Adventures in Reading With Kids

International Space Station

2012-10-13T07:00:00.000-05:00

Tonight I had read that we were going to be able to see the International Space Station overhead right before the kids went to bed. I tried to remember the time and even thought to set a timer, but never did. Luckily, my six year old chose to read Little Bear tonight and while reading the story, Little Bear Goes to the Moon, I jumped out of bed, and forced everyone outside to look at the night sky.

At first all I could hear were complaints about how cold the boys were in their pajamas, but once we spotted the International Space Station moving across the sky, I didn't hear anymore complaints. We explained to the boys that astronauts live in the Space Station so that they can learn all different kinds of things about space. Once my three year old heard this he told us that he wants to do that. I am not surprised!

When the International Space Station was out of sight we went in the house and I looked for our space book that describes the space station. I don't know how I found it so quickly, but I did and the boys were thrilled to see the illustrations of the International Space Station, astronauts, and solar panels.

See Inside Space is an informational lift the flap book by Katie Daynes and illustrated by Peter Allen. The pages in this book are sturdy, colorful, and full of all kinds of information on space. There is a whole page that folds out to show the planets in the solar system, another page that shows a timeline of important events in time that shaped our knowledge of space, and even a small booklet that holds information on when to look for certain stars and constellations in the sky. The back of the book also includes a link to more information on space.

After looking at the book, my husband went to the NASA website to find some more information and photographs of the International Space Station. Amazing!

What a fantastic teachable moment tonight!

Small World

2012-10-12T07:00:00.000-05:00

One of our favorite rides at Disney World is definitely It's a Small World! Months ago I found the picture book, It's a Small World and was thrilled to pick it up and bring it home to my sons! The fact that it came with a CD that includes the song made it even more special!

It's a Small World by Richard M. Sherman and Robert B. Sherman and illustrated by Joey Chou is an adorable book. This song was created for the 1964 World's Fair and is also the most translated song on Earth. The illustrations in this book are just as precious as the dolls that fill the ride!

It's a Small World After All!

My three year old took everything in!

Baby Girl's first ride on Small World. She looks a little antsy!

We read It's a Small World before and after visiting Disney. While reading we were able to find many of the same things in the book that we saw on the ride. There are magic carpets, a giant sun, a surfer, kangaroo, elephants, and of course lots of children. This book is a great journey through all different places in the world and after reading it I guarantee that you will be singing the song all day long!

Here is an adorable It's a Small World picture to color.

Bats

2012-10-11T20:49:00.004-05:00

While in Disney World, we visited Animal Kingdom and saw giant bats. We learned some interesting facts about them too. Did you know that a bat's wings feel the same way as the skin on your eyelid? I didn't! We also learned that one of the only reasons bats turn sideways is to go the bathroom. Interesting stuff!

Here are some of the pictures we got of the giant bats at Animal Kingdom.

These bats were very close to us and in an open room.

Their wings are huge!

My three year old still thinks it is funny that they have fur and not feathers.

I know, I have posted about many of these Fall Scholastic Science Vocabulary Readers, but we read them constantly right now, so I couldn't leave out Fantastic Bats (it is perfect for Halloween too)!

When we got home it seemed appropriate that my three year old picked out the book Fantastic Bats by Justin McCory Martin. Fantastic Bats is a non-fiction reader filled with all kinds of information on bats. The photographs in this book are amazing and so close up that my three year old thought he could tell if the bats were smiling or frowning! This book has three chapters that give all sorts of information about the way bats live, eat, and look. My three year old loves reading it!

Disney Bear

2012-10-10T20:54:00.002-05:00

There is no question about it, Magic Kingdom is definitely our favorite park to visit while we are in Disney World.

We were lucky enough to receive the book The Story of Disney Bear: A Day at the Magic Kingdom from a friend that visited Disney a few years ago. It has since been a favorite book of ours. The torn binding is proof that this book has been read over and over!

In The Story of Disney Bear: A Day at the Magic Kingdom, Mickey wishes for a friend to play with in the Magic Kingdom. Tinkerbell hears his wish and with the help of some pixie dust, Mickey has a friend named Disney Bear to tag along with as he plays at the Magic Kingdom. Mickey Mouse and Disney Bear visit all of our favorite rides at the Magic Kingdom. They ride Peter Pan's flight, the Jungle Cruise, Dumbo, It's a Small World, and many more!

Disney Bear is now known as Duffy and you can even meet him at Epcot!

Many of Disney Bear and Mickey's favorite rides are the same rides that we enjoyed on our trip!

Our new favorite was the People Mover. We had a great view of the castle on this ride!

We were able to ride the new Dumbo ride a few times! At least one ride was in the rain! The boys loved the play area inside.

My three year old was excited to drive a car on the Tomorrowland Speedway.

The new water play area near the Dumbo ride was a big hit with my boys!

The girls didn't mind riding in a "slow spinning" teacup!

Baby Girl survived her first day at the Magic Kingdom and left with a smile!

No matter how long you visit Disney World you are bound to miss a bunch of things. When we got home and reread The Story of Disney Bear :A Day at the Magic Kingdom, I realized we skipped many rides. Luckily, the boys don't seem to mind. All that matters is the memories!

Kingdom of Color

2012-10-09T20:44:00.003-05:00

We had a great time in Disney World last week! I am anxious to share some of our highlights, but after a very late arrival last night and a very busy day, I will have to share our fun in tomorrow's post and throughout the week!

Although we are no longer in Disney, my boys are still very excited to talk about the trip and remember all of the fun we had. It is no surprise that my six year old picked out four different Disney books to read before bed tonight.

One of the books he chose to read was Tangled: Kingdom of Color. Tonight, he read this to my husband. It was the perfect book for his reading assignment because he was supposed to find an adjective while he read. This book is filled with adjectives!

Tangled: Kingdom of Color is a Step 1 book from the Step Into Reading series. This book is filled with short simple sentences all about the colors that Rapunzel sees once she is outside of the tower. The large font and bright pictures are very inviting to new readers! Although my three year old picked this book out a long time ago, it became the perfect book for my oldest when he was learning to read color words in kindergarten.

Although, this book was maybe a little easy for him, he needed a simple book to ease him back into reading (yes I will admit not much reading was done in Disney). Now if only I could have had an easy day to ease me back into reality, but I don't think such a day exists!

Little Bunnies

2012-10-08T07:00:00.000-05:00

My baby girl loves bunnies! Her favorite stuffed animal is a little white bunny that she got for Easter. We do not go very many places without bunny! In fact, Bunny has joined the family of stuffed animals that follows us around everywhere we go. These animals are our other three children...as if we don't have enough to keep track of!

Little Book of Little Bunnies by Usborne Publishing is an adorable little baby book! I love everything about this book from the durable, but cushy cover to the border of polka dots around every page! This book has sweet photographs and illustrations of bunnies on each sturdy page along with a word or two to describe bunnies. This is a favorite of my baby girl and my three year old right now!

Somewhere in the Ocean

2012-10-07T07:00:00.000-05:00

Somewhere in the Ocean by JenniferWard and T. J Marsh is a fantastic counting book for ocean lovers! My six year old picked this out for his little brother at the school library last week, and my three year old loved it.

Somewhere in the Ocean is a rhyming story about different mother ocean animals and their babies. The book starts with one manatee baby and goes all the way to ten baby octopus. Each picture has the number of babies hidden in it and my son loved finding the numbers, although some were hard to find! We learned all kinds of things as we read this book! Otters live in kelp forests, hermit crabs change their shells, and sea horses hold on to the sea grass so they aren't pulled away by the waves! The back of this book even has fun facts about all of the animals that are featured in the book, such as manatees, clown fish, hermit crabs, jellyfish, and orca whales!

My six year old sure knows what his brother enjoys reading about!

The Giant Jelly Bean Jar

2012-10-06T07:00:00.000-05:00

Here is another great book that my six year old brought home from the school library last week.

The Giant Jelly Bean Jar by Marcie Aboff was a book that my son picked out for himself and it was a great choice. This book is the story of a little boy named Ben who loves to visit the jelly bean shop. Each week, the owner of the shop has a jar of jelly beans to give away to someone who can answer his jelly bean flavor riddle. Ben is always shy and timid so he never wins the jelly bean jar, even though he knows the answers to the riddles. The day that the jelly bean store celebrates its first year of being open, the owner decides to give away a giant jelly bean jar. This time Ben is able to get over his fears and win the biggest jelly bean jar yet!

My six year old really enjoyed listening to this story. He had fun answering all of the riddles and even wanted to make his own jelly bean jar when we woke up the next morning. We stuck with a baby food jar, so we didn't have as many jelly beans as Ben, but we had enough!

Who Wants a Dragon?

2012-10-05T07:00:00.000-05:00

It is so much fun to check my son's backpack on the days that he goes to the school library. He does such a great job picking out books for himself and his brother. There have even been times that he brings home a book and says, "I thought you would like this book, Mommy."

Last week, he brought home Who Wants a Dragon by James Mayhew and illustrated by Lindsey Gardiner for his three year old brother. My three year old was ready to read right away!

Who Wants a Dragon features the sweetest looking dragon I have ever seen in a book! He is red with polka dots and has an adorable face! The book asks "Who wants a dragon?" but it seems that no one is interested in getting a dragon. There isn't enough room on the witches broom, the knight is afraid of the dragon, and he gets the princess' dress all dirty! Luckily, his mommy is there to cuddle with and give him a kiss!

Thank you to my six year old for always bringing home at least 3 different books a week! He does a lot of my blogging work for me!

M & M Halloween

2012-10-04T07:00:00.001-05:00

I don't know of many kids or adults who don't love M&M's, especially during Halloween!

We have had The M&M's Halloween Treat Book by Barbara Barbieri McGrath and Peggy Tagel since our youngest was old enough to eat M&M's!

My three year old had so much fun playing with the book the other day. It was great practice for colors, fine motor skills, sorting, and counting.

In The M&M's Halloween Treat Book is a book with Halloween illustrations that leave an empty spot for readers to place an M&M. My son had fun placing orange M&M's on the pumpkins in the pumpkin patch, buttons on the flashlight, and stars in the sky. The first page starts with one missing M&M candy while the next has two missing candies, and so on until the end of the book when there are 7 missing candies!

A fun size pack of M&M's was the perfect size for our fun.

He couldn't wait to eat the M&M's.

Here he is adding brown eyes to the Halloween ghosts.

This is the perfect book to make a small bag of M&M's last a little longer!

The Machine of Doom

2012-10-03T07:00:00.000-05:00

My six year old is a huge fan of Skylanders, so he was thrilled when his grandma brought him a Skylander's book. He wanted to sit down and start reading right away.

The Machine of Doom is a story of three Skylanders that are defending the Skylands. Spyro, Gill Grunt, and Eruptor are trying to protect Skylands from the evil Kaos. They must reach the Chattering Key and the Machine of Doom before Kaos does! On their journey, the Skylanders encounter many of the same obstacles as they do in the game, and use their same powers. Just like the video game, the book includes a lot of humor. In the end of the book, Spyro, the dragon, has to decide what he will do with Kaos. Spyro decides to save Kaos from a collapsing pyramid, but unfortunately Kaos is able to escape from the Skylanders leaving an opening for another Skylanders book!

This book was definitely the longest chapter book that I have read (and finished) with my son. The Machine of Doom has pictures, but not as many as he is used to, so he was really forced to listen carefully as I read. It also helped that he had some background information from the video game. We were familiar with the characters, at least, so the story wasn't as difficult to follow if it was all new. My son really enjoyed this book and was thrilled that we actually finished it!

When starting this book with my son I wasn't expecting much! Reading this book did actually accomplish something though! I was happy that my son realized he could actually listen to a longer chapter book! Reading this book was a win, win for both of us!

ABCs of Halloween

2012-10-02T07:00:00.000-05:00

ABCs of Halloween by Patricia Reeder Eubank has been a favorite of both of my boys in the past few years. I remember reading it with my oldest when he was learning his alphabet and now it is perfect for my three year old who is really starting to enjoy learning about letters!

There are many things to like about this ABC Halloween book!

1. We love the detailed illustrations! There is so much to look at and look for on each page.

2. Each letter is carved into a pumpkin!

3. There are many words on each page that begin with the featured letter. For example, the letter "P" includes the words plump, pumpkins, puzzling, pink, purple, pale, and perfect all on one page!

4. It is a rhyming book!

5. The back page and cover have a line up of pumpkins from A to Z which lends perfectly to singing the alphabet when you are done reading!

6. It is all about Halloween! Skeletons, witches, owls, and monsters are always fun!

This is My Monster

2012-10-01T07:00:00.000-05:00

October is the perfect month for reading about monsters! My almost one year old daughter agrees! She was very thrilled to have found this monster book in our Fall Book Basket!

This is My Monster is an Usborne Noisy Touchy-Feely book that reads a lot like the books in the "That's Not My..." book series, except in this book it is the reader's monster! The creature in this book is a friendly purple and blue monster!

My daughter loved touching the furry ears and belly!

Each page in this book describes the monster's characteristics. He has a shiny nose, big furry ears, he flies, likes to smell stinky things, and even has a tail. My three year old loves that he eats socks and clocks, but the best part is the little button that you can push on each page. "This is my monster and he says...Roar!" Pushing a "roaring" button on each page keeps both my 11 month old and my 3 year old engaged through the whole book!

My First Read and Learn Bible

2012-09-30T07:00:00.000-05:00

My three year old is very interested in reading his Bible right now! He comes home from preschool reciting The Lord's Prayer and telling me all about the wonderful things that God has made.

Soon after he started school he found this First Bible on his shelf and asked me to read it. I am a big fan of Scholastic's My First Read and Learn Bible. It is perfect for little hands and little readers. It finds its way into bedtime reading time more often than not lately.

My First Read and Learn Bible is a great introduction to Bible stories from both the Old Testament and the New Testament for little ones. It includes the Story of Creation, Noah, Moses, and Daniel and the Lions. The cover and pages are very sturdy and thick. The pictures are great and the fact that there are only a few sentences per page definitely helps keep my son's interest as we read.

My First Read and Learn Bible is also great for new readers, like my six year old!

Camping with the Scouts

2012-09-29T12:26:00.000-05:00

My first grader is joining Cub Scouts this year. Yes, one more thing to add to our never ending list of activities, but he was so excited to do it that I couldn't say no. Thank goodness soccer season ends soon!

Last night was his first Scout outing and it was one to remember! The family got to go on a night hike with all of the other Cub Scouts and families, and my husband, six year old, and three year old stayed to camp out over night. My son has been excited all week long!

Marshmallows

Gooey S'mores

Ready for bed!

Curious George Goes Camping is one of MY favorite Curious George books and one that we have read over and over since we received it about 3 years ago as birthday party favor.

Curious George Goes Camping is the hilarious story of George camping with his friend the man with the yellow hat. George tries to help with putting up the tent, but that doesn't work out. He tries putting out a small campfire, but it was one that was still being used. George runs away from the camp, but soon sees and smells smoke. Luckily, George is able to put out the fire before it gets too big. George's camping trip ends with a bath filled with tomato juice...I'm sure you can figure out why!

Moon Zoom

2012-09-28T07:00:00.000-05:00

My son and I have enjoyed reading the book Moon Zoom by Lesley Sims this week. I read it last night, my son read it to me tonight, and he wanted me to read it again after he did.

Moon Zoom is Book 8 of the Usborne Very First Reading Collection! This reading collection works on getting kids to read on their own. The first few books give the children a few pages to read while taking turns with the adults. By book 8, the children are reading on their own, but with assistance when needed. Moon Zoom practices many different word patterns that my son is learning and sometimes struggles with. There are many -igh words, -ear words, and the letter combination "er."

Moon Zoom is about a mouse named Jack who wants to go to the moon. He builds a rocket, has his friend Ella pack a picnic, and they crash land on the moon! There are even some mouse "aliens" who come to visit them after their landing!

When we were done reading Moon Zoom, we practiced some more reading by solving the puzzles in the back of the book. Puzzle 1 has readers match sentences with the correct picture, puzzle 2 has readers find the word that doesn't make sense and fill in the correct word (both have the same spelling pattern), and puzzle 3 has readers find a rhyming word after reading 2 rhyming words with the same spelling pattern.

I have really used this Usborne Very First Reading set a lot in the last year and a half with my son, I know I will also use it when my younger children begin reading.

Golf

2012-09-27T20:45:00.002-05:00

This week I was able to attend the Ryder Cup with my husband. I was very excited to attend the celebrity pro-am.

Justin Timberlake and Bill Murray at the practice range.

We saw lots of celebs and golfers. A few of my favorites were Justin Timberlake, Michael Phelps, Phil Mickelson, and Scottie Pippen. While we were shopping for some souvenirs I found children's books that were all about golf. The author was even there to sign the book!

I, of course, picked out a book and had the author, Susan Green, sign the copy for all three kids! The boys were very excited to go through the bag of souvenirs when my husband and I got back from our busy day. Both boys wanted to read the book before bed.

The ABC's of Golf by Susan Green is an alphabet book all about golf. This book has some interesting words for each letter. It was a nice change from the usual O is for Octopus kind of alphabet book. In this book G is for green (not just the color), P is for putting, N is for nine, and D is for Dogleg. My boys really enjoyed the illustrations of the golf courses and learned a few new words while we read!

Johnny Appleseed

2012-09-26T22:17:00.001-05:00

Today is Johnny Appleseed's birthday. My six year old had applesauce at school to celebrate and my preschooler has his first cooking day at school tomorrow to make applesauce!

Johnny Appleseed by Jodie Shepherd is our favorite book about Johnny Champman! Both of my boys love reading this book about a boy that loved nature. The book tells the story from the time that Johnny Chapman was born to the time he traveled west and planted apple seeds. The pictures are charming and peaceful. My boys love that he had so many step brothers and sisters. We can only imagine what life would be like with that many siblings!

Happy birthday, Johnny Appleseed!

Baby Brains

2012-09-25T20:29:00.000-05:00

After reading the book The Read-Aloud Handbook by Jim Trelease a few years ago, we found many books that we could read over and over from his list of suggested books for kids! One of our favorites is Baby Brains by Simon James and believe it or not, my son found it at the school library and brought it home for us to read. We have read Baby Brains and Robo Mom and Baby Brains Superstar. We love them all, but the original Baby Brains is my all time favorite!

Baby Brains is the story of two parents who do everything they can to make sure their baby is smart! Before the baby is even born, they play music, read to the baby, and turn the news up so the baby can hear it. Once the baby is born he is so smart that he grows up way too fast! Baby Brains is able to read the newspaper, go to school, and graduate from medical school very quickly! He becomes a doctor and is then invited to travel into space with the astronauts. It isn't until Baby Brains is floating in space that he actually realizes he is just a kid and says, "I want my mommy!"

This is an adorable story that will make you laugh and remind you to not let your kids grow up too fast!

The Pumpkin Patch

2012-09-24T07:00:00.000-05:00

Our day at the pumpkin patch was a beautiful one!

Best Buddies

The Girls

A Giant Slide

A Corn Maze

A Corn Box

Buried Treasure

Playing Cowboy

Hayride

A Growing Pumpkin

The Perfect Day

Happy Little Pumpkin

My Boys

Pumpkin Washing

Unfortunately, our fourth annual trip to the pumpkin patch was cut a little short, but it was still a great day with LOTS of memories!

We love the book, Seed, Sprout, Pumpkin, Pie by Jill Esbaum. It was the perfect book to pull out of the Fall Book Basket before and after our pumpkin patch trip. Seed, Sprout, Pumpkin, Pie is a non--fiction book all about pumpkins. Readers follow a pumpkin from the time the seed is planted in the ground to the time it flowers and then grows to a pumpkin. The book mentions many of the things that pumpkins are used for, but the most fun idea is using giant pumpkins for boats. My son loves the photograph that shows people floating in giant pumpkins! I loved that we had read this book before our trip and had a little background knowledge on how pumpkins grow. Once we were there we were able to see a real pumpkin vine, flower, and nub. I love connecting books with our experiences! What a great way to learn!

Illustrated Classics for Boys

2012-09-23T21:29:00.000-05:00

We have been reading Usborne's Illustrated Classics for Boys for a little over a week now and have completed two of the six stories. This book is a fantastic introduction to classic novels. Each page has great illustrations and each story is simplified so that even the youngest readers can enjoy great literature. This book reminds me so much of the Great Illustrated Classics books that I read when I was little.

The six stories that are included in the book are Robin Hood, The Canterville Ghost, Gulliver's Travels, Robinson Crusoe, Moonfleet, and Around the World in 80 Days.

The first story we read was, The Canterville Ghost based on the novel by Oscar Wilde. My son thought this story was pretty silly and enjoyed the times that the ghost, Sir Simon, was frightened by people! I was not familiar with this story, but enjoyed reading it with my son (in fact I had to research it online when we were done reading). I was surprised the idea of ghosts and blood stains didn't scare him, but it is "Halloween season" so it was probably perfect timing! Plus, once he found out the blood stains were made of paint, he really got a good laugh!

The same week that we were reading The Canterville Ghost, my son painted a pumpkin that he had picked out at the pumpkin farm. He painted a face on both sides and when he was done we both were surprised by the similarities between my son's pumpkin and the pumpkin that was used to scare Sir Simon in The Canterville Ghost.

Tonight, we finished all of Gulliver's Travels. My son was so interested in what was going to happen next that we read through five chapters in one night. It brought back many memories of reading Gulliver's Travels in high school and my "marginalia" that was so necessary for all of my English classes. We had so much fun reading it, although I was disappointed by the fact that the word "Lilliputians" was left out of the story! As we were summarizing the story when we were done I made sure to include Lilliputians!

We couldn't decide which story we should start tomorrow night, but either way, I know that we will enjoy it! These stories are classic, short, and perfect for boys!

Fall Book Basket

2012-09-22T07:00:00.000-05:00

Happy First Day of Fall!

We have had our fall book basket put together for over a week, but never decorated it, so last night we made a sign to put on the front of our basket and that was enough to get my six year old very interested in the books inside.

We loved our Back to School Book Basket, so I think we will be continuing the tradition for the changes in seasons and holidays.

Our fall basket needed to include many types of books. We have apple books, pumpkin books, books about football and Halloween, Science books about leaves, books about spiders, gross books, alphabet books, spooky books, and monster books. It is all in there!

I will not list all of the books we have in there...it is a much bigger basket than our Back to School Basket, but here are some of the book titles and authors that I included.

Where is Baby's Pumpkin by Karen Katz

NFL Colors by DK Publishing

Nate the Great and The Halloween Hunt by Marjorie Weinman Sharmat

Flat Stanley and the Haunted House by Lori Haskins Houran

Johnny Appleseed by Jodie Shepherd

Seed, Sprout, Pumpkin, Pie by Jill Esbaum

Beware by R.L. Stine

Clifford's First Autumn by Norman Bridwell

Biscuit Visits the Pumpkin Patch by Alyssa Satin Capucilli

The Backyardigans Monster Halloween Party by Laura Driscoll

NFL Touch & Feel by DK Publishing

Duck and Goose Find a Pumpkin by Tad Hills

Colorful Leaves by Maria Fleming

J is for Jack-O'-Lantern by Denise Brennan-Nelson

Red Leaf, Yellow Leaf by Lois Ehlert

ABCs of Halloween by Patricia Reeder Eubank

The M&M's Halloween Treat Book by Barbara Barbieri McGrath

Five Little Pumpkins pictures by Dan Yaccarino

The Berenstain Bears and The Spooky Old Tree by Stan and Jan Berenstain

Right now our favorite book in the Fall Book Basket is The Berenstain Bears and The Spooky Old Tree by Stan and Jan Berenstain. We got this book at the library this week and my three year old already reads it to me! This book takes you on a trip through the spooky old tree with three little bears. One bear has a light, one has a stick, and one has a rope, but as they continue through the spooky old tree they begin to lose their tools and start to get the shivers. Each time the bears encounter something scary the book asks, "Will the dare?" The next page reads, "Yes. They dare." My son yells "Yes. They dare." at the top of his lungs.

This book has very simple sentences so it is perfect for new readers (or three year olds who love to memorize books). Each time we read this book we notice something different in the pictures.

My boys are loving spooky books right now and are anxiously awaiting Halloween. They have a while to wait, but hopefully our Fall Book Basket will help the wait seem a little shorter.

Here are a few more fantastic lists of fall books to check out.

No Time For Flashcards has a very detailed list of Halloween books and a list of Fall books.

Mom to 2 Posh Lil Divas has a great list of apple books for fall.

Be sure to visit the other lists so you have something to look for the next time you visit the library!

ABC Tracing Book

2012-09-21T21:06:00.001-05:00

We have been having so much fun with Our ABC Bucket today! The boys played with it before we walked to the bust stop. Baby Girl and my three year old played this afternoon and they also played tonight. We needed to continue the fun with an alphabet book, so I took out the Tiger Tales book, A is for Apple.

Both of my boys loved it and here are some of the reasons.

1. You can trace each letter along the tracks that are made in the book. My three year old loved this part! As my older son tried to show him how to do it, my three year old explained that he already knew how to do it.

2. Each page has a letter and a corresponding word and picture. If you lift the flap you find another picture of a word that starts with that letter.

3. You can trace the uppercase letter, but the lowercase letter is also shown on each page.

4. The pages in this book are very sturdy.

5. This is like a tracing app for the iPad without having your child "plugged in."

This is a great book for letter recognition, learning to write letters, and learning words that begin with each letter! It was the perfect interactive book for the boys as they were having their before bedtime snack!

Our ABC Bucket

2012-09-21T07:00:00.000-05:00

My three year old is working on mastering all of the letters in the alphabet. He, like many three year olds, has a LOT of energy. I thought that some outdoor play with sports, balls, and letters might be the perfect combination for him.

First, I took a permanent marker and wrote each letter of the alphabet on the balls. Easy, easy, easy! This took less than 5 minutes. Then, I put them all in a bucket (much more appealing to the little ones when they are in a bucket). The possibilities are endless.

Here are 22 ideas for playing with a bucket of alphabet balls.

1. Play catch and say the letter each time you throw the ball. This was the best picture I could get of my son throwing the "Q" ball.

2. Start with a pile of 4 or 5 balls. Call a letter. Have your child find the matching ball and throw it to you.

3. Line up a few buckets and tape a letter on each bucket. Have your child throw the ball into the bucket with the same letter.

4. Have your child put the letters in the correct order to spell their name.

5. Play baseball. Each time you put the ball on the tee have your child look at the letter and say the letter as they swing as hard as they can. My son loved this, but he didn't just say the letter, he made sure to yell.

6. Put all of the balls in a basket. Call out a word and have your child find the beginning letter of that word.

7. Play catch with one letter and each time you throw the ball you or your child must think of a word that starts with that letter.

8. Put the balls in alphabetical order. Start with just a few balls and work up to more.

9. Play baseball, but this time the batter must say a word that starts with that letter as they hit the ball.

10. Put the balls in the correct order to make short sight words such as on, run, saw, the, and.

11. Roll one ball at a time across the floor, sidewalk, or kitchen table. When your child catches the ball have them tell you the letter on it. We did this while we wrapped up dinner and had a lot of fun.

12. Facebook fan, Cindy, suggested playing hot potato. I love this idea! When the music stops the person with the ball must think of a word that starts with that letter.

13. Good friend AND Facebook fan, Theresa, suggested tossing the balls in a bucket and saying a word that starts with that letter or saying the sound that the letter makes. Great idea!

14. Another Facebook fan, Rita, mentioned choosing a ball and starting a sentence with that letter. This would be perfect for my six year old who has been working on writing a lot lately!

15. Play golf and have your child say the letter, sound, or word as they hit the ball into the hole.

16. Hide the balls all around the house. For example, put the "S" in the sink. When your child finds the letter have them make the connection between the letter and the place it was hidden.

17. Let your child find some hiding places on their own! Maybe they will put the "B" in their bed or the "H" in their hamper!

18. Another Facebook fan, Amanda, came up with the idea to pick out a ball. Say, "I went to the shops and bought a ..." something beginning with that letter ball. The next person says that sentence again and adds another item beginning with the letter that they picked out of the bucket. Continue until everyone has added something to the list.

19. Put them in the bathtub! We play with foam letters all of the time! Why not try the ABC balls?

20. Play 26 pick up! Leave the balls all over the floor. See how fast your child can pick up all of the letters and put them in a bucket or laundry basket. Make sure they say the letter as they place it in the basket! My kids always love to be timed!

21. Go grocery shopping. Place the balls around the room. When your child picks up a ball they must think of a food that starts with the letter before putting the ball in their grocery cart or shopping bag.

22. Let your child just play on their own. My son wanted to sit in the laundry basket filled with alphabet balls while my daughter tried to take as many away from him as possible. Earlier in the day he wanted to bowl with them!

Do you have any more ideas? I would love for you to leave a comment!

Also, I invite you to check out the Adventures in Reading with Kids Facebook Page to follow along with our 366 day long book journey!

Flat Stanley and the Haunted House

2012-09-20T22:03:00.001-05:00

My six year old has done a great job keeping up with his homework of reading to us for 5 minutes each night. He didn't even complain about it tonight and loves finding two "interesting" words to write down on his homework sheet every night!

This week he read Flat Stanley and the Haunted House. This is an I Can Read! Level 2 book and was perfect for my first grade son. There were one or two words per page spread that he needed a little help with, but the rest he was able to read on his own. He sure surprised me tonight when he read the word "demanded" without even batting an eye. He tried not to smile as I looked at him in shock, but I could tell he was proud of himself.

Flat Stanley and the Haunted House created by Jeff Brown and written by Lori Haskins Houran features one of my son's favorite characters! In this story, Flat Stanley attends the Halloween party at his school. Stanley dresses up as a blueberry pancake and visits the haunted house. He even finds time to help his friend, Martin, scare away a bully by dressing up as a two headed monster!

We read this book many times last year during the Halloween season, but it is much more fun this year listening to my son read it to me!