Love, Laughter, and Life

Adventures With a Book Lover

Monthly Archives: May 2016


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Little Red Gliding Hood ~ Picture Book & KID KANDY

Doesn’t that title sound vaguely familiar?

Little Red Gliding Hood

Story by Tara Lazar

Pictures by Troy Cummings

(Random House, 2015)

Little Red’s skates are worn out and ready to fall apart. Without her trusty skates, she won’t be able to visit Grandma every Sunday. But the upcoming skating competition first prize is a pair of brand new gold skates!

Little Red is a great skater, but she doesn’t have a partner. Everyone else is matched up, but who will Little Red find to join her for the competition?

Fairy tale characters and stories abound in this fractured tale. Readers will laugh and enjoy the antics of Little Red and her friends as she finds an unexpected partner. Dare we say the bad guy turns good?

Delightful text and imaginative illustrations come together to make one great picture book. Both adults and children will love Little Red Gliding Hood.

KID KANDY:

Make Up Your Own Silly Fairy Tale

1. Choose a favorite fairy tale. Think of the characters and the problems they encounter in the story.

2. Now, choose one thing to change. You can:

– change a name

– change the problem

– change the setting (where the story takes place)

– add new characters

– mix two fairy tales together

3. Make up your own fairy tale.

4. Tell your new silly fairy tale to a friend or a sibling. Did they laugh?

Storytelling is fun, isn’t it?


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Ask for Help, And It Will Be Given

Great flyers from WMU and my friends in the Preschool Resources Department

By Angie Quantrell @AngieQuantrell

Ask (for help) and it will be given.

This weekend I will be presenting two breakout sessions about writing at a retreat. I’m very excited to attend and enjoy the retreat, as the past couple of years my schedule has not allowed me to go.

Besides sharing with women, I was invited to bring my books. Isn’t that nice? Of course I’d love to bring my books.

The problem was that I didn’t have any up-to-date flyers or informational handouts.

What does Angie do? She contacts the professionals (and her good friends) at Woman’s Missionary Union.

I asked and boy, did I receive.

We back-and-forthed messages for quite a few days. And because there was a tiny break in their schedule of deadlines, my friends were able to put together several lovely pieces for me to use.

The flyers and posters look so lovely and colorful, I just had to share . . . though it is odd and a bit disconcerting to see so many me-faces staring back!

Thank you, Clay, Teri, Robin, and Joye! You ROCK! You also made me look good. We can never underestimate the value in that now, can we?


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Fun with Friends – A Look Back in Time

LOOK! We both had more hair! Ah, the good old days. . .

A recipe for fun: Take a good measure of great friends, a scoop of laughter, a cup of silliness, 5 T. of craziness, a dash of daring, and add to this a mud pit and questionably upright 3 (or 4)-wheelers, and you have a guaranteed over-the-top serving of fantastic fun!

let the games begin!

Let the games begin!

I almost fell off!

I almost fell off!

It begins when they are so young...

It begins when they are so young…

We’re only missing Carmel, but someone had to stay dry and clean! And take photos.

What fun things do you enjoy doing with your friends?


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The Power of Words

Word sources

By Angie Quantrell @AngieQuantrell

Words.

Words are amazing.

The entire process of how we learn to speak and use words in intelligent conversation awes me. And the fact that we learn to write and read and utilize words is fantastic.

What can words do?

They can be used to:

~ encourage

~ affirm

~ express emotion

~ praise

~ tear down

~ build up

~ destroy

~ curse

~ forgive

~ add fuel to or put out the fire

~ share dreams

~ explain

~ teach

~ condemn

~ inform

~ question

~ make choices

~ create

~ stand firm

~ call for help

~ offer assistance

~ distribute faith, hope, and love

Words can be our best friend or our worst enemy. We can use them with kind regards towards others in our society.

Or we can abuse and pirate our words to wound, pillage, and plunder the hearts and lives of those around us.

How do you use your words?

Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O LORD, my rock and my redeemer.  ~ Psalm 19:14 ESV

Read 99 more verses about the power of words here.


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The Disturbing Transformation of Kindergarten

One of the most distressing characteristics of education reformers is that they are hyper-focused on how students perform, but they ignore how students learn. Nowhere is this misplaced emphasis mor…

Source: The Disturbing Transformation of Kindergarten

Play is vital for every child!


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How to Share with a Bear ~ Picture Book & KID KANDY

Meet clever, resourceful, and kind Thomas

By Angie Quantrell @AngieQuantrell

How to Share with a Bear

By Eric Pinder

Pictures by Stephanie Graegin

(Farrar Straus Giroux, 2015)

How to Share with a Bear is an adorable book!

One day, Thomas made a cozy cave with cushions, pillows, and blankets. It was so warm and comfy! Thomas ran to get the flashlight so he could see to read in his cave and when he got back, someone with bright shiny eyes was in his cave.

It was a bear!

Throughout the rest of the story, Thomas strategized to lure the bear out of the cave and get himself back in the cave before the bear returned.

Thomas was very inventive in his bear-removal-plans and used his bear background information to plan tricky attempts to reclaim his cave.

At last, Thomas succeeded. The bear began to cry, as there was no room for both of them in the cave.

Thomas, ever kind and resourceful, enlarged the cave and invited the bear in to read – together.

How to Share with a Bear is delightful! I love the two characters and how Thomas solves his problem. A surprise ending will thrill young readers.

KID KANDY:

Make a Cave

1. Read How to Share with a Bear.

2. Follow the directions at the end of the book to make your own cave (pillows, blankets, cushions).

3. Gather your favorite books and a flashlight.

4. Be kind like Thomas and invite a bear (or your brother, sister, or friend) to join you in the cave.

Sharing is so much fun!


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Top Ten Reasons Picture Books ROCK…

I am thrilled to count myself among the ranks of children’s picture book writers. I believe, whole-heartedly, in the power of picture books. Of course, there are thousands of reasons to love pictur…

Source: Top Ten Reasons Picture Books ROCK…

Picture books DO rock! Thanks, Michelle!


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The Threat – Can Cats Read?

The experiment – Can cats read?

By Angie Quantrell Angie Quantrell

My husband walked into the kitchen with a guilty grin on his face.

“What?”

“Nothing,” he smirked.

Seeing I wasn’t convinced, he added, “I’m just laughing at your book on CD.”

Ok. Weird. But I let it go.

After dinner, I went out to tidy up the patio and harvest strawberries. And then I saw why he was giggly.

On the chalkboard we have mounted to a wall (for the grands, of course), someone had drawn and written a message.

To our neighborhood bully cat, Mr. Mustache, or Stache. From our gray girls, Mabel and Monet.

Can cats read? Do they understand a threat? Is humor lost on them?

It seems my husband thinks so.

Did his threat work?

I’m sorry to say, but no, Stache has still been around spraying on our windows and chasing the girls inside.

To conclude this experiment in cat communication skills, we may assume that:

1. Cats cannot read.

2. Cats don’t care if you threaten them.

3. Cats don’t get humor.

 

Stache, boldly making his visit

Or maybe, cats just don’t read message boards.

Read more about Stache, the Bully, here.


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My Two Blankets ~ Picture Book & KID KANDY

A perfect book to foster empathy for those new to our country

by Angie Quantrell Quantrell Quips

My Two Blankets

By Irena Kobald

Illustrated by Freya Blackwood

(Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2014)

She used to be called Cartwheel. And then there was a war.

My Two Blankets is the story of a girl who moved to a new country where everything was new, different, and confusing. She loved her old blanket of the sounds and words she grew up with. It was warm and made her feel safe.

In her new country, the girl had nothing. Then she met a friend at a park. The girl befriended her and slowly gave her new words to learn and new experiences. As the girl learned to speak a new language, she realized she was creating a new blanket of sounds and words. By the end of the story, she was comfortable with both blankets.

My Two Blankets is a wonderful picture book. Readers who are new to this country or readers who want to learn how it feels to live in a completely different home with a strange language will find this book insightful and refreshing.

KID KANDY:

Do a Cartwheel and Listen to a New Language

1. The girl in this story was called Cartwheel by her auntie because she loved to do cartwheels. Do you have a nickname?

Go out on the grass or playground and do cartwheels. If you don’t know how, ask a friend to teach you.

2. To see how the girl felt when she first moved to a new country, listen to a different language. You could:

– listen to a radio station

– check out a book in a different language from the library (look for books that have listening CDs)

– watch a television show featuring actors speaking a different language

– ask an adult to help you find an online video of someone speaking or singing a different language

How did you feel when you couldn’t understand the words?

What would you do if you had to move to a place where no one spoke your language?

Can you think of a friend at school or in your neighborhood that speaks a language different from yours? Maybe he or she needs a friend!


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Container Gardens

Baby kale and lettuce mix win the mobile garden location

By Angie Quantrell Angie Quantrell

Container gardens are the way to go this year.

It’s funny how I go through fads in my garden.

Last year, I didn’t want many containers other than the raised beds and strawberry garden. I relished the empty patio space that left ample room for the grands to race wheeled vehicles around without crashing.

Previous growing seasons bloomed and produced according to my every whim and decorating idea. I loved grouping pots and plantings according to heat and watering zone. Notice I say heat instead of sun requirements. My afternoon garden is all a heat zone and any container has to be mostly in shade or capable of handling the crippling sun rays.

Baby kale

This year is once again a container garden year. But my reasoning is fresh and experimental.

This year I want to win against the garden predators. Slugs. Sow bugs. Earwigs. Aphids. And whatever else is chewing its way through my fresh veggie crop.

For instance, radish is languishing in an old turkey roaster pot that has holes in the bottom, mainly because every time I have planted them in the past, the sow bugs and slugs have eaten holes and rings around each beautiful radish.

Radish seedlings popping through the soil

Lettuce and kale are making a new home in a little red wagon and a washtub. This is my attempt to avoid the slugs and aphids.

Chives and a random sunflower are living in yet another washtub.

Chives and a sunflower plant

Germination has commenced and plants are popping through the soil. What has yet to be found is how successful the plants will be in growing to full-size and giving me tasty treats.

Kale? Check. We’ve already had baby leaves.

And that’s all I know for now. We shall see. Let the experiment commence.

Until then, kale, strawberries, and herbs it is.

Spring strawberries