Month: February 2015

Presidents Day for Petites

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Petite and Lincoln

If you are new to The Petite Stag, you might not know that we has some very serious love for Abraham Lincoln.  I am pretty sure had our first born been a male child, Lincoln would have been his name.  Lincoln has been a favored stuffie of my petite since she was little, she took him to her very first show and tell at pre-school and it was adorable.

So many books have been written about Abraham Lincoln, over 15,000 books with more being written every day.  In 2012 a group of historians in Washington DC put a tribute together that visualizes what 7,000 of the books written about Lincoln would look like in a stunning tower.  The “books” are pieces of aluminum with the book covers printed on them towering 34 feet in the lobby of Ford’s Theatre Center for Education and Leadership in Washington, D.C.

Source: NPR

Source: NPR

Here is another close up of this amazing tower, the likeness to actual books is amazing.

Source: NPR

Source: NPR

Here are two of our favorite books about George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and Abe Lincoln.

I am Abraham Lincoln (Ordinary People Change World)

John, Paul, George & Ben

I’ve written about these books before and how much we love and enjoy reading them.  Click on the images below to read more information about these two awesome books for petites.

John, Paul, George & BenAbraham Lincoln

If you have other picture book recommendations please let me know, the petites only have these two and I would love to add some other titles to the mix.

I wanted to leave you with some really fun facts about the Presidents of the United States.  Can you guess which president had a pet pygmy hippo?  Watch and find out.

Presidential Fun Facts

Happy Reading,

Erin

 

 

Love is in the Air Craft

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love 3

With Valentines day just around the corner, I wanted to share a really fun and easy craft.  It takes minimal supplies and can be lots of fun.

What you need:

construction paper

blue painters tape

water color paints/finger paints/any sort of paint you have laying around

love

Tape out whatever word or shape you want onto the construction paper and paint away.  Let it completely dry before gently pulling off the painters tape.  Seriously that’s it, how cute is this?  The petite was so pleased with her final work, she proudly hung it up on our gallery wall.

If you end up making some awesome art, share it on The Petite Stag Facebook page, I would love to see it.

 

 

Shine a little light…books about the dark

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Many petites share in their concern about the dark.  I can remember being small and worrying about it being too dark and needing a nightlight.  This is something that I am sure even little cave-petites worried about (okay, maybe not, but it’s a problem that’s been around for a long long time).  Here are two books that I think put a really interesting spin on what darkness has to offer.  Sometimes, with best intentions, we try to play down being anxious or scared of things, these two books celebrate and respect the dark.

The Dark - Cover

The first book I want to share with you is The Dark (Bccb Blue Ribbon Picture Book Awards (Awards)) by Lemony Snicket (2013) with illustrations by Jon Klassen.  In this book Laszlo is a young boy who is afraid of the dark, what is unique about this story is that the dark is also a character.  What I think is so relatable about this story is that the petite sleeps with a nightlight on and one night the bulb burns out.

Laszlo talks to the dark and is invited into the basement, which is the darks room.  In that room the dark tells him he has something to show him, as it would turn out it is a drawer full of light-bulbs.  After that night Laszlo has a much better understanding of the dark and is able to overcome his fear.  I think this would be a great read for possibly five year olds and up.

Awards:

  • New York Times Best Illustrated
  • 2014 Charlotte Zolotow Award Winner
  • A School Library Journal Best Book of the Year
  • A Publishers Weekly Best Book of the Year
  • ALSC Notable Books for Children

Flashlight - cover

The second book is Flashlight by Lizi Boyd (2014).  I recently shared this book in the post – Wonderful Wordless Books.  This book has so much to offer.

 

A petite is camping and ventures outside of their tent into the darkness of night with their flashlight.  With this flashlight amazing things are revealed to our daring protagonist.  Whether it is little mice eating strawberries or beavers building their dam.  What is silly and fun about this story is that our protagonist trips and drops the flashlight, what happens next is simply magical.

Both of these books have so much to offer in way of talking about darkness and working through a fear or anxiety about it.  The Dark is a little bit more appropriate for 5 and up, as the dark is personified and talks to Lazlo, which might be scary for younger petites.  Flashlight is perfect for all ages.  Whichever book you choose I am sure they will be enjoyed.

If you enjoyed this post you might enjoy this one as well:

Secrets of the Apple Tree

Shine a Light Book: Secret of the Apple Tree

Maggi and Milo…Going on a Frog Hunt

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When I was a little girl, my Papa built me a critter box, it was one of my most prized possessions.  I would search all over for frogs and salamanders.  I would explore the irrigation ditches and small creeks and ponds looking for frogs or crawdads.  It was so much fun.  Now I am fortunate enough that my petites loves to look for frogs as well.

Petite and Frog

When I saw Maggi and Milo by Juli Brenning and illustrations by Priscilla Burris I immediately had to get my hands on it and read it to my girls.  It was a huge hit!

Maggi and Milo

This story is fantastic in so many ways, let’s first take a closer look at our protagonist Maggi is quite perfect – I adore that she wears glasses.  What I love more is that she is described as “an excellent adventurer, a pretty good songwriter, a bit of a scientist”.

Her very best friend is Milo is a boarder collie.  Maggi’s grandma sends her a package with all the necessities for a frog hunt – boots and knowledge (knowledge is a book).  I absolutely love the idea that her Grandma send her a package with knowledge and boots, this is beyond the cutest idea.  The petite is so excited, honestly who wouldn’t be?

She is a petite with a plan, but like most grand plans, sometimes they don’t turn out as you expect.  These two darlings have an eventful day and are even able to catch some frogs – this book is fabulous.  If you have a little one who loves to explore and have an adventure then this book is for them.  If you want to pair this book with the gift that Maggi’s grandma gave her here are some options.

 

Happy Hunting!

Erin

Illustrator Love: Oliver Jeffers

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Oliver Jeffers has been on the illustration scene for a while.  Recently I decided to check out every single book he has written or illustrated that my public library had to offer.  It got to be pretty ridiculous when one of the librarians said,

wow, you must really have a thing for Oliver Jeffers books

My only response to this was, well yes, I certainly do.  With good reason Oliver Jeffers is awesome, he won an Emmy in 2010 for goodness sakes!  Okay, not sold yes on his awesomeness?  Here is a little video to give you more of an insight into who he is:

Alright now that I’ve swooned enough over Mr. Jeffers here are the reasons why my petites and I are such fans.  What I’ve decided to do is pick just five (okay, six) of his books that are our absolute favorites.  Which means, I have spent the last week reading his books to the petites, watching their reactions and of course interactions with the illustrations and text.

Stuck

Stuck (2011)

This book is brilliant in its simplicity.  Our protagonist is flying a kite and then the unthinkable happens; the kite gets stuck in a tree and every possible thing gets thrown into the tree to free the kite – even the kitchen sink.  This is a hilarious story.  You will love it and relate if you’ve ever had something get stuck only to attempt to dislodge it.

The Incredible Book Eating Boy

The Incredible Book Eating Boy (2007)

This is another of Jeffers hilarious and silly books.  Our protagonist is Henry a young boy who has an insatiable appetite for knowledge and learning.  Henry simply loves books so much so that he devours them – literally.  The more he eats the smarter her gets.  This book is one of our favorites with a little surprise die cut just for you.

This Moose Belongs to Me

This Moose Belongs to Me (2012)

Our main character is Wilfred and he has a moose, Marcel and unfortunately for Marcel there are a lot of rules that he has to follow.  This is a really silly story that makes you giggle the entire time.  I love the illustrations and how unique they are, they keep you excited to turn the page and see what Jeffers has in store on the next.

The Heart and the Bottle

The Heart and the Bottle (2010)

This book was not at all what I expected, I am going to brutally honest, I wept when I read this book.  This book just struck a chord with me.  The little girl in the story is as inquisitive as ever, she cannot learn or explore enough – she does all of this with her grandfather.  One day she runs to his chair to show him her drawings and the chair is empty and the room is dark.  From this moment she guards herself and her first step in doing so is to put her heart in a bottle where it will be safe.  To say that I love this story, is an understatement.  I know that this book is perfect for a petite who may have lost someone in their lives, the uncertain feelings that come from that time can be difficult to tackle.  This book is a great way to start to have a conversation about loss.  This story is perfect in every way.

The Day the Crayons Quit

The Day the Crayons Quit (2014)

This is a New York Times Bestseller and once you read it you will see why.  This story is one of Jeffers books that inspires.  We read it last night before bedtime and a bargain had to be quickly struck to ensure that my petite would have the book read to her again when she got home from school and be able to color with all of the crayons so they wouldn’t feel badly.  It is a story about the crayons and their feelings, they are concerned because many of them are over worked and some of them are hardly used at all.  The petite loved that the crayons wrote letters to Duncan about being used.  It also was great to make sure she was comprehending what each crayon was saying in the letter.  Love it!  This story also provided us a platform to have a great conversation about friendship and feelings.  I love that this book inspires creativity.

Lost and Found

Lost and Found (2005)

This is a charming book about a little boy who gets an unexpected visitor at his door.  What my petites loved is that the boy thought the penguin was lost, but he was really found when he met the boy.  He finds a friend.  This lovely book about friendship was made into a TV short, below you can check out the trailer.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kMlFrSLzKUQ

It was difficult for me to narrow it down to five of my favorites, hence there are six.  All of Oliver Jeffers books are wonderful – these just happen to be the six that I chose for today.  In all honesty you cannot go wrong with any book that Mr. Jeffers has illustrated or written for that matter.
Happy Reading!

Erin

Petite Knights and Princesses

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The girls received some really fabulous books for Christmas one in particular from their Aunt and Uncle – is a counting book, but not what you might expect.

Over at the Castle

Over at the Castle by Boni Ashburn with illustrations by Kelly Murphy is a story all about patience and counting.  This is a story that is so much fun to read, it has a very lyrical property based on the folk song ‘Over the Meadow’ and the counting that takes place is almost like a scavenger hunt for the petites.  It all starts out as an a mother dragon and her little one are sitting in the sun.  The counting continues and is a fun look at castle life.  It continues through their day and ends with a very unexpected ending.  I love the smooth illustrations, how the little dragon is clearly excited for something to happen all day and has to patiently wait while watching all that is happening at the castle below.  My petite commented on how it would be hard to wait all day for something fun to happen.

The next book I wanted to share with you is also a counting book about a more an urban dragon.

Have You Seen My Dragon
In Have You Seen My Dragon? by Steve Light you will find a charming protagonist as he searches the city for his missing and quite mischievous dragon.  The illustrations in this book, especially of the dragon have a Celtic feel to them.  The city scape that Steve Light has created is so detailed and intricate, you cannot possibly see all that there is to see in one reading.

Another aspect that my girls enjoyed is the items that you are counting, the dragon and protagonist are the only items that are in color in the book.  Making finding the busses or hot dogs all the more easy for tinnier petites.  I love this story, I think it’s brilliantly illustrated.

Perfectly Paired

These books would be perfectly paired with any of these amazing building block sets.

Fairy Tale Block set

Fairy Tale Blocks: 35 pieces, two horses, carriage that rolls, prince & princes

Plan Toys Fairy Tale Blocks A few years ago the petite received this really fun building block set from her Auntie, this building set is from Plan Toys, if you haven’t heard about these toys here is why they are fabulous:

PlanToys® is not only well-known for the first company in the world to manufacture wooden toys from preservative-free rubberwood, it is one of the leading company to create new material and process to minimize waste up to zero.

I love a toy company that has a mission like this, that is making really great toys, that last, kids love and are good for the environment.  The girls love these blocks and have had hours of time building and playing with them.  There are tons of really special block sets to suit your petites building needs. Plan Toys Fantasy Blocks or Plan Toys Castle Blocks

Fantasy Blocks

Fantasy Blocks: 60 pieces, functional catapult, king & queen, knight, two horses and dragon

Castle Blocks

Castle Blocks: 35 pieces, knights, horse

The girls do a lot of building and we have looked into adding to their current collection of blocks.  One of the sets that we found that we wanted to get on the floor and play with are from TreeHaus. Treehaus Wood Castle Blocks

TreeHause Castle Blocks

Castle Blocks: 74 pieces

I love it when a new book is introduced to the petites and they immediately want to go and embark on an activity, whether it is drawing or building with blocks.  These two books are inspiring and will surely inspire your petites to create something grand.

A Visit from the Tooth Fairy

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Last night was eventful at our house.  The petite lost her tooth!  She could not have been more excited, it has been wiggly for weeks and the new tooth started to poke through, so it was time for this one to come out.  It’s so incredibly exciting for her, although when it first got wiggly it did cause a little anxiety.

Petite 1

With her loosing her tooth it makes you think about when you lost yours and if you had traditions or if you want to start new ones with your petites.  Thinking about my childhood there was a book that my mom got me when I lost my first tooth and I remember reading it with her when each subsequent tooth would fall out.  I wanted to round-up some of the books that we’ve read or ones that I am going to check out (she has another very loose tooth) for future teeth.

The book that is quickly becoming a tradition is:

Little Rabbits Loose ToothLittle Rabbit’s Loose Tooth by Lucy Bate and Diane DeGroat which was first published in 1975, so if you were at the age of loosing teeth during this time, you may remember having had this delightful book read to you as a child.  I love that a book that my mom read to me is a book that I can read with my girls.  What a fun tradition.

Bear's Loose Tooth

Bear’s Loose Tooth by Karma Wilson and Jane Chapman is a lovely story.  I’ve written before about the Bear books and I think they are wonderful.  They are always about friendship and how friends are there for you to help you get through your worries – I love that Bears friends reassure him when his tooth is wiggly and it makes him worried.

Petite with tooth

We believe in the tooth fairy in this house.  I like the idea of having the tooth fairy pick up her spoils from outside of the bedroom – that way when she sneaks in at night she won’t risk stepping on a duplo or other devilishly sharp toy and getting found out.  I checked pinterest and found tons of really cute tutorials for tooth fairy pillows – here is the one that the petite picked out – it was surprisingly easy to make – here is the tutorial that I used from mmmcrafts.

Also, help a tooth fairy assistant out if you will, what’s the going rate for a tooth these days with inflation and cost of living we weren’t sure.

SnoozeFest – come and get your nap on!

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There are times where I hear about a book and people keep talking about it, it is on your twitter feed (okay maybe just my twitter feed), but a book that you can’t wait to read and share with your petites. Snoozefest doesn’t disappoint.  Samantha Berger and Kristyna Litten have created this incredibly fun book.

Snoozefest

There are so many things that I love about this book, I love the setting – Snoozeville and the NuzzleDome.  The characters – Snuggleford Cuddlebun.  The names of the bands – The Nocturnal Nesters, Quiet Quartet and Tranquility Trio just to name a few.  Snoozeville is a music concert where all the sleepy heads go to be serenaded by the bands, see a pajama fashion show and of course have some milk.  This is the perfect bedtime book for your dozing darlings.

Kristyna Litten has one of the most vibrant dreamland I think I have ever seen.  As a reader, you almost want to climb inside Snuggleford’s hammock and take a little nappy as the lights begin to dim.

My petites loved looking at where all of the animals chose to nap and the silly names that they called their blankies.  This book is fantastic.  It is perfect for your petites nighttime routine.

Still not convinced this book is the must read ticket in town?  Watch the book trailer and let me know what you think?

Valentine’s Day Picture Books for Your Petites

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photo 1

We love Valentine’s day here, mainly because it is one of the holidays that can be celebrated in public schools!  Hooray.  Here are some of our favorite picture books about Valentines day or about love and friendship.

Love is You & Me by Monica Sheehan is a playful book all about love, perfect for anytime of the year but all the more special for Valentine’s Day.

Somebody Loves you Mr. Hatch by Eileen Spinelli and Paul Yalowitz is unique story about an old man who lives a normal, if somewhat boring life, until one day he receives a mysterious package on his doorstep with a special note that says “Somebody loves you”.

Snowy Valentine by David Petersen a sweet story about Jasper and his search for the perfect Valentine.

Minnie’s Be My Sparkly Valentine this is perfect book for your Disney loving petite.  It also comes with stickers…what fun.

The Night Before Valentines Day by Natasha Wing and Heidi Petach is a fun book that follows the Night Before Christmas format only is special for Valentines day and all the preparation that goes into making it special.

Pete the Cat Valentine’s Day is Cool by James Dean and Kimberly Dean follows along in true Pete the Cat style with Pete not being too sure about Valentine’s day until he realizes how many special people are in his life and begins to make them some pretty awesome Valentines.

The Day it Rained Hearts by Felicia Bond a perfect book for a northwest guy or gal about a girl, Cornelia Augusta who discovers that it is raining hearts one day, each one is perfect and she knows just who to give them to.

Slugs in Love Marylou loves everything about Herbie his super slimy snail trail, how he finds the most delicious foods, but she is pretty shy how will she let Herbie know how she feels about him?  You’ll have to read it to find out.

There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Rose by Lucille Colandro and Jared D. Lee a riff on the classic lady who swallowed a fly but all about Valentine’s day and a special gift she is making.

Amelia Bedelia’s First Valentine by Herman Parish and Lynne Avril a classic in the making, even if the Amelia of my childhood has had a makeover, all about how Amelia is ready for her first Valentine’s Day celebration at school.

Catching Kisses by Amy Gibson and Maria van Lieshout is a wonderful story about sending kisses on a journey across the United States.  This would be a perfect gift to send to your Valentine.  I’ve shared this book before and love how it ties into this special holiday.

Biscuit’s Valentine’s Day by Alyssa Satin Capucilli and Pat Schories this is a story that both my girls adore.  It is a lift the flap book where you can search for Biscuit.  A sweet tale about our little precocious pup.

A Crankenstein Valentine by Samantha Berger and Dan Santat is all about the most lovey-dovey day of the year and the flowers and candies and how this day would turn even the sweetest kid into a monster.

Love, Splat by Rob Scotton is a delightful book about Splat the Cat and his special Valentine in his class whom he loves more than fish sticks.  A sweet addition to your collection.

If I have left off one of your petites favorites, just tell me in the comments below.   If you like this post, you might also like Board Books All About Love too.

Erin

 

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2015 Caldecott Winner & Honor Books

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This morning at the American Library Association conference the 2015 Caldecott Award winners were announced.  Here are the book trailers that are available for these fantastic books:

Beeckle

“The Adventures of Beekle: The Unimaginary Friend,” illustrated by Dan Santat, is the 2015 Caldecott Medal winner. The book was written by Dan Santat and published by Little, Brown and Company, a division of Hachette Book Group, Inc.

photo 1

Six Caldecott Honor Books were also chosen:

The Noisy Paint Box: The Colors and Sounds of Kandinsky’s Abstract Art illustrated by Mary GrandPré, written by Barb Rosenstock and published by Alfred A. Knopf, an imprint of Random House Children’s Books, a division of Random House, Inc., New York.

Sam and Dave Dig a Hole illustrated by Jon Klassen, written by Mac Barnett and published by Candlewick Press.

Viva Frida illustrated by Yuyi Morales, written by Yuyi Morales and published by Roaring Brook Press, a Neal Porter Book.

The Right Word: Roget and His Thesaurus illustrated by Melissa Sweet, written by Jen Bryant, and published by Eerdmans Books for Young Readers, an imprint of Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.

Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to track down book trailers for these two honor books.

This One Summer illustrated by Jillian Tamaki, written by Mariko Tamaki and published by First Second.

Nana in the City
illustrated by Lauren Castillo, written by Lauren Castillo and published by Clarion Books, an imprint of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.