Tales for Your Snowbound Little Ones Spotlight #1 Flat Stanley On Ice (I Can Read! 2-Reading with Help)

 

     As you look out your windows this weekend,  and watch the snow gently fall and the winds blow, you may be thinking about how frightful the weather is.  But, don't fear, as you can find delight in cozying up with your little ones in the warmth of your home, with some of the tales that you will see featured on this blog over the next few days.
       Our first, "Tales for Snowbound Little Ones" spotlight features a character that began from simple beginnings as a bedtime story created by the late author Jeff Brown for his young sons almost 52 years ago. "Flat" Stanley Lambchop and family have been featured in numerous adventurous tales that have taken Flat Stanley across the country and around the world.
      In this newest I Can Read! 2- Reading with Help release, Flat Stanley on Ice, Flat Stanley and his little brother Arthur are back home, feeling so excited that winter has finally arrived. The frigid temperatures have helped to freeze the town's lake, making it perfect for ice-skating.  Quickly grabbing their skates, the boys head out to the lake.  When they arrive, Flat Stanley realizes that now that his feet (and everything else about him, since the bulletin board landed on him) are flat, they didn't fit into his skates.  But, our resourceful boy soon realizes that his flat feet work just as perfect on the icy frozen lake floor.  

     As the families are enjoying themselves skating and having a great time, they all start to feel warm from the heat of the shining sun above them.  And, when someone calls out about hot chocolate arriving, everyone stops skating to head over for a warm mug, except Flat Stanley, who decides to take advantage of the emptied lake to show off his skating moves.  But, with a loud creaking noise followed by a crack in the ice leaves Flat Stanley in a precarious position.  Can Flat Stanley be rescued to safety before it's too late?
     The, "I Can Read" series has long been a favorite in our household, as well as in the classroom. Each level, like Flat Stanley On Ice, is simple enough for a child to read either with help or on their own, and will help to motivate your eager readers to conquer each level.

Flat Stanley on Ice (I Can Read 2- Reading with Help)
Created by Jeff Brown

Written by Lori Haskins Houran & Pictures by Macky Pamintuan

Publisher:  Harper, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers

Website: www.harpercollinschildrens.com

ISBN: 978-0-06-218982-0

For Ages 4 thru 8

Well-Know Worriers of Children's Literature Who Overcame Their Fears

 

   Chances are, we all know and can relate to a child who might be prone to worrying.  Sometimes, we can feel at a loss to be able to help them overcome their fears.  In this insightful read from The Guardian, there are several tales of some very famous characters who, like your little ones, felt nervous but learned to overcome their fears.
      http://www.theguardian.com/childrens-books-site/2016/jan/17/top-10-worriers-in-childrens-literature

Goodnight Already!

      "Children who were exposed to more books and home reading showed significantly more activity in the areas of the brain that process visual association... When kids are hearing stories, they're imagining in their mind's eye when they hear the story," states Dr. John S. Hutton, lead author of a study published in the August 2015 edition of the medical journal Pediatrics.
     Perhaps, in the case of our spotlighted tale, Goodnight Already! by authors Jory John & Benji Davies, your little ones can imagine and relate to a little yet, very inquisitive duck who wants to stay up all night long with his friend, a very sleepy bear (sound familiar... moms and dads!)

     As our tale begins, poor, exhausted bear is completely ready for bed, exclaiming, "I've never been so tired.  I could sleep for weeks.  Months, even!"  As bear settles down into the comfy sheets of his warm bed, with his trusty stuffed animal at his side, his heavy lidden eyes begin to close as he begins his well-deserved sleep, bear quickly gets disturbed by a wide-awake Duck, who just wants to be with his friend (even though it's way past both Bear's and Duck's bedtime).  Bears exasperated expressions throughout Duck's wild ideas and pleas ("Watch a movie?".... "Make Smoothies?"  to waking Bear up once again to collect the ingredients to bake cookies) will elicit lots of smiles and laughter from both you and your little ones during a read aloud.
     And, when Duck comes back for yet another attempt to wake up Bear, this time, Bear has had his fill of Duck interrupting his precious slumber.  Will Bear finally be able to rid himself of Duck to catch those precious "zzz's"?

Goodnight Already!
Written by Jory John & Benji Davies
Publisher:  Harper, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers
Retails for $17.99 (Hardcover)
Website: www.harpercollinschildrens.com
ISBN: 978-0-06-228620-8
For Ages 4 thru 8
Accelerated Reader Book Level: 1.1
Accelerated Reader Points:  0.5

New Story-Themed Activities for Your Little Ones and Students

     Looking for new, inspiring and entertaining story-themed activities for your little ones?  Take a minute to check out some of these fun ideas: http://buggyandbuddy.com/activities-based-childrens-books/

Inspiration for the Future

   

     "It is an ancient need to be told stories.  But, the story needs a great storyteller."--- Thank you, to the late, beloved actor Alan Rickman, for helping to inspire me once again.  I look forward to sharing more tales for your little ones (as well as debut my very first children's story) this year.  It is my hope to be one of those great storytellers in the new year to come.

Paddington in the Garden

     There is nothing quite like the joy that I receive from working in a garden. Putting on my gloves and getting my hands deep into the dirt to create something beautiful and hopefully, long lasting, is quite literally the perfect antidote to anything that is bothering my inner self. For your little ones, the benefits of learning how to create their own garden are plentiful-- from working cooperatively in a group or just alongside mom or dad to gaining knowledge about science, nature and nutrition.  Stories, like author Michael Bonds's Paddington in the Garden (combining two of my favorite things--bears and gardens!) that are inspired by the joys of planting and nurturing flowers and vegetables are an excellent way to introduce the simply enchanting wonder that a garden can bring to your little ones.

       As our story begins, the beloved bear from the darkest Peru, is living a happy, serene life with the Brown's.  One day, the family decides to give Paddington his very own section in the garden.  Paddington, thrilled at the idea of creating and growing his very own patch, sets off on an journey to scourer the neighborhood searching for treasures and ideas.  An adventure that turns out, in typical Paddington fashion, is filled with mishaps.  Will a mistake involving Paddington's favorite orange marmalade and cement turn out to be a simply unique success?
        Yet another sweetly colorful, engaging story in the latest reissue of the classic tales of the lovable brown bear will not disappoint.

Paddington in the Garden
Written by Michael Bond and Illustrated by R. W. Alley
Publisher: Harper, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers
Website: www.harpercollinschildrens.com
ISBN: 978-0-06-231844-2
For ages 4 thru 8
Retails for $17.99 (Hardcover)

Chasing Freedom -The Life Journeys of Harriet Tubman & Susan B. Anthony

   
Chasing Freedom--The Life Journeys of Harriet Tubman & Susan B. Anthony Inspired by Historical Facts
   

     A recent online poll conducted by Women on 20s of more than 600,000 people across the United States revealed that Harriet Tubman, the leading abolitionist who rescued hundreds of people from slavery, is at the forefront to replace President Andrew Jackson on the $20 bill.  In light of this recent news, I could not think of a more compelling reason to take a look back at this remarkable woman's life in a time period where the achievements of women who were compelled by an inner voice, or calling, as we learn from the beautifully compelling story Chasing Freedom-The Life Journeys of Harriet Tubman & Susan B. Anthony Inspired by Historical Facts by the 2014 Coretta Scott King Honor winning author Nikki Grimes.
     Picture if you will, two of our nations most prolific voices and activists of social justice and change, Harriet Tubman and Susan B. Anthony, coming together on a cool autumn afternoon in November of 1904, for a conversation that revisits their influential roles in shaping the course of our nations history for the better.
      Both women, coming from two very distinctively different beginnings, where Anthony, while working as a teacher in upstate New York, great outraged by the unequal pay and treatment of women in her position.  Around this same time, hundreds of miles away in the farms of Maryland, Harriet, having endured years of beatings by her owners as a slave, decided to take her fate into her own hands, famously stating that, "there was one of two things I had a right to..liberty or death; if I could not have one I would have the other."  On September 17, 1849, Harriet and two of her brothers, escaped from slavery, and the woman who would go on to be named "Moses" received her "call" in Philadelphia, where, she explains to Susan over tea in a cozy sitting room, "the Lord told me to free my people," starting her journey to rescue and free many slaves as a conductor on the Underground Railroad.
     Chasing Freedom-The Life Journey's of Harriet Tubman & Susan B. Anthony Inspired by Historical Facts is filled with richly detailed illustrations by artist Michele Wood, is an extremely though provoking work of historical fiction.  Drawing young readers into the horrendous world of slavery, the struggle for women's rights and the danger that these brave women faced every time they spoke out in public on these subjects, Grimes story, is a tale that will encourage children (best for the 8 to 12 age group) to discover a time in our nation that was ripe with some of the most influential leaders like these two remarkable women, and the events that helped shape our country's history.  A truly must-read by your little 'bigger' ones!

Chasing Freedom-The Life Journey's of Harriet Tubman & Susan B. Anthony Inspired by Historical Facts
Written by Nikki Grimes & Illustrated by Michele Wood
Publisher:  Orchard Books/Scholastic (2015)
For ages 8 to 12
Retails for $18.99
ISBN: 978-0-439-79338-4