Welcome Back to School!!

     I thought that since so many schools have been going back to school and I, myself, went back to school this week it might be fun to do a blog about some of my favorite books about school and starting school. They are in no particular order so clearly that means I love them dearly.

1. Jessica by Kevin Henkes

http://www.amazon.com/Jessica-Kevin-Henkes/dp/068807829X/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&sr=8-1&qid=1377905910

     If you can not tell, I love Kevin Henkes. This book has such sweet illustrations and they are just different than the little mouse books. I love this story. It is the story of a girl and her imaginary friend named Jessica. When she is at school she learns the true magic that is friendship. The end made me cry. I love it and always keep the imagination of the little girl from that book in my heart.

2. Wemberly Worried by Kevin Henkes

http://www.amazon.com/Wemberly-Worried-Kevin-Henkes/dp/0688170277/ref=pd_sim_b_7

     I have had at least five teachers read this to me in college and high school alone. Mr. Henkes as written another classic. For me, this story really hit close to home. I have always been a worrier. I was always someone that was nervous in school and in everything, but this gave me comfort. I think its a great way to create a welcoming homey environment in a classroom and help a child who is nervous feel less alone.

3. SkippyJon Jones, Class Action by Judy Schachner

http://www.amazon.com/Skippyjon-Jones-Class-Action-Schachner/dp/0525422285/ref=sr_1_8?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1377906426&sr=1-8&keywords=skippyjon+jones

     This little guy is a hoot. His antics can make any class room seem exciting. I would love to hear this read aloud and hear the giggles that would blossom in that classroom. A classroom that can laugh together, stays and learns together.

4. Llama Llama Misses Mama by Anna Dewdney

http://www.amazon.com/Llama-Misses-Mama-Anna-Dewdney/dp/0670061980/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1377906548&sr=1-1&keywords=llama+llama+misses+mama

     This is perfect for a child that is having separation anxiety. Llama is off to his first day of preschool. He is worried that Mama is gone but then he realizes that he is having so much fun that its okay to be away from Mama for a little bit. I think this is a great way to show that if school is fun it can feel like home to you.

5. Any book by Andrew Clements

Some of my favorites are...

                        

http://www.amazon.com/Andrew-Clements/eB000APVYAK/ref=sr_tc_2_0?qid=1377907056&sr=1-2-ent

     I love this man. I can remember so clearly being in fourth grade when I learned about him and my teacher saying that she had met him and feeling as if she had met a celebrity. I plan on reading these books aloud. They are quick reads and really show children that they have the power to make a difference.

6. Knuffle Bunny Too: A Case of Mistaken Identity by Mo Willems

http://www.amazon.com/Knuffle-Bunny-Too-Mistaken-Identity/dp/1423102991/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1377907131&sr=1-1&keywords=knuffle+bunny+too+a+case+of+mistaken+identity

     Everyone will quickly find out that while I love a lot of authors, I LOVE LOVE LOVE Mo Willems. I own all of his books and I think that Knuffle Bunny may be one of my very favorite to read out loud. I love this story because it shows that small mix ups can lead to beautiful friendships. It will make you and your child laugh and put a smile on your face.

7. If You Take a Mouse to School by Laura Numeroff

http://www.amazon.com/If-You-Take-Mouse-School/dp/0060283289/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1377907265&sr=1-1&keywords=if+you+take+a+mouse+to+school

     This is a great series for children as old as first grade. The stories are predictable. They do however make everyday activities seem fun and exciting. This is a great first day read aloud.

8. The Kissing Hands by Audrey Penn

http://www.amazon.com/Kissing-Hand-Audrey-Penn/dp/B005GN0B32/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1377907493&sr=1-2&keywords=the+kissing+hands

     This books is so sweet. I don't have children, but I really do plan on reading it to my future kids one day. I think that this is a beautiful way to make your children feel as if you are with them on the first day of school. It gives your child the chance to feel like they can be at home at school and that you want them to feel safe there.

9. Pete the Cat: I'm Rocking in My School Shoes by James Dean

http://www.amazon.com/Pete-Cat-Rocking-School-Shoes/dp/0061910244/ref=sr_1_7?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1377907598&sr=1-7&keywords=pete+the+cat

     

     Oh, Pete the Cat, will I every get tired of you? GOODNESS NO! I love this book. I love the pictures. I love that there is a song. This is a book that gets any child excited about school and its a great way to get a child to smile when they are having a hard day. Just saying " Hey kid, you are rocking in your school shoes!" can make all the difference.

                                

10. Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling

     Harry Potter!! I mean could we get more magical? Honestly I don't think that there is anything in the world that I have learned more from. I learned to work hard. I learned that school is family. I learned that school is the place where you become the person you were meant to be. I live each day wanting to be as brave as Harry, as smart as Hermione, and as loyal as Ron. For me, Harry Potter is comfort. I encourage everyone to read Harry Potter.

     For me, all of these books are classics. They each hold a very special place in my heart. Personally My mom used to read "If You Take A Mouse to School" to me every year. We still often talk about it on the first day of school. I urge you, dear reader, to share these books with your children or students. These are not just books to read, but they are books to make memories with and in my opinion those are the best.

                                                                                  

                                                                       Happy reading and Happy Labor Day,

                                                                                     Ms. Cara

While Looking for Alaska, I Found a New Favorite Book

     I am going to take just a few sentences to say that this week I started my classes. They are all about children's literature and I am so excited. I feel like Hermione Granger in class and that, as a student, is very important to me. I am sure you all will be hearing a lot about my classes as I continue my journey of becoming a teacher.
      Today, I want to talk about a young adult book that I read recently. I am sure that many of you have heard of a man named John Green and if you haven't, I encourage you to look him up. I have always heard wonderful things about him, but I hadn't read any of his books. Frankly, I was scared that his writing wouldn't live up to what I had hoped it would be. I will tell you right now, I was very wrong. I would call myself a word snob and I found myself being swept away in how beautiful and easy his work was to relate to and swooning over the line characters would say longing for someone to say the same thing about me.

I thought you all may want to see what he looks like. He looks like a sweet little guy.

  I decided to start reading his book randomly this summer. I started with "Looking for Alaska" just randomly and instantly fell in love with how he wrote the story. He has an amazing ability to develop a character and make you, as a reader, fall in love with them. I bought my copy on my kindle and plan on buying a paper back copy of it because I want to highlight and write note all over it.

http://www.amazon.com/Looking-Alaska-John-Green/dp/0142402516/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1377728283&sr=8-1&keywords=looking+for+alaska

       This is the story about a boy that goes away to boarding school and finds his first real love. While away he learns about life, friendship, love and great heartache. I think what I personally like the most is that he words things in a way that your heart understands. I would read his words and I could feel his meaning deep in my bones. I want to give you all a few examples so you know what I mean when I say that his words will bring your heart to life.

For me this quote speaks volumes. I think when you are young, no matter what, you tend to feel so alone and like no one understands you. One day someone just walks into your life and suddenly it all clicks. I wasn't meant to be a alone at all, my heart and mind have just been waiting to find someone that understands the core of who I am.

       In my heart, I think that this book and probably many of Green's other books should just be put in the hands of teenagers when the walk in the door of their high school the first day, but sadly I know it is not a perfect world that we live in. If you are a parent or teacher, I challenge you to read his stories and get in the heads of your teenagers. I was one not so long ago, and I know that while that can be hard to handle it would probably surprise you what they are thinking. If you are a teen reading this I say put down that vampire book you are reading ,and learn about true human emotion. Learn about compassion. Learn to have a love of words and reading and if you are lucky  that love will continue to grow like a garden your whole life. 

                                                                             Until next time, Happy Reading,

                                                                                               Ms. Cara

       PS. I would be more than happy to hear some comments. Have you read this book? Do you think you might now? Let me know I would love so much to talk to you about books.

Penny was a Hit with water colors

     Today's art project was a real hit. On Fridays, I have four little girls. Each of these girls are three years old. Today, they were so excited to get to water color paints. I wanted to use water colors because that is what Kevin Henkes uses in his own books. As I said in my previous post, Penny and Her Doll was the book that we focused on. This is the second in a series of books all about Penny. The books are...

     Each of these books can be found on amazon or your local bookstore. The pictures are of the soft cover books and run for about $3.50 a piece. I own all of the books in hard cover which are $12.99. I personally got all of these books at Pottery Barn Kids. This oddly enough, is a great place to buy children's books.

For this project, I drew pictures from this book. I drew certain pictures so that when they were hanging the girls could tell the story in order. The pictures were simple and looked like this...

sorry that this one is upside down

     I gave each of these pictures to one of the girls and they painted them. I painted two, so you can decide which are mine and which are the kids. I personally am not a very talented painter. Here are our finished products. 

     I was really proud of how they came out. The kids are such artist at this age and I really enjoy seeing how their art changes through out the year. It was also fun to hear them retell the story based on their picture. I will never grow tired of their silly imaginations. I think I will do this again soon. I think is is a great way to build their story telling ability. 

     Next week, I plan to talk about a young adult book I just finished and loved! Also, it is back to school week for me (Yay college! I have missed you), So I plan on talking back to school books for all you parents and teachers out there. Until next week, keep reading and feel free to leave comments. 

                                                                                      Have a great weekend filled with adventure,

                                                                                                               Ms. Cara

Welcome to my Blog! I hope you are ready to read!

     Hey everyone. This is my first blog post, and I must say, I am pretty excited to say that I have my own blog. If you are out there reading this, you are probably wondering what is this girl all about? Well, I will tell you right now! I am all about reading. I would like to dedicate this blog mainly to children's literature, which is my greatest passion and something that I feel is important for all children to enjoy. 

     I am in college right now to become an elementary school teacher. I love the thought of having my own classroom with my own students. One thing that I am really excited about is that opportunity to pass my love of reading to each of my students. Right now I work with preschoolers and I am proud to say that I am pretty sure that I have been the reason for a few copies of Pete the Cat to bought. I enjoy sharing my love of children's books so much. This is why I wanted to share it will all of you.

     In this blog, I plan to share reviews of books that I have read spanning from picture books to young adult novels. I also plan to share any art projects that I do with my preschool kids that have to do with books. We do a project every Friday, so look forward to that. 

    Tomorrow, I will post my first art project. We will be reading "Penny and Her Doll"

     This is the second book in the Penny series by Kevin Henkes. I have always adored his writing and have wonderful memories of my mother reading his stories to me when I was a child. I love the books that are about Penny. I find that they are easy to relate to for a children. I use these with my younger students and I plan on reading them with the first grade girl that I tutor. For the project I am going to draw the pictures from the book and the children are going to water color paint them. Later, we will hang them up in order so that they can tell the story in their own words to the class. I know this will be a fun activity for all the kiddos. 

     Until tomorrow, here is a video of Mr. Henkes talking about Penny. I hope you enjoy ! Your thoughts and comments are appreciated. 

                                                                                                       Happy Reading,

                                                                                                            Ms. Cara