Pirates!

My three year old nephew is very interested in pirates, so I'm searching out book options for his Christmas gift. Here's what I've found at Amazon that looks promising.

The thing about pirates is that I want to keep it age appropriate for a 3 year old. There is plenty of time to get into the more suspenseful adventures later.

Shiver Me Letters: A Pirate ABC -- more than a regular ABC list book, the pirates go in search of the alphabet in an adventure story

How I Became a Pirate -- gorgeous illustrations and looks like a very cute longer adventure story that's appropriate for preschoolers

Do Pirates Take Baths? -- cute and rhyming tutorial about pirate life

The trouble with picking books for my young nephews is that I end up wanting copies for our family!

Alphabet photo ideas for homemade ABC book

Here is a list of ideas I've been working on for pictures to go in the boys' custom alphabet books that I'm planning to make. 

I thought I was doing well, but V was the biggest stumper. Thankfully, I found an online picture dictionary that was quick and helpful. (Here is another.) I was happy to find quarter in a picture dictionary for the letter Q -- my oldest loves having quarters for bubble gum machines and searches them out of my wallet. The picture dictionaries are great to expand your options and find things that match your child's interests.

Getting all these photos will take a little time. (The mom I talked to at toddler class said she kept a list of needed photos in her purse with her camera.) Having a list will be very helpful for planning and organizing the photos. It will take some commitment to get the photos done but we may also have some pictures already to cover some of the letters.

If you have more ideas, please share in the comments -- thanks!

A is for -- apple, art, airplane
B is for -- books, bicycle, banana, baby, brother, birthday, balloon, beach, baking
C is for -- cat, costume, crayons, chocolate, cake, cookies
D is for -- Dad, dog, doll
E is for -- egg, elephant, eat, ear, eyes
F is for -- friend, flag, flower, funny faces, farm
G is for -- garden, game, grass, green, grapes, glasses, grandparents
H is for -- home, hug, horse, hat
I is for -- ice cream
J is for -- jump
K is for -- kitten, kite, kiss
L is for -- leaf, leaves, llama, lunch, lollipop
M is for -- Mom, muffin
N is for -- nap, night
O is for -- orange
P is for -- playground, pumpkin, pig, pony, piano, painting
Q is for -- queen, quilt, quarter
R is for -- rainy day, rest
S is for -- smiles, snow, sister, school, swimming, sand, scooter, sleep, soccer, scissors
T is for -- teeth, train, trees, trick-or-treat
U is for -- underwater, underwear,
V is for -- valentine, vegetable, van
W is for -- worm, winter, water
X is for -- xylophone
Y is for -- yellow
Z is for -- zoo, zipper

Making homemade children's books

This week at toddler class I sat next to a mom who was taking a photo of her daughter during snack time. She introduced herself as a "crazy photo lady," and I asked if she also made scrapbooks. I do not make scrapbooks (uh, yet), but I have playgroup friends who are very into it. "Crazy photo lady" told me about a children's scrapbook format that has me very, very excited..... making our own children's alphabet books featuring photos of our family!

The idea is to make an ABC or alphabet book. Basically 26 photo images (personalized to include your child, or your child's environment and favorite things), and then words.... a simple A is for Apple, T is for Train, etc. etc..... or something more creative and personal....perhaps even rhymes! There's no limit to the creativity that could go into it.

I LOVE the idea and am very interested in making ABC alphabet books for my oldest two boys, possibly even in time for Christmas. Right now I'm doing a little research about costs and considerations of making a book with an online photo book provider (easy and professional, but seems to be more expensive), or making a simple 8" x 8" scrapbook with very basic layouts.

I've done a little online reading and have come across another great idea for older kids -- having them make their own ABC alphabet books themselves. It sounds fun and educational and I love the idea of kids making their own books too.  As for our family's books, I've started an idea list for photo taking.

Anyone want to join me on a homemade children's book making journey? Has anyone made their own homemade children's books and want to share your experiences? I'll post updates as I learn more and plan to get started.