Reading chapter books to your 3-8 year olds is a great way to get them to use their imaginations and to more advanced vocabulary. But with the advanced vocab, can sometimes come advanced content (sorry…I am not interested in emotionally scarring my 4 year olds by reading about vampires) or they simply have plots that can’t capture the attention of preschool age kids. Sometimes it’s a matter of not having enough pictures intertwined in the chapters to keep them turning pages with you.

So, thank you so much for your recommendations! We have read some of these, and can attest to our children being completely interested even though they are considered for Middle Grade Readers.

I have learned to never underestimate the reading comprehension of your children! Just last night, my just turned 4 year old…who has such a hard time sitting down to read…was completely wrapped up in Farmer Boy by Laura Ingalls Wilder…and even went to dress for the part of the hunter boys to get in the mood. I watched his eyes widen as he listened (there weren’t any pictures to look at) and felt like I was catching a magical moment where he was making the connection between the words and the images in his own mind. Pure Magic!

So….here folks is the list you put together!  Feel free to add to it, and I’ll edit them in.

CHAPTER BOOKS FOR YOUNGER CHILDREN (Ages 3-8 for read-aloud)

The mouse and the Motorcycle by Beverly Cleary

Ramona Books by Beverly Cleary

Emily’s Runaway Imagination Beverly Cleary

Ralf S. Mouse books by Beverly Cleary

Mercy Watson series by kate dicamillo

Tale of Despereaux by Kate dicamillo

The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane by Kate dicamillo

Because of Wynn Dixie byKate Dicamillo

Catwings books by Ursula K. LeGuin

Spiderwick Chronicles by Holly Black

Just So Storiesby Rudyard Kipling

The Henry books by DB Johnson

The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe  by C.S. Lewis

The Little House books by Laura Ingalls Wilder

Halibut Jackson by David Lucas.

Paddington Bear by Michael Bond

The Adventures of Olga da Polga By Michael Bond

The Borrowers by Mary Norton

Ella Enchanted Gail Carson Levine

Freddy Anniversary Collection by WalterBrooks

Danny the Champion of the World by Roald Dahl

Matilda Ronald Dahl

James and the Giant Peach by Ronald Dahl

The Ordinary Princess By M.M. Kaye

Wizard of Oz books by L. Frank Baum

Junie B Jones Series by Barbara Park

Captain Underpants Series by Dav Pilkey

The Cricket in Times Square George Seldon

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

Grandma’s Attic by Arleta Richardson

The Noisy Village by Astrid Lindgren

Betsy-Tacy books by Maud Hart Lovelace

My Father’s Dragon by Ruth Stiles Gannet

No Flying in the House by Betty Brock

The Magic Tree House series by Mary Pope Osborne

The Littles by John Peterson

Pippi Longstocking Astrid Lindgren

The Boxcar Children Gertrude Chandler Warner

Black Beauty by Anna Sewell

Swiss Family Robinson Johann D. Wyss

Around the World in 80 Days by Jules Verne

Little Women Louisa May Alcott

Winnie the Pooh A.A. Milne

Snugglepot and Cuddlepie by May Gibbs

Elves and Fairies Annie R. Rentoul and Ida Rentoul Outhwaite

Peter Pan J.M. barry

Alice in wonderland by Lewis Carroll

Enid Blyton Goodnight Stories

The Faraway Tree by Enid Blyton

Famous Five by Enid Blyton

Secret Seven by Enid Blyton

Anything by Thornton BURGESS

Clementine series by Sara Pennypacker

Far Flung Adventures series

Milly-Molly-Mandy Joyce Lankester Brisley

The Alfie Books by Shirley Hughes

Jip and Janneke by Annie M.G. Schmidt

The End of the Beginning: Being the Adventures of a Small Snail(and an Even Smaller Ant) by Avi

From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweilerby E.L. Konigsburg

The Chocolate Touch by Patrick Skene Catling

Grayson by Lynne Cox

Half Magic by Edward Eager.
Indian in the Cupboard series by Lynn Reid Banks

The Trumpet of the Swanby E.B. White.

A Necklace of Raindropsby Joan Aiken

The Wheel on the School by Meindert DeJong

I don’t know about you…but I’m heading to the Library today! Enjoy!

Bedtime is has always had the same routine:

Bath, pajamas, brush teeth, prayers, dad’s made up story (either a watered down Hercules/Greek Mythology story, or Sherlock Holmes) followed by a book or two, and then “Mommy’s secret thing” (a combination of back scratch, and massage where I go through head to toe saying “Your head is asleep, your back is asleep…”) and then a “made up lullaby”( I have to sing new words to a made up tune every night).

Can you tell our kids keep us on our toes? We’re making up songs, stories and melodies fresh every night!  It’s good practice and we love it.  But every so often, Ken wants a break from his made up stories (he is a history teacher, and so his days are already filled with storytelling) and so we decided about a year ago to introduce more chapter books to the routine. We have gone through most of the Laura Ingalls Wilder books, Lion Witch and the Wardrobe, Charlotte’s Web, and a few others. But I will be honest, and say that finding books for a newly turned 5 and 4 year old is hard!

We had to skip the end of Lion Witch and the Wardrobe…or at least paraphrase…and Kenneth decided to postpone Harry Potter after the first chapter (He got a bit excited on that one).

So, we have been on a quest to find good chapter books for Preschool age children, and we found this great book at the library this month:

Lady Lollipop by Dick King-Smith, illustrated by Jill  Barton.

It’s about a princess who wants a pet pig more than anything else, and gets to know some really fun characters a long the way.

This was a hit. I think they read it in just a couple nights. The best part, was that it was perfect for my boy and my girl: a dirty pig, a funny pig keeper and a stubborn princess. You can’t go wrong. The illustrations are great too!

Do you have other big kid books for pre-K kids you love to read? It’s a narrow category for sure…and we are always on the quest for more! Please share and I’d love to put together a list to share!

Happy Weekend everyone, and happy reading!

Wow. February. When did that happen?

Month of love. For me…it’s a month of lots going on: more house hunting (yep…still in the game) book making (loving every second) and baby loving (she is the most kissable thing!)

So, news:

New Print Your Own Valentine Cards in the shop!

Valentines cards you can print yourself. Yep. DIY with some of my favorite designs in the shop. Do you remember this post from last year? Here is an image I found last year that inspired me.

These are Audrey Hepburn inspired: the deer loving darling via 1958. Audrey as a little girl. I really love that woman.

You can also find these to print yourself. Fun. Fun. Fun.

OK: so, come over to the shop and do some last minute valentines shopping! If you are like me, you don’t have Valentines Cards yet, and PDF downloads are your only hope!

You can print out as many as you want! Perfect for your kid’s classes and neighbors!

I know that’s what I will be using! Well, for the boys we’ll use something more like this. I love having stationery on hand…it’s nice for procrastinators like me:)

Enjoy!

On Monday, the 2009 Caldecott and Newbury awards were announced, and I must say I am no less than inspired. Working on my own children’s book has given me a completely new perception of what these awards represent.  Here at home, we acquire new books monthly…mostly from the library, but we have since built up our own children’s book library. I even have my own picture book collection that the kids aren’t allowed to touch (or chew or rip!). And I started thinking….I would love to start a picture book review weekly on the blog! Every week, I’ll introduce a favorite find…old and new in the category: Books you’ll love.

But for this week, here are the Caldecott winners for 2009!

The Lion and the Mouse illustrated and written by Jerry Pinkney (Caldecott Medal)

All the World illustrated by Marla Frazee, written by Liz Garton Scanlon (Caldecott Honor)

Red Sings from Treetops: A Year in Colors illustrated by Pamela Zagarenski, written by Joyce Sidman (Caldecott Honor)

It’s really fun to think that right now, I have acquired these books without the medal on them. I purchased them before the gold sticker perminently gets placed. I think I like it best that way: it reminds me of what first came out of the publishing house…fresh and raw, ready for review.

But check these books out…you won’t be disappointed. How a story is told in pictures is a genius I am so intrigued and inspired by. Hope you are too!

NEW in the ETSY shop: November’s outfits!

These are PDF downloads that go along with the 6 paper dolls currently in the shop.

Now your kids can play “school” with this creative bunch of paper children. Have so much fun!

* We’ll soon have the option to mail you paper versions of our paper doll sets. Be watching next week!

Purchase here.

Need last minute Halloween Crafts?

Help Mazie choose which of the 3 halloween costumes she should wear trick-or-treating.

Print out these FREE halloween Paper dolls, color them in and cut them out for hours of spooky play.

*these are from last years archives….they don’t match the current paper dolls in the shop. Sorry!*

Download here.

OK. So I take Addie out to grab a couple shots in the gorgeous yellow leaves around our house, and all I say is: can you stand there and just lean on that pole?

This is what she gave me.

She’s a natural model, for sure. I am doomed! But oh…she is my sunshine.

And her darling outfit? Compliments of Matilda Jane. Don’t you just love their stuff?  We’re all about the Jane’s around here.

It’s a good name, if I do say.

Halloween has never been an exciting holiday for my husband and I before we had kids. But of course, with children in the mix, the idea of dressing up, baking treats, and spooky stories as a holiday has changed our perspective a bit…and we’ve been having a lot of fun!

As well as spooks lurking around these parts, we’ve also been dealing with the seasons first set of coughs and colds…so with three sick kids, I really didn’t want to hit the stores for Halloween children’s decor. Here’s what we have come up with so far…

Spooky portraits: so fun to make with the kids.

How we made them: On one particularly sick day, we laid around the house making spooky faces in the camera. The kids sat with me at the computer while I made them ready for printing. I had originally thought of framing them in these frames from IKEA, but since we were all too sick to get out, I drew a frame into photoshop inspired from the IKEA one I love, inserted the photos, and printed the whole thing out! Voila. Instant framed decor for Halloween!

And since we had more than enough spooky photos of the kids, I have since printed out the pictures, and we have had fun making spooky embellishments in marker and crayon…like pirate eye patches, cat ears and sharp teeth. It’s like dress ups without the mess on the floor!

Halloween floral arrangement: Hardly floral! We spray painted some dead branches from outside, adorned with glittered butterflies and black crows (which I did purchase earlier in the month). The spray paint was a hit…and even though the kids just watched me, they wanted to turn everything in the house black after watching the transformation. Good thing we ran out of spray paint!

Bats in the doorway: Oh these took minutes…and cost use pennies..but they really look great as they hang in our entry way. Something about the silhouette factor. These were made with construction paper and string we had on hand.

The kids are begging for more…but alas…I still have costumes to figure out! More on that later…

If you have any fun links of kid-friendly Halloween fun, do share!

Happy Spooking!

Here are 6 very curious children who love to play together. They love to make things: make believe, make-up stories, make crafts, make food, and all sorts of other fun play. Each month, I will be adding new clothes (appropriate for the season) to the shop. You want to know the best part about it? The clothing will all be PDF downloads so you don’t have to even wait for shipping. Just print them out yourself, as many times as you need (to ensure you have plenty if that exacto knife goes astray!)

What I can’t decide, is if i should make the dolls a download. Would you want them shipped to you on super great paper for ensured sturdiness, or to print off your self? Opinions please:

I will have a mighty grand shop update on Tuesday morning. I’m a bit behind schedule, but I don’t think you will be disappointed!

Sometimes I wonder what it would be like to have little feet again. What would the world look like if my head was as high as my hips are now. I guess that is why I can’t stop drawing for children…I am constantly curious what they think about when they walk around with those little feet in that magical world of their’s. Sometime’s I remember what it is like, and other times…I have just as much fun imagining. But that’s it: Little feet imagine.