Follow us in March as we focus on 📚Reading Month!📚
Each day we will share some of our favorite children’s book authors, series, stand-alone books, or genres. We are working with the following libraries to help you locate these books if you don’t have them in your home:
📚Alma Public Library,
📚Ashley District Library
📚T.A. Cutler Memorial Library,
📚Howe Memorial Library Breckenridge,
📚Seville Township Library
📚Thompson Home Public Library.
If you don’t already attend storytime at a local library with your preschool-aged-child, you are in luck! Gratiot County has one nearly every day of the week! 📖📙📘📗📕
Mondays:
📖Ashley District Library holds a storytime for preschoolers at 11:15 am. There will be a story, time to look at books, and learning about library etiquette.
Tuesdays:
📖Alma Public Library holds a storytime at 10:00 am. One hour of stories, songs, and other activities and a craft.
Wednesdays:
📖Howe Memorial Library Breckenridge holds a storytime at 10:30 am. Stories along with “Move and Groove” time, there may also be a craft or sensory activity!
Thursdays:
📖Thompson Home Public Library holds a storytime at 10:00 am for preschoolers. There is free play, a craft, a story, and an activity.
📖 T.A. Cutler Memorial Library holds a storytime at 10:30 am for ages 3-5. There will be one or two stories read and a snack.
📖Alma Public Library holds a special “Stories with Seniors” on the third Thursday of every month at 10:00 am, located at Warwick Living Center.
📖📚📙📘📗📕
Families that have a child under 5 years old, remember to enroll your child in the Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library!! Your child will get 1 book mailed to them each month until they turn 5 years old!
https://imaginationlibrary.com/usa/affiliate/MIGRATISAB/
Day One
📚Recommended book: The Little Mouse, the Red Ripe Strawberry, and the Big Hungry Bear by Don and Audrey Wood
Suggested by: Board Member Samantha Mitchell
🏫Available at: T.A. Cutler Memorial Library, Alma Public Library
Why we 💖 this book: Don and Audrey Wood write a compelling story that draws you in with vivid illustrations. Samantha remembers her father reading this story to her snuggled up in his chair together. His deep voice would change to suit the story, and would boom with the Bear’s footsteps and actions, while the mouse’s facial expressions and the narrator’s words told a great story she wanted to hear again and again!
Try this: 👃Play a Scent Game!👃
Use cotton balls and empty containers. Drop enough extract, essential oil, juice, or spice onto the cotton ball to give it a noticeable scent. Ask your child to smell the cotton ball in the container and guess what the smell is from! Do you think you could find a freshly picked strawberry 🍓 in the woods like the big, hungry Bear? 🐻
📚Other notable books: Don and Audrey Wood have written several great children’s books. Check some of these out- The Napping House, Piggies, Silly Sally, King Bidgood’s in the Bathtub, Quick as a Cricket. Thompson Home Public Library has The Napping House and Piggies available.
Day Two
📚Recommended Author: Dr. Seuss! Did you know that March 2nd is Dr. Seuss’ Birthday? 🍨🎈🎂🎉
🏫Available at: Alma Public Library has 55 books, T.A. Cutler Memorial Library has 45 books, Seville Township Library has 22 books, and Thompson Home Public Library has 56 books!
Why we 💖 this author: Dr. Seuss is one of the most celebrated children’s authors in the United States. Dr. Seuss is known for his made-up words, fun lyrical narration, and unique characters and illustrations. Dr. Seuss’ books were some of the first books made for children that are fun, easy to read and make learning to read fun and engaging. Many adults now have grown up reading Dr. Seuss books, and a few have been turned into movies and television series.
Try this: 🎵Seussical 🎺 Musical 🎷Instruments 🥁(from Seussvile.com) 🎶
Kids will delight both music lovers and the Lorax when they create original Seussical instruments out of items from the recycling bin! Make enough instruments to form a family or neighborhood Boom Band or get everyone to play and parade up and down Mulberry Street!
What you’ll need:
* items from the recycling bin (plastic bottles with a short neck, collar
* items from the shed, garage or hardware store (garden hose or plastic tubing; funnels)
* poster board or construction paper
* Dr. Seuss titles such as Horton Hears a Who!, The Sleep Book, Happy Birthday to You!, Did I Ever Tell You How Lucky You Are? and If I Ran the Circus
* masking tape, painter’s tape, or duct tape
* paint, glitter, stickers (optional)
* scissors and craft knife
Directions:
Read together and seek design inspiration from the three-nozzled bloozer, one-nozzled noozer, the Birthday Horn, the Hinkle-Horn, the Poggle Horn and other brass instruments created by Dr. Seuss.
To build an instrument that will produce sound, it will need to have a mouthpiece and a funnel-shaped bell. The tubes or pipes that connect the mouthpiece to the bell won’t have valves like a traditional brass instrument, but they will help channel the sound and when twisted and turned, look extremely Seussian!
It is a good idea to have kids sketch an idea for their instrument first. But before they start drawing, have them take a look at the materials available for building.
If you’re relying on items from the recycling bin, have kids tape cardboard tubes together into the desired shape and length. Form a bell by making a cone from poster board and attaching it to one end of the tube using tape. On the other end, secure a mouthpiece that’s made from the top of a plastic bottle. To make the mouthpiece, an adult should use a craft knife to cut around the shoulder of the bottle. Fit this piece snugly into the instrument tube and secure with tape. The neck, collar and lip of the bottle should protrude from the tube for blowing.
For making an instrument with items from the shed or garage, an adult should cut a desired length of clean hose or tubing. Kids can fit the stem of a funnel onto one end. The stem can either fit into the tube or the tube can fit into the stem. Secure with tape. Add a mouthpiece to the other end. A plastic cap with an extended nozzle works well as the nozzle tip can be fitted into the tube. Use tape to secure interesting coils and loops shaped from the tubing.
Before kids start blowing their instruments, have them practice buzzing their lips together as if they are blowing a “raspberry.” When they make this noise into the mouthpiece, it vibrates and produces the instrument’s sound!
Let kids use paint or glitter to decorate their instruments. Then strike up the band!
More activity ideas: https://www.weareteachers.com/best-dr-seuss-activities/
📚Another notable author: Bill Martin
Day Three
📚Recommended genre: Inside a Barn in the Country by Alyssa Satin Capueilli and other Rebus style books with pictures.
🏫Available at: Seville Township Library
Why we 💖 this book: This repetitive story helps young readers predict what will come next and participate in telling the story. The Rebus Read along stories incorporate visual images inside the text that helps young readers associate written text with real-world objects, getting their brains ready to learn to read! Use these books to have your child help you read the book. Use your finger to follow the text as you read along, and pause when it is your child’s turn to read
Try this: Make your own barn!
Using two sheets of red construction paper, ✂️cut one sheet in half for the doors of the barn. Tape them to the other paper on the right edge and left edge so the barn doors can open and shut. Draw and cut out farm animals to put inside the barn. Alternatively, use a toy barn and animals to retell the story or make up your own!
📚Other notable books: Rebus Read along stories, Pizza Pat by Rita Golden Gelman, The House that Jack Built Thompson Home Public Library has The House that Jack Built
Day Four
📚Recommended series: Click Clack Moo, Cows that Type by Doreen Cronin
🏫Available at: Alma Public Library, T.A. Cutler Memorial Library, Seville Township Library, and Thompson Home Public Library.
Why we 💖 this series: It is funny! It includes predictable text, silly characters, and is a great introduction to cause and effect. For a full list of the books in the series, click here.
Try this: Map out the main events in the book, what caused them? Predict what would have happened if the characters had made different choices. Act it out!
📚Another notable book: The Cow Loves Cookies by Karma Wilson
Day Five
📚Recommended author: Lois Ehlert, featured book- Growing Vegetable Soup
🏫Available at: Alma Public Library (32 books), Ashley District Library, (3 books) T.A. Cutler Memorial Library (Mole’s Hill, Growing Vegetable Soup, Leaf Man), Seville Township Library (5 books), Thompson Home Public Library (10 books)
Why we 💖 this author and illustrator: Lois Ehlert uses rich, non-traditional illustrations with lots of vibrant colors. You may recognize her illustrations from Chica Chica Boom Boom! We love how Lois Ehlert incorporates nature into children’s literature! She has several books about gardens, one about autumn leaves, some about animals, and books to promote eating healthy fruits and vegetables!
Try this: Make Vegetable Soup together! 🍅🥕🥔🥦🌽
https://www.pre-kpages.com/classroom-recipes-vegetable-soup/
You can use the recipe in the book or pick your own recipe based on the vegetables you like! If you have a picky eater, try using a food processor! You can puree foods like tomatoes. You can make some vegetables less visible like onions, garlic, zucchini, peppers, spinach, and broccoli. This can help you know if your child has more texture or visual aversions to vegetables. The more children have exposure to vegetables- seeing, smelling, and tasting them- the more likely they are to incorporate them into their regular diet! The most important part is seeing their caring adults eating and enjoying them! Being a part of the meal preparation also increases the likelihood of your child eating the finished product!
📚Other notable authors: Sandra Boynton and Eric Carle (featured later this month).
Day Six
📚Recommended series: The Berenstain Bears by Stan and Jan Berenstain (Also authored by Mike Berenstain)
Suggested by: Board Member Allison Dunlap
🏫Available at: Alma Public Library (71 books), Ashley District Library (28 books), T.A. Cutler Memorial Library, Seville Township Library (29 books), and Thompson Home Public Library (115 books).
Why we 💖 this series: Allison remembers reading this series when she was growing up. She used to sneak out of bed to read these books! Berenstain Bear books are a great way to introduce moral issues and safe, loving limits with your child.
Try this: 📅For one week, try to replace electronic time with a different activity!📴
Even if your family isn’t addicted to electronics and media like the Berenstain Bears in Too Much TV, it can be fun to “unplug” and replace your regular screen time with a different activity once in a while. Some ideas are: some time outside 🌳 or a walk as a family🚶♂️🚶♀️, playing a game together, reading together📖, volunteering in the community, meditating, or learning a new skill or hobby! What will you try together?📵
📚Other notable series: The Little Critter, Franklin, and Arthur.
Day Seven
Recommended genre: There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly by Pam Adams
🏫Available at: Alma Public Library (7 books), T.A. Cutler Memorial Library, Seville Township Library (8 books), and Thompson Home Public Library (6 books)
Why we 💖 this genre: Many authors have penned their own versions of this silly classic tale. This is a fun story for children to retell on their own with props because it has a lot of repetition that is easy to remember. You can also use it to practice sequencing the story in the correct order for pre-math skills. The original story’s moral was to not bite off more than you can chew.
Try this: Make your own “Old Lady” story with props.
Use a tube sock opening as the mouth and the rest as the “stomach”. Find toys that were in the story or find new things to “swallow”. If you are making your own story, who is doing the swallowing, what will they be swallowing? Can you make rhymes for what they swallow?
📚Other notable books: Other versions by Simms Taback, Rashin, Glen Rounds, Stephen Gulbis, and the series by Lucille Colandro.
Day Eight
📚Recommended book: I Love You Forever by Robert Munsch
🏫Available at: Alma Public Library, Ashley District Library, T.A. Cutler Memorial Library, Thompson Home Public Library
Why we 💖 this book: There are a wide variety of books that will express your undying love to your child. Reading stories like this expresses your unending love for your child. This, along with other “I Love You” rituals helps to build a healthy attachment with your child. Healthy attachment helps build your child’s resilience- something that helps them when they are faced with stressful situations and events.
Try this: 💞Cycles of Caring💞Talk about what you remember your parents doing for you when you were little. Share pictures, visit or call your parents to share stories of when you were growing up how your parents loved you no matter what. Find ways for you and your child to help their grandparents to continue the cycle of caring.
📚Other notable books: The Runaway Bunny by Margaret Wise Brown; Mousie, I Will Read to You by Rachael Cole; That’s Me Loving You by Amy Rosenthal; I Wished for You by Marianne Richmond; Because You Are My Baby by Sherry North; I Love You as Big as the World by David Van Buren; I Love You Just the Way You Are by Rosie Greening; I Love You More Than… by Taye Diggs.
Day Nine
📚Recommended series: Llama Llama Red Pajama by Anna Dewdney
🏫Available at: Alma Public Library (12 total books), Ashley District Library, T.A. Cutler Memorial Library (5 in the series but not Red Pajama), Seville Township Library (7 total books), Thompson Home Public Library (10 total books)
Why we 💖 this series: This series addresses typical strong feelings young friends have and experience. It has fun rhymes and is a great way to start a conversation about feelings and what to do with them before the Llama Drama starts!
Try this: Exploring Emotions!
Look through the pictures of the book, and name the emotions on the faces of the characters. Talk about why they may be feeling that way. Talk about what you can do to help those feelings.
Day Ten
📚Recommended book: Flotsam by David Weisner
🏫Available at: Alma Public Library, Ashley District Library, T.A. Cutler Memorial Library, Seville Township Library, Thompson Home Public Library.
Why we 💖 this book: This Caldecott Medal book, awarded for its illustrations, is a book without narration. You and your child can make up your own words as you look through the pictures. The best part is you can tell a different story each time you travel through the pages. Perhaps your story changes each time you travel through the pages because you have discovered something new in the illustrations that change what happens.
Try this: Make Your Own Book
Use a camera like in the story, or draw your own pictures if you like. Go through your day using your imagination and taking pictures of things that you enjoy, or things that make you wonder. Put them in an album or make it into a book. Have your child read you the photo story they created.
📚Other notable books: There are many books without narration that invite the imagination to create its own story. Check out this list of Caldecott Medal and Honor books for incredible illustrations in children’s literature! http://www.ala.org/alsc/awardsgrants/bookmedia/caldecottmedal/caldecotthonors/caldecottmedal
Day Eleven
📚Recommended book: Harold and the Purple Crayon by Crockett Johnson
Suggested by: Board Member Cheryl Davis
🏫Available at: Ashley District Library, Seville Township Library
Why we 💖 this book: Cheryl loves the idea of Harold’s imagination bringing things to life! Harold has quite an adventure and is clever enough to get himself out of the trouble he finds!
Try this: 🖍Draw your own adventure!🖍
Where will you go? What will you see? What problems might you face? How will you overcome these obstacles? How will you get back home?
📚Other notable books: The Boxcar Children, Harriet the Spy, and James and the Giant Peach.
Day Twelve
📚Recommended genre:
🏫Available at: Alma Public Library, T.A. Cutler Memorial Library, Thompson Home Public Library
Why we 💖 this genre: Singing is a great way to promote a positive literacy environment in your home. Reading songs can help you make the connection between the lyrics you sing and what they mean. You can use song books to discover new songs to sing or different versions of your favorites.
Try this: 🎶Family Karaoke🎵
Everyone picks a song they want to sing. See if you can find a book with that song in it, and sing the song you like or pick a new one! Can you sing in a different voice or make up new lyrics to a song you sing all the time?
Day Thirteen
📚Recommended book: Stone Soup by Jon J Muth
🏫This and other versions of this story available at: Alma Public Library, Ashley District Library, T.A. Cutler Memorial Library, Thompson Home Public Library
Why we 💖 this book: This is a wonderful tale about the power of sharing and coming together as a community!
Try this: Make a Difference Together!
Find someone that has a need in your community. Can you help a neighbor? Can you do something kind for someone in need?
Day Fourteen
📚Recommended series: If You Give a Mouse a Cookie by Laura Joffe Numeroff
🏫This and other books in this series available at: Alma Public Library, Ashley District Library, T.A. Cutler Memorial Library, Seville Township Library, and Thompson Home Public Library
Why we 💖 this series: This is a fun series that lends itself to reading over and over. This type of story is a great way for children to begin learning how to sequence events. When you reread the book, before turning the page, ask if your child remembers what the character wanted to do next.
Try this: 🐭 Play the Mouse Cookie Chase Board Game 🍪
https://www.mousecookiebooks.com/activities/the-great-cookie-chase/
Print or create this board game or make your own! Rather than one person getting all the cookies at the end, you could play it so that when someone finishes the board, they get a cookie.
Day Fifteen
📚Recommended book: The Mitten by Jan Brett
🏫Available at: Alma Public Library, Ashley District Library, T.A. Cutler Memorial Library, Seville Township Library (not this one, but 12 others), and Thompson Home Public Library
Why we 💖 this book: Jan Brett uses the illustrations to help her readers guess what will happen next in the story. This invites readers to become engrossed in the book and become comfortable with predicting the outcomes of the story.
Try this: Mitten Science! 🌡
Conduct a science experiment about weather mittens are warm! There are two really great websites from teachers with great ideas and questions to ask about mittens and warmth!
https://classroommagic.blogspot.com/2011/12/are-mittens-warm.html
https://www.lauracandler.com/mitten-science/
Day Sixteen
📚Recommended book: A Chocolate Moose for Dinner by Fred Gwynne
🏫Available at: Ashley District Library
Why we 💖 this book: This book plays with homophones, and shows how wacky the English language can be.
Try this:
Work together to try to think of homophones that might fool someone listening to you! See if you can illustrate the confusing meaning and the actual meaning. For example, “My mom braided my hair.” and “My mom braided my hare.”
📚Other notable books: Dear Deer by Gene Barretta, The King Who Rained by Fred Gwynne, A Little Pigeon Toad by Fred Gwynne, and Amelia Bedelia books.
Day Seventeen
📚Recommended series: Dragon Masters by Tracey West
Suggested by: Board Member Jessica Grohs
🏫Available at: Alma Public Library, T.A. Cutler Memorial Library, Seville Township Library, Thompson Home Public Library
Why we 💖 this series: Jessica is reading this series at her house with her children. She says they really enjoy the series because the chapters are really short, and they have illustrations that keep the children interested in the story as you read. The best part is that it is enjoyable to read as an adult while also being a fun read for children.
Try this: 🐲🥚Make dragon eggs 🐲🥚
https://momluck.com/how-to-make-marbled-easter-eggs/
Use food dye to give hard boiled eggs a marbled look! It also makes a healthy snack!
📚Other notable books: The Kingdom of Wrenly, Heroes in Training, Stella and the Night Sprite, Owl Diaries, Beasts of Olympus, Firehawk.
Day Eighteen
📚Recommended book: M is for Mitten- A Michigan Alphabet by Annie Appleford
🏫Available at: Alma Public Library, Ashley District Library, T.A. Cutler Memorial Library, Seville Township Library, Thompson Home Public Library
Why we 💖 this book: This is a whimsical book that introduces young Michiganders to their state and heritage. Look for other books about Michigan, your city, or the area you live in.
Try this: Write your own story!
Write a story, song, or poem about where you live. What is special about your city, school, state, or county? What do you love about where you live?
📚Other notable books: The Michigan Counting Book by Kathy-jo Wargin, S is for Sleeping Bear Dunes by Kathy-jo Wargin, S is for S’mores by Helen Foster James, Tallulah- Mermaid of the Great Lakes by Denise Brennan-Nelson, The Runaway Mitten: A Michigan Adventure Story by Anne Margaret Lewis, The Adventures of Onyx and the Guardians of the Straits by Tyler Benson, and so much more!
Check your local library for books written by local authors or about your area!
Day Nineteen
📚Recommended book: Not a Box by Antoinette Portis
Why we 💖 this book: This book along with Not a Stick by the same author showcase classic toys for children. It stimulates imagination and sparks interest in imaginative play! It invites adults and children to look beyond the ordinary and to seek the extraordinary!
Try this: 📦Get out your own box and sticks! 📦
Allow your child to decorate the box as they wish or simply pretend with it. Stretch your imagination and play with your child! Share your stories of when you played in boxes when you were their age!
Day Twenty
📚Recommended author: Jerry Pallotta
🏫Available at: Alma Public Library (12 books), T.A. Cutler Memorial Library (4 books), Ashley District Library (8 books), Howe Memorial Library Breckenridge (3 books), Seville Township Library, (2 books), and Thompson Home Public Library (7 books).
Why we 💖 this author: Jerry Pallotta is an imaginative author that understands that children have to be interested in a topic to learn! So no matter if your child likes butterflies, beetles, dinosaurs, ocean animals, or something else, Jerry has written an alphabet book that your child can really get into! Sprinkled throughout Jerry’s books are facts about the animals and insects your child is reading about. There are other, imaginative books about who will do things on holidays, such as who will be the child’s teacher next year, or who will carve the turkey at Thanksgiving! Share these silly stretches of the imagination all year long!
Try this: 🐛🐝🌲🌳 Plant a Tree 🌴🌱🐿🦔
Read Who Will Plant a Tree by Jerry Pallotta, and find a location where you can plant a tree! Talk with local
📚Other notable books: The Underwater Alphabet Book, The Icky Bug Alphabet, Who Will Plant a Tree?, Apple Fractions, The Hershey’s Kisses Subtraction Book, and many, many, many more!!
Day Twenty-One
📚Recommended book: How Are You Peeling? Foods with Moods by Saxton Freymann as well as other books about emotions.
🏫Available at: Alma Public Library, Ashley District Library, Thompson Home Public Library
Why we 💖 this genre: Talking about emotions and how to cope with them helps children understand these strong forces within their bodies. It is important for children to learn that all emotions are okay to feel and that it is a normal part of being human. Learning about emotions helps your child learn healthy coping strategies. and helps to build self-regulation skills.
Try this: 😀🥰🤩 Make your own emojis 😔🥶😠
After reading the books about emotions, make faces in the mirror together. Talk about situations that caused you to feel happy, sad, angry, frustrated, elated, surprised, scared, tired and more. Make the face in the mirror, and ask your child to do the same. As you make those faces, talk about what you see in each other’s faces, shoulders, and
📚Other notable books: Words are Not for Hurting by Elizabeth Verdick, Hands are Not for Hitting by Martine Agassi, Ph.D., Lots of Feelings by Shelley Rotner, When I’m Feeling… Series by Trace Moroney, The Way I Feel by Janan Cain, and so many more!
Day Twenty-Two
📚Recommended book: Lulu is a Rhinoceros by Jason Flom and Allison Flom.
Suggested by: Board Member Lloyd Putnam
Why we 💖 this book: This book promotes being the true individual you are, regardless of other’s perceptions and expectations.
📚Other notable books: Life has a lot of aspects that are hard to explain to children. Children’s literature has an abundance of choices for explaining the complex nature of our world- divorce, other cultures and countries, adoption, differently abled people, religion, big life changes like new siblings and moving, death, illness, natural disasters, and so much more. For help finding a book that will help guide your important conversations, ask your librarian or child’s teacher for recommendations. Read the book alone before reading it to your child. Allow time for your child to ask questions. If you don’t know the answer to a question, tell your child that you will try to find the answer and do your best to follow up. Young children are able to comprehend concise, concrete explanations. They don’t need complex, lengthy explanations. Give small answers and wait for more questions to develop if there are any. Assure your child you are there for them if they need to talk, or if they have more questions.
Day Twenty-Three
📚Recommended book: Everyone Poops by Taro Gomi
🏫Available at: Ashley District Library
Why we 💖 this book: Talking about the human body and normal bodily functions with children is a healthy thing to do. It helps children understand what is going on and what to expect. When children know what is healthy and normal, they can help communicate when something doesn’t feel right. It is critical for children to learn the parts of their body, along with the proper names and functions.
Try this: Sing Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes!
Start by signing the classic children’s song! See how many body parts your child knows after singing the song. Ask your child to name different body parts, and ask which ones they know you didn’t sing about. If you know something interesting about how that part works or what it does, share that with your child.
📚Other notable books: Parts by Tedd Arnold
Day Twenty-Four
📚Recommended author: Eric Carle
🏫Available at: Alma Public Library (32 books), Ashley District Library (24 books), T.A. Cutler Memorial Library, Howe Memorial Library Breckenridge, Seville Township Library (21 books), Thompson Home Public Library (28 books)
Why we 💖 this author: Eric Carle is another notable children’s book author and illustrator. He is known for his painted collage illustrations! His books are celebrated for the way they invite children to fully explore his books as the hungry caterpillar eats through book pages, animals look back at children, or children are asked to do funny actions like animals, and more!
Try this: 🎨 Paint! 🎨
While the Internet has no shortage of activities for any Eric Carle book, we feel children should freely express their creativity at every opportunity! Use some washable paints or watercolors on a thick paper. Once it is dry, see if your child is interested in creating a collage.
If you would like to check out the other activities for Eric Carle books, check out this link!
Day Twenty-Five
📚Recommended genre: Fables and Fairy Tales
🏫Available at: Alma Public Library, Ashley District Library, T.A. Cutler Memorial Library, Howe Memorial Library Breckenridge, Seville Township Library, and Thompson Home Public Library.
Why we 💖 this genre: Fables and fairy tales are stories that are told by many authors with nearly infinite variations. There are many songs and props available to help children retell the story on their own.
For a fun twist, read books like The True Story of the Three Little Pigs by Jon
Try this: Pick a Fairy Tale or a Fabel
Select two or more traditional versions of one fable or fairy tale, depending on the length and your child’s attention span. Then read an alternate version of the story. Have a discussion about how different perspectives of the same event can create different stories.
Day Twenty-Six
📚Recommended book: Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice
🏫Available at: Alma Public Library, Ashley District Library, T.A. Cutler Memorial Library, Seville Township Library, and Thompson Home Public Library.
Why we 💖 this book: This Caldecott Medal children’s book is widely celebrated. It was a pioneer in that it was one of the first children’s books to look at children’s emotions beyond the positive spectrum. Children relate to the story as an angry Max fantasizes about ruling the world, and what he would do if he could do anything he wants at all. The illustrations play a critical role in discerning when Max is in his fantasy and when he is in reality. Ultimately, the unconditional love of his parents is what matters.
Try this: Play a Game!
Take turns telling what you would do if you ruled the house/country/world! What rules or laws would you make? What holidays would you celebrate? How would you celebrate them? How would you solve disputes? What things would you provide to your citizens, and how would you do it?
Day Twenty-Seven
📚Recommended book: Green Eggs and Ham by Dr. Seuss
Suggested by: Board Member Sammie Suhajda
🏫Available at: Alma Public Library, Ashley District Library, T.A. Cutler Memorial Library, and Thompson Home Public Library.
Why we 💖 this book: Sam likes this classic book, not just because she likes the main character’s name! Sam enjoys reading it with her son, too!
Try this: Plan a New Foods Picnic
Have everyone in your family pick a food they have never tried before and make a picnic out of it! Enjoy our spring weather with a picnic at a local park! Play together after trying your new foods!
📚Other notable books: I Will
**A note on picky eating: It is normal for young children to go through phases of picky eating. It is normal for them to go through both phases of being super hungry and where they hardly eat anything at all. The best things to do during these times are:
1. Don’t stress overmuch about it or give in to power struggles over food. If a phase lasts over a long period of time, contact your child’s physician for tips.
2. Consistently offer healthy choices when your child is hungry. This goes for snacks and meals.
3. The more choices you offer, the less you will struggle over power. Ask your child what meals they want when making the shopping list, ask your child what fruits and vegetables they want with their meal, ask them to help in shopping and preparing the meal.
4. Have a backup plan. Offer a taste of the foods that you are eating at mealtime. If they don’t like it, offer a backup. We aren’t suggesting you make a whole meal, but a consistent fall back like a peanut butter sandwich.
5. Most importantly, the healthier you eat, the healthier your child will eat. It is the same trying new foods- the more you do it, the more likely your child is to do the same. Be consistent and set loving limits.
6. Reading books about picky eating may help, but careful not to harp on the subject.
We hope this helps any of our friends struggling with food issues!
Day Twenty-Eight
📚Recommended genre: Poetry
🏫Available at: Alma Public Library, Ashley District Library, T.A. Cutler Memorial Library, Howe Memorial Library Breckenridge, Seville Township Library, and Thompson Home Public Library.
Why we 💖 this genre: Poetry has a way of expressing inner thoughts, feelings, and the world we live in that are hard to articulate otherwise. Typically, poems are short and easy to read together. Find a children’s poetry book to bring along for times you know you will be waiting- waiting rooms, lines at stores, waiting for food at a restaurant, and more! Engage the imagination rather than appeasing it with a screen!
Try this: Illustrate!
While reading a poem out loud to your child, have them illustrate what they think the poem is about! Remind them that if the illustrator drew something different, that is okay! Having different interpretations of the same poem is one of the wonderful aspects of reading poetry.
📚Other notable books: Shel Silverstein books, Down by the Cool of the Pool by Tony Milton, Mary Had a Little Jam and Other Silly Rhymes by Bruce Lansky, and Take Me Out of the Bathtub and other Silly Silly Songs by Alan Katz.
Day Twenty-Nine
📚Recommended book: The Crayon Box that Talked by Shane DeRolf
🏫Available at: Seville Township Library and Thompson Home Public Library.
Why we 💖 this book: This book is about a child who shows a box of crayons that don’t get along how important they all are to making a complete picture. Parents can use this book to start a conversation about how each person is different with different talents and goals. We can teach children that when we all work together, we can make a big difference!
Try this: Go on a Color Hunt!
Go for a walk in your neighborhood, and see how many different colors you can find! Try to name different hues. Look around for spring’s first blossoms and critters. Maybe make a multi-colored graph bring along some blank graph paper and color in the squares as you see each color.
📚Other notable books: The Day the Crayons Quit by Drew Daywalt, The Recess Queen by Alexis
Day Thirty!
📚Recommended genre: Books about books!
🏫Available at: Alma Public Library, T.A. Cutler Memorial Library, and Thompson Home Public Library.
Why we 💖 this genre: What would a Reading Extravaganza be without books about the ❤️love❤️ of books?! Some of these picks talk about how to treat books and some talk about how to select one that is right for you! These books reinforce that loving books is a great thing!
Try this: Start a Journal!
Many journals have been used to understand historical events. People use journals to record their thoughts, feelings, lives, events, weather, illustrations, poetry, and many other possibilities! Try out different ways of journaling to see what fits you best!
📚Other notable books: The Wonderful Book by Leonid Gore, We’re Going on a Book Hunt by Pat Miller, Wild About Books by Judy Sierra, and The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore by Willaim Joyce
Day Thirty-One!
📚Recommended book: The Hiccupotomas by Arron Zenz
🏫Available at: Alma Public Library, Ashley District Library, and T.A. Cutler Memorial Library.
Why we 💖 this book: This is an incredibly fun book about a hippopotamus that gets the hiccups! It is a favorite because of all the giggles it causes in the children reading it! For some extra giggles, read the last page with the cast bios in the full version of the book!
Try this: Share your favorite silly book!
What is your favorite book to read that causes lots of giggles? Email us or comment on our Facebook page your favorite silly book.
📚Other notable books: The Rhyming Dust Bunnies by Jan Thomas
We hope you enjoyed our reading extravaganza! We want to sincerely thank the Gratiot County libraries for their participation and assistance. Many of the “Other notable books” were suggested by them! We hope you were able to discover new books this month, as well as find new story times to attend! We at Children’s Discovery Academy appreciate our libraries immensely for all they do for our communities! Thank you, Alma Public Library, Ashley District Library, T.A. Cutler Memorial Library, Howe Memorial Library Breckenridge, Seville Township Library, and Thompson Home Public Library!! You all rock!
✅Did we pick some of your favorite books❓
✅ Did we leave out one of your favorites❓
✅ What books do you suggest we read❓
Thank you for participating in March Reading Extravaganza! Happy reading!