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.

Berries, Berries, Berries! - Jamberry

Before we get to Jamberry I would like to introduce you to someone. My daughter works for a wonderfully inventive woman named Heather. She is the founder and owner of the on-line store, Mom 4 Life. Heather's site is listed in the sidebar under Friends. Be sure and give her a visit.
Here is some interesting info on Heather and Mom 4 Life:

“Mom 4 Life.com is a unique website specializing in products that are 100% mom invented. Started by a mom of two in 2003, Heather Ledeboer has grown Mom 4 Life at a breathtaking speed. Her website now offers over 900 products. Ledeboer is passionate about being a mom and has built her business around her children’s sleep schedule and hired employees when Mom 4 Life experiences growth spurts in order to allow her to be a stay at home mom (her original goal when starting her business). Desiring to help other moms in business, Heather searches out products that are new, unique to the market and (most importantly) comprised from the handiwork of a mother. Knowing how difficult it can be to take a new product and get it in front of the target audience, Mom 4 Life steps in to do just that successfully marketing products by moms (over 250 of them), for moms. Not only passionate about helping moms in business, Heather also seeks to help moms in need. Mom 4 Life donates 10% of its proceeds to local pregnancy centers. Heather believes that it when you are blessed, you are called to be a blessing to others. Helping moms is the way that she feels compelled to fulfill that calling.”

Jamberry
by Bruce Degan
Laptime: toddler - Kindergarten
Story time: toddler - Kindergarten

While I was writing my last post about Blueberries For Sal by Robert McCloskey the opening line from Jamberry kept running through my heard, "One berry, two berry, pick me a blueberry". I read Jamberry so many time to my children that I can still recite most of it from memory.
A berry loving bear invites a boy to go berry picking with him. They go for a canoe ride and discover a berry adventure around every turn until they end up "buried in berries".
This is a great laptime read for toddlers and younger preschoolers because the rhythms are bouncy and fun and the illustrations are full of berrylicious things to look at. I especially like the way that Bruce Degan foreshadows the next section by adding a character or an item from the next berry discovery to the current page. Linger over the illustrations, there are so many yummy things to see.

I hope that you will enjoy these activities and leave your own activity idea in the comments section.

Laptime and Story Circle Activities
I combined the laptime and story circle activities because I would use these activities in both areas.

1. Toast Jamboree! - All you need is a toaster (preferably one that stays cool on the outside), bread, plastic knives for spreading, and jams made out of the berries listed in the story. Toast slices of bread and cut into fourths. Let the children spread a different jam on each slice. Be sure and discuss the different colors and tastes of the jams.
2. "Dancing in Meadows of Strawberry Jam" - In the middle of the book the bear and the boy meet up with some ponies and sheep and have a dance. For a fun movement activity, give the children berry colored scarves or streamers, put on some music and dance. Choose instrumental music that is lively, perhaps something Celtic or this is a good chance to introduce your favorite piece of danceable classical music . Whenever you do this kind of movement activity be sure that you have enough room for the kids to spread out. Set the guidelines about where they dance - move in a circle, move across the room, stay in place. Also set the guidelines for when the dancing starts and stops. For example, when the music starts, dance and when the music stops, freeze.