Roald Dahl- Month Long Birthday Celebration


As you already know, Roald Dahl Day is 13 September. I have always loved his books, especially Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Do you have a favorite Roald Dahl book? For free downloads for calendars and activity sheets, you might want to stop by:
http://www.roalddahlday


Penguin Young Readers Group is gearing up to celebrate Roald Dahl Month in September, marking the author’s 93rd birthday and heralding the forthcoming Twentieth Century Fox film based on Dahl’s Fantastic Mr. Fox, slated for release on November 13. The publisher will issue three tie-ins to this stop-motion movie. which features the voices of George Clooney, Meryl Streep, Jason Schwartzman, Bill Murray and Owen Wilson.


http://www.publishersweekly.com/article/

This article originally appeared in PW's Children's Bookshelf by Sally Lodge
The article goes on to say,


"Though 2009 is Penguin’s third year celebrating Roald Dahl Month—the late author’s birthday is September 13—the company has “really ramped up” the promotion this year, says Emily Romero, v-p of marketing for Penguin Young Readers Group. “We’ve gotten great traction over the past few years with Roald Dahl Month and this year we wanted to create materials to help bookstores across the country celebrate it. We are also giving an extra push in schools and libraries.”

Penguin’s trade campaign includes two retail floor displays: a 24-copy backlit display, which is available to Borders stores and independent bookstores, and a 21-copy mixed floor display of the Fantastic Mr. Fox movie tie-ins. The publisher has created a Roald Dahl Month merchandising kit that contains a poster calendar with suggested activities, an easel back sign and an educator’s guide.



Penguin is partnering with Twentieth Century Fox to conduct a National Golden Ticket Sweepstakes, running from September 1 to October 15, which will be promoted in the merchandising kit, on the movie tie-in floor displays, and on the dedicated Web site.
http://www.roalddahl


Sweepstakes prizes include a private hometown screening of Fantastic Mr. Fox for the winner and 20 guests and a library of 15 Roald Dahl books and four DVDs of movies based on the author’s books.

The publisher has been promoting Roald Dahl Month at recent school and library conferences. Other marketing initiatives include creating an online activity guide for teachers and libraries, binding the poster calendar into the August issue of School Library Journal and distributing a special educator’s version of the Roald Dahl Month kit to librarians via library wholesalers.

Online promotion includes downloadable Roald Dahl Month materials on www.roaldahl.com, which beginning next month will have newly created, U.S.-specific content; and Golden Ticket Sweepstakes promotion on various kid-oriented Web sites.

“In a bigger way than ever, we are reaching out across all channels to promote Roald Dahl Month,” Romero says. “We’ve had a tremendous response from booksellers and librarians. Our overall goal is to raise awareness of all of the author’s books, not just the best-known ones. We want to celebrate the whole world of Roald Dahl.”

And with good reason. Penguin has a total of 43 Dahl titles currently in print, and shipped approximately one million copies of his books in 2008 alone."



* Fantastic Mr.Fox

An animated film, directed by Wes Anderson, utilized classic handmade stop motion techniques to tell the story of the best-selling children's book by Roald Dahl, author of Charlie and the Chocolate factory and James and the Giant Peach. Mr. and Mrs. Fox live an idyllic home life with their son Ash.

This is one film I plan to see... good luck to the winners!




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If You Give a Mouse a Cookie by Laura Joffe Numeroff and Felicia Bond: Picture Book

If You Give a Mouse a CookieImage via Wikipedia

A favorite back to school book for preschoolers and especially for my Grandsons is a charming story that your children will read and re-read, called If You Give a Mouse a Cookie by Laura Joffe Numeroff.



I just got back from a wonderful vacation in San Francisco. We journeyed up the beautiful coastline of California stopping along the way to take pictures of seals, rocks, and trees. But before we left, we made a quick stop at great Grandmother's house and she sent us off with some freshly baked cookies. Now just the smell of warm, delicious cookies triggers the happy memory of a good book for me. So, this is why I decided to share with you If You Give a Mouse a Cookie.

This tenth book by Laura Numeroff was written in 1985. Its plot deals with a boy who gives a cookie to a mouse, who in turn asks for various other favors. At length, this leads back around to the mouse wanting another cookie. The book features two characters, a mouse and a boy. Neither characters speak, but their dialogue is reported indirectly by a narrator.

The main character of this story, Mouse, appears in three others: If You Take a Mouse to the Movies If You Take a Mouse to School and The Best Mouse Cookie.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/If_You_Give_a_Mouse_a_Cookie


This classic picture book teaches children that every action has a consequence, and focuses on concern for relationships.



Visit Laura's website, author of children's books:
http://www.lauranumeroff.com/books/my_books.htm

First Sentence:

If you give a mouse a cookie, he's going to ask for a glass of milk.

Immediately what comes to your mind is a gift basket for that special little one enclosed with a package of cookies, a stuffed animal, and this delightful, cute picture book! The story is funny and the illustrations by Felicia Bond are great! For more great teaching and gift giving ideas, please visit this wonderful blog I discovered:

http://teachingheart.net/mousecookie.html




Another outstanding blog so full of information and beautiful graphics can be found at
http://www.thevirtualvine.com/ifyoougivea.html

Integrating Language Arts Using If You Give a Mouse a Cookie
http://www.readwritethink.org/lessons/lesson_view.asp?id=809

Product Details

* Reading level: Ages 4-8
* Hardcover: 40 pages
* Publisher: Balzer + Bray; 1 edition (May 9, 1985)
* Language: English
* ISBN-10: 0060245867

Reviews

* "Laura Joffe Numeroff has created an amusing sequence of events while the colorful artwork by Felicia Bond shows the gigantic mess this mouse causes and the numerous trials the tolerant child endures." - Preschool Education Review
* "Felicia Bond's hilarious pictures are full of subtle, fun details. Fans will be happy to know that this dynamic author-illustrator pair teamed up again for If You Give a Moose a Muffin and If You Give a Pig a Pancake." - Amazon Editorial Review

Awards/Distinctions: California Young Reader Medal, featured on The Oprah Winfrey Show and more.



I plan to read more picture books with my Grandchildren from this wonderful author Laura Numeroff and trust me, there's so much more to spark your appetite! it feels good to be back home again, sharing with you!

~ LadyD





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Book Review: What's He Really Thinking? by Paula Rinehart


Thank you Thomas Nelson publishers for the opportunity to review What's He Really thinking? by Paula Rinehart... a very good book!

Paula explains with simple language and great illustrations that men and women think and act differently. Her writings are very insightful, humorous and just plain easy to understand!

Have you ever asked yourself these questions and sincerely wanted to know the answers?

* Who is this man and how does he experience life differently than I do?
* Who and what has the power to make him a real man?
* Would you be man enough to be my man?
* What is it that a woman expects from a man?

Paula has listened to men talk about their lives, wives, families, issues, and concerns through her many years as a therapist. She has come to understand men and now has written a book to help deepen our understanding to a more meaningful relationship with the man in our life! If you're looking for clues, tips and meaningful insights that work in understanding men, then this book is for you.

The book first opens with a quote from Jack Nicholson to Helen Hunt in the movie As Good As It gets, "You make me want to be a better man." What makes this a good book is that it's universal... women will always be relating to a man! Paula will lead you on a journey of discovering expectations,having soul stretching exercises to hear one another share deeply matters of the heart.

This is a great book for men also to see the beauty and power that women have. And to find that place of position and strength a husband has as protector of his home. Paula provides for us Scripture, personal notes, and quotes and a very helpful study guide towards the back of the book.

What I especially love about the book is Paula's approach to a sensitive, intimate subject of men and women's acceptance of one another with grace, humility, and tenderness. She discusses intimate issues of trust and vulnerability with one another with honest, objective steps for an on-going, growing, vibrant relationship with one another... so that we can say to one another, "Honey, give me the best of who you are."

I'm delighted to recommend this book to you ladies. Remember Michael Bolton singing, When a Man Loves a Woman?! Well, he'd trade the world for the good thing he's found. A woman ushers a man into the world that's marked by beauty. I learned a lot from Paula's book and I trust you will, too in caring for our men!


* Product Description

A woman's guide into a man's heart and mind offering invaluable insights, understanding, and the tools for building healthier relationships.

Even in the best of relationships, over time, men and women drift apart because of the communication gaps they naturally possess. In What's He Really Thinking?, author and speaker Paula Rinehart gives incredible insight into these differences. In her conversational, almost poetic style, Rinehart unlocks some of the age-old mysteries of the male mindset.

With more than twenty years of counseling experience, Rinehart sheds a realistic light on:

* how men think
* why they do what they do
* what they struggle with

She believes women who truly understand men have an ability to make an extraordinary impact on their lives. From scientific research to practical real-life stories, Rinehart removes the guess work and shows women how to become the relational geniuses they have always longed to be.



* Product Details

* Paperback: 224 pages
* Publisher: Thomas Nelson (June 2, 2009)
* Language: English
* ISBN-10: 0849918804
* ISBN-13: 978-0849918803


What's He Really Thinking?: How to Be a Relational Genius with the Man in Your Life

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Northern Lights: The Soccer Trails


Traditional qamutik (sled), Cape DorsetImage via Wikipedia
This award-winning picture book has become one of my favorites! Northern Lights realistically conveys many aspects of life in Canada's north. I love how the author, Michael A. Kusugak writes, "On a clear moonlit night, the northern lights come out to play."

The book opens with Kataujaq, a young girl who is learning about her arctic home from her mother. Together they travel across the sea of ice, pick flowers during the summer, and gather berries in the autumn. The happy times end when Kataujaq's mother dies suddenly. She misses her mother so very much. Kataujaq's grandmother tells her the legend of the northern lights to ease her sadness.

The people of her village like to play soccer out on the sea ice under the moonlight, using a caribou skin ball stuffed with moss and fur. Her grandmother tells her that the thousands of thin strands of light moving about in the northern lights above them are really the souls of those that have passed on, playing soccer with a huge, frozen walrus head. This greatly consoles Kataujak as she feels her mother's presence, and no longer feels as lonely.

The artwork illustrated by Vladyana Krykora is beautiful with strong, bold colors and much detail. It's very easy to become mesmerized by some of these pictures! A full-page painting accompanies each page of text. A nice touch is added to the text side of the page with the inclusion of a beaded replica of one of the designs traditionally used to decorate Inuit clothing.

Northern Lights: The Soccer Trails


* Book Details:


NORTHERN LIGHTS / THE SOCCER TRAILS

Michael Arvaarluk Kusugak
Illustrated by Vladyana Krykorka Toronto, Annick Press, 1993. 24pp, paper
ISBN 0-55037-338-2 (paper) $5.95, ISBN 1-55037-339-0 (cloth) $15.95. Distributed by Firefly Books. CIP

Subject Heading:
Inuit-Canada-Juvenile fiction.

Grades 3 and up / Ages 8 and up


One reviewer writes, "This book has many applications to the school curriculum, from an analysis of myths and legends to a study unit on native peoples. Other readers might choose this book because it deals with death and life after death. On the back cover, the author explains that his grandparents and father are dead and that it is a great consolation for him to go out on a clear moonlit night to watch them enjoying a game of soccer."
http://www.umanitoba.ca/cm/cmarchive

I found the book very comforting and I could see why it won the Ruth Schwartz Award. Though there is sadness in saying goodbye to a loved one that has gone on, there is peace in knowing that there is much joy in the land far above where loved ones enjoy a game or two of soccer. Even though I cried while reading the book out loud, I felt so much better afterward!

5+ stars, a great read!

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Bedtime Books

Grandson sleeping: LadyD Books
Do you have a favorite bedtime book? After reading these three bedtime books to my Grandson, here is the end result... a precious moment, for sure.

There's no better way to end your day than snuggling together reading books. Here are a few mom favorites to make this time extra special.

1. Good Night Moon
The ultimate classic of modern children's literature, beloved by generations.


Goodnight Moon
Description:
Board Book

From Margaret Wise Brown, this epic of children's literature will lull your child to sleep without an effort of the incident.

In a great green room, tucked away in bed, is a little bunny. "Goodnight room, goodnight moon." And to all the familiar things in the softly lit room--to the picture of the three little bears sitting in chairs, to the clocks and his socks, to the mittens and the kittens, to everything one by one--he says goodnight.

In this classic of modern children's literature, beloved by generations of readers and listeners, the quiet poetry of the words and the gentle, lulling illustrations combine to make a perfect book for the end of the day.

Goodnight Moon


2. Guess How Much I Love You
A classic sweet tale about the love between a parent and child.



Description:
Hardcover


“’I Love you as high as I can hop,’ laughed Little Nutbrown Hare…
'But I love you as high as I can hop,' smiled Big Nutbrown Hare - and he hopped so high that his ears touched the branches above."

An incredibly sweet tale about the love between a parent and child, Guess How Much I Love You by Sam McBratney tells the story of Little Nutbrown Hare expressing his love for his father, Big Nutbrown Hare, only to have his father reciprocate the feelings to an even greater degree. With fantastic illustrations and a lovely message, Guess How Much I Love You is the ideal book to share with your child.


Guess How Much I Love You


3. Goodnight Gorilla
The story of a sly gorilla who pickpockets the zoo’s night watchman's keys.



Description:
Good Night, Gorilla

Board Book

Good Night, Gorilla, written and illustrated by Peggy Rathmann, is the story of a sly gorilla who pickpockets the zoo’s night watchman’s keys as he does his rounds. Stealthily following the watchman, the gorilla uses the keys to open up all of the other animals’ cages, who then also join the caravan. Told mostly through the rich illustrations of Rathmann, Good Night, Gorilla truly epitomizes the old adage, “a picture is worth a thousand words.” And a hilarious picture may be worth a few more.

Good Night, Gorilla




-- LadyD 

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The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle

the very hungry caterpillarImage by bobcat rock via Flickr
I had a wonderful trip to town this morning. I stopped by our local library and joined the "Friends of the Library"! Our community has plans to build a new library. The library of the future is coming to Fallbrook. Most San Diego libraries have at most- 800 sq.ft. of meeting space. The building will be about 18,000 square feet, compared to 8,100 sq.ft. for the current one. Do you have a newly built library in your community?
Below the library is a bookstore called The Bottom Shelf and today I discovered a board book for my Grandson that so many of you have blogged about and posted your review. It's the famous 40-year-old book written by Eric Carle titled, The Very Hungry Caterpillar. I was so delighted to purchase the book to read to Grandson #2. I fell in love with the book instantly as so many of you have... wow what a learning experience on the life circle of the butterfly! Have a look for yourself... don't you agree it's 5 stars?



Not only do I like the story lesson but the music is excellent as well! Do you know someone who is still hungry? Sounds like my Grandson! lol

-- LadyD

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