Book of the Week: Soap, Soap, Soap by Elizabeth Dulemba

Today we have a fun book to share with you. "Soap, soap, soap" is both written and illustrated by Elizabeth Dulemba. This is a fun filled bilingual story about Hugo, a young boy. His mamá sends him to the store to buy soap or jabón. Follow Hugo's adventure to the store and see who he meets along the way. Watch out, or you might end up needing a bath by the end of the story.

Elizabeth's illustrations are amazing. Her style really makes you feel like you are running right along side Hugo during his adventure. This is Elizabeth's first book that she both wrote the story and did the illustration. She has done a wonderful job weaving a cute story and illustrations together. All young children will enjoy this book.

So, how has Elizabeth taken this book beyond reading? Hop over to her website page for this book. There you will find all kinds of activities to enrich the story. You'll find coloring pages, recipes, how to make soap bubbles, finger puppets and lots more.

Pick up your copy today at these locations:

Barnes and Noble

Borders

Amazon

and at your local Independent book store. Go here to find the one closest to you.

Before you go today, watch the trailer of this fun book.

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

CD To Enhance Story Time

I’ve been thinking about including a CD of my book, “Zooprise Party / Fiesta Zoorpresa” to go along with a bundle I’m creating of our book and activity book. I’d read the story in both English and Spanish and using a sticky back CD sleeve, stick it in the back of the book.

It got me thinking, why couldn’t any parent out there create CDs of their children’s favorite story. Here’s a senario I’m sure we are all too familiar with:

Okay, you’ve read your child’s favorite book 10 times in a row every night for the past week. She’s memorized it to the point that she corrects you when you say the story a little bit different. You dream the story every night. What can you do?

Create your own CD. What? Yes, create a CD with your voice reading your child’s favorite story to them. This way they can listen to it even when you’re not around.

Okay, how? Most computers these days have all you need to create a personalized recording. Search through all that software that comes loaded on your computer, it’s bound to be there somewhere. On mine it’s under the Accessories and called, simple enough, “Sound Recorder.” All I have to do is start talking. Be sure when you save the file you know where it is on your computer! I’ve lost a few that way.

Now, put in a blank CD and again search for whatever software your computer has that will burn your recording onto a CD. Click a few keys and you’re done.

Now your child can listen to their favorite story with your voice whenever they want.

So, what do you think? Also, if a book already came with a CD, would that factor into your decision on whether you bought it or not? I’d love some feedback on this question.Thanks for stopping by, and I’ll see you back here Wednesday.

Rattlesnake Jam by Margot Finke

Today’s featured guest in the “Bounding for Books Blog Tour” is Margot Finke. Another multi-published author, her latest book Rattlesnake Jam is a great book for al those reluctant readers out there.

* * * * *

Before we get into Margot’s book, be sure to visit the rest of the tour today. Here’s where you can find them.
Jennifer Gladen can be found at Topsy Turvy Land with Donna Shepherd.
Mayra Calvani is over at Daily News with Kim Chatel.
Joy Delgado chats with Jennifer Gladen at Jen’s Blog.
Shari Soffe visits with Mayra Calvani at Mayra’s Secret Bookcase.
Donna Shepherd pops in to chat with Shari Soffe at “Out of My Mind” About Books for Children.
Kim Chatel and Margot Finke talk over at Margot’s blog.
Remember to leave comments along the way. You might just win one of the prizes being offered.

* * * * *

Okay, back to Rattlesnake Jam. Her are all the particulars.
Reading level: Ages 5 –10
Paperback: 28 pages
Publisher: Guardian Angel Publishing, Inc (G.A.P) - May 2008
** eBook ISBN 13: 978-1-935137-24-5 -

(BUY - Fictionwise, G.A.P, Author's Website)
** Print ISBN 13: 978-1-935137-00-9 -
(BUY - Amazon, B&N, G.A.P, Author's Website )

A FREE Link to an AUDIO of Margot reading this book comes with every Autographed soft cover copy purchased from her website .

* * * * *

Want to know what the book is about?
"Rattlesnake Jam" is a rhyming romp for reluctant readers - especially boys!
Pa hunts rattlers, and Gran cooks them up into her gooey green rattlesnake jam. Good for whatever ails you, Gran sells her concoction to folks near and far. However, Pa yearns for rattler over rice, or maybe rattlesnake pie: but can he persuade Gran to cook them for him?
Kevin Collier is the illustrator. He really knows how to make a book jump off the pages. You can smell and taste Gran’s rattlesnake jam just by looking at them.

* * * * *

So, how does Margot take this book beyond reading? She starts with a coloring page. Print it out and have fun coloring!

We also have a tasty treat for you. Skewered Rattler, yum? Check it out and maybe you can cook some up for dinner tonight.

If that’s not enough, go to Gran's Kitchen – for more ideas.

There's lots more information about Margot and her writing. You can visit her website for more inovative ideas. Also, follow her through this blog tour and remember to leave comments.

I hope you enjoyed reading about Rattlesnake Jam. Come back Friday when Donna Shepherd comes for a visit and we talk about Dotty and her friends.

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

Nothing Stops Noah by Shari Lyle-Soffe

“Bounding for Books Blog Tour” is here and my first guest is Shari Lyle-Soffe. She is a multi-published author of four picture books. Her latest is Nothing Stops Noah.

* * * * *

Nothing Stops Noah is a fun story. How many of us can remember helping out just to have everything seems to go wrong? Noah wants to buy a present for his mom, but he doesn’t have any money. He asks his grandpa if he can work in his pet store. When grandpa leaves him alone in the store and all the animals get out of their cages, see how Noah fixes the problem.

Kevin Collier’s illustrations are great. He has a way with facial expressions that really bring this story to life.

To help take this book beyond reading we have two things for you today. First is a coloring page. Right click on the coloring page to copy and print.

Noah likes to count. He can count to 10. How high can you count?

Let’s play a counting game with the cover of the book.
How many animals are there?
How many blue eyes do you see?
How many drops of water are there?
How many colors do you see on Noah?
How many feathers are flying?

Now, look around you. How many things do you see in your room that are the same colors as Noah’s shirt?
What other counting questions can you come up with? Share your ideas here, and who knows, you just might be our winner at the end of the tour.

* * * * *

I asked Shari to share a little bit about herself. Here’s what she said:

I live in Southern Oregon with my husband, one dog and one cat and a pond full of goldfish. My yard is frequented by raccoons, deer, oppossum, squirrels, skunks, and all sorts of birds. We has even been visited by bear and cougar.
When I was a child I loved the "Little House Books", "White Fang" and "The Bobbsey Twins" books.

* * * * *

You can buy Nothing Stops Noah at the following locations:
Guardian Angel Publishing

Amazon

Want to see more of Shari’s work? You can find her at:

Nothing Stops Noah page

Rooter and Snuffle

A Horse of Course

Crafty Fun for Kids

Shari's Books

Shari's coloring pages

Watch the trailer for Nothing Stops Noah.

* * * * *
Check out the rest of the tour. Here’s where you can find the Bounding for Books Blog Tour gang today.

Jennifer Gladen is over at Daily News with Kim Chatel.

Mayra Calvani chats with Jennifer Gladen at Jen’s Blog.

Joy Delgado visits with Mayra Calvani at Mayra’s Secret Bookcase
Margot Finke pops in to chat with Shari Soffe at “Out of My Mind” About Books for Children
Donna Shepherd and Margot Finke talk over at Margot’s blog.
Kim Chatel can be found at Topsy Turvy Land with Donna Shepherd.

Come back Wednesday when Margot Finke and I explore her book Rattlesnake Jam.

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

Book of the Week: Sam Feels Better Now by Jill Osborne

This week’s book, “Sam Feels Better Now” is written by Jill Osborne and illustrated by Kevin Collier.

Sam is a young boy who has been scared by an awful thing. With the help of Ms. Carol, Sam learns how to handle his feelings about this awful thing that scared him and how to feel better.

Jill has done an outstanding job in relating to childhood traumas. With the use of this book, therapists can help children slowly get through traumatic events they have experienced. The book can be used as a tool to help a therapist lead a child down the path to recovery. There are many interactive pages in the book, for example, “draw a picture of something awful or scary”. These pages allow a child to express them self in a non- threatening way. At the end of the book, Jill gives guidelines for therapists who are using this book to help a child deal with their trauma.

Kevin’s art depicts how Sam feels and allows the child using the book to express their own feelings as well.

This book is a very good example of how authors and illustrators team up to take a book beyond reading.

You can purchase “Sam Feels Better Now” from


Check out Jill's blog at Jill's Writing and Play Therapy Page and see what she's up to.

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

Easy Way To Start Teaching Your Child A Second Language

Even if you don’t know a second language it’s good to have your children learn one. Why? Because in this ever shrinking world, knowing a second language (or even more) will give your child a competitive edge when they set out on their own.

So, here is a very easy first step.

Look around your home and yard. What do you see? Chairs, tables, trees, doors, etc. Now, go to your computer and do a search for a multi-lingual dictionary. For example: to translate words from English to Spanish, I use SpanishDict.com

Okay, now type in the words one at a time and get the translation.
Examples:

Door – Puerta
Window – Ventana
Tree – Árbol

Next, make word cards with the Spanish (or what ever language you want your child to learn) and write the words on them.

Last step, put the word card on the object so your child can read the word in their new second language.

You can go further and work on learning the alphabet, numbers and colors in your new language. (You’re going to learn it too.)

Have fun, you never know when your new language will come in handy!

See you back here Monday with another great book that goes beyond reading.

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

“Earl the Earthworm Digs for His Life” by Tim Magner and illustrated by Lindsay Knapp

Today we have another one of Tim Magner’s books to share with you. This one is all about earthworms.

What do we know about earthworms? Come meet Earl. Earl is an earthworm who’s just been born and is trying to figure out just what it is that he’s supposed to do to contribute to the world. He sees bees, grass, ants and trees and knows he is different. When he realizes what his job is he is happy and loves to do it. What? DIG. Learn all about earthworms and how wonderful they really are.

Lindsay’s brings Earl’s journey to life. With beautiful vibrant colors she depicts the life of worms both above and below ground.

This book goes beyond reading with a helpful glossary of terms and a section on composting. You will even learn how to start and maintain your own compost so you can grow beautiful healthy fruits and vegetables to eat.

You can purchase “Earl the Earthworm Digs for His Life” at Green Sugar Press

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

Are Babies Too Young To Learn To Read?

What do you think about this? If you’re like many parents, you probably started reading to your children before they were born and then continued the habit after they came into this world.

Like learning a second language, children’s brains, young children’s brains are like a sponge and can learn all kinds of things at a very young age. Many agree that before a child is 5 years old they can learn a second language and now studies show they can learn to read as well.

Check out this interesting article and then drop me a note on if you agree or disagree.
http://blogscience.cn/592601-Why-Babies-Can-and-Should-Learn-to-Read.html

See you back here Monday with another great book that goes beyond reading.

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

A Few Cool Kids Sites I Found While Surfing

The internet continues to amaze me. It doesn't where in the world you live, you have access to it all. Truly global.

Okay, on with today's post. I like to surf the net like most people. I'll get an idea in my head and google it to see what pops up. While I doing that, I've come up with some great sites. Here are a few of them.

Pitara is full of interesting links. They have literature, a magazine, discover (science) and activities and games. They a
Have a Junior section for young children with fun games and stories.

Enchanted Learning Diorama Like to make dioramas with your kids? Here are lots of ideas. Go create one for their favorite book. Have fun! There are also lots of other crafts ideas you can use here for free.

Like animal trivia and facts? Go to Sheppard Software’s free pages on just that.

Part of PBS Kids, Reading Rainbow has short video book reviews, games and other fun stuff to do.

What are some of your favorite sites? or those of your children?

See you back here on Monday with another great book that goes beyond reading.

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

Reading Books Online

Remember those great books we read as kids? Can’t find them anywhere?

If they are no longer copyright protected in the US, you could find it at Project Gutenberg. This site is a treasure find of old books. I copied ebooks of all the Raggedy Ann and Raggedy Andy stories with art work.

This had not just children’s books, but books form all over the world in all languages. Have a favorite author from long ago? Check them out here. This site is defiantly worth exploring, if you like books.

Lookybook
These books are flip books, meaning even though they are ebooks, the pages turn instead of scroll. Depending on your internet connection these can take a while to upload. You can preview the book and purchase either an e-book or hard copy.

Bookbox
Here you’ll find e-books you can preview for free or purchase in multiple languages, free stuff like games, stories and more. They’ve also put together for you a list of sites for teachers. They have hundreds of sites here, so you don’t have to search all over the net for them.

With e-books becoming popular, there are many places you can go online and read books with your children. Here are a few to get you started.

Children’s Storybooks Online
The Rosetta Project These are antique storybooks you can read online.

See you back here on Monday with another great book that goes beyond reading.

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

Book of the Week: Rainbow Sheep by Kim Chatel

Today I have a beautiful storybook to share with you. "Rainbow Sheep" by Kim Chatel.

Genevieve is a shepherdess high up on a hill. It’s been raining for days. Everything is soggy, wet and miserable. Genevieve’s had enough and goes up to the top of her hill to make the sun shine through. When she does she finds a tattered, sad rainbow. She tells the rainbow all about her sheep, the land and the sea.

Can Genevieve make the rainbow happy? Why do her sheep turn colors, all the colors of the rainbow?

This adorable story is one you can read over and over again to your children. Genevieve, I mean Kim has a wonderful way of telling stories that your children will love.

Kim’s art work with wool is creative and innovative. She has a true talent at felting. She takes this book beyond reading with including directions on making your own sheep out of felt. She tells you all about felting, what to use and how to make felted soap and a needle felted sheep.

Here is a video of how to make your own sheep. It’s long, but by the end you too can make a felted sheep.



Part two is over on You Tube.

Over at Kim’s website you can find lots more fun things to do.

You can get your copy at:
Guardian Angel Publishing

or from Amazon right here.

posted by Joy Delgado
We go Beyond Reading
http://www.laughing-zebra-children-books.com/
Check out what’s going on at the zoo!
http://zooprisepartyfiestazoorpresa.blogspot.com/

>

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

Book of the Week: “There’s a Spider in My Sink!” By Bill Kirk, illustrated by Suzy Brown

To kick off my weekly book highlights, I have chosen Bill Kirk’s book “There’s a Spider in My Sink!” Who likes spiders? Or should I ask, who’s afraid of spiders? When you finish reading this book, you’ll understand spiders and have learned all kinds of facts and fun things you can impress your friends with.

This is a cute rhyming story. The illustrations are adorable. You can’t help but fall in love with this spider.

Bill took his book beyond reading with interesting factoids on each page. For example, did you know there are over 35,000 known species of spiders in the world and about 3,000 in the US ? Or that spiders don’t have ears? These are just two of the dozen or so facts you’ll read.

Bill didn’t stop there. He continued with a reference list with links, a glossary of spider terminology, a couple of word puzzles, even a song! Oh, and the answers to all the extra stuff at the back of the book.

This fun educating book is available from:
Guardian Angel Publishing
Buy it here today from Amazon.

If you’re interested in an interview with Bill and Ari, the spider in the story, pop over to the ZooprisePartyFiestaZoorpresa blog.

I'll be back Wednesday with some great teacher resources anyone can use to take books beyond reading.

Tip #30 Make up Songs to go Along With the Story

We are on the last of my 30 Tips to take a Book Beyond Reading. Today’s tip will get all your children or students laughing.

Using the story line, make up songs. You can use the tunes from other songs, like Row Row Row Your Boat, or I’m a Little Teapot, or Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. Anyway, try it. Here’s mine.

Sing to the tune of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star

Mori, Mori why so blue?
It’s your birthday all day through.

Have some cake,
And ice cream too,
It’s not time to say boo hoo.

Mori, Mori why so blue?
It’s your birthday all day through.

Have fun making up songs. (I bet you won’t get this little ditty out of your head any time soon.)

See you back here Monday as we continue to explore ways to take Books Beyond Reading.

Tip# 29 What happens AFTER the story ends

Today’s tip comes once again from Terri Main. Terri says:

One I like is to have kids tell me what they think happened after the story to the characters.

Thanks Terri. This is a great way to get children really thinking about the story they just read. What happened to the seven dwarfs once Snow White went away with her prince? What happened the next time Nemo’s class when on a field trip? What kind of adventures did Pinocchio have after he became a real boy? The list of ideas for this one are endless.

You can read more from Terri at her sites:
Wayfares Journalblog
Wayfares Journal
Creative Calisthenics

Okay, your assignment, put on your thinking caps and come up with a few of your own. Then read the story to your children and ask your questions at the end. I bet you’ll have a very lively discussion result.

Only one more tip, and it’s coming your way on Friday. See you then.

Tip #28 Help for Reluctant Readers

Today’s tip comes from Max Elliot Anderson. He says:
I grew up as a reluctant reader. And my father was the author of over 70 books. Now I write action-adventure and mystery books especially for tween boys.

Author James Patterson has a ten year-old son who doesn’t like to read. So Patterson has established Read Kiddo Read to help other reluctant readers.

Thanks for sharing Max.

I’m sure there are lots of sites out there that can help children who don’t like to read. I suggest start by reading with them every day. Let them pick the book and even if you don’t like the subject, sit down and read it with them. You can also try any number of the other tips shared here to jump start their reading habit.

You can read more about how to motivate reluctant readers at Max’s two blogs,Books for boys, and Confessions of a Reluctant Reader.

* * * * *
See you Tomorrow. I know it’s not my usual day, but I’m hosting “Prairie Dog Cowboy” on both of my blogs as part of their book tour. See you then.

4th in the 4th tag

Another Friday and another tag. This one's from Elysabeth's Emerald City.

It works like this:

I go into my pictures and post the fourth picture in the fourth album.

So, here's mine. It's a picture of when my book, "Zooprise Party / Fiesta Zoorpresa" was being printed. Here the quality control guy is making sure the greens are the right shades of green, the blues are too ans so on. I'm glad I was there because there were some blues, greens and browns that weren't right and we had to start all over!

So, now I have the honor of passing this tag onto four more people. Here are my picks:

Shari Lyle-Soffe

Margot Finke

Kathy Stemke

Bill Kirk

Have fun!

See ou back here Monday with another great guest tip on how to take books beyond reading.

Tip #27 Act out the Story

This fun tip today comes from Terri Main.

Terri says: "Acting out the story with friends is good too. Each taking a character and making their oun story."

Thanks Terri.

You can read more from Terri at her sites:
Wayfares Journal blog
Wayfares Journal
Creative Calisthenics

This can be lots of fun. Hey, maybe you can even get costumes, backdrops and take it "on the road."

I did that once when I was an Activity Director in a nursing home/sanitarium. My patients made had puppets, designed the sets and then we tape recorded them reading their part of the story. (This was becuase when they would read their part, they'd put the puppet face down on the table.) We then went to several other nursing homes and performed. It was great fun for everyone. Thanks Terri for triggering this fun memory for me.

So, what are you waiting for? Go have some fun. When you get your troupe together, take pictures and send them to me. I'll post them with a blurb from you about what you did and all the details of how you did it.

See you Friday with more fun ideas on how to take a book beyond reading.

Tip #26 Word Hunt

Today I've got another great tip from one of our readers, Helen Ginger to share.

She says, “If the kids are old enough, have them count how many times they find a certain word in a book.”

Thanks Helen.

This can be a fun challenge. Write several word on the board and have your students count how many times that each word is in the story. Try simple words like: a, and, the, and then some that are more specific to the story. I’m going to try this with my story and see how many times ‘the’ and ‘Mori’ are used.

You can read more from Helen at her blog .

Have fun with this and I'll see you back here Wenesday with another great tip.

Tip #25 Recipes that go with the story

This tip is yummy! It’s brought to us courtesy of Christina Rodriguez. She says,
“Some of the Hispanic bilingual books I've illustrated include recipes of the ethnic food that is featured in the book. This is something that I'm taking further by making recipe cards for kids to download from my site when it relaunches in the future.”

Thanks Christina. You can read more about Chrisitna and see her great illustrations at her blog.

Check out what types of food the people or animals in your story eat. Find recipes that go along with this and try them out. You can also hop over to Laughing Zebra - Books for Children and check out our yummy carrot birthday cake recipes.

See you Friday with some things that make me happy.

Tip #24 Interactive play

Today’s tip comes from Barbara Techel.

She says, “I take my book beyond reading when I do presentations at school with children. Frankie (my dachshund) is in a wheelchair, which is what the book is about. This teaches some powerful lessons.

“I get the kids involved by having a volunteer help me take Frankie out of her wheelchair so it shows them how easy it is and not to be afraid. I also show them how I do physical therapy for her and then have the practice. It goes over quite well. Instills in them that animals are REAL and they do get hurt and they do need help and teaches them responsibility.”

Thanks Barbara.

This is a great way to teach more and reinforce the story. So, what can you do with your child or students favorite books? Have fun and please do share your ideas here.

You can visit more with Barbara and Frankie at Joyful Paws.

See you Wednesday with another great tip from one of our readers.