Readkiddoread.com

I love visiting the library and I always have the best of intentions of going, but something always seems to bump it off my list of places to go! So, the other day I decided to start a little group, on Facebook, with a bunch of my friends called "Library Adventures" This was all in the hope that going with others would make me go to the library on a regular basis.

Purpose of the Library Adventure Group:

• Establish a regular routine of going to the library
• Find new books
• Catch up and socialise with friends
• Explore different libraries in different areas
• Find places to explore and play in each new area

Now that we have our regular routine of going to the library set up, I was finding it hard to find the GOOD books from the average or really not so good books. I decided that I need to go a little more prepared each time by researching some good titles before hand. I remembered a site a friend of mine told me about that would be perfect for my pre-library visit prep! 

readkiddoread.com

This site is fabulous! And this is why:

• You can chose the age range you are catering to
• It brings up the latest or most loved books for this age bracket
• Click on a book you like the look of and it gives a parents review and an educators review 
• It also recommends other similar books to the title you are looking at
• It even has links right there as to where you can buy the book

I have now discovered lots of books I have never heard of, have gone in and requested them via my online library service and will be able to check them out when I go on our next library adventure!

Parsley Rabbits Book About Books

Children love to write their own stories, and its a great way to get their imaginations flowing. 

So when I found this book on our trip to the library, I was very excited to do a little book review on it. 

Story Summary:

• As Parsley Rabbit takes the reader on a little trip through the book, he tells "You" the reader what each part of the book is for and how it is important to the story. 
• Parsley also explains why books are so wonderful and how you can use them in different ways, how you can share them, where you can read them, and even how there are different types of books for different purposes.
• The Author & Illustrator have done this really well. . .  not using too much text, but using the illustrations to really get the main teaching points across!

Likes and Loves:

• Like that Parsley engages the reader throughout the story by telling them to do things and asking them questions.
• Love the illustrations! The are so endearing and cute!

Teaching Moments:

• Little did I know that this book would come in very handy in helping me to break down the various elements of a book, to my niece Anika, when she wanted to write her own story. After reading this, I was able to remember the key points that she should incorporate into her story. Unfortunately, I didn't have the book with me at the time. Otherwise we would have been able to go through each little element with her and decide how she wanted to make it her own! She ended up writing a very cute little story about "The Fancy Little Mouse" who loved to get dressed up in beautiful things. 
• I LOVE HOW CHILDREN THINK! We have to make sure we capture it! 

Fancy Nancy and The Posh Puppy

I love raiding new bookshelves, and in one of my raids of Dionne's book shelf today I discovered this delightful book... Fancy Nancy and the Posh Puppy!

Story Summary:

Fancy Nancy is just "Posh" thats who she is, and she loves that about herself! She even says in the story, "Its hard being the only posh person in your family." So, Fancy Nancy want to get a "posh" puppy and the story is all about the process she goes through to find out which puppy would best suit her and her family (making sure it fills the one criteria, or being posh!).

Likes and Loves:

* I LOVE the way the author, Jane O'Connor, uses and introduces wonderful words like ''ecstatic" and "exhausted". But she doesn't just use them, she always follows through with a quick little definition of what the word means.

"I am ecstatic." (That's a fancy word for happy)

Teaching Points:

* This book is great for teaching new words and giving definitions that children can understand.

* With your child choose a word of the day, make a poster the word and its meaning. Try and use it throughout the day.