Take a trip to the Zoo (in books)

With all the different animals in the world, one person can't possibly see them all without the aid of zoos.  My family has a fascination with animals, we take just about every opportunity we can to see new animals.  Our library has a zoomobile that brings animals in, they just had a reptile expert in, we have gone to see a butterfly expert and butterfly gardens, and last year we saw a whole live program about birds of prey.  So this year when we learned of a bus trip to the Bronx Zoo we jumped on that.  It's been on our bucket list ever since we read that it's in the top 10 zoos in America.  Now being the book worm mom that I am, we checked out several zoo related books, both before we went and once we got back.

Reading books about the zoo before you go to the zoo (or apply that to any activity) can get the kids even more excited about going.  Yes, I know they are already bouncing off the walls with excitment as it is so why get them more rilled up?  You can narrow in their excitment, and since the best zoos are usually large and can't be seen all in one day you'll want to get them to tell you what animals they most want to see.  You can also give them knowledge about zoos before you go.

Knowing that they had a favorite exibhit, you might take time to look up books for more information when you get back home.

I have a variety of books to share with you, fiction and non-fiction, and for babies on up to teens.

I've had these two board books since my kids were babies.  You can start reading them to newborns.  The great thing about both of these books is that they not only are good for babies, but will grow through the toddler years and can even be good for when they start reading on their own.


At the Zoo has all your favorite Sesame Street charcters as babies.  This book is one of four in a set, and we have all of them and have read them to the point of being very well worn.  The text is large so it's easy to read and for kids to follow along as you point to the words.  They only share three zoo animals, but keep in mind this is a book for babies and toddlers who have short attention spans.  I love that this book ends with an open ended question.  Doing this leaves room to have a conversation around the book and talk more about your child's favorite animal.  Go further with asking why.

Zoo Babies is the book I personally love more of these two.  It is still a board book for small kids, but it goes into more animals and details a bit more.  Instead of the elephant from At the Zoo telling of the big ears and long trunk, Zoo Babies tells that it uses the trunk to eat with.  Like most board books this one does only have two sentences per page and is very short to keep the child's attention and keep the book moving.  I like that the illustrations indicate where you will find the animals a koala lives in a tree, the hippo in the mud, the toucan in the jungle.  Speaking on the jungle, the first page spread is my favorite illustration in the whole book, it's colorful and detailed and draws the reader right in.


Zoo Dreams by Cor Hazelaar

For being published in 1997 I'm a bit surprised in the lack of brighter colors in this book.  That is the first thing both my daughter and I noticed is that the illustrations are muted.  My five year old asked, "Mom what happened to the colors?"  The illustrations also are disappointing with very little detail.  I'm hoping that I can find on Amazon an updated version of this book because aside from the illustrations the book is great.  I love the actual story.  Looking at this from a more objective point of view, maybe everything is muted and not full of detail is because it is a bed time book. Looking at it that way I can see why Cor Hazelaar did the illustrations in this fashion.  Just personally I would have liked to have a bit more, more detail, more color.
Now what I love about Zoo Dreams is how we are walked through the zoo at night checking in on each animals to see how they are sleeping.  I like that you learn the different sleeping habits of the animals, and then it ends with the zookeeper going to sleep.  It makes a great bedtime book.  "See how they are all sleeping? Show me how you sleep and they in the morning you can tell me which animals you dreamed about."


From bedtime to party time!

Birthday Zoo by Deborah Lee Rose
Illustrated by Lynn Munsinger

This book is all about the party, and rhyming.  I found it interesting how much Deborah Lee Rose found to rhyme with so many animal names.  She jammed 23 different animals into this book while holding a conversation about a birthday party.  That's creative!  What makes it even better is that many of the animals were ones that aren't commonly heard of like an okapi, tamarin, and gnu.  These were each some of the animals we had conversations about in my house.  Well what is a tamarin?  Which animals on the page do you think it is?  Then you can go further and look up each animal for more information on them.
Lynn Munsinger did a great job to make the illustrations the life of the party.  They are colorful, detailed, and made you laugh.  It was fun finding each different animal named on the page in the illustrations and was the way we figured out what the gnu was, before turning to google to make sure we were right in our guess.
The illustration on the last page is what really tops off the whole book, you find out that the whole party was really stuffed animals that this little boy was playing with.   My children love their stuffed animals and they have a ton of them!  So they can have their own zoo party, taking the book lesson and applying it to their own world.  They can tell you what their own stuffed animals would do at a party and come up with rhymes for the toys they have.  Encourage your kids to be creative and use their imagination.



Keeping with the fun upbeat pace, the last fictional book I want to share with you is...

Never Play Music Right Next to the Zoo
Written by John Lithgow
Illustrated by Leeza Hernandez
We were introduced to this book at a recent signing story time and I fell in love with it.  The book comes with a CD so your child can listen to the book read and sung by the author with orchestra music in the background.  We loved the book on our own, but the CD is a bonus, John Lithgow has such flair and emotion in his reading and makes  the book spring to life.
Another reason we love this book is not only does it list many zoo animals, it's full of great vocabulary and many instruments that are in a orchestra.  This is one book you can read for many different reasons and get something new out of it each time.  You can use it for music lessons, to go over verbs, and adjectives, and sentence structure.
While the illustrations are good, they are colorful and entertaining, I find that I like the way the words lay on the page.  It's fun to read the flowing of words and the bold names of the animals and instruments.


Going back to Birthday Zoo, a tamarin is a type of monkey.  While we were at the zoo we saw a lot of different monkeys from Lemurs in Madagascar, to Gorillas in the Congo and when we got back we found a non-fiction book about monkeys to continue learning about them.  While most zoos do have plaques that have information about each exhibit on them with two kids eager to see as much as possible in our short amount of time we had we didn't get to read a whole lot while we were there, so getting a book after was a great way to keep their interest and expand that experience.

The Wild World of Animals MONKEYS by Mary Hoff

The eye catching photographs that fill the whole page draw you in.  They are without a doubt the sole focus of the book and I believe since they are so colorful and large it's the main reason my five year old sat and listened to the book in one sitting cover to cover.  I picked this book out with my nine year old in mind and she did look through the book and read tidbits of info on the pages she liked the most.  So when my youngest picked this book for bedtime one night I was very surprised to when she didn't lose interest after the first couple pages.
Mary Hoff tells about predators of monkeys and spends most of the book telling about squirrel monkeys.  We learned a lot about squirrel monkeys, about their body, what they eat, how they live, it was a very informative book.  I do wish with the title of Monkeys that she had gone into more of the variety of monkeys that exist but we still enjoyed this book.
If you have a child interested in monkeys, especially squirrel monkeys I suggest check out this book.


Another favorite exhibit of the zoo was the reptile house, and my oldest loved the snakes and poison dart frogs.  Since she loves snakes so much that will one day be it's own blog post, but the poison dart frogs with all their colors were beautiful and interesting to look at so again I found a non fiction book to share with her on this subject.


Poison Dart Frogs by Jennifer Owings Dewey

Poison Dart Frog we saw at Bronx Zoo

This is a more advanced, in depth book than Monkeys.  The paragraphs are longer, and there are some parts that you might not want for younger children depending on how sensitive they are.  The book covers a substantial amount of information dealing with these unique frogs, from their habitat, to mating and raising their young.  For an empathetic child the hard part is where they talk about how humans collect poison from the frogs.  The one method was fine, the frog hops happily away into the woods once again, on the other page they torture and kill the frog, and while I'm from a family of hunters, if you're not eating the animal, and on top of it to cause them pain it sits wrong with me and I really felt bad for the frog.  So if you read this bear that in mind.  I think it's important to have information and be able to say this method is wrong.
I enjoyed Jennifer's illustrations in this book.  They were colorful, detailed, and I liked that you saw the line work and could tell it was done with colored pencils.
If you have a child interested in these frogs, the book is full of information.

The last two non-fiction books I want to share with you are for older reader.  My children did look at the photos and read small captions, but whole book wasn't for them at their reading levels (yet) but they are interesting books that I think others will enjoy.  The both deal with being a vet for a zoo which is rather cool and if you have a child obsessed with animals then this might be in their dreams of jobs they might one day have.

The Work of the Zoo Doctors at the San Diego Zoo  by Georgeanne Irvine

You might notice that the photos in this seem a bit dated, the book was published in 1991 so it is older and our photography technology has improved but I don't think this deters from how fascinating their work as vets at this zoo is.
The San Diego Zoo is another large zoo that makes it on the top ten list.  With the shear size of the zoo it's not surprising that they have their own veterinarian staff or that they have some interesting stories to fill a book.  Georgeanne describes what they do as doctors at the zoo and cases they have and how they are helping animals.

My next book pick ties nicely in with the Zoo Doctors as it explains how vets at the zoo need math skills.  This book title caught my attention because of how people will say "When will I ever need algebra is real life?" Well this book tells you how you're going to use all sorts of math.

Mathworks! Using Math to be a Zoo Vet by Wendy and David Clemson and Ghislaine Sayers
This book is more recent having first been published in 2004 and then again in 2005 the photos are brighter.  I was surprised by how much math goes into everything dealing with all of the animals.  The three authors have done a great job giving examples of how math is used, with stories of the reader stepping into the role of a vet on call and  having to figure out what to do.  For example Twizzler is a giraffe who's zoo has been flooded and the reader has to find a way to transport her to a new zoo hundreds of miles away, sedate her, figure out the best route, and feed her.  There are animal care facts, case notes, and a math challenge on each page.  In the back of the book there are helpful math tips, the answer page, and a glossary.
I think it's a fun way to challenge your mind and think of math uses in other ways that might interest the child reading it more.

I hope you have a great week and get out to read and visit a wildlife sanctuary or zoo near you.

The Camping Trip That Changed America by Barb Rosenstock

My family and I love the outdoors! We go camping, hiking, horse back riding, and are open to anything else that gets us into nature.  If I have an hour or so that I have free and alone I love to go sit in the woods and read or write.  I think connecting with fresh air, and taking in the sounds and sights of nature without houses, roads, or tons of people recharges us.

I was recently talking to a friend about news I heard of protections being lifted off of many national park lands, and so how worried I am about how these beautiful wild lands will change.  I know when I finally get to go see the Grand Canyon I don't want to see massive mining next to it, or the water to be full of runoff and toxins due to mining.  I want to go see the beauty of this land untouched by man.

As my friend and I were talking she told me that I should read about one of her favorite presidents, who started protecting lands, and in reading and doing research I have to agree with her, Theodore Roosevelt is one of my favorite presidents as well.  Now let me share this wonderful book with you

The Camping Trip That Changed America:
Theodore Roosevelt, John Muir, and our National Parks


Written by Barb Rosenstock
Illustrated by Mordicai Gerstein

Barb Rosenstock has done a great job at telling us a bit about both Teddy Roosevelt and John Muir, and how they came to meet each other.  They both loved nature.  John Muir fought to get people to care about the wilderness and wanted to protect land from over development.  Roosevelt as president loved to read, and he read a book by John Muir that inspired him to reach out to the author.  He set up a camping trip to go on after one of his trips out west.  This camping trip that Barb tells the story of is what set up our national parks.

The book goes one to tell of the men's time in the woods.  In the Author's Note at the end of the book Barb tells how there is little record of what the men talked about so she did the best she could.  I think she did a great job and in reading it, it flows so well.  As a naturalist who spent so much time out in the woods I'm sure Muir did have encounters with bear, and knew many great details to tell Roosevelt.

Black Bear at Grandfather Mt, NC

As I read to my children we were completely taken in with Gerstein's unique illustrations that combines sketches and watercolor.  We (my children and myself) learned a great deal about this part of history and nature.  My girls favorite page was the giant sequoias, that I had to turn the book.  I loved the part where John tells of running into a bear: "...the bear had the better manners!"

Science teachers will love the part in the book telling of how the land has changed over time.  Muir tells how the land was underwater once, and how volcanoes and glaciers formed the landscapes.  This is a great bit to discuss.

The very last page of the book has even more information and quotes and more resources.  I love this page and made sure to read it to my kids along with the picture book part.  There were so many more facts on that page that just didn't fit into the narrative Barb told.  It made me want to learn more, and made my whole family want to go and see so much more of our national parks.

I want to share with you these facts on Teddy Roosevelt and how he changed America to what we have today:
*He declared the first 18 National Monuments
*He founded the first 55 bird sanctuaries and game preserves
*He added 148 million acres to National Forest
*He doubled the number of National Parks

This wonderful book, is a work on non-fiction, meaning it's true, we get a chance with this book to look back on history and discover something new, and I hope that in reading this that we can look to the present and the future and see how we can help preserve the wild, and be more environmentally mindful. 

  Today we have
* 417 National Park Sites
*There are 154 national forests and 20 national grasslands. These lands total 193 million acres.

I really hope everyone takes the time to read The Camping Trip That Changed America.  If it inspires you to check out even more I will have other books for adults and children at the bottom of this post for you.

Have a great rest of your week and go out into the wood and explore nature!  See why we are so passionate about it!


More information:
Scientific American: Worse and Worse the Trump Administrations continuing war on national parks
National Park Conservation Association: 2017 in Review, 10 worst actions for parks
The Hill: American's Parks and Public Lands Suffer
wilderness.org Mining next to the Grand Canyon

PINK, Very Pink Books

As a child's personality develops they will begin to strongly like and dislike many things, from food (since Kindergarten my 9 year old will not eat a tomato) to what they will wear (my 5 year old loves her dresses and will only wear pants when forced to) and all the way down to their favorite color.  You may notice that you have a child either at home or in your class that will only color with the purple crayon, or only wears blue.  This is a normal part of discovering themselves and becoming independent.  For more information about likes and dislikes and check out Scholastic: Why Children Like What They Like.

My youngest has two books that she loves, and we have read many times that address the strong like and dislike and favorite color issue.  Both of these books are (mostly) about the color pink.  I find it interesting that these are in her most read pile of books since pink is not her favorite color, but she loves these books.  We have read them so much she can re-tell them to herself which makes her extremely proud that she can "read" the book.

Pinkalicious

Written by Victoria and Elizabeth Kann

Illustrated by Victoria Kann

We got this book as a prize for finishing 1,000 Books Before Kindergarten last fall. The book is a fun one to read together and we have read it a least 20 times in the past year.  

The story is about a little girl who makes pink cupcakes with her mom and eats so many of them that she turns pink.  While the girl thinks that being pink is wonderful and dresses in a pink dress her mom is concerned and rushes her to a doctor who tells her to avoid any more pink food.  On the way home "Pinkerbelle" as she calls herself discovers the downside to being bright pink from head to toe is that all the birds and insects think she's a flower.  Does she follow the doctor's orders? Or does she eat another pink cupcake?

I love the story, but the illustrations irk me.  Victoria Kann has done a great job filling the page with color, mostly pink, but the disproportionate illustrations bother me.  Example of the disproportionate drawings is: the flowers at the park are as tall as or taller than the girl.  I think this is just my personal opinion and that I'm missing the whimsical effect and focus too much on reality.  Regardless of the proportion of the items in the images, they capture the child's attention, help in telling the story and give you more talking points.  Example when in the book it say "....climbed onto a chair, and reached on my tippy toes to the top...[to get a cupcake]" the illustration there shows more of a story she didn't just get on a chair she piled stuff on top of the table to reach.  So you can use this to ask "Is she being safe?" "What all did she use?" "What do you think would happen if you tried that?"  Maybe you could even get doll house items or blocks and try to reconstruct that balancing act.

I think what makes this book so fun, besides the child turning pink, is all the unique word play around pink.  I know that Victoria and Elizabeth have expanded on Pinkalicious to include many other colors as well so if you're interested in more like this one check out these:

A fun activity to go along with this book is to make pink cupcakes!

Polly's Pink Pajamas

Written by Vivian French

Illustrated by Sue Heap

As the title gives away Polly loves her pink pajamas, but when she gets an invitation to a birthday party she is worried that she needs different clothing so she goes to each of her friends asking to borrow an article of clothing.  Remember this is a children's story so don't over think why she doesn't have a dress, a sweater, socks or shoes of her own.  Each friend has their own color, which you can clearly see in the illustrations.  So she borrows something from each friend, puts it on and then looks in the mirror to see that not only do the colors and different patterns clash but that some articles are too small while others are too big.  So Polly cries that she can't go to the party.  (This part annoyed me,l that she just sat and cried instead of figuring something else out, but it all works out.) Her friend that invited her to the party calls to find out why she's not there and when she tells him he informs her that it's a Pajama Party and everyone who lent Polly clothing is there.

There is a lot of pink in the illustrations again, but for each friend Polly visits their page is full of their favorite color.  Mia's page is all red.  Her clothing is red, her dog is red, the walls, carpet, everything.  The illustrations aren't done in a pleasing way for adults, it's not neat and tidy and professional in the way many books are, but rather very simple and child like art.  As much as I look at the artwork and think Blues Clues style or art and don't want to like it, the more I look at it and think of all the children who are looking at this saying "I can draw something like that" and that it's inspiring children to do art that they will try to illustrate their own book because it's work that's relatable to them.  

I love the large text in this book, it helps with children looking at each word to see what it is.  The child is also learning colors, and patterns.  The retelling of each article of clothing helps with memory and reading skills.

Mom's you can use this book before Spring cleaning when you tackle that pile of laundry and have to get your children to try on their clothes to see what fits and what is too small or too big.  

Some fun activities you can do along with this is to talk about what would match with each item.  cut out different paper clothing articles and have them pair them up.  Would you wear a green sweater with a red polka-dot dress, or a white dress?  Many children love the magnetic dolls that you can dress up and mix and match outfits.

You can have your own pajama party and plan it out.  

I hope your day is full of color! 

Prideful Books: Children's books celebrating LGBT rights and people

A few of our local libraries put up Pride displays for the month of June. The purpose of the displays are to bring awareness, and support to the LGBT community.  It also is a way to show LGBT people that they aren't alone, to display stories of other people in their struggle and love and finding themselves.
I had not read any LGBT books before but had wanted to because I have friends in that community, I have know kids in grade school who were outcast because they were "different." I love books that bring about awareness and show kindness in simple ways to children.
This month in honor of my friends who are gay, transgender, bisexual, and love in a way that society thinks is different I read several LGBT books.  I want you all reading this to know that love is love, and I accept you for who you are and the way you are.



Worm Loves Worm

Written by T.J. Austrian
Illustrated by Mike Curato

This book is adorable! The illustrations, the words, and the message are so well done and easy to read, I feel in love with this book.

Worm and Worm love each other and want to get married, but their buggy friends keep telling them they have to have flowers, a dress, a tux, a bridal party, and all the makings of a wedding.  The worms have an issue though, they are worms!  How can they wear a ring when they don't have fingers? Who is the bride? Who is the groom?

I love how each of the friends want to be a part of the wedding.  The book is full of problem solving, and acceptance.  T.J. Austrian did a brilliant job of sharing a message of same sex couples without making it pushy.  These are worms, it was funny, and cute to read.  They are worms, there is no girl or boy.

Mike Curato made the characters the main focus and did a great job making the illustrations cute, colorful and fun.  I love the negative space.  I think not having backgrounds and small details of where this is taking place gives more focus on the text and the bugs themselves.  This could be anywhere.  I think that's the point, it's not just taking place in the country, or the city, or the forest.  People all over the world, in small towns, and big cities are fighting for equal rights, the right to marry who they love and just want to be accepted.

Use this book to talk about weddings, what types of incects are in the book, or take it as a way to learn more about earthworms.  How do earthworms reproduce?


Julian is a Mermaid
by Jessica Love

You had me a mermaid!  I want to be a mermaid.  I love mermaids, ever since I was a child and was obsessed with The Little Mermaid, I have wanted mermaids to be real.  Naturally when I saw the title I had to read Julian's story.

Julian is a boy out with his abuela (grandma) and he sees some mermaids.  Just like me (and many other kids) he loves mermaids! He fantasizes about being a mermaid.  When they get back to grandma's house he dresses up as a mermaid, but when Abuela sees him not dresses as a boy, his first reaction is that he did something wrong, but then she him a necklace to complete his outfit and takes him out to see the other mermaids.

Most of this happens in the illustrations, there are very few words throughout the book, and I think that's the beauty of this book.  Not having the author tell you everything allows the reader to make what they want out of the pictures.  What are the emotions here?  How is Julian feeling?  What is he doing?  I love that.  Since the illustrations are so vital to the story Jessica Love did a beautiful job in them.  There is a sense of fluid movement.

The message of acceptance in this story is beautiful.  I hope every child out there who comes out, or feels that they are different in any way is accepted by their loved ones they way Julian is. Did you know the way a family reacts is one of the most vital parts of coming out?  A family that accepts their gay child can literally save that person's life.

I think Jessica Love did a wonderful job giving multiple meanings to this picture book.  My four year old daughter loved it because it has mermaids in it and she loves mermaids.  My nine year old artist said that the book shows you can be anything if you have imagination.  She liked how Julian made himself a mermaid with items around the grandma's house.  To my adult mind Julian is trans and his grandmother is proud to take him to the parade, in the book it's mermaids and ocean life, but in my interpretation is it's the Pride parade.

I think using mermaids takes the pressure and focus off "that's girl clothing" and allows the reader to just see it as different. Not everyone is a mermaid, but Julian wants to be one and that's okay.

Do you have a child (or yourself) who loves mermaids? Check out these mermaid items:


I know I usually stay with picture books in my blog but I have to share with you two books that are labeled "young adult." You can use your discretion and decide what age group that is for, but the reason I'm sharing them is because they are Prideful books and I loved them and want to pass them on to others.

The Prince and The Dressmaker

by Jen Wang

I was recommended this book when I was telling a friend of mine about doing a LGBT blog.  I had never read a graphic novel.  I've looked at a couple that went with books I've read but I couldn't get into them, the books were so much more in depth, so imagine my surprise when I sat down with this 277 page book and read it in a hour.  I couldn't put it down!

I don't want to tell you too much and give away any of the story so I will just give you the beginning.
The Prince has come to Paris.  There will be a ball and all eligible young women are invited. The women of the city are going crazy over getting dresses that will capture the prince, but one young lady isn't as thrilled as the rest and wants a dress that that will make her look like "the devil's wench."  As I turned the page to the Grand Ball and see the dress that was made, I'm glad I wasn't drinking because I'm sure had I been I would have splattered the page.  This statement of the dress almost makes the dressmaker lose her job but she is invited to work for some wealthy client who was wowed by her work.
The Prince is only 16 and has no desire to get married, he has his whole life ahead of him, why does he need to settle down now?  His parents don't understand why he is fighting getting married, their parents had arranged their marriage, he at least has the choice of who he will spend his life with.

Now please, go finish the story, read the book.  It's full of surprises, love, passion, and compassion.


Stonewall: Breaking Out in the Fight for Gay Rights

by Ann Bausum (first link is for the physical book, the second for the audio)

This is a non fiction book about not only Stonewall but of the journey of gay rights. I had never heard of Stonewall before, other than Stonewall Jackson.   I learned a great deal about the history of gay rights.  I'm very surprised I didn't learn any of this in school!  I feel like while we learned about black rights, and women's rights that we should have learned about gay rights as well.  Although when I was in school same sex marriage wasn't legal, so I hope that by now this is something that is being taught and talked about.  Even though same sex marriage wasn't legal, Stonewall and the fight for gay rights was part of our country's history, so how was that not covered?

Ann Bausum did a wonderful job collecting information about the times and feelings of 1969.  There were laws that you had to wear three items of your gender's clothing.  This non fiction transports the reader to that time so well you are immersed in it.  The Stonewall Riot was a riot, but no one was killed in it! For all the anger that had mounted in that time and all the people that were there, I think that's amazing.  This riot is also why June is Pride Month and the start of Pride, the annual parade in New York (and now many other areas) that celebrates the anniversary of the Stonewall riot, the LGBT community, and addresses the issues this community of people still face.

Bausum travels from 1969 up through the decades and major fights that the oppressed LGBT community faced up to present day; from AIDS to the right to marry, and the fight is still ongoing to equal employment, to not be discrimated against.


I hope everyone finds acceptance, and love.

Circus Books

The chills and thrills of a circus are well knows, unbelievable stunts, the funny clowns, the well trained animals, food, all under the big top!  Back in a day when there wasn't YouTube and you couldn't see all of these amazing things for free in the comfort of your home you had to physically go to a real circus!  Today the chills and thrills that once inspired these books and made people flock out to see the unusual has been numbed for us, but not completely; there are still flocks of people who want to see all this in person so the circus while it's hay day has passed still lives on.

When I heard that there was a small family circus coming to our town I went in search of books to share with my girls, below are the books we read in order from the ones we liked the least to the best.

1.

If I Ran The Circus by Dr. Seuss.

I'm sorry, I know Dr. Seuss is brilliant and I love almost all of his books, except for this one.  In the 39 pages are crammed 1,732 words according to seussville.com.  Following the previously published If I Ran The Zoo (published 1950) six years latter I was expecting strange creatures and the made up Seuss words but the zoo book is by far better than his circus one.  It took me a couple days to actually read and finish the book with my daughter and I stumbled over the words.  It started off well enough with the Circus McGurkus was a lot of fun to say and the intro you can do your best announcer voice, but about half way though it lost me with just so much stuff and tongue twister fake words.

As with all Dr. Seuss books it does encourage children to open their minds and you can ask them what unusual things they'd have or do if they ran the circus or to use items around the house and make their own creature with a special talent.




2.

Circus Train by Jos. A. Smith is another circus book I feel slightly let down by.  The beginning was wonderful, and the watercolor illustrations are sentimental of a time the circus traveled by train.  My only issue with this book comes from the idea of turning the train cars into balloons and floating over the missing bridge.  Maybe this is my corrupted adult mind not bending to fantasy, but I just couldn't get my mind over it.  I thought for sure there would be another way to move the circus.  Other than that one small issue I had the book was nice.  Timothy the boy was a new kid in town wondering how he was going to make friends when he lived out in the country, he was a problem solver for the circus, and in the end was a hero who was honored in the circus having made friends with the group of people who made up the performers.

A good activity to do would be tell of how you (or the kids) would have solved the problem of the bridge having been out.  What could they have done?



3.

Circus 1-2-3 by Megan Halsey is a book for young readers.  This is a basic counting book.  The book is intended for children 2-5, but if you get it as a board book it's great for infants as well, as soon as they are sitting and holding objects you can let them hold the book open and point to the number, and tell them what's on the page.  "4 Bears" Counting books like this one a great to help learn numbers.  Megan Halsey has kept the focus on the numbers and given simple yet colorful images of the subject at a circus.  While my five year old and I would have preferred more text "4 ballerina bears in bright tutus balance on balls"  this might have taken away from Halsey's point of focusing on the numbers.  When you are reading this with your little one be sure to stop and let them count, make sure there are four bears, have them tell you about what the bears are doing.

4.

Not a big surprise to see one of the TV show character books here.  I don't think I've read a Clifford book I haven't liked.  The big red dog is an example of kindness, and friendship.  In his circus adventure Clifford helps save the show, with dressing up as a clown, to saving a high diver with his tongue.  Reading books with characters children know from TV gets them excited that they know who is in the book and can play the illustrations out in their brilliant minds like a moving picture.


5.

I love Stan and Jan Berenstain, they have created unforgettable characters of my childhood that are still carried on today in books that my children love.  Maybe it's because Papa Bear is the star of C is for Clown, that made me think highly of this book, but it's far from the only reason.  C is for Clown: A circus of "C" words has the simple building block style of writing that children like to read, especially early readers.  This style of writing and reading builds important memory factors in children's minds.  What do we have already?  Seeing the same words repetitively allows the child to subconsciously memorize the word.  This is one of the fun books that after reading it together five times your child will turn around and read it to their baby doll.  The book is funny, Papa Bear is the strong man who can carry cats, dogs, cows, a gigantic fish, but it's the tiny creature that will bring the strongman show crashing down in fits of laughter. One more reason I love this book, it teaches phonetics.  The "C" sound is one many children struggle with so by reading it aloud to them the hear how "c" should sound and by having them repeat the words back they are learning the correct way to pronounce the words.


Now for the best...because you know in the show you always save the very best for the end....
6.

The Ringling Brothers: Circus Family by Richard and Sally Glendinning
This book is quite a world apart from the other books, it's for a more advanced reader (grades 2-4) and it's a non fiction!  The fact that I learned about the Ringling brothers and how they started their own circus is probably why it's my favorite.  I love a book where I learn something and hearing a true story of perseverance.  This is what I want my children to understand, that you can start out poor, on the very bottom, but as long as you keep your goal in mind, and work hard that you can achieve your goal.  The story of the Ringling Brothers was well told from beginning to end.  This is a chapter book that has some illustrations spread throughout the book.  These illustrations were done by William Hutchinson and are detailed sketches with yellow and red accent colors.  While my oldest and I read this book we loved to stop and look at the people in the illustrations.


Does all this talk and reading about circuses leave you and your children wanting more?  I have gone to two circuses one was amazing and left me in awe (photos here), while the other was disappointing.  I'd say go see a large venue circus, the performers practice and that is how they earn their living.  I've gotten to meet a talented woman who use to travel with a side show and breaths fire, and did contortion.  It was great.  But if going to a circus is not in the cards for you or you don't support them, that is fine, encourage the kids to be like the Ringling brothers and put on their own show for each other.  You may be surprised at what hidden talents they have.

Maybe you have a contortionists in your house

or a snake wrangler

 Sometimes something as simple as bubbles and hula hoops can transform your backyard.  Check out some other kits and ideas below.

 In recent years there have been a couple wonderful movies that I would like to share with you, I have seen them both and they brought me to tears, Water For Elephants, and The Greatest Showman.

Daddy Makes the Best Spaghetti

With Father's Day coming up I thought I'd share our long time favorite book celebrating Dad.

The Details:


Written and Illustrated by Anna Grossnickle Hines
Copyright 1986
Grade level (according to Scholastic) Pre-K to Second Grade


This book has been well loved and well read in our house for the past 9 years.  We got it in June of 2009, the first year my husband became a dad.  While scholastic.com has the reading focus of this book for preschoolers through second grade, we have read Daddy Makes The Best Spaghetti to our children since infancy.  The girls love it and when it's daddy's turn to read at night or around Father's Day this is the book they use to always pick out, now-a-days they have a much larger variety of books they like to read but it's still on the shelf and ever once in a while they ask him to read it to them.

The title alone grabbed my attention.  My husband is a great cook, and he loves spaghetti and pizza so I knew I was getting this book just based on the title, then when I saw the cover image it sealed the deal.  A good dad is someone who is there all the time, a great dad is one that is there and is fun and silly. The cover art portrays that fun loving child-father relationship.  The spaghetti pot of the head marching around having fun.  This "fun" dad is through the whole book, which I think is why it's a favorite of ours.  The dad is excited and happy to spend time with the child, and makes everything they do entertaining.

Anna Hines wrote a wonderful story that captures this one child's evening with his family.  It's beautiful.  Dad picks Corey up from day care, they talk about dinner, go shopping, and cook, just in time for Mom to get home and eat together.  After dinner Corey helps mom clean up, then gets a bath, book, and bedtime.  I love the family bond that is captured in both the illustrations and the text.  The two tie together seamlessly.   If you want to read more about the book check out what Publishers weekly said on their review.

There are so many lessons in this book to take and apply while reading


1. Talk to your children about meals, get their input on what to eat.
2. Take them shopping with you, let them help you with the list and point out prices.
3. Let children help you in the kitchen!  OK I know this one is hard at times when you're rushing to get meals done and kids off to their sports or bed, but when possible let children help you cook.
4. Chores.  I mentioned in Benny's Pennies about how we took that book and started chores to earn money, and how kids like to help.  Something as simple as setting the table gives them responsibility and lets the be involved.
5. Talk about the routine of your day.  For older kids you can have them tell you what Corey's routine is.

Dads have a way to make everything seem fun, and Anna Hines made the dad in this book comical, and never dull, representing everything a father figure should be.

We have a little time still before Father's Day so if you're looking for a book for your children to share with their dad, or to give as a new father's day gift, or an announcement I'd recommend this one
.
And don't forget to share with Dad why he is the best! (Link back to I Love You More Than Rainbows for some ideas)

I hope all the great, silly, fun-loving, entertaining dads out there have a wonderful Father's Day. Before I leave I want to leave you with a couple articles that praise father's and show why we celebrate dads and how important father figures are:
The Important Role of Dad
Why Kids Need Their Dad

Gift ideas for Dad:

Farmer Brown Shears His Sheep

If you want to take your children on a journey about fleece from sheep to yarn for a sweater then this book is PERFECT!  Or if you are just looking for a fun book to read I recommend this one.

The Details:

Farmer Brown Shears His Sheep: A Yarn About Wool

Written by: Teri Sloat

Illustrated by: Nadine Bernard Westcott

Copyright: 2000

Teri Sloat has put together a fun, comical, fast pace adventure that tells of the process of where wool comes from, how it becomes yarn, and how it is used.  The book follows the sheep as they get sheared, and all their fleece is removed. They become cold and follow their wool on it's journey with the farmer from shop to shop in it's process of cleaning, combing, spinning, dying, and finally being knit into sweaters.  Sloat has delivered all this information in a short rhyming story that flows so easily from one page to the next.  At the end of each short stance you are eager to turn the page to find out what is happening next.

One of the things I like most about the book, aside from the lesson on wool, is that it breaks down sexist barriers and shows that we need to eliminate labels on jobs, hobbies, and likes.  Typically many people associate knitting with old ladies "my grandma knits." Why?  I love that the farmer (male) is the one who knits, who enjoys knitting.  I recently saw a short video of a young man that started his own knitting business and another one where men share how they were introduced to knitting and how they enjoy it.  If this book inspires you to try knitting here are a couple kits for beginners along with a video to help you out.
For children:
For Adults :
The main focus throughout the book are the sheep and the process of the fleece going from them to all the shops.  I love how much you learn about wool.  This book would be great to read before going to see sheep in person, or a place like Quiet Valley where children can actually feel fleece, and comb the it, and see how much work goes into the process.  You might be able to reach out to see if there are any local sheep farms in your area and see if they will give you a tour!

I love when you can take a book that is well written and fun, and then can go and do something from the book and be hands on, I think that balance completes the learning cycle and graphs all that the children have learned into their memory.  Unfortunately I have not done either of the hands on lessons with my children (yet!) but I plan to try knitting with my oldest this fall/winter.

Nadine Bernard Westcott did the illustration in watercolor.  (hint you can find that info in the credits on the same page with the copyright and publication information.  Take a minute to show your children what they can learn on that page)  The illustrations are vibrant, and full of funny sheep and characters that we met along the journey.  With the help of these wonderful images the child doesn't need you to look up what shearing is, how wool is combed, and what knitting is.  Westcott did a beautiful job telling the story through her art.

I hope you take the time to check this book out, maybe even try a new craft.