books

St. Patrick’s Day preschool activities: Rainbow curriculum

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True story: Along with Radiohead’s Creep and Red Hot Chili Pepper’s Around the World, Kermit’s Rainbow Connection is one of my go-to karaoke jams.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F44HRvn8tiA]

So naturally, when it was my turn to host our co-op homeschool preschool this week, I wanted our St. Patrick’s Day lesson to include lots of activities with rainbows!

If you’re looking to infuse your fun with some St. Patrick’s Day luck, or get all rainbow-y on a regular day, here are some activities from me as well as links to additional ideas. Happy St. Patty’s Day! Read more →

Our favorite children’s books: Shapes

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SHAPES!Some of my earliest memories feature my great-grandmother, whom we all called Pretty Grandma and after whom Peeper is named. I sometimes watched Hollywood Squares with her—for whatever reason, she loved the trivia and cheesy banter. It was all over my head, but that’s the first thing I think of when someone says “shapes.”

Peeper, and probably your preschooler, doesn’t automatically envision a celebrity tic-tac-toe gameshow, though.

To help little ones learn about squares, triangles, circles—and even quatrefoils, add these books about shapes to your reading rotation. Read more →

7 animal noises you’ve been messing up

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Along with swaddling a squirmy baby, changing a diaper without smearing poop over every surface and operating on practically no sleep, making animal noises is a skill absolutely necessary to parenthood.

Between songs like Old MacDonald and books like Polar Bear, Polar Bear, What Do You Hear?, moms and dads become pros at mooing, quacking and cock-a-doodle-dooing. As a child ages, though, the animal sounds parents must make become more complex.

But when was the last time you heard a toucan? And do you go all-in with genuine elephant trumpeting, or do you cop out and say “toot toot”?

In addition to these pressing questions, I am going to bet you’ve been making a handful of animal noises completely wrong.

So let me (and YouTube) enlighten you. Go ahead and click play (though not if your dog is in the room—he might will definitely freak out) to step up your animal noises game.

Animal sounds // noises you do wrong // kids and family // Ten Thousand Hour Mama Read more →

Advice for my daughter (that you’ll definitely want to read, too)

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Advice for my daughter // raising girls // Ten Thousand Hour Mama

Last week Peeper received a package from her Aunt Bootsie, and the book inside was one of the most touching gifts she’s ever gotten. Each page contained one piece of advice for my daughter, and as you can see, Peeper—and anyone else lucky enough to read it—will definitely be the wiser from it.

Advice for my daughterEach page contains a snippet of wise (and sometimes wise ass but true) advice from her sage aunt. In fact, the pearls are timeless enough that I found myself nodding along. (Was some of the advice secretly for me, too?)

Advice for my daughter Read more →

Our favorite children’s books: Books about being afraid

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This post contains affiliate links. Please see my policies and disclosures page for details.

“Too noisy!”

Peeper’s complaints about noise, and the genuine fear loud sounds inspire in her, continue unabated in these parts, and we’ve learned to adapt. I make cookie dough when she’s asleep. I look ahead to avoid loud things like lawn mowers or steam trains in our path. And we are patient when her conversations repeatedly steer back to the fact that something—a seal, tractor, Jeep—is “too noisy.”

Alas, we haven’t yet found a book that deals with fear of loud sounds, but we like these other books about being afraid. At some point, she might become afraid of the dark, or of getting sucked down the bath drain, or of vampire zombie bats living under the crib. (Who knows? She has a vivid imagination already.)

If your little one is spooked, these books about being afraid might help. At the least, they will say he’s not alone in being afraid.

Read on for a little courage—or at least encouragement!

When your child is scared, books about being afraid can lend a little courage. Ten Thousand Hour Mama Read more →

Our favorite kids’ books: Singable stories

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We sat cross-legged in a circle on the classroom’s thin-carpeted floor. I leaned forward toward Mrs. Weineger, my kindergarten teacher, and her spot in front of us eager 5-year-olds. I could barely contain myself in the moments before she opened the book.

Instead of simply reading Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?, she sang it. Later, she posted pictures of the colorful animals around the room, and we incorporated the song into our sing-alongs.

I think of Mrs. Weineger—her wide smile, the crinkly skin behind her large glasses, her fluffy orange hair (which, incidentally, made her look a lot like the teacher in Eric Carle’s book)—every time I sing this book to Peeper.

Our little bookworm loves it, and no surprise there: It combines two of her favorite things, books and song.

Here are a few of our other favorite singable stories. Clear your throat and make sure the windows are closed—you’ll want to sing these books over and over! Read more →

Our favorite children’s books: Interactive edition

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Ten Thousand Hour Mama Baby and BooksNow that Peeper has added “book” to her repertoire of signs, she asks for one almost as much as she requests milk. And that’s a lot.

We spend a huge portion of play time reading. She has very strong opinions about which story she wants, using her pointing finger to indicate one on the floor—or trying to squirm out of my arms and leap to one on the end table.

Lately, she loves books that do something. If it has flaps, windows, cut-outs, silky fur—or even better, all of the above—she will probably love it.

That means we end up reading some of the same titles a million times in a row. (I’m looking at you, Dog.) I don’t mind, though. Watching her delight in a story gives me all the patience I need. And now that she concentrates hard enough to tug a pull tab and make a piece on the page move, story time is even better.

Here are our favorite interactive children’s books.

CatCat, by Matthew Van Fleet. We just gave this to Peeper for her first birthday. As it was created by the same folks behind the runaway hit Dog, I knew it’d be a blast. Proof: Peeper has already torn several pieces, meaning she’s really into it. It includes humor adults will appreciate, too: When a feline tips over a vase, it’s a catastrophe, naturally!

The Robot BookThe Robot Book, by Heather Brown. In this charming book, kids get to play with all the parts and pieces of a robot: They can twist a bolt and swing the robot’s arm, for example. I was impressed by how intricate it is: You turn a gear to rotate the robot’s mouth. I like to play with it as least as much as Peeper does.

 

 

Count 123Count 123. Peeper loves the simple knockout photos, which we practice naming. She also likes lifting the flaps and tracing the numbers, which are recessed into the page. She’s still too little to count, but this would be a terrific book for children learning their numbers. It was a sad day when we had to return this to the library.

 

 

Chomp ZooChomp Zoo, by Heather Brown. Ingeniously designed, the same pull tab makes the teeth of a half-dozen animals chomp up and down. Peeper loves moving the teeth and sticking her fingers in the mouths of the creatures. I also love how friendly the animals look. They seem to be barely containing their laughter.

 

 

Where's Spot?Where’s Spot? by Eric Hill. I remember the many adventures of Spot from when I was little, and I’d go straight for these books whenever we visited the library. I’m so glad Peeper likes the tan doggy, too! She grins every time I say, “Peekaboo!” when she lifts a flap to find not a hiding Spot but another creature. (A snake in the clock and a lion under the stairs—it’s quite the menagerie in this house.)

 

 

On My LeafOn My Leaf, by Sara Gillingham. This book combines cut-out windows and a finger puppet in a sweet story about a ladybug and her family. Peeper grabs the soft felt ladybug and sticks her hands through the windows as she turns the page. There’s an entire series like it that features an owl in a tree, a dolphin in the ocean, a monkey in the jungle and more.

 

 

What are your favorite books for curious little ones?

That’s not how I remember it: Children’s books

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Eric’s parents came to visit us in Portland last year when I was pregnant, and—like they always do—they brought gifts. One of the more thoughtful presents was a heavy stack of Little Golden Books and other titles Eric grew up with.

The Digging-est Dog“Oh, I loved this one!” Eric said, picking up The Digging-est Dog. I’d never read it, so of course I cracked it. While the rest of the family talked, I read.

And cried.

Granted, I was pregnant and had more emotions than should be legal, but the story was heartbreaking. (Spoiler: I’m going to tell you exactly why.)

The book starts out with a dog chained in a store sitting on a concrete floor.

Then it is taken home by a boy—yay!—only to endure abuse from the other dogs because it never learned to dig. You know, because it spent its entire life living on a concrete floor.

Anyway, it goes on to learn how to dig but it digs so much that it ruins the town with all the tunnels and is ostracized yet again. There’s probably an eventual happy ending but I can’t even recall it, so scarred was I by the ongoing trauma of that poor dog.

Goes without saying that I haven’t read The Digging-est Dog to Peeper yet.

Anyway, the other day I heard a story on NPR about The Little Engine That Could and the arguments about gender it inspires today. (Apparently the engine in question is a she, which makes some people think it was changed by liberal apologists, which it wasn’t; other critics say it’s one more example of women taking on more than their share of the work; still others view it as the great-grandmother to the lean-in movemement. Me, I just remember it being about a train.)

JuliusThe story got me thinking about how looking back on children’s books (or movies, TV shows, music and the like) shows an entirely different story than the one we remember.

Now that I’m reading a ton of kids’ books to Peeper, I see the stories with new eyes. For example, Julius, a  present my dad inscribed to me on my fourth birthday, now smacks of racism, colonialism, imperialism and probably a few more -isms I’m forgetting.

If I read it to Peeper, would she just hear a story about a friendly gorilla? Or would she internalize the subtle attitudes that imply Indians are sub-human and that it’s acceptable to plunder other countries’ natural resources?

Ok, so perhaps I’m reading more into it than I need to. Or maybe I’m not. I do my best to show Peeper books with positive messages that align with our values.

Do you “edit” your kids’ reading material? Is there a book you reread that seemed totally different through your adult lenses?

Our favorite children’s books, illustration edition

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It is National Library Week, and what better time to write another roundup of our favorite children’s books?

Especially at Peeper’s age, words are not the only important factor in a great book: Illustration is at least as equally compelling. So when I head to the board books section at my local library, I flip through the pages to see if I like the visuals as much as the topic.

If I don’t like the illustrations, I put the book down and search for another.

Here, then, are a few of our most-loved, beautifully illustrated baby books (along with a few bonus stories!).

i can do it myselfI Can Do It Myself! by Steven Krensky, illustrated by Sara Gillingham. Toddlers love the empowerment that comes from picking out their own clothes and feeding themselves, and this bright book celebrates that independence. Pop art-like illustrations (think Roy Lichtenstein) are fun, visually arresting and unlike anything else you’ll see in the children’s section. I can’t get over Gillingham’s use of contrasting patterns that are, on the one hand, potentially seizure-inducing but are whimsical and exciting on the other.

how loud is a lionHow Loud Is A Lion? illustrated and written by Clare Beaton. Readers tramp through jungle and savannah, wandering past antelopes and zorillas (what’s a zorilla? Read to find out!), and all the while a lion is hiding in the background. Beaton’s hand-stitched work is inspired by folk art, and she uses felt, ribbon, beads and vintage fabrics to create the gorgeous tableaus. Beaton has dozens of other books; we’re reading Who Are You, Baby Kangaroo? right now.

baby bearBaby Bear, Baby Bear, What Do You See? by Bill Marlin, illustrated by Eric Carle. I couldn’t get away with a list of gorgeously illustrated kids’ books without mentioning Carle, could I? The rich, saturated colors against a white backdrop are his signature, and I love that I can see how he assembles the figures in this book. It introduces us to a menagerie of animals, and I can’t help but sing the text. This book transports me back to sitting on the floor in kindergarten, singing along and staring raptly at the pages my teacher, Mrs. Weineger, turned.

I already wrote about When I Was Born in my other children’s books post, but I have to include it again because I. Love. The. Illustrations.

 

I’d be remiss if I didn’t include Peeper’s other two favorite books of the moment, even if they’re not illustrated.

dogDog, by Matthew Van Fleet. Peeper has already begun to destroy it (the latest casualty: a wagging tail), but all the interaction is well worth a few rips here and there. She knows that the poodle has a fluffy coat she can touch and that the bull dog lifts its leg to pee. When she plays by herself, she lifts the pages and opens and closes the book over and over and over and over again. She could do it for an hour!

reachReach, by Elizabeth Verdick and Marjorie Lisosvkis. Peeper laughs the minute I pick this one up. I know the rhymes by heart and could recite it any time, but she continues to be captivated by the babies who reach for their toes, milk, toys and daddy.

As a side note, I appreciate that baby faces books, including Reach, feature children of a wide range of races and ethnicities. Baby faces books are perhaps the only ones dedicated to diversity, when shelves are filled with white characters. (Of the 3,200 children’s books printed last year, fewer than 100 were about black main characters, according to this important op-ed challenging the whitewashed children’s book industry.)

 

What are your favorite books of the moment? What are your favorite illustrations?

Our favorite children’s books

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Several times a day, Edie and I sit together in the rocking chair and snuggle up with a book. Sometimes she squirms and cries before we get even a few pages in; other times we go through a stack before she’s satisfied.

This time together is important, according to the Association for Library Service to Children: Not only does reading to very young babies teach them to love books, it makes them more prepared to start school than children who didn’t grow up reading.

Research aside, reading aloud to Peeper—both now and even before she was born—is fun. These are a few of our favorite books.

Baby FacesBaby Faces, by Margaret Miller. Peeper laughs out loud when we break out this board book. She giggles at the other babies; her favorite is a little boy sticking out his tongue. We talk about the kids’ expressions, imagine what might have prompted them (“Yum-yum, I love peas!”) and name the different parts of their faces. We usually read it three times in a row!

fox in soxFox in Sox, by Dr. Seuss. I’m with Mr. Knox, sir, on this one—the tongue twisters are tough! Peeper cranes her neck to look up at me and puzzle out the linguistic acrobatics. She gets an extra-big kick out of me trying to read the parts about the beetle battles, which are my favorite, too.

when i was bornWhen I Was Born, by Isabel Minhos Martins. This story imagines discovering the world from a child’s perspective: beginning to hear, smell, taste, see and touch the world outside the womb. “When I was born I did not know there was a sky or that the sky could change or that clouds were so beautiful. When I was born everything was new. Everything was about to start.” Vibrant illustrations by Madalena Matoso match the beauty and poetry of the words.

Hola JalapenoHola Jalapeño!, by Amy Wilson Sanger.  A book dedicated to Mexican cuisine? Yes, por favor! I know Edie is still chowing on pureed peas and squash, but it’s never too early to learn about tacos, burritos, guacamole and horchata. Am I right? Plus, the rhymes are so catchy I recite them to myself days after we read it.

What are your favorite children’s books?