A Grandma's spin on crafts, games, recipes & lifestyle

Category: KID’S BOOKS

The Best Halloween Picture Books

Are you tired of reading the same Halloween picture books to the kids every year?  Yes, there are always the favorites that everyone looks forward to each year, but maybe it’s time to spice up your collection.  You are going to want to try this list of the best Halloween picture books.

Last year I hosted a Witches’ Tea Party for the kids.  I’m not sure who had more fun…me preparing for the big event or the kids when they got to partake of it.  I will do a separate post on that later, but suffice it to say that it was a huge hit!  As I was planning all of the festivities for that day, I was overjoyed to discover that there are actually books titled The Witches’ Tea Party….how frightfully awesome!  (I was happy to see that there are other crazy Halloween lovers like myself out there in the big world 😉)

Below are some of the new books I have purchased over the last couple of years…and one that I am ordering this week to add to our spooky collection of Halloween books!  There are also some fun FREE printable coloring pages🖍 included at the end of this post!!!! Continue reading

Raise Good Humans!

I am loving this new blogging journey so much!  Not only because I love to write, but also because I am meeting so many others on the same journey.  Many of these women are young moms.  Yes, that part of my life has passed, but isn’t it still our responsibility to encourage the next generation?  Not only in this crazy year of 2020, but always because it is important that we raise good humans!

I recently have read several other blogs about ideas for raising kids who are kind to others.  I especially loved this post by “Simply Snapping” that is cleverly titled, “Raising Kids Who Aren’t Jerks!”  Catchy isn’t it?  Read this great idea which includes a great interactive calendar for kids!  She walks through daily ideas of how to help kids focus on kindess.  A wonderful interactive calendar for kids is also included for you to print off and have your children follow along with to promote kindness in various ways….clever!!!

Teaching kids to be kind gets tricky when they are with a group of friends.  They know how they should act, but peer pressure kicks in.  If we teach our children that it is brave to be kind, it can make them feel better about their choices.  Everyone likes to feel brave!

It’s Brave to Be Kind by Natasha Daniels~

There are a lot of wonderful books out there to help reinforce kindness in our children.  This inspirational book includes a story as well as activites!    Click here to get your copy of “It’s Brave to Be Kind”.  As we all know, this is a year with a lot of hatred being spewed everywhere we look.  It seems to be especially important in these times to help our children understand how important empathy and friendliness are.  These are the things I love about this book:

  • The character is a little girl who meets someone different from her and learns to be kind, even when others aren’t.
  • Activities are included to reinforce how to be kind to others
  • Tips are provided to use both the story and activities to learn skills of kindness and empathy

Kindness is Cooler, Mrs. Ruler by Margery Cuyler

Another great book that helps kids understand that they really can make a difference!  Mrs. Ruler challenges each student to complete five acts of kindness.  It takes some time for some of the students to join in, but soon the entire class is filling the bulletin board with all of their good deeds.  Whether doing helpful tasks within their own homes or reaching outside of the home to help those in need, the kids quickly learn that each deed makes the world a better place!  Get your copy of this wonderful book here!

These are just a couple of the books I like among the many, many options out there.  I believe we need to make a concentrated effort to continue to reinforce these ideas to our children from an early age.  In fact, with our current situation in the world creating more depression, sadness and anger, I am focusing on it even more than normal.  I have created a new Pinterest board named Raising Good Humans that I will be continually adding to as I see more great ideas.  I hope you will check them out.  Click here for more ideas on spreading kindness one step at a time!

As Ellen always says, “Be kind to one another!”  Hugs to all!

Have you Met Larry? (Book Review)

THIS is Larry…and he is one of our new favorite characters.  Have you met Larry?  If you haven’t, you need to follow this link now and add at least one of these books to your bookshelf.    Don’t Touch This Book-Meet Larry Now!

DON’T TOUCH THIS BOOK! ~

Addi and Max absolutely laugh with delight when we read these books.  The author is great at getting the kids engaged with each story.  Of course, the title alone, Don’t Touch This Book! makes kids want to do what????  You guessed it, they WANT to touch the book.  As I read it to them, I move the book all over during the first couple of pages, and they laugh hysterically while trying to touch the book.

As you venture through the story, Larry gives the kids permission to touch the book with one finger, then all of their fingers and then gets them to spin, wiggle and walk and talk like robots.

 

DON’T PUSH THE BUTTON! ~

The next book we chose by Bill Cotter is Don’t Push the Button!  Larry is at it again with all of his shenanigans.   As he allows the kids to push the button once, twice, then a bunch of times, multiple Larrys appear in the book…each one a different color.  You must then start shaking the book and rub his belly to make them all disappear.  The laughter this incites is music to my ears.  Larry in Don’t Push the Button!

OTHER BILL COTTER BOOKS ~

There are other books in the Don’t Push the Button series including Christmas, Easter & Halloween versions.  There is also a Christmas book titled Don’t Shake the Present.  These books don’t yet grace our book shelves, but by the time each of these holidays roll around, you can bet they will be!  Our family loves Larry and I am sure yours will too!

Favorite Books to Read to Kids

I LOVE READING!

I love reading to my grandchildren, I love reading to myself, I love reading to anyone who will listen!  Reading takes you anywhere you want to be.  In fact, I am known in my family for not enjoying travel very much.  I believe that is because books take me anywhere I want to be while allowing me to stay put  in my own home.  (Plus I don’t have to face that daunting task of packing–yuk!)

There is nothing better than snuggling with the grandkids and listening to them laugh.  You know the kind of laugh I am talking about…that deep down from the belly laugh.  I bet you are smiling right now just thinking about it!

There are so many great books out there, however, I have 3 favorites that I truly enjoy reading to the children.  None of them are particularly new books….just tried and true favorites!  These books require interaction and crazy voices, which make the reading experience even more fun.  They are outlined below (along with a link to check them out):

  1. We’re Going on a Bear Hunt by Helen Oxenbury & MIchael Rosen – This fun book takes you through several different landscapes all while searching for a bear.  Do they find a bear?  I will leave that for you to find out, but I will tell you it sure is a lot of fun to make all of the landscape noises (stomping through mud and swishing through tall grass)  with the little ones as you journey through the pages.

We’re Going on a Bear Hunt (Classic Board Books)       

 

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2.  The Monster at the End of This Book  by Jon Stone & Michael Smollin – Who doesn’t love Sesame Street characters?  This book completely engages the children by trying to keep you from getting to the end of the book.  The children laugh with delight as they try to quickly turn the pages….even though Grover tries his hardest to stop them!

The Monster at the End of This Book     

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