Test Drive at the Library

James has been fixating on plotting the driving route from Northern to Southern California. He constantly asks which city is next, how we get to So Cal, and what the weather is like at various points. Common fixations are the Altamont Pass. He is also fascinated with the steep So Cal access road, in particular why we call it The Grapevine but it's official title is the Tejon Pass.

James also loves going to the library: computer time!

Put these things together, and you get:

Oh my!

A New Moon

Found a new book for James' reading favourites:

Harold and the Purple Crayon. I loved this book too, when I was in grammar school, and made my own books about how I would use a magic crayon. I can't remember specifics, but mermaids, talking animals, and waterfalls made for exciting flights of fancy.

I can tell James was excited about this book because his reading grew almost as animated as it is for Where the Wild Things Are. I think James also enjoys being able to read a book out loud without too much difficulty. The strong visuals are appealing as well.

Meanwhile, we are down to the last 2 chapters in our Magic School Bus book!

Summer Reading Program 2015!

Regular school's out! We've hit 100 degrees and the days are long. It's summer! Our Sonoma County Library has another wonderful theme for summer reading: Every Hero Has a Story:

For the first time in years, I got both kids to sign up the actual first week of the program. Yay, progress!! James went up to the Resource Desk and asked to sign up. He filled out his entire card as directed by the librarian and filed it away on his own. I am celebrating this independent accomplishment with mental high fives and whooping and a "nice work!" out loud.

I picked out a book for James, and then he picked one out for himself:

Minnie and Moo Go to the Moon was my choice, because it was silly and a non-threatening gateway book to reading. James pulled out Brickbeard's Treasure and gleefully waved it around. On we read!

Adventure at the Library - Ahoy!

James, outside our library.

"Come on, James, time to get your shoes on. We're going!"
"Where we going?" (with reluctance - he's on his iPad)
"Where have you been asking to go all week?"

GASP

"The Liiiiiiiibrary!!!!!!!"

Happy dance ensues.

I wish I could tell you it was for the books. But really, it was for this. They have Eye Spy on the games computer at the library.

We do check out books too, for our weekly reading log. They don't get the happy dance, but they still get a bit of the shine from visiting our local library.

Some of the books we've checked out lately:

• Aurthur: Buster's New Friend
• Peppa Pig: Busy Day at School
• Nate the Great and the Phony Clue

So far, Peppa's the favourite. So it goes.

Summer Reading - Done

School starts two weeks from now. Let me just say: "YIKES, that was fast!"

Last week James finished up his Summer Reading list. Seems like just the other day we were filling out that form to get him started! Below are the last two books we read together, and his list from the summer:

"Soon, Baboon, Soon," by David Horowitz:

Interesting cover; I think James liked his nose and the hi-hat.

End papers; I kind of wish they had kids' curtains in this pattern.

Love all that energy ... and then there's Mr. Sad Baboon ...

The artwork was engaging, with it's bright colours and fun with onomatopoeic text. James did love reading those words and identifying the instruments. The end left him smiling too. Not a lot of challenge, but it engaged him, and was still good practice reading.


"Thump, Quack, Moo - A whacky adventure," by Doreen Cronin and Betsy Lewin:

James zoomed in on the hammer; ever since he won that raffle, he's become interested in tools

This page made me a little nervous - James loves to cut things with scissors and almost no common sense.
Still, reading is reading, right?

Love this picture. It feels familiar -- James as the mischievous duck and Farmer Mom, mapping out plans that gang quack a-gley. Seriously, I am heck-bent on plotting for his success for James to live an independent life, and I need to remind myself that he has his own list of wants and ideas that should be consulted.

James lost interest in this book here and there. He did love all the animals using tools and liked to join in the chorus of "thump, quack, moo!" There is a nice little surprise fold-out page at the end. Fun for me but I had to try and explain it to James. National icons are a bit too abstract for his interest at this stage, shall we say. He did like the fold-out page.


So thanks, library -- we enjoyed your summer reading program yet again! James got to pick out a book of his very own as a prize for completing his reading. It was an easy reader chapter book and had a soccer ball on the cover. He grabbed it and I haven't seen it since he started rifling the pages in the car. If I find it, I'll try and post it later.

Here is his list -- including his own writing:

Love drawings like these!

Dreaming Big, all summer long!

Here's the list:

1. Lola Reads to Leo
2. The Duck Who Played Kazoo
3. Spot Can Count
4. We Were Tired of Living In A House
5. Cubes, Cones, Cylinders, and Spheres
6. Soon, Baboon, Soon
7. Thump, Quack, Moo

Summer Reading Rewards

On our visit to the library last week we updated our Reading Lists for the 2012 Summer Reading program. Because both kids earned their week 5 stickers, they received gift certificates for some frozen yogurt from a newly opened shop that was just across the Town Green. As it was about 90 degrees out, this was a welcome reward.

I had trouble keeping James focused on writing the titles on his list ...

... because the Blues Clues game (see top of image) suddenly became available.

Yodeling for yogurt.

Mmmmmmm, yoooooogurt. Vanilla, comme toujours.

Thank you, Windsor Library and Yogurt Farms, for making literature delicious and delightful for the next generation!

More Summer 2012 Reading

Here are three more books that James and I read together as part of his summer reading program. We had mixed successes with this group.

"We Were Tired of Living In a House:"

James liked this book, but lost interest 2/3 of the way through the story. He liked the pictures and the adventure, but was not keen on keeping track of what they carried and lost along the way. If the book had been shorter, he probably would have liked to reread this with me.


"Cubes, Cones, Cylinders, and Spheres:"

I thought this was going to be great, as James was obsessed with shapes last year and retains an interest in them. However, there were no words in the book, and while some photos were interesting, several were also like the one directly above. James was totally not interested in talking about finding 3-D shapes in real-life photos. I think words on a page would have anchored him more to this book. Having children play with the shapes would have been best. All in all, disappointing.


"Spot Can Count:"

James' pick to take home, and by far his favourite book of the week. The pictures were engaging and Spot counted barnyard animals up to 10. An easy-to-read, engaging book for James. He loved the fold-out portions of the book that revealed the number of animals for each page. Some were missing, which sadly can happen with well-liked board books.

This coming week we selected only two books. I think that's good, as I am rereading his SpongeBob books with him as well. For the eleventy-seventh time! We'll check back later to report on our last summer reading selections.

Magic Marker Monday: Library Art

We've caught up with our reading weeks for the library's summer reading program. Once we get about four weeks in, the prizes start happening. Prizes! As in, additional prize on top of having access to a free library in the first place, with Read-to-a-Dog programs, puppet shows, story times, and computer edutainment games.

James and his sister both received book bags, with crayons to colour a picture of their summer reading dreams on the outside. I loved them both, so here they are:

 James scribbled dutifully in each colour. When pressed to reveal his dream, he said "Reading to Leo." Neat!

Big Sister's was more intense:

"Is that a carrot?" I asked her.
"No mom, it's a bomb to sink the ships," my darling Tank Girl replied.

Bombs being dropped on whaling ships to stop the whale hunting. See the whale getting away while she cheers? I think we'll be checking out some Green Peace books next.

The librarian was impressed and called her bag design concept the most original she'd seen all summer. Then she helped her pick out books on gorillas, whales, and human evolution. I seriously Heart our local library and librarians.


For more great masterpieces or to share some of your own, visit
 5 Minutes for Special Needs for more Magic Marker Monday.

                               

2012 Summer Reading: What's Your Dream?

I signed both kids up for our library's Dream Big/Summer Reading program. James actually filled out his own form at the library, he was that excited. Later his sister did so at home, under maternal duress. I am having fun sharing the books. The theme is "Dream Big," which is awesome for summer reading, in my opinion.

James is now 7, and this makes the third year in a row that he's done the program. He is really into it this year! He loves me to read to him. He then insists on reading to me. He can write information on his reading log sheet and get his own stickers for books read. This is big progress.

James, writing his weekly book on his form.

I picked easy reading books for James from the tops of the shelves in the younger kids' area. He loved this first one, Lola Reads to Leo, because he loves it when his big sister reads to him! James also adores babies. Always has. The neat thing about reading a book where one child reads to another is that it made James really want to read to me. And after he read this one to me, he kept finding more to read to me. I love our library!

Love that writing practice!

 I loved the playful illustrations for his next book, The Duck Who Played Kazoo. I think James both loved the story of the lonely duck who found friends and a new home, as well as the whole kazoo angle. Because isn't it fun just to say "kazoo"? James loves music and silly things, so being able to make a kazoo sound on each page as it sings a slightly different song (to match the duck's emotions) was super fun too.

We checked out three books for this coming week. I'll let you know how that works out.

Summer Reading Program

We have loved the Summer Reading Club put on by our local Library for several summers. James has watched his big sister participate, and this year he signed up for the first time and read a book every week.

Besides getting to know the library and librarians better, there were actual prizes! Book bags and picking out a book of his own at the completion of the program.

Today we filled out his last entry, and James picked out this book:

I think it's a wonderful choice, because this truly is what he's interested in right now.


Here is his Summer Reading list:
Week 1: Sign up
Week 2: Chicka-Chicka-Boom-Boom (also read at summer school)
Week 3: Five Little Monkeys (also read at summer school)
Week 4: Teddy Bears Take the Train
Week 5: The Very Hungry Caterpillar (also read at summer school)
Week 6: How Does a Dinosaur Say Goodnight? (renewed interest from Dino summer camp)
Week 7: Henry's Show and Tell (sister picked out for him)
Week 8: Olivia's Opposites

Field Trip: Library!

We have some truly wonderful childrens' librarians at our local branch, as they love to help children discover all the wonderful things they can find in books. They are so patient with kids in their library and answer all their questions. In fact,one gets the feeling they prefer it to be full of the upcoming generations.

They set up great programs, like Read to a Dog, and regularly have interesting people come perform for the children, such as magicians and acrobats. Harry Potter festivities are plentiful and joyous. My kids have become very accustomed to visits there.

When they toured my daughter's Kindergarten class, to invite all the children to come and participate in their fabulous summer reading program, I thought that maybe it would be a good idea for James' preschool class to get some library exposure. To put it bluntly, I badgered his teacher for months until one morning she told me she had spoken with the librarian and that they had booked a field trip to the library for a reading and library tour.

Today was the day! Even though I was getting over a cold and the weather was grey & drizzling, there was no way I was going to miss this:

Saying hello to the creek below. This is a must do on all their outings!





Exploring the cool library alphabet rug





Reading the Very Hungry Caterpillar, with the help of a felt board!



Surprise butterfly hand puppet at the end (big hit)!



Every kid received an "I visited my library today" sticker, which they were all excited to put on their shirts! Then we had a tour of the entire library (it's actually not that big) and the kids got to explore the preschool book corner & puzzle table.


The librarians were excited too, because they were participating in the effort to get a million people to read The Very Hungry Caterpillar today, and they got to register our whole group!

See Spot. Sit, Spot!

James is a bit afraid of dogs. First, they can be big, loud, unpredictable, and bumpy. Second, his grandparents had an Airedale puppy, whose antics put him further on alert. His sister, meanwhile, adores dogs and puppies.

His teacher has a companion dog, who is helping James become more confident around dogs. This is great because he used to scream and panic whenever he saw a dog. Now he is unhappy but tries "SIT, doggie!!! No touch!" before panicking and then screeching. The great thing is, the words work a lot!

Recently, we've found something else that can help. Our local library has a new (this Fall) "Read to a Dog" program. His sister is just about its biggest fan and recenly I started bringing James along.

I finally brought my camera this week and here's what we did: We had two new dogs to read to yesterday! A Pomeranian/chihuahua mix and a chihuahua. My daughter was in heaven. She was so good with the dogs, who adored her.

The library program is such a neat idea. You follow the dog paw prints from the entry to a reading sofa:


And you read to the dogs. Alvin is on the left. Jalapena is on the right, and was sporting a Christmas holiday dress to help keep her warm. First we say hello:


Then we read (when it's our turn):



And what was James doing? Well, he found he computers with games loaded on them:





We love our library!