Snowy Mystery - The Missing Mitten Mystery

The Missing Mitten Mystery
by Steven Kellogg
Laptime: preschool - early elementary
Story Circle: preschool - early elementary

Our weather today is almost identical to the weather in this darling story. There is enough snow on the ground for snowmen and snow forts and sledding but it is warming up and starting to rain. You can find all kinds of treasures when the snow starts to melt which is just what happens in The Missing Mitten Mystery.
After a long day of snowplay Annie discovers that she has lost her mitten. Since this is the fifth mitten that she has lost Annie and her dog, Oscar, decide that they had better backtrack and find it. As Annie retraces her steps you discover what a fun day she and her playmates had. Annie is also wonderfully creative as she imagines all of the places that her mitten could have ended up. Is the mitten now a hat for a baby eaglet? A sleeping bag for a mouse? Or maybe a seed for a mitten tree?
Author Illustrator, Steven Kellogg, combines beautiful watercolor illustrations with a story that keeps you guessing - which is the point of a mystery.

Laptime Activities

1. Put on your mittens and go outside and build a snowman. Don't forget to give him a mitten heart.
2. In the story Annie imagines planting a mitten tree and giving the mittens that she grows away to her family and friends. Donate mittens to a local clothing bank or school.

Story Circle Activities

1. Hide the Mitten - Choose one child to be Annie (or Oscar if they are a boy). Annie should leave the room or close her eyes. Hide a mitten somewhere in the classroom. When Annie begins to look for it have the class give hints by clapping slowly if Annie is far away from the mitten and quickly if Annie is closer. When Annie finds the mitten let her/him draw a name to be the next Annie.
2. Make a Mitten Tree - You will need: butcher paper, construction paper, scissors, Pencils for tracing, lace, yarn, buttons, fabric scraps, etc., glue, sticky tack. In the story Annie imagines a tree full of mittens. Draw an outline of a tree with branches on a large sheet of butcher paper. Give each child a sheet of brightly colored paper. Have the children place one hand on the paper and trace around it to get a mitten shape and then cut out the mittens. If you have younger children you may want to provide precut mittens. Provide lace, yarn, buttons fabric scraps - whatever you can think of to decorate the mittens. When the mittens are finished hang them on the tree with sticky tack so that the kids can take their mittens home later.

Children's Books Can Help Toddlers Grasp Life Lessons

This is a guest post by Sarah Morris of Primrose Schools. Sarah is a family, education, and lifestyle writer who is based in New York. Her favorite topics involve books and reading, and other creative activities as alternatives to video games and tv.

Books provide a unique opportunity to talk about important concepts with children in a way they can understand. Relatable characters and fun story lines put difficult concepts like honesty into terms a child can relate to and provide an opening for parents to talk to their children about the value of honesty. 

“Doug-Dennis and the Flyaway Fib” follows two friends enjoying a day at the circus, when things suddenly go all wrong. Doug-Dennis tells a fib about not eating all of his friend’s popcorn and the trouble starts there. After telling this small lie Doug-Dennis finds himself floating in space surrounded by other liars. In the end he must finally tell the truth to escape. The story is funny and engaging so that it will keep a child’s interest, but it is based on the importance of telling the truth. 

In order for a children’s book to help start a conversation between a parent and a child, it must be a story a child can relate to. Most children have friends and have been caught in a situation like Doug-Dennis; they did something they shouldn’t have that might hurt their friend’s feelings or make them angry. After reading this book, asking your child if they have ever been in such a situation and inquiring about how they handled the situation is a great way to begin talking about the importance of honesty. 

Children learn through play. In fact, it is commonly said that ‘the work of children is play’. This same basic concept can be applied to teaching through children’s literature. Children learn best when they are relaxed and enjoying themselves. You might think that it is better to sit a child down and talk to them about the importance of honesty, but reading a fun book like “Doug-Dennis and the Flyaway Fib” and discussing it casually with your child is likely a much more effective strategy. Children are not able to learn as adults and even teenagers learn. Short attention spans mean that in order to teach a child best, you must make the extra effort to engage and entertain them. Well-written children’s books make this easier. 

If teaching your child important values like honesty is important to you but you are not sure where to begin, start by choosing well written books like “Doug-Dennis and the Flyaway Fib” and see where the conversation goes after reading the book. You might be surprised at how easy it is to take such a serious concept and help your child grasp it.



Primrose Schools, a positive preschool environment where classrooms are disguised as playrooms. http://www.primroseschools.com

Discover Friendship with Jessica by Kevin Henkes

Jessica
by Kevin Henkes
Greenwillow Books
Copyright 1989
Laptitme - 3 - 5 years
Story Circle - preschool - Kindergarten




When my daughter was little I thought for certain that she had an imaginary friend named Lina. She talked about Lina all of the time but I had never met her. Of course, I played along because having an imaginary friend is a wonderful part of early childhood.  I was so surprised one day to walk into the church nursery and have my daughter introduce me to a real little girl, her favorite friend, Lina.

In this sweet book about friendship, Ruthie and Jessica are inseparable. The only problem is is that only Ruthie can see Jessica. Ruthie's parents try to convince her that there is no Jessica but Jessica continues to be Ruthie's constant companion. On the first day of kindergarten Ruthie takes Jessica along but is surprised to find friendship in a real girl named Jessica.


Laptime Lesson Plan Ideas:
Have an Imaginary Friend Tea Party

• Invite two or three of your child's friends over for a party.
• Help your child to create an invitation for each guest. Include on the invitation that they are to bring an imaginary friend with them. 
• Before the guests arrive discuss with your child what kind of questions that they can ask to get to know each imaginary guest:  what do the imaginary people like to do, what is their favorite food, what do they look like, how old are they?
• Spend time in the kitchen together baking something delicious to serve at the party. Be sure and make enough to serve everyone, imaginary guests are often very hungry
• Have your child set the table for each guest and their imaginary friends and make place cards for each guest, filling in the name of the imaginary friends when they arrive.
• When the guests arrive be sure and greet and introduce each visible and invisible friend. 
• Encourage everyone's imagination to play along: include the invisible friends in conversation, play a game like Duck Duck Goose and be sure and choose both kinds of friends to be 'goose', be careful not to sit or bump into anyone. 

Start a Friendship Album

• Take pictures of your child's friends and include them in a scrapbook with a page for each friend.  Add pages as needed.
• Whenever your child does something fun or special with a friend have your child dictate or write a few sentences about their adventures.  
• Include memory items such as movie tickets, bookmarks from the library, napkins from restaurants, a leaf from a walk together. Items with print on them are especially good for letter and symbol recognition. 
• After a few months your child will have a full Friendship Book that they can read on their own or to you.

Story Circle Lesson Plan Ideas
Gallery of Imaginary Friends
You will need:
drawing paper for each child
crayons or markers
writing paper

• Brainstorm: Ask the class about the characteristics of a good friend, discuss what they like to do with their friends, if they could travel anywhere with their friend- where would they go. Encourage their imaginations.
• Give each child a piece of drawing paper and have them draw a picture of their imaginary friend.
• Give each child a piece of writing paper and have them write or dictate* a short story about their friend using a prompt such as: One day my imaginary friend and I went....   My favorite game to play with my imaginary friend is.....    I like my imaginary friend because.....
• Hang the pictures and stories on the wall or bulletin board in a Gallery of Imaginary Friends.

*Writing down dictated stories is a great job for a parent volunteer or an aide. 

Teach Your Story Circle the Best Friends Forever Song (The BFF Song) by Bryant Oden from Songdrops.com
This is a fun and lighthearted song about friendship with an easy to learn chorus. Right now the site is offering a free download of the vocal recording and the instrumental karoke recording. The lyrics and guitar chords are also given on the site. While you are there be sure and check out the other fun kid's songs on Songdrops.

If you would like to add Jessica by Kevin Henkes to your own library, I have one hardback copy for sale at Wondersome Storytime Vintage Books,  click this link - Jessica.

We'd love to hear your ideas for teaching about friendship. Leave us a comment or share a Reader Review.


Happy Reading,
Dee Ann

Summer Read-a-loud: Charlotte's Web

One of my fondest parent memories is riding crammed in the front of a Ryder moving truck with my husband and our two preschool children on our way to our new home in Northern Idaho. We had no hand held devices with which to play games or watch movies. So, what do you do with two small children for 3 very long days on the road? You read them Charlotte's Web. During that trip Wilbur and Charlotte became our very good friends and, I have to admit, I did tear up when I read about Charlotte's death.
This book by E.B. White touches on so many topics and is an especially good read for city kids who have never experienced life on the farm. If you are planning a unit on farm animals or spiders this is a good pick to tie it all together.
Here is what one reviewer said about Charlotte's Web:

"What the book is about is friendship on earth, affection and protection, adventure and miracle, life and death, trust and treachery, pleasure and pain and the passing of time. As a piece of work it is just about perfect, and just about magical in the way it is done." (Eudora Welty, The New York Times Book Review)

I know that there are so many wonderful new chapter books and that I seem to be fixating on the classics. But there are stories that are timeless and are filled with truths that are truly important, Charlotte's Web is one of those stories. The wonderful friendship between Wilbur and Charlotte is something that every child should experience.

I hope that you have been enjoying some good read-a-loud moments with your child. What have you been reading this summer? Leave a comment and let us know.
In a couple of weeks I will begin posting on back to school books with new and fun lesson plan ideas.

Happy Reading!
Dee Ann

Summer Read-a-loud: The World of Pooh

I was first introduced to Winnie-the-Pooh by Walt Disney. As a child, I loved the endearing way that Pooh spoke  and his tummy rumbled and the way that his friends: Christopher Robin, Piglet and the whole Hundred Acre Woods gang, loved and supported each other and went on adventures together. I was actually scared of the Heffalumps and Woozles.  It wasn't unitl my later elementary school years that  I was exploring the library and discovered a little book called The House at Pooh Corner . Wait a minute! Winnie-the-Pooh is a character in a book? I was so excited that I checked it out and went home to  spend some quality time with my favorite silly old bear.

A.A. Milne writes his Pooh stories with a wonderful rhythmic descriptive vocabulary that children love to listen to. Read this aloud and listen to the flow of the words:

Here is Edward Bear, coming downstairs now, bump, bump, bump, on the back of his head, behind Christopher Robin. It is, as far as he knows, the only way of coming downstairs, but sometimes he feels that there really is another way, if only he could stop bumping for a moment and think of it. And then he feels that perhaps there isn't. Anyhow, here he is at the bottom and ready to be introduced to you. Winnie-the-Pooh.

If your child has only met Pooh and Piglet on screen then, this summer, take time to cuddle up and visit the Hundred Acre Woods through the  written word. These stories are perfect for quiet moments together after a busy play day. The World of Pooh is also a good starting point for a unit study on bears or bees. Be sure and finish your reading time with toast topped with honey and a discussion of the wisdom of a bear of little brain.

Pooh Trivia - Did you know.....

• That A.A. Milne's son Christopher  Robin  Milne was the  model for  the character Christopher Robin?
• That  Christopher  Milne's own toys were used as inspiration for the stories?
• That the original Pooh bear is on display at the Main Branch of the New York Public Library?
• That the locations of the stories are set in the real world Ashdown Forest in Sussex England?
• That E.H. Shepherd used the landscape of Ashdown Forest for his delightful and charming illustrations?
• That you can  go to England and play a real game of Pooh Sticks off the same bridge that Christopher Milne played the game? There are even instructions in place on the bridge.

(Isn't it amazing what you can learn on Wikipedia?)

Happy  Reading,

Dee Ann

Summer Read-a-loud: The Door in The Dragon's Throat

One of my claims to not-so-much-fame is that I had Christmas dinner with author Frank Peretti and his wife at the home of some very good friends. He is charming and creative and funny. So, it was with special interest that my children and I added his Cooper Kids Adventure Series to our read-a-loud list. The first book in the series is The Door in The Dragon's Throat.
Synopsis (from the back cover):

Jay and Lila Cooper have been on adventures with their archaeologist father before, but nothing like this! As they make their way through the dark and mysterious cavern, they can't help thinking about the other exploration parties that tried to open the Door. All fled in panic or died terrible deaths! What really lies behind the Door? Incredible riches from a lost kingdom... or some ancient evil? They must find the key and discover themselves the truth about the Nepurian legends....
A rip roaring yarn filled with danger and intrigue, ending with a titanic clash between the forces of good and evil.

We always read right before bed and I was a little worried that this book might be too intense for a bedtime story but the kids couldn't wait to hear what was going to happen next to Jay and Lila Cooper. If your early elementary child is sensitive to scary or intense drama I recommend that you delay this book until they are older, or read early in the day and not at bedtime.
The Cooper Kids series is a great way to develop interest in archeology, antiquities and history.
Once you and your kids are introduced to Jay, Lila and Dr. Cooper you will want to travel the world with them.

Other favorite books in the series are:
Escape from the Island of Aquarius
The Secret of the Desert Stone
Trapped at the Bottom of the Sea

What are you reading to your children this summer? Share a favorite summer read in the comments section or post your own reader review by clicking on the red book in the side bar.
Still not sure of the merits of reading chapter books to your children? Check out this post
A Chapter a Day Keeps the Summertime Blues Away

Happy Reading,
Dee Ann

Old Time Storytime Featured Book - The Forest Fire Mystery by Troy Nesbit

The Forest Fire Mystery
By Troy Nesbit
Illustrated by Shannon Stirnweis
Whitman Publishing Company
Copyright 1962

"Art Mills stopped in his tracks. Far below him, among the spruce trees, he saw through the clear mountain air a man who was obviously following and spying on another man"
This book is a blast from the 1960's past and a fun wilderness mystery to share around the campfire. The Forest Fire Mystery is available at Wondersome Storytime Vintage Books on etsy.com.
While you're there, browse through the other wondersome vintage book finds to add to your storytime library.

Feed Your Summertime Read-a-Loud Habit

It’s time to begin your summer reading adventure. Where would you like to start?

How about  England during WWII? Travel with Peter,Susan, Edmund and Lucy through the wardrobe to Narnia. The Lion the Witch and The Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis


You could travel with Meggie and her Father Mo through the actual pages of a book to battle the villainous Capricorn in Inkheart by Cornielia Funke.


Visit Mrs. Piggle Wiggle’s upside down house and learn about the Wont Pick up Toys Cure and The selfishness Cure, The Slow-eater-tiny-bite-taker Cure and many others Her home is a place of endless fun and refuge and her cures are part magic and part good parenting common sense.
Read all of the Mrs. Piggle Wiggle stories by Betty MacDonald


Take a Disney vacation without even leaving home with the Kingdom Keeper Series by Ridley Pearson. In this series you are introduced to five teens that were chosen as models for Disney's latest technology, DHI or Disney Host Interactive. The DHI program creates holograms of the kids to act as guides in the Disney theme parks. There is one small catch with the DHI program - at night, while the kids are sleeping, they are transported back to Magic Kingdom in the form of their holographic selves. They discover that after dark when the parks are closed a group of Disney characters come to life called the Overtakers, led by the the witch Maleficent, are plotting to take over the theme parks.


Spend the summer living in a boxcar and solving mysteries with Henry, Jessie, Violet and Benny in the Box Car Children Mystery series by Gertrude Chandler Warner. With over 100 Box Car Children books in this series you should have plenty of good stories to fill the long summer days.


Travel to France with the Potts family in their famous flying car,  Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. Author Ian Flemming is best know for his James Bond series but he certainly shows that he has a heart for children’s adventures in this charming story. Read Chitty Chitty Bang Bang by Ian Flemming.


Stay right here in the States and visit the home of Homer Price, Centerburg Ohio. The time period is in the 1940's and, without even realizing it, your children will learn a little about life before computers and i pods through Robert McCloskey's entertaining stories and his expressive illustrations in his books Homer Price and the sequel Centerburg Tales.



I hope that you will enjoy these summer-read-a-loud suggestions. Click on the titles of each book to see the origianl post and story synopsis. If you would like to order any of these books from Amazon.com just click on the book cover. Remember that if you order over $25 you receive free shipping. A great way to build your library of books to read again and again. I will be posting more great new and classic books to feed your summer reading habit. If you have a favorite chapter book that you enjoy reading to your children please leave a comment and share the title and author.

Happy Reading,
Dee Ann

A Chapter-a-Day Keeps the Summertime Blues Away

Summer is the perfect time to introduce chapter books to your early readers. Choose a consistent time of day, maybe after lunch when everyone needs some quiet time, and read a chapter book together. Over the years my children and I have shared many adventures through the eyes of the characters in the Box Car Children series, the Little House on the Prairie Books, the Chronicles of Narnia and so many others. One of the benefits of reading chapter books together is that children learn the structure of a good story as they listen to the plot unfold day after day and see how the author builds character development from chapter to chapter. Let the children listen to you.  Listening to the words flow gives your children the opportunity to comprehend new words as they hear them in context and to let their imagination follow the story unhindered.  Children that have the experience of listening to a longer book from beginning to end will find it easy to transition to reading novels on their own as they become more confident readers.

If you are teaching a summer preschool or school age program, reading chapter books is a wonderful way to have a quiet time together after a long day of play and activity. If you choose a book and then find that it doesn't hold the children's attention, put that book away and choose another. Reading time should be a time where children feel that their time is well spent so choose books that are age appropriate and fit the interests of the class. It is tempting to play recorded books, and many of them are very well done, but it is important for the children to see adults model a love for reading and to hear them read. As the children listen to you read they hear what your voice does when you come to an end of a sentence or a question mark. They see how your voice shows excitement and other emotions. And since none of us read perfectly all of the time, they also see that it's alright if you make a mistake when you read and so they are less self conscious when they are called on to read aloud.

A bond is formed when we read with children. It gives us something to relate to together that transcends age and culture. One of my favorite things to hear is when one of my children comes to me and says, "I just finished this great book. You should read it, I know you'll love it."

This summer I'll be posting on a new batch of wondersome read-a- loud chapter books. If you're looking for a good read to get your summer reading habit started, check out the Reader Review on Hero, Second Class by Mitchell Bonds and be sure and read the sequel Hero in Hiding

Books Offer Cover to Cover Learning

Ideas From Miss Kay

Here is a wonderful insight from retired kindergarten teacher, 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 from the experience of being read to 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 that he was learning in preparation for the real thing. 

These are the simple but necessary concepts that your child will 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.

Start with very simple rhyming books with few words that repeat 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 the book 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 child 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.

Other Learning Activities from Miss Kay:
Calendar Counting and Learning the Days of the Week 
The Scrap Box 
Paperclip Math

Three of my favorite rhyming books:
Jamberry by Bruce Degan
Where's My Teddy by Jez Alborough
Chicka Chicka Boom Boom by Bill Martin and John Archambault

Do you have a favorite book that you love to read aloud to your preschooler? Let us know in a Reader Review. Click on the red Reader Review book and fill out a short form with your review. That's all there is to it. I'll post Reader Reviews as I receive them.
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