In today’s increasingly multicultural world, many children hear two or more languages being spoken on a daily basis. Studies have shown that children that grow up with more than one language outperform their peers in verbal and non-verbal skills, and perform better on standardized tests.
From The Bowen Cookbook from 1994. There was one “recipe” included by a parent that I thought you might enjoy.
How to Really Love a Child *
I am a little dismayed at how few Caldecott books I own so I am posting on the last decade in order to beef up my own collection which I shall purchase myself. So, for my birthday and mother’s day, I am going to ask for this collection of Caldecott books for our library. And all that talk in the New York Times about the diminishing sales of picture books? Well, I’ll help to turn that around! Which books are your favorites?
It’s a poem. It’s a novel. It’s funny. It teaches poetry. It is poetry. For ages 7-12. Highly recommended.
So Smart! Baby’s Begninngs Spanish is a great introduction for infants and toddlers. Simplistic, shape oriented animation is combined with catchy children’s songs from Latin America in a country-neutral accent. Thumbs Up!
What is it about ducks in picture books that always seems so appealing? Are ducks really so unusually clever as portrayed in these books? Or charismatic? Or just sweet and fluffy? I think all of the above is true! I found myself reading a pile of duck featured picture books to my son one night when he randomly brought me a small pile that included Duck for President and Duck on a Bike. And then I started the list in earnest. Turns out that it’s quite hard to find 10 excellent duck picture books so I had to add Little Bear, technically an easy reader to get 10. I hope that is OK with you! I guess what is stranger is that I happen to own most of these books and yet, no one in my family enjoys eating duck. Maybe that is what happens when you attach to an anthropomorphic character as appealing as a duck. My family also does not like to eat chicken. I wonder if we have 10 excellent picture books featuring chickens … stay tuned! How about you? What animal picture books are you reading over and over? Dogs, cats, mice, ducks, chickens?… Please share your favorites!
A few things coincided for this post. My middle daughter who is in 3rd grade told us at dinner that she’s learning sign language at school and proceeded to demonstrate the alphabet. She has had a hearing impaired student in her class for the last three years so I asked her if it is to help communicate with that child. She said, “yes.”