This Week in Picture Books

We had a few big-time favorites this week! Our 1-year-old Book Reviewer absolutely loved No, David! and Firefighters: Speeding! Spraying! Saving! (which was such a favorite I had to renew it last week - so it's not pictured).

Here's what we read this week - in order of favorites!

Traditional Picture Books...

No, David! by David Shannon

This is a popular choice for the start of the school year. It's a great way to begin the conversation about rules and procedures in the classroom.

Squish (my one-year-old co-reviewer) particularly enjoys the number of times the book uses the word no! He loved the pictures (though Dad found them to be a little creepy). As I said, this book was a HUGE favorite and was requested very regularly! In fact, when we came back from the library, I think he was looking for it in the stack of new books... Oops!

This book tends to be a winner for children ages 1 - grade 2, obviously depending on the child. Be careful if you're reading it to little ones who haven't discovered nose-picking yet... Our realization of that possibility happened when reading a book...

Zoe's Hats by Sharon Lane Holm

Oh how I love this book! When I get back into the classroom, I will definitely be using it! I'm thinking of creating a unit around this book - crafts, patterning, Reader's Theater inspired by Caps for Sale, center activities... Did I mention my love of this book!?

At first glance, this book is incredibly simple - one hat per page, just a couple words. Skills practice (identify colors, etc) at the end (Full disclosure, we didn't read that part!). But the beauty of books is that with just a couple words, you can create something amazing and funny! So in addition to being an excellent early childhood read, it would be fantastic as a mentor text for Writing Workshop. I'd probably use it in 2nd-4th grade to focus on the value of choosing words wisely, but there are a million things you could do.

It was also a favorite read here at home. Bonus: We can now identify the color blue! (or at least the blue hat in the book!)

Sheep on a Ship by Nancy Shaw
This one has similar feel to the other sheep books. It's almost poetic, with each page rhyming and could be used for developing inference skills using the illustrations.

Neither of us were particularly enthralled by this one, though we do really enjoy reading Sheep in a Jeep several times a week.

There Was an Old Lady who Swallowed a Clover by Lucille Colandro

This is a cute concept, obviously playing on There Was an Old Lady who Swallowed a Fly. The repetitive language would definitely be a hit with some young readers. It just wasn't suited to our particular tastes. I found it to be a bit of a stretch in terms of the rhythm of the poetry, which happens to be a personal pet peeve. If that doesn't bug you, this might be a better fit for you.

Squish was not a fan. He didn't make it through the first page and didn't want to attempt it more than twice.

Board Books...

Diggers and Dumpers
A book all about different kinds of trucks - who could ask for anything more!? We read it about 10 times, and then someone put it in a safe place while I started dinner... and it's never been seen again. Any bets where I might find it? We've looked in all the favorite book storage places: cabinets, drawers, the fridge...

In any case, this is a great read for little ones who just love trucks! I love that it's an informational text geared for this age group - that's such a rare and important literary treat!

Llama Llama Wakey-Wake
Who doesn't love Llama Llama books? This one is as wonderful as the others! It was especially fun to read at the start of the day or right after nap time. Squish requested it several times a day.

My Shapes
This was fun to read. It's simple and repetitive, with the shape on one page and a related object on the opposite page. It was fun to point out the shapes within the object, and I really liked that they included several of the shape. We like to point at things in books (especially stars!), so this was especially fun! I also liked the challenge of reading in Spanish - it's good for little ones to hear different languages, and it's good for them to see grown-ups learning. So, this was a win in many different ways!

Lucky Leprechaun
Such a cute seasonal text! You probably can't tell from the picture, but the gold is shiny! Each page has a shiny element, which I though was a really fun way to engage little ones. Unfortunately, it didn't work out that way in our house. I suspect that is more an issue of personal taste than anything else.

Joseph and the Coat of Many Colors
I've been trying so hard to find Bible stories told in a toddler-friendly way. This seemed like a great option, but it was just too long. The pictures didn't have enough variety to engage little learners the way the other books did. Neither one of us made it through more than a couple pages (apparently my attention-span matched the toddler's this week!).

A Lenten Fasting Experience for Children

Lent can be a tricky time for adult leaders.  We want our children to grasp the full power of God's love for them.  We want them to know that He gave His Son so that we might be forgiven.  It's a powerful idea with some fairly graphic and not so child-friendly images.  At the same time, there is such power in understanding this incredible sacrifice, and many of us want our kids to be drawn closer to Him by developing a deeper understanding of this incredible, awe-inspiring love.

The beauty of childhood is that many children already have a bigger understanding of God's love than we realize, because they do not live with the knowledge of limitations that many adults carry with them.  For children, God's love being all around them can be a very real thing.

In my return to the classroom this year, I realized that a lot of learning takes place when the teacher sets up the environment and steps out of the way.  With that in mind, I've created this Lenten lesson plan for elementary children.  It is designed to be started on Ash Wednesday, if you are in a school setting, or on the first Sunday of Lent, if you are in a church.

Introduction:
Leader:  Lent is a time when we remember that Jesus made a huge sacrifice, so we could be forgiven.  One of the ways we can draw closer to God during this Lenten season is to fast from something.  Some people choose to fast from a particular food or food group.  Others fast from video games, TV, or something else they do or use daily.  Today, we are going to consider the idea of fasting.  If you were going to choose to fast, what might you fast from?

Work together with the children to create a chart of things you could fast from.

Activity:
Leader: These are some great ideas of things we could fast from.  Now, I want you to think about how you would like to draw closer to God during the next few weeks of Lent.  I'm going to turn on some music as we think about which of these choices might be a good fit for us or if there is something else we'd like to do.

As always, we begin with prayer.  If we are hoping to spend a few weeks drawing closer to God, we definitely want to begin with a conversation with Him!

When you know how you'd like to focus the next few weeks, pick up an egg & choose a piece of paper and a marker.  On the paper, write or draw your choice, then put it in your egg.  You can write your name on the outside of the egg, then spend some time in silence.  You can pray, think, or meditate.

At the end of the song, we'll bring our eggs together for a group prayer.

Turn on the music and allow the children to complete the activity.  Be sure to do the same.  A few music options are: Draw Me Close to You by Hillsong, How He Loves by David Crowder Band, and What Wondrous Love is This? by Chelsea Moon.  All are available through YouTube.

Closing:
Collect the eggs in a basket and form a circle with the basket in the center.  Hold hands and pray.  Here is a prayer idea, if you need one:
Father, we thank you for your unfailing love and presence in our lives.  We are so grateful for Jesus incredible sacrifice for us and the forgiveness of our sins.  We hope to spend this Lenten season drawing closer and closer to you.  Please help us to come to you in prayer each time we would have used whatever it was we are fasting from.  Help us to learn from you and know you more and more each day.  We love you, and we praise you.  Amen.

Easter Celebration:
When Easter arrives, distribute the eggs and reflect on how the fasting experience helped you draw closer to Christ.  You might consider spending some time drawing or writing about the experience.  In a school setting, this would be a great journal or free writing piece.

Here are a few reflection questions you could use in small or large group:
- Were you able to fast the whole time?
- What did you do when you REALLY wanted the thing you were fasting from?
- How did this help you grow closer to Christ?
- In what ways does this compare to Christ's sacrifice for us?

Alternate:
Of course, this idea came to me on Good Friday, so if you don't want to wait a whole year to try it, you might consider doing something big (no TV, no technology etc) just for the weekend.  Of course, it becomes important in this case to remind children not to fast from food, water, or any other basic needs for the whole weekend.  This would also be a great option for something to do as a whole family!