Love, Laughter, and Life

Adventures With a Book Lover

Category Archives: books

Books to read and books to enjoy.


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Water Is Water – Picture Book & KID KANDY

Water Is Water

By Angie Quantrell @AngieQuantrell

Water Is Water, A Book About the Water Cycle

By Miranda Paul

Illustrations by Jason Chin

(Roaring Book Press, 2015)

Water Is Water, A Book About the Water Cycle, is a beautifully illustrated picture book featuring poetic text that invites readers to live the life of water.

I discovered this book during March Madness for picture books, ReFoReMo (Read For Research Month) and fell in love. Water is the main topic, but the storyline is about children playing throughout the seasons in the different forms water takes.

Fog, rain, snow, hail, water, steam, clouds, puddles, ice. Don’t fear, this book does not read as educational but is engaging and full of rich language. Fun water facts and more about water features at the end of the book add drops of trivia about water for interested readers.

Water Is Water is the perfect book for easy reading and fun learning at home or in a classroom.

KID KANDY:

Take a Bath

Really. Take a bubble bath. Play for a bit with plastic scoops, cups, and funnels.

~ Observe the water. How does it move? What does it smell like? How does it feel? Taste a little bit from the faucet.

~ Look for different forms of water. Do you have drips falling from your hair (like rain), fog on your mirrors (steam), and puddles on the floor? You probably won’t find ice or snow, but that’s ok.

~ Hang your towel after you dry off. How does it feel? Come back the next day. How does it feel now? Where did the water go?

~ List the different forms of water you see around your house.

Water is pretty amazing, isn’t it?

What is your favorite form of water? Why?

I’d love to hear your answers.


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Picture Book Boot Camp

I’m back after an amazing adventure! Attending Picture Book Boot Camp this past week was a high point in my decades-long interest in creating books for children. Picture Book Boot Camp translates t…

Source: Picture Book Boot Camp

Now here is a bucket list item for writers of picture books! Honey?


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Every Day Birds ~ Picture Book & KID KANDY

Beautiful, nonfiction book about birds we see each day.

By Angie Quantrell @AngieQuantrell

Every Day Birds

By Amy Ludwig VanDerwater

Cut Paper Illustrations by Dylan Metrano

(Orchard Books, 2016)

Birds you see each day are the stars of this book, Every Day Birds.

Simple text, colorful fonts, beautiful cut paper illustrations, and one characteristic or behavior of each featured bird make this book a keeper. Twenty common North American birds are pictured in Every Day Birds. A picture identification and additional information section is included at the end of the book.

Young readers and budding bird lovers will treasure reading Every Day Birds. Reading will be followed up by time outdoors searching for the birds who live among the book pages.

Check out this brand new book. Every Day Birds.

KID KANDY:

Bird Watching

Materials: Every Day Birds, binoculars, hat

1. Read and study the birds found in Every Day Birds.

2. Put on your hat and head outside to look for birds.

3. Use the binoculars to see details of different birds without having to get too close.

4. Compare the birds you found to the ones in the book. How many did you find? Which was your favorite?

5. Some bird enthusiasts keep a lifetime list of the birds they see. You could make your own list by using a notebook for a bird journal. Draw or list the birds you observe.

Are you having fun yet? I’d love to hear which birds you saw on your bird hunt.

Tweet, tweet!


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PiBoIdMo Day 28: Paula Yoo Explores Non-Fiction Biographies (plus a prize!)

by Paula Yoo It’s Day 28 of Tara Lazar’s annual Picture Book Idea Month (AKA PiBoIdMo)! Two more days and you’re done. Best of all, you will have 30 ideas to explore for your next…

Source: PiBoIdMo Day 28: Paula Yoo Explores Non-Fiction Biographies (plus a prize!)

PiBoldMo is over, but the information in this post is wonderful! Thank you, Paula Yoo and Tara Lazar!


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HYPNOSIS HARRY is here! Author & Illustrator Interview Each Other (plus a giveaway!)

by author Catherine Bailey & illustrator Sarita Rich Thank you for hosting us today, Miss Tara. We are excited to be here, and we are excited to celebrate the release of HYPNOSIS HARRY, and we …

Source: HYPNOSIS HARRY is here! Author & Illustrator Interview Each Other (plus a giveaway!)

This new release sounds like a wonderfully funny story! The author & illustrator interviews are very good. Thanks, Tara!


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How (Not) to Write a Rhyming Picture Book

Note: The following advice has been taken from Lesson 8 (Don’t Write in Rhyme) and Lesson 9 (Rhyming Is All About Rhythm) of Josh Funk’s ‘Resources for Writers – Guide to Wr…

Source: How (Not) to Write a Rhyming Picture Book

I just found this great resource to help writers with rhyming picture books. Yay!


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Top 10 Reasons to Create Little Free Libraries in Your Community by Tammy Mulligan and Clare Landrigan

We often support schools and communities with promoting summer reading.  We want students to continue their “readerly lives” over the summer.  A few years ago, we were researching ideas to get book…

Source: Top 10 Reasons to Create Little Free Libraries in Your Community by Tammy Mulligan and Clare 

I want to do this at my house! There are 3 little libraries in our neighborhood. Love them!


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And it was just right… The Rule of Three.

Three blind mice. Three little pigs. Three wishes. Most of us have figured out that three is a magic number in western culture. One theory has it that three is magic to us because that’s the triumv…

Source: And it was just right… The Rule of Three.

Wonderful examples and information for writers of picture books. Thanks!


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Sunflower House ~ Picture Book & KID KANDY

Sunflower House

By Eve Bunting

Illustrated by Kathryn Hewitt

(Voyager Books, 1996)

I have been reading tons of picture books lately. At least my back considers the weight of them to be tons as I haul them back and forth to the library.

Sunflower House is a colorful story about a child who plants a sunflower house with his parents. I suppose that is where the name for the book comes from, right?

Father and child first removed grass to make a large circle, leaving the middle of the circle grassy. Seeds were then planted in the soil and the waiting began.

Once the sunflowers began to grow tall, the child invited friends to play in the sunflower house. Eventually, the sunflowers grew so large and wide that the parents no longer fit inside and the flower house became a kids-only place to enjoy nature.

I love the idea of creating a fun space for children by planting sunflowers. I am considering it for this summer…if I can find a place that my husband won’t mind too much if the grass is removed and seeds upon seeds will eventually fall and resprout next spring!

KID KANDY:

Plant a Sunflower House

Materials: sunflower seeds, large area to plant, yard tools

1. Read Sunflower House. Once you see the pictures you will know how to plant one.

2. Choose a sunny location for your sunflower house. They love the sun. Remove grass to form a ring of dirt around a circle of grass. Make your ring at least 4 feet in diameter. Sunflowers get HUGE!

3. Plant seeds in the dirt. Water them and wait.

4. Once the seeds have sprouted, watch them grow. You can pull weeds but only after you make sure you are not pulling up sunflowers.

5. After the sunflowers are as tall as you, the house is ready for play. Of course, it will keep growing, especially if you have planted JUMBO sunflowers.

6. What to do inside a sunflower house?

– rest on your back and look at the sky

– watch birds that flock to eat the seeds

– listen to the bees buzzing as they pollinate the flowers

– have a picnic in the sunflower house

– invite friends over to play

– campout overnight in the sunflower house

– look for insects that live in and around the flowers

– draw your sunflowers or the sunflower house

– use a magnifying glass to look really close at the plants and animals

– take photos of your house

 

Isn’t that a fun project? What will you grow next summer?

Thanks for reading!


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How to Get Over Bad Book Reviews

Phew! What a whirlwind this week has been! The weather flip-flopped between winter and summer, the Bat Mitzvah RSVPs flooded in and my fourth book released to critical and commercial acclaim. It wa…

Source: How to Get Over Bad Book Reviews

You hang in there, Tara!