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Two very sweet books that celebrate parents come from Ann Hodgman. In That’s My Mommy! animals from kittens to ducklings to joeys and more, talk about the wonderful things their mommies do. Mommy makes the kitten feel better. Duckling’s mommy makes him feel brave. Joey’s mommy reads to him every day. With charming and lovable illustrations by Laura Logan, this book is bound to be a hit.

That’s My Daddy! finds a calf who likes how his daddy can reach way up high. Mouse’s daddy is the strongest in the world. Puppy’s daddy can find anything that gets lost. With less than ten words on each page, Hodgman captures the essence of what it means to be a daddy to little ones. Laura Logan lends her talents to this book as well. I hope these two work together again, as they create magical, charming stories.

These padded board books are perfect for preschoolers. Their sturdy construction means they’ll stand up to multiple reads (and we all know how much kids love to read and read again their favorite books). The short sentences will allow for quick memorization of the story, and will then help youngsters as they transition to being able to read alone. Hodgman proves here that you don’t have to say a lot to create touching and meaningful books for parents and children to share together. And at only $8.95 each, they are a great value.

Highly recommended.

Rating:  (both books)

Mommy

• Hardcover: 22 pages
• Publisher: Tiger Tales; Padded Board Book edition (March 1, 2013)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 158925645X
• ISBN-13: 978-1589256453

Daddy

• Hardcover: 22 pages
• Publisher: Tiger Tales; Padded Board Book edition (March 1, 2013)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1589256468
• ISBN-13: 978-1589256460

Classic concepts get a brand new look in these two My First Books compiled by tiger tales.

My First Book Of Things to Learn shares colors, animal noises, shapes, baby animals, numbers 1 – 10, and objects in a child’s world all in bright colors. From pink flamingos to the baa of a sheep, from heart-shaped balloons to penguin chicks, and from 10 ladybugs to a toothbrush and toothpaste, Things to Learn will engage your child ages 3 to 7.

In My First Book of Things to See, little ones get a glimpse at what they will find at the park, on the farm, at the beach, at preschool, at the zoo, and at a birthday party. Everything from slides to tractors, to crayons, and more is included in this sturdy book filled with pictures and simple labels.

In addition to their nice size (8 5/8 x 8 5/8″), the bright colors, sturdy construction, and tabbed pages make these a wonderful addition to your preschooler’s library. The simple labels will help with vocabulary and word-picture association, and the variety of objects featured will provide tons of fun. I could see these being packed in a bag to take along on a road trip, picnic, or visit to the zoo so youngsters can identify objects from the books within their surroundings.

Highly recommended.

Rating:   (both books)

Things to Learn

• Hardcover: 12 pages
• Publisher: Tiger Tales; Board Book with Tabs edition (March 1, 2013)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1589256352
• ISBN-13: 978-1589256354

Things to See

• Hardcover: 12 pages
• Publisher: Tiger Tales; Board Book with Tabs edition (March 1, 2013)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1589256298
• ISBN-13: 978-1589256293

Children’s Book Week Giveaway Hop

May 13th – 19th

Hosted by

KidLitFrenzy, Mymcbooks

& I Am A Reader, Not A Writer

What is Children’s Book Week?

Established in 1919, Children’s Book Week is the longest-running literacy initiative in the country. Each year, books for young people and the joy of reading are feted for a full week with author and illustrator appearances, storytelling, parties, and other book-related events at schools, libraries, bookstores, museums, and homes from coast to coast!

For more information please visit: http://www.bookweekonline.com/

Celebrate & Promote Children’s Book Week by taking part in The Children’s Book Week Giveaway Hop.

Giveaway Hop Rules

Each participating blog will host a giveaway on their site.

• The giveaway must be for a children’s book (picture, juvenile fiction, middle grade, young adult).
• No more than 6 possible entries per person. 1 mandatory & up to 5 optional.
• Offering a Gift Card or book of choice from The Book Depository is fine.
• Any family friendly blog or site is welcome to join.
• Your post must include the Children’s Book Week image, the linky or a link to one of the host’s sites & must be live by 9:00 AM on May 13th.

The Children’s and Teen’s Book Connection is offering the following giveaway:

My First Touch and Feel Farm compiled by tiger tales

My First Touch and Feel Pets compiled by tiger tales

My First Book of Things to Learn compiled by tiger tales

My First Book of Things to See compiled by tiger tales

How to enter for your chance to win:

1. Leave a comment (including your email address so we can contact you if you win) answering the question: What is your favorite book from your childhood?

2. Tweet this giveaway for a bonus entry (+5). Leave a link to your tweet in the comments section.

Rules of this giveaway: Open to residents of the United States 18 years of age or older. Only those who follow the rules of this contest are eligible to win. Winner will be selected by Random.org and contacted by email. Winner has 72 hours to respond with mailing address or a new winner will be selected. Prize will be shipped via USPS. The Children’s and Teens’s Book Connection is not responsible for items lost or damaged in shipment. Giveaway ends at 11:59 PM Eastern on May 19, 2013.

Visit More Participating Blogs:

The reason I have supported tiger tales books through the years is that they truly understand children. They proved that again with their new lines geared toward children ages 0 – 3 years.

My First Touch and Feel: Farm brings your littlest one up close and personal with farm animals. Fuzzy chicks, velvety horses, woolly sheep and more fill this short board book. There is a cut out on each page with a textured patch so the child can partake in some touch-and-feel fun. A variety of colors and playful text make this a wonderful first book of learning.

In My First Touch and Feel: Pets a fluffy bunny is joined by a cuddly puppy and fluffy kitty, along with a couple of other neat pets. Children will love to touch the textured patches on each page and mimic the animal sounds featured.

I’m very excited about these new first learning books from tiger tales. I bet my two-year-old nephew will enjoy them, too.

Rating:

FARM

Hardcover: 10 pages
Publisher: Tiger Tales; Board Book edition (March 1, 2013)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1589256344
ISBN-13: 978-1589256347

PETS

Hardcover: 10 pages
Publisher: Tiger Tales; Board Book edition (March 1, 2013)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 158925631X
ISBN-13: 978-1589256316

I received both these books from the publisher. This review contains my honest opinions, for which I have not been compensated in any way.

Here is a guest post from blogger, Amanda Kidd. She is writing on letting children choose their own books with The Goldilocks Strategy, which may be helpful for some of you, parents and teachers. Don’t forget to check out Monday’s post about the book, Cold Case, a middle-grade crime drama book. I am giving away a copy. Here’s the post for details.

Book Choices for Children: Why and How to Let Them Decide
by Amanda Kidd

Today’s children are more involved with computer games with little attention towards books. As a responsible parent, it becomes your job to guide them to read good books that can benefit them in many ways. Reading is one of the best ways to enhance vocabulary and improve fluency.

The habit of reading should be started at an early stage, so that children develop the habit of reading and love for books. Initially, parents can guide kids to make the selection of good books. But slowly, you will realize that kids are better selectors than you.

Benefits of reading

Reading is a healthy pastime that every child should be engaged in. It helps them to develop their personality. Good books help children read well, gather a lot of information, and develop into smart individuals. Most families already have the practice of reading interesting bedtime stories to their kids. It is an excellent way to relax the kids before going to bed. When children hear the stories and come to know about various things, their interest towards books increases naturally.

When children read good and appropriate books, it improves their reading and writing skills. They learn the language better by reading more and more books. After a certain age, children should be allowed to choose books on their own. You can give them a few choices and ask them to select from those if you want to start that way. This will give them an opportunity to understand that they are responsible for the kinds of books they choose. According to the experts, the best way for helping kids to choose books is by applying the Goldilocks strategy.

Goldilocks by Hiro Sheridan www.flickr.com

The strategy follows the simple technique where the books are grouped into three categories such as too easy, too hard, and just right. “Too easy” are books that are easy to read and comprehend. There may be no words that the children do not understand. Such books are usually read by the children for fun.

Books that are classified as too hard can be explained as books that may contain too many words that are difficult to understand. Reading this type of book may be frustrating for a child.

The “just right” books are the books that can be easily understood by the children, but still present a little bit of a challenge. Children are also learning something new. Such books may also have only one or two words per page that may be difficult to understand.

The best way to help your child to choose good books is by adopting the above mentioned strategy. If your child is not able to do so on his own, then you can choose a few “just right” books and ask him to choose from this pile. In this way, you can kee

*Picture book for preschool through first grade
*Little girl and her cat as main characters
*Rating: Brownie and Pearl: Take a Dip is a cute, summer book. I wouldn’t say it’s one of the best, but it sure captivated my 10-month-old daughter’s attention and got her “talking.” I would say fans of the series will like it. I chose it for my tribute to the end of the summer!

Short, short summary:

So, what do I do with this book?

1. For a fun “dictionary” type of activity with small children, consider asking them (BEFORE reading the book) what is a dip? They might know dip of ice cream or dip a washcloth into the bath water. For all the definitions, look in a dictionary or use my favorite: www.dictionary.com. Then share the book with children, and ask them, “Okay, what else can dip mean?” Then ask students to use DIP in a sentence–any way they want–and draw a picture to go with it.

2. Talk about character feelings with this book, especially since the illustrations are so big and bright. How are Brownie and Pearl feeling at the beginning of the book? How does Pearl feel when she falls into the pool? Why does Brownie giggle? And so on. You can take this activity a step further by asking, “Have you ever felt this way? When?”

3. Children will most definitely want to share a swimming story or pet story with you after sharing this book–either at home or at school. If you are a teacher with a room full of children with stories, do think, pair, share. First they all think of a related story, next they share it with a partner. That way, everyone gets to tell their story without taking too much class time. At home, of course, you have more time with less children.

My writing group gave my baby-to-be a great gift–a library full of their favorite picture and board books. I am thrilled–it is such a generous gift and great idea. Two of the books that I received were Little Golden Books, which of course brought back fond memories of my own Little Golden Books. I used to ask for these all the time when we went to the grocery and drug store. I wanted the ENTIRE collection, of course. But I thought I would revisit these today with the couple I got from my writing group–Nurse Nancy and The Monster at the End of this Book (starring Grover).

Before I do, I want to talk about how important inexpensive and quality books are for young readers. Study after study has been done about literacy, and one of the important points that always pops up is that a child needs books at home. Okay, so Little Golden Books are no longer like 39 cents (they are about $3.99), but that’s still cheaper than many of the gorgeous, but expensive, picture books at the bookstore that sell for $15.95. So, if you are on a budget, think about Little Golden Books for your young reader or your preschool/kindergarten classroom.

So, the first book I received was Nurse Nancy by Kathryn Jackson with illustrations by Corinne Malvern. This book comes with band-aids attached to the title page. I love it! My daughter will love it! It’s about a little girl named Nancy, who likes to play nurse with her dolls. But not only does she take care of her dolls, she also helps her mother and her brother, Tom, who gets a cut when he is running from some bees. This book shows the first aid steps–from cleaning out the wound to bandaging it. And soon her brothers are joining in the fun with a wagon for an ambulance. The illustrations are darling, the book is still timely (remember when we all used to play and pretend things instead of watch TV, go on the computer, and play video games?), and your child or your students will love it!

There’s a Monster at the End of This Book by Jon Stone is one of my very favorite books of all time. It’s not just because I love GROVER–I mean, who doesn’t? But it’s a funny, funny book, and I can’t wait to giggle over it with my daughter. If you aren’t familiar with it, then you need to get familiar with it–WOW! That ‘s a strong statement. And it’s now A Little Golden Book, so the price is right. Grover finds out that there’s a monster at the end of the book, and he is SCARED. So, who is this mean monster? Well, what is Grover after all?

Check out everything that Little Golden Books still has to offer here: www.goldenbooks.com

photo by nblumhardt www.flickr.com

*Picture book for preschoolers through first graders
*Animals as main characters
*Rating: A cute book with a lot of different animal descriptions that kids will love.

Short, short summary:

So, what do I do with this book?

1. Let students or your children pick their favorite animal illustration and rhyme. Then ask them to draw their own illustration and write a sentence to go with it. You can then create your own class book: A Bunny is Funny 2.

2. Each of the lines about the animals rhymes. Ask children to put a thumbs up when they hear a rhyming word pair. When you are finished reading the book to them, make a list of rhyming words. You can also extend the activity by asking children to come up with more words that rhyme with the pairs.

3. Take a field trip to a farm or a zoo and see how many of the animals from the book that you see on your field trip. Take photographs on your field trip and compare these with the illustrations in A Bunny is Funny.

God bless the USA today on the 4th of July. Have a safe and special day celebrating the freedom that has been provided at the highest price. My thoughts and prayers and thanks go out to those who continue fighting for freedom, and who sacrifice for us.