Some Books Just Make You Smile - Jesse Bear, What Will You Wear?

Jesse Bear, What Will You Wear?
by Nancy White Carlstrom
illustrated by Bruce Degan
Laptime: toddler - early elementary
Story Circle: toddler - kindergarten

"I'll wear my pants, My pants that Dance, My pants that dance in the morning."
This charming line absolutely sold me on this book. This is the kind of book that sings out the author's joy of life. Jesse bear doesn't just wear his shirt of red and pants that dance, but he wears a rose in his toes and sand on his hand. Jesse wears his day joyfully until he ends it with, "Sleep in his eyes, And stars in the skies...". Nancy White Carlstrom's sweet story is joined by Bruce Degan's wonderful illustrations of Jessie the bear going throughout his day. A wonderful reminder of the simple joys of childhood and the love of family.

Some books just say, "Cuddle up and read me." Sometimes cuddling up and reading is enough. But here are a couple of activities that you can do with Jesse Bear, What will you wear.

Laptime:
Play the What will you wear? game when it is time to get dressed. It is a good way to practice colors and rhyming and sequencing.
Say your child's name instead of Jesse, such as:
Riley bear, Riley bear what will you wear?
My shirt of blue (now, what rhymes with blue?)
And my purple shoes, ( or a red canoe or just like you, etc)
That's what I'll wear in the morning.

Story Circle:
Write your own story using this A,A, B formula. Make sure that the first two lines rhyme and the last line repeats the thought. Use the prompt - What will you wear in the morning? Let each child contribute a page by writing or dictating their own rhyme and then draw a picture to illustrate their rhyme. When everyone's page is complete allow each child to read their page of the book. Laminate the pages and bind the book then put it in your library center for all of the kids to enjoy over and over. If you don't have a way to bind the book you can take it to Office Max or Kinkos and they will do it for a small fee.

Party Time - If You Give a Pig a Party

If You Give a Pig a Party
by Laura Numeroff
Illustrated by Felicia Bond
Laptime: toddler - early elementary
Story Circle: preschool - kindergarten

I love parties! There is always something to celebrate and a party with friends and balloons is a great celebration. In this darling companion story to If You Give a Pig a Pancake our friend the pig is back and this time she is throwing a party. Join the pig and her companion as they follow the party circuit from balloons to decorating to rounding up the party guests to a full blown sleep over complete with a pillow fight. Pay special attention to the hide and seek pages. Can you find all of pigs friends? Laura Numeroff and Felicia Bond combine talents again to give us a fun and endearing story.

Laptime Activity
Invite friends over for a Friendship Party. Let the kids help decorate (don't forget the balloons). Read If You Give a Pig a Party. Play hide and seek. Build a blanket fort. If you're feeling brave turn it into a sleep over and have pancakes for breakfast. While the kids are eating read If You Give a Pig a Pancake to them.

Story Circle Activity
Have a class friendship party complete with cake, party hats and balloons. After the cake head out to the playground and play a game of hide and seek.
Before you begin the game be sure to explain the rules so that all of the class understands how to play the same way. Then go over the Absolutely Musts for Hide and Seek:

• You absolutely must treat each other with respect.
• If you are it, you absolutely must keep your eyes closed while counting.
• If you are hiding you absolutely must keep everyone's hiding place a secret.
• If you get found you absolutely must smile and have a good attitude.

Moose Madness – If You Give a Moose a Muffin

If You Give a Moose a Muffin
By Laura Numeroff
Illustrated by Felicia Bond
Laptime: Toddler – Kindergarten
Story Circle: Preschool – Early Elementary

We have had a very snowy winter, and because the mountains and hills around us are still covered in snow the moose have moved down into the valleys. Occasionally we get moose in our yard. They nonchalantly lope across the grass until they reach the forest behind the house and disappear. Not really much trouble at all. But we have friends who have had a moose haunt their front steps making it impossible to leave the house by the front door. I just hope that they don’t give that moose a muffin!

If You Give a Moose a Muffin is a darling story about an unexpected house guest - a moose. In this story a rather large and hungry moose comes to visit. The young boy wants to be a good host, so he offers the moose a muffin. The problem – “If you give a moose a muffin he’ll want some jam to go with it”, and one thing will lead to another until your house is overrun with moose mayhem including a colorful sock puppet production. But just look at that charming moose......... how could anyone refuse to give him a muffin?

Laptime and Story Circle Activities

Make Muffins – Here is a great Muffin recipe with the jam already baked inside!

Preheat oven to 400 degrees

• 1 3/4 cups flour
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 egg
• 3/4 cup milk
• 1/4 cup cooking oil

In a mixing bowl combine dry ingredients. In a liquid measuring cup combine the milk and the oil add the egg and beat with a fork until the egg is mixed in. Make a well in the middle of the dry ingredients and pour the liquid into the well. Stir just until moist ( there will be lumps). Spray a muffin pan with non-stick spray or grease each cup well. Fill each cup about 1/3 full with batter. Add 1 tsp of your favorite jam to each cup then cover the jam with more batter so that the cups are about 2/3 full.
Bake for 20 minutes or until golden. Remove muffins from pan and allow to cool so that the jam doesn’t burn any mouths.
This recipe makes a dozen so if you have a larger class double the recipe.
Check out Tips for successful cooking in the classroom.

Make Sock Puppets
This is a great activity to recycle all of those single socks whose mates have been sucked into the black hole of your dryer.
You will need:

• One sock per child
• White glue
• Q tips
• Small paper plates
• Scissors
• Fabric scraps
• Googly eyes (optional)
• Yarn

1. Give each child a sock and a small plate with a little puddle of glue and a Q tip.
2. Explain that too much glue will make their puppet soggy.
3. Then have them practice using their Q tip to get a dab of glue and put that dab onto a dry area of the paper plate. That is how much glue they should use.
4. Next have the children put the sock on their hands so that the toe can be opened and shut like a mouth.
5. Talk about where the eyes should go, and the hair and the tongue.
6. Talk about what else they might want on their puppets. Will the puppet be an animal? A person? A monster?
7. Allow the children to be as creative as they would like with the materials to make their puppets.
8. To avoid frustration be there to help cut a shape or a hard piece of yarn but always encourage them to do most of it themselves.

When the puppets are complete and dry, put on a puppet show.

Ideas for puppet stages:

• Cut a hole out of the center of an old sheet and hang it with clothespins on a string strung across a corner of the room
• A big old box with a rectangle cut out makes a great stage for two people.
• The frame of an old TV set (the kind of TVs before flatscreens)

I hope that these activities are helpful. Add to the fun and tell us what you would do to help your children enjoy If You Give a Moose a Muffin.

Rattlebang - bang! - The Rattlebang Picnic

The Rattlebang Picnic
By Margaret Mahy
Illustrated by Steven Kellogg
Laptime: preschool - early elementary
Story Circle: preschool - early elementary

When the newly married McTavishes have to choose between "a wonderfully speedy car that never breaks down" and lots of children, they choose lots of children and a rattlebang car. Packed to overflowing with The McTavish family, including seven children, Granny McTavish and the family pets the rattlebang takes them on adventurous picnics to shark infested beaches and volcanic hot springs.
Steven Kellogg's colorful and imaginatively detailed illustrations take you along with the family on a picnic full of adventure. Join Margaret Mahy's McTavishes on their rattlebang journey and don't forget the pizza!


Laptime Activities

• Go to somewhere adventuresome and have a picnic.
• Make English Muffin Pizzas - Spoon spaghetti sauce or pizza sauce on an English Muffin. Top with cheese and your favorite pizza topping. Bake at 350 degrees until the cheese is bubbly or, if you want them done quickly, put the pizzas under the broiler but watch them carefully so they don't burn.

Story Circle Activities

• From the materials in your scrap box (see Ideas from Miss Kay) have the children design their own Rattlebangs.
• Once their Rattlebangs are finished have each child write or dictate where they would drive on a picnic adventure.

Books Offer Cover to Cover Learning

Ideas From Miss Kay

Here is a wonderful insight from Miss Kay into the value of books for teaching the emerging reader.

It wasn’t until I studied to be a kindergarten teacher that I began to understand why educators stressed so strongly the importance of reading to your preschooler. I only thought of it as a wonderful closeness and bonding time and that they would learn to love books and want to learn to read themselves. I hadn’t thought about the fact that my preschooler was emerging as a reader and that there were many concepts he was learning in preparation for the real thing. Just think of all the seemingly simple but necessary concepts your child can learn as you share this precious time.

1. This is called a book.

2. The book has a front and a back.

3. We start at the front.

4. Each page has a top and a bottom.

5. The pages are in a certain order.

6. The book has a title, author and illustrator.

7. The little marks on the pages are called letters.

8. Each mark has a special name.

9. Each mark has it’s own special sound.

10.The letters go together to make words.

11.There are spaces between the words.

12. We say the words from left to right to tell the story.

13. The pictures help to tell the story.

14. The pictures give us clues to figure out what the words say.

If all this is so, it makes sense that we start with very simple rhyming books with few words that repeat themselves throughout the book. This is so important because the attention span of a preschooler is short and because these concepts can naturally be taught. Point to the words as you read them. As you move along from left to right your child will soon want to try it too. After reading it a few times, your child will remember what each page says by looking at the pictures and remembering the rhymes. Soon, you’ll find him reading the book himself. Of course he has memorized it, but think how he is emerging as a reader. What an accomplishment that is to him. He says “Look, I can read.” and you say “Wow! That is wonderful! How do you feel about that?” You have begun to build his confidence . Continue to follow this pattern. Ask questions as you read. What will happen next? Why is this happening? Where are they going?

What things look the same or different?

The most important thing to remember is that each develops at his or her own unique pace.

HAVE FUN!!!!!! DON’T PUSH!!!!!!! ENJOY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Miss Kay is a retired kindergarten teacher. Her approach to learning is always creative and hands on.