Reading in a Series in French

I have been building up my nephew's library at home. He now has officially taken over the complete last two shelves (three if you count the stacking of books under the shelves) of my sister's floor to ceiling bookshelf that takes up the entire living room wall. While I feel quite proud, about a third of his library is now in French. My nephew is bilingual. To support his linguistic development in his second language, I have been diligent to find books in French that hold his interest, introduce him to new and challenging vocabulary, and that span both story, poetry, and non fiction texts. I buy him books that his mother (who is fluent in French) and his babysitters can read to him with no problem. I also have bought him books that I can read to him (ones that are a bit simpler for the novice French speaker).

I found many series that he has absolutely fallen in love with that I can read too. Our two favorites are: Crocolou and the Petit Garcon series. Crocolou's books are simple stories all about a little crocodile named, Crocolou. Each book centers around another thing that he loves: Crocolou aime sa mama, Crocolou aime l'ecole etc. With a few re-readings of these books my nephew has been able to "learn" them and fill in the blanks, quickly and easily when i make dramatic pauses for him to chime in. Even as simple as these books are, they still introduce new vocabulary to us!

The Petit Garcon series are fun. Each one is about another little boy enjoying some sort of transportation: Le Train de Bastien, La Moto de Marco, L'Avion de Gaston etc. They also rhyme. This makes it fun for my nephew to listen to but also easier for me to read with the rhythm!

If your kids are bilingual, make sure you have the books in both languages in your house! Read them together! Bilingualism is a gift to be treasured! Spend time in the "not so dominate" language together.

If you are not bilingual, but enjoy languages and want the kids in your lives to enjoy languages too, buy books in foreign languages. Read them with your child. Study the pictures hard! Reading is a great way to learn a language and to develop appreciation for different languages. Be brave! Dive right in! Pick up a children's book in a language you studied in high school or college- practice reading it and then share it with a child! Have fun.

Make Your Own Interactive Memory Book

This year, after visiting my nephew for three weeks, I left with him a 'memory book'. This book I have left blank spaces under each of our amazing things that we have done, for him to fill in the pictures. His drawing has improved so much over the year. He now makes representational shapes that really match the object he is drawing. He made an incredible Beluga Whale this summer that will now hang in my office. Hopefully over the days, until I see him next, he will make pictures that match the things that we did. Fortunately, I also snapped a few photos that I can bring and paste into the memory book as well. But why not make it interactive!

Hope you are enjoying your summer with the kids in your lives!

Life: Acting Real Life Out

When you ask my nephew what his favorite videos are, he now replies, "Planet Earth, Life, Galapagos (en francais) and T'choupi (en francais aussi). Life, is another version of Planet Earth, narrated by Oprah Winfrey. It is a beautiful display of wildlife across the globe.

My nephew, in true 3 year old form, enjoys acting the different scenes. He gets his animal critters out of the toy box and begins to explore, who hunts who? Hunting and Hunted is his favorite episode. Unfortunately we don't have an ostrich for the cheetah to eat nor do we have a "cheetah deer" for the tiger. Luckily he can improvise. Sometimes he enjoys acting out the videos without props and just take on the animal personalities himself. He ropes in other 'actors', like myself to play different roles.

From Galapagos, one of his favorite scenes is watching the giant predatory birds hunt for iguanas, swimming in the sea.

The videos have been amazing to develop quite a large and specific vocabulary and to introduce the concept of "interdependence". Acting out before, during or after, is a great way to have a 'conversation' with kids about what they are understanding and thinking about while watching videos!

Enjoy the stage with your kids! Enjoy Life!

Observation Journals

My nephew, sister and I recently went to the science museum/aquarium in Burlington. There were wonderful fish, frogs and reptiles to observe. There was a wonderful hands on project: dissecting owl pellets. My nephew discovered lots of skulls and bones! In the resource center there were other tanks and animals, along with books and puppets and the like to really get another up close vision of wildlife.

At the tank there was a snake inside. Interesting enough, there was a journal right next to it. It was filled with comments and observations and questions from many different visitors of different ages. We looked and observed not only in the tank but we reread all the comments made across time about this snake. It was fascinating!

What a wonderful idea. You could have a notebook/sketch book set up in your home, next to a plant, a terrarium or aquarium in your home. You and your child could observe and note take. When you have guests come to your house you can urge them to "leave a note" in your observation journal. What a fun thing to keep- just like a real scientist. What a neat thing to look back over and read!

Singing in the Car

Needless to say, on our journey north, we had many hours to 'kill' in the car! No worries, because Auntie brought lots of music to pass the time away. Of course we brought our favorite, They Might Be Giants (1,2,3 and Here Comes Science).

We also brought a new favorite- Pete Seeger's CD- Stories and Songs For Little Children. My nephew "studied" PS in his school. He is one of their 'heroes'. He made a little Banjo and loves to 'strum i' and sing Skip to My Lou. So we definitely took that with us.

We also took a new cd in french, Un Tresor Dans Mon Jardin. A series of beautiful songs and poems all in French. Big Girl Jas and my nephew enjoyed this cd immensely. Even though BGJ doesn't speak French, she appreciates the sounds and languages from everywhere. She too is bilingual, English and Spanish. Since the two kids are both bilingual they had a lot of discussion about languages and translating. BGJ picked out her favorite song on the album- Comptine pour endormir un enfants.

We can't leave home with Father Goose and Dan Zane. So we brought - Catch the Train and It's a Bam Bam Diddly. There is Haitian Creole, Zulu and Spanish! BGJ enjoyed singing and translating that one - Mariposa Ole!- for everyone.

Don't forget your music in the car!

Telling and Swapping Stories that Matter

In between lake and pool, tennis and shuffle board, we had some time on our hands to share stories. Mommy R loves to tell stories too! But she doesn't just tell any story. Many of her stories she tells, ends of teaching us all something. They all sound vaguely familiar, but are not 'real stories' but certainly ones we can relate to.

Mommy R asks everyone who is going to listen to the story if they want to be in the story or not. My nephew decided yes. Big Girl Jas decided no. All that meant was that Mommy R would tell a story with your name in it. But it was sure to be 'fictional'. One of the stories that Mommy R told was a story about my nephew, and his friend, "Hakim" (aka my nephew's doll's name). It was a story about how "Hakim" didn't like to play tennis. He found it very frustrating. He got very angry. "My nephew's character" had to think of a way to included him and to help him not be frustrated.

Can you imagine a real episode like this? I truly can. It was interesting to see how the two kids listened to this story and how they re- thought about the time we played tennis. Telling stories help you to hold on to memories and to also work out the problems and issues in our lives- no matter how small or big!

Dancing and Singing Your Own Tunes

The nephew, sister and I drove up to Mont Tremblant and we invited our friends, Mommy R and Big Girl Jas with us! Up in our chalet- over looking the mountains and lake we were granted several dancing and singing performances from the kids. An almost 8 year old is heaven to a 3 year old! They had such a blast. BGJ would take the nephew in another room, and "teach him" his steps and the song that they were performing. In about 2 minutes the little nephew had to learn a lot, or just follow her lead. We were serenaded by, "These are a few of my favorite things..." and "I'm am sixteen going seventeen..." and "I close my eyes, pull back the curtain..."

I have to say my favorites were the ones that they made up. BGJ had a few that she sang. One I think was titled, "Swan Lake". My nephew did one in English and one in French, both I believe titled, "Fire Truck"/ "Camion Pompier". Can you imagine what happens in that song/rap? Yes, lots of crashing!

Everyday was a series of songs that we got to watch and appreciate. What a nice time to pass together (and bond!). Writing is a great way to hold on to your memories. You can write your stories down in a memory notebook- or why not your new songs! Who knows, you may have an album in the works!

Coming Home From Vacation

I am back from Costa Rica. A week of bliss truly! I was staying in a beautiful little-itty- bitty town, Santa Teresa. As I was getting ready to go I was thinking, how will I share this with my nephew? What can I bring him? There were no bookstores here to find a book on Costa Rica. I thought that the airport might have a little, 'recuerdo', that I wold be able to bring back. As I walked along the shores with my friend B we were picking up and noticing the wonderful rocks and beautiful shells.

We found many sand dollars! That of course sparked another line of questions, what exactly is a sand dollar!?

They are so beautiful and have such precision and beauty in their design. We found so many of them on the beach, they looked unreal.

So I decided to bring my nephew back a sand dollar. We started to discuss, what is a sand dollar? "A sea urchin", I began. "It is like the left over skeleton of a sea urchin."

"What's a sea urchin?" my nephew replied. And so the conversation has started. We got the computer open to start searching for the different kinds of sea urchins and what they look like and how they move. "How do they move on it's spine? What do they eat? Why do they look like that?"

Gifts come in all shape and sizes. How you talk about them and let the gifts grow into something larger is all up to you! Hope you are enjoying your summer and reading!

Framboise!

So, the nephew and I and his day care- all went raspberry picking yesterday in the Canadian heat! Mama R doused us in natural lavender bug spray and off we went to pick. Mama R taught us to pick the truly red berries, not the pink ones. My nephew quickly became an expert! He filled his bucket and his tummy at the same time.

Today they are making, confiture. Mama R wanted all the kids to know the process it takes to make jam! So, all the kids picked the berries, and today they will make the jam. They will have been a part of each and every step of the process. The farm also had goats, sheep and lambs, a llama, chickens, ponies and rabbits. My nephew quickly fell in love. He loves feeding the animals.

These kinds of experiences, visiting a farm, going picking berries, and cooking help to build knowledge and love for the world we live. It also sparks a new reading interest. Books can introduce you to places, new people, and great new activities! Experiences, out in the world, help to introduce you to new passions and interests to continue researching in books! Field trips, outings, exploring the natural are all entry points into new content and new books.

Bobbie Kalman has some beautiful books about the natural world that have inviting photo and wonderful text and information to read. She also does a nice job with diagrams, charts, and maps that help kids put together the information.

My nephew recently went to Orlando with his grandparents and visited Sea World. He is sure that he wants to be a diver. He wants to study whales. The interest has sparked a lot of 'play acting' and reading about orcas and dolphins and all things ocean. It has also helped to introduce him to a whole new vocabulary.

Going to the farm, has done the same thing! It has sparked an interest in plants and in farm animals. It has triggered interest, new reading material and a whole set of questions that he now wants to pursue.

Today he is making raspberry jam. He will make it and eat it! Later he will retell the whole process to the family! Then we will look up the raspberry plants and we will open our plant books to think about plants and how they are important to us and the world.

Here is a recipe for jam to make some at your house. If Mama R gives us her recipe, we will pass it on to you!

Enjoy the world! Get out and explore! Maybe it will just be your back yard or a patch of sidewalk, maybe even mountain. Enjoy the read.

Viva Espana

We did. We watched soccer all afternoon. We went over to our friends' giant loft, J and C, to see the match. It was perfect for us. My nephew lasted the whole game, reenacting much of the 'drama' in the game. After seeing player after player 'dive' for the ball, he too then (with me) would act out the scene of how it happened. We are glad we stayed to watched the entire game- to even see Spain finally make the winning gooooooal!

We came ready. We brought all of my nephew's soccer books, including a couple of new ones. They came in handy, especially at half time. We brought our biography of Pele. We also brought Let's Play Soccer.

His new book, Goal! is a story about young boys playing soccer in South Africa. His other new one is a simple Hello Reader, Soccer Game! about kids playing the game as well.

After the game, we drove the park, where the cars kept streaming by with the flags and a lot of honking! I hope you all enjoyed the world cup as much as we did and learned a lot about the world like we did as well! It happens once every 4 years. Next WC, my nephew will be 7!

Enjoy the read! Enjoy your summer!

Celebrate Every Family

Books help to shape how you see yourself and others in the world. To many of us, reading books about kids and people from diverse backgrounds is important. We both want to create positive self images and to understand and grow positive images of others. Reading about families that look and sound like yours, help you to see yourself in the world. Reading about families that are different then your own, helps you to understand others in your communities!

My friends, in California, who adopted twin three year olds and who have a beautiful 2 year old girl, asked me about the library I am creating for my nephew. They wanted to know mostly about his books that celebrate a diversity of ethnicities and families. They wanted some good titles of books that feature kids of color.

My sister and I have tried to find books that not only celebrate diversity within a family- but that also celebrates diversity of what "makes up" a family!

For my nephew’s library I have collected a few books that help to highlight these things about our family values. I got him, Families by Susan Kuklin. This book is a series of photo essays of kids and their families at home. The kids are from diverse backgrounds and blended families.

Another favorite of my nephew is the book, Black is Brown is Tan, a poetry book by Arnold Adoff. Arnold is poet extraordinaire. He is married to Virginia Hamilton, another famous YA novelist. This poem is a celebration of their family. My nephew can listen to this book 3 times in a row! He has loved it ever since he was little.

We also have, What a Family by Rachel Isadora. My nephew likes to read this book and then we open up our photo albums of our family. We read them side by side and talk about everyone in our family.

More More More Said the Baby, by Vera B Williams, is another favorite of my nephew. He runs the house as if he is little guy and little pumpkin! He references the book often in his play and loves to be chased!

My nephew, ever since he was a baby, has loved loved Shades of Black! It is not a story, rather a list and beautiful set of photos of kids. He loves listening to the lyrical language and reading about kids! This was one of the first books he memorized!

Who’s Toes Are Those and Who’s Knees Are These, were two books he read repeatedly in daycare. We decided he needed them at home too! Brown Angels is one of my favorite poems, (made into a picture book), by Walter Dean Meyers.

Two of my nephew’s favorite picture books, that feature illustrations of kids of color are Looking For a Moose and Subway Anatasia Suen. When our friends had their baby, we got my nephew and their son, I'm Your Peanut Butter Big Brother, by Selina Alko.

Look for books that reflect your family’s heritage, family structure and values! Look for books that introduce your kids to other backgrounds, family structures and values! Open your lives to celebrating families of all kinds and you will open the world to your kids!

A List of More Books to Look Up and Add to Your Library!

Traveling with a Pre-Teen #3: What Books Would You Pick Out?

Auntie CC and I took the girls out on a literary extravaganza! We headed first to the Science Center here in Seattle and then over to Elliot Bay Bookstore in Pioneer Square. A wonderful bookstore that Mama J and Little Moon took me to the last time I was here in the Northwest!

I told you already on Facebook that I got for my nephew, a little souvenir! Where Do I Sleep? A Northwest Lullaby. This afternoon we skyped- while AB and Pre-Teenager A were texting and watching New Moon. Over the computer I read him his new book.

But the pre-teens? What did they pick? Well, the vampire genre of books were certainly calling. My Middle School Teacher Friend EZ suggested the series, The Hunger Game. PTA confirmed it was a great series, so AB got the first two books! She also looked through Shiver and we got that one too!

PTA was searching hard. She was trying to decide whether or not to read the Vampire Diaries or to go with books not linked to any series. She chose two really interesting choices! Wintergirls (by Laurie Halse Anderson who wrote the amazing book, Speak) and Ash.

In the middle of New Moon it was time to meet up with Little A, Little K, Auntie CC and Papa J for pizza. We paused the movie and on the way out they door they shouted, "Can we bring our books?" I guess they forgot for a split second who they were with!

"Bien sur!" I replied. "Grab 'em and let's go!"

Perfect For a Toddler

The day I left for Montreal, to go to my nephew’s birthday weekend extravaganza, I was talking with my friend- Auntie KB- about all the ways we were going to celebrate his birthday. “What an aunt you are! I need some suggestions for my 2 year old nephew!” Did I have some suggestions for her!

My nephew absolutely fell in love the Van Fleet Books. Dogs was his favorite but he had, Cats, Tails, Alphabet and The Fuzzy Yellow Ducklings! They have been a big hit with my nephew ever since he was a baby.

We also loved to capitalize on his love for the ABC's by getting many ABC books! One that we all especially love is, Creature ABC. Not only did it help to develop his letter recognition, phonemic awareness, but it also contributed to his knowledge of animal vocabulary.

There is this adorable interactive series called, Little Drivers. Both my nephew and Baby C have loved these books to death! Literally! They feature kids, of different ethnicity, driving the different kinds of vehicles. You can actually "put the driver" into the truck or airplane as you read! Different books feature different themes such as: emergency vehicles or transportation in cities.

Finally my last suggestions for toddlers is my nephew's latest favorite, Lost and Found by Olivers Jeffers. My friend, The Rocky Mountain Mama, introduced me to this series. Her two boys LOVE this author and have enjoy reading his different books. This has been my nephew's latest "go to" book to read on his own.

Hope this helps the gift giving and reading process! Happy reading to you all!

The Birthday Extravangaza

So you are wondering- how was the 3 year old's birthday? So much fun! It truly is amazing to see how my nephew has grown in just three short years. You hear all these statistics about intelligence and talking and the amount of words that some kids have by the time they enter kindergarten. Well, I can safely say, my nephew is in the 30,000,000 words category. Language is just exploding all around him!

On his birthday morning, we took him to the Imax movie at the science center in the old city of Montreal. There was film about the Space Station. My nephew sat through the whole film. Days later I could see what information stuck with him!

First of all, the count down and loud take off with the fire was the first thing he told his BFF, Toddler T, in daycare!

Then, as all the other kids were trying to put on their snowsuits (yes, it snows in March in Montreal), my nephew and Toddler T are laying in the middle of the hall on their bellies. "Don't lay down in the hall. Please sit up," called one of the teachers, en Francais. My nephew replied, "I'm not laying down. I am floating in space. I am an astronaut."

Then at home, when I got to babysit him one evening, my nephew gathered up a few things in his new "surfer's backpack" that Big Girl C and Baby E gave him for his birthday. "What are you going to do with the backpack," I asked. "It's not a backpack. It's my pack for space. I am putting on my suit to go walking and fixing our station. I need a few things." He gathered up his cell phone, so he could call his mama, he gathered up some blocks (that he said were apricots), and his little notebook I brought him with a pen. "What is your notebook for?" I inquired. "It's for you know... actually I need to make a list." He proceeded to make a list and then "called for help". "I need some equipment. Yeh and I need lots of things." He carefully made his list and then stuffed it into the pack!

What fun we had!

When it was time to go to bed, something that my nephew tries to avoid at all cost, he decided we would read! "Find a few books!" I told him. Well... he did. He brought over a stack of about 20 books. He turned to me and said, "Titi, first read all of these! Then I will do my doe-doe. (sleep in french)." I looked at the stack. I looked at nephew. I had to smile. What a clever boy! We snuggled up and read till he fell asleep. I Dream of Trains and Corduroy each got a couple of reads!

Enjoy your family! Enjoy the read.