Have a Great Veterans Day!

As a wife, daughter and mother of military men, I want to dedicate today's post to those who have served our country.

My father was an officer in the Navy. My husband just retired this year from the Coast Guard. My son is an officer in the Coast Guard.

I'm proud, VERY proud of all of them.

Take time today, and every day, to thank those who serve this great nation of ours. I do. If I see someone with a military hat, shirt or uniform on, I always make a point to say to them

"Thank you for serving our country."

They don't hear it enough and it always brings a smile to their face. Those who serve in the military are all volunteers. They made the choice to put their life on the line so we can enjoy the freedoms that we do.

In closing, please click on this link. It is a beautiful tribute to our men and women in uniform.

Enjoy your day and thank a veteran for helping you to be able to enjoy it in this wonderful land of ours.

posted by Joy Delgado
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Laughing Zebra – Books for Children
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Book of the Week: My Grandma’s Kitchen Rules! By Bill Kirk

Today’s book is a cute rhyming story about a young girl and her grandmother. Grandma loves all the things in nature that her granddaughter brings home, with one exception. Ants! Read along as all kinds of creatures and discoveries are brought home. See what happens when ants are introduced and the problems they bring with them.

The illustrations in this charming story capture your attention and bring the rhyme to life. Lots of color and fun borders on each page bring you into the story.

How has this book gone beyond reading?
Bill has once again combined a fun rhyming story with science. At the end of the story there are six pages of factoids, activities, games and a list of websites where you can go to learn more about ants.

Pick up your copy today at Guardian Angel Publishing.

You can visit Bill over at his site Bill Kirk Writes.

posted by Joy Delgado
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Laughing Zebra – Books for Children
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See you back here Wednesday for another fun creative brain boost.

Language Magazine - The Journal of Communication and Education

In my Google Alerts for 'bilingual education' today I found a website that intrigues me. Language Magazine. It's a well put together site for world languages.

The home page article grabbed my attention. Two is Always More Than One talks about language and the educational system in America. Read it and see what you think.

Throughout the site you can learn about the countires where English, Spanish, Chinese, French, Italian, German and Arabic are spoken. Study abroad and travel opportunities are available as well as an understanding of where the languages originated and it's use world wide.

If you're a teacher and interested in teaching abroad, this might be the place you'll find your next teaching adventure.

Check out Language Magazine. I think you'll find it interesting too.

posted by Joy Delgado

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Laughing Zebra – Books for Children

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Being Creative; What Does It Mean To You?

When you think of being creative, what comes to mind? Is it writing, drawing, acting, poetry?

I've dabbled in all of the above. Creating a work of art, whether it's a story or something out of fabric makes me smile. For example, I'm a Gator fan. As a demo girl at Sams Club I get to speak to lots of people each day. Since I live in central Florida, there are lots of Gator fans.

Now we have an old plastic gator we rescued after Hurricane Andrew. He's beat up and even missing some toes. Here's what I did with him one afternoon to show my Gator spirit.

GO GATORS!


On Saturdays I bring him to work and set him on my demo cart. As people sample my food, many of them make comments about rescue gator, both gator fans and those who wish they'd lose a game.


So, what do you do that's creative and brings you and maybe others a smile?

posted by Joy Delgado
We go Beyond Reading
Laughing Zebra – Books for Children
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Book of the Week: Mommy, Draw Stars on My Tummy by Martine Groeneveld

In honor of my mother's 82nd birthday today, I want to share a book all about interactive play between a parent and young child. Nurturing our children when they are infants, toddlers and beyond is a vital part of parenting. This book is a tool for parents to use at home to instill love and affection through use of touch-play, rhymes, games, songs and stories.

“Positive touch plays a major role in my family. Besides daily hugs and kisses, many activities are easily combined with loving and playful touch. We enjoy touch-play activities in the car, in line at the grocery store and before bedtime. They can be done anywhere and anytime.”

The layout is wonderful. In each section you are given guidance on how to use touch-play and tips to involve your child in the process. For example:
Everything in this book goes beyond reading. Martine starts the book with an introduction to touch-play and how to use it with your child, She continues with notes for parents about types of oils to use, pressure and stroking, clothing and timing. At the end of the book she goes into the benefits of touch and research that’s been done on brain development and how it helps reduce aggression. She also gives you a list of resources and books that can further your knowledge.

Reading through this book brought back memories of when my children were very young. I was involved in a “mommy and me” that used these same types of touch-play in a group setting. When we’d go home, we’d continue the experience and make up new songs and rhymes. This would be a great gift for anyone that’s going to have a child.

posted by Joy Delgado
We go Beyond Reading
Laughing Zebra – Books for Children
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Zooprise Party / Fiesta Zoorpresa blog

We Have a Fan Page Now

So, I finally set up a fan page on FaceBook. Now I have to figure out exactly what to do there.

I've thought about putting up a post each week to get fans creative juices flowing through pictures, prompts and what ever else my brain thinks up.

What do you think?

Do any of you have fan pages?

What do you put on them?

I don't want it to just have twitter updates and blog post links. I want to use this fan page to enhance all that I have already.

Any suggestions are totally appreciated.

Oh, and click on the link and become a fan!

Laughing Zebra - Books for Children Fan Page

posted by Joy Delgado
We go Beyond Reading
Laughing Zebra – Books for Children
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Zooprise Party / Fiesta Zoorpresa blog

Creative Thinking Wednesday

I'm taking a new approach to Wednesday. Many call Wednesday 'hump day' because it's in the middle of the week. I want to turn you, my loyal readers, onto your creative brain power.

So, how will I do this? Each week I'll have something new for you to ponder. Could be a picture,a prompt to get your writing flowing, a puzzle or maybe even a fun craft idea.

How do these things take books beyond reading, you ask? Simple. Each of the ideas I post can be used with your favorite book, mainly children's books, but who knows, you might be able to use some with your favorite sci-fi or romance novel too.

The idea is to have fun. Take a few minutes out of your day and let your mind wander into that creative area that wants to express itself.

Here's what I picked for today. I spent several years recently in the Caribbean living on a sail boat. Several times a week I went snorkeling with friends. I fell in love with undersea life. So much so that I bought a simple underwater camera. My time snorkeling was spent taking hundred of pictures and even some short movie clips. Here are some of the many pictures I took. They were taken one after the other.

What do you see?

Please share your ideas, stories and poems that come from this picture. I can't wait to read them all. :-D

*Please note* All rights reserves for all photos in today's post. Thank you

posted by Joy Delgado
We go Beyond Reading
Laughing Zebra – Books for Children
Check out what’s going on at the zoo!
Zooprise Party / Fiesta Zoorpresa blog