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

Tuesday, October 31, 2017

One Dark Throne

One Dark Throne by Kendare Blake is one of the most amazing and thrilling books that I have read in a very long time. The plot had so many twists and turns that reading the book was like driving a race car on a track where you had no idea where you were going. I can't recommend it strongly enough! I will endeavor to tell you as much as I can without giving too much of the plot away or creating any spoilers. Make sure that you read Three Dark Crowns by Kendare Blake before you read One Dark Throne. One Dark Throne is the sequel and it won't make sense if you haven't read Three Dark Crowns.

The Quickening is behind our queens and the Ascension Year has begun. Who will claim the throne? After all two must die, so that one may live and rule. Will it be Arsinoe, who thought she was a naturalist, but is actually a poisoner? Nobody knows her secret except Jules. Arsinoe now has complete control of her great bear even though it was summoned by low magic.

Will it be Katharine, the queen who is supposed to be the poisoner queen? She hasn't been the same since Pietyr threw her into the dark and bottomless pit of the Breccia Domain - a place where former queens were left to die. She's crawled her way out of the pit and instead of being the sweet pliable girl that she was she is now strong, mean, and cruel. Once she did her best to avoid poison. Now she throws poisoned knifes, poisons birds and rodents, and sends a poisoned glove and dress to Mirabella's priestesses.

Everyone in Fennbirn is convinced that Mirabella will be crowned queen and sit on the dark throne. After all, she is the strongest sister and an elemental. She can control waves and the sea, start fires, and cause lightning to strike. Willa, the old midwife, knows that the former queen told her that Mirabella will be the one to rule.

To find out who will sit on the dark throne, read One Dark Throne by Kendare Blake.

Halloween Story Time!

Happy Halloween! To celebrate Halloween today, I presented a special Halloween story time that both the children and I enjoyed.
To introduce this story, The Hallo-Wiener by Dav Pilkey, I asked the children in the group who were going trick or treating tonight to raise their hands. Then, I asked them to raise their hands if they were going in a costume. This story features Oscar, a dachshund who is made fun of because of his unusual shape and size. "Wiener Dog! Wiener Dog!" the other dogs call him to tease him. Oscar finds out that his mother has made a hot dog bun Halloween costume for him and he is so disappointed. However, he doesn't want to hurt his mother's feelings, so he decides to wear the costume. Oscar could not keep up with the other dogs as they ran off to go trick-or-treating because of his awkward costume. So there were no treats left for Oscar as he went from house to house. When trick or treating was over, the other dogs were scared of a huge monster with a jack-o-lantern head that rose out of a graveyard! Only Oscar could tell that the monster was just two cats in disguise. He tugged at the monster's outfit until it ripped and there were two cats! The cats ran off and the grateful dogs changed Oscar's nickname from "Wiener Dog" to "Hero Sandwich".
In Mouse's First Halloween by Lauren Thompson, Mouse is afraid of everything! Mouse and the readers go through the story together and find out that the following actually aren't that scary at all: swooping bats, tumbling leaves, a waving scarecrow, falling apples, scampering kittens, a glowing jack-o-lantern, and trick-or-treaters. The children enjoyed guessing what Mouse was afraid of and most of their guesses were correct!
In Minerva Louise on Halloween by Janet Morgan Stoeke, our favorite clueless and hapless chicken, Minerva, provides plenty of laughs again. Minerva doesn't know what Halloween is and can't figure out that the farmers are putting fake gravestones in the yard (not planting a garden); the farmer with a shovel is actually a skeleton on the door; why the pumpkins have been turned into jack-o-lanterns; why the laundry is on the farmers (the farmers are dressed as ghosts); and why candy corn is so sweet. The children enjoyed laughing with Minerva and explaining to me what was really happening in the story.

Thursday, October 26, 2017

Monsters Story Time!

The children absolutely loved Go Away, Big Green Monster! by Ed Emberley. Slowly, so slowly big green monster appears as you read the story. He has two big yellow eyes, a long bluish-greenish nose, a big red mouth with sharp white teeth, two little squiggly ears, scraggly purple hair, and a big green face! But when the children and I tell the big green monster that we are not afraid of him, each part of him disappears until he vanishes.
If You're a Monster and You Know It by Rebecca and Ed Emberley is a story that you can sing! This story is sung to the tune of "If You're Happy and You Know It". Together, the children and I snorted, growled, smacked our claws (clapped our hands), stomped our paws (stomped our feet), twitched our tails, wiggled our warts, and gave a roar! Then we did everything!
In Monster Hug! by David Ezra Stein, two monsters (a blue monster and a red monster) meet, play together, and at the end of the story the big monsters tell them it is time for bedtime. The children enjoyed this story as well and I asked them various questions throughout the story, such as the following:
What are the monsters using to play ball?
Where is the blue monster hiding?
What is the blue monster squirting the red monster with?
What are the two monsters eating?
This is a fun interactive book and the children enjoyed answering the questions.
There were three other books about monsters that I found that I really liked, but I decided not to use them for story time. These books would be good for story time and/or read alouds.
Spike, the Mixed Up Monster by Susan Hood tells the story of Spike, who is a monster, but a monster who is no bigger than a lily pad. So, in spite of the hours he spends shaking his spikes and bearing his teeth, everybody just thinks he's cute and adorable! Spike is so disappointed and discouraged until one day a Gila monster arrives who is a huge and scary monster! All of the other animals run and hide. Spike pulls out all of his monster moves, but the Gila monster just laughs and tells Spike that nobody has ever smiled at him before. Spike just droops until the Gila monster tells Spike that Spike is the only one who can help him because nobody else will even talk to him. Spike shows the Gila monster how to get to his cousin's fiesta. After the Gila monster leaves, all of the other animals: el pato (the duck), el armadillo (the armadillo), and el campanol (a Mexican vole) come out and thank him. Spike is based on an axolotl: a special kind of salamander found in Mexico.
Quit Calling Me A Monster! by Jory John features a sensitive monster who dislikes being called a monster. It really hurts his feelings when you call him a monster even though he has horns, wild eyes, fangs, and a huge, toothy smile that glows in the dark. His name is Floyd Peterson, thank you very much. After all, would you like to be called "a little meat snack" or "the kid I'm going to chomp up."? This is a great book to introduce the concepts of tolerance and diversity to young children.
I Will Chomp You! by Jory John tells the story of a monster who refuses to let the reader turn the pages of the story! He exclaims "I will chomp you, buster!"; "Now quit it!"; and "You've been officially warned!". At the end of the story, we find out that he doesn't want us to turn the pages because he has all of his cakes at the back of the book! This is a fun and interactive story where the children and you can chomp together and count the cakes and sweets at the back of the book.

Wednesday, October 18, 2017

Grumpy Story Time

Originally, I was going to do a story time based on all emotions and feelings, but I'm been feeling rather grumpy lately, so I thought why not a grumpy story time? And the children loved it!
Grumpy Pants by Claire Messer is the story of a penguin who is having a grumpy day, even though he doesn't know why. He pulls off his grumpy coat, kicks off his grumpy boots, pulls off his grumpy socks, takes off his grumpy overalls, and finally takes off his grumpy underpants! On a count of one, two, and three, he jumps into his bath and washes all of his grumpiness away! The children loved this story! I asked them if they have ever been grumpy and they answered, "yes". I asked them if they had ever made a bubble beard or played in bubbles like penguin did and once again the answer was "yes".
Grumpy Bird by Jeremy Tankard is the story of a bird who wakes up grumpy. After deciding that he is too grumpy to fly, he decides to walk instead of fly. As he continues walking, his friends Sheep, Rabbit, Raccoon, Beaver, and Fox join him. His friends walk with Bird, stop with Bird, stand on one leg with Bird, and jump with Bird! "Hey, this is fun!" Bird exclaims and he forgets to be grumpy. The children had a lot of fun identifying Bird's friends: Sheep, Rabbit, Raccoon, Beaver, and Fox.
Grump Groan Growl is written by Bell Hooks and illustrated by Chris Raschka. In this story, a little boy has a bad mood that is on the prowl and he grumps, groans, and growls. The children had a lot of fun groaning and growling. By the end of the story he has learned to "just let those feelings be; just let them pass; and just let it slide".
The following books are books that I pulled for story time, but decided not to use.
Hooray For Hat! by Brian Won tells the story of Elephant who wakes up very grumpy until he finds a present on the doorstep! The present is a hat and immediately cheers him up. Elephant also gives Zebra, Turtle, Owl, and Lion a hat. All of the animals are happy, except Lion. Lion tells the other animals: "I love this hat. But I can't cheer while our friend Giraffe is not feeling well. What can we do?" Elephant, Zebra, Turtle, Owl, and Lion make a surprise hat for Giraffe! The story ends with Giraffe exclaiming, "Hooray for friends!"
My No, No, No Day! by Rebecca Patterson tells the story of a little girl whose very bad no good day starts off when she discovers her brother, Bob, licking her jewelry. Throughout her day, she refuses to eat her breakfast, kicks her shoes off, yells in the grocery store, tries to deal with a broken cookie, has peas that are too hot, and a bath that is too cold. She is such a bad mood then she initially refuses to listen to her bedtime story. But her mom starts reading her the story anyway and she tells her mom that, "Today was a very bad day, Mommy. Sorry." Her mother replies, "I know. We all have those days sometimes, but perhaps you will be more cheerful tomorrow." And she is!
In Bernice Gets Carried Away by Hannah E. Harrison on a dark dreary day, Bernice's day starts badly when she gets a piece of cake without a frosting rose. After all, everybody else got a rose! Then, she's stuck with a prune-grapefruit drink and only one gumdrop from the pinata. So when she sees the balloons, she grabs the whole bunch! She floats up, up, and away - right into the bottom of a storm cloud. She decides to give a balloon to the cloud to cheer him up and then she gives a balloon to a bluebird, a squirrel, and each of her friends. And then everybody else starts to share as well! Bernice is happy throughout the rest of the day.
My cold plum lemon pie bluesy mood by Tameka Fryer Brown, Jamie compares his mood to various colors. A purple kind of mood is a good feeling, just being kind of mood. A gray mood signals the start of a storm brewing. In a green mood, Jamie helps his sister draw a dragon. Orange is an active mood and brown is a I won't be pushed around mood.

Thursday, October 12, 2017

Fall Baby Lap Time!

I am so happy to be presenting a baby lap time again! Today, I presented a baby lap time at the Covenant House in Washington, DC. The babies, caretakers, and I had a wonderful time! More baby lap times will be forthcoming.
Normally I only read one or two board books at the most during a baby lap time, but today I read three because a second group of babies joined us when the baby lap time was halfway over.
Fall by Ailie Busby introduces babies to fall by mentioning the delights you can experience on an autumn day, such as collecting acorns, kicking leaves, picking blackberries, and collecting apples, pears, and pumpkins in a wheelbarrow.
In Duck & Goose Find A Pumpkin by Tad Hills, duck and goose look everywhere for a pumpkin! They look in a leaf pile, in the apple tree, under the water, and on top of a stump. Then Thistle walks by and suggests that they try the pumpkin patch.
In The Busy Little Squirrel by Nancy Tafuri, squirrel is too busy to nibble a pumpkin with mouse, rest on a branch with bird, hop rocks with frog, lie in the sun with cat, run in the field with dog, and watch the moon with owl. At the end of the day, squirrel is fast asleep.
You can't have a baby lap time without a lot of songs and rhymes. In my baby lap time today, we did the following: Bumping Up and Down in My Little Red Wagon, Itsy Bitsy Spider, Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star, Two Little Blackbirds Sitting on a Hill, Five Little Ducks, Tony Chestnut, and Roll, Roll, Roll Your Hands.
If you're not familiar with Two Little Blackbirds Sitting on a Hill, this is how it goes:
Two little blackbirds sitting on a hill,
One named Jack.
One named Jill.
Fly away, Jack.
Fly away, Jill.
Come back, Jack.
Come back, Jill.
I held up two fingers to represent the blackbirds.
If you're not familiar with Roll, Roll, Roll Your Hands, this is how it goes (Tune: "Row, Row, Row Your Boat"):
Roll, roll, roll your hands
As slowly as can be.
Roll, roll, roll your hands
Slowly just like me.
Roll, roll, roll your hands
As quickly as can be,
Roll, roll, roll your hands
Quickly just like me.
I used two other verses; one with clap your hands and one with shake your hands.
I found some other board books about Autumn that I liked, but did not read. These books are the following:
Apples and Pumpkins by Anne Rockwell
In My Tree by Sara Gillingham is also good as a one on one read aloud book because baby can pat the soft fluffy baby owl throughout the story.
Biscuit Visits the Pumpkin Patch by Alyssa Satin Capucilli
I Love Fall! by Alison Inches is also good as a one on one read aloud book because baby can rub the soft scarf, pat the smooth pumpkin, feel the shiny pie tin, touch the leaves, and feel the smooth wicker on the fall basket.

Tuesday, October 10, 2017

Fall Story Time!

Hocus Pocus, It's Fall! by Anne Sibley O'Brien features beautiful illustrations with eleven gatefolds that open to reveal even more beautiful illustrations. All you have to do to get them to open is to say the magic words, such as the following: Alakazam!, Open sesame!, Abracadabra!, and Shazam! The page with the picture of the "spiky pods that are brown and dried" opens to reveal the fluffy white seeds floating and drifting away from the pods. Other gatefolds include the following: a beautiful bunch of trees with red, orange and yellow leaves; children and a dog playing in piles of fallen leaves; chipmunks storing nuts; and an apple pie that wins first place at the fair! The children enjoyed saying the magic words and guessing what the scenes in the gatefolds might be.
Mouse's First Fall by Lauren Thompson tells the story of Mouse and Minka playing in piles of fallen leaves. While I was reading the book, the children helped me identify the colors of the leaves and count the leaves. We also identified the shapes of leaves and found Minka when Minka was hidden in a leaf pile.
We finished story time with Fall Is Not Easy by Marty Kelley. In this story, a tree tries to change its leaves into the traditional colors of fall leaves: yellow, orange, and red. Instead it changes into a rainbow tree, a happy face, a tree with purple and yellow leaves, a tree with red and white leaves, a hamburger tree, a tree with blue and green leaves, and a jack-o-lantern tree. The children had fun pointing out the different leaves and patterns on the tree and laughing.
I didn't read the following books at story time, but they were books that I picked out as possible story time books.
Leaves by David Ezra Stein tells the story of Bear's first fall. He doesn't understand why the leaves are falling and he tries to catch the leaves and put them back on the tree. As he grows sleepy, he fills a hole in the ground and hibernates during his first winter. When he wakes up in the spring, he is happy to see the budding leaves and the leaves that have just started to unfold. He enthusiastically welcomes them!
In Little Tree by Loren Long, a little tree's leaves turn yellow, orange, and red, along with the rest of the trees. But even though the rest of the trees drop their leaves, Little Tree is afraid to do so. He hangs on tightly to his! A squirrel, a doe, a duckling, and a fox try to get Little Tree to drop his leaves, but he refuses. But when Little Tree can no longer feel the sunlight and can no longer hear the mourning dove's song, he drops his leaves. Eventually, he grows into a great big tree.
In the Middle of Fall by Kevin Henkes, is a book with beautiful and amazing illustrations by Laura Dronzek that show the beginning, middle, and end of fall. Apples are described as ornaments and other pages feature bright orange, yellow, and red leaves, frisky squirrels, a gray sky, brown gardens, and big round orange pumpkins. This book would make a good one on one read aloud.

Wednesday, October 4, 2017

Interactive Story Time!

My new preschoolers have been full of the wiggles lately! So, I decided it was time to have an interactive story time. There's no particular theme to this story time, it's just composed of interactive stories.
The first book that I read was Follow Me! by Ellie Sandall. This book tells the story of a group of lemurs as they chase, hunt, race, and climb their way through the jungle. The children and I counted the lemurs together at the beginning of the story. I asked the children what one lemur was chasing. The lemur was chasing the butterfly. Another lemur was hunting a snail. One of the lemurs was racing a turtle and of course, winning! The highlight of the story is when the lemurs are leaping over stones and almost become a meal for the crocodile! Fortunately, they get away by swinging on vines high above the crocodile's head.
Find a Cow Now! by Janet Stevens is the charming story of a city dog who is tired of napping and chases his tail, grabs onto the rug, and attempts to round up the chairs. Bird tells him that he is a cattle dog and needs to go to the country to find a cow. He's supposed to be herding cows. Dog goes off to the country. When he gets there, he meets a chicken, a pig, and a donkey. He mistakes all of these animals for a cow! The children and I had fun making the chicken, pig, and donkey noises. And of course, we got to give great big MOOs! The dog and the cow go through the city and cause a huge commotion. They go back to the country together and Dog goes back to his home in the city. He is happy that he found his new friend, a cow.
Where Are You? by Sarah Williamson tells the story of a green snake following a pink snake and trying to find the pink snake. The pink snake hides in various places: on a boat, under a lily pad, in a truck, in an airplane, around a bicycle wheel, and on a light post by the tree. The green snake finally catches up with the pink snake on the light post. The children had a lot of fun pointing out the pink snake and showing me where the pink snake was!