In short, we highly recommend North Captiva island as a family vacation. Rent a house or condo on the beach. There are slight complications as island vacations do tend to have such as getting there by water taxi and correctly estimating a week’s worth of groceries but it is well worth it. And if you do, take some of these books with you!
Tag: books to read for children
Top 50: Best Multicultural Children’s Books
Every summer I stress out about what books to get for my kids that they will like but are also exposing them — as only books can do — to the wide world all around them both past, present and future. This summer, we are going to take a trip around the world by reading these multi-cultural books. What is great about this list is that it covers all the ages of my kids: from preschool through elementary school. I will be sneaky and check out these books for them and leave them strewn about the house for them to examine when they are bored. I will keep you posted on what books my kids actually liked because that is a whole ‘nother list! See you at the library!
SAT Vocabulary Words from Annie and the Wild Animals
The words for Week 11 are from the picture book, Annie and the Wild Animals by Jan Brett. I noticed that in my son’s Kindergarten room, the teacher or maybe literacy specialist, mounts a special poster with the cover of book and the list of vocabulary words from the book. They have a time called “Text Talk” where they read the story and talk about the big words. The words stay up all year so the children can look at them. Sometimes, the words come home via a handout to the parents in my child’s backpack, but times are tough and I think they are conserving on paper so I copied these words from the posters and made up the sentences myself. I find that this post is very popular so I will continue it on my own as my child is moving on first grade next year.
Top 10: Best Old Fashioned Easy Readers
While not all these books are from when I was young, they all have an old fashioned innocent feel. In fact, my number one pick, Ling and Ting: Not Exactly the Same! by Grace Lin reminds me so much of my favorite Little Bear series in that it has a tight story line that is both silly and sweet. Easy readers are a rite of passage for both kids and parents. I remember searching for easy readers that were not mind numbingly boring as both parent and child are attached at the hip during this period of literacy.
Top 5: Maurice Sendak Picture Books
Happy birthday to Maurice Sendak today, beloved author and Caldecott winning illustrator. To celebrate, I thought I would list our Top 5 favorite books of his. What are yours? Please share!
Top 100: Best Books for Kids by Teachers (for ages 2-18)
In 1999, the National Education Association created this list of 100 books selected by teachers for children and teens. It’s a great list for summer reading!
Top 10 Best #OwnVoices Chinese American Books for Kids and Teens
I chose these books because there was something special about each of them that helps me to connect to my Chinese roots and I hope that you enjoy them to, even if your ancestry isn’t Asian.