Third Grade CCD 2015-2016: God Created People to Share His Life (11/16/15)

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Third Grade CCD 2015-2016: God is Powerful and Loving (11/9/15)

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

While I've been tending to a newborn these past weeks, the blogosphere has exploded with books for beginning readers. Without further ado, let's get to the plethora of links!

Easy Readers

A few blogs posted about beloved favorites this month:

• Becky's Book Reviews continued the Seuss on Saturday series with reviews of Hooper Humperdink... Not Him!, Would You Rather Be a Bullfrog?, and  I Can Read with My Eyes Shut.  
• Family Bookshelf had a Throwback Thursday review of the Aggie and Ben series by Lori Ries. 
• The Lion is a Bookworm featured I Will Take a Nap one of the newest titles from the Elephant & Piggie series, while Jen Robinson's Book Page reviewed the most recent addition to another favorite series: Mr. Putter & Tabby Smell the Roses.
• Both The O.W.L. and Randomly Reading spotlighted the Mercy Watson series in celebration of its tenth anniversary. 

Others got into the spirit of Fall, with reviews of Aaron Loves Apples and Pumpkins (Provo Library Children's Book Reviews) and Halloween (Anastasia Suen).

Newer titles receiving attention included Let's Have a Parade and Let's Go Fishing from the Lana's World series, reviewed by Becky's Book Reviews, Ballet Cat: The Totally Secret Secret, reviewed by Great Kid Books and Ballet Cat: Dance Dance Underpants, reviewed by Literary Hoots, as well as The Berenstain Bears are Superbears and Celebrating Georgia, both featured by Provo Library Children's Book Reviews, Written and Drawn by Henrietta, reviewed by Books 4 Your Kids and A Kids Book a Day, and Pig and Pug, reviewed by Literary Hoots. Waking Brain Cells and Shelf-Employed also both reviewed In, Over, and On the Farm by Ethan Long, while Juliana Lee, Writer and Flying Off My Bookshelf featured Poppy the Pirate Dog and the Missing Treasure. 

Chapter Books

There were a couple of throwback chapter book reviews this month: How Oliver Olson Changed the World at Family Bookshelf and Zeke Meeks vs. the Horrifying TV Turn-Off Week at One Great Book.

Books suitable for both Halloween and Thanksgiving were also making the rounds. Mundie Kids reviewed Backyard Witch: Sadie's Story, Literary Hoots reviewed The Not So Itty Bitty Spiders, and  Ms. Yingling Reads reviewed Charlie Bumpers vs. the Perfect Little Turkey.

The Princess in Black series continued to be popular. There were reviews of the second book, The Princess in Black and the Perfect Princess Party from Readerkidz, Ms. Yingling Reads. and Books 4 Your Kids.

Other chapter book reviews are below:

• Anna, Banana series, reviewed by Geo Librarian
• The Case of the Missing Carrot Cake, reviewed by Kids Book a Day
• Clover's Luck, reviewed by Charlotte's Library
• Dory and the Real True Friend, reviewed by Becky's Book Reviews 
• The Giggler Treatment, reviewed by One Great Book
• The Kingdom of Wrenly: Let the Games Begin, reviewed by The Indianapolis Public Library Kids' Blog
• The Mr. Pants series, reviewed by What To Read To Your Kids
• Simon Ellis, Spelling Bee Champ, reviewed here at Story Time Secrets
• Stink and the Great Guinea Pig Express, reviewed by Jean Little Library
• The Story of Diva and Flea, reviewed by Great Kid Books and Flying Off My Bookshelf

Reviews from Cybils Judges

Last but certainly not least are these reviews from two very prolific bloggers on the first round Cybils panel for Easy Readers and Early Chapter books.

From Juliana at Juliana Lee, Writer:

• 3, 2, 1, Go 
• Anna, Banana and the Monkey in the Middle
• Ballet Cat: The Totally Secret Secret
• Big Bad Detective Agency
• Biscuit Goes Camping
• The Case of the Missing Carrot Cake 
• Cork and Fuzz: Spring Cleaning
• Don't Throw It To Mo
• Dory and the Real True Friend
• The Dragonsitter
• The First Case 
• Hello, Olaf
• Hot Rod Hamster and the Awesome ATV Adventure
• Humpty's Fall 
• I Will Take a Nap
• In, Over, and on the Farm
• Katie Fry, Private Eye: The Lost Kitten
• Ling and Ting Twice as Silly
• Lost Dog
• Notebook of Doom: Charge of the Lightning Bugs
• Owl Diaries: Eva's Treetop Festival
• Piper Green and the Fairy Tree
• Princess Posey and the First Grade Ballet
• Ranger in Time: Rescue on the Oregon Trail
• Slither, Snake!
• Sprout Street Neighbors: Five Stories
• The Sweet Story of Hot Chocolate
• Waiting is Not Easy
• What This Story Needs is a Pig in a Wig
• When I Am Happiest
• Written and Drawn by Henrietta

From Jennifer at Jean Little Library and Flying Off My Bookshelf:

• 3, 2, 1, Go
• Biscuit Goes Camping 
• Cork and Fuzz: Spring Cleaning
• Froggy is Best 
• Hello, Olaf! 
• Hot Rod Hamster and the Awesome ATV Adventure
• Lost Dog 
• Mr. Putter and Tabby Smell the Roses
• Mr. Putter and Tabby Turn the Page
• My Pet Human
• Slither, Snake!

Submit Your Reviews!

 

Each month, I collect these reviews from all the blogs I know about that review easy readers and chapter books. If I have yet to discover your blog, or if you just want to help me out, feel free to submit your reviews for the November Round-Up either by email to storytimesecrets@gmail.com or tweet to @mrskatiefitz. Also let me know if I missed any October reviews, and I'll add them in ASAP. Thanks! 

Reading with Little Miss Muffet and Little Bo Peep, October 2015

Welcome, Little Bo Peep! 

As you can see from the logo at the top of this post, there have been some changes in Little Miss Muffet's life this month. She now has a little sister! Little Bo Peep was born on her due date, the last day of September, and we have spent the last few weeks getting used to being a family of four.

Little Bo Peep's Very First Books

Little Bo Peep's main activities at the moment are eating and sleeping, so read-alouds have not yet become a regular part of her routine. I often recite nursery rhymes to her while she takes her bottle - George Porgie, Bye Baby Bunting, Hey Diddle Diddle, etc. - and she is almost always in the room when I'm reading to Miss Muffet, but she's not quite ready to look at a picture book just yet. She is, however, becoming quite fond of patterns, so I dug out two books Miss Muffet loved as an infant: Black and White by Tana Hoban and Baby Sees by Dave Aikins. She usually gets overwhelmed if we look at more than a page or two, but it's fun to watch her eyes grow big as she focuses on a black and white butterfly or a polka-dot pattern. As I did with Miss Muffet, I also occasionally read aloud to her from whatever I happen to be reading. She has heard brief passages from both The Graveyard Book and Magic Tree House #53: Shadow of the Shark (the latter of which I was reading for Cybils.)

Little Miss Muffet's Current Favorites

While recovering from childbirth, I haven't been able to do much with Miss Muffet besides read, and Grandma (my mom) also spent a lot of time reading to her when she was in town, so we have quite a few new favorites to share.

• Snuggle the Baby by Sara Gillingham
  Grandma bought this book a few months ago in anticipation of the arrival of Little Bo Peep. It is an interactive board book, where toddlers can feed, diaper, swaddle, snuggle, and tuck in their own little cardboard baby. One page has already been destroyed. There is a part of the book where the baby's arms lift up to play "so big," but they lift at kind of an angle that is hard to negotiate if you are not quite two years old yet. So on that page the baby only has one arm at the moment, and we have set the book aside for repairs. But with a little packing tape to reinforce those cardboard arms, this is a book we definitely recommend to new big sisters and brothers.
• It Is Night by Phyllis Rowand, illustrated by Laura Dronzek
  My husband brought this book home from the library for Miss Muffet, and she took to it immediately upon discovering there are both an elephant and a monkey in the story. The book discusses where animals sleep at night, which is a perfect science topic for toddlers, and it has a very sweet ending where a little girl curls up in bed surrounded by all of her toys.
• Quack and Count by Keith Baker
  We have owned this book for a while, but it has not been in Miss Muffet's box until recently, so for her it is like a new discovery. Since she has started counting, she has become obsessed with counting the seven ducks in this book, and she can fill in almost any word if I stop reading and ask her what comes next. Everyone else in our house is completely sick of reading this aloud, and we pretty much beg Miss Muffet to choose anything else, even the dreaded More More More said the Baby which got really played out toward the end of the summer.
• Owl Babies by Martin Waddell
  This is one of my favorite story time books, and I'm thrilled that Miss Muffet loves it so much. She is very fond of both Percy and Bill, and every time we reach the page where the owl mother returns home to her babies, the look of joy on her face is absolutely priceless. So contagious is Miss Muffet's love for this book that her grandma went and bought her own copy after visiting with us. We also discovered a lovely animated version on YouTube that we occasionally allow Miss Muffet to watch.
• Duck on a Bike by David Shannon
  This is another story time favorite, though I notice it doesn't hold up quite as well as others when you read it 10 times a day.The most fascinating thing about it, for me, is that Miss Muffet understands the plot and can answer basic reading comprehension questions about it. On the wordless page where all the animals stare at the bikes and get ready to ride, I asked her, "What do the animals want to do?" and without hesitation she said, "Ride bikes!" (This is why it's important to read books with basic plots to toddlers! They do understand!)
• May I Bring a Friend? by Beatrice Schenk de Regniers
  Thankfully, I will never tire of reading this book aloud. Its sense of humor and rhyme and rhythm are all so delightful, and Miss Muffet can recite all my favorite lines, including "What monkey business is this?" I can't wait until she gets a little older and we can do some of the activities I created to go with the story.

One Tip from Mom 

Not sure what to read to your baby? Pretty much anything works! For inspiration, check out this list of possibilities that I made for The Library Adventure, as well as this list of Miss Muffet's favorite books from her first year.