Review Round-Up: Books for Beginning Readers, October 2016

Happy Halloween! Here is the October 2016 review round-up of titles for beginning readers!

Easy Readers

Elephant and Piggie Like Reading, Mo Willem's new easy reader imprint, has been popular this month. There were reviews of We Are Growing at Sal's Fiction Addiction, Provo Library Children's Book Reviews and Jean Little Library, and of The Cookie Fiasco at Sal's Fiction Addiction and Jean Little Library.

Jean Little Library also reviewed Pug, while Provo Library Children's Book Reviews reviewed Go Otto Go.

Other easy reader reviews included:

• Duck Duck Porcupine, reviewed by Becky's Book Reviews
• Pedro, First Grade Hero, reviewed by Mom's Radius
• 100 Monsters in My School, reviewed by Liz's Book Snuggery
• Science of Fun Stuff To Go! set, reviewed by Geo Librarian
• Adventures of Morris the Moose, reviewed by Semicolon
• Rabbit and Robot and Ribbit, reviewed by Books 4 Your Kids

Chapter Books

A couple of popular titles from last month are still floating around out there. Kids Book a Day reviewed Juana and Lucas, and Jen Robinson's Book Page reviewed The Infamous Ratsos. Guessing Geisel is also wondering whether the latest title in the beloved Princess in Black series has the potential to win the Geisel this year.

Also receiving consistently positive feedback are the Tales from Deckawoo Drive books. This month Sal's Fiction Addiction reviewed Francine Poulet Meets the Ghost Raccoon and Provo Library Children's Book Reviews reviewed Where Are You Going, Baby Lincoln? Provo Library Children's Book Reviews also posted about Belmont and the Dragon: The Forest of Doom and Gloom.

Geo Librarian highlighted three different series this month: Super Happy Party Bears, Ranger in Time, and Zapato Power. The Zapato power books were also mentioned in a post from Readerkidz which also highlights the Peter Powers and Jo Schmo series.

Jean Little Library also had a couple of chapter book reviews: Meet the Bobs and Tweets and Weekends with Max and His Dad.

Other chapter book reviews included:

• The Poet's Dog, reviewed by Books 4 Your Kids
• Dory Dory Black Sheep, reviewed by Sunlit Pages
• Nate the Great Goes Undercover, reviewed by Carstairs Considers
• The Case of the Feathered Mask, reviewed by Becky's Book Reviews

November Story Time Themes

During the month of November, I like to center my story times on themes that connect in some way to the Thanksgiving holiday. Here are my favorites.

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Food

Suggested Books:

• A Feast for Ten by Cathryn Falwell
• The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle 
• Mouse Mess by Linnea Asplind Riley
• Yummy Yucky by Leslie Patricelli 
• Who Took the Cookies from the Cookie Jar? by Bonnie Lass & Philemon Sturges

Extension Activities:

• Aikendrum
• I Feel Crazy
• What's On Your Plate?
• Fruit Salad Salsa
• Going on a Picnic 

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Turkeys

Suggested Books:

• Too Many Turkeys by Linda White, illustrated by Megan Lloyd
• Five Silly Turkeys by Salina Yoon
• Over the River: A Turkey's Tale by Derek Anderson
• This is the Turkey by Abby Levine 

Extension Activities:

• Did You Ever See a Turkey?
• Mr. Turkey
• We Eat Turkey
• Five Little Turkeys
  

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Balloons

Suggested Books:

• The Day Ray Got Away by Angela Johnson
• Balloons Over Broadway by Melissa Sweet
• The Grumpalump by Sarah Hayes
• Balloons Balloons Balloons by Dee Lillegard
• A Balloon for Isabel by Deborah Underwood 

Extension Activities:

• Pete the Clown and his Five Bright Balloons
• Three Balloons
• Name the Balloon Shape Guessing Game
  

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Thanksgiving

Suggested Books:

• Thank You, Thanksgiving by David Milgrim
• All for Pie, Pie for All by David Martin
• Bear Says Thanks by Karma Wilson
• Giving Thanks by Chief Jake Swamp
• This First Thanksgiving Day: A Counting Story by Laura Krauss Melmed

Extension Activities:

• If You're Thankful and You Know It
• My Hands Say Thank You
• Five Little Pumpkins Round
• Let's Be Thankful for This Day  
• Thanks a Lot 
• We Are Thankful

Review Round-Up: Books for Beginning Readers, September 2016

Easy Readers

Three of the reviews I found this month focused on titles from the Toon books imprint. Benny and Penny in How to Say Goodbye and Ape and Armadillo Take Over the World were both reviewed at Books4YourKids.com and Jean Little Library reviewed Stinky. (Jean Little Library also had reviews of The Toad and Jack and the Box, plus a review of My Dog Bob at Flying Off My Bookshelf.)

Other reviewers were very excited about Elephant and Piggie Like Reading, the new series from Mo Willems. Posts appeared at Mom's Radius and No Time for Flashcards.

Finally, Becky's Book Reviews posted about Wagon Wheels and The Long Way Westward,  Kids Book a Day reviewed Rabbit & Robot and Ribbit, and The Children's Book Review reviewed Ballet Cat: The Totally Secret Secret.

Chapter Books

Two bilingual chapter book heroines gained popularity this month. Sal's Fiction Addiction, Waking Brain Cells, and Librarian's Quest all had reviews of Juana and Lucas, and Jen Robinson's Book Page and Geo Librarian reviewed Sofia Martinez: My Family Adventures.

There were also two reviews of Mango & Bambang: The Not-a-Pig: one from Jean Little Library, and one from Provo City Library Children's Book Review.

Other chapter book reviews included:

• Life According to Dani, reviewed by I Read that Book! 
• Haggis and Tank Unleashed: All Paws on Deck  and Tales of Sasha: The Big Secret reviewed by Jean Little Library
• Francine Poulet Meets the Ghost Raccoon, reviewed by Geo Librarian
• Dog Man reviewed by Mom's Radius
• The Infamous Ratsos, reviewed by Great Kid Books
• Pigsticks and Harold and the Incredible Journey, reviewed by Provo Library Children's Book Reviews
• Narwhal, Unicorn of the Sea, reviewed by Sal's Fiction Addiction

25 Ways to Play With Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day

Bad days happen to everyone - even kids! Published in 1972, this favorite picture book based on the author's own family is a great way to come to terms with those terrible, horrible days that make us want to move to Australia - and it's also a fun book to use for learning through play. Here are 25 ways to play with the content and themes of Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day.

1. Create a homemade toy from a cereal box.  
2. Draw what might be seen from the window of Alexander's carpool. 
3. Practice singing loudly and softly. 
4. Count to sixteen without leaving out any numbers. For an added challenge for older readers, count by sixteens! 
5. Draw invisible pictures, like Alexander's invisible castle, using ink made of water and lemon juice.
6. Use play food to pack a pretend lunch with all your favorite foods. 
7. Spend some time in the kitchen making a dessert for your own lunch box - and don't forget to put it in before you leave for school! 
8. Set up a make-believe dental practice. 
9.  Pretend to be a shoe salesperson. 
10. Color a pair of sneakers to suit your style. 
11. Set up a pretend office like the one Alexander's dad works in. Act out the scene where Alexander visits the office.
12. Find Australia on a map.
13. Create an itinerary for traveling to Australia from your house.
14. Sing Cuddly Koalas, about Australian animals.
15. Plant a lima bean.
16. Design a pair of ugly pajamas like the railroad train ones Alexander hates to wear.
17. Write a sequel where Alexander has a good day. 
18. Write a story about your own real or imagined bad day. 
19. Hear Judith Viorst read the book in this video from Barnes and Noble's online story time feature. 
20. Read Judith Viorst's other books about Alexander: Alexander, Who Used to Be Rich Last Sunday (1978), Alexander, Who's Not (Do You Hear Me? I Mean It!) Going to Move (1995), and Alexander, Who's Trying His Best to Be the Best Boy Ever (2014).
21. Discover some of Judith Viorst's other books. 
22. Watch the 2014 film adaptation of the book starring Steve Carell and Jennifer Garner.
23. Watch the 1990 cartoon musical based on the book on YouTube. (Alexander is played by Danny Tamberelli!)
24. Act out a skit based on the book using this script. 
25. Retell the story using a flannel board set like this one. 

Do you love to play with picture books? Check out 25 Ways to Play with Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?, 25 Ways to Play with Whistle for Willie, and 25 Ways to Play with The Pea Patch Jig.