Do you remember the old Wrigley’s commercial – two, two, two mints in one? Two beautiful young women, obviously twins, represented the combination of flavors – spearmint and peppermint – found in the popular chewing gum.
Today, for Perfect Picture Book Friday, I’m showcasing a pair of books by Sarah Mounsey. I had the pleasure of meeting the lovely author of this dynamic duo at the 2013 AFCC in Singapore.
Purple Paw Prints and Paw Prints on the Magic Sofa
Written by Sarah Mounsey
Illustrated by Jade Fang
Publisher: Brindal Books (2012 and 2013)
Opening lines: Paw Prints: “Eddie knew as soon as he finished painting Oscar purple that it was a big mistake!”
Paw Prints on the Magic Sofa: “Eddie, stop jumping on my brand new sofa!” said Mum for the gazillionth time. “And get the dog off there too!” But when William came to play, strange things often happened.”
Age: 3 and up
Themes: Problem solving, critical thinking, imagination
Synopsis:
FROM AMAZON: Paw Prints: “Eddie knew as soon as he finished painting Oscar purple that it was a big mistake! Join Eddie and Mia as they attempt to clean their lovable dog Oscar and along the way get into all sorts of wet and purple fun!”
FROM GOODREADS: Paw Prints on the Magic Sofa: “Bump, bump, bumpity, bump! Eddie’s sofa is so much fun that all the animals jump right on as they travel around the world! Eddie, William and Oscar go on a magical journey.”
Why I like these books:
- Great read-aloud
- Bold illustrations
- Wonderful message about problem solving and critical thinking
- Filled with humor
- Encourages a child’s imagination
How parents can use these books:
- Wonderful read-aloud…please, please, please read to your child EVERY DAY
- Paw Prints: Good springboard for a discussion on how to problem solve – young children often ask for help before they even try to think of a solution themselves
- Paw Prints on the Magic Sofa: Great springboard for creative thinking – what if this sofa/carpet/chair could fly – where would you go – what would you do – who would you meet? This book is filled with repetitive refrains – my young grandson was reading along with me by the end of the book.
From Sarah’s Goodreads profile:”” I have always loved to write for children and I have had a lot of fun writing Purple Paw Prints and Paw Prints on the Magic Sofa. The Paw Prints books won a bronze medal in the Moonbeam Children’s Book Awards in the category for best picture book series.
I am an Australian and I grew up in Brisbane, although it has not been my home for over a decade. After spending eight years in London I now live in Singapore with my husband and my three young sons.
To find out more about Sarah, please visit her awesome blog.
Here books just won the Moonbean Children’s Book Award.
You can connect with her on Facebook.
Related Activities:
To extend the enjoyment and learning of every story time, I love to use a craft activity. In my SHOW ME HOW! book, you’ll find 100’s of quick and easy activities. Here’s a fun project using a paper bag. White or colored paper plates, brown or white paper lunch bags, a box of markers, a pair of scissors, a glue stick and some construction paper – that is all you need for hours of inexpensive, educational, self-esteem building fun with young kids!
PAPER BAG DOG PUPPET
You can find instructions for this as well as many other paper bag projects at http://www.dltk-kids.com/type/paper_bag.htm
Here’s another idea: On pieces of paper, write the names of household items such as flashlight, frying pan, blanket, etc. For very young children, draw a picture of the item next to the word…this is a great way to teach sight word vocabulary! Fold each paper and place in a paper bag. To play the game, participants pick out one of the papers and try to think of how they would use that item…the more creative, the better. Score one point for each way…for example: a frying pan can be used to cook, to cover our head when it rains, as a template for drawing a round shape, for pressing out pie dough…that would give me four points. What else could you use a frying pan for?
SAVE THE DATE!!!!!
SO MANY EXCITING THINGS ARE ON THE HORIZON
1. Author Emily Lim tagged me in an author blog hop. I hope you will come back on Saturday. I’ll be posting my entry…can you guess which authors I am tagging?
And there will be a giveaway as well!
2. Tara Lazar has opened registration for PiBoIdMo. If you know what that is, you’ve probably already signed up. If you don’t, PLEASE DON’T MISS THIS AMAZING OPPORTUNITY TO CONNECT/LEARN/ENJOY!
3. Julie Hedlund, founder of 12×12, is doing an awesome series on CROWDFUNDING A PICTURE BOOK – with YouTube videos and everything. Follow along and find out what that is all about from a true pioneer woman!
4. Tina Chen has a wonderful link up that is all about books and reading with children…she calls it BOOKNIFICENT THURSDAYS!
5. Dianne de las Casas is gearing up for another fabulous PICTURE IDEA MONTH…a month-long celebration of picture books with awesome daily posts by leading authors, illustrators and others in the kid lit arena…November sure is a special month!
VIVIAN KIRKFIELD - Writer for Children 
Not only do I remember the commercials . . . I met one of the Double Mint twins this summer at a 90th birthday party for our next door neighbor.
She and the neighbor formed a friendship about 20 years ago that still lingers.
Sound like a great double play here today, Vivian. And I love the puppy puppet! 😀
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Thanks so much for sharing the story about the double-mint twin, Nancy…that is so cool! Glad you liked the books and the puppet!
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Cool! Cyb or Trish? I fell in love with them on a cult favorite TV show in the 70’s. They are still quite the classy gals.
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I can’t remember her first or last name ~ because I’m bad with names. I misplace them in no time flat. 😕
I can remember what her cool cats looked like because she showed me photos of them eating on the patio of her house in Sarasota, FL ~ they reminded me of jungle cats, only smaller.
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Hi Vivian! Another great review! We’ve been missing you over at Booknificent Thursdays! Here’s the link for this week’s if you have time – http://mommynificent.com/2013/10/24/booknificent-thursday-link-party-16/ – but please stop by whenever. You bring such a wonderful voice to our community.
Tina
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Thanks so much, Tina! Our 2000 mile move from Colorado to New Hampshire really put the brakes on most of my blogging and social media stuff…but I am slowly but surely getting back into the routine. I’ll head over to Booknificent Thursday right now!
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Sounds like there are lots of reasons to read this book, Vivian! And it’s always a privilege to meet the authors in person, isn’t it?
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You are so right, Jarm! I was fortunate to connect with so many incredible authors and illustrators in Singapore at the 2013 AFCC in May.
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“Eddie knew as soon as he finished painting Oscar purple that it was a big mistake!”
This is a well-crafted opening line. Pretty hard to resist. Thanks.
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You are so right, Joanne…that is a wonderful opening line. I thank you for pointing it out…I think it takes a really good writer to recognize the parts of the whole that make it great! Good eye.:)
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The books look adorable! The artwork is super cute! My daughter would love them. The activities that you chose would be a great way to engage kids too!
thanks for sharing Vivian 🙂
-Resh @ Stackingbooks
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Hi Reshama…forgive the long delay in posting your comment…it fell into the spam folder.:( Thank you for stopping by…I’m so happy you like the books and crafts!
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These sound like fun books. Thanks for sharing!
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Thanks for stopping by, Iza! I was thrilled when Sarah sent them to me.:)
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Oh! These books are right up my alley! Paw prints everywhere!! I will have to check these out. And I like your activities. That puppy puppet is great and the game sounds like lots of fun too. We’ll have to try it all! Thanks!!
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I thought you would like this one, Rhythm! Thanks so much for always stopping by and leaving lovely comments.:)
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Looks like fun books to read! But I wouldn’t dare asking boys what else they could do with a frying pan. They highly imaginative and destructive tendencies could lead to disaster!
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That is too funny, Milka! I can think of a couple of things and we wouldn’t want to encourage them to do those.:):)
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Was it a kool-aid dye-job?
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You would hope so…but I think he actually painted the dog! And then painted him white to cover up the purple.:) Probably not what we want to encourage our little ones to be doing.:)
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Great opening line!
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Hi Joanna! Yes, it is…I think I will write it down so I don’t forget it. 🙂
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Love the book concept. It sounds very visual and filled with humor. Reminds me of my poodle. Every time I let him out when it rains, he prances across my floor and carpet with tinted brown footprints — if I don’t catch him in time. Can only imagine what the kids try to do to clean up the mess. Both books sound like a lot fun!
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Your little poodle sounds adorable! But not too much fun to have to clean up after him, Pat.:)
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Yippee! TWO PPBFs! 😀 They both sound great! 😀
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They are, Erik! I was happy to recommend both of them.:)
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😀
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I love animal books and these sound adorable. Great choice, Vivian.
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