Reading is a hobby of mine. OK, only if we count spending half of your waking time on something you’re addicted to as a hobby. Continue reading
Tag Archives: books
Weekly Read: Goodnight, Goodnight Construction Site
It’s time for another installment in our occasional series, the “Weekly Read.” If you have little ones at home that a.) love dump trucks, excavators, and cranes and b.) don’t particularly enjoy bedtime, then Goodnight, Goodnight Construction Site is made just for you. Continue reading
Ringing in the Thanksgiving Season with Reading
Thanksgiving is only a week away!
Most likely you’re busy planning for company, traveling, and feasting. For adults this time of year can begin to feel overwhelming. Sometimes you just need to take a break. Continue reading
Giving the Gift of Literacy
Volunteering with Reach Out and Read lets 17-year-old Natalie DeLone combine her love of children with her love of books. Continue reading
Pearl and Wagner & Four Eyes & Pumpkin Heads – October Book of the Month
The October Book of the Month picks from Savvy Kids!
Summer Reading for Parents and Parents to Be: The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding
Each Monday we do a post about popular children’s books for summer reading. But today’s post is for parents and parents to be—or for anyone who wants to support babies and mothers. Continue reading
The Goat Woman of Smackover.
Beginning today, each week we will profile a children’s book here on the Savvy blog. We will especially try and focus on Arkansas-themed books. So if you have suggestions, please let us know!
Today’s book, The Goat Woman of Smackover, by Ramona Smith, is an Arkansas original. The author’s wonderful and quirky illustrations tell the story of Salome Millar Myers, an ex-Barnum and Bailey circus performer who made her home in Smackover where she lived with her husband in a circus carriage and raised goats. Her eccentric ways charmed both children and adults alike.
You can order the book online via Amazon or find it in several Arkansas book stores.
Tell us about your favorite Arkansas-themed children’s books!
Bear At Home Books
A favorite.
Every night before bed my sons pick out their evening books. I always let them decide, but there are a few books that I especially enjoy reading, even if it is for the one hundredth and sixty forth time.
The Bear series of books by Stella Blackstone are some of my favorites. The illustrations by Debbie Harter are layered with color and texture and I notice something new every time I look at them. In the book Bear’s Busy Family they are all preparing a feast for the youngest bear’s birthday. The family makes bread and pies together, showing how everyone in the family has a special job to honor the youngest one’s special day.
In Bear at Home Blackstone takes children through each room of Bear’s house as he explains to us the importance of brooms, books, and a clean kitchen. The dust flies from the broom like magic; the special reading nook is cozy and warm.
As with most children’s books, the appeal is in the simplicity. There’s something about the Bear series that reminds me to take note of the small things—the importance of making a pie, the ritual of reading before bed, and the fun in cleaning a kitchen. Okay, I still have a hard time enjoying cleaning the kitchen. But Mr. Bear in Bear at Home helps kids remember that dust flying from a broom is somehow magical.
What are some of your favorite books to read with your children?
Down Syndrome Awareness Day 2012
This is a video produced by Down Syndrome International, in support of those children with Down Syndrome who want nothing more than to get an education.
Each year the voice of people with Down syndrome, and those who live and work with them,
grows louder. Down Syndrome International encourages people all over the world to help raise awareness of what Down syndrome is, what it means to have Down syndrome and how people with Down syndrome play a vital role in our lives and communities.
All over the world, people are celebrating Down Syndrome Awareness Day and we at Savvy Kids would like to encourage you to do the same. What can you and your family do to help? We encourage you to talk to your children about people who you may know that have different abilities. It’s important that small children grow up with an understanding that we are all born with different abilities, and that no one is better or worse than anyone else.
Some books on the subject that you could read with your children are
My Friend has Down Syndrome, by Jennifer Moore-Mallinos; We’ll Paint the Octopus Red, by Stephanie Stuve-Bodeen, S. A. Bodeen and S. A. Bodeen and I Can, Can You? by Marjorie W. Pitzer.