Chronicle of an Infant Bibliophile

Shutterfly Holiday Cards (Give Away!)

noreply@blogger.com (Infant Bibliophile) — Fri, 21 Oct 2011 03:08:00 +0000

Update: this give-away is now closed; the winners have been notified by email.

I love sending Christmas cards, but last year's card was my favorite card ever. We used one of Shutterfly's Christmas cards designs to create a combination Christmas card/birth announcement. The inside was personalized with text about the birth, as well as a few more photos of our newest arrival). It still makes me smile.

I've been perusing the holiday cards this week to choose our 2011 card. My favorite are the folded 5 x 7 cards. I know the flat cards are popular, and easy to send directly, but I'm kind of a stickler about writing at least SOMETHING in my cards. So I love that Shutterfly has such a large assortment of affordable folded cards. Here are a couple of my favorites this year:

As you probably know, Shutterfly also has a large assortment of photo books and other gifts. I ordered photo mugs as gifts last year, and the recipients loved them. I am tempted by the idea of photo calendars this year.

Give-Away

Shutterfly has offered to give 25 free photo cards to THREE of my readers! To win, just comment on this post by midnight on October 27. I will randomly select three winners and notify you by email. (Note: shipping is not included.)

Disclosure: We are being given 50 free holiday cards in exchange for writing this post.

This Week's "Row": One Tiny Turtle

noreply@blogger.com (Infant Bibliophile) — Mon, 12 Sep 2011 02:42:00 +0000

One of the children in our weekly "Five in a Row" coop requested that we study sea turtles, so we jumped off of the FIAR curriculum this week and focused on One Tiny Turtle, by Nicola Davies. We did some activities at home, but we kept it light, since it was a four-day week.

What we did:

Books we used: One Tiny Turtle, Sea Turtles, and Owen and Mzee.

Did some turtle computer programming.
Made a quick paper turtle (IB's request).
Put toy turtles onto a world map by where they might live (just learning about coastal versus landlocked places and appropriate climates).
A few connect the dot turtles.
Visited the aquarium to see a sea turtle in person.
At our weekly coop, made an ocean in a bottle.

Learned the ASL sign for turtle.
Printed and colored these paper turtles, with the intention of racing them (didn't happen).
Made these paper bag turtle puppets.
Used the turtle number printable sheets at Confessions of a Homeschooler for a multiplication/addition/subtraction game (I called a problem out and he hopped onto the right answer).

We also did a lot of book reading outside of the weekly theme. Next week we are doing a book off of the Before Five in a Row curriculum: Caps for Sale.

Apparently I didn't take many photos this week, except for many at the State Fair that have nothing to do with sea turtles.

I will be linking this post up with Weekly Wrap-Up and Preschool Corner.

Disclosure: If you click on any of the links in this post and purchase anything, we may earn a small commission through our affiliate relationship with Amazon.com.

Review and Give-Away: Bailey

noreply@blogger.com (Infant Bibliophile) — Mon, 12 Sep 2011 01:07:00 +0000

When we were offered the opportunity to review Bailey, I hesitated, because the Infant Bibliophile is homeschooled, and allergic to dogs. A book about a dog's first day of school didn't necessarily seem like the best fit for our family. I'm glad I gave it a try, because on the day that we received it, we read it five times, and acted the whole thing out about 10 times! So I can only imagine how a dog-loving child who has just started school would feel about Bailey.

From the publisher:

"Meet Bailey, a dog who surprises and charms his fellow human classmates with his irrepressible antics.

Follow Bailey the dog as he gets ready and goes to school. Should he wear the red or blue collar? Both are so fashionable! Will he be late? That squirrel is a distraction! And what about Bailey's homework? Would you believe he ate it? That is what dogs do, after all.

In this funny new book from the best-selling children's illustrator Harry Bliss, school proves to be an unexpected place for Bailey to do all sorts of things he loves: reading, fetching, painting, digging, singing — and making friends!"

Author Harry Bliss is a cartoonist and cover artist for The New Yorker magazine, and it shows; the illustrations in Bailey are playful and engaging.

Bibliophile's reaction: He loved it. He especially liked when Bailey fell asleep reading a book. It is a fun book to act out, as Bailey engages in funny dancing, howling while trying to sing, etc. Every reading (there were many) brought laughter.

Want to see more? Check out the book trailer here.

Give Away! Three Winners!

Thanks to the generosity of Scholastic:

One winner will receive a Bailey lunchbox AND a copy of Bailey.
Two additional winners will also receive a copy of Bailey.

To enter:
1) Leave a comment
2) Follow Chronicle of an Infant Bibliophile and leave a comment letting me know.
3) Tweet, Blog, Facebook, or otherwise publicize this give away and leave a comment letting me know.

Three possible entries per person. Deadline is midnight on September 17th. Open to residents of the U.S. and Canada only. Please include your email address in your comment if it is not in your profile, so that I have a way to contact the winner.

This give away is now closed. The winners have been notified by email.

Disclosure: We received a publisher copy of Bailey at no cost in order to write this review. If you click on any links in this post and purchase anything, we will earn a small commission through our affiliate relationship with Amazon.com.

Five in a Row Week 2: Lentil

noreply@blogger.com (Infant Bibliophile) — Thu, 01 Sep 2011 05:08:00 +0000

Some of you have noticed that we are "rowing" the Five in a Row Volume 1 books in order. We did start out that way, but plan to start mixing things up after this week.

This week's book was Lentil, a cute tale about a little boy who, unable to sing, takes up the harmonica instead. When one of the town's grumpy citizens threatens to derail a prominent benefactor's homecoming with his pucker-inducing lemon consumption, Lentil saves the day. Best (and last) line of the book: "You never can tell what will happen when you learn to play the harmonica."

These wrap up posts are taking me ages to write, so I'm going to experiment a little this week with just a bullet point list and some fun photo editing, courtesy of Picnik.

Generally, we focused on:
- the 5 senses (especially taste and hearing)
- harmonicas / music generally
- Ohio (just a little)
- making ice cream (the Bibliophile's request)
- learning North / South / East / West

Specifically, we:

Tasted a lemon. Practiced our silly sour faces.

Made lemonade. Both fresh and Del's frozen lemonade (it's a Rhode Island thing).
Read a couple of lemonade books: Lemonade for Sale (MathStart) and Pinkalicious and the Pink Drink.
Played a game with plastic Easter eggs, in which I filled them with various objects - pennies, rice, paper, toy car - and he had to figure out which was which. (Relevance: sense of sound).
Played a toy harmonica. Practiced singing the blues, like his grandpa. (Best line: "Mama won't give me no more skittles" *harmonica riff*).
Talked about sound waves, and why Lentil liked to play the harmonica in the bathroom. Tried it out.
Did our USA jigsaw puzzle.
Talked about North, South, East, West. Tried to make up silly songs to remember the directions. In the meantime, realized he had learned them.
Did an Ohio workbook page from a Target dollar section book.
Made homemade chocolate soymilk ice cream, using a Highlights magazine recipe, which required just chocolate soymilk, sugar, ice, salt, and a plastic bag. We did this at least twice. (In Lentil, the town celebrates with ice cream at the end).

Decorated a paper doll to be Lentil (Bibliophile's idea).
Acted out the book. I was the grumpy lemon-eater. The Bibliphile was Lentil (of course). And his baby sister was Colonal Carter.
No new sensory bin this week, but I did give him a bowl of raw rice one night while I cooked dinner. In it, I had hid the letters of harmonica, so he fished them all out and unscrambled it.
Cutting strips. I printed some simple strips of repeating lemons. He wasn't really into it, but did one strip.
Talked about what an architect does, and what a floor plan is. Drew a floor plan of our house, then used FloorPlanner to create floorplans for pretend houses. Printed the floor plans and arranged cardboard boxes to lay out rooms like his floorplans (which, incidentally, involved slides into playrooms). (The Five in a Row curriculum has a tie-in to architecture in the Lentil study, but the books I found looked too advanced, so we just simplified to something I knew he'd find fun, even if there was no clear Lentil connection.)
Built a pretend town like in Lentil out of blocks, making sure to include each building mentioned in the book. If we have more time in the next few days, we might do a paper bag town (from lunch bags).
Sang many verses of She'll Be Coming 'Round the Mountain (which Lentil plays at the end of the book).
Did some printables from Homeschool Share, including some math problems and an Ohio directions sheet.
Did instrument matching worksheets from this site.
Editing to add our coop plan, so I have the link if I need it. We will be making musical instruments - some kind of shakers for the youngest kids and this harmonica-like instrument (which works great!) for the older ones.

It was a fun week, and we both really enjoyed Lentil, but I am ready to move on. (Our coop meeting isn't for two days, and I'm already writing the summary blog post.) Next up: we are jumping outside of the FIAR curriculum to do One Tiny Turtle.

If I remember, I will be linking this post up with Weekly Wrap-Up and Preschool Corner.

Comment! Have you read Lentil? Do you play any musical instruments?

Disclosure: If you click on any links in this post and purchase anything, we may earn a small commission through our affiliate relationship with Amazon.com.

Introducing Factor Trees

noreply@blogger.com (Infant Bibliophile) — Wed, 31 Aug 2011 04:38:00 +0000

We spotted You Can Count on Monsters at the library this week, and snatched it up because the Infant Bibliophile has been interested in both monsters and multiplication lately. If you are looking for a fun way to introduce the idea of a factor tree and prime numbers, hunt this down! (I don't recommend for the Bibliophile's age, although he has been enjoying leafing through it, but for older kids). I'm not feeling very articulate tonight, but you can click through to Amazon for the full book description and other reviews.

I'm linking this post up with Math Monday.

Our Coop Hostess...

noreply@blogger.com (Infant Bibliophile) — Thu, 25 Aug 2011 19:18:00 +0000

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Five in a Row Week 1: The Story of Ping

noreply@blogger.com (Infant Bibliophile) — Thu, 25 Aug 2011 04:04:00 +0000

This week's Five in a Row (FIAR) "row" was The Story of Ping. I know it is a classic, but I don't care much for the book's spanking references and its overall message about accepting punishment. We still had fun with the activities, however, and I found a few great companion books. All in all, we are enjoying Five in a Row very much.

We focused, generally, on ducks, China, and buoyancy. Here is what we did throughout the week, in no particular order:

Ducks --

We read a nonfiction duck book. We fed the ducks (some corn) at a nearby pond. Well, in actuality, we fed the geese, but I did see at least one brave duck sneak in and get some. (We also talked a bit about the science behind the reflections on the water - a suggestion from FIAR.) We played a fun little birds boardgame from Homeschool Share. And we visited the local aviary.

At the Bibliophile's request, we made a quick duck out of small paper plates.

China --

We located the Yangtze river on our world map, and did our Asia Geopuzzle.

We built a Great Wall of China out of duplo blocks.

We tried to draw a few Chinese characters (he didn't take to this - just scribbled).

We watched this China field trip video. And this Chinese language video (which he loved. He doesn't like movies/television generally, but loves language dvd's).

We skimmed this China (True Books).

And we ate rice with chop sticks.

We also read these books:

Tikki Tikki Tembo -- This was a childhood favorite of mine. I have heard it criticized now as culturally inaccurate, and as the Bibliophile says, "that Mama is kind of mean," but we enjoyed it for just the silly name factor.

The Runaway Rice Cake -- a fun book about a runaway rice cake (ala Gingerbread Man), with a beautiful message. A family that only has enough money to make one "nián-gão" (rice cake) for their holiday dinner shares it with someone needier than they. Their generosity is rewarded when their neighbors (and presumably the Gods) fill their table.

The Empty Pot -- We loved this book, which had a nice message and a clever twist. The emperor is searching for a successor, and designs a contest whereby children are given seeds. Whoever grows the best flower after 1 year will be the next emperor. Ping, who has always had a green thumb, can't seem to get the seed to grow. After 1 year, he only has an empty pot to show for his labors. His father tells him "your best is good enough to present to the Emperor." So, that is what Ping does (amongst all of the impressive plants that others present), only to learn that the emperor had given out trick seeds which were incapable of sprouting. Of course, Ping's honesty is rewarded. We took an empty plant container and acted out this story about 25 times after we read the book. It is a lovely story with compound messages about honesty and perfectionism.

At the Bibliophile's suggestion, we also read Kai-Lan's Great Trip to China (he requested this from the librarian in person. He loves to chat up the librarians). His favorite part is that the story incorporates a handful of Chinese words and includes a list at the back of the book.

We also created a river rock sort of sensory bin. This was mostly because I wanted to get rid of our rice bin, which was ridiculously messy and kind of old. The rocks aren't as nice from a sensory perspective, but I find it a challenge to come up with fun sensory bins that are not a choking hazard for our crawling baby. I tried to pick rocks big enough that she couldn't choke on them, and within 5 seconds of setting it up, she grabbed one and had it in her mouth! So we haven't really used the bin all that much.

Buoyancy and Other Stuff --

We did a sink/float activity from Homeschool Share. This, and the Ping coloring sheet on the right (also from Homeschool Share), will be the focus of our FIAR coop group this week. We also played a bit with drawing and using lines to indicate water and movement (from the FIAR manual).

And, as we drove around in the car this week, we retold the story as we thought it should be told -- minus the spanking. This was a suggestion from the Five in a Row forums, in reference to a discussion as to what to do when a child doesn't enjoy a book. Today, I asked the Bibliophile what he thought should happen to the last duck to board the boat (who, in the book, gets a spank). He was quiet a minute, then said, "I think the last duck should be able to go over the bridge any way he wants -- he can roll over the bridge, he can do a silly walk, anything!"

We still had plenty of time for twice daily outings, free play, and 100 "NOW what should we do, Mama?" questions each day. And much of our best learning was student-led, as always. He has been very interested in multiplication and division lately, and in trying to tell time, so we dabbled a bit in those things.

Next up: Lentil!

I will be linking this post up with Weekly Wrap-Up and Preschool Corner.

Comment: Have you read The Story of Ping? Do you have a FIAR blog? Please share in the comments!

Disclosure: If you click on any links in this post and purchase anything, we may earn a small commission through our affiliate relationship with Amazon.com.

Starting Our Adventures with Five in a Row

noreply@blogger.com (Infant Bibliophile) — Tue, 23 Aug 2011 02:29:00 +0000

Today is the first day of our homeschooling "school" year, and I've decided to use the Five in a Row curriculum with the Infant Bibliophile, who is now 3 1/2. It was kind of an obvious choice for him, but I did debate whether to buy the Five in a Row (Volume 1) or try Before Five in a Row first. I decided to jump right into Volume 1. I am supplementing the curriculum with related activities and printables that relate to the book of the week. Rather than the one-subject-per-day style of Five in a Row, though, we're keeping with our learning boxes, and basically doing every subject every day (I try to keep the drawers full of fun activities/books/videos/worksheets, and he pulls from them whenever he'd like to during the day. We still do most of them together). I am also trying to form a local coop that we will meet with weekly to read the book of the week and do a companion activity. We have 8 moms and 18 kids signed up, but I have no expectations as to how many will really stick with it throughout the year.

To be honest, I'm not sure I really have regained my will to blog, after the summer break, but I do want to record our activities with Five in a Row, in case I want to revisit them again with my daughter (or the Bibliophile, again). So, I'll post in a few days about our first "row" -- The Story of Ping! (Not my favorite book, I'll admit, but I found some real gems when finding companion books about China - the Empty Pot, especially).

Comment! How has your summer been? Have you tried Five in a Row? Have any favorite blogs that you follow that use FIAR?

Disclosure: If you click on any links in this post and purchase anything, we may gain a small commission through our affiliate relationship with Amazon.com.

Review: Every Day on Earth

noreply@blogger.com (Infant Bibliophile) — Sun, 21 Aug 2011 02:34:00 +0000

Did you know that in one day your heart pumps enough blood to fill the tank of a fire engine? That the nearest black hole is 1,600 light-years away from the Earth? That your brain comes up with 70,000 thoughts per day? (Ah, but how many does a mom actually get to finish?).

If not, and you are a random fact aficionado, check out Every Day on Earth, a new release from Scholastic. Authors Steve and Matthew Murrie have assembled 200 incredible facts into one fun, clever book. They are organized into 8 categories -- Living Things, Earth, Food, the Human Body, Pop Culture, Space, Technology, and Sports. Each "fun fact" is given its own page, with a paragraph or two of explanation, which provides good context for the figures.

The book is too old for my son (3 1/2), who doesn't have the relative grasp of the large numbers yet for most of the facts to mean much. (That didn't damper his excitement when it arrived, however). I enjoyed it, though, and it is definitely a book that I would have loved when I was at the appropriate age for it (the reading level is age 9-12), so I look forward to him growing into it.

Comment: Are you a fan of quirky facts? Are your kids?

Disclosure: I was provided a copy of this book from the author at no cost in order to write this review. If you click on any links in this post and purchase anything, we may recieve a small commission based on our affiliate relationship with Amazon.com.

I made a dress!

noreply@blogger.com (Infant Bibliophile) — Sun, 07 Aug 2011 01:39:00 +0000

I conquered my fear of sewing clothing!

Here is the pattern.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Review: My Beastly Book of Twisted Tales

noreply@blogger.com (Infant Bibliophile) — Tue, 02 Aug 2011 03:38:00 +0000

We were thrilled when a box of books from Owl Kids arrived on our doorstep this week. Inside were two activity books - My Beastly Book of Twisted Tales and My Beastly Book of Hilarious Heroes. The Bibliophile loves them at 3 1/2. I see Amazon's recommended age is 4-8, and I think that is just about perfect, since the Bibliophile is an early reader, and he has to stretch his skills now to complete some of the cutting and sketching.

My Beastly Book of Twisted Tales: 150 Ways to Doodle, Scribble, Color and Draw

Pros: Filled with fun activities, including coloring, mazes, cutting/gluing, and drawing - almost all of which can be done with minimal parental assistance, assuming your child can read. (If she/he can't read, the activities would be equally fun, but would just need to be read to the child, of course). Every time we did the book (at bedtime), my son would do a few pages, then look serious and say: "Can we do ALL of the pages?," not wanting the fun to come to an end.

Cons: A few of the pages are slightly mean or graphic for a very young child. Example: Big Bad Wolf and a pig throwing bricks at each other, or instructions to draw Little Red Riding Hood after the Big Bad Wolf vomited her up (Ewww!). Not awful - especially for a slightly older child, who would probably think those things were hilarious.

Bibliophile's thoughts (age 3 1/2):
Do you like the book? Yeah! What parts did you like? Cutting! I liked when you said 'hey Nana, he's great at cutting!" Do you think other boys and girls would like this book? A little bit, but not when they do the brick fight thing. Would you buy other books like this one? Yes, like My Beastly Book of Silly Things and stuff! (I pointed that out to him on the inside cover the day before). Did you think this book was funny? Did it make you laugh? No. Not at all. Because it wasn't funny. If it was funny, then I would have laughed. [Mom note: I thought it was funny. And I definitely remember him laughing!] Did you like doing this book at bedtime? Yes! Let's do that many questions. Now can we do more of a book? Like Hilarious Heroes?!

My Beastly Book of Hilarious Heroes

We haven't finished this one yet, but the idea is the same as Twisted Tales, with the addition of a playful superhero theme. I'm impressed with the creativity of the activities. For example, one early page instructed the reader to cut out a very simple rectangular eye mask shape, then crinkle the remainder of the paper into a ball, glue on the rectangle mask, and help the bandit ball to fly by tossing it across the room. Simple, silly fun.

Either of these would make fantastic birthday gifts.

Disclaimer: We recieved a free copy of these books in order to write this review. If you click on any links on this page and purchase anything, we may get a small commission through our affiliate relationship with Amazon.com.

Look who I met!

noreply@blogger.com (Infant Bibliophile) — Sun, 17 Jul 2011 01:09:00 +0000

It's MaryAnne!

Preschool Science: Acid/Base Experiment

noreply@blogger.com (Infant Bibliophile) — Sun, 29 May 2011 00:36:00 +0000

Why do we seem to do so many "bloggable" activities when I'm taking a blogging break?

LOTS of science fun this week.

We started by following MaryAnne at Mama Smiles lead by playing with vinegar and baking soda.

Then we moved on to an experiment to see which kitchen ingredients (salt, sugar, parsley, coffee, etc.) would dissolve in water. It was mostly to reinforce the idea of developing a hypothesis and conducting an experiment to prove or disprove it.

At the suggestion of a friend (and chemistry teacher), we soaked some red cabbage in boiling water for 10 minutes, then used that (purple) water as an acid base indicator. We poured the cabbage water into our liquids and observed the results.

The bases turned bluish, the acids turned reddish.

We experimented a little with trying to neutralize our acids by adding tums or baking soda. And of course did some more fizzy baking soda / vinegar fun.

When we were done, I soaked a coffee filter for a few hours in the leftover cabbage juice, then set it out to dry. The next day, we cut it up and used it as homemade litmus paper. It worked great! We tested many of the same ingredients from the day before, plus daddy offered up some stronger chemicals from his dark room.

Science is fun!

I'm linking this post up with Science Sunday.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Review: Lift the Flap and Learn Animal Babies

noreply@blogger.com (Infant Bibliophile) — Thu, 12 May 2011 01:05:00 +0000

Lift the Flap and Learn Animal Babies

Publisher description:

Animal Babies
Written by: Pascale Hédelin
Illustrated by: Stéphanie Herrbach

Animal Babies is an interactive book about the birth and growth of animals that both entertains and teaches young readers.

Touch an alligator’s skin or peek at what a bear cub noshes on by lifting flaps, or pull a tab to help a mother giraffe have her baby. Age-appropriate bites of text cover how animal babies are born, how they fit into their families, what they eat, and neat facts about their day-to-day lives.

Featuring a giant pullout poster (4'6" x 3') with life-size images of baby animals in the African savanna, Animal Babies is perfect for curious children dipping their toes into this fascinating topic for the first time!

When I could finally tear the Bibliophile away from Human Body, we started on Animal Babies, and he really likes this one too. Here is our quick Q and A about it.

Interview/Review from the Bibliophile (age 3 years, 5 months)

Do you like this book?

Yes.

What do you like about it?

I like the erasers.

What erasers?
The ones with the sea turtles on them. [Mama note: a page contains an i-spy sort of plastic window with sand that, when shaken, reveals some paper sea turtles. I have no idea why he called them erasers.]

Did you learn anything from this book?

I learned that it has tabs.

Did you learn anything about animals?
[He opens the book and points.] I remember that someone is crouching in the grass; the lion is.

What's your favorite part of the book?

I like learning new things.

Do you think other boys and girls would like this book?

Yes, I do.

Is it a stinker or a keeper?

It's a keeper!

I like finding this topic (animal babies) and style (lift the flap / tabs) in a book geared for an older child (publisher site says age 4 and up). It is common to find lift the flap baby books about animals (Open the Barn Door, Dear Zoo, etc.), but this is a much larger book - 38 pages - and packed with information. You can see a small image of a couple of the pages here, to get a general idea, although I think the text is too small to read there. If you get a hold of the book - which we recommend you do! - come back and let us know what you think!

Disclosure: We received a copy of this book from the publisher at no cost in order to write this review. If you click on any of the links in this post and purchase anything, we may earn a small commission based on our affiliate relationship with Amazon.com.

Review: The Human Body: Lift the Flap and Learn

noreply@blogger.com (Infant Bibliophile) — Mon, 09 May 2011 15:03:00 +0000

We received some fantastic books last week from Owl Kids Books. We will be reviewing them over the coming week. This first one was an instant hit. We have read it every day, multiple times each day, since it arrived. It's our favorite bribe tool of the week ("Come on, it is bedtime - we can read a little 'Human Body' first," "OK, brush your teeth and then we can read 'Human Body'," "No, you can't have fruit snacks for breakfast, but we can look at 'Human Body.'"). If you are a parent, you know that this is high praise for a book.

The Human Body: Lift the Flap and Learn

Publisher description:

The Human Body is an amazing, interactive book that uncovers the mysteries of anatomy and physiology to give young children a rich understanding of their own bodies. The dynamic pull-tabs and flaps complement the simple text and will keep kids engaged as they learn!

Pull a lever to make a bicep grow or lift a flap to see all the bones in a hand. Pull a tab to help food travel through the digestive system and use your fingers to learn all about the sense of touch. From being born to growing tall, from pooping to getting sick and more, this book tackles a number of bodily topics that children are naturally curious about in a forthright and age-appropriate manner.

Packed with detailed information, The Human Body is must-have reference for young children exploring this fascinating topic for the first time!

Interview/Review with the Bibliophile (age 3 years, 5 months)(his answers are in red) --

Do you like this book?

Yes.

What do you like about it?

I like that it has the flaps.

Does it teach you many things?
Yes. Like putting the sperm in the woman. (!!!!!!! - exclamation points from Mama. More on this later. It's not as bad as it sounds). And he only mentioned that because that was the page that was open when I asked him this question.

What else have you learned from this book?

I learned that something is called chicken pox. It's little red dots.

What is your favorite part of the book?

I like the flaps and when I get to see the chicken pox.

Are there any funny parts in the book?

No.

How about the poop part? Is that funny?

The pee part is funny. When I see the little boy peeing.

Do you think other boys and girls would like this book too?

Yes.

Mom's thoughts --
* I really like the book's treatment of conception at the very beginning. It is simple and to the point, with no frills. Since it is a sensitive subject, I thought I'd type that paragraph as the excerpt. Keep in mind that the rest of the book isn't nearly so sensitive - this is the extent of the conception explanation.

"It takes a man and a woman to make a baby. The man puts a tiny seed, called a sperm, in the woman's belly. The sperm joins with a seed from the woman, called an egg. Together, the two seeds grow into a baby. Watch the baby grow in his mommy's belly as the months go by."

I loved this book, and it is going to be one that I recommend often for young kids showing an interest in human health, anatomy, etc. The illustrations are colorful, fun, and educational. The text speaks perfectly to its target audience. We will definitely be reviewing the section on vaccinations again when the Bibliophile is due for another set of "pokes"!

Comment: What are your favorite books about the Human Body? If you check this one out, come back and let us know what you think about it!

Disclosure: If you click on any links in this post and purchase anything, we may earn a small commission through our affiliate relationship with Amazon.com.

Happy cinco de mayo!

noreply@blogger.com (Infant Bibliophile) — Thu, 05 May 2011 15:25:00 +0000

(The Spanish hat was so much cuter than the sombrero, so we sacrificed accuracy for fun.)

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

New Releases from Sylvan Dell

noreply@blogger.com (Infant Bibliophile) — Fri, 29 Apr 2011 04:10:00 +0000

We have been slow to post reviews of two great new books we read a couple of weeks ago. The Bibliophile was super excited when they arrived, and savored them for a long time.

Habitat Spy was an instant hit, as I knew it would be. Beautifully illustrated scenes introduce the reader to a wide array of wildlife, and rhyming text highlights a few specimens for the reader to locate.

Let's spy in the desert . . .
saguaros prick,
scorpions sneak,
cactus wrens poke,
foxes peek.

An educational section in the back discusses habitats, food chains and webs, and classification. I wish it also included a picture glossary; some of the creatures (like midges) were tricky enough for us to require iphone googling. I do love teaching the Bibliophile how to find answers to questions, though, and it seemed to only add to his fun. Highly recommended, especially for I spy fans and animal/nature lovers.

With an inventive style, Big Cat, Little Kitty compares the lives of wild cats and their more domesticated counterparts. It contains just enough repetition to create a thread between the wild and tame animals, and to engage repetition-loving young readers without driving parents nutty.

"One Wednesday evening in the desert, a big cat stands on a rock and sniffs the air. His eyes blaze like the sun. 'Who are you?' asks a springbok. 'And whose desert is this?' The big cat's voice thunders in the dry wind. 'I am Kalahari Lion, and this is MY desert.' Springbok scampers away. / That same evening in a garden, a little kitty sharpens his claws on a birch tree and sniffs the lilacs. His eyes are shiny like gold coins. 'Who are you?,' asks a butterfly. 'And whose garden is this?' The little kitty puffs himself up. 'I am Leonardo, and this is MY garden.' Butterfly flitters away."

We enjoyed the entire book once through. The attention span required was probably pushing it for our 3 year old, but he still liked it. Particularly recommended, obviously, for cat lovers. As with all Sylvan Dell books, the book is beautifully illustrated and contains an educational section in the back (including a "Cats of the World" map matching activity right up the Bibliophile's alley).

Disclosure: We were provided with publisher copies of these books at no cost in order to write this review. If you click on any links in the post and purchase anything, we may earn a small commission through our affiliate relationship with Amazon.com.

Magic Treehouse

noreply@blogger.com (Infant Bibliophile) — Fri, 29 Apr 2011 03:40:00 +0000

We read the first magic treehouse book together last week. I worried he might be a bit young for it, so I tried extra hard to focus on comprehension by retelling the story a few times and even acting it out with toys.

Today at the library booksale, my little 3 year old cornered a librarian and said something like this:

We are looking for magic treehouse books. I read ALL of the first one. It is about a boy named Jack, and Jack has a sister named Annie. Jack and Annie find a treehouse and it has books in it. Jack wishes to go somewhere and the treehouse spins around and then they go ALL different places! Like in the first book - Dinosaurs Before Dark ... and we got three other ones too. One is about mummies and one is about knights and one is about astronauts.

That's my boy.

Disclosure: if you click on any links in this post and purchase anything, we may earn a small commission through our affiliate relationship with amazon.com.

Easter egg stamping

noreply@blogger.com (Infant Bibliophile) — Sat, 23 Apr 2011 21:56:00 +0000

Don't forget to use your leftover plastic eggs for some stamping fun before packing them away for next year (we did ours on canvas):

Happy Easter!

What does "reduce environmental impact" mean? An ad hoc pre-K Earth Day science lesson

noreply@blogger.com (Infant Bibliophile) — Mon, 18 Apr 2011 01:41:00 +0000

The Bibliophile is fearless when it comes to reading, but I have to watch carefully to see if his comprehension is keeping pace. Last week in Whole Foods, he mumbled through a sign that said that the store works hard to "reduce its environmental impact.". When I asked if there was any part of the sign he didn't understand, he asked me what that phrase meant. I explained it, but not very well. Later that night, I thought of a way to describe the idea better.

The next day, we sat down with a large poster paper together, and I sketched as we talked. At lunchtime we did a few more examples. I quiz him as to which of the following scenarios has a big impact, medium impact or little to no environmental impact.

I don't know how realistic or accurate these scenarios really are, but he is only 3.

Scenario 1: trees (this was my first explanation. We just got another new Whole Foods branch here, so he can relate to this idea)
- Whole Foods decides to build a store where 10 trees currently stand. It just chops those trees down and builds there (big impact)
- Whole Foods chops down only 6 trees, and plants some new ones to make up for it (medium impact).
- Whole Foods builds next to the trees instead (little impact)

Scenario 2: pollution
- Whole Foods dumps all of its garbage into rivers (big impact)
- Whole Foods creates a lot of garbage but throws it away (medium impact)
- Whole Foods doesn't create much garbage at all (small to no impact)

Scenario 3: paper bags
(daddy thought up this one)
- a shopper goes to 4 stores and gets 4 different paper bags (big impact)
- a shopper goes to 4 stores and uses the same paper bag for all 4 stores (little impact)
- a person carries their things without needing any paper bag (no impact)

It's not a fancy craft, but this is how we learn best around here. Child-driven (he asked me what the sign meant) and on the fly. Maybe I'll try to come up with an attractive craft this week, for the fun of it and to reinforce the lesson. Maybe we'll raid my quilt fabric so he can make his own shopping bag.

Looking for earth day books? Here are a few we have reviewed in the past.

I will link this up with Science Sunday.

Comment: What are you doing for Earth Day? Are you impressed that I did this all from my iPhone? Can't figure out how to caption photos this way.

Disclosure: if you click on any links in this post and purchase anything, we may earn a small commission through our affiliate relationship with Amazon.com.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Model Magic Mosaics

noreply@blogger.com (Infant Bibliophile) — Sat, 16 Apr 2011 01:21:00 +0000

Have you seen these? Lots of fun.

Crayola Model Magic Fusion Mosaics - Disney Cars

Disclosure: If you click on any of the links in this post and purchase anything, we may earn a small commission through our affiliate relationship with Amazon.com.

Review and Give Away: LaRue Across America

noreply@blogger.com (Infant Bibliophile) — Thu, 14 Apr 2011 00:38:00 +0000

This give away is now closed, and the winners have been notified.

LaRue Across America

Publisher description:

Ike's plan for a peaceful cruise with Mrs. LaRue are thwarted when their neighbor, Mrs. Hibbins, falls suddenly ill. Mrs. LaRue suggests that she and Ike care for her cats while Mrs. Hibbins is in the hospital, inviting them along on the cruise. But cats aren't allowed, and Mrs. LaRue decides to take them all on a week's vacation of road-tripping. Ike is beside himself and quickly takes up his pen to tell us why!

Join award-winner Mark Teague on this romping road trip across America.
Readers can follow along on the maps of the U.S. that span the endpapers.
Teague drives us to the story's satisfying conclusion, and we are left with
one profound question: Can cats and dogs really be friends?

Here is a book trailer.

Parental reaction: This is quite funny, and enjoyable to read aloud. Sarcasm abounds. The geography component makes for fun companion activities, like following along on a large U.S. map with toy cars, or mini state lessons after you read a postcard. Here are some examples of the book's comedic value:

"I thought I spied the ocean today, but Mrs. LaRue said it is merely a 'great' lake. I can see nothing great in something so fraudulent."

"The local postmaster claims that it would be illegal for me to send live cats through the mail. I wonder if that could be true."

"The cats have been stealing my chew toys, shedding on my pillows, and clawing my suitcases. Their poor manners have forced me to set limits, so I used masking tape to divide the car's passenger area in half."

Bibliophile's reaction: I thought he would love this one, because he's such a fan of geography. Unfortunately, the sarcasm was all a bit over his head at this point, and the text probably too lengthy (he is only 3 1/2). He didn't dislike it, though, and I hear that he and Daddy have read it together a bit also. I'd recommend it for slightly older children, and of course for cat and dog fans. I might give it another try with him by reading just one postcard at a time, and stopping to explain it to him.

Give Away: Thanks to Scholastic, TWO winners will receive a copy of LaRue Across America!

To enter:
1) Leave a comment here.
2) Follow or subscribe in some way to Chronicle of an Infant Bibliophile and leave a comment letting me know.
3) Tweet, facebook, or blog about this give away and leave a comment letting me know.

That's three possible entries per person. The deadline is April 22, 2011, midnight EST. Prizes ship to U.S. addresses only. Please remember to leave your email address in your comment if it is not accessible from your profile.

Disclosure: We received a copy of La Rue Across America at no cost in order to write this review. If you click on links in this post and purchase anything, we may earn a small commission through our affiliate relationship with Amazon.com.

Review: You Are a Gift to the World

noreply@blogger.com (Infant Bibliophile) — Tue, 12 Apr 2011 02:07:00 +0000

You Are a Gift to the World is a sweet story written by New York Times best selling author Laura Duksta. With a "flip-sided" style, the book reads forward and backward, meeting in the middle at a globe with the message "You are a gift to the world and the world is a gift to you. So as you travel through life, you see all the ways it's true..."

The book is definitely heavy on the saccharin side (maybe a bit too much so for my tastes), but if you like this excerpt, you'll probably love the book:

"Your voice sings a sweet song belonging just to you. I hear a melody filled with joy, wonder, and a note of laughter too. / Your smile lights up my life like the sun's golden rays. / Its glow brightens up my life in warm and tender ways."

As much as I love the idea of the message, I have to admit to a bit of wincing as I read the excerpt above and others like it. I think I slightly prefer the reverse side, The World is a Gift to You.

"You see the world itself is a big gift full of miracles just like you and me. There is so much to discover, to learn, to do, and to see. / Flowers, plants, and trees all start from tiny seeds. As they grow, they help to make the food and air your body needs."

The illustrations throughout are bright and cheerful. I especially like the center globe page that unites the two stories. I do wonder if I might have liked the whole book a bit more if it hadn't rhymed. Duksta's previous title I Love You More, was a New York Times bestseller, and You Are a Gift to the World is sporting a five star rating on Amazon.

The Bibliophile didn't care much for the book the first time we read it, but we read it again a couple of weeks later, and this time he said he liked it. When questioned as to what he liked about it, he said, "I like that you can read it two ways."

Comment: Have you read this book or I Love You More? I'm really curious what others thought of it.

Disclosure: I received a copy of this book at no cost in order to write this review. If you click on any links in this post and purchase anything, we may earn a small commission through our affiliate relationship with Amazon.com.

Weekly Wrap Up: Pre-K Easter Art, Painting Fun, and Some New Workbooks

noreply@blogger.com (Infant Bibliophile) — Sun, 10 Apr 2011 02:08:00 +0000

These should probably be separate blog posts all week, but given how little time I seem to have to blog lately, I'm going to try to just lump them all into a Weekly Wrap-Up. Here goes!

The Bibliophile has shown a new interest in art projects (and particularly painting). His Nana bought him a sort of membership (which waives the studio fees, so we pay only for the piece we paint) at a local paint-your-own-pottery shop. We love going there! Our kitchen place settings are going to become quite interesting if we keep it up. I don't have a photo of the pottery, but on the right are some paintings we did today to talk about symmetry. (Fold paper in half, unfold, paint one side only, close paper, press on it, open up, ooh and ah).

We also made a crafty Easter Egg banner this week. First we did salad spinner art -- his favorite -- on some egg-shaped paper (from cut up paper plates), then attached them via spring-theme stickered clothespins to a ribbon (the Bibliophile picked the apple print). We also ad hocked a map for the Easter bunny to find our house, with a bunny footprint stamp made from cut up foam stickers.

And today we made some of these adorable Easter cards from Frugal Family Fun (the kids use their thumbprints to make Easter eggs - simple and fun!).

On an unrelated note, I came across this amusing book by the author of Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs: the Marshmallow Incident. It has so many great ideas in it for fun to be had with marshmallows! We did a few, but I'm hoping to do a bunch more (like painting with marshmallows - fun!) this coming week.

On a headier note, Nana visited last week, and we ended up with a pile of these! She said she often looks for workbooks, and that these are some of the best she has seen. I have to agree that they are great!

Pictured:
1st Grade Spelling Games and Activities (Sylvan Workbooks)
2nd Grade Super Math Success (Sylvan Super Workbooks)
1st Grade Math Games & Puzzles (Sylvan Workbooks)
Big Math 1-2 (School Zone)
Big Spelling 1-3 (School Zone)

Some might think a 3 year old doesn't need a 2nd grade math workbook, and you'd be correct. But he loves them. We bought them to tear pages out and stick them in his "learning boxes," which he runs to throughout the day to find fun stuff to do. But so far he has been grabbing the book while he eats. He's learning things I had no intention of teaching him yet - like differentiating long and short vowel sounds - but he loves it. He understands it all very well, and can read it all, but his writing will need some time to catch up.

We probably wouldn't have done quite so much recently if he weren't sick with yet another head cold. Lots of time at home trying to occupy ourselves!

Comment: What have you been up to this week?

I am linking this post up with Weekly Wrap-Up, Preschool Corner, Sunday Best, and Tot School.

Disclosure: If you click on any of the links in this post and purchase anything, we may earn a small commission through our affiliate relationship with Amazon.com.

Easter Basket Book Ideas

noreply@blogger.com (Infant Bibliophile) — Tue, 05 Apr 2011 01:00:00 +0000

Last year, as part of a give away, I polled my readers to suggest their favorite Easter books, and then compiled them into a list. We ended up with 75 suggestions! Not all of them are about Easter; some are about bunnies or chicks or sheep. But they would all make great additions to balance out all of those jelly beans in the kids Easter baskets. So I thought I would reshare the list this year. Here it is!

Recommended Children's Easter Books

Comment: Are any books going in your kids' baskets this year?

Disclosure: If you click on a link and purchase anything, we will earn a small commission through our affiliate relationship with Amazon.com.