LitLad

Celebrating Dr. Seuss's Birthday in the Bathtub

2012-03-07T12:26:00.000-06:00

Dr. Seuss's birthday was March 2. To celebrate, we took our books to the bathtub and had a reading party. Instead of eating cake, as the cat does in The Cat in the Hat Comes Back, the boys had popcorn while I read to them. Of course, putting two growing boys in one bathtub at the same time doesn't always make for a peaceful experience. Tintin was much more relaxed the next day when he

Phineas and Ferb and A Platypus' World

2012-02-29T09:10:00.000-06:00

Some of us have a small obsession with Phineas and Ferb. At the most recent Scholastic book fair, each boy got a Phineas and Ferb book, as well as a Phineas and Ferb poster to share. Tintin also recently asked for a book on platypuses because he correctly assumed Perry the Platypus was not your average platypus and he wanted to see what they were really like. A couple of reviews: The Phineas and

A-Z Reading Marathon Challenge

2012-02-25T17:49:00.000-06:00

Last weekend we had nothing to do, so Tintin suggested we have a reading marathon. I decided to make it into a challenge. Each boy had to complete 26 tasks, one for each letter of the alphabet. We picked random letters from our Bananagrams game, but one boy wanted to do some tasks (especially P) more than once, so he peeked a little. Here's what they had to do: A. Read 1 chapter to Mom. B.

Sight Words in Kindergarten

2012-02-24T08:10:00.000-06:00

This year I've been helping some of Johnny Boo's kindergarten classmates with letters and sight words. I've also become addicted to Pinterest, much to my husband's chagrin (Chagrinterest?). Following are a couple of sight word games copied from or inspired by pins I've made: Sight Word Parking Lot (based on a bigger parking lot game at Juggling With Kids) Print Parking Lot game here. I

The Sea of Lost Books, and Our Reading Response Journal

2012-02-21T08:22:00.000-06:00

The Sea of Lost Books (Return to the Library of Doom) Author/illustrator: Michael Dahl/Bradford Kendall Publisher: Stone Arch Books (August 2010) Category: Chapter Book Tintin has a journal in which he writes down the names of the books he's just finished. In the same journal there's a section for him to write book reviews in the form of a letter to me. When he's done I write a letter back

It's Valentine's Day (Jack Prelutsky)

2012-02-14T09:08:00.000-06:00

It's Valentine's Day Author/illustrator: Jack Prelutsky/Yossi Abolafia Publisher: Mulberry (1996) Category: Poetry It's Valentine's Day is a collection of 14 Valentine's poems from the nation's first children's poet laureate (and the boys' favorite poet not named Shel Silverstein). Check out Prelutsky's website for a few of his other poems and for poetry-writing activities for children. We

Play, Louis, Play! and Our New Book Club

2012-02-06T12:45:00.000-06:00

Play, Louis, Play! The True Story of a Boy and His Horn Author/illustrator: Muriel Harris Weinstein/Frank Morrison Publisher: Bloomsbury USA Children's (December 2011) Categories: Biography; Chapter Book This is the story of Louis Armstrong's childhood, as told by his first horn, which little Louis purchased from a New Orleans hock shop for $5. Not only did the boys enjoy the book, but they

Our 2011-2012 Bluebonnet Award Choice Is...

2012-01-28T22:27:00.000-06:00

Last week Tintin and everyone else who read at least five Texas Bluebonnet books attended a special breakfast in the school library and voted on their favorite Bluebonnet book. Students all across Texas participated in the voting at their own schools. The author of the book receiving the most votes will be declared the winner of the 2011-2012 Texas Bluebonnet Award. Here's Tintin voting for Tom

Books for the 9-Year-Old

2012-01-23T22:34:00.000-06:00

Tintin is 9 today! Here are the books he received for his birthday: The Merriam-Webster and Garfield Dictionary Publisher: Merriam-Webster (January 1999) Category: Reference; Graphic Novel Scholastic Student Thesaurus Author: John K. Bollard Publisher: Scholastic (May 2007) Category: Reference Scrabble Sticker Word Puzzles Author/illustrator: Patrick Blindauer/Bob Shea

Now We Are Six (and Other Books for the Six-Year-Old)

2012-01-10T00:19:00.000-06:00

Johnny Boo turned six last week! And now that he's six, we're reading Now We Are Six: Now We Are Six Author/illustrator: A.A. Milne/Ernest H. Shepard First published: 1927 Category: Poetry Here are some other recent favorites: Adventures in Cartooning: How to Turn Your Doodles Into Comics Author/illustratror: James Sturm; Andrew Arnold; Alexis Frederick-Frost

8-Year-Old Boy Review: Spiderwick Chronicles

2012-01-02T14:14:00.000-06:00

Review by Tintin, age 8 The Spiderwick Chronicles Author/illustrator: Holly Black & Tony DiTerlizzi Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers (September 2004) Source: Home library/public library/school library The Spiderwick Chronicles are about a boy named Jared, a girl named Mallory, and another boy named Simon. Jared found a book in which creepy, terrifying, and terrible

5-Year-Old Books of the Week: Bumblebee Boy, Awesome Man, Happy Pig Day!, Hocus Pocus, Super-Dragon

2011-11-13T07:58:00.001-06:00

We're back to blogging after a little break! Here are Johnny Boo's favorite books this week (Tintin is in the middle of reading Vordak the Incomprehensible again). The Amazing Adventures of Bumblebee Boy Author/illustrator: Jacky Davis/David Soman Publisher: Dial (October 2011) Source: Public library Don't expect to see Ladybug Girl in this book--this time it's all about Bumblebee Boy. Oh,

Books of the Week: Joey Fly, Private Eye; Sardine in Outer Space; Patrick (Toon Books); Wonder Woman

2011-09-19T13:00:00.000-05:00

Here are our favorites from last week: Tintin, age 8 Joey Fly, Private Eye in Big Hairy Drama Author/illustrator: Aaron Reynolds/Neil Numberman Publisher: Henry Holt & Co. (November 2010) Source: Public library In this second Joey Fly graphic novel, Joey and his assistant, Sammy, are called upon to solve the disappearance of Greta Divawing, the star of the Scarab Beetle Theater. Joey rounds

A Kid's Review: Valentine the Porcupine Dances Funny

2011-08-12T16:46:00.002-05:00

Review by Johnny Boo, age 5 Valentine the Porcupine Dances Funny Author/illustrator: Derrick Brown/Jenny Lewis Publisher: Write Fuzzy Source: The publisher Valentine the Porcupine is about a radio with a porcupine who says, "Will someone dance with me?" Her momma says, "Strange is cool," and Valentine says, "I believe you, Momma." And then her momma says, "I love you because

It's a Boy-Tested Book Bonanza!

2011-08-02T23:08:00.003-05:00

Check out our new page, It's a Boy-Tested Book Bonanza!, for a list of books my boys love. Come back often to see what we've added! And now, in honor of Ice Cream Sandwich Day:

Comic-Con: Johnny Boo, G-Man, SpongeBob, VIZ Kids Sampler, Okie Dokie Donuts, Pirate Penguin Vs. Ninja Chicken

2011-07-30T13:44:00.001-05:00

We went to San Diego Comic-Con last weekend! While there we met James Kochalka, author and illustrator of Johnny Boo. Here he is showing us Dragon Puncher: Our own Johnny Boo picked just that moment to become shy and overwhelmed, so he hid on the floor while Tintin got the goods--autographed drawings by the Kochalka family and books made by Eli and Oliver

Word of the Week/Pippi Longstocking

2011-07-11T21:58:00.002-05:00

It's time for our Word of the Week feature here at LitLad. Here's how it works: Every week the boys and I read a book from which they pick their favorite-sounding unfamiliar word. They each write down the word and we try to use it in conversation as much as we can throughout the week. According to The Read-Aloud Handbook by Jim Trelease, "the only words children learn having heard them only once

Book Talk Tuesday!

2011-06-27T18:01:00.000-05:00

Kelly Butcher, over at The Lemme Library Blog, generously hosts a weekly forum for sharing children's book reviews every Tuesday. A couple of weeks ago, however, Kelly's husband took a spill and fractured his ankle. To help her out, I'll be hosting Book Talk Tuesday for her this week. Here are Kelly's (and thereby my) rules: All content must be appropriate for children in grades kindergarten

Books of the Week: The Faraway Tree Stories, You Can Count on Monsters

2011-06-27T17:45:00.000-05:00

Here are our favorites from last week: Tintin (8) and Johnny Boo (5) The Faraway Tree Stories Author/illustrator: Enid Blyton/Jill Newton Publisher: Egmont Books (July 2002) Source: Public library The Faraway Tree Stories comprises three books: The Enchanted Wood, The Magic Faraway Tree, and The Folk of the Faraway Tree, originally published in 1939, 1943, and 1946, respectively. Joe, Beth,

Summer Reading Is Not Killing Him

2011-06-21T22:53:00.001-05:00

In the last few days, Tintin has read more than 50 books, most of them picture books. His requirement for the library summer reading program for the whole summer is 50 books. Today, the first day of summer, he started and finished Summer Reading Is Killing Me (The Time Warp Trio). He's in the middle of Wayside School Gets a Little Stranger. He just came downstairs, at 10:30 p.m., to tell me he's

Books of the Week: The Stories Julian Tells, Tales from the Odyssey, Ladybug Girl, Scaredy Squirrel

2011-06-19T22:41:00.001-05:00

Here are our favorites from the past week: Tintin, age 8 The Stories Julian Tells Author/illustrator: Ann Cameron/Ann Strugnell Publisher: Turtleback (January 1989) Source: Public library Julian's just a regular boy who has a knack for telling stories, some of which are not always true. He convinces his younger brother, Huey, that cats will jump out of their seed catalog and help them with

5-Year-Old Boy's Review: Hot Hands and the Weirdo Winter

2011-06-18T21:25:00.002-05:00

Review by Johnny Boo, age 5 Hot Hands and the Weirdo Winter Author/illustrator: Derrick Brown/Matthew Carver Publisher: Write Fuzzy (January 2010) Source: The publisher Hot Hands freaks everyone out because her gloves are made out of metal and her hands are fire. A little boy went to school and he fell in love with Margo. The boy made a snowman for Margo because when she builds one the snowman

Word of the Week/Ramona the Brave

2011-06-14T13:50:00.000-05:00

It's time for our Word of the Week feature here at LitLad. Here's how it works: Every Sunday the boys and I read a book from which they pick their favorite-sounding unfamiliar word. They each write the word that night and we try to use it in conversation as much as we can throughout the week. According to The Read-Aloud Handbook by Jim Trelease, "the only words children learn having heard them

Books of the Week: Magic Tree House, The Scrambled States of America, Jumanji, Zathura

2011-06-12T11:00:00.000-05:00

Here are our favorites from the past week: Tintin, age 8 Magic Tree House #29: Christmas in Camelot Author/illustrator: Mary Pope Osborne/Sal Murdocca Publisher: Random House (October 2001) Source: Public library In this Magic Tree House fantasy adventure, Jack and Annie go on a quest to save Camelot from being forgotten forever. They must solve the rhymes of the Christmas knight; rescue

Books of the Week: The Dragon of Doom; Mother & Son Tales; My Father's Dragon; Pearl and Wagner

2011-06-06T13:34:00.000-05:00

Here are our favorites from last week: Tintin, age 8 The Dragon of Doom (Moongobble and Me) Author/illustrator: Bruce Coville/Katherine Coville Publisher: Aladdin (January 2005) Source: Public library In part 1 of a trilogy, Young Edward gets a job helping Moongobble the Magician, who happens to need a lot of help, seeing as how all of his spells keep turning things into cheese. When