It's About Time

Did you ever think about all the time you either save or waste in a day? And if you're saving it ... where, exactly, do you store it? That's the basic plot-launcher of Michale Ende's novel Momo, wherein the Men in Grey, cloaking themselves as representatives of the Timesavings Bank will happily store up that extra time you've been saving, for future use. Except that of course they're actually just stealing it for their own nefarious purposes. Enter Momo! A little girl of uncertain origin, who has this remarkable ability to just ... listen ...

It's been years since I read this book, but I love it. I love the premise ... I mean, really, saving time? What a ridiculous idea! This book was an awesome reminder that time is meant to be used - to the fullest! It was an eye-opener to the fact that despite modern "time-saving" methods and devices, we don't really have the power to actually save time - we only have the power to choose how we will spend it.

And I do believe I'll be spending some time soon reading this book again.

Alligators!

Mercer Mayer has got to be one of my favorite classic children's books authors/illustrators. I can not get the title of one of his books out of my head this week. "There's and Alligator Under My Bed."It is automatically what I went too. Is it sad that I automatically think of children's book titles over adult books? I hope it is not saying something for my intelligence. I am just drawn to them I guess.

While researching for this post a little about Mercer Mayer, I now think he is even cooler. His website is awesome for kids, and he reads for kids on YouTube! How cool is that. Seriously, my sister-in-law told me a story about him that made me really admire him a while ago, and now this! My kids are going to love it. So if you need some bedtime stories, check this out! If you need some kids coloring pages or come kid friendly tech time, check out his website. It is awesome!

Here is the link to his YouTube Channel. Enjoy!

Man I love this guy! What are your favorite bedtime stories?

"At the end of the day..."

I once worked with a guy whose favorite way to start a sentence was, "At the end of the day, ..." He didn't say it was his favorite, but I knew it was because he said it all.the.time. We all noticed it and eventually teased him about it a little, which made him laugh that he didn't realize how much he said it.

The context was usually something like, "At the end of the day, if we're profitable, that's all the counts." or "At the end of the day, what matters is that the client is happy." or "At the end of the day, we're committed to staying within budget." or "At the end of the day, we're all going home." OK that last one I made up, but you get the picture.

A couple of weeks ago during our weekly trip to the library, I stumbled upon this book:

I flipped through it long enough to see that there were amusing illustrations, and the text was lengthy enough to interest a growing 4-year-old's imagination but short enough that it should keep his attention. I slid it into the library bag with the others and we were on our way.

Later during our pre-nap story time, I started in on this charming, humorous tale involving a mischevious little boy who is punished by his "summer-stealing, child-working, carrot-cuddling" mother for dipping his little sister in a vat of purple dye. He falls into a deep post-tantrum sleep and dreams his mom is taken to Mars so the martians have someone to take them places and run errands because, as everyone knows, martians don't have moms because they grow in the ground like potatoes.

I'll spare you the details of what happens next, but let's just say the first time I read it, I got the shakey voice and quivering lip to the point my boy was paying more attention to my blubbering than the rest of the story. The point is (in the words of my beloved former coworker) "at the end of the day..." I'm a mom who, although imperfect in many ways and periodically loses my cool around the kiddos, will sacrifice ANYTHING for them. And if you read the book, you'll know what that ANYTHING is.

Tip: You may want to read it to yourself first if you want to maintain composure while reading it aloud. Although, the boy and I had a nice discussion about it afterwards, and later that day he said, "Mom, even when I get in trouble, I still love you."

Pass the tissues.

P.S. Look for this made into a Disney 3D movie next March!

We love the Library!

I love the library, it's my favorite place.
Rows of books in every case.
Fat books, thin books,

From wall to wall.

If I read and read, I'll read them all.

So we have been doing children's books this week, but seriously, my list of favorites is very long! How do you choose! So instead of giving you a list, I want to promote using the library.

I LOVE THE LIBRARY!

Growing up, my family did not use the library much, if at all. Seriously. Then I married a guy who loves to read, and who can't pass up free and wholesome family friendly activities. Well almost free, we pay our taxes so we may as well use the services we pay for. Our library system here in King County is AWESOME! There are story times by age group, free concerts for kids, adults, and families, free classes, etc. We love story time. Even if they only read a few stories, songs and rhymes one of the earliest forms of literacy. So seriously, look into your local library, where ever you are.

We go almost every Tuesday night here. My daughter knows that on the days she has "preschool" we go to the library. Last week she was so disappointed when I told her there was no story time due to the library gearing up for there summer programs. Even if there is no story time we go so my daughter can get three new books to check out. It is cheaper then buying them. Especially when it might look really cute, but be a bust in the end. It is a great way to preview books, CD's, movies, etc. We have found some awesome stories at the library. Some that we will be checking out again, or renewed till we could not renew any more. So I guess I do have a list after all, books we have found at the library that we loved.

"I'm Dirty"and "I Stink"
Kate McMullen
These books are just silly.

Un*brella

Scott E Franson

There are no words, just pictures so you make your own story. It is one we will probably buy someday.

"What if instead of an umbrella you had an UN-brella? Imagine that when this unbrella was opened it suddenly made the world around you change in exciting ways. Open up this book to find out how one little girl’s unbrella changes her world." The Foggy Foggy Forest

Nick Sharratt

"What can this be in the foggy, foggy forest?" That's the question on every spread of this clever book, each depicting the black-and-white silhouette of a fairy-tale figure or scene. Readers may take a guess and turn the page to see if they’re right — the answering image appears in full color (often sporting a funny twist). A unicorn playing a horn? An ogre doing yoga? They're just two of the characters lurking in The Foggy, Foggy Forest, a clear winner for curious kids."

So I encourage you all to find your local library and see what they have. They are AWESOME!

Here is the link to ours www.kcls.org

Rhyme-o-Rama

Fairy tales are terrific,

Dr. Seuss stories make us say "yahoo!"

We especially love rhyming books,

And we think you should too!

OK, so we have some favorite books that cleverly tell a story or teach a lesson through verses of rhyme and perfect poetic rhythm. I think it helps pre-readers start to recognize words because they can guess what the rhyming word is at the end of the sentence. Some don't tell a story OR teach a lesson, but they're simply silly and fun with made up words, like this one:

Other favorites ar our house are:

(how to be creative with what you have)

.

("Rule number one is don't be disgusting" and when the horse says "botheration!" are favorite parts of this one)

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(Non-veggie-loving kids will have fun with this one.)

,

(Sometimes it's the one that's different than all the rest that's the best one in the end.)

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(It's OK to not be able to do everything perfectly.)

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We're always on the lookout for more rhyme-o-rama action. What are some of your favorites?

A Tale of Two Tales

I recently overheard an exchange between my three-year-old son and one of my five-year-old daughter's friends, in which he asked her if she was afraid of monsters in her room at night. She replied, "No, because monsters don't exist!" And this may sound strange, but my mama instinct was to go cover his ears and tell him not to listen. Because, especially for little kids, monsters do exist ... those fears are so very real to them, and as much as I love to find the hope and the good in people, as adults they will find that there are actual monsters in the world, too - hateful people, natural disasters, broken hearts and unrealized goals. I feel strongly that one of my jobs as a parent is to help them deal with those monsters head-on. And I believe that one of the best tools I have to teach them while they're young, is to read them fairy tales. Here are two of my favorites.

“Fairy tales are more than true – not because they tell us dragons exist, but because they tell us dragons can be beaten.”

~ G. K. Chesterton, writer

That quote appears at the front of a book by one of my very favorite authors, Neil Gaiman, who writes for adults, teens and - hooray! - kids. The Wolves in the Walls is one of my favorite modern dragon-beating stories. Lucy can't convince her family that there are wolves living in the walls of their house until it's too late, and the wolves come out and party: wearing the humans' clothes, playing wolfish songs on her father's tuba, beating her little brother's video game high scores and eating up all her mom's homemade jam, while the family is stuck out in the garden in the cold. The family discusses running away, but in the end Lucy steps up and finds a braver, more effective solution. The story is well-told, and Dave McKean's pictures are amazing. A few other Gaiman favorites for children: The Day I Swapped My Dad for Two Goldfish, and Blueberry Girl.


This book, Brundibar by Maurice Sendak and Tony Kushner, was given to me by a friend for my 26th birthday, a year and a half before my first child was born. I have loved it since then, and have loved sharing this story with my kids when they came along. It's based on the opera of the same name, written by Jewish Czech composer Hans Krasa and performed by children in the Theresienstadt concentration camp, where Krasa was also being held, in 1943. The children in the story are on a mission to get milk for their ill mother, but they have to navigate the world of grown-ups and defeat a bully - but not without the help of their friends! There's a little surprise twist at the very end that I love every single time, and always starts a conversation about not ever giving up. I'm not a student of the opera, but the way this book is written just feels operatic to me, and yet the language is exactly suited for children - I have no doubt that this story was just waiting for Tony Kushner to come along and transform it into a form more accessible to modern children. Maurice Sendak, of course, works his magic with the illustrations. I don't know of any other children's books by Kushner, but here are some of our other Sendak favorites: Chicken Soup With Rice, Alligators All Around, One Was Johnny, and In the Night Kitchen.

Of course, there are many many many other stories that my children and I love to read together, I could seriously go on and on and on ... But that conversation about monsters rekindled something, I think, and I will definitely be on the lookout for other great modern fairy tales. Any suggestions?

Our Top Five!

We love books at our house and you will find me pouring over and loving a stack of good children's books more often then a classic novel. I guess being a kid at heart keeps me this way and lately with a new little reader in our home I get to indulge myself even more often. 

I personally love to take my kids book shopping!  I'll admit that the covers draw me in very first but it's the content and the message that begs me to buy them.  Although the new ones always become most interesting at first it's the favorites that keep coming back at bedtime.  Even little Sadie has her opinion and somehow we all seem to agree on these five.

 We love Mo Willems and as soon as I saw that he had a pop up book I grabbed it and wrapped it up for Christmas.  This is a cute little story about a frog who is so big that he doesn't even fit in this book.  With the help of his little friends they seem to solve his dilemma. This book is simple and really fun to look at.  Although this one stays up on a high shelf, away from curious destructive fingers, it never gets dusty and forgotten.  This book is going to be loved my my grandkids someday.

"Little Boy" by Alison McGhee and Peter H. Reynolds was a gift from one of our favorite families to Payton on his 3rd birthday.  I remember reading it in the park the day we got it and trying not to cry.  the story is darling and thoughtful with the most descriptive illustrations and simple words. It's a sweet little reminder of how my "little boy reminds me how so much depends on days made of now".

 

This was a library find with tears the day we needed to return it so I knew that this one needed to be owned by our family. After we brought it home from the book store he plopped himself down on his bed and began to "read" or recite it to me.  I am so glad we bought this book.  Now it reminds me of my Sadie and her little bunny she carts around.  I love watching him read this one to her and telling her that the little girl in this book is you.  Some books are just plain CUTE!

A boy book.  A boy book for a boy who loves dogs and will do anything to get one.  I adore this one for it's illustrations and for the fun of it all.  Imagination is essential and this story helps instill it into the reader plus it makes you want a dog...not a dragon.

 

And finally "Birthday Fish".  We bought this one before Sadie was born but after we knew she was going to be a girl.  This little girl wants a pony for her birthday...in fact all she's ever wanted is a pony but instead she gets a gold fish.  The entire book is about her taking her gold fish, whom she named Marigold, back to the lake...but on the way there something happens....dun dun dun!!!  Are you curious?  You should go find this book.  It's another great feel good book with a neat message.

I could add on 50 more awesome books but we'll keep it at 5 for this post. 

Now, I want do some more book shopping so what are some of your favorites?  Where is your favorite book store?  Do you own a specific author's everything?  Now I'm curious. Tell me Tell me...