Animal A to Z Picture Book Recommendations for Great Summer Reading

Posted on July 13, 2012 by viviankirkfield

Summertime gives us a wonderful opportunity to get outdoors. Kids love hiking in the park, going down the slide and playing ball at the playground, building sandcastles at the beach…sometimes it seems as if they have a boundless well of energy. But even kids need to sit down in a cool spot to relax…that’s the perfect time to get out the books!

If you have young children, what will you are reading with them? Studies show that reading to kids on a daily basis helps children succeed in school as it helps develop their literacy skills, build self-esteem and strengthen the parent-child connection. What’s even better is that it is SO MUCH FUN for the kids and the adults!

Here’s a list of wonderful picture books…all about animals (a favorite subject for most kids) from A to Z. Most can be found for FREE at your local library…I hope every parent is taking advantage of the amazing summer programs available at many libraries.

I’ve added a link if I found a review and activities for that particular book…many of the reviews are mine and a few of the links will take you to a review done by one of the contributors to Susanna Leonard Hill’s Perfect Picture Book Friday posts. If you need any other picture books for summer reading and beyond, please check out her Perfect Picture Book page.

ARMADILLO: Milo Armadillo by Jane Fearnley
BEAR: Gift-Bear for the King by Carl Memling
CAT: Millions of Cats by Wanda Gag
DINOSAUR: Dinosaur vs. The Library by Bob Shea
ELEPHANT: Babar by Jean de Brunhoff
GOLDFISH: Gilbert Goldfish Wants a Pet by Kelly DiPucchio
HORSE: Indian Two Feet and His Horse by Margaret Friskey
IGUANA: I Wanna Iguana by T.E.Watson
JELLYFISH: Joy the Jellyfish by Kristen Collier

10. KANGEROO: Yes We Can! by Sam McBratney

11. LLAMA: Llama Llama Red Pajama by Anna Dewdney

12. MOUSE: Frederick by Leo Lionni

13. NEWT: Newt by Matt Novak

14. OWL: Owl Moon

15. PIG: Sloppy Kisses by Elizabeth Winthrop

16. QUAIL: Looking After Me by Denise Leroy

17. RACOON: The Kissing Hand by Audrey Penn

18. SHEEP: Can’t Sleep Without Sheep by Susanna Leonard Hill

19. TIGER: Leo the Late Bloomer by Robert Kraus

20. UNICORN: Unicorn! Unicorn! By Geraldine McCaughean

21. VOLE: The Vole Brothers by Roslyn Schwartz

22. WHALE: Pipaluk and the Whales by John Himmelman

23. XIPHIAS (SWORDFISH): Swimmy by Leo Lionni

24. YAK: Kami and the Yak by Andrea Stenn Stryer

25. ZEBRA: How the Zebra Got Its Stripes by Justine Fontes

Badge created by the talented Loni Edwards

I also wanted to add a note about a great creative writing activity going on right now…Susanna Leonard Hill has organized Summer Short and Sweets…if you have been thinking about writing for children and want to get your feet wet, this is the perfect opportunity. The kid lit community that gathers there is generous, helpful, caring and inspiring.

60 Not-to-be-Missed Picture Books (February) (delightfulchildrensbooks.com)
Proud Kids, Proud Books: Little Island Picks Kids’ Comics for LGBT Pride (comicsalliance.com)
The Vole Brothers (bctla.typepad.com)
We Give Books and Jumpstart’s Read for the Record to Set New Digital Reading Record (prweb.com)
Picture book illustrators featured in Himeji (japantimes.co.jp)
Rubbing shoulders with Harry Potter’s publisher, poverty porn & other gem moments (Part 1) (mummumstheword.wordpress.com)

Sunday Post: Silence…Should Children Be Seen and Not Heard?

Posted on July 8, 2012 by viviankirkfield

Jake at Time after Time has a Sunday Post Challenge and every week he provides a theme…this week’s theme is SILENCE.

I’ve only “heard” true silence twice in my life…twenty-five years ago while parasailing and last year while skydiving. Silence…the absence of sound or communication…is sometimes helpful when one needs to collect one’s thoughts or ponder an important decision.

But should we apply this to our parenting approach…following the old proverb that says…children should be seen and not heard?

I don’t recommend it.

Why not?

Children need opportunities to tell us what they think and feel.

Children need time to interact with their peers.

Children need to form strong friendships in those early years in order to develop healthy relationships later in life.

These activities don’t call for silence…they call for open and honest communication.

What activities do you have planned for your kids this summer? Summer is a perfect time to read picture books to young children! Children who are read to at an early age are more successful in school. I’ll be posting an A-Z list of some of the best in my next post.

For great story suggestions and quick and easy activities for kids, you might want a copy of Show Me How!

Are you wondering if the book really works? Check out these recent reviews: http://nrhatch.wordpress.com/2012/05/31/show-me-how/

http://creatingcuriouskids.wordpress.com/2012/06/14/summer-fun-shortcut-show-me-how/

Want more information about Jake’s Sunday Post?

http://jakesprinters.wordpress.com/

And here are some other bloggers who are doing Jake’s Sunday Post:

http://p0nky.wordpress.com/2012/07/08/sunday-post-silence/

http://piecesofstarlight.wordpress.com/2012/07/07/what-does-a-mixed-garden-of-prompts-grow/

http://northernnarratives.wordpress.com/2012/07/07/sunday-post-silence-2/

http://jullianeford.wordpress.com/2012/07/08/sunday-post-silence/

http://francineinretirement.wordpress.com/2012/07/08/sunday-post-silence/

http://tostir.wordpress.com/2012/07/07/sunday-post-silence/

http://jmeyersforeman.wordpress.com/2012/06/30/3307/

Sunday Post – Silence (northernnarratives.wordpress.com)
SUNDAY POST : Silence (jakesprinters.wordpress.com)

And the winner is…Awards, awards and more awards!

Posted on July 7, 2012 by viviankirkfield

We all need a break now and then. I just got back from an amazing week in Chicago…total rest and relaxation provided by my son and daughter-in-law.

Many bloggers I know are stepping back a little from their posting schedule…renewing and refreshing themselves with family time and/or vacations near and far.

I, too, have been less active with the business of blogging…but today I wanted to catch up on several awards that have been passed along to me over the last few months. I also want to announce the winner of the Lap-Time Song and Play Book by Jane Yolen that I am giving away in honor of my 300^th blog post.

Let me first thank:

1. Future Flying Saucers for the Mrs. Sparkly’s Ten Commandments Award

The “Mrs. Sparkly’s Ten Commandments Award” has to do with a woman of the same name, known for being very elegant and having high expectations, and who is committed to maintaining integrity, good manners and behavior, as well as a rich sense of humor.

Future Flying Saucers is a homeschooling SAHM now…but she had a career in education before…her story is inspiring…I hope you will pay her a visit. I’m honored with this award…not sure about the elegant part…but I do have high expectations and I am definitely committed to maintaining integrity, good manners and behavior…and I can laugh at myself and try to see the lighter, humorous side of life, especially when things aren’t going well.

2. Dawn at Tales of the Motherhood for the Good Apple Award.

Dawn has an amazing blog…her home is a veritable United Nations…take a look-see…I know you will enjoy it. As with most blogging awards, there are all kinds of rules…answer a bunch of questions and then nominate others and provide them with questions they need to answer…but it’s summer…and I don’t want to give anyone more work and stress.

3. Milka at Perfecting Motherhood for the ABC Award.

If you love reading and think it is an important activity for children, please stop over at Perfecting Motherhood! Milka is an amazing mother who encourages reading by reading to her children every day, by having books available all the time (her children probably think the library is just an extension of their home because they are there so often) and by being seen reading (she is always recommending books that she has read). The requirement of the ABC Award (Awesome Blog Content) is to describe yourself using every letter of the alphabet…I seriously doubt anyone wants to know that much about me, but in my post on Sunday, I will recommend twenty-six picture books (from A to Z) for great summer reading.

4. Marcy at Orples for the Very Inspiring Blogger Award.

Marcy is a talented children’s picture book author and illustrator. Her Orples picture book series is charming and each book presents a lesson to be learned. Please pay a call to her website and check out her lovely books. I hope I can live up to this award…perhaps my passion for reading picture books with children will inspire other parents…and my love of writing picture books will encourage others who dream of publishing their work.

One of the rules of all of these awards is to nominate others to receive them. There are dozens and dozens of bloggers whose posts I love reading who deserve all of these awards. Many of them probably have some of them already. Because it is summer…and I don’t want to put pressure on anyone…I’m going to list a baker’s dozen (13) of blogs that I encourage everyone to visit…and pass along the honor of all four awards to them…but I hope none of the thirteen will feel compelled to post about it now. This list of bloggers is an international one…enjoy!