In the Stacks with NW Kid Chaser

President Portraits

2/3/2012

Q: What do you get when you mix art and history?
A: Another great book of portraits by Hanoch Piven!

After falling in love with Portrait Poems this past summer,
I checked out other books by the same author
and found this beauty:

The book includes facts, quotes, and humorous stories about our nation's past executive leaders while also displaying pictures constructed from related objects. (I.e. Ronald Reagan's mouth is made from Jelly beans!) Interesting anytime of the year -- but perhaps especially so for President's Day: February 20th!

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Dear Mrs. Robinson,

9/29/2011

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An open letter to Author Barbara Robinson:

Dear Barbara,
            For years our family has enjoyed ‘The Best Christmas Pageant Ever.’ Beth’s clear voice detailing life with the Herdmans is both funny and honest. Claude, Imogene, and Ollie are like no other kids we’ve known and yet poignantly remind us of our very selves. Recently we had the pleasure of reading ‘The Best School Year Ever’ and ‘The Best Halloween Ever’
and to you we say: More! More! More!
            We want to read more about Leroy. We want to better understand Imogene. We want to know what happens to that one-eyed cat! We want books (and movies) that bring young readers to Beth’s hometown to marvel and gasp at the unending adventure of children who seem bad, and mean, and nasty, and crazy AND ultimately terribly misunderstood.
            Keep writing Barbara. We want to keep reading!
Sincerely,
NW Kid Chaser

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Beautiful Biscuit...

3/12/2011

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One of the pieces of advice I give to parents of beginning readers is to find a book series your child enjoys … and follow it to the very end. The Biscuit books by Alyssa Satin Capucill are one such option.

Colorful pictures, simple text, and large print make this series great for young children. Once they fall in love with Biscuit the puppy and learn the word patterns of the author, children will happily explore the next book, and the next book, and the next book with relative ease. Biscuit books can be found in board book format (for the youngest of children), in “I Can Read” formats (for beginning readers), with holiday/special event themes (for use at home and school) and now in Spanish (for children learning to read in two languages).

An added bonus: Author Capucill welcomes and encourages letters from readers – which means Biscuit can provide reading AND writing activities for young fans. Hooray!

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My Candy Corn Kid...

10/20/2010

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Here’s cutie of a chapter book for young readers:
The Candy Corn Contest by Patricia Giff.

As the weather turns cool, there’s nothing better than getting cozy with a good book… and a bag of candy corn.

I shared this book with my kindergarten-age son and promised him a piece of candy corn every time those words were mentioned in the book. This silly-mom trick was a powerful motivator to inspire him to follow along with the text.
“There it is,” he’d cry (even before I reached the end of the sentence).

A good story; a seasonal treat; a beginning reader. I love fall.

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Best Christmas Pageant Ever....

12/23/2009

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I'm in charge of the children's Christmas pageant at my church this season and last night I had nightmares as chaos broke out just as the angels were entering (stage-left)! The horror!

This evenign unrest could also be related to our family read aloud this month: Barbara Robinson's 'The Best Christmas Pageant Ever.'

This family classic tells about a mom who somehow finds herself in charge of the Christmas pageant at her church on the very same year that the Herdman kids decide to participate. Who are the Herdmans? Only the dirtiest, meanest, wildest, scariest kids ever!

Of course, as the story unfolds the Herdmans (who are every ounce as awful as we originally thought) do help remind us of the real story behind all this seasonal activity. My kids liked the story but I LOVED the conversation it generated around our dinner table.

Horror or not - I'd consider myself lucky if Imogene Herdman chose to be a part of our church's celebration!

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Visions of sugarplums danced in their heads…

12/9/2009

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Last year, my husband and both boys amazingly memorized the entire text of “The Night Before Christmas!” They then performed the classic prose to a local audience (part of a talent show at my husband’s work) as well as on Youtube!

                Here’s my vote for best illustrated version:
             Mary Engelbreit ‘s The Night Before Christmas!

     The wonderful whimsy of the characters and setting in this edition really is inspiring. It makes a great holiday-inspired gift for the children's library you love.

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Chocolate Mania..

11/7/2009

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Chocolate Fever is the perfect chapter book
to devour right after Halloween.

Main character Henry eats lots and lots of chocolate and the result is one sick, sad kid. This quick moving story has twist and turns and several different story themes that can pave the way for some great heart-to-heart conversations. (Themes include: favorite foods, not overdoing things, how it feels to be different than those around you, family relationships, and facing difficult conversations.) Be warned: in the story climax, two ‘bad guys’ hijack a truck by pointing guns at Henry and the driver. That might be scary for some young readers – although the laughable characters and plot sequence keeps the focus on the action and less on the true danger. Overall, I recommend this book as a good read-aloud for post-tricky-or-treating, elementary school-aged kids.

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I'm Green and I'm Grumpy...

10/21/2009

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My kiddos love this cute ‘Open the Door’ book
and it’s perfectly suited for this time of year.

Read through and guess what the costume
each character is wearing for the holiday-
then write your own rhymes to fit the
Halloween costumes at your house!

Here's the poems my four year old came up with when
thinking about his (and his brother's) Halloween costumes. Where does this kid get his dramatic word choice?

"He breathes sparkling fire.
He catches bad guys too.
He has shiny white teeth.
He’ll huff and puff at you.
He’s a dragon!""

He’s orange and he’s purple.
He has bulging big eyes.
He has a big hard head.
He scares people ‘til they cry.
He’s a monster."

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