Showing posts with label Books for Topics. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Books for Topics. Show all posts
What is empathy; why is it important; and how can books help? #ReadForEmpathy
Today is Empathy Day; a day founded by EmpathyLab to focus on the importance of building real life empathy skills in children and young people through literature. But what is empathy; why is it such an important skill for children to develop; and how can books help?
A New Baby' Discussing those "Tricky Topics" with BookTrust #TimeToRead
As most of our regular readers are aware, this year has been a particularly challenging one in the Along Came Poppy household. The Mini Reviewers, now 4, 5 and 8, have had to deal with some huge changes and as a result there have been lots of big emotions flying around. The children have all experienced disturbed sleep, outbursts of anger as well as increased crying. These three things, according to the parents of 4-11 year olds recently surveyed by BookTrust, the UK's largest children's reading charity, are the most common signs of young children being worried or anxious.
I am a firm believer in being honest and open about my feelings and always encourage my children to be the same, as they say "a problem shared is a problem halved". However, BookTrust's latest research highlighting the importance of reading for children's mental health, indicates that only just over half of children aged between 8-11 talk to their parents when they are feeling stressed, sad or worried. 39% of children in this age range even admit to finding it difficult to talk about their feelings or emotions.*
Spooky Stories from Bloomsbury #ReadYourSocksOff
So with Halloween right around the corner we have some spooky picture books to share with you from Bloomsbury Picture Books. Since September Bloomsbury have been PAIRing brilliant picture books with a different theme each month to introduce children to some exciting new reads. September's theme was FRIENDSHIP and you can read about what Mamma Filz thought of Bloomsbury's selection here. This month's theme is of course Halloween, just take a look at this fairly spooky selection we were sent and get ready to READ YOUR SOCKS OFF!
Touring Book Club: How To Be A Lion & Books About Friendship #TouringPictureBook
Our Touring Book Club choice this month is the wonderful How To Be a Lion written and illustrated by Ed Vere and published by Puffin Books. When we first heard about the release of this book in June, we were all incredibly excited as Ed is one of our favourite authors and illustrators. We just love his brilliantly bold style of illustration and the way he writes with such warmth and humour. Ed also has an incredible talent for creating really unique and expressive characters, such as Max the Brave and Grumpy Frog, so we were expecting great things from his new book, How To Be A Lion.
Non-fiction round-up: Let's hear it for the girls!
At the start of the year we promised to review a non-fiction book each month and although we have been picking our favourites, we have completely neglected to write about them, so we thought it was about time for a non-fiction round-up. As you'll see there's a bit of a theme, this was purely unintentional but it works well especially as it was International Women's Day at the beginning of March, so without further delay "Let's hear it for the girls!"
Five Favourite Books about Dogs
Mini Reviewer, Theo (3), seems to gravitate towards books about dogs at the moment and he has even put in his own request for a puppy! So when we realised that Chinese New Year will be celebrated this Friday and 2018 happens to be the Year of the Dog, we thought now was the perfect time to share Theo's Five Favourite Books About Dogs.
Festive Delights: Brilliant Bears
December is very nearly here and we are now over half way through sharing the festive delights we will be reading during Advent. Our last post was about baking and today's selection of books are all stories about brilliant bears! These three seasonal books are not just new to us, they have all been published this year (2017) so are brand new titles!
Hello October: Books to welcome Autumn and celebrate Halloween
Hello October! Autumn is well and truly here and with it those chilly mornings and dark evenings. However, with plenty of puddles to splash in; leaves to throw; and conkers to collect, we think it could be our favourite time of year! So we are really looking forward to the half term holiday at the end of the month and, of course, Halloween!
Last year we celebrated Halloween with some spooky book-inspired baking and crafts, before dressing up and going trick or treating. We also read a few "not-so-scary" Halloween books. You can read all about last year's stories here and, in anticipation of this year's celebrations, we have already added a few more "not-so-scary" books to our collection.
Everything Unicorn
It's official, we have got unicorn fever in this house but there's no need to panic, this is not some sort of tropical disease, no, this is the unicorn craze that seems to have been sweeping the nation for some time now. So this week we are embracing everything sparkly, cute, shiny and even gooey that this magical, horned creature has to offer!
Something Sparkly...
Add some sparkle to storytime with these two fabulous unicorn-themed books. Sugarlump and the Unicorn is written by one of our favourite authors, Julia Donaldson. The cute and whimsical illustrations are the work of the extremely talented, Lydia Monks. Together Julia and Lydia have created several other brilliant children's books together, including The Singing Mermaid; The Princess and The Wizard; and the What The Ladybird Heard trilogy.
New Books for Little Heroes
The Mini Reviewers have always loved to dress up and they have certainly come up with some imaginative outfits in the past but recently it seems to be all about crime fighting heroes and pesky bad guys. So when we saw The Rainbow Factory were holding a Superhero Extravaganza this summer, we had to book tickets.
Five Favourite Books about School
The summer holidays have flown by and as August ends our thoughts turn to the start of a new school year, an exciting time but also one that can be uncertain and nerve-wracking for so many. Here the uniform has been purchased, tried on and (almost) labelled and Mini Reviewer, Izzie, is raring to return to school. However when Izzie started school last year, we all had our fair share of nerves! So if you have an apprehensive school starter or a child that is a little reluctant to go back to school, don't panic! There are lots of books out there offering gentle reassurance and showing that school can in fact be lots of fun!
Five Favourite Colourful Books
This week we've been considering our favourite books about COLOUR prompted by our #top5friday twitter chat with The Happy Book Club and Acorn Books, boy do we have some amazing titles to share with you!
Cultural Diversity in Children's Books
In our search for diverse and inclusive books we came across Lantana Publishing, a London-based independent publishing company that champions cultural diversity in children's books. Last week the company's Founder and Publisher Alice Curry won the Kim Scott Walwyn Prize, which recognises the achievement of women in publishing. Therefore we thought this would be the perfect time to share our round up of Lantana's beautiful and inspiring stories.
Five Favourite Train Stories
Mini Reviewer, Theo (3), likes anything with wheels but he really, really LOVES trains. We are incredibly lucky to live close to the National Railway Museum in York and we have made many a trip to look at the "giant wheels". On Theo's second birthday we even managed to see "The Flying Choo Choo" otherwise known as the Flying Scotsman!
Loads of books to make you ROAR (like a dinosaur)!
This week we are joining The Happy Book Club along with some other book lovers on Twitter for #top5friday and we are discussing the best dinosaur books around. We thought we'd share our top five choices as selected by Mini Reviewer and dinosaur fan, Theo (3). We hope these get you roaring...
What's So Special About Dinosaurs?
Do you have little ones that love Dinosaurs? Then you may be interested in this fantastic series of non fiction books by Nicky Dee.
Books about Delightful Dragons
The Mini Reviewers really enjoy stories full of adventure and nothing compares to the tale of a fire breathing dragon. However, we have already learned that not all dragons are scary, in fact most seem to be very friendly, delightful even. Here are five endearing stories featuring some of our favourite scaly friends.
Fishy Books and Activities
This week we were thrilled to receive a fishy package from The Happy Book Club to review. The Happy Book Club provides different themed book packs for pre-schoolers and young children.
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| A neatly wrapped package arrived! |
WHAT DOES THE SUBSCRIPTION INCLUDE?
Take a little look at our brief unboxing video below:
As you can see the Mini Reviewers were very excited to see what was inside the neatly wrapped package!
We discovered that the theme for this month is “Fish!” and the package contained two beautiful picture books (see our reviews below) and a sheet of activity suggestions. The subscription also includes access to an online community and competitions; and a monthly donation is made to a relevant charity.
WHAT ARE THE BOOKS LIKE?
We have not received a book subscription pack before, so I didn’t know what to expect from the books themselves but I was pleasantly surprised. Both books are relatively new publications (2015/6) and we have not come across them before.
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| The Happy Book Club - August Package |
The River An Epic Journey To The Sea - Illustrated by Hanako Clulow with text by Patricia Hegarty - Caterpillar Books (2016)
A gentle rhyming story, which tells the tale of a small fish’s journey down river. Starting in the snow-capped mountains she travels through pine forests and finally reaches the sea. This is a high quality, hardback picture book. The illustrations of the wildlife and scenery surrounding the river are stunning and are accentuated by a small holographic fish that appears to be swimming down the river. Also the final double page of the book has some lovely fish with foil detailing. The Mini Reviewers were very excited by the moving fish. They also liked talking about the wildlife on each page.
Buy here.
Buy here.
Tiny Whale A Fishy Tale - Text by Joshua George and illustrated by Puy Pinillos - Top That (2015)
Gerald, a little goldfish, feels unimportant and is fed up of being one of many. He sets off on an adventure and when he discovers a reef full of blue fish he reinvents himself as a whale! With its bright pictures and humour, this book is very different in style to the first. It makes a great story to read aloud and the Mini Reviewers loved it.
Buy here.
Buy here.
HOW DID WE GET ON WITH THE ACTIVITIES?
The activity sheet provided details of a website where colouring sheets and puzzles can be printed off; and a Pinterest board with lots of relevant craft ideas. There was also a link to a fishy song; an outing suggestion; and the details of this month’s charity, The Marine Conservation Society.
As my printer is out of action (don’t ask!), I was unable to print off the colouring sheets so we tried the “celery stamping fish activity” off the Pinterest board. This was a huge success!
We also had a good sing-a-long to the song and checked out the Marine Conservation Society’s page, which has lots of educational games and activities to explore.
OUR VERDICT
The Mini Reviewers were super excited to receive the surprise package in the post. It was fun to unwrap together to discover what was inside. Receiving a themed box was really novel for both me and the children. The books were excellent and the activity sheet gave me lots of age appropriate ideas to keep the little ones entertained. Thank you to the Happy Book Club!
Have you tried any book subscription services?
If so, drop us a comment below we'd love to hear from you!
Until next time... HAPPY READING!
Kate & the Mini Reviewers xx
Disclaimer: We received the August Subscription Package for free from The Happy Book Club, all opinions are, as always, my own. This post contains Amazon Affiliate links, you can find out more about what this means here.
Books about Funny Birds!
We love a book that makes us giggle and I’ve previously shared some of our favourites. Here are another couple of excellent picture books that have really tickled us recently. It just so happens one features an owl and the other, a seagull, you could say they are a couple of funny birds!
Hoot Owl, Master of Disguise
Written by Sean Taylor and Illustrated byJean Jullien (Walker Books)
Written by Sean Taylor and Illustrated byJean Jullien (Walker Books)
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| Hoot Owl Master of Disguise |
We all know owls are wise, but did you know they are also masters of disguise? Well Hoot Owl thinks he is anyway. A totally melodramatic tale of a hungry owl searching for his dinner. But what will he catch? A rabbit, a lamb, a pigeon? Or maybe even a pizza?
The Mini Reviewers found this story absolutely hilarious, particularly Hoot's disguises. They were incredibly relieved each time Hoot failed to catch his dinner. I could literally hear them holding their breath, waiting to see what would happen. Also the fabulously bold illustrations fit brilliantly with the drama of the story. This is a perfect picture book to share. Just have a go at reading it through a few times first to get the comic timing right!
The Mini Reviewers found this story absolutely hilarious, particularly Hoot's disguises. They were incredibly relieved each time Hoot failed to catch his dinner. I could literally hear them holding their breath, waiting to see what would happen. Also the fabulously bold illustrations fit brilliantly with the drama of the story. This is a perfect picture book to share. Just have a go at reading it through a few times first to get the comic timing right!
Steven Seagull Action Hero
Elys Dolan (Oxford University Press)
Elys Dolan (Oxford University Press)
This is Steven, probably the most confident seagull you will ever see! He is a retired cop but his ex-partner, a goldfish called Mac, wants him back on the force to help clean up Beach City. Steven knows “a gull’s gotta do, what a gull’s gotta do” so joins Mac in his search for the Sand Thief. They waste no time in rounding up suspects at the beach. But will they be able to solve the mystery of the missing sand once and for all? Or will Steven’s renegade ways get the better of him?
Sorry there are no spoilers here! Let’s just say that we have read this book over and over again and it never fails to make us giggle. Both the text and the almost comic book style illustrations are very funny. Give it a read, you won't be disappointed!
Until next time... HAPPY READING!
Kate & the Mini Reviewers xx
Disclaimer: I won Hoot Owl from a Toppsta Giveaway and Steven Seagull from a competition run by OUP on Twitter. All opinions are, as always, my own. Please note that this post contains Amazon Affiliate links, you can find out more about what this means here.
Word of the Week: Puddles!
Well, this week I’ve bitten the bullet, or rather we’ve bitten the bullet and Theo has started potty training. While Izzie took to the potty with ease, I have suspected for quite some time it would be more of a struggle for Theo.
Izzie never liked having a wet or dirty nappy, so from the stage she could sit up, we used to hold her on the potty. Then she would sit on the potty herself each evening (in front of CBeebies of course) and suddenly one day she started taking her nappies off and that was that, time for big girl pants. Her timing was dreadful as I was about 8 months pregnant with Theo and I really didn’t want to keep bending down to clean up little accidents. But, as always, Izzie was determined and, by the time Theo was born, she was dry during the day.
In contrast Theo has never liked the potty and hates having his nappy changed. Even now it takes ninja-like skills to do a quick dirty/clean swap. He is usually thrashing around on the floor like a demented octopus. Or, even worse, stubbornly lying flat on his front, nose pressed to the ground, body as stiff as a board! When asked, he will deny his nappy is dirty. He chooses to sit in it (whatever the state) just so he can continue to play. Therefore, as you can imagine, potty training him was at the very bottom of my “to do” list.
Anyway towards the middle of this week he took me completely by surprise and expressed an interest in wearing his “big boy” pants. (Remembering just how many pairs I’d needed for Izzie, I had bought several packs in the Mothercare Christmas sale!) So on Thursday I got out the pants, the obligatory stickers and all the potty/pants related books I could find, and we began.
Since then Theo has been running around the house in just pants and a top. His favourite potty has been travelling from room to room with us. I was not expecting this to be a quick process and I have been “cheating” and putting him in nappies for car journeys and at naptime to make it that bit easier for me. Day one there were lots of little puddles and even a wee in his favourite boat! But amazingly today there were just two puddles and six successful potty trips. Hooray! This may of course be beginners luck but I am just glad he will now happily sit on the potty.
Please do share your potty training tips with us...
Until next time... HAPPY READING!
Until next time... HAPPY READING!
Kate & the Mini Reviewers xx
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