Early Literacy in Everyday Places: The Grocery Store

Trips to the grocery store can seem boring to kids, but sometimes giving them something to do makes the experience more interesting and therefore easier on parents.Here are a few fun ways to practice early literacy skills on your next trip to the supermarket. 

• Have your child cross off your shopping list as you collect items.
  If you have a handwritten shopping list, or even a digital list on your phone, allow your child to read you the items and cross them off as you add them to your shopping cart. This gives them the opportunity to see the words for foods and other household items in print and to see how close you are to being finished at the same time. 
• Point out signs and labels for familiar foods.
  As you shop for the staples of your child's diet, point out the names of these items on the packaging and store signage. Kids will be invested in these words because the foods are well known to them, and they might even recognize the words when you unload the groceries at home. 
• Let child help match coupons to items.
  Have your child help you find the correct coupons to go with some of your items. Show them how the words and pictures on the coupons are clues to which item they belong to.
• Talk about the way the items for sale are categorized on the shelves.
  Help your child learn to categorize his world by discussing the way items are sorted and arranged in the grocery store. Why are milk and cheese often close to one another? Why are sugar, flour, and cake mix all together? Where might you find paper towels? This activity promotes language skills, as well as science and math background knowledge. 

Flannel Friday: There's a Little Wheel a-Turnin' in my Heart (Valentine's Day Extravaganza)

There's a Little Wheel a-Turnin' in my Heart has been a favorite story time song of mine for years, so it's surprising that it never occurred to me to turn it into a flannel board. Inspired by the original verses on Nancy's Stewart's website, I have finally done just that, and added a couple extra verses of my own. It suits the Valentine theme, but I think it's also usable all year round.

There’s a little wheel a turnin’ in my heart

There’s a little wheel a turning’ in my heart

In my heart, in my heart 

There’s a little wheel a turnin’ in my heart

There's a little bee a-buzzing in my heart...

There's a little bird a-singing in my heart...

There's a little bunny hopping in my heart...

There's a little cow a-mooing in my heart...

There's a little frog a-leaping in my heart...

There's a little owl a-hooting in my heart...

Flannel Friday is a weekly round-up of ideas for using flannel boards and other props at story time. This week's host is Lisa.

13 Kids' Books Illustrated by Paul O. Zelinsky

Paul O. Zelinsky is a one-time Caldecott medalist and three-time Caldecott honor winner. He has been illustrating children's books since 1978, and according to his website bio, he was first inspired to follow this career path by a class he took at Yale which was co-taught by Maurice Sendak. This is a list of selected works for which he has provided the artwork.

Toys Series

This trilogy by Emily Jenkins (also known to YA readers as E. Lockhart) is a set of beautifully written stories about the inner lives of sentient stuffed animals. These books have wide appeal - they work as family read-alouds, chapter books for beginners, and comfort reads for older kids as well as adults. The are listed here in order of publication, but Toys Come Home is a prequel.

• Toys Go Out
• Toy Dance Party
• Toys Come Home 

Novels by Beverly Cleary

I know Paul Zelinsky best as the artist who drew Leigh Botts in Dear Mr. Henshaw. In fact, he is the illustrator of three Beverly Cleary books: 

• Dear Mr. Henshaw
  In letters to his favorite author, eleven-year-old Leigh Botts reveals his feelings about his father's frequent travel, bullies in school, and many other occurrences from his daily life.
• Strider
  In this sequel to Dear Mr. Henshaw, Leigh is now fourteen and in love with running, a red-haired girl named Geneva, and a dog named Strider. 
• Ralph S. Mouse
  This is the third book in the series about an adventurous mouse who rides a motorcycle. It follows The Mouse and the Motorcycle and Runaway Ralph.

Picture Books

• Swamp Angel by Anne Isaacs
  A tall tale about a very large woman who lassos tornadoes and drinks lakes dry. There is a second picture book about the same character entitled Dust Devil.
• Z is for Moose by Kelly Bingham
  As the animals present the alphabet letter by letter, Moose finds it difficult to wait his turn. A companion book, Circle Square Moose uses a similar concept to teach shapes.
• Doodler Doodling by Rita Golden Gelman
  This tongue twister of a story shows what can happen with a blank page, a pencil, and a ton of imagination.

Other Titles

• The Random House Book of Humor, selected by Pamela Pollack
  A collection of excerpts from funny favorite children's novels.
• Earwig and the Witch by Diana Wynne Jones
  In this, Diana Wynne Jones's last book, explores what happens to a young orphan who finds herself in foster care in a house of dark magic.

30 Books to Share with Kids and Teens on Valentine’s Day

There are plenty of books for kids and teens that are explicitly about Valentine's Day, which are fairly easy to find. Today, I'm sharing books that don't necessarily talk directly about Valentine's Day, but which embody the fun and the spirit of the holiday. Links are to my reviews, when available.

Babies & Toddlers

• My Lucky Little Dragon by Joyce Wan
  In this board book, a series of colorful animals introduce sweet pet names for parents to call their little ones.
• Grandma Calls Me Gigglepie by J.D. Lester, illustrated by Hiroe Nakata
  This is another board book about animal nicknames, this time celebrating the special relationship between young children and their grandmothers.
• The Nice Book by David Ezra Stein
  This book shares a long list of reminders about how to be nice, accompanied by abstract illustrations of various wild animals showing signs of affection.
• All Kinds of Kisses by Nancy Tafuri
  Different baby animals love to be kissed in different ways - but nobody's kiss is better than Mommy's!
• The Way I Love You by David Bedford and Ann James
  A spirited little girl loves her sweet dog in many ways.
• Always by Emma Dodd
  An baby elephant's parent reminds the baby that he will always be loved even when he sometimes misbehaves.

Preschoolers

• Henry in Love by Peter McCarty
  Henry, a young cat, falls in love with a girl named Chloe and declares his devotion by sharing his delicious blueberry muffin. One of the only age-appropriate love stories for kids under five!
• A Hug Goes Around by Laura Krauss Melmed
  This book celebrates the love of family as they mark their day with hugs.
• My Heart is Like a Zoo by Michael Hall
  Colorful geometric shapes come together to make different animals, who express a range of emotions from anger to love.
• I Love Animals by Flora McDonnell
  A little girl loves all the animals on the farm, and they love her right back!
• Pete the Cat: I Love My White Shoes by Eric Litwin and James Dean
  No matter what he steps in or how stained they become, Pete the Cat loves his white shoes - and loves to sing about them, too! 

Early Elementary

• Panda Kisses by Alyssa Satin Capucilli and Kay Widdowson
  A little panda tests out all kinds of kisses to find out which is best.
• Princess Hyacinth: The Surprising Tale of a Girl Who Floated by Florence Parry Heide and Lane Smith
  A princess who floats unless weighted down finds love with a boy who flies kites. Laughs ensue.
• Henry’s Heart by Charise Mericle Harper
  This STEM-themed picture book shows what happens to the heart of a boy named Henry when he runs, sits down, and falls in love.
• Jasper John Dooley: NOT in Love by Caroline Adderson,
  Jasper John is not in love, but he might pretend to be if it means he gets to play on classmate Isabel's trampoline.
• Love is in the Air by Jonathan Fenske
  A kite and a balloon become friends, but changes in circumstances - and altitude - keep trying to drive them apart. 

Upper Elementary

• Emma Emmets, Playground Matchmaker by Julia deVillers
  Fourth grader Emma Emmets, who is not yet into boys, accidentally becomes a matchmaker for her classmates when a friend credits Emma with finding her a boyfriend.
• The Candy Smash by Jacqueline Davies
  Jessie Treski upsets her brother and many of their classmates when she creates a Valentine's Day survey questioning everyone about their secret crushes.
• The Cybil War by Betsy Byars
  In an elementary school love triangle, best friends Simon and Tony fight for the affections of Cybil Ackerman, a smart and generous girl in their class.
• Revenge of the Flower Girls by Jennifer Ziegler
  Triplets Dawn, Darby, and Delaney Brewster set out to ruin their sister's wedding to convince her she is marrying the wrong guy.
• French Ducks in Venice by Garret Freymann-Weyr and Erin McGuire
  Two ducks are distraught when their friend, Polina a California seamstress, ends her romance with a movie star named Sebastian Sterling, and she must explain that the end of a relationship is not the end of the world. A great alternative to some of the more unrealistic "happy ever after" stories. 

Middle School & High School

• The Boy on Cinnamon Street by Phoebe Stone
  Thumbelina (formerly called Louise) is trying to forget her previous life on Cinnamon Street, where terrible things happened to her, when a series of mysterious love notes begin appearing on her doorstep.
• Sweet Treats and Secret Crushes by Lisa Greenwald
  On a snow day, three best friends work out the boy drama in their lives while delivering fortune cookies to everyone in their apartment building.
• A Song for Bijou by Josh Farrar
  Alex Schrader does not know what he is in for when he develops a crush on Bijou Doucet, a new girl in the neighborhood who is a survivor of the 2010 earthquake in Haiti and whose strict family does not allow her to date.
• Fake Me a Match by Lauren Barnholdt
  When Avery is put in charge of the class matchmaking project for charity, she promises to rig the results so that her new stepsister is matched with the boy she likes. When a teacher catches on, Avery know it's just a matter of time before she is in huge trouble.
• How to Say Goodbye in Robot by Natalie Standiford
  Beatrice and Jonah are outsiders and best friends who know their friendship will be limited by Jonah's ultimate plan to disappear.
• Say What You Will by Cammie McGovern
  Amy, a teen girl with CP and Matthew, a teen boy with OCD, form an unlikely friendship - and later, romance - when Amy decides to attend school for a year and Matthew is assigned to help her.
• Love and Other Perishable Items by Laura Buzo
  Fifteen-year-old Amelia falls in love with her coworker at the grocery store, an older man whose heart has been badly broken.
• Not Exactly a Love Story by Audrey Couloumbis
  In 1977, fifteen-year-old Vinnie makes an obscene phone call to a girl's house which leads to a surprising friendship in which the two teens tell each other things they would never say to anyone else.
• Better Off Friends by Elizabeth Eulberg
  Levi and Macallan have been inseparable best friends since seventh grade, but both of them sometimes wonder about the possibility of becoming more.