Reading
Stocking Stuffer Idea
I have to preface this by saying that I do not represent Usborne and I did not receive free product or compensation in return for this review. If you’re looking for a last minute stocking stuffer for the 5 year old in your life, I highly recommend Usborne’s 100 Things for Little Children to do on a Journey. My son received this as an early Christmas gift from his grandparents and we love it! This little gem consists of 50 double-sided activity cards and a pen. The cards are laminated so the marker wipes off and the activities can be done over and over again (move over colouring/activity books!). When the pen runs out, any old dry erase pen works just as good...
Read MoreOn Meadowview Street
I’m usually the one who takes Rain to the library but one week I sent Aaron. He came back with this treasure of a book. On Meadowview Street is the story of a girl who moves to a house in the suburbs and decides with her parents to sell the lawn mower, let the grass grow long and turn their yard into a nature preserve. They plant some trees and build some ponds. One of the latter pages in the book also has lovely drawings of the type of natural plants and creatures she might find in her yard after the makeover. And her idea starts to spread down the street. I love it that Caroline gets her parents on board. Too often, the reality in this story is that the parents...
Read MoreWordless Books: 1001 Things to Spot
For my preschooler, these books are awesome! I have seen other spotting books (like the I Spy series that uses real photographs) but I find that they are too busy for my 4 year old. They also require an adult/reader who can tell the child what they should be looking for from the list. The 1001 Things to Spot series from excellent children’s publisher Usborne is super cool because the pictures are hand drawn and seem more appropriate to a preschool skill level in that they are detailed but not overwhelming. The things to spot are listed both with a word and an image so that Rain can easily see what he’s looking for without having to ask me. Also, it helps...
Read MoreWordless Books: A Boy, A Dog & A Frog series
This week we are sharing an old classic, probably older than I am, much loved by my kids and by me. This is the Mercer Meyer series A Boy, a Dog and a Frog. The drawings are monochromatic and have a sort of timeless yet retro feel (as impossible as that seems). And I gotta love any artist that uses crosshatching. The pictures are sweet; the adventures silly. The set of three books we borrowed from a friend were also tiny, like 3×4 inches. This is a lovely size for little people. The books fit easily in a bag to bring to restaurants or other places where you have to w…a…i…t. Plus, it seems like little people usually like little things, things that...
Read MoreWordless Books: Flotsam
Lately, I’ve been on a bit of a kick of finding wordless books for Rain during our library trips. The beauty of these books is that we can take turns telling the story and talking about the pictures and the telling is a little different each time, but also Rain is more than happy to take them on car trips and into Quiet Time to “read.” I usually choose our books based on an attraction to the art and wordless books usually don’t disappoint in the art department. I have a few up my sleeve that I’d like to recommend but first up is Flotsam, by David Wiesner (2007). The book is whimsical, fantastic, mysterious and a Caldecott Medal winner. You...
Read MoreAn Egg Is Quiet
Having recently stumbled on this fabulous book, I decided to add a reading section for sharing the standouts from my trips to the library with Rain. The art in An Egg is Quiet is absolutely stunning. The text is simple but softly poetic, like a lullaby. It wasn’t too dense: easy to read before bed after a long night when I am often dissuaded by books with too much text. Rain loved all the lovely labelled eggs and even I learned things I hadn’t known before. I loved that the book drew parallels between bird eggs, fish eggs, reptile eggs and showcased nature’s beauty so artfully. Though the text was definitely worthwhile, An Egg is Quiet is really...
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Michelle @ The Parent Vortex on To The New Parents
This is excellent, and so very true.bluebirdmama on On Grief and Dying
We have yet to take care of those details, and I'm sure it would help in some ways, but we...