“Run, run as fast as you can, you can’t catch me, I’m the Gingerbread Man!”
Or I could say, “Run, run, as fast as you can, you can’t catch me, I’m the Gingerbread Nan (a)!” They try, but Nana captures them all for hugs.
This was the first year everyone tried icing bags. Some successes, lots of messes, plenty of fun.
It’s easier to eat icing straight from the bag.
The grands are growing up fast, and they tried to run, but Nana and plenty of sugar captured their taste buds and creative imaginations.
Welcome to our annual Gingerbread House decorating tradition. The designs are getting a little bit more sophisticated, but I noticed decorations disappear just as quickly as in previous years . . .
Mullet Man. Yep.
Nana is getting shorter . . .
Must remember to put toothbrushes and toothpaste in with Christmas gifts.
Farrar Straus Giroux Books for Young Readers, 2019
I was sitting in my she shed the other day and heard a nearby rooster crowing. Very nearby. Just a note: we do not have chickens OR roosters.
Though our neighbors do. So we often have feathered guests running around the pasture. But I’ve never heard the crowing this close.
I carefully tip-toed to the window and looked out. Sure enough, there was a handsome fellow and his girls right outside the door! They happily pecked and picked, enjoying free range exploration and snacking.
Sorry about the Eiffel Tower right in the middle of the photo…I didn’t see it until later.
They make me laugh, those chickens. Seeing them made me remember a picture book I had just read to my grandson, The Chickens Are Coming!.
This is such a fun picture book. A brother and sister who live in a large city see a sign about chickens needing a new home. Pretty soon they are the owners of a delightful group of hens, each with a name and personality. The story continues as the siblings hope for eggs, but no eggs are found.
Why I Like This Book:
~ the chickens have personalities
~ the story line is fun: discover chickens need a home, adopt the chickens, learn about chickens, try to help the chickens get ready to lay eggs, try to find eggs, try to find chickens
~ plenty of detailed and engaging illustrations – my first grader was captivated by all of the things he could see on the pages
~ chickens in the city!
~ chicken dance
~ free range eggs (a personal favorite of mine)
Feeling like a good chicken story or adopting a hen or three? The Chickens Are Coming! will give you plenty of good reading and/or help you learn what you need to do when your chickens arrive.
I’ve been wanting to try a blackout poem for quite some time. And then I found this falling apart, old copy of Pippi Longstocking and decided to give it a try. The thinking and imagining is quite different when one is removing words instead of adding them. It’s a fun challenge!
Thank you, Yeehoo Press, Kathleen M. Blasi, Petronela Dostalova, and Kathy Temean for sending me a copy of this fun, adorable picture book! I won a copy from Kathy’s blog, Writing and Illustrating. Two of my grands are really into outer space right now, so this book is perfect! My youngest grand just came home from her first day of kinder, and the coloring page? It was all about outer space.
Book Jacket Flap: “Outer space is there for exploring, and Captain Milo is ready for takeoff! If only he didn’t have to wait for his Second-in-Command . . .”
From the front cover, to the jacket flap, the inside pages, the illustrations, and the lovely story, there is nothing I don’t love about Milo and his urgent desire to head to outer space! I love that this story is based on an actual scientific event – the Leonid Meteor Storm – that occurs every November.
What I love about this book:
~ the enchanting story
~ the large, lovely, colorful, illustrations
~ the idea of Mom being Second-in-Command
~ The way Milo helps out so his dream becomes reality
~ the fun facts I learned about observing celestial events and the Leonid Meteor Storm (incidentally, and now I can’t remember who, but after I had read Milo’s Moonlight Mission, I was reading about a historical person, and his name was Leonid! I imagine his parents were interested in meteor storms just like Milo!)
~ the overall “package” of a captivating picture book, ready for repeated read-alouds
Milo’s Moonlight Mission is the perfect book for your budding astronomer or astronaut.
Amazon Blurb:
The most spectacular night skies are revealed when we plan for the ideal moment–with loved ones by our sides. This heartwarming tale is perfect for space fans and young budding astronauts!
When the weather forecast predicts a middle-of-the-night meteor storm, Captain Milo wants desperately to witness it. But will his Second-in-Command have enough time to accomplish this important mission with him?
