Return

Becker, A. Return. Somerville: Candlewick, 2016. Print.

The concluding chapter of Becker’s trilogy delivers a powerful message sent out to parents about the importance of acknowledging the presence of their children. Adults become consumed in their professions and in their desire to perhaps be successful providers to their children sometimes fail to see that in their effort to be successful providers, they may lose those they provide for. A parent’s inability to make the effort to spend time with their loved ones create distance between themselves and their children. One can only hope that this realization does not come too late. 

No words were necessary in the delivery of this message. Its strong and powerful message leaves the reader speechless and deep in thought evaluating life's worth and the worthy that we have in our lives. Are we doing the right thing? Or in doing what we think is the right thing making us fail at the bigger things?

Sometime we fail as parents, not because we don't try, but because we try too hard. We become consumed in being providers that we neglect those that we strive to be the best for. I for sure know that my children would rather me spending time with them instead of me spending time doing school work, and although I see the importance of spending quality time with them, the provider in me tells me that I must continue to work hard for them to have everything that they need. So the question here is, why is it that even though we know what is more important, why do we keep failing at making the right decision? :(

Return Book Trailer

Our Great Big Backyard

Bush, L. W., Bush, J., & Rogers, J. (2016). Our great big backyard. New York: HarperCollins Publisher.

A reluctant girl goes on a summer road trip with her family wishing she didn’t have to spend time away from her friends. A summer road trip with family and no friends? Boring! Her idea of survival during this awful trip was to hide behind the screen of electronic media devices, but much to her surprise, this much dreaded trip ends up being the opposite of what she expected. This tale opens the reader’s eyes about the beauty in spending quality time with family and giving electronic media devices a break. 

When kids find solace or comfort in electronic gadgets, we should worry. What a child can find on social media, applications, etc. can simply create a sea between child and parent. We need to teach our kids to be okay without technology. When children realize how wonderful the world is beyond electronic devices, they will see how its beauty is much more important. Family is pretty great once we get to enjoy their presence. Let's not anything come in between family and us. 

Interview with the Authors

Read Aloud

The following video somehow reminded me of this book:

So Sad, How Our Lives Become Those Days...

LOVE from The Very Hungry Caterpillar

Carle, E. (2015). Love from The Very Hungry Caterpillar. New York: Grosset and Dunlap.

     

You are so sweet. The cherry on my cake. The apple of my eye...

You make the sun shine brighter, the stars sparkle, the birds sing...

That's why I love you!

A book illustrating sweet nothings to the ones we love shows the reader the many ways in which love and appreciation can be shown. Often times the way we tell the people we care about exactly how much they brighten up our days is more meaningful when we add a little bit of creativity. Love is love regardless, but adding a little extra touch to expressing it makes a whole lot of difference and can make us feel more special. 

A goal that I have as a parent is to teach them to love openly and freely, with no inhibitions, paying no heed to taboos, differences, or time. Every day my youngest son he gives me a different reason for loving me and even when his reason is "because you're my mommy, remember?" or "because I do" it still makes my heart happy because he's expressing it. His excuse to hug me by telling me, "Mommy needs a hug and a kiss," as he walks towards me with open arms to hug me and kiss me is his little way of telling me he loves me. These are the moments that I live for. When I shared this book with my boys, they both loved it. I really don't know why, but something tells me that because they both realized the importance of expressing love and how there are many ways in which it can be expressed without necessarily using the words. 

Eric Carle's Facebook Page

The Sheepover: Sweet Pea and Friends

Churchman, J. C. (2015). The Sheepover: Sweet Pea and Friends. New York: Little, Brown &.

Sweet Pea, Sweat Pea! Something's wrong with Sweat Pea!

Sweet Pea, Sweet Pea! What's wrong with Sweat Pea?

Sweet Pea is much better!

Sweet Pea is better! Sweet Pea is better!

Family is everything. But what happens when one doesn’t have one? A story about how despite the fact an orphan sheep is “alone” in this world, her friends make sure that she does not feel alone. This “orphan” sheep receives the same love and support from her dear friends that she would have received from her family. Her friends are able to nurture her back to health reminding her that she does have a family that cares about her.

This book teaches the readers about the importance of family and the unity that comes off of it in times of hardship. It also teaches them that sometimes, when we think we are alone, we really aren't because there are other people around us that will go out of their way to lend a helping hand. When Sweat Pea was sick she received the support she needed to get over her illness. That's the beauty of life, you're never really alone even when you think you are. 

A Sweet Pea Story

If You Ever Want to Bring an Alligator to School, Don't!

Parsley, Elise. If You Ever Want to Bring an Alligator to School, Don't! New York: Little Brown, 2015. Print.

Show and tell at school? No problem! Magnolia has it covered. This is a funny account of how young Magnolia’s thinking outside the box for Nature’s Show and Tell has her troubleshooting all day to avoid her alligator getting them into trouble. However, despite the fact that she knows everything is going definitely wrong, she is unstoppable and rocks her show and tell presentation like a boss. This is a story about sticking to one’s ideals and doing the best they can to succeed despite the fact that the odds may not be in our favor.

This can definitely be taken as a lesson teaching book where we can teach our children to think things through before acting on our impulses. Thinking about the consequences of our actions is something everyone needs to learn (or should have learned) at a young age. For example, Magnolia had to stand last in line because she was distracted by the alligator. And Magnolia had to stay in for recess because her alligator was throwing paper airplances! Not fun and definitely not cool but every action has a consequence. Sometimes the things that we really want to do are the things that we really shouldn't do but engaging in those things bring consequences that we might not necessarily feel too thrilled about. My boys thought it was silly. "But mom, why would she want to take an alligator to school?" But at the end, they did learn something valuable. 

Book Trailer

Dear Pope Francis

Spadaro, A., & McGrath, T. (2016). Dear Pope Francis: The Pope Answers Letters from Children Around the World. Chicago: Loyola Press.

Children are curious. Children have questions that sometimes adults have difficulty answering, especially when they don’t know the answers themselves. In this collection of letters written by children to Pope Francis in which they ask questions about faith, about religion, about beliefs, about injustice, Pope Francis does his very best to answer these kids’ questions while maintaining the children’s faith strong and hopeful.

Sometimes even adults don't know the answer to these questions and reading this was soothing on a new different level. Even as an adult I found comfort in reading Pope Francis' responses. Can our deceased relatives see us from heaven?  Thinking that they are indeed "smiling down at us" is a wonderful thought. I am Catholic and even as a Catholic I have questions about the world, the mysteries of it, and the ways things work out. I have always been a fan of Pope Francis. I don't know, I find him to be genuine and just so chill... I read some of these questions out loud and his responses to my nine year old and he understood everything he said. I know religion and beliefs are quite a controversial topic to deal with in society, especially when we deal with it and children. However, I believe that because of the nature of the responses he provides for these letters, anyone who is a Christiank, regardless of the religious denomination, would find this helpful. I really enjoyed it and so did my kids. :)

Dear Pope Francis Trailler

How to Babysit a Grandma

Reagan, J., & Wildish, L. (2014). How to Babysit a Grandma. New York: Alfred A. Knopf.

When in need of a babysitter, parents run to their own parents for help. And of course, grandparents are indeed the best babysitters in the world. Who would dare to say otherwise? But what happens when the roles are “reversed” and the grandchild is the one who babysits the grandma? This is a child’s account of her visits to her grandma’s house in which grandma does not babysit. So who babysits who? Parents, if you feel guilty about leaving your kids with grandma, guilt no more, grandma is actually the one who is being babysat. 

I was born into a world with no grandmas. Both my grandmas passed away when my parents were children. Both my grandfather's lived but both died shortly after I turned one. I listen to the stories my siblings have to tell about their interactions with them and I feel so jealous of them for having the memories of them when I was too young to remember. My children, however, have been blessed to have both grandparent on both sides. My children are attached to my mom and dad more than my husband's parents and they get to "babysit" my parents.

This book brought tears to my eyes at the thought of the responsibility that my oldest son feels when he is being "babysat" by my mom and dad since my dad has cancer and he feels it is his obligation to help him do the work around the yard and with the feeding of his goats. My littlle one is too young to help with that so he takes it upon himself to "help" his "wuita" around the house. My mom makes bracelets and makes cascarones (Easter eggs) to sell. She works on both year round. So my little one sits and helps my mom color the Easter eggs and hold the string up for her to put the beads in. I have always marvelled at how much they enjoy doing those things for them and this made me realize that perhaps they think that they're babysitting my mom and dad.

This was indeed a very pleasant book to read. :)

How to Babysit a Grandma Read Aloud

I Wish You More

Rosenthal, A. K., & Lichtenheld, T. (2015). I Wish You More. San Francisco: Chronicle Books.

I wish you more ups than downs, more gives than takes! I wish you more hugs than ughs simply becaue you are everything I could wish for...

Sometimes wishing silently for all the good wishes we have for others might just not be enough. Sometimes we need to know that people wish well upon us. This is a heartwarming list of nothing but good wishes that we wish upon those we love. Why just have those unspoken good wishes? Why not share them and let those special ones in our lives know the good wishes we wish for them?

My boys loved this book. I feel this is an excellent way to teach the young ones to share their good sentiments and for them to learn that we only should wish good upon others. Getting them to practice this from an early age will only mean that more good people will live in this sometimes cruel world. My children are such good boys but naturally, because they are young fall into the "I hate this! I hate that!" And although perfectly normal, it is not acceptable so I try my best to teach my children to be kind and thoughtful and considerate and loving and caring. And that' s what my aim is. As we read it my oldest son told me, this is what you telll us to do. To be nice and wish for only good things for ourselves and others. 

I Wish You More Read Aloud

Are We There Yet? By Santat Dan

Santat, D. Are We There Yet? New York: Little, Brown, 2016. Print.

How do children survive long trips? How do children do it? The answer to that is quite simple, actually. Children create alternate worlds in which the unimaginable takes place. Here is a journey to grandma’s birthday party as told by a very bored young boy who survives this journey by using his imagination. So the next tedious, long journey to grandma’s house can be less agonizing if the imagination is used wisely.

Another thing that is important and should be mentioned is the imaginative way in which the author presented the book where you have to flip it backwards and sideways to get to the end of it. My children absolutely loved that!

As a child, I used to be a migrant. Every summer we would pack and get on the road. Imagine the nature of the journey when there were three brothers, two sisters, two parents, and me! All of us crammed up in my father's '67 Plymouth. The journey was, if we were lucky 22 agonizing hours. Reading was out of the question for me because I get motion sickness just from looking down so the only other thing other than sleeping that I could possibly do was imagine. Using my imagination helped me keep my sanity. 

I believe that this is a good book that can be introduced to children before a long trip so that they may be prepared for what's to come and so that they know that before they whine, they should imagine! And who knows? Maybe the next time you take a long trip, they'll be creating alternate worlds with dinosaurs or pirates, or princesses and dragons!

Are We There Yet? Trailer

Let's Play by Hervé Tullet

Tullet, H., & Franceschelli, C. (2016). Let's play! San Francisco: Handprint Books.

Creativity at its best. Let’s play by following the journey of a yellow dot in which no kid of any age will be able to resist. A simple way to allow a child’s dexterity in following the lines leading to the ball will enhance these skills while having fun. Why not make this a hands on experience and allow children to practice over and over so that they follow the lines to the very yellow dot?

I read this with both my boys, 4 and 9 and although at first he was a bit reluctant, my 9 year old followed the yellow dot as well. Despite the fact that there's no story line, this activity is fun to do as a hands on reading fun experience and as simple as it, it helps children follow instructions. Yes! For example, when the circle is in the bottom right hand corner, it tells them to go to the middle of the page, and when you flip the page, guess what? That's what the circle is! 

Hervé Tullet Introduces Let's Play