Category Archives: libraries

PPBF: Sloppy Kisses…Self-Esteem and Peer Pressure…What’s the Connection?

Posted on by
57

 

Hurray!  Today is Perfect Picture Book Friday where I link up with Susannah Leonard Hill’s fantastic group of picture book writers, illustrators, librarians and others who contribute a picture book review and related resources for parents, teachers and children. 

Please bear with me for two important reminders:

1.      If you haven’t already been to Susanna’s Perfect Picture Book resource page, I encourage you to go.  You will find HUNDREDS of picture book titles to choose from…divided into dozens of categories that will make it easy to find ‘JUST THE RIGHT BOOK’!  Click on the title and you will be whisked away to the story summary and review…there will almost always be great resource and/or activity suggestions as well.

2.      If you haven’t nominated your local library to win one of the 25 FREE copies of Show Me How! Build Your Child’s Self-Esteem Through Reading, Crafting and Cooking that we are donating, PLEASE do so now!  Click the book title link above and you will travel to sunny Spain where you can read the most recent review of this must-have resource that makes choosing picture books and planning fun-filled educational self-esteem building activities a snap for parents, teachers and children’s librarians.

 

Help your favorite library win a copy!  Just leave a comment on this post or email me at vivian@positiveparentalparticipation.com, naming the library and telling why the people in your community would benefit from having the book available to them.  At the end of the month, twenty-five libraries will be chosen using Random.org.

Do you tweet on Twitter?  Are you a fan of Facebook?  Have you pinned anything on Pinterest yet?  Are you active on LinkedIn?  Please help me spread the word about the Show-Me-How Library Project by tweeting, posting and/or pinning.  Last week several people re-blogged my post…that’s a great way also!

I APPRECIATE YOUR PATIENCE…HERE IS YOUR PERFECT PICTURE BOOK FRIDAY REWARD!

 

Sloppy Kisses

Written by Elizabeth Winthrop

Illustrated by Anne Burgess

Publisher: MacMillan Publishing Company (1980)

Ages: 4-8

Themes: Peer pressure, teasing/bullying, family, self-esteem

Synopsis:

Emmy Lou’s family is not ashamed to show how much they love each other.  However, when a school friend tells her that kissing is only for babies, Emmy Lou begins to question the way her family shows their love.  For several days, the little piglet refuses to allow her father to kiss her goodbye when he drops her off at school and she won’t let her parents kiss her when they say goodnight.  Although she doesn’t realize why she is so unhappy, her parents do.  When Emmy Lou can’t get to sleep one night, her parents sit and talk with her.  How will this problem be resolved?  Will Emmy Lou go kiss-less for the rest of her life or will she decide to continue her family tradition and ignore the peer pressure.

 

Why I like this book:

Peer pressure is a very powerful influence, often with negative consequences.  Children can reject it only if they have a very strong sense of self-confidence and the knowledge that they are worthwhile individuals, entitled to say no or disagree with what someone else says they should do.  Emmy Lou’s parents respected her temporary wish to refrain from kissing…the respect that they showed her enabled Emmy Lou to believe in herself and make her own decision to ignore her school friend’s advice.

Young children need to hear stories like this where the main character triumphs and is able to stand up for what she believes in.  The loving relationship is evident in Emmy Lou’s family…her parents paid attention to what she had to say and were respectful of her wishes…up to a point…after all, they ARE the parents.

The text and illustrations work well together…keeping the reader and listener anxiously awaiting the problem’s resolution.

Related Activities:

When our children were young, we enjoyed helping them make things to give as presents instead of buying gifts at the store…a way of saving money while encouraging their creativity.

One of our favorite presents was to make a “gift certificate” for something the recipient might want or need which was something the giver could do, or make.  ***GOOD FOR ONE CAR WASHING***   ***REDEEM FOR ONE HOUR OF VACUUMING***   ***GOOD FOR ONE EVENING OF BABYSITTING***

This tradition became so ingrained that even in 1989, when our oldest son was 17, he gave me this card for Valentine’s Day.

 

When our daughter was 6 years old, she made her own hugs and kisses coupon book as a gift for her father for his birthday.  He still has that as well.

HUGS AND KISSES COUPON BOOK

Here is a lovely craft activity to do after reading Sloppy Kisses.  Young children need hugs and kisses from those they love on a daily basis…how about making a “hugs and kisses” coupon book so that your child can get extra ones as needed.  When your children come to you with a hug or kiss certificate, you will have a great opportunity to talk with them…maybe they had a bad day at school, perhaps they are worried about an upcoming assignment…or maybe they just need a little reassurance and demonstration of your love.

You will need: Construction paper, markers or crayons, stapler, scissors.

1.      Use one piece of construction paper for the cover…cut it if you wish and fold it in half.

2.      Your child can decorate the cover.

3.      Cut another sheet of construction paper (or copy paper) into coupon-size certificates.

4.      Write the words: Good for 1 Kiss and Good for 1 Hug on them.

5.      Let your child decorate each coupon.

6.      Staple the coupons into the cover.

I’ve been making these coupon books and gift certificates for over 40 years, but now everyone’s doing it.

Dltk has some adorable printable coupons here that look like this:

Family Crafts has a wonderful assortment of printable coupon ideas here.

eHow has a page on making printable coupons here

Cricket Magazine has a board book set called Mommy Hugs and Daddy Kisses here.

The Bennington Free Library has a story page with activities for Sloppy Kisses here.

Parents Magazine has a page of instructions for making coupon books here.

Nick Jr. has some printable hug coupons here.

This post is part of a series for parents and teachers called Perfect Picture Book Fridays hosted by Susannah Leonard Hill.  Click on her link and find lots of other picture book suggestions with summaries and activities.  And please don’t forget to leave a comment, nominating your local library to be the recipient of a copy of Show Me How!

Related articles

Sunday Post: Culture…What Do Children Really Need?

Posted on by
40

Today is Easter Sunday.  It is also the second day of Passover.   Just as with Christmas and Hanukah, these Christian and Jewish holidays are usually celebrated around the same time.  It’s not by chance, of course. 

If you trace most major religious holidays back to their beginnings, you will find they have the same roots and seem to be based on pagan festivals that were held thousands of years before.

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

The word ‘culture’ has many definitions.  Because of the holidays that are upon us, I’ll use this one: the set of shared attitudes, beliefs, customs, practices and social behaviors of a particular nation or group.

And it seems that no matter what the holiday or which religious or ethnic group is celebrating…presents are involved, especially for the children.  Easter baskets filled with candy and stuffed animals, Christmas trees surrounded with gaily wrapped gifts, eight days of presents during Hanukah, gifts given as ransom for returning the afikomen (piece of matzoh) during Passover get-togethers. 

 

Children love presents…but the most important gift we can give them is our time and attention.  This is another similarity that is cross-cultural.  Children need to be treasured no matter whether their parents are Christian or Jewish, Muslim or Hindu, American or French, Canadian or Spanish, rich or poor, highly educated or unable to read. artistic or sports-minded.  If we look at cultures all over the world, we see that this is true…in most societies, parents, and often the entire community, strive to cherish the children.  Of course, in war-ravaged areas or when epidemics of famine rage, it is often the children who suffer the most.

If we want to be in our children’s memories tomorrow, we need to be in their lives today.  Read with your child.  Talk with your child.  Walk with your child.  Play with your child.  Cook with your child.  Paint with your child.  The bond you form now will last a lifetime.

Today is also the first day of National Library Week.  Why not go to your local library with your child this week.  Help your child pick out some books and read at least one every day. Studies show that children who are read to on a daily basis are more likely to succeed in school. 

 

Don’t forget to nominate your favorite library in the comment section!  Twenty-five libraries across the US and around the world can receive a free copy of Show Me How! Build Your Child’s Self-Esteem Through Reading, Crafting and Cooking.  Nominations close the last day of the month…don’t let your library lose out on the chance of getting this award-winning resource for parents and teachers.

 

If you’d like 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://imagesoftheheart.wordpress.com/2012/04/08/sunday-post-culture/

http://wp.me/p2iujW-2J


 

 

I will try to add more as they are posted.

Related articles

Sunday Post: What’s Your Nature?

Posted on by
31

The dictionary gives us three definitions of the word nature.

 

Nature can be the countryside…mountains….rivers…forests.

 

Nature can be the forces and processes that control the physical world…hurricanes, tornados, high tide and low tide.

Photo credit: dailymail.co.uk

Nature can be the inherent character or basic constitution of a person…loving, generous, spiteful, envious, kind.

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

We are born with a particular disposition or temperament…environment and circumstances do play a role in shaping the person we become…and parents have a role in shaping the person their child becomes.

When natural disasters strike, it always amazes me how many step forward to assist…with their time, money and love.

But often, the problems are not so easily seen and may not be brought to our attention by the media.

Such is the case with our libraries today.  Most public libraries operate on small budgets that are funded by local revenues.  And these days, many libraries are suffering…cutting down on staff hours and putting a hold on ordering new books.

My nature is a sharing one.  I volunteer at local kindergartens, reading and crafting with the children and I donate a portion of the proceeds of the sale of Show Me How to three different children’s organizations.  

I began thinking about the situation the libraries are in and I had an idea! To help celebrate National Library Week (April 8-14) and to enable a bunch of libraries to add new materials to their collections, why not donate some of my books?

 

The Show-Me-How Library Project will enable twenty-five libraries across the country to receive a copy of my book.  If you would like to nominate your local library, please leave a comment on this post or on my Perfect Picture Book Friday post, telling me why you would like your library to receive one of the free books.  At the end of April, we will pick twenty-five libraries (through Random.org).  If your library is chosen and you would like to do a review of Show Me How on your blog/website/magazine/newspaper, I would be happy to send along a second copy, just for you! 

PLEASE HELP SPREAD THE WORD ABOUT THE SHOW-ME-HOW LIBRARY PROJECT!

  •         blog about this
  •         tweet it
  •         post it to your Face Book
  •         start a discussion on your LinkedIn groups
  •         Google+ it
  •         pin it on Pinterest

Whatever you can do to encourage everyone you know to hop on board and nominate their library would be appreciated.  Who knows, I just might have to give away books to more than twenty-five libraries and perhaps this will inspire other authors to make similar donations!

 If you’d like more information about Jake’s Sunday Post:

 http://jakesprinters.wordpress.com/ 

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

1.      http://ruralrouterunner.wordpress.com/2012/03/31/sunday-post-nature/

2.      http://imexcited.wordpress.com/2012/03/31/sunday-post-nature/

3.      http://wp.me/p296YA-5O

4.      http://davidrwetzelphotography.wordpress.com/2012/03/31/sunday-post-nature/

5.      http://writingmuscle.wordpress.com/2012/04/01/sunday-post-nature/

Quick note on the 12 x 12 Challenge I am taking part in…I am happy to say I have completed my March picture book draft!

Related articles