Review: Fort Building Time by Megan Wagner Lloyd and Abigail Halpin

9780399556555

$16.99

Winter, spring, summer, fall. Each season brings new materials to make the perfect fort. From leaves to snow, from mud to sand, there is a different fort throughout the year. As a group of friends explore and build through the seasons, they find that every fort they make is a perfect fort.

If you finish this book and do not have the urge to run out and build SOME sort of fort, then I just don't think you can be my friend.

The lyrical word play makes this a fun story to read, either silently or aloud. Halpin's illustrations are bright and whimsical and inspiring. When reading it with your little ones, make sure you take time for the end pages, and talk about all the different materials you can use for a fort, and the different shapes it can take. Some are meant for the moment, some may be longer lasting, but all of them give that sense of a special place that is just for you and your friends. Methinks I will have to work a fort building project into one of our next Builder's Clubs!

Review: A Boy Called BAT by Elana K. Arnold, Illustrated by Charles Santoso

9780062445827

$16.99

For Bixby Alexander Tam (nicknamed Bat), life tends to be full of surprises—some of them good, some not so good. Today, though, is a good-surprise day. Bat’s mom, a veterinarian, has brought home a baby skunk, which she needs to take care of until she can hand him over to a wild-animal shelter.

But the minute Bat meets the kit, he knows they belong together. And he’s got one month to show his mom that a baby skunk might just make a pretty terrific pet.

Oh my goodness I am so in love with this little boy!

I had only had time to read the first few chapters when Logan asked for a new chapter book to read. Yes, he is only six, but he refuses to read anything other than chapter books now. I made an educated guess that he might identify with this sweet, sensitive boy raising a baby skunk, and handed it over. Despite the fact that AR puts this at a 4th grade reading level, Logan devoured it in three days, telling me all about it as he read.

Of course, I had to finish it as soon as he was done, and I found myself smiling and tearing up a bit the whole way through. Bat is somewhere on the autism spectrum, although that is never mentioned in the story. Logan is not, but he shares Bat's sensitivity, attention to detail, and sweetness. And his love of math problems!

I absolutely love the way Bat is portrayed, both through his own thoughts and through the comments and reactions of the people around him (many of whom I now also adore).

"It was too much to think about all at once, and his skin began to feel prickly and too tight."

"Bat knew that sometimes Janie thought he was weird. But he still didn't like to hear her say it out loud."

I want every child and adult to have an introduction like this to people with a different way of thinking and feeling. It's not a right way or a wrong way, it is just simply the way that person is. And the way Bat "is", is quite simply wonderful.

I just saw that this is the first in an expected series about Bat, and I am so excited to see more of him! Bat and the Waiting Game is due out in March.

*Note: As someone who has also raised skunks from bottle babies - with a toddler Logan watching - I was very pleased to see accurate information and sensible cautions in that respect!

Toddler STEAM - all things pink and red!

Valentine's Day a-cometh, and just the color selection alone lent itself nicely to some STEAM activities! This week was a particularly messy one, so in addition to having big t-shirts available to put over clothing, I had some plastic food handling gloves. As parents know, it doesn't matter how washable something says it is, red NEVER comes out.

As always, I had the more baby-safe things on the floor:

Rice bins are always good for lots of time sifting and pouring. This was 20 lbs of rice colored with red food coloring.

A few exploration questions to get things going:

But they really didn't need it.

FYI, the rice is actually easier to vacuum off a rug than it is to sweep off the floor, because once it hits the tile it goes EVERYWHERE.

I sliced up a million pool noodles last year, and they all happened to be pink!

Stack them, string them, balance them on your head. You can even toss them at each other with no real repercussions.

The weekend before was Sheridan's Nutcracker birthday party, so I brought the leftover sugarplum play clay:

On top of a vinyl tablecloth and WELL away from the carpet. This was everyone's first stop!

Up on the tables it got messy fast!

fabric softener, dish soap, oil, corn syrup, water, and hair gel, to make your own

The food coloring wouldn't even mix into the oil, so there was our first science lesson! Vinyl tablecloth, plastic under the table, t-shirts and plastic gloves. I cut the bottoms off empty soda and juice bottles for the mixing. The dish soap was a bad choice on my part, as it cut through the oil and made everything mix nicely. They still had fun!

A little tamer:

I just rummaged through the storage room and prize box, and found plenty of pink and red in no time at all.

Back to the messy:

We need more measuring cups! For now I just marked styrofoam cups at approximately the half cup line. Bonus: I can just toss them when it's done.

It's funny how some don't like to get their fingers in it, and others go right to town.

Last but not least, good old coffee filter art - but cut into heart shapes first!

So pretty!

Between the dough and the love potion, the room smelled REALLY good by the time we were done! Happy Valentine's Day, and Happy Mess Making!

Review: Read the Book, Lemmings! by Ame Dyckman and Zachariah OHora

9780316343480
$17.99

Oh my goodness. First on my list of possible Cybils nominees for next year. I think the author's note sums it up best:

"When I was little, I saw a movie that showed lemmings jumping off cliffs. Years later I learned that, except in very rare cases, lemmings DON'T jump off cliffs. My first thought was, 'OH NO! DID ANYONE TELL THE LEMMINGS?!' So, we made this book. You're welcome, lemmings."

In our cast of characters we have a comic trio of lemmings, a very deadpan, stoic ship captain (picture the dad in the Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs movies), and a very patient fox. I giggled just reading it at my desk, and I know it is destined to send small children into gales of laughter. I am dying to read it out loud in story time, I just have to figure out the appropriate distinct small squeaky voices for the lemmings - because they MUST have their own voices, and they must be small and squeaky. Thinking a la Petrie and Ducky from Land Before Time.

And yes, my children have been watching too many movies lately. Bringing this book home should put a stop to that!

Book Review: Construction Zone Series by Beth Reinke

9781512433586

9781512433555

$25.32

I don't have to tell you that anything to do with heavy machinery is going to be popular with small children, do I? The summer that the old grocery store across the street from us was bulldozed flat, and a new one was constructed in its place, I could not keep books like this on the shelves! 

Written around a first grade level, these include fun details that might not be readily apparent, like how the seat of the backhoe spins to face the bucket. Text bubbles ask children to imagine other things each vehicle could be used for, and the end pages include a picture glossary and web sites for further exploration. A solid choice for motivating young readers!

Book Review: Drop by Drop by Jacqueline Jules and Yevgenia Nayberg

9781512420906

$17.99

Akiva is just a poor shepherd living an ordinary life, until he falls in love with Rachel. Rachel thinks her husband could become a great man of learning—but Akiva can't even read! Is he too old to be a scholar or can he follow the example of the water in the nearby brook? Water is soft, yet drop by drop, it can soften the hardest stone.

Based on the life of the very real Rabbi Akiva, this story holds universal appeal for anyone who has ever felt that a task was too difficult to even attempt. Themes of persistence and supporting someone you love are simply taught and enforced in this short text. Best line: "She knew that a man with such goodness in his heart, who understood so much about life, must be smart even if he did not know how to read or write."

A great addition to any home or classroom library!

***And it looks like others agree - the very day after this post, it won a silver medal in the Sydney Taylor Book Award for 2018!

Book Review: Way Too Many Latkes by Linda Glaser and Aleksandar Zolotic

9781512420920

$17.99

Faigel makes the best Hanukkah latkes in Chelm, but somehow, this year she's forgotten how to make them! She sends her husband, Shmuel, to ask the rabbi for help. And in Chelm, the village of fools—oy vey!—this becomes a recipe for disaster!

Is it too late for Hanukkah stories? Nah! If kids can check out Christmas movies at the library in the middle of summer, we can read this one just a few weeks after the holiday. 

If you are not familiar with Jewish folk tales, the village of Chelm is known as being full of foolish people who are often the subject of humorous stories - but often with a good bit of wisdom to be found. This title is quickly going to the top of my list of Chelm stories! The banter is quick, Faigel's frenzy and frustration are contagious, and children will roar with laughter at the dialogue. 

Glaser is no stranger to our shelves (Mrs. Greenberg's Messy Hanukkah is another Hanukkah go-to), but I don't seem to have anything by Zolotic. His characters' huge eyes and expressive faces (loved Faigel chopping the onions) add perfectly to the energy and humor.

First it made me laugh out loud (in a crowded library, I should add). Then it made me really hungry. Latkes for supper tonight, kids! And with my crew, there really isn't such a thing as too many latkes!