Wildwood Cottage

Books to Encourage Listening

May wasn't kind to us here at Wildwood Cottage- everyone except CWH came down with a cold. I nearly had a nervous breakdown when Rose came down with it, but luckily she had the mildest version of all of us. We're all well now, so I'm working on getting life back to normal. After being sick, I'm just happy to have the energy to clean house and update the blog!

CJ is a talker. I mean, she talks a lot. Sometimes, she says the funniest things that make me laugh out loud. Other times, she asks questions she already knows the answer to, which drives me up the wall. In order to work on her listening skills, I gathered a few books (what else?!) to hopefully get my point across in a gentle way.

Nina at Painted Rainbows and Chamomile Tea recommended Quiet in the Garden by Aliki, and we have not been disappointed. It's truly a wonderful book. CJ loves the different sounds in the book, and we've worked on going outside and sitting as still as we can to see what will come along. She was thrilled to see a Tufted Titmouse land on our seed tray not six feet away during one listening exercise. Be sure and check the "Downloads" on the Harper Collins link for some activities connected with the book.

Nina also recommended A Listening Walk by Paul Showers some time ago. The book is illustrated by Aliki, so it has a similar feel to Quiet in the Garden, which is a plus in my opinion! It also nicely points out all of the different sounds you can hear if you just stop and listen- and stop talking. :o)

I wrote about Listen, Listen by Phillis Gershator previously, and it fit nicely with our theme. I adore Alison Jay's illustrations, and the seasonal aspect of the book works well with my renewed interest in Waldorf education.

Finally, we read A Quiet Place by Douglas Wood. I can't recommend this book highly enough. A boy trying to escape grown-ups talking and cleaning up his room finds many different quiet places to escape to in his imagination. The language is amazing- "...far-off thunderheads bloom like sky-flowers over the mesas.", and so are the illustrations. This one is a treasure.

I'll be stopping by to catch up on comments- I'm hoping it won't be another month before I post again!

Trains Again...

I thought I'd share the bulletin board I made for CJ due to her obsession with The Little Red Train books. In case you're wondering why it's on the floor, I've found that CJ enjoys the bulletin boards more when she can get up close and micro-analyze the pictures. Her favorite pictures on the board are the two pictures of The Little Red Train that I found using Google image search- what a surprise! I found the other train pictures, the crossing sign and word wall here. The pictures of Thomas the Train and his friends came from here, and the "sh" and "ch" trains along the bottom came from Sparklebox. I love that all of these are free (except for the ink and paper, of course)! Just in case your child becomes as big of a fan of Duffy as mine has, I stumbled across this. And they do ship to the US- I checked. :o)

CJ has a cold, and in between blowing her nose and keeping her away from Rose, we're reading Blueberries for Sal and doing some fun stuff along with it- I'm hoping to have a post up about that early next week. 

HOW Long Has It Been?!

I really don't know how long it's been since my last post, and I don't really want to, I think! It seemed like every time I'd have a post in the works, something would happen that made it difficult for me to get it done- I didn't sleep well the night before, CJ tried my patience all morning and I didn't have the energy, or I was just plain feeling lazy! At any rate, here I am- still pregnant, although my due date is now only a week away. To say that I'm ready would be an understatement- I'm ready to meet this baby and start working on getting my old body back!

We've been lucky enough to have a lot of good books around lately. I just checked out a bunch yesterday, so I decided I'd better blog about the first batch before they're overdue (I've already renewed them once).

Peanut Butter and Jellyfishes by Brian P. Cleary (be sure and check out the author's website- it looked really interesting!) is exactly what the title says it is- a very silly alphabet book. Along with unusual phrases like, "B begins birch trees with bubblegum bark", I absolutely loved the illustrations. They're bright and colorful, and CJ had a good time looking for the other pictures in each illustration that began with the featured letter. I also appreciated the fact that the featured letter was colored differently than the others to reinforce the concept. I'll be sorry to see this one go back.

I have a feeling I read about The Paper Princess by Elisa Kleven on another blog (Nina?), but I can't remember where- that's one of the many down sides to waiting so long to post about books we've read. The illustrations in this book are what first grabbed my attention- the mixture of drawings and collage are so vivid and eye-catching! The story is a sweet one about a little girl and her paper doll who goes on many adventures before returning home. There are other books about the Paper Princess we're planning to check out, too- I hope you enjoy them as much as we have.

The old-fashioned illustrations in Market Day by Carol Cordsen are what made me check the book out. This is a fun story about a runaway cow who escapes from the farm on market day because no one fed her before they left for the market. Lots of mischief follows, but order is restored in the end. This just a great story with a happy ending- you can't beat those!

If you've been reading this blog for long, you already know I love Alison Jay...and maybe that CJ loves trains. I can't believe it's taken me so long to check out William and the Night Train by Mij Kelly and Alison Jay. The book starts off with, "All aboard the night train that goes to Tomorrow." The problem is that William doesn't want to go to sleep, and so the train can't leave. "William's in such a giddy rush he doesn't want to have to hush." CJ has evenings like that when she takes a nap! This is a lovely book for any child, particulalrly those that are reluctant to go to sleep at night.

One Small Place in a Tree by Barbara Brenner was a big hit with everyone here. We all loved the realistic illustrations that helped tell the story of a hole in a tree in the woods. The hole begins with a bear scratching the same tree every day. Bark begins to peel off, which lets timber beetles move in, and a whole series of events follows. Eventually, the tree is blown down, and it becomes a home for an entirely different set of creatures. This would make a great addition to any nature libray, in my opinion. I just found out that the author has another, similar book called One Small Place by the Sea that we'll definitely be checking out (CJ still loves her sea creatures).

Finally, I knew we'd love Where Is Home, Little Pip? by Karma Wilson and illustrated by Jane Chapman, the same team that has created all of the "Bear" books. This book tells the story of a little penguin who wanders away from home one day. Pip meets many different creatures on her search to find Mama and Papa, and learns that the word "home" means something different to all of them. We read this one numerous times, so be sure and take a look if you can.

Wow- I'd forgotten how long these book posts take! It didn't help that I was so out of practice, either. Hopefully it won't take me quite so long until the next one. What I'm really hoping is that the next post will be about our new arrival! In the mean time, here are some pictures of CJ since I haven't posted any in months.

Reading to Stella...

Perfecting her self-made drum line...

Using pipe cleaners for owl talons...

And finally, her Christmas card picture (although we neglected to send cards this year!)...

And that's what's been going here lately- hope to be posting again soon!

At Last...Books!

CJ and I have had unusually good luck at the library over the past few weeks, and I wanted to share what we've been reading.

Traces by Paula Fox is a lovely book filled with illustrations of various natural settings. Every few pages, the scene changes and begins with the words, "Something, someone was just here." CJ enjoyed guessing what creature was about to be revealed, and loved the unusual illustrations. Books about nature are usually a big hit around here, and this was a particularly good one.

To be honest, The Brave Little Parrot by Rafe Martin was not one of CJ's favorites. I'm mentioning it here because it really is a wonderful book, and I think it may have just been a bit beyond her yet. The story is based on a folk tale from India about a little parrot who tries to save her forest home (and that of many other animals) from a raging forest fire. Even the ancient gods and goddesses get involved, and I thought it was a great introduction to such a fascinating culture.

When I saw A Visitor for Bear by Bonny Becker in a post at Painted Rainbows and Chamomile Tea, I had a feeling that CJ would enjoy it just based on the illustrations. It did turn out to be one of her favorites- she really enjoyed the bear's various facial expressions as the intrepid Mouse kept appearing in his house for a visit despite his best efforts. The book has a sweet message about friendship, and I'm so happy that Nina mentioned it or this one may have passed us by.

Another bear book that CJ really liked was Follow That Bear If You Dare by Claire Freedman. Hare is determined to catch a bear- he even has a book that tells him how to do it, step-by-step. One of my favorite parts of the book are the illustrations of the bear-catching guide ("Step 5- Getting Closer and Closer When a bear is close, you may hear grumbling, but that is the sound of his tummy rumbling. Hide yourself quickly and take great care-the louder the rumble, the hungier the bear!"). Along for the hunt is Hare's friend Rumbly Rabbit, who is much less enthusiastic about catching a bear! We read this one many times.

And last, The Little Lost Robin by Elizabeth Baguley. The illustration on the cover caught my attention- I seem to have a weakness for cute forest animals. The story lived up to the pictures, though- an old hare makes friends with a little Robin, whose singing makes him feel young again. They meet every day until a terrible winter storm blows Robin's tree down. The story has a happy ending (of course!), and we highly recommend it.

CJ is taking her first nap in a week, so I'm going to make a cup of tea and enjoy the peace and quiet. I hope you enjoy the books as much as we did!

At Last, A Book Post!

Thank you to everyone who took the time to leave a comment on my last post. It was wonderful to hear from all of you while I wasn't feeling well, and your well-wishes really did help. Thankfully, I'm feeling better  these days and I'm looking forward to posting more regularly. And what better way to get back into the swing of things than with some books?!

Tupelo Rides the Rails by Melissa Sweet is one of the best books we've read this year. It's a bit longer than what CJ is used to, but she took to the story of Tupelo, a dog who's been abandoned by the side of the road, right away. Soon she all of the dogs' names memorized and would walk around the house quoting it extensively from memory! Tupelo is searching for a home, and has some ups and downs along the way. A bonus is that book delves into some beginning astronomy, which made it a hit with CWH. Check this one out if you can- you won't be disappointed.

A Isn't for Fox-An Isn't Alphabet by Wendy Ulmer is a refreshing twist on the usual alphabet book. In rhyming text, each letter is first introduced by two things that don't start with that letter before listing one or two that do, along with large, colorful illustrations. I enjoyed the change-up, and CJ liked this one because she could "read" most of it to me.

The Hound from the Pound by Jessica Swaim was a true favorite with CJ. In rhyming text, Miss Mary goes to the pound to adopt a dog because she's lonely. She chooses the one dog who isn't obedience-trained, and who also happens to be the leader of all the other dogs. Chaos ensues until order is restored- there's even a little romance in this one! This is a fun book that we really had a good time with.

Yum! yum!! by Joanne Fitzgerald is a lovely collection of nursery rhymes that all have to do with food. I loved the classic rhymes along with the adorable illustrations, and CJ had several memorized by the time we had to bring it back.

We now have a new basket full of books that I hope to tell you about soon. I also need to post some new pictures of CJ, but at least I got this book post up I've been meaning to do for the last week- enjoy!

A Preschool Train Unit

I can't decide if this blog is in its death throes, some kind of metamorphosis, or what. While I'm figuring that out, I've finally got post about trains ready that's been simmering on my brain for weeks!

I think I mentioned that we purchased Moving Beyond the Page's preschool curriculum a post or two ago. Because CJ has been fascinated by trains for a few months now, I decided our first book to study would be Freight Train by Donald Crews. The curriculum is divided into different areas such as Basics, Animal Stories, and Classics. There are several books in each area, and you're meant to work through an area before going on to the next. I don't know if we'll be that rigid about it yet or not, but Freight Train was a great start for my train-loving daughter. CJ has known her colors for some time now, but she adored the book all the same, and I think one of the reasons is because she was able to "read" it to me after just a few times through. The manual for the curriculum, Peak With Books, mentioned not to discount books for your child just because you might think they're too easy. I never would have checked out Freight Train for CJ for just that reason, so I'm glad I found this resource.

On with the books! There are too many for me to write individual reviews for, so I'm just going to list them here with a ** denoting CJ's favorites. I'm going to make a special sidebar for them too- hopefully today!

Chugga-Chugga Choo-Choo by Kevin Lewis

I Love Trains! by Philemon Sturges ** 

Two Little Trains by Margaret Wise Brown

This Train by Paul Collicutt

Train Song by Diane Siebert (this is a special book- the building on the cover is where CJ attends music class!)

The Caboose Who Got Loose by Bill Peet

Country Crossing by Jim Aylesworth ** (CWH loved this one too!)

Puff-Puff, Chugga-Chugga by Christopher Wormell

Train Song by Harriet Ziefert

Here Comes the Train by Charlotte Voake **

The Little Engine That Could by Watty Piper

Clickety Clack by Rob and Amy Spence

Niccolini's Song by Chuck Wilcoxen ** (My favorite!)

Here's a CD we've been enjoying along with the books-

All Aboard! by John Denver

And here are a few links I found helpful for more ideas if you need them-

Train/Railroad Theme from Pratt's Education Resources

Story Lesson about The Little Engine that Could from Hubbard's Cupboard

All Aboard the Virtual Vine Express from The Virtual Vine

And that's all I have- I hope you have as much fun learning about trains as we did!

Books At Last

At last- the books I've been meaning to post about!

When I spotted A Pipkin of Pepper  by Helen Cooper at the library, I grabbed it right away because CJ and I just loved the first book in the series, Pumpkin Soup . The books tell the story of a cat, squirrel and duck who usually live together peacefully and love to make pumpkin soup. In both books, the duck gets contrary ideas in his head, and trouble ensues. In A Pipkin of Pepper, he decides that their soup would be even better with some pepper. The cat and squirrel vehemently disagree, and there's an adventure in the big city as well. I love everything about these books- the animals, the language, and their illustrations.

Also by Helen Cooper, Toy Tales  is a very simple chapter book. Each chapter tells the story of one of Timothy's toys- a bear, frog, duck, and pig. Each tale has a gentle lesson to be learned- for example, the bear accidentally gets thrown in the washing machine, and he's afraid Timothy won't love him because he doesn't look the same. Timothy is surprised at the change in Bear's appearance, but he loves him just the same and soon has him covered in chocolate cupcake. CJ has asked for this book repeatedly, I'm going to buy this one- it gets five stars in our book!

The Grumpy Morning  by Pamela Duncan Edwards tells the story of a barnyard full of grumpy animals. They're grumpy because the farmer has overslept, and all of them need something critically important- the cat needs cuddles, the goat needs oats, and the pig needs slop, among other things. At last, the farmer wakes up and calmly takes care of everyone. Peace returns to the barnyard! This a fun, cute book- be sure and do like CJ does and find the little owl on each page!

CJ loves trains, so when I saw The Goodnight Train  by June Sobel I had to check it out. The illustrations by Laura Huliska-Beith are just as important as the text- some of my favorites included smoke coming from the train in the shape of a car, ice cream cone, and an elephant on a skateboard! The text is rhyming, and it's great for sound effects with lines like, "Cars sway on the wooden track. Wheels go click. Wheels go clack. Glide across a plain so flat. Gently toss this way and that. Clickety- clack! Clickety-clack! Clickety-clack!" Eventually the train comes home so it can go to sleep. This is a great bedtime book whether or not you child is in love with trains!

I got Dem Bones  by Bob Barner for CJ because she loves all things related to Halloween, and this book has lots of skeletons playing musical instruments. It's also a fun way to learn about the different bones in the body and the names of the instruments the skeletons are playing. CJ has always loved books that we can sing, and this one did not disappoint. The information is presented in such a  fun way she doesn't even realize she's learning, and that's something like magic in my opinion.

When Steph at Montessori Free Fall  mentioned Our Nest  by Reeve Lindbergh, I knew CJ would like it- we love to watch birds. The story opens with a child in bed reading a story with mom, "Snuggled in bed, You're all safe and warm, Like a bird in a nest in a tree." The goes on to show a cat and her kittens, a chipmunk, and a harbor among many other things before it makes the gentle point that the universe is the nest for everything, and because of that, we're all connected. This is a lovely book- I might have to buy this one too.

When Mom and Kiddo blogged about The Magic Rabbit  by Annette LeBlanc Cate, I was pleasantly surprised to see that our library had a copy. Her description of the book and the illustration on the cover piqued my interest, and I wondered wht CJ would think about it. She thoroughly enjoyed the story of the rabbit who gets separated from his best friend, the magician, in the big city. The black-and-white drawings lend themselves to the bleakness the rabbit and magician feel when darkness falls and they're still separated. Rabbit's nose saves the day, as does a train of magic yellow stars. Wonderful.

We recently got the preschool curriculum from Moving Beyond the Page  for CJ, and we're currently working on our first unit with Freight Train  by Donald Crews (remember what I said about trains?!). We're both having a lot of fun with it, and I have a post in the works about train books now. Stay tuned!

Unplugged Project - Books

For this week's Unplugged Project about books, I really had a hard time coming up with something, which is odd considering how much I love books! First I thought I'd do a long over-due post about books for spring, but I thought that was too boring. So, I decided to do a post with links to a lot of the websites where I find ideas about books with the hope that others would find them as useful as I do.

I find a lot of information about books and links to other websites at Jen Robinson's Book Page. I've been reading Jen's blog for quite awhile now, and it was her blog that introduced me to the blogosphere, so if you haven't stopped by her blog yet, please do- it'll be worth it!

I'm almost certain I found out about these online book-reading websites from Jen. CJ isn't interested in reading books online, but I use them to preview books that I want to check out at the library or buy.

Big Universe

Lookybook

The following websites offer great reviews and/or ideas for all kinds of books:

The Reading Tub

Notes from the Windowsill

House of Literature

Here are some blogs to check out:

Association for Library Services to Children's Early Literacy Booklist

Planet Esme

No Time for Flash Cards *DO NOT MISS THIS ONE- it's art AND books!*

I've just recently found some useful Amazon lists that look promising for ideas, too:

Home Preschool Unit Studies

Lists by Judy Elliot regarding Ambleside Online's curriculum. I've used her seasonal lists before, and the Year 0 lists look very promising also.

And there you have it- have fun clicking!

Favorite Books This Week

One of my recent finds in the New Book area of the library is Wee Little Chick by Lauren Thompson. This is a sweet story of the smallest chick of a newly hatched litter. Despite her size, the chick continually proves that she's just as good as the other chicks, and then Mama Hen says, "Tut, tut, tut! She's my wee little chick and she's just big enough!". What a lovely sentiment and one I know all of you will relate to! The illustrations of the various farm animals are soft and warm- a perfect spring time book.

Little Apple Goat by Caroline Jayne Church tells the story of an unusual goat- this goat doesn't like to eat leftovers or laundry. Little Apple Goat likes apples, pears and cherries! She happily feasts in the orchard until one stormy night when all of the fruit trees are blown down. Little Apple Goat is despondent over the loss of her orchard until one spring when she notices some blossoms where there weren't any before. Soon, a new orchard has sprung up- I'll let you get the book and see how yourself. I enjoy this one as much as CJ does!

Moon books are always a hit around here, and Little Honey Bear and the Smiley Moon by Gillian Lobel is no exception. After CWH read it to CJ the first time, he made a point of telling me how much he likes this book, and that's really saying something! Little Honey Bear and his friends, Lily Long Ears and Teeny Tiny Mouse decide to go and see the moon one winter night. They have a good time until the wind picks up and a cloud blows in front of the moon. The animals are lost and scared in the dark woods until the moon comes back into sight and lights up the silhouette of Mommy Bear coming to the rescue. Many pages of the book have raised illustrations, and some are even glittery, which just adds more to the story. We give this one an A+!

I grabbed At Ellis Island A History in Many Voices by Louise Peacock for myself because St. Patrick's Day is coming up, and it always reminds me of my Irish side. I spent a peaceful half hour looking at this informative book, told in a fictional voice along with those of real immigrants. It's also illustrated with a combination of paintings to compliment the fictional story, and photographs of immigrants, ships and the conditions at Ellis Island. I found this book to be a fascinating read, and it sure made me grateful for how easy my life has been.

I hope you enjoy these as much as we have!

R is for Rainbow

CJ and I got off to a bit of a rough start this week when she woke up with her first-ever fever yesterday. This morning she was fine, and we had a good time reading books and doing some art about rainbows- perfect for St. Patrick's Day coming up!

Lois Ehlert is one of my favorite authors, and Planting a Rainbow did not disappoint. The story begins in fall when a mother and child plant bulbs. In winter, they order seeds, and in spring they head to the garden center for plants. The book get progressively more colorful as it goes on, ending in a lovely bouquet of flowers in every color of the rainbow. To go along with the book, this morning we read it again, and then CJ made a collage. I got the idea here, and got there via this helpful site- Easy Fun School.  

Another book CJ has enjoyed quite a bit is A Rainbow of My Own by Don Freeman (of Corduroy fame).  This sweet story published in 1966  tells the story of a little boy who sets out a catch a rainbow. And he does catch one- in his imagination. When the little boy comes home, he finds a real one in very own room shining through his window.

When I started looking for books about colors and rainbows, I remembered a post my new blog friend Steph  wrote awhile ago about a cute book called Mouse Paint by Ellen Stoll Walsh. We've read a few other books by this author, and CJ really gets into them. This is more of a color mixing story than one about rainbows, but you have to be flexible, right? :o) The three mice experiment with various colors, and then find out that they can make even more when the colors are mixed. It's a simple story, but CJ remembered it when we began our painting adventure below.

I gave CJ three bowls of paint, one each for red, yellow, and blue. First she painted with cotton balls (top left), then a paintbrush (top right), then Q-Tips (bottom left), and last but not least- her hands.

 

After yesterday, it was such a treat to do normal things like read and paint!