story time with snacks: popcorn by Frank Asch and a last-minute party treat idea!

I like to make a few special treats for the neighborhood kids coming to my house for trick-or-treating.  This year, I am a little crunched for time, so I tried to pick treat recipes that were quick and easy-peasy. These popcorn hands are so simple.  They take minutes to make, and kids love them.  Today, we read a classic Halloween book, Popcorn, by Frank Asch and made some spooky popcorn hands for our visitors.  

Popcorn is sure to get some giggles from the little bears in your life.  Bear decides to invite all of his friends to a Halloween party at his house.  Each guest is asked to bring a snack to share, and every one just happens to bring corn kernels for popping. Bear puts all of the kernels in a giant pot and underestimates how much popcorn will come from the kernels.  Pretty soon, the entire house is filled with popcorn!  

If you want to make your own popcorn hand treats, you will need:

• clear plastic gloves
• your favorite candy (we used skittles, but m&ms or candy corn would be great too.)
• popcorn
• ribbon

  The candy goes in the fingers first to look like finger nails.  Then stuff the glove with popcorn.  You may have to crush the kernels a little bit to get it into the finger sections.  Tie it closed with the ribbon. That's it!  Don't you just love something that looks more impressive than it was to make?  I do! I do!  

cute new tale of friendship: stick and stone by beth ferry and tom lichtenheld

"Meet Stick and Stone.  They stick up for each other, because friends rock!"

Stone is lonely.  Stick has no friends.  They meet each other and love having fun.  This unlikely pair learn what friendship is all about - fun playtime but also supporting one another, sticking up (stick sticks up, get it?) to bullies, and helping each other through difficult times.  The words in this tale are light and easy for the youngest of readers to understand.  It has a nice rhyming melody that makes the story playful and fun.  Stick and Stone do a lot of active tactile play that keep young minds engaged.  My four year old LOVED the part where Stone splashes in a puddle and makes a loud splooshing sound. 

"Stone whispers, 'Gee, you stuck up for me!' 'That's just what sticks do. Friends do it too.'"

This darling story also teaches the lesson of bullying to an age group that probably is just starting to experience real playground interacting time.  Preschoolers are just beginning the life long lesson of socializing in happy, productive ways and not bullying ways.  Reading this story would make a great introduction to that conversation.  

I love the pictures by Tom Lichtenheld!  They have a sketched with color pencil quality that is bright and friendly with a lot of life and energy.  They add a lot to the story.  recommended reader age: 1-4 

your new favorite picture book: wolfie the bunny by ame dyckman and zachariah ohora

Meet your new favorite picture book.  I have owned my copy of Wolfie the Bunny by Ame Dyckman and Zachariah OHora for approximately one year, and in that time, my toddler has requested that we read this book 50,000 times.  He loves it!  

The Bunny family finds a surprise on their doorstep - a baby wolf tucked snugly into a basket.  Woflie becomes a part of the Bunny family, and Mr. and Mrs. Bunny love him like one of their own.  But Dot, their daughter, isn't so convinced given the fact that grown wolves tend to think bunnies are lunch rather than family.  In the end, Dot finds that Wolfie may be different but he is still her brother in his heart.

This book is perfect for preschool readers.  It has the simple sentence structure that toddlers enjoy and vivid illustrations that they love.  It has wonderful humor that had both of us chuckling.  There is also a great theme of acceptance of differences and diversity.  Dot learns that even though Wolfie is so different from her, he is still her brother.  Families come in all shapes and sizes, and sharing the same gene pool doesn't define who we consider our family.

recommended age: 3-7

Story Time Conversations:  

• What makes Wolfie and Dot different?  What makes them the same?
• Dot is afraid of Wolfie because he is different from her (and she is afraid that he will eat her all up!).  What happens that changes Dot's mind about her new brother?
• If you have a sibling, how are you alike and different from your sibling?   

where the heart is: home by carson ellis

HI there!  Welcome to Booktomato!  Here is a book we have been reading for a while, and it is still one of our faves.  Check it out! 

Home by Carson Ellis is a simply worded but richly illustrated exploration of what home means to people both real and fantasy in vastly different places.  Some of my favorite picture book art work is layered in a way that the reader can explore and find new things every time the book is read.  Even though the story reads quickly with a single sentence on each page, we lingered looking at each illustration and finding tons of fun little details.  If you would like to see more of artist Carson Ellis' amazing work, visit her website at www.carsonellis.com.

This story was a great conversation starter with the kids.  They wanted to know all about different home styles and different ways of doing things around the world.  The fantastical homes got their imaginations primed for thinking up other make-believe places to live.  The moonian home with a window peering out to the lunar landscape was definitely our favorite!  The concept of celebrating differences definitely got our mind gears turning, and all because of this wonderful book!   

Let it snow! Snowballs by Lois Ehlert

Is it snowy where you live?  Send a little my way!  In Memphis, we tend to get a couple of snow days a year late in the winter season, so no snowballs for us yet.  We will settle for the crafty world of Lois Ehlert and her happy snow people.  Ehlert is the winner of many awards for her cut and paste style collage art in her picture books. In Snowballs, Ehlert builds snowmen, snow women, and snow kids, each with a variety of interesting materials like bottle caps, beans and berries, construction paper, and more!  Read this book, and let it inspire some crafty snowmen of your own!

come to our story time and get happy! happy by pharrell williams

Yes, it is true.  The infectiously fun song by Pharrell Williams has been turned into an equally fun picture book. The lyrics that were stuck in your head all last summer are paired with wonderfully active photographs of kids having fun.  

We started reading this together while sitting on the couch, and within a few pages, we were bouncing around and singing it instead. Honestly, I doubt Happy will win a Caldecott medal, but the pictures and rhythm of the lyrics together made our story time, well, happy! recommended for all ages. 

a tea party with a special guest: tea rex by molly idle

Who wouldn't love to attend a fancy tea party with a toothy, gigantic carnivore?  From Molly Idle, the author of Flora and the Flamingo, we have Tea Rex, the story of a young girl named Cordelia who loves big flowery hats, fancy tiny sandwiches, and perfectly sweet tea cakes. 

The juxtaposition of a proper and prim little girl and her proper and prim tea table with a t-rex crashing about and roaring loudly makes for a funny story.  This one would make a great holiday gift.  Molly Idle's stories have such great humor and tenderness, and her illustrations are always just perfect!  Age recommendation: 3-6

book of the day: the blue whale by jenni desmond

If you are doing your holiday shopping early, here is one that would make a great gift pick.  My kids love to ask a million questions about any subject they can think of.  The Blue Whale is a great book for the inquisitive.  It will answer any questions kiddos have about these fascinating creatures.  The beautiful pictures illustrate the ins and outs of whale anatomy and different whale species.  This is less of a story as much as a collection of facts that teach young readers all about whales. 

a new book with amazing imagination : the whisper by pamela zagarenski

The Whisper is a new release from artist Pamela Zagarenski, winner of two Caldecott honors, and it is beautiful.  A young girl loves to read and loves getting lost in her books.  She borrows a very special book from her school teacher, and when she gets home she is disappointed.  The book has no words, only pictures.  She has nothing to read.  Just as she is about to put the book back on the shelf to read something else, she hears a whisper.  It is coming from the book!  The whisper tells her that she has the ability to create her own stories, to imagine them herself with the pictures as inspiration.  She conjures up story after story from the book's illustrations.  The stories become so real that she feels that she herself is inside the story.  

I liked the way this story promotes interaction and engagement with art.  I didn't learn to really enjoy art on canvas until I was an adult, and it really is a skill.  Because the girl has to create stories from the picture she sees, she learns to observe a piece of art and appreciate details.  This would be great to read and then go to our local art museum.  We could practice imagining our own stories from the paintings we see.  I recommend this book for upper elementary school kids.  The pictures would interest any age, but the story is very lengthy and uses a vocabulary on the level of third graders and up.  Younger readers might not be ready to engage with this story.  

book of the day: i spy spooky night by walter wick and jean marzollo

18 days until Halloween! Here is another fun one to celebrate the season.  Everyone knows about the I Spy book series.  They have a million and one puzzling picture search books for kids of all ages (and their moms and dads, too) ranging in themes from holidays and seasons to school days and treasure hunts.  

This Halloween-themed I Spy is set in a spooky old haunted house where guests can wander from a moonlit midnight courtyard to a cobwebbed library to an evil laboratory.  Each scene comes with a list of objects for the reader to find hidden within the picture.  First reader to find all of the items on the list wins an extra handful of candy corn!  No?  Well, that's how it works in my house.  

one witchy witchy reading list

From the looks of my living room mantle, it is officially Halloween decorating time!  I take holiday decorating way more seriously than I should, and one of my favorite pieces is this poster of an old photograph or women dressed as witches. Putting it on display inspired me to gather some of my favorite Halloween tales with a witchy theme. 

• Only a Witch Can Fly by Alison McGhee and Taeeun Yoo

This artful story features a young witch who yearns to take her first flight but learns that flying isn't always easy.  The pictures have a wood-blocked quality and a seasonal color palette of black, orange, and green, creating a very Halloween mood.  The words to this tale are written in a poetic form called a sestina.  In this form, certain lines are repeated throughout the poem.  But don't let that turn you off thinking poetic forms are too much for a children's book.  The rhyming lines of this story are wonderfully engaging for young readers.  ages: 3+

• Old Black Witch! and Old Black Witch and the Polka Dot Ribbon by Wende and Harry Devlin      

Wende and Harry Devlin were artists and writers of children's books in the 1950s, and their Old Black Witch series was incredibly popular.  I am embarrassed to say that I didn't know about the Devlins until a few months ago.  Since discovering them for myself, I have collected as many of their books as I can!  We read Old Black Witch last week, and it passed the test of entertaining both my older child and toddler, although it was almost too wordy for my three year old.  It is the story of a mother and son who want to open a tea room in a charming New England town.  They buy an old, run-down house as a fixer-upper.  When they start cleaning, they find an little witch lives there, and she's not too happy to see them get rid of her cobwebs and rats.  In the end, everyone learns to work together and live peacefully under one roof, and Old Black Witch even cooks her famous blueberry pancakes for tea room guests.  ages: 4+ (my 3 year old did sit through most of it and was interested in the story, but got restless towards the end.)

• Humbug Witch by Lorna Balian

This is a classic and sweet story written in the 1960s about a little girl parading through the house in her witch costume, doing her best to conjure up some potions and magic.  Preschooler readers will love this!  ages: 2-5

• Room on the Broom by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler

Julia Donaldson is the wonderful creator of The Gruffalo character.  He books are always playful rhyming romps that kids go crazy for.  Room on the Broom is no exception.  A witch keeps losing her hat while flying on her broom.  Every time she lands to retrieve it, another animal friend asks for a lift on her broomstick.  By the end of the flight, the broomstick is loaded with all of her animal friends. ages: 3+

•   The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Spear

Most of my witchy list has appealed to a younger audience, so here is one for the YA lovers (upper elementary and beyond).  This Newbery award winner is the story of a young girl named Kit living in Colonial America during the time of the witch trials.  Kit is an outsider in her village, and she befriends a fellow outsider named Hannah.  When Hannah is accused of witchcraft, Kit must choose between her only friend and her own safety.  This story can get intense, so this is definitely a book I would save for fourth graders and up.  It is so worth it though!  Not only does is teach the reader about a time in our country's history, but it is a story that explores themes of morality, diversity, and strength of character.  ages: 10+

Only 24 more days until Halloween!  Better get your broomsticks ready.   

October is here! seed, sprout, pumpkin, pie by jill esbaum

Americans love our pumpkins!  If you are one in the minority and don't get what all of the excitement about a squash is for, well, I don't know what to tell you.  I love it all.  Give me a pumpkin muffin while sipping on a pumpkin spice coffee while lighting a pumpkin spice candle, and I'm having a perfect pumpkin party for one.  Today's autumnal pick is a National Geographic Kids production called Seed, Sprout, Pumpkin, Pie by Jill Esbaum.  NG Kids publishes a ton of great and educational reading material in a wide variety of topics.  If you want more Fall-inspired reading, they also offer a book on Apples, Leaves, and Pilgrims of Plymouth.  

In this pick, you can probably tell what the book is about from just reading the title.  On the very first page, you see pumpkin seeds being planted in the soil.  You follow those seeds until fruition and see all of the many different uses for pumpkins.  The pictures are what makes this a great pick because like most work from National Geographic, the photographs are excellent are really work to teach kids about where our jack-o-lanterns come from.  This is a perfect pre-pumpkin patch trip read.  Ages: 2+

Check back on the blog throughout October for more fun Autumn and Halloween book picks!

story time with a craft: henri's scissors by jeanette winter

It's always great when a book is not only entertaining to read but also provides inspiration after the reading is done.  I love reinforcing the ideas we have read about in story time with a fun craft.  Today, we read Henri's Scissors by Jeanette Winter, and it inspired us to create some scissortastic art of our own.  

Henri Matisse was a famous French painter during the first half of the twentieth century.  His painting were known for their avant-garde nature and colorful composition.  Late in his life, he became very ill and would remain bedridden.  His physical state left him unable to paint, and instead of giving up on art entirely, he just changed his way of thinking.  He swapped his paint brush for a pair of scissors.  Instead of applying oils to canvas, he cut out wonderfully abstract and color rich paper art.  

Without leaving his bedroom, Matisse created a world of color and form that surrounded him with happiness. 

"You see, as I am obliged to remain often in bed . . . I have made a little garden all around me where I can walk. . . there are leaves, fruits, a bird."

The craft for this book is the best kind of craft - the kind that takes almost no prep work or special trip to Hobby Lobby.  All you need for this is construction paper and scissors, possibly some glue or tape.  Henri called his paper cut out collages gouaches decoupes.  To make your own, just take scissors in one hand, paper in the other, and cut free form shapes (Matisse's have a sort of frond like plant shape.)  There is no wrong way to shape them.  We created shapes in a variety of different colors and scales.  We arranged and glued ours down on white poster board, but the possibilities are endless!  Put some sticky tack on the back of each shape, and let a toddler stick them on a window.  Make a baby mobile by attaching them to a coat hanger with yarn.  These collages made Matisse happy, so do with them what makes you happy!  

My three year old had fun sticking our cut outs to the window with poster putty.

book of the day: little kunoichi the ninja girl by sanae ishida

Little Kunoichi's entire family are ninjas, and she wants to be a ninja too.  She attends the Secret Ninja Girls School for her training.  The only problem is ninja skills don't come naturally to Kunoichi.  She doesn't kick as high or fight as fast as her classmates and her stealth mode leaves much to be desired.  Frustrated, she sneaks away to the forest to train in secret.  While in the forest, she meets Chibi, a samurai-in-training who is also struggling in school.  They become friends and support each other as they work hard to become skilled martial artists.  

There is so much to love in this picture book by Sanae Ishida!  The watercolor illustrations are charming and fun.  The Japanese style of houses and trees just carries me to another place that is part Japan and part fantasy world.  The picture above is one of my favorites -  a purple ninja dojo with cherry blossoms blooming just sets the imagination turning!  If you would like to see more art work by Ishida, she has a great blog where she shows off her paintings as well as some pretty awesome DIY and sewing projects.  

This story touched my heart with the lesson it teaches.  Not everyone is a natural talent.  If you love baseball, and you spend your first game striking out at every turn to bat, keep practicing.  I love any book that teaches my children that success comes from a passionate dedication to hard work and consistency.  My nine year old is at an age where if he doesn't get it right on the first try, he sulks and wants to quit.  I get the feeling we are going to be talking a lot about the little ninja girl and her determination to get better.  

great books about real people: the julia child edition

Bon Appetit! The Delicious Life of Julia Child by Jessie Hartland

Did you know Julia Child wore size 12 shoes?  Did you know she was a spy for the USA during World War Two? Did you know her now legendary cookbook, The Art of French Cooking, was rejected by publishers many times before it was finally printed?  Julia Child is well known for her cooking prowess and signature cheerful voice, but there is so much more to the chef than her writing and television career.  This book does a wonderful job of presenting the life of a colorful woman in a way that is fun, easy to digest for young audiences, and inspirational.  

The illustrations are structured in a mix of comic strip and collage that create a bouncy and busy element to the story.  I loved all of the little side conversations that this style created.  In a world of instant celebrity, I feel like Julia Child is a perfect person for young readers to see.  She chose to stick with cooking even when there were obstacles.  Language barriers, sexism, difficult publishing houses didn't stop Julia from doing what she loved.  She defeated each obstacle all while maintaining that marvelous joie de vivre.  

The creator of this must-have for Julia Child fans of all ages is Jessie Hartland, is an artist and illustrator who has written several other children's books including her latest work, a graphic novel about Steve Jobs that I can't wait to get my hands on.  You can see more of her work and purchase from her Etsy shop at www.jessiehartland.com.  

book of the day: it's only stanley by jon agee

Author and illustrator Jon Agee has been contributing to the world of children's literature for a long time, and his works like Milo's Hat Trick and The Incredible Painting of Felix Clousseau are loved for the playful story lines and detailed cartoon-style illustrations that bring them to life.  Agee's newest book, It's Only Stanley, definitely keeps with what fans of his work expect.

 The Wimbeldon family live in a big, old house with their dog, Stanley.  One night, the family's sleep is interrupted over and over again by strange noises.  When each noise is investigated, it always ends up being Stanley.  A bump in the night is Stanley fixing a plumbing leak.  A eerie clanking noise is only Stanley cooking in the kitchen.  A mysterious creaking from the living room is only Stanley adjusting the television antennae.  What is up with this industrious pup?  The Wimbeldons find out at the end what Stanley has been up to this whole time, and it will make the reader smile.  recommended age: all ages

I see London. I see France. Vegetables in underpants!

Vegetables in Underwear by Jared Chapman brings the kid giggles big time in its story that reads just as it sounds.  Broccoli in underwear!  Tomatoes in underwear!  Boxers, briefs, tighty whities, you name it.  Kids and kids at heart (not me, I'm definitely too mature for this type of potty humor. clears throat and stifles giggle) will thoroughly enjoy this funny romp through the produce aisle.

 My boys were full on belly laughing the entire story time, and my two year old recent potty training graduate loved the page that pointed out that kids wear underwear and babies wear diapers.  That was a triumphant page for us both.  Woohoo to no more diapers!  Big kids and veggies love their underwear. If you would like to see more of Jared Chapman's awesome art work, head to his website www.jaredchapman.com.  His previously published kids book, Pirate, Viking, Scientist is one that we have not read at our house yet, but I will definitely be picking up a copy.  

Why is it so much fun to put googly eyes on produce?!  Try it some time.  I love these buddies.

illustration alert! the boy who held back the sea by thomas locker

Jan was a mischievous boy who never did what he was told.  Instead of going to school or church, he wandered off to watch boats at the dike's edge or hunt for birds in the forest.  So when he discovers a leak in the dike wall that could break and flood his whole town, he runs to get help, but no one believes the mischief maker.  He becomes a hero when he stays at the dike all night blocking the leak with his finger until the adults come to find he was telling the truth.  

This is a retelling of a classic Dutch folk tale, and the illustrations are created in the style that made Dutch art famous - the Dutch art renaissance of the seventeenth century.  This period is characterized by landscapes taking precedent over people, moody color palettes, and of course, the windmills and clogged feet that make us fall in love with the Netherlands. The pages of this book really take you to another place and time.  age: 6-10  

books that inspire travel: ways to get kids excited about a new destination

Last summer, my family and I took a once in a lifetime trip to Alaska.  As we were preparing to go, I sought out as many picture books as I could find on the last frontier state.  I found some really great ones.  Under Alaska's Midnight Sun by Deb Vanasse is the story of a little girl who is determined to stay awake all night during the summer solstice when Alaska experiences twenty four hours of sunlight.  I collected great books about Alaska's dog sledding and totem pole making traditions as well as books about what it is like to be a kid there, like the book Recess at Twenty Below by Cindy Aillaud that shows just how many layers of clothing the kids in a town around the Arctic Circle have to put on to go outside to play (spoiler alert: that makes for a lot of layers!)

Reading up on your travel destination and having lots of conversations about what the place is like helps to get kids excited.  That being said, I have a confession to make.  I was WAY more excited about my new Alaska book collection than my kids.  They liked the stories about the racing sled dogs but weren't really interested in the rest.  The lesson I learned in this experience came after the trip.  We spent a week in Alaska gazing at glaciers, spotting seals floating on iceberg chunks, and eating plenty of salmon.  When we got home, I found my kids pouring over the Alaska books that they had previously tossed aside.  "Wow! Look at that totem pole.  It is just like the one we saw."  

Going to the places in the books sparked a curiosity in them that just simply reading about something hadn't.  That is one reason that I love travelling with my kids.  It can be tiring, challenging, not to mention so darn expensive these days, but it made me happy to give them real world context that only first hand experience can give.  Where are you taking your family?  Have you found any good books to get everyone excited? 

book of the day: rufus the writer by elizabeth bram and groenink

Rufus loves to write stories, especially stories about his friends and family.  In this sweet and colorful picture book, we get to read some of Rufus' stories like the one where he explains why orange is the best color in the world or the one he wrote to give his little sister for her birthday, and we also get little snippets of Rufus' happy life with his family and classmates at school.  I think this is a great addition to any kids' collection, and that all ages will enjoy it.