A Perfect Day

A Perfect Day written and illustrated by Carin Berger is a picture book that is a reminder of the fun parts of winter.  Which seems timely after coming off a week with extremely cold weather and then today dealing with icy sidewalks.  The text is brief enough to share with preschoolers, yet engaging for elementary aged children as well.  Today when I was reading it aloud, it reminded of the classic The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats.  

a couple of cards

 Here are a few cards I made last week.  This one is obviously made for the current season.

 

I still make cards, but I don't stamp as many as I used to.  Lately, I have used two sided paper to cover the front and stamp an image or phrase to complete the card.  Simple, yet pleasing.

This one is a collage of sorts...I even put a miniature tree on the back. 

The Phantom Tollbooth

The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster is a novel some consider a classic of children's literature (it was written in 1961).  I picked it up after reading about it in the Children's Book-A-Day Almanac.  The boy Milo thinks everything is a waste of time.  One day he gets home from school and finds a large package for him.  Inside is a tollbooth and a car and  soon he is driving the car in another land.  Tock, the other main character, is a watch dog.  Milo and Tock encounter many unique people and situations.  The story's appeal is all the play on words written into it, and may be better understood by adults than children.  It would be a good read aloud for an older elementary students.  It would also work well for a book group.

Winter Reading Challenge

I am hosting a Winter Reading Challenge here on my blog to encourage you to read. At the end of the challenge, I will draw one winner for a $10 gift card to Barnes and Noble.    The challenge is to read four or more novels or nonfiction books I have reviewed on my blog. Here is how you can participate.
 1. Leave a comment on this post telling you are participating, what books you might read(your choices are not written in stone), and your name. You need to do this by January 11.
2. Read four or more books between now and February 28.
3. Leave another comment on the Reading Challenge Wrap Up post telling which books you read and which you would recommend to others. You will have from February 21 to February 28 to do this.
4. A winner will be drawn on March 1 from the people who successfully completed the challenge.

This contest is open to people I know living in the United States.

For those of you not familiar with navigating blogs, you can go down to the bottom of the screen and click on the label books. Then only the posts talking about different books will show up, not every single post.

2012 in review

Here are a few things I did this year:
1.  Made 5 quilts...you can see pictures here, here, here, here, and here
2.  Bought an iPod.  I have had it since July and the verdict is still out.  I use it mostly to listen to music.
3.  Learned how to swim, thanks to my friend Greta
4.  Hosted Camp Clair
5.  Completely read 67 books (this includes novels and adult nonfiction but ...not children's picture books)
The ones I would highly recommend include The Half-Stitched Amish Quilting Club, Gifted Hands, In the Land of Blue Burqas, How Children Succeed, Unseduced and Unshaken by Rosalie de Rosset, Heidi, and Lit!
6.  Bought a state park sticker and have been exploring Minnesota

What did you do in 2012?  

Children's Book-A-Day Almanac

I picked up Children's Book-A-Day Almanac by Anita Silvey at the library and it is a goldmine of information about children's literature.  For each day of the year, Silvey chose a book to write about.  Some are classics-The Hobbit, Goodnight Moon, and Pippi Longstocking.  Others are more recent-Duck on a Bike, Esperanza Rising, and Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse.  She includes a summary of the book and interesting facts about the author or book.  After looking through it this afternoon, I  made a list of more than a dozen books that I have not heard of and will look for at my library.  I recommend this book for any teacher, librarian, or parent looking for new books to share with children.