrations are so cute. It has a little different spin in that it starts by saying the wrong way to do something, asking if this is right (NO) and then giving the right way to do it. Good lessons on manners.
A Polar Bear Can Swim, What Animals Can and Can't Do A Polar Bear Can Swim has lots of neat tidbits of information and amazing facts about specific things certain animals can do. It also shares things they can't do. It's great for identifying animals and having J make the appropriate animal noise in addition to learn neat things about them.
Sounds Around Town This one was fun! I thought this would be a good one when I skimmed it at the library. I love interacting with J while I read and this one had all kinds of different sounds in the pictures that I acted out for him. They also have two pages of kids drawings of various sounds in the front of the book and each time we read it, he makes sure I go through each picture making its sound.
Too Big, Too Small, Just Right This book is a good one that I wanted to use to teach J more about size comparison. It uses two colorful bunnies and in a variety of situations they are in learning about too big, too tall, too dark, too bright and others. It also highlights their friendship.
Some more book reading fun! Click below to visit the other book blog carnivals I link up to:
I am part of a reading blog hop that highlights the books that we're reading with our kids. Click the link below to see what others are reading!
This week we focused on books I got from our Savers thrift store. They had a lot of cute books and unlike the ones we get from the library, he can go back to these again and again.
The Berenstain Bears and Too Much TV I got this book as a reminder to my son about why we limit his TV watching. He would love to sit in front of the TV for hours and he's always saying "I want to watch something." This book was good in describing all the neat things we can do instead of watching TV.
Poky and Friends, Lucky Ducks I love Golden Books. This book is part of the Poky and Friends series with the Saggy Baggy Elephant. Since J is really into elephants he likes this one a lot. He enjoyed naming the different animals too.
Richard Scarry's Busy Workers
Richard Scarry books are another favorite for us. They have been very helpful over the past year in learning names of all kinds of different things around town, around the house, etc. J is more excited about pointing and naming the pictures than the actual story. This book had a lot of his favorites like firemen, construction workers, things at the grocery store, a band.
Sesame Street Sleep Tight (Elmo) I'm glad that my son still enjoys Sesame Street. Elmo was his first "favorite" character. This one is a really sweet good night book.
This is My Family by Gina and Mercer Mayer
I remember Mercer Mayer books from when I was a child. This one is a really simple book about family. J likes us to read it over and over. It is really sweet.
I found a new blog hop that highlights what we're reading with our kids. Click the link below to see what others are reading!
Mouse's First Halloween This was just a simple little Halloween story, trying to take the spook out of Halloween. I really enjoyed the illustrations; the way they used fall colors and especially how they used light. J has been having us read this to him just about every night!
Hush Little Baby - A Folk Song with Pictures I was so excited to find this book. Over the last couple years with my son J, I have tried to find a lullabye-type song that would soothe him when he's disconsolate. I found that this song is just about the only one that soothes him and calms him down. He loved reading this with me and having me sing it to him.
One More River - A Noah's Ark Counting Book J always loves books with elephants and he enjoys them even more when there are lots of animals. This was a great counting activity where J counted along with me as we read. He also liked the last couple pages the the animals looking out of their windows. He had fun naming them one by one.
God Made Creepy Crawlies This is a great book that has been fun to read. I somehow grew up without a fear of most creepy crawlies so I want to instill that in my son. There are so many amazing insects and reptiles and this book captures celebrates them. Everything from spiders to toads to stink bugs!
