Author: Petite Stag

All My Friends Are Planets

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All My Friends Are Planets.pngAugust 24, 2006 was a day that marked a huge shift in our solar system; a shift that challenged what we always thought we knew.   Mike Brown, an astronomer, determined that Pluto was no longer a planet, but in fact a Dwarf Planet.  If you or your petite is a huge fan of the solar system or even just wants to read a really fabulous story, I have just the book recommendation for you!  All My Friends are Planets by Alisha Vimawala is a story about our favorite Dwarf Planet – Pluto!

In this story Pluto is personified into a charming little planet, who has lived life on the outskirts of the solar system.  Pluto always felt a little different from his friends, but they never made him feel like he was alone or different.  Until that one day, August 24, 2006 when Pluto realized that all that time that he had felt differently and it was for a great reason, he was different but in a unique and extremely special way.
This story is not just about planets and science, but about being included, about what it means to know someone is different and to value them for their differences. The message is subtle, but a powerful one.  This book would be a great read for first to third graders as it covers a lot of information about the solar system (which often times is not taught in schools these days).
Another component of this book that is completely unique is that on the final page there is a blank planet and your petite is encouraged to draw their own planet and then snap a picture for a chance to have their creation shared as well as a chance to win a customized plush of the drawing!  So cool, right?
We hope you enjoy this fantastic book!  We love that this book inspires petites to look into the sky and imagine what else might be out there.

Petite Patriots: Part Two

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We are reading lots of books in an attempt to pick the very best books for you and your petites…for this weeks installment we have decided that When Penny Met POTUS by Rachel Ruiz and illustrated by Melissa Manwill (Picture Window Books, 2016) is the perfect pick.  I feel compelled to start with saying that this book smells amazing, both my girls immediately sniffed the binding and declared this to be one fabulous smelling book.  So with that out-of-the-way here we go…

When Penny Met POTUS is the story of a little girl who gets to go to work with her mother one day.  Her mother just so happens to work at the White House, so this is a really big deal and Penny is thrilled.  She is so excited to see what POTUS looks like, what he will be like.  She has imagined that he is pretty special because he has his own team of secret service agents, his own plane, a chef to make him whatever he likes.  As the excitement builds for what POTUS will be like when Penny finally meets him, you begin to wonder yourself, since up until the end POTUS is a suit wearing horned beast.  I love that this story so brilliantly captures the imagination of a petite.  Penny envisions the tea parties they will have, to help with some important work, it is absolute perfection!

When they get to The White House Penny needs to wait while her mother completes some work before they can meet POTUS.  Like most petites, this is just too hard, patience, waiting, very tricky, right?  So Penny, tiptoes off to find POTUS on her own.  She encounters some very friendly White House staff members who haven’t seen POTUS, all the while you as readers get insights into what Penny thinks POTUS might look like, until she finally lays eyes on POTUS.

Spoiler Alert: When Penny realizes that the person she was about to talk to is POTUS, in that moment everything changes.  POTUS is a woman.  When Penny tries to wrap her mind around this, she finally says, “but you’re a human”.  So incredibly cute, I love that she says a human, because she had envisioned a beastie.  Rachel Ruiz and Melissa Manwill have created this absolutely perfect book for petites.

Shout out to my amazing library!!!  Let me just say I am so thankful that our local library gets books quickly after they are published, because the faster they get them the faster I can share them with you!

Don’t forget to check out Petite Patriots: Part One:

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Counting Concepts for Petites

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My three year old Vivienne, has been wanting to do “lessons” like her big sister for months now.  So since this school year started we’ve been focusing on lessons each day.  So of course, we go to the library a few times a week and get new books.  This week I let her choose a bag full of books and some of these were among her picks.

Musk Ox Counts by Erin Cabatingan and illustrated by Matthew Myers (Neal Porter Press, 2013) is one silly read.  This book is a perfect shape for little hands, filled with tons of silly drama from Musk Ox and Zebra.  This story is as silly as can be, we thoroughly enjoyed reading about Musk ox messing up the counting pages.

8 an Animal Alphabet by Elisha Cooper (Orchard Books, 2015) the premise of this book is simply too much fun.  On each page there is one animal that is shown 8 times, and your job is to find that animal.  I love this book, from the opening whiner Elisha Cooper explains why 8 is the number you’re looking for.  “Because 8 is great, because 8 is round and adorable”.  Too much fun!  Oh, this is also a bang for your buck book because it covers the alphabet too, making this one awesome book for petite learners.

Abagail by Catherine Rayner (Tiger Tails, 2013) Abigail is a giraffe who loves to count, she counts just about anything she can find; even her friends.  They count all day and into the evening, the illustrations are beautiful and sure to get your petite counting.

Turtle Splash: Countdown at the Pond by Cathryn Falwell (Greenwillow Books, 2001) is modeled after the counting song.  It is a terribly fun read and sing along.  We completely enjoyed reading this really fun counting book and counting the turtles.

Bear Counts by Karma Wilson and Jane Chapman (Simon & Schuster, 2015) is a charming book, this book is filled with glorious rhymes and darling illustrations that will make this a perfect read for any petite who is learning about numbers, but also loves a great story.  One of our favorite pages is number 5!

As part of the petites counting lessons, we’ve been using little hippo counters to help her to learn more about counting objects, these have been incredibly helpful.  These counters are so much fun because they have endless uses:

  • sorting by color
  • sorting by type
  • counting
  • story telling
  • patterns
  • comparing numbers – which is larger or smaller

You will also be able to find counters for your petites online, here are some super cute ones that we’ve been eyeing on amazon.

  

 

If you have any other counting books that your petite’s are loving please let me know we’d love to check them out.

Petite Patriots: Part One

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My petites have been asking a lot of questions about the United States and our history lately.  My husband loves politics, election cycles and history; so we are fully embracing their curious minds and spending quite a bit of time talking about the history of our country and some of the things that make America so special.

Since this is an election year, I wanted to start to share some of the books that we are reading and really enjoying.

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For part one of our series of Petite Patriots we want to share two of Perter Spier’s books – his illustrations are fantastic, they make these books so much fun to read.

We the People: The Constitution of the United States (Doubleday Books for Young Readers, 1987)  What I love about this is that the book covers all of it, the beginning of the book is the illustrated preamble of the constitution, but then we get the full deal in the pages to follow.  Making this book, in my opinion, perfect for all ages.  The illustrated preamble is perfect for petite patriots; but then we get images of the signers, the story of the constitution, A call to action, information about the debate in Philadelphia, how it was drafted, individual rights (which you’re never to young to learn), along with the complete Constitution of the United States.

The Star-Spangled Banner (Doubleday Books for Young Readers, 1973) let’s just start by saying this book again, is gorgeously illustrated, the end papers show the flags of the American Revolution and the United States, as well as the government and armed forces flags.  This book covers the story of the star-spangled banner, War of 1812, Baltimore Attacked!, An Anthem Conceived in Battle – all about Francis Scott Key, and the Flag’s Journey it is a perfect introduction to the history of our national anthem.

These books are geared for  9 year olds, however, I think that these could be used in older grades as well.  The information in the second half of each book dives into the history which is written for an older audience.

Stay tuned for more Petite Patriots in the days and weeks to come.

The Petite Loves her Lessons

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When our seven year old headed back to school in September, our three year old had quite a tough time dealing with her best friend and playmate being gone for 7 hours a day.  Something we have noticed with our second petite is that she wants to do everything her big sister does, she wants to wear her backpack to the bus stop, she wants to have a lunch packed even though she stays home with me during the day.  So we decided that because she so desperately wants to be a “big girl” we would start doing some big girl things.  So each day we’ve been doing what we are calling “lessons”.  She is obsessed with her lessons, she has a little backpack, pencil box, notebook, even her own scissors (which is a huge deal to her), so each day we spend time working on lessons.

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What her lessons currently look like is talking about a letter, tracing it in her notebook, putting stickers in her notebook, drawing a picture, cutting something – usually a picture from a magazine and gluing it in her notebook.  Counting different things we find and looking for “experiments” – which is basically feathers, cool leaves, or something she has found outside.  Of course we can’t forget reading stacks and stacks of books, looking for the letter we learned about.

Recently at the library, we found some pretty fun little books all about the five senses, we’ve been spending a lot of time looking at these books, and talking about the five senses.  They have been so much fun to use during our lessons.

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I Hear | I Touch | I See | I Smell | I Taste

What we love about these very young readers is their size, clearly they knew their audience has little hands and decided to make these little picture books the perfect size for little hands to hold in their laps.  These little books cover the senses with bold bright colors, sometimes even see through pages which are a huge hit with my petite.  The illustrations are a little silly and it is so much fun to see the reactions to the pictures.

We also love that these books provide talking points where little ones can explore things like what’s your favorite food, what tastes do you like, what don’t you like?  These books are creative and clever and perfect for petites.  If you have a curious little petite who loves books these would be the perfect additions to your library bag.

 

 

Tales of Adventure & Reading!

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The Storybook Knight by Helen & Thomas Docherty by Sourcebooks Jabberwocky (September, 2016) is a book that I have read almost every single night since it showed up on our front porch a few weeks ago.  This book is all about being brave and bold.  About using your mind to solve problems.  Most importantly it’s about sharing a love of reading!

So let’s just dive right into what makes this book one that your petites will beg to have read over and over.  First the illustrations!  They have a classical, familiar feel, almost like Richard Scarry; but with that said it’s completely unique in their own right.  Leo is part of a lovely family who want the best for him.  They encourage him to be a knight, but he doesn’t want to fight.  He wants to sit and read (sounds like an awesome mouse, right?).

Leo decided he will give being a knight a try, so he packs his brand-new shield and sword, sandwiches and lots of books.  When he sets off on his quest he encounters many new creatures; a griffin, troll and dragon!  (Have you ordered this fantastic book yet?)  In his encounters these creatures are used to ordinary knights who fight, but Leo is quite different, instead of using force to get what he wants, he uses his wit and the books he has packed for his journey.

What we love most about Leo is that although these creatures are much bigger than he is, he is brave!  He is bold!  He’s smart!  Leo is everything we want in a hero.  This book is so much fun to read aloud, with the rhyming and fantastic characters, it is so well written you just have to read it aloud.  We love this book and are certain that this book will be a huge hit with your petites!

Teachers and parents I cannot rave about this book enough, you have to check it out for yourselves.  The lovely folks at Sourcebook Jabberwocky have created two really great guides to help you make the most of this fantastic book.

Activity Pack | Educator Guide

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I also feel compelled to tell you that this is not Helen and Thomas Docherty’s first book, for that you will have to check out The Snatchabook!  Snatchabook is a delightful story (that also can be purchased through your kiddos Scholastic Book account), it is all about the love of books!  One night a darling bunny, Eliza Brown is reading her stories and all of a sudden they disappear!  It is a perfect mystery for petites.  All of the books in Burrow Down and very suspiciously disappearing; Eliza Brown decides she’s had enough and is up for the challenge of figuring out just what is going on.  Eliza sets a magnificent trap for the book thief and patiently waits….until she discovers just who has been stealing all of the books in Burrow Down…the Snatchabook!  This story is so much fun.  It is a fantastic read aloud.

Think Happy

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Think Happy by Karen Salmansohn (Ten Speed Press, 2016) in this book you will find a collection of fifty inspirational sayings that are sure to bolster your confidence, raise your happiness quota and help your overall mood.  This is a really fabulous book that not only looks amazing on the shelf or coffee table, but has really inspiring pep talks that are sure to help you support yourself or others.  Karen Salmansohn is a happiness guru, and it is quite clear that she is extremely passionate about helping others to attain happiness.

I am a huge fan of quotes and have many books dedicated to the wise words of others and this book will fit perfectly into this category.  A place where you can look and find sage advice to help move you from whatever place you may find yourself.

These are the perfectly motivational, inspiring, mood-lifting topics you will find:

  • Five things to say when starting something new
  • Five things to say when feeling grumpy
  • Five things to say when dealing with a major challenge
  • Five things to say when faced with failure
  • Five things to say to improve your self-love life
  • Five things to say when dealing with toxic people
  • Five things to say when you feel stressed out
  • Five things to say when looking for and maintaining love
  • Five things to say when you need to forgive and forget
  • Five things to say to motivate yourself to go for your dreams

Let’s also take a moment to discuss the art that is within these pages, I would be lying if I didn’t say when I opened this book part of me wanted to figure out how to get these inspiring words into frames and on my walls.  They are brilliant little reminders to strive for greatness, to let the small stuff go, to focus on what really matters.  This book is so aesthetically pleasing – I love the quirky art that accompanies each inspirational quote.  This book would be a perfect gift for a book loving friend, someone who needs more happy in their lives and well of course the perfect book to treat yourself.

I had never heard of Karen Salmansohn before reading this book and now I must confess, I want to read anything and everything I can find written by her.  Ms. Salmansohn has written quite a few books about happiness and inspirational teachings:

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Blogger Note: I received this book from Blogging for Books for this review; however the thoughts and opinions expressed are my own.

Max at Night & An Amazing Giveaway!

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Ed Vere who is the New York Times bestselling creator of Max the Brave has a new book Max at Night by Sourcebooks Jabberwocky, 2015.  If you loved the first Max book you will be thrilled to see this latest adventure in bedtime preparation.  Like most parents, you realize quickly that the nighttime routine although a very magical time for parent and child bonding can quickly become an advance course in patience.  This book compliments that struggle perfectly.  This book reminds me of Goodnight Moon and If You Give A Mouse a Cookie; in the sense that this book perfectly captures the best parts of both of those amazing stories.

Max is a darling black kitten who is extremely tired and up way past his bedtime.  He has completed his steps for bedtime, complete with saying goodnight to his fish, box, spider, moon…but wait…Max cannot see the moon.  This dear readers is where the adventure begins.  Max’s search for the moon begins and leads him through the city on his quest to see the moon and say goodnight.  It is quite the journey for such a small kitten.

What we love the most about this book is that the moon talks to Max, we had an amazing conversations about how fun that would be for the moon to tell us goodnight each night and to sleep well.  We also love that Max never gives up, not even when he is tired, not even when he has to travel very far – never once does he give up.

If you love this book and Max then you will want to be sure to download this activity packet to enrich your reading experience.

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Check out this amazing GIVEAWAY!!  You can enter for a chance to win an original sketch from Ed Vere and a copy of Max at Night!!! a Rafflecopter giveaway

A Perfect Journal for Petites

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Me: A Compendium: A Fill-in Journal for Kids by Wee Society is by far one of the cutest most eye catching journal for petites that I’ve ever seen.  This journal is appropriate for little ones from 4-8 years old and has many vibrantly colored pages that ask some of the most unique questions – that are quite spot on for what a 4-8 year old might be thinking about or interested in.

What I love about this fill-in journal:

  • Incredibly vibrant design
  • Questions that are age appropriate and capture a sense of who your child is
    • These are the things in my brain
    • Rating different kinds of weather
    • If I had a band it would be called
    • Time I wake up and time I go to sleep
    • If I were going to outer space this is what I would pack
    • What I wish was inside my refrigerator
    • This is how I feel about (with little face outlines to draw in responses) lightening, pirates, pickles, etc.
    • Something that used to scare me, but now its cool
  • A perfect size for little hands
  • This book looks as thought it were made by people who truly understand great design and how that relates to little ones
  • Perfect for kids who are still doing a lot of drawing to convey their message
  • A fabulous price for such a well designed and easy to use journal
  • A perfect place to collect memories, feelings, ideas and everything in-between
  • A surprise hidden behind the book jacket which is absolutely a secret delight

Today, my 7 year old started her first day of first grade, I can’t wait to share this amazing journal with her when she gets home.  This will be a fantastic book to document all of the growing up that she has done.  This journal will be a perfect way to capture and document what is unique and awesome about your petite.

I also feel compelled to say that I have been looking for a journal for my daughter for a while now, and this is one of the finest I have seen.  I am so excited to be sharing this lovely journal with you all.  I can’t wait to hear what you think about it.

Bloggers Note: I received this book from Blogging for Books; however, all thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are my own.

 

Gender and Friendship in a Tender Story

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Introducing Teddy: a gentle story about gender and friendship by Jessica Walton and illustrated by Dougal MacPherson (Bloomsbury, 2016) is a poingnat tale of a little boy Errol and his teddy bear, Thomas.  Like most petites Errol and his trusty companion play together, ride their bikes, plant in the garden and have sandwiches in tree houses for lunch.

One day things change, Thomas didn’t feel like playing.  Errol being an empathetic friend tries to cheer Thomas up by taking him to the park, but it doesn’t work.  Thomas is torn, because he clearly wants to talk to his best friend, but he is worried that once he tells Errol what he is feeling that Errol won’t want to be his friend anymore.  With some gentle reassurance from Errol, Thomas begins to tell him what is on his mind:

Thomas the teddy took a deep breath.  “I need to be myself, Errol.  In my heart, I’ve always known that I’m a girl teddy, not a boy teddy.  I wish my name was Tilly, not Thomas.”

What happens next is the most amazing realization for Tilly, that it doesn’t matter to Errol if he is Thomas or Tilly as long as teddy is his friend.  The story continues in the most accepting and lovely of ways.  Their friend Ava joins them at the park with more encouragement and acceptance.  The message is that whatever makes you happy is what is most important.  That Errol and Ava are true friends because they love Tilly.

The story ends with what I believe to be the most important message, that Errol and Tilly play together, ride their bikes in the backyard, plant in their garden and of course still enjoy sandwiches perched in a tree house; just like they did before.

I think that this book does an amazing job of talking about acceptance, friendship and gender.  We spend a lot of time in our house talking about what we feel and how sometimes we feel more like a girl or a boy and that is all part of being human of being true to yourself.  We believe firmly that everyone has the right to be happy, to be accepted for who they are, not to be judged, but instead loved and supported.  Introducing Teddy, is a book that helps start this conversation with petites, about what it means to be a good friend, to accept your friends for who they are…to be understanding.  What an important lesson to teach at an early age.

Here is a peak into the illustrations from Dougal MacPherson

Also, Bloomsbury has created an  activity pack to go along with the book.