Two Blogs I Am Loving

My friend, Papa M and his son, B flew to South Africa to watch the World Cup. I gave you the link on facebook and hopefully you have already been following them. They started a blog together to both comment on the games they watch live and on TV as well as their travels around the country! It is a wonderful thing to read together with your kids!

The Literary Family is part of the kidslitophere. On this list serve are many different blogs about children's literature. I found one that I love with book reviews of wonderful books! The blogger at AAkidsBookTalks feature books that are about African Americans! Check out these great books and add them to your libraries at home!

Enjoy the read!

A Wonderful Non-Fiction Series!

Incredible Ocean!: Eye-Opening Photos of Life Underwater by PlayBac

Last week I was in Florida visiting my family. My nephew and sister flew in from Italy to spend a couple of weeks seaside with the family. I went down to visit and brought with me, Incredible Ocean! My nephew- in one day- had soaked in the amazing photographs and brief descriptions of these fascinating creatures in the ocean. We live right by the aquarium and my nephew is obsessed with dolphins and whales! So this book was perfect! He absorbed the specific vocabulary and was able to retell to me - after one read- all these interesting little tidbits about these wonderful animals.

Snuggle up on the sofa and spend hours studying the photographs and learning about the deep ocean. This is a wonderful new series that will for sure help all of us understand and learn more about the world!

Enjoy the read, enjoy the learning!

Gooooooooooal!

Can the World Cup in Soccer be considered a literary event? I think, yes! Absolutely!
My family, especially my sister and I, have become big World Cup watching fans since the 1994 games. We have evening viewing with different friends, filled with food and fun, shouting and cheering at televisions.

This year will be my nephew's first World Cup games. He and his babysitter, Super A, are big soccer players themselves. In the summer, they 'train' together. My nephew loves to read about soccer as well. Let's Play Soccer, last summer, became a favorite to read just before nap time!

For most of the games we all will be at my parent's house and I am sure soccer will be on most of the time! What a great time to learn, not just about soccer but about different places in the world!


For one, the games are being played in South Africa! There will also be 32 different countries participating. Bring your computers out as you are watching the matches! Surf the Internet for photos and short articles of the different places. Research together the places where they are playing the matches and where the teams are from.

Search the Internet for data and statistics about the teams and the players. get to know them - not only by watch the games but by reading information together about the games and the players and the places!

Who will you cheer for? In my family we are big fans of the Brazilian team, but often we root for the underdogs! My nephew will have just gotten back from a vacation in Italy, so my guess is he will have the reigning champs in his heart!

Soccer too can be a literary bonding event! Enjoy the games! Enjoy the reads!

Host a Literary Party: A Book Swap

It's summertime, a perfect time to begin to make your summer reading lists. A great way to think about what to read, is a really good book recommendation.

My friend, Auntie J and I were talking about starting up a book club for ourselves and good friends. But the truth is, many times, we don't all want to read the same book at the same time in time to discuss it at a formal meeting.

What we ended up forming is what we call, The Accidental Book Club. It is a group of us who love to read books and then we pass on to each other the books we especially love. Then we all, after a couple of months end up reading some of the same books! We decided that we should have 'monthly meetings' with the ABC, to be able to have a 'book swap'. Instead of everyone talking about one book, we will talk about and exchange many books!

Accidental Book Club #2

Why not have a literary party with kids. Have them all bring their favorite books that they have recently read, whether it be a board book or picture book they have read a zillion times or a novel they just finished. They can tell each other why they loved it and then swap it for a new book that one of their friends read. Have some snacks on hand. Maybe even the adults can swap books too! Make it a family event! A party of books!

Enjoy.

Letters and Mail

After spending a nice weekend or little vacation with my nephew always sparks a need to remain in communication with him, even long distance. My nephew, as you know, loves to 'skype' his long distance family!

Growing up in Michigan, my dad and I always enjoyed checking the mail for great letters sent from far away. my great-aunt Odie and I for years used to send each other letters. Letters these days, through the US Mailing system is called, snail mail. I was thinking about how nice it would be for my nephew to experience receiving mail, and reading a handwritten letter.

So I've decided, post-trip/visitation, I would send a series of letters for him- via snail mail. My mom made him his own, 'mail box' inside to keep the letters by 'his desk'. Now my nephew has his stacks of letters I've sent him so that he can remember our 'times' together and think of me whenever he sees them and reads them.

Send your loved ones letters! They can hold on to your words, thoughts, and memories even when you live long distance!

Creating Poetry in A Hammock

Little Boy J and I were relaxing in the hammock out back near the pool. We snuggled close and LBJ said, "Wrap me up in a towel!" After he got all wrapped up he said, "I am like a burrito wrapped up in a towel."

I told him, "That sounds like poetry! Let's make a poem!" LBJ smiled and said, "Yeh, let's write a poem in the air."

So we started to 'write one in the air'.



I am wrapped up in towels
like a burrito
sitting in the hammock
looking up at the pine-coned tree
waiting for an airplane to fly by.

Curl up under a tree. Dip your feet in a pool. Walk gingerly around a garden. Write your poems together 'in the air' and let the sound of words fill up the beautiful space between you.

Enjoy! Summer is here!

Kids Love Jazz

Kids love Jazz music. This CD, Jazz for Kids, is one of my nephew's favorites (and my sister's as well). There are a whole series of biographies of famous jazz artists for young children.

My nephew has a few! Sean Qualls has illustrated many. One about Ella and one about John Coltrane.
Before John Was A Jazz Giant and Skit Skat Raggedy Cat.

Introduce your kids to the sounds and people of Jazz!