What we are reading: The Legend of Spookley the Square Pumpkin

See this book at Amazon.com

Halloween is coming up! Last year we checked out and shared a great collection of poems -- It's Halloween! This year, our family borrowed a copy of The Legend of Spookley the Square Pumpkin from the library and want to share notes about this cute book.

Spookley is a cute little story with a basic message -- it's OK and even valuable to be different from everyone else. The plot is like a Fall version of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer... Spookley is a pumpkin who is square. The round pumpkins make fun of him until one night during a storm, Spookley saves the day. The farmer realizes how special Spookley is, and decides to plant his seeds in his fields the following year, which leads to a magical kind of surprise -- pumpkins of all shapes, colors and sizes!

The book comes with a bonus CD, which we listened to and enjoyed as well. Spookely is a cute book that our kids enjoyed very much. My oldest talked about Spookley a lot after reading the book.

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The Snowy Day

The Snowy Day

The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats is well-known as a classic book.  Like Caps for Sale, this is a book that I never got to experience in childhood.  That's sad, because The Snowy Day is wonderful!  I had heard of the title, and checked it out from the library.  Now having read it, I must get a copy for our family, urgently... I am clinging to our borrowed copy and don't want to give it back!

The Snowy Day tells a simple story about a boy's day exploring and playing after a snowfall.  He has wonderful experiences -- making footprints, dragging a stick, shaking snow off a tree, watching a snowball fight and putting a snowball in his pocket to save for later.  He goes home and tells his mom about his day, reflects on his experiences, and the next day, goes out in the snow again,  bringing a friend to join in. 

It's a lovely story.  What I love most about this book is that it captures so well how children explore and experiment with simple things. How interesting snow is!  How wonderful to make footprints and snowballs!  It's great to feel, explore and enjoy natural wonders like snow. Reading The Snowy Day brings back the wonder and simple pleasures of childhood. 

Peter, the main character in The Snowy Day, is black.  As Dr. Seuss says in The Sneetches, you would think such a thing wouldn't matter at all... but it is notable, even in 2009.  I was reminded if how hard it can be for black children to find examples of people who look like them at Christmas when I searched unsuccessfully in local stores for a black baby doll -- very frustrating!  Having a main character with dark skin makes this beautiful book even more special.  

The Apple Pie Tree

The Apple Pie Tree by Zoe Hall is another family favorite discovered at the resale shop.  I love this book!  It is a simple story told by a young girl about an apple tree at her home, how the tree changes throughout the seasons, (along with a family of birds that lives in the tree) and how in the fall, the apples are harvested and the family makes apple pie.  

The illustrations are beautiful, I love the angles and perspectives shown of the girl, her sister, the birds and the apple tree.  The back of the book includes a recipe for apple pie, which we have not tried yet.

This is a sweet, simple story that describes apples growing and the changing seasons.  It's a great read for harvest time, but I like it all year round. 

The Apple Pie Tree

Play nativity set for toddlers - preschool

My kids haven't used a play nativity set yet, but it is something I would like them to have. I didn't grow up with a religious Christmas, and this is something I would like to share with my family.  

When I discovered Playmobil toys, I purchased their nativity set which I felt was a good value. However, the set has very tiny pieces and it's not quite right for my 4 year old and 2 year old boys. I will save the Playmobil set for 2-3 years from now when it will be better suited for them.  In the meantime, I found a nativity set made by Schleich that looks beautiful -- we have several Schleich animals that the kids enjoy.  I think this may be a great set, and I am thinking of getting it and giving it to the kids for St. Nicholas (another tradition I did not grow up with -- my husband did, and while I'm not keen on tons and tons of presents at the holidays, I think we can keep our celebration modest and frugal.)

However, I am torn.....  at our 2 year old parent-child class at a local Christian school, the teacher has a lovely homemade nativity that has felt characters glued to wooden blocks -- super child friendly and it's homemade -- I love that.  Not that I need another craft project to add to my list -- I am already thinking about making felt play food, personalized ABC photo books, and curtains for the new baby's room....    But the homemade nativity would be neat.  I would need to search and see if I can find patterns for the people and animals.  I would love to find if anyone has made these on a crafting blog, but my searches from last year came up empty.  

Oooh, found via Google! A couple links -- a pattern for sale, and a project book with instructions.  Also on Etsy  -- patterns for felt dolls, very cute!

I'm not sure which path we'll take, but these are the current best ideas. 

Then, we should look for some great Christmas story books for the family.  So many projects, so little time!  Any recommendations? 

Halloween Poems for Preschoolers -- It's Halloween!

Here is another great book our family discovered at the library -- It's Halloween by Jack Prelutsky, illustrated by Marilyn Hafner. 

It's Halloween is a collection of rhyming poems about Halloween, with fun illustrations. What I like about this book for my almost four-year-old is that it's not too scary. I'm very sensitive to things that may make my kids uncomfortable, and this book passed the sniff test. The two most concerning poems in the book are one that describes an unfriendly (OK, mean) family who didn't give treats (and how they got tricked). It ends well though -- the people say, "We're sorry!" The other slightly sensitive poem describes a haunted house where all the spooky things are having a party and how the kids prefer to stay away -- it mentions witches and goblins, etc., but the context is more about having a fun time than about being scary. So it works for us. During our reads, my son seemed concerned over the mean people, so I made it a point to emphasize that they said sorry. And we talked about how sometimes people are mean. He's OK with the book and has requested several reads, insisting that all the poems in the book are read at each sitting -- no shortcuts for mom!

We've really enjoyed It's Halloween and I plan to get a copy for our kids' collection. 

A note on formats:  We checked out a hardcover from the library, but the most common format at Amazon is paperback.  The cover graphics are different but interior illustrations appear to be the same as far as I can tell.  Although I prefer the hardcover version, I'll probably buy what's least expensive.

It's Halloween

Today is Poetry Friday among the Kidlitosphere -- check out some wonderful poems shared by kids lit bloggers at this week's host, Two Writing Teachers.