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Always, Always Reading Books, Recipes, and Life Kitschy Witch The Herb Gardener

Monday, August 28, 2017

Counting, Adding, and Subtracting Story Time

Today's story time was an outreach at a local elementary school. I decided to pick books on counting, adding, and subtracting to help the pre K class with mathematical concepts. The first book that I read was Stack the Cats by Susie Ghahremani. Stack the Cats features pictures of bright and colorful cats. Throughout the book the cats sleep, stack, play, teeter, totter, nap, and tumble. This is an excellent counting book! The children had a lot of fun counting the cats with me. Together, the children and I counted all of the cats on the page and the number of cats in the stacks. Counting the number of cats in the stacks is an excellent way to introduce the concept of addition. For example, two stacks of three cats equals six cats and three stacks of three cats equals nine cats.
The next book that I read was Quack and Count by Keith Baker. In this book, the children and I counted the ducklings. The book also introduces the concept of addition. For example, "7 ducklings, 5 plus 2 playing games of peekaboo" and "chasing busy bumblebees, 7 ducklings, 4 plus 3." After I read this book, the children and I sang "Five Little Ducks". I had "Five Little Ducks" on a flannel board.
The last book that I read was Monster Musical Chairs by Stuart J. Murphy. This is a fun colorful book that introduces the concepts of addition and subtraction through a game of monsters playing musical chairs. As each monster is eliminated from each round, a black X mark is shown across the monster's face on the far right-hand side of the page.
Edible Numbers introduces counting to children by showing unusual types of varieties and colors of vegetables that we eat every day.
Eggs 123 is a beautifully illustrated book. In this book, different eggs for different animals, such as platypuses, caterpillars, robins, fireflies, turtles, snakes, and tadpoles, to name just a few, are featured. The children can count the eggs and guess which egg is for which animal. It's not easy to guess!
Hardworking Puppies introduces the concept of subtraction. At the beginning of the book there are ten puppies. Each puppy leaves to help in certain jobs. For example, one puppy leaves to become a sled dog and the other puppy leaves to become a circus dog. The last puppy leaves to become a boy's beloved pet.
Over the Castle introduces counting by describing a typical day at the castle and can be sung to the tune of "Over in the Meadow".
1 Big Salad introduces the concept of counting through very creative salad ingredients, such as two radish mice, four carrot horses, and six cucumber alligators!

Wednesday, August 16, 2017

Lucy and Linh

Lucy Linh, the heroine in Lucy and Linh by Alice Pung is happy and content in her life. She is a leader at her school, Christ Our Savior, and goes to school with her best friend, Linh. She takes care of her little brother, affectionately know as Lamby, and translates English into Chinese for her Chinese mother. She also helps her mother with her mother's piece work sewing. Her mother's sewing brings much needed extra money to their household.

But all of this suddenly changes when Lucy wins a scholarship to Laurinda. At first, Lucy is thrilled. This will be a wonderful opportunity for her! But life at Laurinda is not what it seems to be. Lucy doesn't know her classmates' unwritten rules of behavior and it's difficult for her to be surrounded by classmates who have grown up with so much wealth and privilege. However, that is nothing compared to her nemesis - three of the school's most popular girls, know as "the Cabinet". Lucy is intimidated by them and stands by helplessly as they play a practical joke on a teacher that causes the teacher to have a breakdown, break another girl's wrist by slamming the bathroom stall when she is in there, and falsely accuse a teacher of sexual harassment.

Has Lucy lost herself and her soul? Will she be able to find her voice before it is too late? Read Lucy and Linh by Alice Pung to find out.

Tuesday, August 8, 2017

Nature Story Time

Today's story time was on nature and I had a lot of fun picking the stories for this one! The first book that I read was Bear Sees Blue by Ashley Wolff. In this story, Baby Bear wanders outdoors and the children and I identified the colors of what he saw. For example, he sees a yellow sun, green leaves on a tree and green grass, blue jays, a brown trout, red strawberries, orange butterflies, and a beautiful rainbow at the end. The children did a great job guessing the colors, but some of the children said that the trout was orange, not brown. The trout has a very light brown color, so I could see the reason for confusion. The children and I had a wonderful time identifying the colors of the rainbow at the end of the story.
The next story that I read was Watersong by Tim McCanna. This is a story about a fox trying to find shelter during a storm. This story is told entirely in onomatopoeia. Onomatopoeia is the formation of a word from a sound associated with what it is named. For example, meow, cuckoo, or buzz. The children enjoyed identifying what was going on in the story and they also enjoyed reading along with me and saying drip, drop; spitter, spatter; gush, rush; lash, whirl; and bash, swirl, just to name a few of the fun and delightful words in this story.
The third and last story that I read was Chicky Chicky Chook Chook by Cathy MacLennan. This is a delightful story told in rhyme about chicks, bumblebees, and kittens enjoying a beautiful sunny morning and just settling in for a nap - when bam! bang! a storm arrives. They are left wet and soggy. How will they get dry? The children enjoyed answering questions about the story and what was happening.
These are alternate books that I selected, but did not read. Boom Boom by Sarvinder Naberhaus describes how a preschool class experiences a thunderstorm, spring, fall, and winter.
Puddle by Hyewon Yum tells the story of a little boy who is upset. He can't go out to play because it is raining. His mother draws a picture of him, his dog, and her taking a walk in the rain. The picture looks like so much fun to the little boy! He suggests that he, his mother, and his dog take a walk in the rain.They go outside together and have a wonderful time!
The last book that I selected, Hi, Koo! by Jon J Muth is more of a one on one read-aloud then a story time book. The title is a play of words on the content. The book format is in haiku. The main character, a panda bear named Koo, tells us his experiences of the different seasons.

Monday, August 7, 2017

We Never Asked for Wings

Vanessa Diffenbaugh's first novel was the Language of Flowers, which I absolutely loved. I'm pleased to report that her second novel, We Never Asked for Wings, is as good as her first!

When we first meet Letty, she is driving frantically to Mexico to find her mother, Maria Elena. Maria Alena has gone to Mexico to find her husband and Letty's father, Enrique. Letty is lost without her parents. For fourteen years, Letty, who is a single mother, has worked as a bartender to pay her bills and provide for her children, Alex, fifteen, and Luna, six. Maria Elena has raised Alex and Luna. Letty doesn't know how to be in a room with her children, let alone raise them.

But all of that is about to change - quickly. Enrique has decided to stay in the Espinosa family home in Oro de Hidalgo, Mexico, and he wants Maria Elena to stay with him. Letty cannot persuade Maria Elena to return with her.

Letty gets into a car accident on the way home and her reunion with her children is awkward and stilted. Bit by bit, day by day, they learn to trust and love each other. Letty starts dating her coworker, Rick, and then Alex's father, Wes, comes back into her life and Alex's life. Letty has to make a decision about who to let into her life and her children's lives. Alex makes a disastrous decision for his girlfriend, Yesenia, and they both have to find a way out of the consequences. But through it all, love helps relationships heal, last, and triumph!

Tuesday, August 1, 2017

Transportation Story Time!

The first book that I read was Bug on a Bike by Chris Monroe. The entire book is a delightful rhyme where Bug convinces his friends to join him, but where are they going? Nobody knows! Lizard Mike, Randy the Toad, some ants on a log, Butterfly Andy, and the polka dot dog follow him cheerfully even though they have no idea where Bug is going. Along the way, more animals join them as well as an athletic pickle and a nickel. The children seemed very interested in the story, but I think it might have been a little too long. To make it more interesting, I don't read the long lists of who was following Bug, but the children and I counted how many animals/nickel/pickle were following Bug. When they finally arrive at their destination, they realize they are at Bug's birthday party! Bug has a beautiful and elaborate birthday party and the children and I had fun pointing out the many different items at Bug's birthday party: a moon bounce, a cake, cupcakes, cookies, hot dogs, and tacos to name just a few! At the end of the story, the satisfying conclusion focuses on Bug's reaction:
"And the bug on a bike? Well, he just had a ball. Seeing all his friends happy was the most fun of all."
The second book I read was Little Plane Learns to Write by Stephen Savage. It is a more interactive story and the children loved this story! Little Plane has to learn how to write his name in the sky by using arcs, dives, and loopity-loops. Little Plane successfully masters his dives and his arcs, but struggles with his loopity-loops. They make him dizzy. Eventually he masters his loopity-loops and can write successfully in the sky. The children and I spelled out and said the words cloud, rainbow, and moon which Little Plane had written in the sky. We also identified the colors in the rainbow.
The last book I read was Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! by Mo Willems. I don't think that this classic needs an explanation, but if you are unfamiliar with the story the bus driver leaves his bus and tells the readers, "Don't let the pigeon drive the bus!" Then after the bus driver leaves, the pigeon arrives and tries to get the readers to let him drive the bus. The answer is always a resounding "No!" and the children love to keep saying "No!" to the pigeon's requests to drive the bus. However, one little girl was convinced and did say "Yes!" at the end of the story.
My alternate book that I didn't read was The Bus Is For Us! by Michael Rosen. In a catchy rhyme, the author suggests different forms of transportation: riding a bike, taking the car, taking the train, traveling in a little boat and in a big ship, but always concludes: "But the best is the bus. The bus is for us."