Tuesday Tales | The Angel Forever

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Tuesday Tales – Phineas and Ferb Edition

Posted on November 2, 2010 2:28 pm by TheAngelForever

Election Day is here. I know that I am quite ready to be done with the annoying robo-calls and nasty political commercials. It is bad when you have to tell your kids not to pay attention to them since they are on non-stop. Thanks to Election Day, NHL did not have school. Schools around here are polling places, so the kids have the day off and there are typically parent-teacher conferences.

This morning, I met with NHL’s teacher. While chatting briefly, I told her that NHL is hesitant to read chapter books. Since I am a certified reading teacher, I know that he is perfectly capable of reading them. The problem is he is comfortable with picture books and their instant start/finish gratification. There is nothing wrong with this. As I wrote before, I love picture books. Still, as a second grader NHL needs to break out of his shell. To help with this we have purchased some familiar characters that are featured in chapter book format. In addition to this, there are still some simple drawings within the story to ease the transition to more traditional chapter book format.

Today, NHL used one of his birthday giftcards to purchase a new Nintendo DS game. Here he is resting on the couch with the instruction manual. Please note the shirt that just happens to be on him:

When we bought the game, I told him that tonight we would begin one of the Phineas and Ferb chapter books. I think TechyDad is looking forward to reading them with him, since they love watching Phineas and Ferb together. Do you have any chapter book recomendations? There are so many series out there, but not all are appropriate for second graders, no less for boys. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.

So what have you read recently? Please be sure to link up to your Tuesday Tales and/or leave a comment below. Include something you read on your own, with a child or someone else. Tuesday Tales are all about spreading the love for books.

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Tuesday Tales – Books of the Hebrew School Kind

Posted on October 26, 2010 1:19 pm by TheAngelForever

My memories of Hebrew School as a child are cloudy at best since I try to forget it. I will be the first to admit that I did not like going. When I was a child, I went Monday, Wednesday, and Sunday. Now, Hebrew School typically begins in kindergarten once a week for children. Then, when they are in second grade, it goes to twice a week. We have been very lucky. NHL loved Hebrew School the last two years as a kindergartener and first grader. This year, the addition of Wednesday had been a big change. Still, he looks forward to going and learning. Just the other day, he mentioned out of the blue that he wanted to be a Mench. I nearly choked on my dinner. This was not a word I expected to come from my seven-year old son.

So, why am I bringing this up for Tuesday Tales?

Good question. I guess this has to do with how far books for Hebrew School have come. The new books are more realistic, interweave Judaic customs and views of every day life. The books are child friendly, packed with great information, and do not intimidate children while learning about our religion and how to read/write/speak Hebrew.

Check out NHL’s books that are being used. I have to admit, I am jealous and would love to get my hands on a few of them to really read.

Now, I can completely understand where the Mench term was coming from. I was also excited to see the amazing collection of Jewish Holiday/Heritage books that NHL’s teacher has. Many of the books we have and others I have never seen. I am sure he will be especially intrigued by The Cat in the Hat and a few other familiar books all written in Hebrew.

To all of the text-book companies out there, thank you! As a teacher and parent, I applaud you for stepping up to the plate. By making books to use in the classroom that are more engaging, you are not only helping teacher, but also reaching more students.

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Tuesday Tales – Fall Holiday Books

Posted on October 19, 2010 7:38 pm by TheAngelForever

It is no secret that we have a lot of books in our house. The truth is that we hardly buy the boys toys. A lot of the time, TechyDad and I buy NHL and JSL books for a holiday gift. This includes Halloween and Thanksgiving in the Fall.

On my frist outing while both boys were in school, I actually purchased a few books for the boys. Shhh….don’t tell them, but these are the new ones they will get on Halloween in lieu of candy and "stuff" that do not need.

Of course, when the Scholastic Book order form came home with JSL, I was also tempted and bought two other books for the Fall. These are the two books that the boys have already received.

I ordered these because I love books that are parodies of sorts to well known songs. The familiar sing-song repetiton with new words is great for kids of all ages (and adults too). JSL just started speech therapy and loves to sing. I am hoping that these will encourage him to work on articulation with a fun twist. We have several of the "There was an Old Lady…" books. We have a Halloween one, a winter one, and now the fall themed one. I love the drawings and how well you can sing along to the original favorite tune. NHL and JSL have read both of these books several times. I have also heard NHL going around the house spontaneously singing the songs. OK, OK….I admit it, I was also caught doing the same thing.

I love being able to capture the holidays using new and exciting books with my children. Do you use books when celebrating the holidays with your children? If you do, please share any titles that you love, especially if they are for the autumn season. My friend, Debra (A Frugal Friend), recently wrote a post with her Favorite Fall Children’s Books. Please be sure to look at her fabulous list, and check out all of the suggestions in her comments as well. I have already gotten a few of them for my boys to read.

Disclosure: All of the books pictured were purchased with my own hard earned moolah.

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Tuesday Tales – The Invention of Hugo Cabret

Posted on October 5, 2010 1:45 pm by TheAngelForever

When I was teaching 6th grade Language Arts, I tried hard to keep up to date on books that my students were reading. Thanks to the kids, I was introduced to The Series of Unfortunate Events, Harry Potter, and even Twilight. I loved reading the books and keeping up with the latest and greatest children’s chapter books. These days, I am not as in the know, but am working on it since NHL is now 7 and being pushed to read chapter books. I know he likes to read, but the larger number of pages, smaller print, and lack of illustrations scare him. We have found some books and are working our way there since I know he is ready.

A few weeks ago, my friend Nancy (Life with My Boys) mentioned a book on her blog that caught my eye. Her mysterious review made me especially intrigued. Within the comments section, several other people raved about the book. Moments later, I went and requested the book from our local library. Going to pause here to say something quickly. Nancy – Thank you, thank you, thank you!

So, what was the book? It was. . .

I purposely read little about the book and just wanted to wait to read it myself.

A little about The Invention of Hugo Cabret:

ORPHAN, CLOCK KEEPER, AND THIEF, twelve-year-old Hugo lives in the walls of a busy Paris train station, where his survival depends on secrets and anonymity. But when his world suddenly interlocks with an eccentric girl and the owner of a small toy booth in the train station, Hugo’s undercover life, and his most precious secret, are put in jeopardy. A cryptic drawing, a treasured notebook, a stolen key, a mechanical man, and a hidden message all come together…in The Invention of Hugo Cabret.

This 526-page book is told in both words and pictures. The Invention of Hugo Cabret is not exactly a novel, and it’s not quite a picture book, and it’s not really a graphic novel, or a flip book, or a movie, but a combination of all these things. Each picture (there are nearly three hundred pages of pictures!) takes up an entire double page spread, and the story moves forward because you turn the pages to see the next moment unfold in front of you. (From the web site on Hugo Cabret – which also has details about the upcoming movie)

The Invention of Hugo Cabret – Written and illustrated by Brian Selznick – Scholastic Books – January 2007 – ISBN78-0439813785 – 544 pages – Ages 9-12

What I thought:

As I mentioned, I knew less than I mentioned above about The Invention of Hugo Cabret before reading the book. The only item I knew was that it had won the 2008 Caldecott Medal. This made me even more intrigued since it is not typical for a book of this type to win the Caldecott Medal. If you are not familiar with the Caldecott, here is the criteria for the award (via Wikipedia):

The book must be published in English in the United States during the preceding year.
The illustrations must be original work.
The artist must be a citizen or resident of the United States^.
The book must be considered for the artistic technique employed; pictorial interpretation of story; appropriateness of style of illustration to the story; delineation of plot, theme, characters, setting mood or information through the pictures; and recognition of a child audience.
The book must display respect for children’s understandings, abilities, and appreciations.
The book must be a self-contained entity, not dependent on other media for its enjoyment.

The book arrived quickly and I started reading late last week. Within two days, I had finished. I can not recall the last time that I was so engaged in a book. I literally could not put it down and wanted to go further and further into Hugo’s world to solve the mystery of the book. I loved how Selznick incorporated the illustrations and words to create a unique book experience. When you see his simple, yet detailed drawings you will understand. I know that it sounds like I am contradicting myself, but I really am not.

Like Nancy, I think I am going to be vague in my review. All I will say is that I highly recommend this book. I think adults and children will appreciate the unique mix found within this novel. For me, the historical flavor blends well with the storytelling skills of Brian Selznick. If you have read the book, there are also games and items available from Scholastic on their website.

** Linky coming soon. The website hosting them is down right now.

Disclosure: I took this book out of our local library compliments of our tax money. The opinions expressed in the review are my own and were in no way influenced by anything. The widget within the review is an Amazon Affiliate where I will receive a percentage of money for the sale of the books should you opt to buy the book mentioned.

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Tuesday Tales 1 + 1 = 5

Posted on September 28, 2010 11:42 am by TheAngelForever

Books that are about math and science are huge in our house since we are self proclaimed and proud geeks. Over the summer, we received a complementary copy of the book 1 + 1 = 5 (Amazon affiliate link) from Sterling Children’s Books. When we opened the package, NHL (7) immediately gravitated toward the book. He ran off to check it out since he was wondering why it stated that 1 + 1 = 5.

As you can see, JSL joined in to read the book with NHL. The two of them sat there looking at the illustrations and giggled. When NHL was done reading, we talked about the book. He liked how there was a twist to the traditional math rules. Since he had just finished first grade, he was able to understand the concept behind the book. We also talked about making our own pages to our own family version of 1 + 1 = 5.

I loved how it made NHL think outside of the box. He quickly picked up on how 1 + 1 = 5 since 1 set of triplets + 1 set of twins = 5 babies! The books continues on with over a dozen other addition problems in this fashion. It involves problem solving with the initial page that has illustrations to give clues to children that may assist them. Then, on the next page, the new found addition problem is explained. Here is an example from the book:

Over all, I really enjoyed this book and would definitely recommend it for children that are 5 years old or older. I think that children need a basic knowledge of early mathematics to truly appreciate the book. As a teacher, I love that there is already a guide to use with the book that you can download. Of course, even before that my brain was racing a mile a minute with extensions of the activity. One night, I used Picnik to create my own Halloween page for 1 + 1 = 5 to share. Here it is:

As you can see, children could use a technology connection to make pages for a class book online. Truly, the possibilities are endless and can go where ever your creativity leads you.

More about 1 + 1 = 5:

How much is 1+1? Think the answer is 2? Not always, as this playful approach to addition proves! David LaRochelle takes children on a joyful mathematical journey that will engage their minds and teach them to think about numbers in a creative, outside-the-box way.
Brenda Sexton’s wild and wacky illustrations add layers of witty fun to LaRochelle’s clever game.

These wacky equations don’t add up…or DO THEY?
1 goat + 1 unicorn = 3 horns!
1 set of triplets + 1 set of twins = 5 babies!
1 duet + 1 quartet = 6 musicians!
1 ant + 1 spider = 14 legs!
1 century + 1 decade = 110 years!

1 + 1 = 5 – Written by David LaRochelle – Illustrated by Brenda Sexton – Sterling Children’s Books – On sale September 2010 – ISBN 978-1-4027-5995-6 – $14.95 – Ages 5 and up

BTW – Be sure to check out the Fall Festival of Children’s Books on FiveMinutesforBooks. Just click on the button below to see more details about the festival. Have fun and please link up any books that you have read this week and see you back here next Tuesday. (Ooops – just realized this ended yesterday Sept. 27th. Still a great resource with links to books for children)

Disclosure: I received this book complimentary of Sterling Publishing in order to facilitate this review. No other compensation was given. The opinions expressed in the review are my own. One link within the review is for my Amazon Affiliate where I will receive a percentage of money for the sale of the books should you opt to buy the books mentioned.