My Book Babes-A Blog Hop

Katie at See K Read is hosting a one time blog hop called "Book Babes". She is a mom who loves to read, and therefore, loves to see photos of babies and their books. And guess what? She wants to see our babies and their books, so dig out your photos and hop on over to participate!

My Little Bookworm

This is the earliest photo that I have of Owen with a book. He was a little over 6 months old here. He loved "reading" this baby faces book. He still loves to read, and it's not uncommon to find him sitting on his bed with a book when we thought that he was playing instead.

Ben has never been a big reader, so I'm pretty sure that this is one of the only photos that I have of him with a book nearby. (He's about 4 months old here). Thankfully, he is finally starting to take an interest in books, but I suspect that it's mainly from watching Owen reading and a desire to do what his big brother does.

Now hop on over to See K Read to check out some more little bookworms!

The Key to Educational Success is....

For whatever reason, I have been receiving free copies of Parents magazine in the mail. I have been perusing the November 2010 issue and it has inspired reactions to several articles that I am going to share here. This is my first one.

I always find it annoying when statistics are presented in a way that misleads people, or only conveys half of the point. Case in point, there is a statistic being thrown at us that people who floss their teeth will live longer. Now this statement by itself implies that the existence of extra plaque will cause an early death. (Not true). What they don't tell you, (or what you have to read a million paragraphs into the study) is that people who floss their teeth are generally the same people who care enough about their health to be conscious of the choices that they make and actively pursue a healthy lifestyle. Therefore, these people ARE going to live longer, because they take care of themselves, not just because they floss their teeth. Make sense?

So anyway. There is a little paragraph titled "Bring on the Books" in this issue of Parents magazine that claims, "Keeping books around the house will up your kid's odds of snagging that college diploma later on," (45). It further claims that a collection of 25 books, either children's or adults', will add a year to their high school or college career, while a collection of 500* books will add an extra 3.2 years! The "article" (can one paragraph really be considered an article?) then goes on to suggest 9 books to add to a child's library. And, that's it.

See, my issue with this isn't the results of the study, but the information that Parents magazine failed to provide regarding the study, or the participants of the study. I looked it up here, and it turns out that over a 20 year period, Mariah Evans (who the magazine doesn't even give credit to), discovered that an environment with at least 25 books in it, regardless of a parent's level of education, will produce these results in children.

I think that it's safe to assume that regardless of their own education level, these parents who are providing their children with books are obviously concerned with their child's educational success. It's probably also safe to assume that these parents are actively involved in their child's education, and are encouraging reading for pleasure. It would have been nice to see this additional information provided in the Parents article. Otherwise, I can just see some clueless parent reading it and thinking that just by having these books in the house, without doing anything with them, will provide the same results. (Hey, I'm sure that there is someone out there who is just stupid enough to think this).

It would have been nice to see Parents expand on this and provide suggestions for actively engaging children in reading and tips to help ensure success. I am sure that there are many parents out there, especially those who did not enjoy their own educational experiences as children, who might not know exactly what they can do to help their child enjoy reading or become a more active reader. Allow me to offer a few of my own suggestions:

* Make reading fun, and active. Instead of just reading a story straight through from the first page to the last, discuss what is happening in the pictures. Many illustrators of children's books include little surprises, or jokes, "Easter Eggs", if you will, in their pictures. They are meant to be explored, examined, and discussed by parents and children alike. Quiz your children on what they have just read or seen in the pictures. Give them a few moments to study the pictures, then close the book and ask them questions. What color hair ribbon is the little girl wearing? How many birds are in the sky? Where is the mouse hiding? You get the idea.

* Establish a bedtime routine that includes at least one story. And be sure to provide a suitable environment for a bedtime story. Ideally, this would be at the end of the routine when the child is already bathed, dressed, and in bed. A child is more likely to pay attention to the story if there are no other distractions around them (such as the television, or older siblings etc.). A bedtime story will also help the child to switch from "active" mode to "rest" mode.

* Visit your local library. Books cost money, and can be quite expensive. Some families are not going to be able to afford to build a personal library at home for their children. This is one of the greatest benefits of a local library, hundreds of books for kids to read, for FREE. Most libraries also provide story hours and other activities for preschool children and school-age children. They usually also have at least a couple of computers for children to listen to stories or play (educational) games. This is also a great resource for families who do not have a computer at home. It just takes a little research to find out what services your local library provides.


Those are some of the ideas that I have right now.  There are many more things that parents can do to help children enjoy reading. Just remember that it's one thing to have 25+ books in your house, but it's another to know how to use them. They are not there just to sit on a shelf and look pretty.

Anyone have more suggestions to share?


*I would really like to know who has a personal library of 500 books that participated in this study!


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Read to Me, Please!: Put it on the List!

At the end of our last trip to the library, we came home with the book Put it on the List! by Kristen Darbyshire. The boys and I are getting a kick out of this book because it is exactly the way things run at our house.

In the book, a  family of chickens keeps running out of household items. No one remembers to put it on the grocery list, so every time Mom chicken returns from her weekly shopping trip, they are always in need of something else. One day they have toothbrushes, but no toothpaste. They have pancakes, but no syrup (and improvise with ketchup!) And you really have to feel sorry for the little boy chick when he has lima beans, but no napkins to hide them in! Or when he gets stuck in the bathroom without any toilet paper!

This sounds just like our house. Anytime we run out of something, Daddio and I ask each other to remind us to either put it on the list, or pick it up at the store the next time we go. Well, no one EVER remembers to write it on the list, or if we do, there's never a pen around at that exact moment and we forget to do it later. Some weeks we have spaghetti, but no sauce. Other days we have hamburgers, but no rolls. Or I will get ready to bake cookies, but discover that we don't have any eggs! In an attempt at being a little more organized, I downloaded and printed this helpful "little" list* to have in front of me as I fill out my grocery list. Of course, this is only helpful when I can actually find where I put the list! It has been MIA now for several months, and I have yet to print out a new one.

But back to the book. One day, Mom chicken "flipped out"! They have macaroni, but no cheese, and peanut butter, but no jelly. So for dinner, she ends up making a peanut butter and pickled grub on macaroni casserole. I have to do this ALL the time! I'm constantly improvising my recipes and creatively substituting ingredients for the ones I forgot to get. Although, thankfully, I've never had to resort to a peanut butter and pickled grub on macaroni casserole. In another attempt at being more organized and less stressed when it comes time to planning dinner, I tried to plan out each meal for the week ahead of time. This also helped to ensure that I had all of the items I needed on hand. I listed everything that I would need for the week and made sure it was on the grocery list ahead of time. (Please note my use of the past tense. This lasted, maybe, 4 or 5 months).

The chicken household eventually gets more organized and everyone decides to help out Mom chicken with the grocery shopping. Sam and Owen think it's hilarious when the chickens decide not to eat any more pickled grubs and pack them up in a box to mail to Grandma. (I would imagine that pickled grubs would be our equivalent to...SPAM?) And they think it's super silly that the little boy chicken keeps putting "pony" on the grocery list, because everyone knows that you don't get ponies at a grocery store! This book has been one of their favorites this week and several times I have caught Sam "reading" it to Owen.  Too cute!



*This list has been updated since I first downloaded it! I will now be printing out this version for future reference. They also have a vegetarian version of the list. I recommend that you check out both versions, if not to use, then at least to check out the humor added to each.


**UPDATE: For a funny read, check out the book below, Milk Eggs Vodka. It's written by the folks who created the Ultimate Grocery List that I shared above. It's a collection of other people's grocery lists, spelling errors and all. Amazon.com allows you to take a look at an excerpt of several pages, and it's pretty humorous. I wonder at the type of person who is buying "buttmilk", "Oreo B", and "tush cleaner". LOL. 

Read to Me, Please!: Bumpety Bump

One of the books that I selected for Owen from the library this week is Bumpety Bump! by Pat Hutchins. I chose this book because it centers around a boy and his grandpa as they work on the farm.

The main premise to this story is that while the little boy and his grandpa are working on the farm, a little red hen follows them wherever they go. Along the way, the boy shows the little red hen what he is able to do, things like picking berries and pulling carrots. By the end of the story, the little red hen has stopped following the boy to show him what she can do. 

For the most part, this is a delightful book. The illustrations are bright and detailed and Owen has fun pointing to each vegetable as the boy in the book shows the hen what he can do. Owen likes to say the lines "bumpety bump bump- and the little red hen keeps following us, following us around" as they are repeated throughout the story. 

Grandpa books are a common theme of selection for us as Owen is Grandpa's boy through and through. Any time we go to visit Grandma and Grandpa, he immediately wants to go outside to "work" with Grandpa. "Work" usually consists of building things in Grandpa's workshop in the garage, tending to the vegetable garden, and taking care of the chickens.

Bumpety Bump! was the perfect choice for Owen as the boy in the story is just like him. He works with his grandfather all day, tending to the vegetables and the rest of the farm. Thanks to Grandpa's chickens, Owen is now fascinated by any chickens that he sees and loves searching for the little red hen on each page. This book has become Owen's first choice of books to take with him to bed this week for "quiet" time and bedtime. As soon as he crawls into bed, he has to make sure that he has the "Grandpa" book next to him!

My Little Bookworm

As an English teacher and an avid reader, one of my greatest desires for my boys is that they will enjoy reading. So far, I have had great success with Owen, although maybe a little too much.

About 6 1/2 months old and reading already!

Owen loves to read. Even when he was younger, less than a year old, I could put him in his crib with a couple of books for some "quiet time" and he would sit there, quietly reading his books for at least 20 minutes. (Which was also a nice break for me).

He can read upside down!

No book is too big of a challenge for Owen!

He loves being read to. One of the highlights of our week is story-hour at the library. We started going when he was a little under 2 years old. Right from the beginning, I was impressed at how well he behaved and how attentive he was to Miss Library as she read to the children. In a group of 18-36 month olds, the majority of the kids were constantly wiggling around on their carpet squares and looking at what was going on around them. Owen, however, was always glued to his carpet square, eyes on Miss Library, deeply engrossed in the story.

He reads catalogs.

And the comics.

Owen is now in the habit of reading before bedtime, a habit that I admit to getting him started on. When he started rebelling against taking naps, I tricked him into having "quiet time" instead. I told him that he didn't need to go to sleep, but he DID have to lay down and read his books for a while. It worked like a charm; he almost always falls asleep.

It must have been a pretty boring book.

When Owen gets into his bed for the night, he takes a couple of books and his flashlight with him. And here is where my desire for him to love reading comes back to bite me. The kid will read forever, literally for hours, before finally falling to sleep.

A required read for anyone experiencing their Terrible Twos.

Last night I went upstairs around 9:30 and noticed that his flashlight was still on. I peeked into his room because sometimes he will fall asleep with it on. This time, however, he was still awake, intently reading a book, with a pile of more books laying next to him. This is an issue that I'm torn on how to react to. I don't want to yell at him to stop reading and go to sleep because I want to encourage, not discourage, his desire to read. But at the same time, I don't want him to think that it is acceptable to be up reading until 10 pm every night.

I chose to play the sweet mommy. I kissed him on the cheek, and told him that I really like that he loves to read so much, but it was getting really late and he needed to go to bed. I told him that he could finish the book that he was reading, but then he had to turn off his flashlight and go to bed. Very sweetly, he told me that he would.

He didn't. He was still awake and reading at 10:00 pm. And the rest of us were paying for it today as he woke up at his usual time, and emerged from bed as Cranky-Owen. Lucky us.