10 Literacy Activities About Pumpkins

Pumpkins are a popular preschool theme this time of year! Check out these ten great activities to accompany your pumpkin lessons and story times.

• Count from Five Little Pumpkins Round down to none with a piggyback song based on Five Green and Speckled Frogs which I created several years ago for the flannel board. (A free printable adaptation, Four Little Pumpkins Round, is also available here.) 
• Practice reading with the Where is the Pumpkin? printable reader available to download free courtesy of Jamie Harnar at Teachers Pay Teachers. 
• Tell the very simple story of Mr. Scarecrow's Jack o'Lantern using puppets or flannel board pieces. 
• Act out the traditional Five Little Pumpkins rhyme. 
• Retell This is Not a Pumpkin by Bob Staake using a puppet or flannel board. 
• Sing Dr. Jean's Once I Had a Pumpkin, and review the vocabulary for each of the parts of a face. 
• Spell your name using Colorful Pumpkin Seeds, as shown at Fun-a-Day.com.
• Share the rhyme Five Giant Pumpkins on the flannel board, as suggested by Sarah from Read Rabbit Read. 
• Retell The Very Hungry Caterpillar as The Very Hungry Pumpkin using this clever idea from Crayon Freckles.
• Review the alphabet with a Pumpkin Letter Recognition activity, available as a free printable from Aloha Kindergarten. 

Great Books Not Yet Nominated for Cybils 2015

There is just over a week left in the nomination period for the 2015 Cybils, and there are a number of great titles that surprisingly  have  not been nominated yet! Below I have listed some of the books missing from the categories that I typically review.

Easy Readers

• A Pig a Fox and a Box by Jonathan Fenske 
• Mr. Putter and Tabby Turn the Page by Cynthia Rylant 
• Written and Drawn by Henrietta by Liniers

Early Chapter Books

• The Case of the Snack Snatcher by Liam O'Donnell 
• Shelter Pet Squad: Merlin by Cynthia Lord  
• The Not-So Itty-Bitty Spiders by Aimee Marie Stadelmann 
• Izzy Barr, Running Star by Claudia Mills
• Stink Moody in Master of Disaster by Megan McDonald
• Lulu and the Hamster in the Night by Hilary McKay 

Fiction Picture Books

• Roar! by Julie Bayless
• In a Village by the Sea by Muon Van
• Ask Me by Bernard Waber
• Such a Little Mouse by Alice Schertle
• A Wonderful Year by Nick Bruel 
• Little Baby Buttercup by Linda Ashman 

Middle Grade Fiction 

• Breaking the Ice by Gail Nall 
• Cassidy's Guide to Everyday Etiquette (and Obfuscation) by Sue Stauffacher 
• The Best Friend Battle by Lindsey Eyre 
• Bo at Iditarod Creek by Kirkpatrick Hill 

Young Adult Fiction 

• Saint Anything by Sarah Dessen

Review Round-Up: Books for Beginning Readers, September 2015

Cybils News

If you enjoy these round-ups, or have been included in them, you probably have plenty of favorite titles in the easy reader and early chapter book categories. If you have discovered a new favorite since last October, please consider nominating it for Cybils. Nominations open on October 1st, and everyone is entitled to submit one nominee per category. To learn more about the types of books we're looking for in the Easy Reader/Early Chapter Book category, check out the official category description.

Also, please congratulate these lovely bloggers, who have been selected to judge the Easy Reader/Early Chapter Book Category this year:

Round 1:

• Katie Fitzgerald from Story Time Secrets
• Juliana Lee from Juliana Lee, Crafting Stories
• Susan Murray from From Tots to Teens
• Mia Wenjen from Pragmatic Mom
• Jennifer Wharton from Jean Little Library

Round 2:

• Emily Andrus from Literary Hoots
• Freya Hooper from One Great Book
• Amy Johnson from Sunlit Pages
• Teri Lesesne from LSSL 585 Blog
• Kurt Stroh from Kids Talk Kid Lit

Now, on to the reviews!

Easy Readers

As so many blogs did over the summer, Jean Little Library weighed in on What This Story Needs is a Pig in a Wig. (Her verdict is similar to mine, though I have yet to write a review!)

Also getting attention from multiple blogs are new Toon Books, such as Written and Drawn by Henrietta by Liniers (reviewed both here and at Waking Brain Cells) and Flop to the Top by Eleanor Davis, reviewed at Books 4 Your Kids, as well as Bob Shea's latest,  Ballet Cat: The Totally Secret Secret, which appeared at both Miss Mary Liberry and One Great Book this month.
Some blogs dug up some oldies but goodies this month as well. At Becky's Book Reviews, there is a review of Pizza Pat, originally published in 1999. Literary Hoots reviewed Eric Carle's Have You Seen My Cat? and in honor of Cybils, Family Bookshelf resurrected a 2010 easy reader nominee, Wolf Pie, for its Throwback Thursday Book Review.

Finally, Mom Read It rounds out the list with an easy reader non-fiction title: A Visit to the Library by Mary Lindeed.

Chapter Books

While the easy reader reviews were relatively few and far between this month, it seems like everyone has been reviewing beginning chapter books!

Scholastic's various Branches series have been popular. Literary Hoots reviewed Dragon Masters: Rise of the Earth Dragon, Great Kid Books reviewed the first two Owl Diaries titles, Mom Read It reviewed Olive & Beatrix: The Not-So Itty-Bitty Spiders, and Kids Book a Day reviewed Olive & Beatrix: The Not-So Itty-Bitty Spiders, and Silver Pony Ranch: Sparkling Jewel.

Also popular is Kate DiCamillo's second installment in her Tales from Deckawoo Drive series, Francine Poulet Meets the Ghost Raccoon, which was reviewed by Books 4 Your Kids, Kids Book a Day, Randomly Reading, and Unleashing Readers. (In the same post Unleashing Readers also reviewed The Princess in Black and the Perfect Princess Party, which appeared here at Story Time Secrets this month as well.)

The rest of the chapter book reviews I found this month can be read below: 

• Billie B. Brown series reviewed at The Lion is a Bookworm
• Charlie Bumpers vs. the Perfect Little Turkey, reviewed at Jen Robinson's Book Page
• Digby O'Day and the Great Diamond Robbery, reviewed at Books 4 Your Kids
• Dory and the Real True Friend, reviewed at Readerkidz
• Izzy Barr, Running Star, reviewed at Jean Little Library
• Justice League vs. Bizarro League, reviewed at Mom Read It
• Lego Elves: Quest for the Keys, reviewed at Mom Read It
• Lost in NYC, reviewed at From Tots to Teens
• Mrs. Noodlekugel and Four Blind Mice, reviewed at Books 4 Your Kids
• Mrs. Noodlekugel and Drooly the Bear, reviewed at Books 4 Your Kids
• My Pet Human, reviewed at Provo Library Children's Book Reviews
• Piper Green and the Fairy Tree reviewed at Kids Book a Day
• Violet Mackerel's Natural Habitat, reviewed at Batch of Books
• Wild Water Magic, reviewed at Batch of Books

If you find a review I missed, let me know in comments, and I'll do my best to add it in. Thanks for visiting this month's round-up! 

Reading with Little Miss Muffet, September 2015

This month's edition of Reading with Little Miss Muffet is a few days earlier than usual, because I expect to be in labor near the end of the month and I didn't want to miss my chance to post it! (Beginning next month, I'll be reading with Little Miss Muffet and a newborn, which will be really exciting.) Here is what Miss Muffet has been up to in September. 

New Book Behaviors

• "Upside down!" Little Miss Muffet recently acquired Rain by Manya Stojic from a used book store. A few pages into the story, the baboons appear, one of whom is hanging upside down. If she is reading this book on her own, she immediately announces "Upside down baboon!" and turns the book over so that the baboon is facing the right direction. She then keeps the book upside down and turns the page, thereby ending up on the previous page of the story, which is now upside down. She announces "Upside down!" again, flips it over, turns the page, and winds up once again with an upside down baboon. Eventually, she either skips a page by accident or I take pity on her and step in to help, but it is fascinating to me how many times she will flip between those two pages, just turning the book again and again. I was talking about her understanding of the orientation of a book all the way back in February, but somehow this is more intense! 
• Asking friends' moms to read aloud.  As we have been awaiting the arrival of Miss Muffet's sibling, we have been hosting more playdates at home and going out less and less often. The result of this is that Miss Muffet has access to all of her books and to an unsuspecting reader (usually another mom) at the same time. One of my mom friends does voices when she reads (something I have never been able to pull off effectively), and this has prompted Miss Muffet to bring her story after story during our visits, until finally we have to say that books are closed so we can actually have time to chat! 

Current Favorites

• Rain by Manya Stojic
  I have always liked this book as a story time option because it is so versatile. It can fit into a variety of themes, including weather, summer, the five senses, rainy days, and wild animals, and it has really bright and appealing illustrations. Miss Muffet seems to like it mainly because of the baboon on the front cover, but also because the story includes zebras, lions, and porcupines, all animals which she can readily identify and loves to talk about. She also really likes the page where the rain falls and falls - she can basically "read" it word for word.
• When You Were Inside Mommy by Joanna Cole
  We are borrowing this book from a mom friend who has three kids and has therefore been through the "bringing home a new sibling" experience twice. I was commenting on the fact that we didn't have a book that talked about babies being born in a hospital, and this one, while not explicitly about welcoming a sibling, has a great illustration of exactly what I had in mind. It's also not as explicit as some of the other books I've seen. It does include the word "uterus," but the creation of the baby is not explained as anything more than cells coming together, and the image to accompany it is a mom and dad holding two halves of a Valentine together, which is kind of sweet. Miss Muffet's favorite part of this book is the moment where the parents hear the baby's heartbeat - probably because she has been to all of my appointments and has had the experience herself! 
• Three Ducks Went Wandering by Ron Roy
  This is another used bookstore find that has fallen in and out of favor of the past few months. There is lots of suspense in the story, as three unsuspecting ducks wander in and out of danger from creatures such as  a bull, a family of foxes, a hawk, and a snake. Each time the ducklings encounter a new predator, Miss Muffet raises her eyebrows in anticipation, and then laughs when the ducks escape. I chose the book originally for the illustrations (we enjoy Paul Galdone) but the appeal now is mainly in the plot. 

One Tip from Mom

• Connect books to real life experiences. As Little Miss Muffet becomes more and more verbal, she is able to tell us exactly what catches her attention when we are out and about in the world. When she expresses interest in subjects like birds, dogs, trees, leaves, acorns, squirrels, groundhogs, warm weather, ponds, etc., we try to look for a book, either in our personal collection, or on our next trip to the library, that can provide her with more information connected to these points of interest. This seems to help her remember her experiences, and it increases her vocabulary for talking about specific incidents.