Library "Daze" - Spring and other things

So today was baby bookworm's first day of toddler story time.  It actually ended up being fairly similar to the baby story time she was used to: 2 books, nursey rhymes and songs, followed by a play and socialization session.  The main exception was that the room was packed!  But, it was the first session for the Spring so my guess is that it won't be quite as crowded every other week.  One of the books that was read today was one that baby bookworm particiularly enjoyed because the mouse charater was one she recognized from a book we have at home. "Mouse" is the star in a series of books, including Mouse's First Spring which was read today. This is a great series to help your child build comprehension and vocabulary because you can introduce a bunch of topics such as: Christmas, Fall, School, Halloween, Valentine's Day, Snow, Summer....and the list goes on.  They are mostly, if not all, titled "Mouse's First....".  We have Mouse's First Halloween and ironically we read it this morning before story time.  It's a big favorite (gosh, I feel like I say that often though!).  We read it at least a hundred times at Halloween, but I'm always pleased to see how much baby bookworm remembers from a book that we haven't read in awhile.

After story time we perused the bookshelves as usual, and walked away with 5 books:

1). My Beak, Your Beak
by Melanie Walsh
copyright 2002

This is a good book for babies and toddlers with lots of bright colors and few words.  I picked it because we had read another book by this author called My Nose, Your Nose that baby bookworm enjoyed.  So far with one read through under our belt, this book has not disappointed and captivated my little one's attention from cover to cover.

2). Let's Go to Sleep! (part of the Good Habits with Coco and Tula series)
written and illustrated by Patricia Geis
copyright 2010

This is a board book that my bookworm picked out, but hey, I'm not going to argue with "Let's Go to Sleep!"  There are several other titles in this series that would seem to be very useful to a parent with a toddler: Good-bye Diaper, Good-bye Pacifier (hmmm...this might be our next read), Let's Help, Let's Get Well, Let's Get Dressed, Let's Wash Up, and Let's Eat.

3). Earrings!
by Judith Viorst and illustrated by Nola Langner Malone
copyright 1990

Judith Viorst is a popular children's book author and most famously, I believe, known for the book in #4.  This book appealed to me because baby bookworm is fascinated with my earrings (she can now say earring sorta successfully), and I really would love to get her ears pierced soon.  The book just seemed fun.  Thus far we've read about half...it is long, and probably a book for an elementary school child.  I think if I put enough expression into the story though I may be able to get my bookworm more interested.  If not, oh well, at least I enjoyed it!

4). Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day
by Judith Viorst and illustrated by Ray Cruz
copyright 1972

I selfishly picked this book because it's one of my all-time favorites.  It just gives me a very nostalgic feeling.  Pretty much no chance baby bookworm will sit still for it, but maybe, just maybe if she hears bits and pieces of it from time to time she'll grow to love it too.  Once she hits preschool I bet it will be one of her favorites. 

5). Awesome Book of Thanks!
by Dallas Clayton
copyright 2010

I am trying to get baby bookworm to learn some manners.  You know, her pleases, and thank yous.  So this book seemed perfect, and it looked pretty brand new (I love discovering new gems).  Well, we read this book once so far, and I LOVE it.  Pictures are colorful and lively.  It is very long, but it does rhyme and therefore has a sing-songiness that my bookworm likes.  The book is published by Amazon Encore, and the author is the creator of The Awesome World Foundation which donates books to kids in need (OK, that's pretty awesome).  Shouldn't everyone be trying to make this world a better place?  You go Dallas Clayton, thank you.  Can't wait to check out: veryawesomeworld.com. 

One added bonus to the toddler story time today was some literature for parents on literacy and phonemic awareness, and I REALLY liked one article in particular titled: "Why Children Master Using Words When They Do" by Lauran Neergaard.  According to this article professor Bob McMurrary believes that talking and reading to a child is the key to boosting language and vocabulary in children, not necessarily some brain mechanism that is suddenly triggered.  He states in the article, "Children are soaking up everything...you might use serendipity to a child. It will take that child maybe hundreds of exposures, or thousands, to learn what serendipity means.  So why not start early?"  My sentiments exactly!

Memories of Me: Strengthening Memory Skills Through Photo Books

One of baby bookworm’s favorite books isn’t one that we borrowed from the library or bought at a book store, or any store for that matter.  It’s one that I spent many, many hours making this past December as a Christmas gift for her.  The book is titled “The First Year” and contains pictures from her life in chronological order from birth through her first birthday (you’re saying, “duh” right about now I know).  I created a story that goes along with the pictures so that we can actually read it like a book, and this of course provides me with documentation of those first months of life (wow, baby bookworm said “dada” at 5 ½ months?) that I am sure to forget when I’m 50…..or 35…….or maybe even tomorrow. I know that thanks to infantile amnesia baby bookworm won’t remember going to the pumpkin patch, her first trip to the zoo, or her first birthday – so this book provides important autobiographical memories for her too.

If you don’t have a book similar to this one for your own baby bookworm, I definitely encourage you to make one.  I mean, you might as well put those millions of pictures you have of your baby to good and educational use (it truly is amazing how you can have SO MANY pictures of the same little face).  I created mine as a photo book through Kodak Gallery, but you could just as easily paste some photos on to construction paper, write a few captions or a more detailed story, and then staple the pages together.  And if you’re really crafty or artistic and have older children, I’m sure they would find it really fun to be a part of this art project. 

Aside from this being a fun book to read, it truly is very educational!  And probably more than you realize.  Discussing memories or events that have real meaning to your child will help him or her develop autobiographical memory, build and maintain their own memories of the past, and develop a sense of “self”.  Be sure to discuss what you see in the pictures with your baby bookworm, and really try to relive the experiences - be a “storyteller” so to speak (which also conveniently helps baby learn important language skills about how to structure their own narratives, and also expands vocabulary).

Here’s just a few other ideas about how to enhance your baby bookworm’s memory skills:    

1. Remember those millions of videos that you’ve taken, in addition to those millions of pictures; well, pull them out & watch them!  These also provide valuable memory tools, help baby develop a sense of self by hearing and seeing him or herself in action, and help to sharpen language skills.
2. You know those recordable books sold in Hallmark? Turns out they not only make a great gift but encourage all of the same skills mentioned in #1.  Not a bad use of $20 after all.
3. Create flash cards with photos of important people in your child’s life.
4. We all have photos displayed throughout our homes, but remember your baby is small!  Try to find a hidden wall space where you can display a few photos at baby’s eye level.  We have a photo collage in baby bookworm’s room.  I used clear contact paper to adhere the photos to the wall.  It seriously is one of baby bookworm’s favorite spots in the room.

Library "Daze" -- Creating a Library Ritual

Ever since she was 4 months old, my baby bookworm and I have visited our local library on a weekly basis.  In the beginning our trips were really about me - I was looking for a good reason to get out of the house (and not spend money), but over time they have really evolved into a mother daughter ritual that we both look forward to each week.  I have always had a love affair with libraries, and I think baby bookworm is beginning to have one too.  Today she told me that she was "excited" as we arrived, and I was excited too - our visit meant new books to read, new things to learn, and new topics to blog about.

Our library ritual for the past year has involved 1) attending the baby story time, 2) play time with other baby and mommy/daddy/nanny pairs, and 3) time spent looking for new books (which is my favorite part)!  So, I thought it might be nice each week to have a blog entry about our weekly adventure to the library, our library day or "daze" if you would. At the very least I think this recurring entry will be a great way to document all of the books that baby bookworm has read (from the library anyway) and my thought processes for choosing these books.

Today our normal ritual changed a little bit, as baby bookworm has now graduated from the baby story time to the toddler or family story time.  The family story time we attended was focused around the topic of Spring; despite the cold and rainy weather it was, alas, the first day of Spring.  To be honest, I have no idea what books were read because I was too busy trying to keep baby bookworm from losing all attention in the activities and stories, a task which was not easy.  The books were not geared toward baby bookworms' age but I thought she did a better than average job at being a good little 15-month listener who was surrounded by children who were in some cases 3 times her age.

After story time, we found a couple of books for the week.  Normally I would have gotten more than 2, but considering I had checked out a huge cookbook for myself, I didn't feel like carrying around a load of books.  The first book we checked out was one that baby bookworm picked out herself.  I think it's important to let her find one book that she's naturally drawn to, for whatever reason.  Not surprisingly, it was an animal book.  The second book we checked out was a letter sound book on the letter d.  Although a skill that is advanced for a 15 month old, baby bookworm has really developed a liking for letters, and knows many of their sounds.  I figured I could reinforce these letter sound associations, which are an important precursor to learning how to read, with this wonderful book series.  I chose the letter d since baby bookworm knows that d makes the "d..d" sound, and "dada" was her first word.

So, here's our library selections for the week.  I think the Splash Splash book will become a favorite, and I'm looking forward to seeing how baby bookworm does with her first sound box book.  There's a lot of words in this book but the pictures are simple, and all things that she can easily identify and can most likely say.  I plan on trying to find our own "d" words in magazines and making a collage as a fun mid-week activity.

Splash, Splash
by Jeff Sheppard and illustrated by Dennis Panek
copyright 1994
A fun book about animals who fall in water and "splash, splash".  It is a great book for toddlers, and would be very appropriate to use as a part of a lesson on animal sounds.

My "d" Sound Box
by Jane Belk Moncure and illustrated by Linda Sommers
copyright 1978
Part of a series of "Sound Box" books that teaches children letter-sound associations through alliteration.  Would be a great book for a kindergarten student, or for younger children who are learning object recognition and word-object pairs (the book has great object labels).

Our D collage that we made from a Pottery Barn Catalogue


I am such an advocate for FREE public libraries and their programming.  We are very lucky to have several excellent ones close by to us.  I hope you are inspired to check yours out soon, if you aren't already a regular at it.