Little Angels Doing Good Deeds

This sweet book might inspire your little angels to be helpful to others!

For a culture that couldn't be more devoted commercialism and materialism, this picture book is a good reminder to our children of simple acts of kindness that should be at the forefront of our Advent season.

On a cold Christmas Eve, ten little angels quietly fly through the night. They've come to the aid of the lost, lonely, and weary - even assisting Father Christmas with his heavy sack full of gifts.

Your young ones will enjoy counting each consecutive angel on the top of each page. On the last page, the tenth busy angel lights the tree and reveals the singing cherubic faces of all ten angels. 

Originally published in Germany in 1933, The Christmas Angels is a simple, yet clever Christmas counting book with timeless appeal - written and illustrated by Else Wenz-Viëtor. A unique design of cut-out angel heads running across the top of the book will enchant young readers, especially when each black and white illustration is transformed into color with every turn of the page.

My Annual Happy Birthday Post for Richard Scarry (But who's counting?)

I've posted Birthday Blogs to honor Richard Scarry (June 5, 1919 - April 30, 1994) several times, but I've got to do it again because really - who's counting??

Find a vintage copy here, on Etsy!

Scarry once said, “I’m not interested in creating a book that is read once and then placed on the shelf and forgotten. I am very happy when people write that they have worn out my books, or that they are held together by Scotch tape. I consider that the ultimate compliment.”

Well, hats off to you, Mr. Scarry, because that is definitely the case around my house.  (You can read about my taped-up childhood copy of Scarry's Busy, Busy, World here.)  

Lately my two-and-a-half year old grandson can't get enough of Scarry's Best Counting Book Ever.   We've lost count of how many times we've read it!!!

My grandson actually dialogs with the story's main character, "Willy Bunny", who - at the suggestion of Father Bunny - walks through the book counting everything that comes across his path.

As a child, what I remember loving most about Richard Scarry's books was all the detail and things going on with all those animals characters!

These days, I read it to my grandson before his nap, and sometimes he wakes up asking for it again! It's really gotten him into counting all his favorite things - planes, buses, ships, bunnies, mice...

When we're done reading, we close the book and say "good-by" to everything on the back cover: Willy Bunny and the mice in the plane, the owl and little bugs in the tree, and the other animals marching along with Willy (my grandson is actually watching me type this right now, looking at this photo, and asking, "Willy Bunny, what're you doing??"  and "That Willy, Grandma.  Willy Bunny." It just melts my heart.  Thanks, Richard Scarry. sniff.)

A Counting Book and Shadow Play

I found this beautiful board book by Agnese Baruzzi a couple of weeks ago in the gift shop of the new San Diego Public Library, and couldn't resist buying it. With all the dark silhouettes, it seemed like a perfect book for fall (and Halloween)...

It will be a little while before my grandson can hold it by himself.  Though the pages themselves are sturdy, the die-cut illustrations are very intricate - making this book appropriate for ages 3 and up.

  

The "2 SQUIRRELS" page is one of my favorites...

source - you can view all the die-cut illustrations at
Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast

This unique book reminded me of a shadow box puppet theatre.  Your kids can make their own!  Go here or here for easy tutorials.

source: minieco.co.uk

All you need is a cereal box and some vellum (or wax) paper!

For some fun inspiration, watch this brilliant 1955 Jack and the Beanstalk shadow theatre that I found on Youtube...

FUN WITH NUMBERS AND COUNTING

Whether you are sending kids off to preschool, or will have them home with you, these books make counting and numbers fun for children ages 4-8.  (Some are even fine for little ones 2 and up.)  Summer is drawing to a close - it's time to get those little brains thinking and math juices flowing!

COUNTING:

Anno's Counting Book by Mitsumasa Anno (ages 4-8).  Beautiful watercolors on pages full of symmetry and things to be counted.

Anno's Mysterious Multiplying Jar by Masaichiro and Mitsumasa Anno - father/daughter authors/illustrators.  Again, gorgeous watercolors - this time with factorials on each page.

Anno's Counting House by Mitsumasa Anno (ages 4-8).  In this book of counting, children will be introduced to algebraic concepts, as they practice all the combinations of numbers that add up to 10.

Count! by Denise Fleming (ages 2-6)  Young children will enjoy the brightly colored animals, as they count them from 1-10 and then by 10's to 50.

Counting Wildflowers by Bruce Mcmillan (ages 4-8).  Number concepts from 1-20 are shown in beautiful and colorful photographs of wildflowers (which are captioned to identify the common name of the flowers.)

Each Orange Had 8 Slices by Paul Giganti (ages 4-8).  This book is a great introduction to mathematics!  Kids will have fun using patterning, multiplication, and creative thinking!

Roar!: A Noisy Counting Book by Pamela Duncan Edwards, illustrations by Henry Cole (ages 2-7).  A lion cub in Africa is looking for someone to play with, but the animals are afraid of him.  Fun rhyming text and cute pictures in this counting book.

Splash!  by Ann Jonas (ages 3-8)  A simple story that helps kids see the results of adding and subtracting as creatures enter and leave a backyard pond.

BACKWARDS COUNTDOWN:

Ten, Nine, Eight by Molly Bang (ages 2-6).  A bedtime counting book, in which a father and daughter do a backwards countdown to bedtime.

The Doorbell Rang by Pat Hutchins (ages 4-8).  A plateful of cookies begins to disappear, each time the doorbells rings and visitors arrive.

NUMBER RECOGNITION:

Arlene Alda's 1 2 3: What Do You See? (ages 4-8).  In this counting book, each number is shown in whimsical color photographs.

City by Numbers by Stephen T. Johnson (ages 4-8).  Wordless book, with photo-realistic paintings of hidden numbers in city scenes.

Look Whooo's Counting by Suse MacDonald (ages 4-8).  Cut-paper illustrations, with numbers incorporated into the pictures and added to an owl's wings.

These books were recommended on http://www.preschoolrainbow.org/book-themes.htm.  It's a good website that has lots of crafts, activities, and recipes for use by parents and teachers of preschoolers.  Books and activities are arranged by theme.