The Book Chook

Imagine. Create. Dream.

noreply@blogger.com (The Book Chook) — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 18:27:00 +0000

I strongly believe in dreaming. Not the crazy-movie-inside-head dreams when we're asleep, so much as the dreams that spur us on to creating something. That "something" might be an interesting sandwich filling, a collage in shades of lemon and lavender, a cubby house behind the sofa, or a better life for ourselves. We all need dreams, kids especially. That's why I love children's literature so much - it truly helps kids to dream.

What do your children dream about? Have you asked them? Do you discuss your own dreams with your kids? You know that I think it's important for our kids to "catch" us reading and writing. It's also vital that we share imagining, creating and dreaming with our kids too. Encouraging them to share their dreams and imaginings with us is the other side of the coin. Of course, sometimes kids will want to keep their dreams to themselves, and naturally we'll respect that.

Encouraging kids to dream, imagine and create can start anywhere and anytime. Maybe you're walking in the rainforest when you see a big old tree with a split trunk. Play "what if?" with your kids. What if that were somebody's home? Who might live there? What would that creature look like/do/eat etc? By making creative thinking and musing part of our everyday lives, by being playful and creative ourselves, I believe we're helping our children develop their own creativity. And our world needs creative people.

Is creativity important in your home? What do you do to encourage imagination, creativity and dreams in your kids?

If you're interested in creativity, click the Creating button in my right sidebar for more posts about this theme. You might also like my Creative Prompt series - you can link to all the posts in the series at New Series - Creative Prompts from the Book Chook.

Children's Book Review, The Scariest Thing of All

noreply@blogger.com (The Book Chook) — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 18:39:00 +0000

Children's Book Review by Susan Stephenson, www.thebookchook.com

I adore children's literature, as you know. Today, I'm not just appreciating that great children's books can start a lifelong love of reading in kids, though they certainly can. I really like the way a children's picture book can help children learn to cope. In the case of The Scariest Thing of All, by Debi Gliori and published by Bloomsbury (2011), the theme is coping with fears.

A little rabbit has a seemingly endless list of things to be afraid of. Even his family aren’t sure how to help him overcome his anxieties!

One day, everything gets just about as bad as it can and the little rabbit finally has to face his fears. In so doing, of course, he realises that nothing is as big, bad or as terrifying as it first appears.

Don't you love that positive message! Kids will enjoy the humour, and the imaginative writing in this book. Little Pip the rabbit likens rainfall to "...the sound a vast hisster makes as it weaves its web." We read of a "...gobbler blowing bubbles at the bottom of the lily pond." And we rejoice as the Scariest Thing of All roars its loudest roar and goes inside for supper.

Gliori's illustrations are quirky, fanciful, entertaining. There are holes to look inside, tree rooms to investigate and scary creatures to tame. Kids will enjoy The Scariest Thing of All as a bedtime or anytime story, and caring adults will appreciate the opportunity for children to understand that fears, even irrational ones, can be put into perspective.

TOP TIP: There's a lovely activity pack to download on Gliori's website that includes a wordsearch, colouring in sheets, make your own Pip mask, a wild wood nature collage and more. Love it when writers and publishers add such value to children's books!

Find more Children's Book Reviews on The Book Chook by clicking Reviews in the right sidebar.

Why I Love Children's Literature - Guest Post

noreply@blogger.com (The Book Chook) — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 18:58:00 +0000

Sue Stirling started working in a Child Care Centre in her late teens. She was privileged to have an amazing mentor who made it her mission to teach her about children, their development, and play, and how to engage children in authentic experiences. At her insistence, (which Sue will always be grateful for), Sue trained as a Child Care Worker. This led her to work in Princess Margaret Hospital for Children (Perth) as a Play Assistant. She enjoyed providing fun and engaging experiences for children during their stay in hospital. What continues to amaze her is children’s resilience and ability to overcome difficulties. From there Sue went to work in a variety of day care centres caring for children from 0-5 years old. Sue had the opportunity, when her boys were young, to write articles for the publication, Infant Times. She trained as a Teacher’s Assistant and worked with Kindergarten and Preprimary children. After being some years in this role, she enrolled in a K-3 Teaching Degree and finished in July 2011.

Why I Love Children's Literature
by Sue Stirling

For as long as I can remember, I have loved children's books and being with children! This quote by Roald Dahl embodies how I feel:

So please, oh PLEASE, we beg, we pray,
Go throw your TV set away,
And in its place you can install,
A lovely bookshelf on the wall.

I would have to say that I believe almost everything can be cured by a warm lap and a good book! I can remember sitting on a cold winter evening on my mother’s lap, beside a warm crackling open fire, being absorbed in tales of Narnia by C.S.Lewis and the adventures of four children who were able to travel to other lands through wardrobes and train stations. I remember laughing until my stomach ached as my mother read Pippi Longstocking by Astrid Lindgren. I loved the fact that Pippi lived in a house on her own with her own horse, and really did anything she liked. She even had to tell herself when it was time to go to bed!

Over the years, there have been many days where I sat with my boys as we read about knights in amour, held our breath as the story reached its climax and sighed with relief as the hero once again was victorious. I remember days where we would read books that made us laugh until we cried. As the years unfolded I have had the opportunity to read to hundreds of children. Sometimes I pause and look at their faces, their bodies so still, their faces filled with wonder. I think to myself, where are they? What can they see? What are they imagining? All the troubles of their day are swept aside as they enter a world of wonder - the world of children's literature.

Catch up with Sue on her new blog, Teachers Quiver Full, where you'll find out more about her passion for children's literature, and learn great tips for literacy, learning and literature activities.

Hand-selling Books to Kids

noreply@blogger.com (The Book Chook) — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 18:19:00 +0000

Hand-selling is what I call it when I believe I know the perfect book for a child. I couldn't resist doing this with my students, my son and my friends' kids.

Yes, I truly believe children are more likely to love reading when they make their own choice of reading material. But there are times when kids might have a prejudice about a certain genre, or be blinkered to anything other than books about tractors or unicorns. Hand-selling is when I do my best to tell a child what will appeal to him about a book. And then he gets to choose for himself. With me trying hard not to look disappointed if he doesn't choose the book I love!

How NOT to hand-sell: Don't give a rambling recollection of the book. This is the verbal equivalent of a slide night. "There's this boy, see, and he has a dog, well, he has a cat too and the cat is so funny, makes all these jokes but the dog is good too, you'll love him. His name's Snap, not the boy but the dog. The boy is Jake. The cat's name is Tiddles. Or is it Puddles? Oh, never mind. Now where was I?"

Tips for hand-selling:

* Use your knowledge of the child to explain why you believe he will enjoy this book. Has he read a book with a similar theme? Does he like the subject matter? Did he express a love for humour in books? Is he a reluctant reader looking for lots of white space, large print and quirky illustrations.

* Show her the book in question. Let her hold it and leaf through it. This helps her make a visual and physical connection with the book.

* Keep your description short and to-the-point. Think back cover book blurb, not Gone with the Wind. Hone right in on the features that will appeal to this particular child rather then re-telling the plot.

Do you hand-sell books to your kids? Any tips for the rest of us? What works for you?

Find similar articles at The Book Chook by clicking Reading in the right sidebar.

Children's Book Review, Waiting for Later

noreply@blogger.com (The Book Chook) — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 18:18:00 +0000

Children's Book Review by Susan Stephenson, www.thebookchook.com

Do you love what imaginative play can do for kids? I certainly do. Here's a children's picture book that celebrates imaginative play. Waiting for Later was written and illustrated by Tina Matthews, and published by Walker Books.

Later never seems to come soon enough! But sometimes waiting for later can be full of surprises.

Even though Nancy is big, one day she feels small. She asks her mum, brother, cousin, aunt and grandfather to play with her. They’re all busy and inevitably reply, “Later.” So Nancy climbs a tree in her backyard to wait for later, and imagines playing the games her family doesn’t have time for. When later arrives, it’s her family who wonder where Nancy’s got to.

Kids will immediately empathize with Nancy. How many times are we told as children, "Not yet." or "In a little while."? Consumed with impatience, we jiggle from foot to foot, or ask our question again, or eventually, like Nancy, give up the pestering and use our imaginations instead. And that feeling of being small, when you know you're a big girl really, can strike us all, I think, when it seems the people in our lives are just too busy to find time for us.

As is usual with excellent children's picture books, I found myself appreciating the illustrations just as much as the text. Matthews has created atmospheric art work using Japanese woodcuts and stencils. I think children will enjoy the silhouettes, too, especially identifying who they represent and what they're doing. Through Nancy's eyes, we see and appreciate the natural world and her family's world, and how they interrelate.

Walker Books have added tremendous value to Waiting for Later with the resources on their website. Teacher, parents and librarians will appreciate that they are free to download Waiting for Later Classroom Ideas as a pdf. There are great suggestions inside to use as discussion starters and learning activities. Waiting for Later was short-listed for the 2011 Queensland Premier’s Literary Awards, Children’s Book - Mary Ryan’s Award.

Find more Children's Book Reviews on The Book Chook by clicking Reviews in the right sidebar.

Make a LEGO Comic at Pharaoh's Quest

noreply@blogger.com (The Book Chook) — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 18:27:00 +0000

If your kids love LEGO, I think they'll love making a comic at Pharaoh's Quest.

Based on the LEGO toy range, the comic maker provides backgrounds, heroes, mummies, creatures, treasures, captions and effects from which kids can choose. Backgrounds come in single or multiple frame templates. I was disappointed there is no way to add text of our own, but there are several special effects words available eg boom! pow! and even hieroglyph speech bubbles! Once an element is dragged to the working screen, it can be edited with larger/smaller, flip, rotate and move controls. Delete an item by simply dragging it out of the window.

There's an option to print out the comic, but for a digital version, kids will need to take a screen grab as there is no save function.

Making a comic is a wonderful way to involve children in some creativity and storytelling. Although writing is limited in the actual online comic maker, kids can still use it as a spark for a story of their own. They could handwrite or type a story, and use printed cartoons from Pharaoh's Quest as their illustrations. Younger kids will relish the opportunity to make stories that revolve around their toys. Play with literacy even more, and work out children's names according to the Egyptian Hieroglyphic Alphabet.

Read to Kids!

noreply@blogger.com (The Book Chook) — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 18:37:00 +0000

Do you need yet another good reason to read to your kids? Don't just do it for your children. Do it for your country!

If you love reading, and want to remind people how important it is to read to their kids, you're welcome to use my poster. I made it by adding text via Picnik to the classic Lord Kitchener public domain poster found at wikipedia. Oh, yes, and I added a pair of sunglasses too!

Adding captions to images to generate a poster is a fun literacy activity you might like to try with your children. Find more ideas in my post, Book Chook Favourites - Making Posters.

Children's Book Review, Aoki

noreply@blogger.com (The Book Chook) — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 18:38:00 +0000

Children's Book Review by Susan Stephenson, www.thebookchook.com

Last year, I told you about Yumi, a delightful children's picture book about a Japanese kokeshi doll. Today, I want to share a new find with you. Aoki is another in the kokeshi series by Annelore Parot, published by Hardie Grant Egmont (2011).

Meet Yumi, the youngest of the Kokeshi. She is adventurous and clever. She takes great pride in everything she does, and personifies the universe that artist Annelore Parot has created for her characters. She loves to dress up, go to school, go to parties and solve problems! Help Yumi to find the right Kimono to wear, and learn Japanese phrases. Find Yumi's friends, and then choose an outfit for a dress-up party! Decide the best sushi for Yumi to eat and then fall into a Kokeshi filled dream!

Aoki is just as elegant and sumptuous as Yumi. Parot has kept to the formula that little girls loved in Yumi - padded and appliqued cover, characters who genuinely look just like kokeshi dolls, lots of intriguing patterns in the art work, and little puzzles to solve behind flaps and through windows. Even the endpapers have that certain je ne sais quoi, a style that will have kids asking for more.

The story isn't complicated. It's a journey with a happy conclusion though, and lots of opportunities along the way to learn a little about Japanese culture and language. Exposing children to other cultures through literature is such a good way to develop tolerance and empathy - throw in the fun of a puzzle book and a toy theme and it seems Egmont have another winner!

Read another review of Aoki at Buzz Words Books. Click Reviews in the right sidebar to read more children's book reviews at www.thebookchook.com

New Online Writing Classes for Kids

noreply@blogger.com (The Book Chook) — Sun, 08 Jan 2012 19:03:00 +0000

Children's and young adult author and former journalist, Dee White started teaching writing for children and teens after her creative 10 year-old was turned off writing by the length, format and content restrictions of the school curriculum.

She has taught writing workshops and classes in schools around Australia and runs regular school holiday workshops for all ages. Dee is an advocate of young writers and has been a mentor with the PLIESE program.

She believes that young writers need to be nurtured and says, "I started writing when I was seven years-old and haven't stopped since".

Writing Classes for Kids is a new resource set up by Dee to give kids the chance to explore their creativity, feel good about their writing and work towards publication.

"I really wanted to develop an affordable resource for young writers. Somewhere kids and teens could learn about writing and be encouraged to write, no matter who they were or where they lived."

"I started developing this site just for kids, but then I had enquiries from adult writers as well and realised that the lesson plans, particularly those for teens would also be relevant for adults."

"But I wanted the focus to definitely be on young writers because there are other sites out there for adults, but there's not much available for kids."

RESOURCES AVAILABLE FROM WRITING CLASSES FOR KIDS

• Downloadable lesson plans on various aspects of writing including writing for fun, story ideas, plot, character development, setting, pacing, the road to publication, non-fiction writing and even grammar.
• Regular writing exercises and activities for all ages.
• Published authors from all over the world will visit the site regularly to share their tips on writing, talk about how they wrote their books and provide FREE writing activities.
• FREE quarterly writing competitions will be held at Writing Classes for Kids with winners receiving book prizes and writing products.
• Information will be provided about other writing competitions and publishing opportunities.
• Links to other great sites for writers.
• A manuscript assessment and mentoring service.

Most of the activities will be FREE but a $5 download charge applies to some lesson plans, and the manuscript assessments/mentoring will incur a cost. This is designed to cover the administration of the blog and the development of new lesson plans and resources.

..........

For more information, contact Dee by emailing: Dee*At*deescribe*Dot*com*Dot*au

Children's Book Review, Ten Blue Wrens

noreply@blogger.com (The Book Chook) — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 18:21:00 +0000

Children's Book Review by Susan Stephenson, www.thebookchook.com

Here's a children's picture book that's as lovely as it is lengthily titled. Ten Blue Wrens and what a lot of wattle was created by Elizabeth Honey and published by Allen and Unwin (2011). According to the cover, it's also An Absolutely Australian Counting Book:

A playful, irreverent counting book that celebrates the special things we know and love about Australia. Start with 'one little nipper', then count the pies, potaroos and blue wrens up to 'twelve kelpie legs' - in this friendly and amusing book you can count from one to a thrillion!

Count the busy wrens on their fine stick legs,
the bowerbird's treasures, his bottle tops and pegs.
How many potaroos? How many pies?
How many gum leaves? How many flies?
Now count the strawberries on that luscious pavlova.
Quick! Count the lamingtons... Oh! None left over!

I so enjoyed the humour and rhyme in Ten Blue Wrens. I also loved that Honey chose some quintessential but not so obvious elements of Australian life. For instance, we read of "Two straight fingers for a goal in Aussie Rules" and "12 hardworking kelpie legs".

Honey's beautiful illustrations were made with acrylics sponged onto stencils. The front endpaper shows part of this process - a brilliant idea that will definitely intrigue young artists. My favourite illustration though is the front cover, replete with fluffy, chubby blue wrens and fluffy golden wattle - gorgeous!

It's great to find a counting book with an Australian flavour. I think Ten Blue Wrens and what a lot of wattle! would make a thoughtful gift for a child overseas, and teachers will grab it to add to their resources on Australian Studies. Kids will just grab it to enjoy!

Find more Children's Book Reviews at www.thebookchook.com by clicking Reviews in the right sidebar.

Let's Share the Library Love

noreply@blogger.com (The Book Chook) — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 18:29:00 +0000

Holidays are a wonderful time for creating family memories. Make your children's holidays even more special this year by including regular trips to your local library, or visiting libraries further afield. Even if you can't borrow books from a distant library, you can discover new books there, or just sit and share a lovely story together.

In Australia, 2012 is the National Year of Reading. Check out what's on offer at the website. Be sure to look for goodies to plunder on their literacy resources page.

I love the words on the great poster at left by Phil Bradley. Right now, my own love for libraries is resonating over the last two points:

1. Choose to have fun in a library and treat it as your own space.

2. Choose your library to help protect democracy, and to show people that reading, knowledge and learning is cool.

Is a library or ten in your future? What do you love about libraries? Do you have a very favourite library?

Looking Back to December Past

noreply@blogger.com (The Book Chook) — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 18:57:00 +0000

Towards the end of each month in 2011, I've been revisiting some articles I've written in 2009 and 2010. Not only does this mean new readers of the blog may find something useful otherwise buried in the archives, but it also reminds me of content I can refer to when I write new articles.

2009

Are We Having Fun Yet? Incorporating fun and purpose into what we want kids to learn. And a video from Fun Theory.

The Book Chook Makes a Movie My first effort at turning a simple story into a movie.

The Book Chook in Love My love affair with the game, Questionaut - delightful art work and lots of reading.

On the Go, or On the Chair Book Chook ideas for incorporating movement into a child's day, including literacy activities and screen time.

Bless this Chick My favourite avatar maker. Great place for you and your kids to play online dress-ups.

Bed Time Goes Better with Books Some Book Chook favourites for sleepytime.

2010

Holiday Learning Fun Lots of Book Chook ideas for sneaking some learning into the holiday season.

Just for Fun Clips, sites and games - a stack of fun for you and your children.

What's the Use of Word Clouds? Some ideas for using Wordle and other word cloud makers.

Creative Prompt - Start with Illustrations One of the Creative Prompt Series, this article suggests ways to start with images to get kids creating.

Are Manners Important? A Book Chook rant. Do good manners open doors for us? What do you think?

Creative Prompt - Two Word Poem Another in the Creative Prompt Series, use this easy idea from poet, Lorraine Marwood, to get your kids started with poetry.

Encouraging Kids to Read and Write Poetry Guest post from poet, Lorraine Marwood.

Creative Prompt - Start with a Hero Kids love heroes, so why not start with the hero as a prompt for even more creativity?

If you're interested in children's book reviews from December '09, '10, or indeed the many other articles from that time, try those months in the Blog Archive widget in the right sidebar, which has a drop-down menu. Find all children's book reviews by clicking on the right sidebar button, Reviews.

Children's Book Review, Handa's Surprise

noreply@blogger.com (The Book Chook) — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 18:46:00 +0000

Here is a guest review of children's picture book, Handa's Surprise, from passionate children’s literature supporter, Sue Stirling. Sue has a new blog where you'll find great literature activities. Find more children's book reviews by clicking Reviews in the right sidebar.

Handa’s Surprise, written and illustrated by Eileen Browne and published in 1994 by Walker Books, brings a taste of Africa to both children and parents. Bright, rich colours and ‘life-like’ character drawings pull us into the different and exciting world of an African village.

Handa is a little girl who decides to visit her friend Akeyo, and bring her a basket of delicious fruit. As she walks along the dusty road, she wonders which fruit will be Akeyo’s favourite. On her way, some cheeky animals spy fruit in the basket and find different ways to take it! There’s a lovely surprise at the end that will delight children for many years. The story has appeal for younger children as they watch the way the animals find their favorite fruit. Older children enjoy the expressive language such as the sweet smelling guava and the creamy green avocado and the surprise ending!

Handa’s Surprise is a joyous, colourful book journey. Revisiting the story several times encourages children to match animals to fruit, and remember which animal was first, second and so on. The story naturally incorporates opportunities for language development as children try to predict which fruit Akeyo will like. Classrooms can incorporate literacy take home bags with supporting resources and activities for parents to enjoy with their children. Matching card games, colourful masks and fun fruit recipes would all add and extend children’s learning and enjoyment of the story.

As an educator, I‘ve found this story offers many wonderful opportunities to develop children’s artistic and creative abilities. Kids enjoy drawing, and discovering different textures, shapes and colours found in some of the more unusual fruits. Small drama productions have bring great delight to children as they retell the story and re-create the animals with wonderful masks and costumes and hand painted backdrops.

The cultural aspect of the story gives children an insight into different ways people live and dress thereby giving them a glimpse into the world outside the one they live in. I love the way the story can’t help but encourage rich, oral language! I love the versatility of the story as it can be a wonderful ‘lap time’ story, just adult and child together enjoying the cheeky animals and the rich colours. It can be a story with a group of children focusing on different aspects, maybe the use of the colours, the different and diverse animals and the intriguing ending. It can be a whole group story with children taking small drama parts and re-enacting the story.

Much to everyone’s delight in 2002, Eileen Browne wrote and illustrated a second book, incorporating Handa and Akeyo. Handa’s Hen sees the two friends looking for Handa’s hen, and making discoveries along the way. A wonderful set of stories to be kept and loved by children, parents and educators alike!

Sue Stirling started working in a Child Care Centre in her late teens. She was privileged to have an amazing mentor who made it her mission to teach her about children, their development, and play, and how to engage children in authentic experiences. At her insistence, (which she will always be grateful for), she trained as a Child Care Worker. This led her to work in Princess Margaret Hospital for Children (Perth) as a Play Assistant. She enjoyed providing fun and engaging experiences for children during their stay in hospital. What continues to amaze her is children’s resilience and ability to overcome difficulties.

From there Sue went to work in a variety of day care centres caring for children from 0-5 years old. Sue had the opportunity, when her boys were young, to write articles for the publication, Infant Times. She trained as a Teacher’s Assistant and worked with Kindergarten and Pre-primary children. After being some years in this role, she enrolled in a K-3 Teaching Degree and finished in July this year.

The Book Chook will be taking a short break. See you back here December 30.

Making Posters at ArtSkills

noreply@blogger.com (The Book Chook) — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 18:40:00 +0000

ArtSkills is a website where you and your kids can make posters. You need to register - a simple process. Then you can check out posters others have created in the Poster Gallery, or make your own.

The poster wizard offers you a range of templates to help you get started. They are customisable, so you can add text, images, change colours and fonts etc. I needed an undo button when I tried a text alignment that looked poor with the number of letters I chose. I couldn't find one, so I had to start over, but that didn't take long. When finished, you can save your poster, and the site will email you links for further action on it eg a printable version, and a version that is best for you to use to reconstruct your poster by hand.

I like that ArtSkills offers a pdf booklet about the basic poster making process, as well as lists of possible topics, and lots of tips and help. There's even a 60 minute emergency poster guide for parents - "Mum, I just remembered, I have to make a poster for tomorrow!" The advice is for real life posters, as well as digital ones.

Art Skills goes on my list of websites that encourage children's literacy. It's also a good resource to remember when you need to customise and print a poster that advertises your garage sale or meeting. Find other poster making resources in Book Chook Favourites - Making Posters.

Review, Lotta Children's Magazine

noreply@blogger.com (The Book Chook) — Sun, 18 Dec 2011 18:27:00 +0000

I'm excited about a new find - it's Lotta magazine for 5-10 year-old kids, and is specifically designed for school holiday fun. It's completely ad-free, and will be released four times a year for the school holidays. $10 per issue for 60 pages makes it good value for money, and both Australian and international customers can buy it online.

Each issue will have a theme. The first is The Story Issue. All of its arts, crafts and activities are inspired by classic books and fairytales. I really like the range of activities, and the way they involve kids in purposeful and creative fun. It's jam-packed with stuff kids will really want to do, creative stuff, fun stuff, and yet still things we adults figure will help them learn, too.

Lotta magazine: The Story Issue is visually very appealing. The format is about paperback book size, ideal for young hands. Clear photographs accompany step-by-step instructions and the finished products are really enticing. I also love that there are pdf activity templates to accompany each issue freely available at the Lotta website.

Although it's aimed at children, I can see teachers and librarians grabbing this attractive publication. The activities in it are perfect for discussing visual literacy with kids, and make great models of factual text types. There are also activities that slot nicely into the English curriculum - like the Story Starter cubes, which will work as prompts for storytelling or narrative writing. You can see more activities in the little video on Lotta's Facebook page.

If you're looking for a gift for that special child, or just hoping to steer your kids towards creative play these school holidays, check out Lotta - it's a lotta fun!

Fun and Easy Ways to Make Digital Art with Kids

noreply@blogger.com (The Book Chook) — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 17:55:00 +0000

Warholize

If you've been following The Book Chook for a while, you'll have picked up that I love to find simple ways to play with images and make digital art. After three years, I'm no closer to being an artist than I ever was, but that hasn't diminished my enthusiasm one jot or tittle.

Today I'd like to share some web resources I believe are simple enough for children to use to create a digital image (with supervision), and have fun with it. Many of them use Flash. For most you'll also need to capture the image you want by taking a screen picture with Grab or Jing or whatever program you have. Once you've captured it, the rest is up to you.

Scrap Coloring

Scrap Coloring This is one of my favourite resources - I wrote about it in Make Your Own Mandala and Scrap Coloring. As you can see in my image here, putting patterns inside a child's name would be a fun way to decorate a t-shirt. Go to the name page if you want to do this with your child.

The Scribbler Create a simple drawing and Scribbler does the rest, tracing over and creating interesting line patterns.

Kaleidoscope

Kaleidoscope Just like a real kaleidoscope, start a pattern and your lines are mirrored and multiply.

More Me You The faster you gesture, the more the line width increases, resulting in interesting abstract art. Kids could experiment with writing their names, and adding swishes and swirls.

Graffiti Creator

Graffiti Creator This generates graffiti words. Put the words you want into the box and play with the settings until you generate what you want.

ZigZagPhilosophy This is interesting. Have fun building up lines a little like sand falling from above. Then grab the design you like.

Crayola Digi-Color I wrote about Crayola's online drawing tablet in Colour Me Crazy.

Jackson Pollock Click and drag with your mouse to change colours and get Jackson Pollock-style patterns.

Warholize Me Upload a photo, choose a colour and a saying, and click. Instant Warhol style photo. See top.

Iconscrabble

Iconscrabble Type text up to 18 characters into the box (Begriffe eingeben). Click Scrabble to see your phrase in letters. Press Bild herunterladen to generate a png image of your phrase and save it to your computer. Read more in my article.

Bomomo

Bomomo Choose one of the icons at the bottom of the screen, then click or drag on the screen and see what happens. Repeat.

Aminah's World Click on Create your own artwork. This loads an art creator where you can choose all sorts of objects to build a collage. Print. Or Save offers you an option to save the art work to your computer as a jpg. Read more in my article.

Word Cloud Generators like Wordle are an interesting way to generate an image of text. Read more in What's the Use of Word Clouds?

PicassoHead

PicassoHead Drag face elements to your canvas and play! Read more in Picassopation.

Okay. We've had a ton of fun, and maybe even learnt a little while playing with these image generators. But what can we DO with our creations?

Your imagination's the only limit. Here are some ideas I came up with. Please let me know via comments, email (thebookchook (at) gmail.com) or via The Book Chook Facebook page (big red button in left sidebar) if you have any more suggestions.

*Make a card, digital or print to send to someone your child loves
*Create your own screen saver
*Decorate a t-shirt or some other item of clothing
*Make 12 different images and create a calendar for someone as a gift
*Recreate what you've made digitally with paint or crayon
*Print out what you created digitally and use it in a collage

UPDATE: I'm linking this post up to the January Teaching Ideas Blog Share Linky Party.

Children's Book Review, Where Are Santa's Pants?

noreply@blogger.com (The Book Chook) — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 17:53:00 +0000

Children's Book Review by Susan Stephenson, www.thebookchook.com

Need another suggestion for a bookish Christmas gift? Where Are Santa's Pants? is a great choice for a stocking filler. Created by Richard Merritt, it was first published by Little Hare Books (2010), an imprint of Hardie Grant Egmont.

I LOVE puzzle books, (as you probably picked up in my Where's Wally review), and I know kids do too. Apparently dieting has caused Santa's pants to fall off, so he needs help to find them. But that's not all children must do - there are other visual problems to be solved on each page.

HO HO… Oh No! Santa's lost his pants! It is the middle of Christmas, the crowds are out in full, and Santa has lost his pants. The trouble is, he doesn't know where he lost them. Was it at the department store? Was it on the beach? Was it at ice rink? Or was it at the railway station? This ultimate seek-and-find puzzle book is crammed with hilarious detail … and Santa's pants are to be found somewhere on each spread.

The spreads in this children's picture book are nicely detailed so finding something specific isn't easy. A cursory glance won't locate the pants! There are also lots of tiny scenes to be exclaimed over and shared with friends. Kids learn that problem solving takes application and perseverance by completing puzzles, and have fun at the same time. Win/Win!

Read KBR's review of Where Are Santa's Pants? Find more bookish suggestions for Christmas at The Book Chook in Ideas for Children's Christmas Gifts, or by clicking Reviews in the sidebar at right.

Three Dice Games Your Kids Will Love

noreply@blogger.com (The Book Chook) — Sun, 11 Dec 2011 18:33:00 +0000

One thing I love about dice is that they're portable. Throwing some dice and pencil and paper into a bag takes only a second. Dice games are a great way to entertain kids while sneaking a little learning in too. (Grammatical note: I plan to use "dice" in this article as both singular and plural, following what has become common practice.)

Dice encourage kids to learn how to manipulate numbers. Playing dice games is a good way for children to learn game skills like taking turns, staying on task, mentally adding numbers, observing others' game play and keeping/recording scores.

Another useful thing about dice is with kids' own invented games. Including dice will add an element of chance which the young creator can factor in. Making new games is a wonderful activity for kids - it provides opportunities for the development of all sorts of learning skills. Read more about the process in my article, It's Fun to be Frugal.

Here are some dice games I like:

Tower: I invented this game for my Kindergarten kids. It's simple enough for pre-schoolers to play, provided they can count dots to 6. As well as dice, you'll need some blocks that can be added to each other vertically to build a tower. You can play with two or more people.

The aim of the game is to build a tower that doesn't collapse. The first child throws the dice, takes that number of blocks and begins his own tower. Second/third child follows suit. The child with the last tower standing "wins". Try again.

With older kids, you could add another dice and have a possible total of 12 per throw. The kinds of blocks you use will make a difference to the game eg wooden blocks vs Lego vs Unifix. Joinable blocks will perhaps begin to lean and fall - experiment and ask kids to predict which will work best.

I know it's simple, but young kids need simple games. Most children love to try balancing blocks on top of each other, so this is where the fun part comes in. Meanwhile, they're practising one-to-one correspondence with dots and blocks.

Pig: I love Pig because of the risk-taking, and because it can be played with enjoyment by kids and adults together. There's a little Maths involved, because children must add their scores. Read the rules and a sample game in this wikipedia article.

Yahtzee: The boxed game of Yahtzee is reasonably priced, or look for it at Garage Sales or markets. If you lose some of your game, or run out of the score pad, make your own version and print it off using this wikipedia article as a guide. Basically, the game involves throwing five dice at a time, in an attempt to get different poker-related combinations of dice.

Lost the dice you thought were in the games cupboard? Never fear! Here's a dice simulator. The same site describes some other dice games, including Beetle and Craps. Education World have many card and dice games to practise Maths skills. KBConnected has many excellent links to dice resources.

Next time you're taking a trip, don't just pack the books and snacks, add some dice, and pencil and paper!

Original public domain image above from Wikimedia Commons, added to by Book Chook at Picnik.

Offer: Free Script for Literacy Groups – Guest Post

noreply@blogger.com (The Book Chook) — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 18:35:00 +0000

Read the guest article below to learn about a wonderful offer from Hazel Edwards for literacy groups in Australia's Year of Reading (2012.)

Best known for the classic ‘There's a Hippopotamus on Our Roof Eating Cake’ series, which is now a short film, Hazel Edwards writes for adults & children, runs non-boring writing workshops and is a regular keynote speaker. Hazel’s 200 books explore settings ranging from Antarctic expeditions to difficult personalities.‘Coping successfully with being different’ is a common theme in her fiction.'f2m:the boywithin', co-written with Ryan Kennedy via Skype, is a 2011 White Ravens selection.

Hazel uses performance scripts for literacy as well as junior e-mystery series such as 'Project Spy Kids' which stars sleuth Art, a resourceful non-reader.

Julie Savage (Jules Savage-Milner) who co-wrote 'An 'L of a Difference', also worked in literacy, and is now a management consultant.

Adult Literacy: An ‘L of a Difference’ Approach via Performance

Hazel Edwards

I accepted the role of Ambassador for the 2012 National Year of Reading because I’m a readaholic. I read in the bath, listen to audio books in the car and have become obsessed with e-books as a ‘cool’ way of enticing new readers onscreen. A book or play enables you to ‘live’ from another’s perspective for the length of that story.

Caro’s story is that of a 40-ish innovative problem-solver, who is literate by the end of the play. The ‘L’ refers to Literacy, L Plates and the ‘ell of a Difference that reading can make.

15 years ago, I co-wrote the audio play ‘An ‘L of a Difference’ with Julie Savage. It was performed on Radio RPH and printed by Bushfire Press. Much has changed since then, not only my co-author’s surname but our Caro character would no longer use polaroid shots to label her cosmetic business products with customer photos, because she was unable to read. She would use Ipad and the latest digital devices to help her read. (We’ve turned this into a discussion of the latest hi-tech aids to literacy and how actor-participants would ‘update’ the play.) The script is for performance by actors but the content is for those involved with literacy.

We wrote this script 7 computers ago. But the reason for writing the humorous play about adult literacy has not changed. Originally I’d been requested by a 40 something woman for a play. And our ‘Shirley Valentine’ type character was created who ‘trades’ make-over skills with the dowdy tutor. Caro copes with a son on ‘L’ plates, a husband who leaves, forcing her to learn to read, and is helped by a neighbour artist who draws literacy clues. Others in her literacy class typify the reasons and approaches from ‘Could you read this for me, I’ve forgotten my glasses’ to the tradie, whose wife does all the bookwork, or the adolescent who wants his driver’s licence.

Now I’m offering the script free, with extension activities, for community groups to perform in the 2012 National Year of Reading. If interested, see Performance Rights, below. An ‘L of a Difference makes a great discussion-starter for conferences or performance on local radio. Why? Because shared humour is one way of tackling adult literacy, especially via performance, which ‘distances’ the personal issues.

At an author parent talk, a country mother told me, “I’m learning to read with my daughter who is in prep. We’ve learnt to read your ‘There’s a Hippopotamus on our Roof Eating Cake’ together. Is there anything else I can read?”

An L of a Difference
ISBN 978-0-9871575-1-5
By Hazel Edwards ( www.hazeledwards.com) and Julie Savage

Performance Rights:

1. Contact hazel@hazeledwards.com for permission to perform in 2012 National Year of Reading (Australia). Permission will be given for any literacy groups.

2. The script is also available for sale, (if you’re not a literacy group covered by 1. above.)

Sample Discussion Starters/Extension Activities:

• Exactly how did you spend your last 24 hours?
• List everything you would not have been able to do, if unable to read or write.
• For the next 24 hours, try to function without reading or writing. When was it most difficult?
• What difficulties might arise in a household where one member was not functionally literate? Messages? Filling in forms? Street signs? Tax? Driver’s Licence?
• Which technology helps if you are just learning to read?

Children's Book Review, Stew a Cockatoo: My Aussie Cookbook

noreply@blogger.com (The Book Chook) — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 18:33:00 +0000

Children's Book Review by Susan Stephenson, www.thebookchook.com

Are you still searching for that perfect Christmas gift? I gave some suggestions recently in Ideas for Children's Christmas Gifts, and told you earlier this week about Little Treasures which are ideal mini-books for posting. If you know a child who loves to cook, can I suggest you seek out Stew a Cockatoo: My Aussie Cookbook? Written by Ruthie May and illustrated by Leigh Hobbs, it was published by Little Hare, 2010 (imprint of Hardie Grant Egmont.)

From snaggers on the barbie to dainty desserts for dames, Stew a Cockatoo is the cookbook that every Australian has been waiting for. Not only is this book jam-packed (no pun intended) with good ol' Aussie recipes but it's full of anecdotal stories about how our cuisine came to be and fair dinkum definitions for words and phrases like ‘bush tucker' and ‘spuds'. Bet you didn't know there were over 10 different types of Aussie sausage - beef snag, chook snag, pork snag, lamb snag, tofu snag, any kind of meat snag, sav, mystery bag and kanga banger.

Recipes range from Damper with Cocky's Joy, to Lord Lamington's Lamingtons, and from Echidna Delight to Scrambled Googs. My favourite is the eponymous Stewed Cockatoo - I just hope young readers realise this particular recipe is actually a joke. But I think I might try the Roo Stew with Bush Tomatoes or the Prawn Skewers. All the recipes seem simple enough for children to follow with supervision.

May has written this book, I imagine, with tongue firmly in her cheek. Both kids and adults will enjoy the humour. Kids are told they'll need an adult to help get "the jumbuck in the tuckerbag." May has also sprinkled interesting historical snippets throughout, along with activity suggestions.

I've always enjoyed Hobbs' cartoons and illustrations. They're an excellent choice to add colour and a cackle of humour to these recipes. Illustration captions, text boxes, sticky notes, and the recipes themselves means Stew a Cockatoo is a perfect choice for parents, teachers and librarians who want to discuss aspects of visual literacy with their children and students.

Stew a Cockatoo: My Aussie Cookbook would also make a perfect gift to send overseas, as it not only introduces kids to typical Aussie foods, but also to Aussie lingo - colourful expressions like "Arvo Tea", "anklebiter", "bikkies", and "Howya goin'?"

Fun and practical! I hope you and your kids enjoy it as much as I did.

Find more Children's Book Reviews on The Book Chook by clicking Reviews in the sidebar at right.

Children's Book Review, Little Treasures

noreply@blogger.com (The Book Chook) — Sun, 04 Dec 2011 18:37:00 +0000

Children's Book Review by Susan Stephenson, www.thebookchook.com

Just in time for Christmas, or for any time you need a meaningful gift for that special child in your life, come Little Treasures. These captivating miniature children's picture books by Peter Carnavas and published by Australian publishers, New Frontier, come with an envelope for easy postage. Isn't this a neat idea!

There are four books in the Little Treasures series: Sarah's Heavy Heart , Jessica's Box, The Important Things and Last Tree in the City. I've previously reviewed The Important Things and Last Tree in the City, and found Sarah's Heavy Heart and Jessica's Box equally delightful. Carnavas chooses important themes like Family, Environment, Love and Self Worth, and he speaks to our hearts with both his writing and his illustrating.

I love that for not much more than the cost of a birthday or Christmas card, you can send a child a complete little picture book. One book is $Au9.95; the four books cost $Au29.95. Little Treasures are available from all good book stores or directly from the New Frontier website.

Remember, the gift of reading lasts a lifetime!

Find more Children's Book Reviews on The Book Chook by clicking Reviews in the right sidebar.

Take Your Child to a Bookstore Day

noreply@blogger.com (The Book Chook) — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 18:38:00 +0000

With Thanksgiving recently taking place in the USA, I was thinking how lucky I am to live in a country where I have free access to books via our wonderful public library system. And feeling thankful for book shops too. Although online buying is easy, nothing will ever replace the "feel" I get in a book shop, as if I've stepped into a cave filled with treasures.

How long is it since you took your kids to a store to choose and purchase a book of their very own? If you can't remember, consider December 3 as a great reminder! It's Take Your Child to a Bookstore Day. "Watch his face light up as you give him free access, not just to a new book, but to tomorrow."

Being able to choose a book for themselves gives children a sense of control and ownership over what they're reading. They're more motivated to read, and will learn to refine their own choices as time goes by. If the price of books is daunting, consider getting kids a library card and visiting weekly. Again, make sure they get to choose lots of books for themselves. Another great place to find less expensive books is a market or garage sale.

But if you can afford it, do consider visiting a bookstore with your children on December 3!

Looking Back to November Past

noreply@blogger.com (The Book Chook) — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 18:46:00 +0000

Towards the end of each month, I like to revisit some articles I've written in 2009 and 2010. Not only does this mean new readers of the blog may find something useful otherwise buried in the archives, but it also reminds me of content I can refer to when I write new articles.

2009

Create with Fish at Poisson Rouge
No, you're not really creating with fish. Just me being ~~finny~~ funny. But there's beaucoup de creativity at Poisson Rouge. Encourage your young child to explore.

World Hello Day
November 21 was Word Hello Day, but the bits and pieces I suggest can be done with kids any day.

Reader's Theatre 1 and Reader's Theatre 2
I love what Reader's Theatre can do for kids. Here are two articles I wrote explaining what Reader's Theatre is, and how I go about adapting literature into a Reader's Theatre script.

Scrap Coloring is so much fun. Let your children unleash their inner designers!

Literacy in the Playground
This is a booklet I made with loads of playground rhymes for your kids to skip, chant and clap to. Download it from the Free PDFs page at my website.

2010

Creative Prompt - Start with an Old Picture
One of the Book Chook's Creative Prompt series, this guides kids through some ideas for using an old photo as a way to start being creative.

Photovisi - Easy Photo Collages
A free and easy online tool for creating photo collages

Creative Prompt - Look Within
Another in the Creative Prompt series. This time I suggest telling about ourselves and using an online tool like Notaland to express our own creativity.

Say No to Bullying
Some ideas and resources to help kids cope with bullying. "If we all work together, I truly believe we can make a change in society. If we can stop one child going to bed each night in tears, if we can prevent one suicide or total breakdown, why wouldn't we try?"

Crafting a Picture Book with Photos
A guest post from Aussie author, Tania McCartney, whose own Riley series of children's picture books were created this way.

Creative Prompt - Start with a Wacky Online Tool
More ideas for prompts to get kids creating.

Simon Says
Memory training online.

Making Books with Children - Newspapers and Books - Guest Post
From guru of book-making, Susan Kapuscinski Gaylord.

Let's Celebrate International Tongue Twister Day
Seashells on the seashore, anyone?

Creative Prompt - Start with Geometric Shapes
Another idea to use as a prompt for kids' creativity.

Let's Celebrate National Chicken Lady Day
How could I resist the idea of a holiday to celebrate chickens?

Book Chook Ideas for Making Books with Kids
Suggestions for ways to make digital and print books with children.

What's the Best Way to Say Merry Christmas?
12 months old, but still has some great suggestions for your yule-tidal gift buying plans.

Find still more articles about children's learning, literacy and literature at www.thebookchook.com by clicking the subject area buttons in the right sidebar.

Play with Words and Images at Picnik

noreply@blogger.com (The Book Chook) — Sun, 27 Nov 2011 18:13:00 +0000

I've known about Picnik for a while. I registered there to use the free image editing service a year or so ago. But recently I decided to avail myself of more Picnik features by subscribing to their Premium content. It costs me about $25/year. So far, it's money well-spent.

What I like:

*Before I signed up for Premium, I liked that Picnik very generously has lots of free content. Premium has given me access to (for example) more stamps (clipart), more editing tools etc and the ability to upload up to 100 images at once. I just use my Shift key for the latter feature.

*Picnik is online, so I can use it from anywhere in the world I happen to be. If I'm away from my home image editing software, all I need is my password, and I'm able to use all the Picnik features, both free and Premium.

*Picnik users seem to be a happy, sharing bunch. There are zillions of tutorials online telling us how to do things at Picnik. And Picnik itself has lots of helpful articles. They also have a blog.

*Picnik is easy enough for me to use, and use quickly. Yes there are lots of tutorials, but to do most jobs, I didn't need them. I often use Picnik to add text to an image, edit an image with a special effect, make a collage of images, or add a border to an image. And I love that I can create an image from scratch, just by choosing a blank collage template as my background, and building from there with stamps, text and a border, the way I did above. I can probably do those things in Photoshop, but it takes me so much less time at Picnik. It works all the time and it does most of what I want.

I love playing with words and images. Picnik has contributed to that love by providing a simple, intuitive interface. I think you and your kids would enjoy playing there. I've used Picnik recently to help create images in Let's Celebrate Talk Like a Pirate Day, and Link Reading and Craft with Bookmarks.

If you're interested in discovering more ideas on this topic, try my recent article, Book Chook Favourites - Playing with Words and Pictures, or browse articles under Creating in the right sidebar here at www.thebookchook.com.

Children's Writing - Fill in the Blanks

noreply@blogger.com (The Book Chook) — Thu, 24 Nov 2011 18:35:00 +0000

Thanks to Sandy Fussell from Stories are Light blog, I discovered two online places where children can play with story. The idea at We Make Stories and at Read it Yourself with Ladybird is to change some words in short versions of traditional tales or classics, and make a new story of your own.

At We Make Stories:

Remix-it lets you play at being an author. It's a fun way to make your own stories by messing around with some well-known ones. Will your choice of words make nonsense or make it even better? How does your story compare to the original?

Remix-it is the only free one of six activities linked to Puffin Books. Kids drag and drop the word they choose into a space wherever it's needed. They can then read their stories, and compare them to the originals.

At Ladybird Read it Yourself, Remix a fairytale is very similar:

Remix lets you change a story! Have a go and see if you can make a silly fairytale. Will your story be even better? Have fun!

Once kids choose a fairytale, they drag their chosen word to where there's a word missing. For instance, the gingerbread man can skip, run, dance, ride a bike or rollerskate out the door.

If you've been reading books like The Gingerbread Man, or Alice in Wonderland with your kids, these two websites might make a nice follow-up, giving kids the opportunity not only to revisit the story, but also have fun making a new one.

Another way of doing a fill-in-the-blanks writing activity is Mad Libs. There's a huge list of mad-lib type activities for kids at the Education Place. Mad Libs is a really sneaky way to teach kids grammar!