Let's go Camping!

Camping!!!

One of my family's favorite things to do when we have a couple day and nights to get away.  I think it's just extremely relaxing and rejuvenating to get out into the woods.  There are some wonderful camping supplies we have discovered over our years camping, and some great books to get your kids excited about a camping trip, some with some tips for camping, and some are just great books to share.  I know school is just about back in session but summer isn't over, and if you live in a warmer climate camping in the fall can be fun as well.  I really hope this post inspires you to pack up the family, invite some friends and go escape to no TV, less cell phone use, and exploring nature near you, and really roughing it.  Trust me after 3 days of no plumbing, you will savor that first hot shower you have!

Scaredy Squirrel Goes Camping  by Melanie Watt

I love Melanie Watt books.  Just going to start with that, she writes funny stories for kids that teach them a lesson.  Scaredy Squirrel has a series and each is something I think kids can relate to.  Hey camping is a new experience, and you're asking the kids to leave their safe four walled house, TV, bed, and most of their stuffed animals and go outside someplace new.  I love that you can share this book with a child who hasn't gone camping, maybe hasn't even been hiking or spent much time in the woods and show them that it's OK to be afraid, but it's going to be a lot of fun.

To share some of the things that Scaredy Squirrel is afraid of:
Quicksand, bears, skunks, mosquitoes, penguins, and zippers.
This is a great opportunity to find out what your child(ren) is(are) afraid of and address those issues.  Write down their concerns and latter you can either research if you will have penguins where you're camping (more than likely not so don't worry), or what to do to if you will have things on the list that they are worried about.  Mosquitoes!  No one likes mosquitoes!  So be prepared on how to avoid being bitten.  We use candles, cat nip (when we remember to pack it), fly replers, and OFF.

Scaredy Squirrel has to leave his safe home and go on an adventure, so there's a page that shares his pack, and outfit.  This is great for you to talk about why he is bringing all of this and what you will need on your trip.  Get the kids involved in the prep work involved.

Our adventure squirrel makes a pan of action, and checks the weather and then he's off, when the unexpected happens! Scaredy panics and ends up going for a canoe ride and realizes that the outdoors is amazing and should be enjoyed.  I love how he overcomes his fear and all the parts that you can use to talk about your child's fear and what exciting things you will get to do.

 Scaredy Squirrel Goes Camping is a great book to check out any time, but highly recommend for any first time campers to get them to address any anxiety they may have and to show them how fun and exciting camping is!

What Camping Can Teach Us: Life's Lessons Learned from the Great Outdoors

As you may notice there is not author or illustrator for this book, that's because it is a collection of quotes and stock images so in the credits there is a list of photos and the photographers who get credit for each photo.  Donnie Rubo designed the book and was published by Willow Creek Press.

I love quotes, so much so that I use to collect them in notebooks as a teen.  I still write down quotes that stand out to me.  This might mean that I'm partial to this book and want to share every quote in it with you (I really do, and it's painful not to), but the wonderful thing about a children's picture book that is only quotes is that it's not a journey of one person but a collection of revelations and thoughts of many and they are all relatable.  Each quote offers something for your family to talk about.  For example:

"It always rains on tents.  Rainstorms will travel thousands of miles against prevailing winds to rain on a tent." - Dave Berry

This quote is a great one to talk about before leaving on your trip.  What's the weather going to be? How are you going to be prepared for rain?   We have sent up camp, and broken down camp in the rain.  We have had our tent leak, or had to get up in the middle of the night to put the rain-fly on.  This is not fun while it's happening, but it is fun to look back on, laugh at and learn from for future trips.  Tip: we have learned that a large tarp helps with rain protection and offers shade.

Discussions are on each and every page of this 32 page book.  Talk about the beautiful photography of people camping, and wildlife.  What will you see?  What do you want to see most or not at all?  Take time to talk about past experiences and what you loved most as a child.

What Camping Can Teach Us is a book that is wonderful to get kids pumped to go into the Great Outdoors, and it's a wonderful one to read anytime and be nostalgic.


Now what are you going to do while you're camping?  Well I hope there are some fireflies out, and star gazing, and collecting wood for a campfire, singing songs, telling stories, cooking, reading, hiking, and relaxing.  There are hundreds of things to do while you're on a camping trip.  To help you out with some more ideas for your camping trip check out:

The Campfire Book


Written by Jane Drake and Ann Love
Illustrated by Heather Collins

This is the Pintrest for camping before there was Pinterest.  Published in 1998 there are some things in here that you might find dated or better ideas on Pinterest but this book is still a wonderful resource that you will want to get maybe over the winter to read though mark the pages and cross check online which of these traditional things you will want to do on your next camping trip.  This book will be a huge help in teaching children about how to build fires before you leave your house so they can be a help when you're out in the wood, collecting tinder and kindling and wood. Fire isn't something we think of now-a-days.  The stoves are either self lighting or electric, most fireplaces don't need to be started the slow way anymore, so if you have never built a campfire, check out chapter 1.
The Campfire Book moves on from how to build a fire and has many games, songs, stories, and even recipes. Looking for more campfire cooking books check out:



Usborne has many great nature books that you might want to check out or bring with you like:
Survival skills handbook  This is for kids 8-13 and goes over camping, dangers to spot, knots and more.  This is great.  We live in a world of comfort now, but what if they get lost on a hike, or there is some dooms day type of thing and they have to be out in the woods.  If it's something they are interested in why not learn together while you're camping practice some of the things from the book?
For the tiny tots what about a Nature Reference book?  You can look over what is in nature and when you go camping mark off what they find.

The moon rise

At night after the sun has set it's a whole new world watching the stars come out and gazing up.  One of the best parts about camping and being so far away from town, is that there is less light pollution so you see many more stars than normal (unless you're lucky and live out in the country).  My oldest has this great glow in the dark book:
The Glow in the Dark Night Sky

by Clint Hatchett
Illustrated by Stephen Marchesi

I'll be the first to admit, while I love looking up and seeing the night sky, I am probably the worst person to find constellations with, because I can only find the big dipper.  Therefore this is why I like this book, the kids can look and see what the constellations look like and go out and look for them on their own.  The book doesn't offer the full story behind each constellation, or many words for that matter.  It's a very simple and easy to follow star finder.  You look up what season you're in, and see what you can find.  On one side there are the constellations just with the stars and line and named, on the opposite page you see the same constellations with illustrations of the picture of them.  I like the illustrated side the best.  The cool factor of this book: take a flashlight shine it on the page you want to look at for a minute or two and then shut off all lights and see the page glow!  Now you can take the glowing page and look up at the sky and find that constellation and use the glowing book to help you!

If you're looking for more books about the night sky and constellations and space (because being under a big open sky is a great time to talk about space and all of this) check out these couple books:
What are Stars?

The moon at sunset

Big Book of Stars and Planets

I have one last fun book to read before camping, or to take along for a bedtime story:
The Berenstain Bears and the Ghost of the Forest

by Stan and Jan Berenstain
I grew up with The Berenstain Bears they are a classic series that I think have timeless lessons that all can relate to.  With this book, the little cubs go out on a camping trip but before they leave Papa bear tries to give them a scare by telling them about spooks out in the woods.  Well you know kids and of course they are going to now be on edge.  Papa came up with a plan to scare the kids, but their troop leader saw him and came up with a spooky surprise of her own and scares Papa Bear in front of the cubs.
I love this book.  It's one we break out for camping, and around Halloween because it's a all in good fun book that is about scaring each other and how there are no ghost out in the woods.  It's just a fun story to easy worried minds.

make shift sling 

I would like to leave you with some tips we have learned over the years and some memories of my own.  As you can tell camping and being out immersed in nature is something we as a family are passionate about.
* Be prepared for anything!  We went camping up in the middle of no where,took a 30 minute off road trail to get to the campsite, my oldest broke her arm!  Apparently this is a very common injury among children because my youngest fell and broke her arm this year!  The bone wasn't sticking out of the skin, there wasn't even a mark, but she was complaining of pain after falling on a log.  Make sure you pack Ibuprofen, and children's pain reliever, and Benadryl.  Tip: use a pill container to keep meds in a handy place in the First Aid kit that takes up less space than a bunch of small bottles.
*Camping with others is a lot of fun!  This past weekend we camped with 2 other families, there were 6 adults and 8 children.  We had a blast!  But camping with a large group take planning, make sure you plan out your meals, and find out who is going to bring what.

Three families camping together 

*Night time is the most fun camping, bring glow in the dark items.  Glow necklaces attached to children, and dogs will help you locate and count them!  Also glow in the dark balloons and light up balls are lots of fun to play with as are sparklers.
*Know where you are going and what there is to do, if you aren't going hiking or fishing, have things for the kids to play with because they don't relax the same as adults do, giving them a book and telling them to sit back and just relax isn't going to go well.  Games, cards, and travel dollhouses are some wonderful ideas.

*Food!  The Campfire Book had some good recipes and tips in there, we love pinterest and have done many foil packets that work out great! Also a sandwich press is fun and tasty, popcorn over a campfire was a new one we had this weekend that was a lot of fun.  A new favorite we have started is the smores cones with fruit!  They are delicious.  Tip: if you want the kids to go to be somewhat early, do smores or the cones for an afternoon snack instead of at night, or for them to have one before dinner while they are waiting for the food to cook.  Another Tip: eggs in a clean creamer container is most definitely the way to go!

*Don't forget the coffee

I'm using welding gloves to cook breakfast

*Welding gloves will save your hands! You can reach in and move logs that are burning, and touch all the hot cast iron while keeping your hands nice and safe!
*The tent you have really does matter!  We had a small one for years that worked when it was just my husband and I, and even when we had a baby, but with 4 of us it was too small, so we recently upgraded and the tent has the poles built in and a sun room area, it's one of the best things we bought for camping and has made set up and break down much less stressful and I'm in love with it!  So do yourself a favor and shop around and find the best tent for you there are plenty of options, also invest in a good camping mattress. And for hot summer nights the Coleman Cool fan is great to have!

our new tent! 

May your next family outing be a camping trip filled with some amazing adventures and wonderful memories!

Kindergarten Here We Come!

My youngest is off to Kindergarten next week!  And I have been in denial most of the summer, I can't believe it's here already.  So While I've been putting off back to school shopping, and telling myself I have more time with her at home, the days have been flying by and we are in the home stretch.  Books have been helping to get her excited about "big kid school" and I wanted to share with you some books about the first day of school and starting Kindergarten.

K is for Kindergarten


Written by Erin Dealey
Illustrated by Joseph Cowman

As you can gather from the title this is a book that goes through the alphabet with words starting with each letter about how fun kindergarten is.  You can find this book in the non fiction section.  While you can read just the story part to your child about how "D is for following directions," and "J is for jitters," this book also offers some great activities on the side panel of each page.  These activities offer many conversation starters so you can get your little one to open up and ask any question and have the whole family talk about their first day at school.  Other activities offer crafts and ways to have your child prepared for kindergarten.

If your little one isn't going to kindergarten this year, I'd suggest getting this book to read throughout this year to start getting them excited and preparing them for what school will be like.  Another great program you should look into near you is Head Start and the local library and see if they offer a pre-K story time or a Cruise into Kindergarten program.

Back to the book.  Moms you will love letters Q and R both for different reasons.  The activity for Q is to see if you can play the Quiet Game, set a timer and see if you can read a book or do something without talking for 5 minutes!  R talks about the restroom and washing your hands after.

The illustrations are almost magical which helps little ones get excited about this new place they will be off to without their adult with them.  I love the colors and diversity that is shown throughout the book.  Joseph Cowman did a wonderful job showing all the different types of kids that will be at school, tall, short, glasses, all different races, and I love that he included a child in a wheelchair and leg braces.  This is another great talking point.  If your child has something that makes them feel different this is a great way to show them that they aren't alone, there are other kids like that and maybe they will find a new friend at school that is like them.  It's also a way for parents to talk about different handicaps and explain how children are different and how to treat others.


David Goes to School


by David Shannon

We all know the book No, David, this is David going to school with the same issues.  I picked this book because it gives you an opportunity to talk about how you behave in school.  "Wait your turn, David!" This is a wonderful way to show children how they need to behave.  The illustrations show how the line could be long and how other kids feel if you cut.  I love the way David Shannon put the text you read on the beginner writers paper you know the one with the dotted line in the middle.  Kids who are learning to write on the same type of paper are going to recognize it and say, "I use that paper, see what I can write!"  As much as you don't want to laugh and show your children misbehavior, it's something all kids struggle with.  All children are full of energy and won't want to come back inside after recess or might have trouble being quiet at the right times.  Think of yourself on a beautiful day and you go out for lunch and the day is just so pretty you don't want to go back inside to work, or how when there's a meeting starting but you and a friend are in a really good conversation that's IMPORTANT (by important I mean the latest gossip) and all of a sudden you realize everyone else is quiet except you.  These are all thing that children deal with as well but they are still learning control and how to behave.  I think this is a great book to show them how they should behave, by using David and his classmates.  This book really wouldn't work without the illustrations showing how his behavior is affecting the other students.
The wonderful thing about David Goes to School, is that it can be referenced throughout the year and in other grades as well.  It's not just a first day of school book.

The Night Before Kindergarten


written by Natasha Wing
art by Julie Durrell

Natasha Wing is known for her Night Before series, where she takes the well known Night Before Christmas and twist it for any occasion.  This time she beautifully tells about getting ready for kindergarten and that first day.

 "Erasers and crayons and pencils galore were stuffed in their backpacks and set by the door.  Outfits were hung in the closets with care, knowing that kindergarten soon would be there."

I think she's a brilliant in her way of taking the traditional and ordinary and blending them together to write something amazing.  She captures all the feelings of the night and first day of school and makes it feel like Christmas which kinda makes it hard to not be excited for!  Not to give the ending away but when the children are dropped off at school and the parents cry, I know that's going to be me!  My baby is leaving me for school where she'll be for six hours!  Yup, I'm already teary eyed.

Do you and your kids a favor and read this on the night before kindergarten!  It's a wonderful book for this special milestone!


Now if you're like me and don't have the erasers, crayons, and pencils galore (or any other school shopping) yet, all I can say is I'm happy Amazon has 2 day shipping for Prime members!  If you are unsure what is needed check out Good Housekeeping's Back to School Supplies for Kindergarten to College.  And I have some quick links here for you as well of things that have been commonly requested on my oldest over the last 4 years.

I hope all of you parents enjoy your last days home with your little ones as much as you can, and that all kids have wonderful first days of school!

my oldest on her first day of Kindergarten

Good By Summer, Hello School year

And if you are a teacher, or have a friend who is a teacher don't forget to let them know we understand that kids and parents aren't the only ones stressing over the first day of school.  Here are some gifts for them:

Cowboy Books

As promised from my cowgirl post here are some wonderful horse and cowboy books that feature a male as the main character.  Now before I go further into this post I should make it clear that weather a book has a boy or girl as the lead, or a book seems "girly" or "for boys" doesn't mean that the opposite gender can't read or enjoy it.  I have broken these post up by gender only so if you are looking specifically for a strong female lead book or male presents you can easily find that (OK and also so I can share more books with horses).

There is a whole slew of cowboy books.  Cowboys are exciting, and becoming something rare to see in the moderen world.  Don't worry they are still living out amung us, riding horses, rounding up cattle, and at rodeos. I will admit though when I was looking for really great cowboy books to share with you many of them fell short of my expectations for them.  I did however find a couple good ones, and I will share with you the ones I loved, liked, and even the one that I flat out didn't care for one bit.

I'm going to have to start with the book I didn't like, this way I can end on a positive note.

Cowboy & Octopus

Written by Jon Scieszka
Illustrated by Lane Smith

I admit, I should have known this would be a bad book just off the title, but I was curious.  Does it not make you wonder how there's a cowboy and octopus in the same book?  How does that even happen?  I had to know.
It's published by Viking which is an imprint of Penguin Group who usually puts out really good books.  It's also one of the newer books I found having come out in 2007.  This info paired with my curiousity convinced me to check it out, thank you libraries I borrowed this book and am forever thankful I didn't buy it.
Unlike most picture books that tell a story from begining to end, this is a collection of 7 short stories.  Each "story" is only 2-4 pages long.  I put story in quotation marks because I don't think it tells a story, the book doesn't have a storyline, and each short story doesn't make me feel like it's a story on it's own.  I'm sorry Jon Scieszka, I know I have read and really liked some of your other books, but I'm having a hard time finding positive things to say about this one.  I know it's suppose to be funny, but the jokes fell short.  The writing and conversation felt a bit choppy, almost like an early reader but lacking something still.
The illustrations, I'm horribly sorry to say (now this is only my opnion) they make the book even less apealing.  I know artist each have their own take on things and I am far from an art expert but I really couldn't get my mind around this style of art.  I know there is someone (like the illustrator) out there who is saying "Open your mind! Look at all the different layers in this image using painted newspaper pages, and layering cut out photographic real life images with cut outs of cardstock 70's style paper dolls, and they all come together with plastic toys to create a unique and colorful picture."  That is how I'm trying to see these illustrations, but there's so much different textures, sizes, and it's all weird.  It distracted and confused me.
While I feel like I'm being very harsh on this book I'm not alone in my thought because I consulted others on their thoughts.  My five year old daughter who sat with me and listened and looked at the book as I read it the first time said "I don't like it, it's weird."  The other couple people I will leave unnamed also weren't happy with the book.  To top this off, you do not find out why this octopus is on land.

This next book is better, it's from an old folk song.

The Zebra-Riding Cowboy

Collected by Angela Shelf Medearis
Illustrated by Maria Cristina Brusca

Published in 1992 this is an older book, but not the oldest I'm going to share. What lands this book on my list isn't the song itself, or the illustrations but rather the afterword really stands out.  In the afterword Angela talks about how her nephew thought there weren't any black cowboys, and in doing research she found that there were.  She goes into telling about the folk song and what's known of it's origins, and how there were many races with cowboys, so while TV and film mainly portray white cowboys she set out to change that with her book.
Part of folk songs are that they are passed down not in writing back in the day but by one person hearing it and changing it a bit and passing it along.  After I read the book and couldn't figure out how to sing it I went to YouTube and found that there are a couple different versions.  This one I found I like a lot more than the book.
The Zebra Riding Cowboy is a unique song in that there is a "city boy" who is educated and the cowboys think they are going to pull a fast one on him when they put him on a rowdy unbroken horse, to their surprise he can ride, and ride well for that matter.  The moral of the song/story is that you can't judge someone based on appearances.
Maria Cristina Brusca did the illustrations and really made sure to stick with the message Angela wanted to get across, that not all cowboys are white.  Her illustrations are colorful, entertaining and tell the story.

I know teachers, librarians, and parents who are looking for some crafts and activities to do around the theme of cowboys and girls will love this next book!

I Wish I Were A Cowboy

by Ivan Bulloch & Diane James
Illustrator: Dom Mansell
Photographer: Daniel Pangbourne

World Book Encyclopedia brings us info about cowboys back in the day of the wild west.  Children learn about the clothing articles that were worn and why, about what they ate, and how they slept.  I like that each lesson is very short but teaches something new.  Did you know a bandana wasn't just used to protect the cowboys faces but also could protect their neck from sunburn, used as a knapsack, handkerchief, and a flag? I love the large font size, it makes the words easy to read for younger kids and easy to follow along too.
What makes this book great is that with each lesson there is an accompanying activity that kids will love to do and drives the lesson home because they can be active, use their imagination and act our the wild west.  Each activity is easy and explained well, and the best part is you probably have much of the material at home (or in the classroom) to do each craft already.  You can take each craft/activity and expand upon it to suit your needs and child's wants, so while the craft for making a vest to wear in the book is with paper, you could make it with felt or old clothing and use it to teach sewing and have a longer lasting end product.  Each activity you can make as simple or as complicated as you want.
As you might have noticed there's both an illustrator and photographer, but unlike Cowboy and Octopus which mixed too many medias and had poor results from it, I Wish I Were a Cowboy has detailed illustrations that show the wild west back, small illustrations for each step of the craft or activity and then the photo come in to showcase a child with their craft.
I can see teachers have Wild West Week and using this book each day to make a project for them to use.


Stories of Cowboys
Written by Russell Punter
Illustrated by Fabiano Fiorin

This is another collection of short stories, but instead of each not having a beginning middle and end like Cowboy & Octopus each short story in Stories of Cowboys is a complete story on it's own and you can stop reading after each or continue on with the book.  The font is large for readers and each short story or chapter is about 13 pages.
I love that at the beginning of the book there is a glossary with all the "cowboy words" so children can read them and know what they each mean as they come to them.
I love the way Russell has written this book.  The events are adventurous and comical and done in a way for children to read them.  The villains in the story pull pranks instead of actual harm.  The cattle rustler paints the stolen cows.  One guy cheats in the rodeo with oil on the reins, then brags about how great he is but won't go help a runaway carriage.  I really like the way this was written for children.
The illustrations follow and help tell the story.
If you would like this wonderful book please check out my friend's website to get your copy (best part is it's under $5).

Grab your ten gallon hat, 

 run along to tend your heard

 in one of these books!  

Horses in times of War

Horses have a very rich history.  They have been walking this earth far longer than we have as humans, and about 6,000 years ago they started to change the lives of humankind when we began to domesticate them.  These beautiful, powerful creatures began to help us plow fields, and travel, they became our companions, and were a part of our every day life.  In times of war they (horses) were pulling and carrying heavy loads, and they transported warriors, and thus became soldiers themselves.  Over the years as technology has advanced many people has become disconnected with these trusted, faithful friends of the human race, so this post is to share a couple beautiful books and share some history that isn't taught in the classroom.

Sergeant Reckless: The True Story of the Little Horse Who Became a Hero

Written by Patricia McCormick

Illustrated by Iacopo Bruno

This has been the first (and so far only) non fictional picture book with a horse from history that was in war.  This story takes place during the Korean War, which is one (war) we didn't study in history class when I was in school so I didn't know much about it.  The book focuses telling about how this one horse who was abandoned in the time of the war came to find a home with some marines.  When the marines found this horse they named Reckless she was starving and ate everything in sight.  This continued through the book and my kids and I laughed in amazement at all this horse was eating and how much she became part of the platoon.  They trained her to help haul ammunition.  Her story is one that will show how smart, strong, and emphatic these creatures are.
Patricia McCormick has done a wonderful job in collecting the information on Reckless and in sharing her story.  It's written well and pulls children (and adults) into the pages.  Iacopo Bruno did a beautiful job in the illustrations.  The colors aren't bright and vibrant, but rather dull and a lot of natural colors that set the tone and place the feeling and setting for young readers.  This isn't a bright and cheery story, even though there are funny antidotes.  The details in the illustrations give so much attention to the the horse and this war.  Bruno did an amazing job in pouring the emotions felt from McCormick's words into each and every page.
Sergeant Reckless is a book that I hugged after I finished reading it the first time.  I was emotional and couldn't give the book enough praise.
This is a true story and it's worth it to take the time to read the Author's Note at the end of the book to gather even more details about how this brave horse came to become a hero.
If the book has moved you as it has for my children and myself you may want to put on your bucket list to take them to see her life-sized statue at the National Museum of the Marine Corps.


Moving up from picture books my other book I want to share with you in now a major motion picture which you may have seen, but the book was here first and is well worth the read (of course I think it's far superior than the movie).

War Horse by Michael Morpurgo



This chapter book is one that I had on my book shelf for years, finally one cold winter day I decided to read it because the movie was out and I had to read the book before I could watch the movie.  I fell in love with the story.  I couldn't put it down and finished it in a day.  While this is considered a children's chapter book it is one for all ages.
War Horse is a unique and captivating story in that it's told through the eyes of a horse (Joey) during World War 1.  This is probably what I like most in this book is that you are experiencing everything as the horse and you can feel all the fear, pain, and love.  All the emotions were raw and deep.
There are no illustrations, and they are not needed for Michael paints vidivly with his words how the horse, boy and land look.  You can see the battlefield, the mud and feel the strain of pulling a cannon and watch so much destruction.
Please go read this wonderful story, then when your children are the right age to grasp it read it with them.  Then come back and check out the following articles about true stories behind this wonderful book and the real life Warhorses:
War Horse: The True Story
Michael Morpurgo on the Hidden History Behind the movie  This article goes in depth into the horses in the film and Morpurgo's story and writing the book
The Real Life War Horse: the story of the Sergeant who refused to put down his faithful mount



Are you left wanting to read more about the animals who served alongside soldiers and who were an integral part of our history?  So do I!  I love these stories so if you know of one please drop the title and author in the comments of this post.