Sock n Boots – Adventures by D. K. Smith

This book is adorable! Sock n Boots – Adventures written is a book with three short stories with a life lesson woven into each of the story lines. Each adventure starts with a question and then the story of two friends – a sock and a boot – show the answer for your child. At the end of the adventure the question is asked again which allows for conversation about sharing, being afraid of the dark, and playing in safe places. The illustrations are great and add to the conversation.

We recently went on a trip and I let my daughter know she could only bring her three favorite stories, Sock n Boots – Adventures was one of the books she chose to put in her back pack. I will caution parents that one of the adventures is about how Sock gets over his fear of the dark at bedtime. My daughter didn’t have a fear of the dark before reading the book, so that has been a downside that we now need to have the hall light on for her and she is now worried about monsters in her closet. The thing I like about the book is that the last part is a coloring section for your child to color different pages from the adventures. She has colored a few pages and then tells me what Sock or Boots was doing which really helps her to remember the stories. I think this is a great idea and wish other books did this for kids.

For more information on Sock n Books go to www.socknboots.com or find the series on Facebook at facebook.com/SockandBoots. You can purchase the Sock n Boots compilation with all three stories for $11.

Disclosure: I was provided with a copy of the book to facilitate my review.

The book experts from Scholastic Book Clubs and Scholastic Book Fairs shared their picks for what they believe will be the most popular new children’s books this holiday season. This list features books for all ages from a variety of authors and publishers to help gift-givers pick the right books for the kids in their lives.

These are some of the books on Scholastic’s 2011 Holiday Gift List for Kids… you can find the full list on the Scholastic blog. What books are you getting for your kids?

Picture Books

• 10 Little Caterpillars by Bill Martin Jr., illustrated by Lois Ehlert (Simon & Schuster): A visually stunning read-aloud from the creators of Chicka Chicka Boom Boom!
• 12 Days of Christmas written and illustrated by Rachel Isadora (Penguin): The beloved holiday song brought to life in breathtaking illustrations.
• A Bad Kitty Christmas by Nick Bruel (Roaring Brook Press): One of the best and funniest Christmas picture books this season.
• Can You See What I See? Toyland Express written and illustrated by Walter Wick (Scholastic): This eighth title in the bestselling search-and-find series features a Toyland theme.
• If You Give a Dog a Donut by Laura Numeroff, illustrated by Felicia Bond (HarperCollins): If you give a child this book, he or she is sure to love it!

Transitional Readers and Chapter Books

• Clementine and the Family Meeting by Sara Pennypacker, illustrated by Marla Frazee (Disney Hyperion Books): Fans of Junie B. Jones and Ramona will love watching Clementine get into (and out of) her latest sticky situations.
• Fly Guy: Fly Guy vs. the Flyswatter! by Tedd Arnold (Scholastic): More action-packed entertainment for beginning readers starring a boy named Buss and his pet fly.
• Magic Tree House: Dogs in the Dead of Night by Mary Pope Osborne, illustrated by Salvatore Murdocca (Random House): In this wintry, magical adventure, Jack and Annie travel to the Swiss Alps.
• Rainbow Magic: Magical Holiday Boxed Set by Daisy Meadows (Scholastic): Just in time for the holidays, this magical boxed set includes four sparkly special editions.
• Super Diaper Baby 2: The Invasion of the Potty Snatchers by Dav Pilkey, George Beard, and Harold Hutchins (Scholastic): The long-awaited sequel to the bestselling The Adventures of Super Diaper Baby is filled with Dav Pilkey’s usual laffs, guffaws, and action-packed fun.

Middle Grade Fiction

• Darth Paper Strikes Back: An Origami Yoda Book by Tom Angleberger (Abrams): Dwight and his all-knowing finger-puppet return in this sequel to the bestselling book, The Strange Case of Origami Yoda.
• Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Cabin Fever by Jeff Kinney (Abrams): The sixth book in Jeff Kinney’s wildly popular cartoon-filled series.
• Middle School: The Worst Years of My Life by James Patterson and Chris Tebbetts, illustrated by Laura Park (Little, Brown and Company): A hilarious and poignant story about the wacky ups and downs of being a middle-schooler.
• War Horse by Michael Morpurgo (Scholastic): The basis for the Tony award-winning play and a new movie from director Steven Spielberg.
• Wonderstruck written and illustrated by Brian Selznick (Scholastic): Two stories, one told through pictures and one told through text, merge with unforgettable results in this stunning book by the Calecott-winning author of The Invention of Hugo Cabret.

Young Adult Fiction

• The Eleventh Plague by Jeff Hirsch (Scholastic): It’s the end of the world as we know it—and an adventure awaits.
• This Dark Endeavor: The Apprenticeship of Victor Frankenstein by Kenneth Oppel (Simon & Schuster): In this gothic adventure, a young Victor Frankenstein discovers an ancient formula for the Elixir of Life.
• The Hunger Games Trilogy Boxed Set by Suzanne Collins (Scholastic): The perfect gift for adventure- and suspense-loving teens.
• Okay For Now by Gary D. Schmidt (Clarion Books): A terrific coming-of-age story and one of the year’s must-read novels.
• The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater (Scholastic): A captivating adventure from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Shiver.

Nonfiction (all ages)

• Guinness World Records 2012 (Guinness World Records): A perennial favorite with readers of all ages, this year’s edition features new topics, a dynamic new design, never-before-seen photos, and thousands of new records.
• How Cool Is This: An Up-close, Inside Look at How Things Work (DK Publishing): This fascinating compendium of gadgets and gizmos shows how various inventions work.
• The Hugo Movie Companion: A Behind the Scenes Look at How a Beloved Book Became a Major Motion Picture by Brian Selznick (Scholastic): This insightful gift-book shows how Brian Selznick’s The Invention of Hugo Cabret (winner of the 2008 Caldecott Medal) was adapted for the much-anticipated movie Hugo, directed by Martin Scorsese.
• Lego Star Wars Character Encyclopedia (DK Publishing): This illustrated encyclopedia offers an in-depth look at the mini-figures of Lego Star Wars.
• Ripley’s Believe It or Not!: Special Edition 2012 (Scholastic): This collection of strange but true facts makes for fascinating reading.

The Adventure of Wormee the Worm by Ricky Mickiewicz

Sometimes less is more. An illustrated book with very little text can engage the reader to use his/her imagination to create and tell a story all their own. But Wormee the Worm misses the mark here. It’s a rather straightforward tale of how a worm ends up in Hawaii. The illustrations appear to be color photocopies of simple drawings done with magic markers that hardly capture the magic and beauty of the Hawaiian Islands.

I asked my first grade daughter to “read” aloud this book to me. At times, the drawings didn’t successfully convey the clues that were to be inferred from the drawings to understand Wormee’s actions and the adventure’s storyline. The storyline was mind-numbingly simple and the drawings were neither imaginative nor well-done. With no offense to the probably well-intended author, it reads like a book that was written and illustrated by a young child, a keepsake that only a mother could love and treasure forever.

The Adventure of Wormee the Worm is available on Amazon, where you can also see a preview of the book. I was provided with a complimentary copy for review purposes.

Where Does Mommy Go? by Shelley Hallier; illustrated by Richele Collins

I recently had our second child and was able to stay home for an extended maternity leave. I cherished every moment, but it was just as hard to go back to work (maybe even more the second time). The constant pulling of emotions and guilt for having to work have always plagued me as working mom. My daughter is now almost 5 and we talk more and more about Mommy’s work and where I go when she goes to preschool. We recently began reading Where Does Mommy Go?, written by Shelley Hallier and illustrated by Richele Collins, during our nightly reading and it has really added to our conversations about what Mommy does.

Where Does Mommy Go? is a beautifully illustrated 28-page book that describes the variety of different things from a child’s perspective that Mommy could be doing during the day ranging from going to outer space to catching big fish. One of my favorites is nabbing bad guys. Ever since we have been reading this book, she asks if I caught any bad guys during the day. She also has begun participating in conversations at the dinner table when Daddy and I are talking about our days. She asks if we had to work with any “bad guys” which makes me chuckle. The most important message of the book is at the very end when it lets your child know that no matter where Mommy goes during the day she would much rather be at home with her children.

This is the perfect book for your toddler and you to read and talk about when they begin to ask questions about where you go and what you do during the day. Once my daughter outgrows the story I will definitely be moving it to my son’s library for the time that he and I start talking about where mommy goes.

BUY IT!

This book is a great gift idea for the holidays. Where Does Mommy Go? is available for $14.99 on amazon.com or online at www.wheremommygoes.com. As an extra bonus, the author is providing free shipping through December 31, 2011!

Disclosure: I was provided with a complimentary copy of the book for review purposes.

While searching for a new calendar for Maya, I came upon the book A Child’s Calendar, by John Updike. While it’s not a calendar, I think I’m going to buy it. The poetry is beautiful, soothing… I can see myself reading it to the girls over and over.

November
by John Updike

The stripped and shapely
Maple grieves
The ghosts of her
Departed leaves.
The ground is hard,
As hard as stone.
The year is old,
The birds are flown.

And yet the world,
In its distress,
Displays a certain
Loveliness

This is only an excerpt; you can read the rest of the poem here. The following are some photos I took on a walk over the weekend. Love the Fall!

B is for Baking is the fun-filled, baking companion to Sesame Street C is for Cooking, 40th Anniversary Edition. Containing over 50 nutritious recipes, B is for Baking promises hours of baking fun for kids and parents alike.

I loved cooking with my mom. I have vivid (and very fond) memories of standing on a chair, measuring, mixing, and of course, tasting various creations. Some were great (cookies), others were not such big hits (grain burgers). So, I couldn’t wait until my son was old enough to don an apron and help me out in the kitchen. The problem: cooking with a toddler is hard. It involves cutting with sharp knives and stirring hot pots–not exactly toddler-friendly activities. That left baking. The majority of simple baking recipes are pretty safe minus the oven part. The problem here is that I am a horrible baker. I can whip together a decent meal, but baking is definitely not one of my strongest talents. I think I am just too impatient to measure, sift, and well, read directions.

But, in the name of childhood memories and with the hope that I could handle recipes designed for kids, I gave B is for Baking a try. After flipping through the book several times, I decided to try “Abby Cadabby’s Magic Lemon Pudding Cake” mostly because I had the ingredients. Similar to the process of making a soufflé, the batter was supposed to magically separate in the oven leaving a pudding on the bottom and sponge cake on top. We’ll see about that.

My son and I beat egg whites, juiced lemons, and folded in flour. We set our creation in a water bath and gave it a parting “good luck” as we closed the oven door. One hour passed and it was time for the big reveal. Was I going to be put to shame by a kids baking book? To the relief of my inner-Julia Child, the pudding cake actually came out as it was supposed to! Well, it was a little more brown than it probably should have been, but in my world the fact that it wasn’t scorched or a runny mess made it a success.

With catchy Sesame Street-inspired names, full-sized photos, and easy to follow-directions, B is for Baking delivers its promise. The recipes from turnovers and quiche to enchilada pie and crumble will keep families well-fed while creating great memories in the process.

BUY IT

B is for Baking and C is for Cooking are available at bookstores nationwide and online.

Disclosure: I was provided with a complimentary copy of B is for Baking in order to facilitate this review, the opinions are my own.

Ruthe Rosen wrote Never Give Up about her daughter, Karla, a previously very active and healthy 14-year-old girl was suddenly diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor. She had been given just a year to live and the treatments needed to shrink the tumor would cause intense sickness, weakness and negative side effects. It seemed as though the more weak she became the more unwavering her faith was. Karla always seemed at peace from the initial diagnosis though her journey and to the end of her short life while losing her battle. Ruthe also created The Let It Be Foundation after her daughter, to serve families facing similar devastating circumstances in their community.

I was fortunate enough to have the time to read the entire book on a plane ride to Arizona this past week. I could not put down the book until I finished it. Rarely does a story bring tears to my eyes, but being a mother of three and imagining the pain this family went through was overwhelming. There were countless times my eyes filled up. Not always tears of sadness, but of happiness and amazement of how such a young girl could have such strong faith when her parents were at times unable.

Karla’s story is a real inspiration. She always seemed very accepting of her circumstances and never complained. She left a beautiful imprint on the heart of everyone she met. Never Give Up is an inspiring story that will encourage anyone who has a little faith to embrace it and someone without to discover it.

Some of parenting’s best moments come in reading books to your children. After the chaos of eating and bathtime and dressing have subsided, the chance to sit quietly with your kids and read a book represents an enchanted, beatific time in both of your lives. Savor them, because they pass all too rapidly.

At one level, it makes little difference what book you’ve adopted – the sharing and bonding itself is the key to these experiences. In another sense, however, the choice of reading is critical, because these volumes hold the potential not only to entertain, but to teach – both parent and child – something of life.

I mean here not those books that boast a thinly-veiled pedagogical subtext, trying to work into their lines an injunction to study more math or avoid littering. I mean instead something deeper, the kind of meaning that adults themselves seek in their own reading. As children grow older, their exposure to such texts can pay ever greater dividends, for you and them.

My daughters are currently partial to the contemporary kids’ lit greats, the not-bad books like Pinkalicious, Fancy Nancy, and Sheltie. And our 22-month old son likes the touch-and-feel books and others with big pictures. Not every age is right for the deep textual truths.

But over time, consider introducing not just the new stuff, but also a few of the classics. Dr. Seuss remains as popular as ever, and the Grinch, Horton, and the Cat in the Hat are characters that will endure for generations to come. I personally believe that every kid should get to know and love Dr. Seuss’ books; to do otherwise seems not only wrong but vaguely un-American.

I’ve tried with little success to pull into our reading life some of the true greats like The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery, the Daoist classic Winnie-the-Pooh by A. A. Milne, and of course D’Aulaires’ Book of Greek Myths. The kids haven’t jumped at the chance, and I console myself with the thought that they just aren’t old enough to appreciate these fine works. In other words, it’s their age that’s the problem, not me.

Finally, one set of books that has seized the imagination of successive generations – and that of our family – is Shel Silverstein’s Where the Sidewalk Ends and A Light in the Attic. If you haven’t looked at them lately, do it – they are filled with poems that range from the really dumb to the gross-out to the sublime, and sometimes all at once. I’m particularly partial to one of his lines, which seems ripe not only for closing a poem, but perhaps, at bedtime with your children, closing a long day.

“Listen to the mustn’ts, child. Listen to the don’ts. Listen to the shouldn’ts, the impossibles, the won’ts. Listen to the never haves, then listen close to me… Anything can happen, child. Anything can be.”  - Shel Silverstein

YOUR TURN: What books are you reading to your kids these days?

My first-grader is an voracious reader. On a recent Sunday afternoon, she sat down to read to me two delightful books by Gene and Iris Rotberg.

How Emma Stopped the World, illustrated by Macarena Vejar, is the story of a little girl named Emma who realizes that she has misplaced her beloved blanket while out on a drive with her grandmother, Iris. Iris stops the car and blocks traffic which causes a traffic jam that ties up their city and, ultimately, the entire country. Iris and Emma search with great determination for the blanket. It’s a charming and relatable tale of a grandmother’s devotion to her granddaughter and a child’s perspective of the world and what’s important to her in it. My daughter and I both liked this simple storyline. There are no twists, surprises, or witty rhyme schemes. Just a happy ending which we both expected.

Tess and the Dog Star engages the reader immediately through lovely and playful pictures by illustrator Bryn Barnard. This is the story of Tess who decides to have a contest for the best-dressed dog. She asks her friends for pictures of their favorite dogs all dressed up. Now the fun starts…each page that follows includes more adorable pictures of dogs in costumes with silly things to say. The Pekingese who likes to play peek-a-boo, the Saint Bernard from Switzerland sporting shoes and goggles, and a Lhasa Apso from Tibet in a “downward dog” yoga pose. The whimsical pictures kept my daughter’s attention and even sparked a nice teachable moment/astronomy conversation about the winner, Sirius, the Dog Star and the brightest star in the sky in the constellation Canis Major. Dog-lovers will especially enjoy this story which comes alive through the wonderful illustrations of an imaginative illustrator who clearly knows both kids and dogs well.

I was provided with review copies of the books described above; opinions are my own.

Many of us enjoy making things that can be used in our daily lives. However, while oilcloth has been around for centuries, we may not have ever incorporated oilcloth into our projects. Sewing with Oilcloth, by Kelly McCants, shows how to bring new fun to everyday projects. All of the projects in this book are practical and have added longevity because they are made with oilcloth. Plus, the projects are custom made by you and help keep your home clean and organized! I enjoyed this book and think it includes 20 how-to projects for the DIY seamstress in you.

In Sewing with Oilcloth, you will find a colorful book that is fun to read. The instructions are easy to follow, and the author has included helpful drawings further explain the projects. As an intermediate seamstress, I imagine that any level of seamstress can successfully follow the steps in this book. In time, you will be making numerous projects for your home or others, including gifts, storage containers, bags, table cloths, and many other everyday items. Oilcloth seems to be a great fabric for homes with kids and easy to clean for Mom’s.  If only oilcloth would be comfortable fabric for covering our furniture…

I look forward to making the insulated lunch bag, sandwich wrap, and reusable baggies. I am constantly making my girls’ school lunches, or planning picnics or other outings.  For me, the patterns and instructions in the book were perfect timing for back to school. As an added benefit, these projects are not only unique, they are also eco-friendly.

The only disappointment I found was finding fabric to make the items. Oilcloth is not safe to use with food.  Although laminated cotton is a safe alternative, it costs around $17 a yard, which is much more expensive than the oilcloth ($6-$12 yard). Unfortunately, I was unable to find a fabric store nearby that carried laminated cotton or oilcloth.

BUY IT

Sewing with Oilcloth can be found online at Amazon.com. Its author, Kelly McCants, is known as the go-to guru for working with oilcloth. She also has her own online fabric store where you can purchase many of the oilcloth fabrics seen in the book at www.etsy.com/shop/oilclothaddict.

Disclosure: I was provided with a complimentary copy of “Sewing with OilCloth” in order to facilitate this review; the opinions are my own.