For some children, learning about emotions comes fairly naturally but for others, feelings are a bit of a mystery. There are many resources available that can help teach children not only what emotions are, but how to manage them.
Instantly access If You Come to Earth plus over 40,000 of the best books & videos for kids.
Rajani LaRocca's I’LL GO AND COME BACK is one of the sweetest, most heartwarming picture books there is on the topic of missing family.
“The Bad Mood and The Stick” by Lemony Snicket and Matthew Forsythe This book is a bunch of fun! It tells two parallel tales, one of a stick and one of a bad mood, that cross paths. Each one goes through a series of events that almost seem arbitrary and each one has a different...Read More »
Are you looking for some easy but fun kid craft ideas for this cold season? This Salt Snowflakes Painting craft is a must!
Instantly access Storytelling Math: Again, Essie? plus over 40,000 of the best books & videos for kids.
Update: See this post for how my calendar book looks now! It evolved throughout the years to be more of a daily journal page in which we ...
Glue star suncatchers with beads and glitter - a simple, fun craft for toddlers, preschoolers and up.
Help children develop their fine motor skills and hand eye coordination, and perceptual motor skills by learning how simple shapes can be used to draw a bee. Children learn how to follow step by step instructions to complete the sequence.
Salt dough handprint bowl - a unique salt dough craft idea. Simple instructions and salt dough recipe to make a hand shaped salt dough dish for rings, cufflinks or keys. Easier than clay and a perfect kid made gift idea for Mothers day, Fathers day, Valentines day or Christmas.
It's always more fun to learn with friends! Library time, music class, and a free "eye spy" game printable.
Research shows reading fiction is one of the BEST ways kids can learn big, important life lessons. These books will teach your kids how to be a good friend.
Use a salt box to teach your children shapes, numbers, or letters while developing their fine motor skills at the same time!
Launch classroom conversations about identity, grief, perseverance, kindness, and more.
25+ Preschool Books about Feelings and Emotions will get your children excited about learning and exploring their emotions. Books about Emotions for Toddlers and Preschoolers and The Best Picture Books About Emotions for Toddlers and Preschoolers
Our Literacy Specialist, Jill Eisenberg, explores the power of the right back-to-school read aloud to inspiring meaningful connections and creating a safe, welcoming, reading-first space.
This activity compliments the story "My Truck is Stuck?" by Kevin Lewis and Daniel Kirk A great way to support vocabulary and picture/story sequencing using literacy. My students has a lot of fun with this activity. It gives them something to take home and share. The pictures help them retell ...
Read books by Todd Parr and extend the learning by creating faces and feelings with play dough and loose parts.
This accessible value education book explores the story of an impatient child named Tilly who does not like waiting or letting others have their turn. She wants to play the video game her brother is playing. She wants to go on the seesaw her friends are on. She wants to tell her parents about her swimming lesson in the middle of their conversation. Tilly chooses one out of three behaviors for each situation, and the consequences of each choice is explained. The interactive question-and-answer approach engages the reader in real-life situations, while the charming, colorful illustrations keep the tone of the book whimsical and playful. This item is Non-Returnable
Social emotional development through play is backed up by research! Latest research finds that children who engage in more play have fewer...
Pre-K books to read. Best Friendship and Kindness Pre-K and Kindergarten books. Books about friendship and kindness for preschool, pre-k, or kindergarten. A book list you can use at home or in the classroom.
Yoga books and yoga stories for kids are amazing ways to introduce kids to yoga! Check out this updated list of the best yoga books for kids.
Today I'm thrilled to have Elizabeth Bluemle visiting. She is the author of TAP TAP BOOM BOOM and the owner of the Flying Pig Bookstore in Vermont. We've also long kidded that she is my message board doppleganger. For some reason, whenever she and I are on the same message board, people confuse Bluemle and Dulemba and think we are the same person. It happened so often it became a long-running joke. Well, Elizabeth is indeed her own person and a wonderfully talented picture book writer. I'm thrilled to help her celebrate her latest achievement... Q. Elizabeth! I LOVE this book!!! It's definitely an urban story. But you're from Vermont? How did the idea of getting out of a storm in the subway come to you? A. I'm so glad you love the book, Elizabeth! I lived in New York City for many years before moving to Vermont, and wrote this book on a trip back to Manhattan, when I got stuck on a subway platform during a downpour on my way into town. I saw so many great exchanges between New Yorkers during that half hour. All of the vignettes in Tap Tap Boom Boom actually happened: the big guy with the tiny yellow umbrella, the fancy girl who dashed out into the pouring rain, the lady handing off her umbrella without a word to a student heading up the stairs. I was so amused and touched by the wonderful way people in cities befriend one another in these small moments, I had to write the book. Those moments of kind connection between strangers are one of the things I miss about life in New York, although it happens in different ways in Vermont, too. Q. I so badly want to hear you read this story aloud with your own rhythm and style. I imagine with different readers it would sound differently (each stressing different words). Have you experienced that? A. YES! I definitely have my own internal rhythm, and it's a very jazzy, dancy kind of thing that doesn't always translate instantly to other people. Since picture books are meant to be read aloud, I always make it a point during the revision process to have people do "cold" readings of my manuscripts in progress, to see where they stumble, where my internal rhythm isn't communicating itself on the page. And then I try to address those places. Different stories call up different rhythms, though; the manuscript I'm working on now has a much more regular rhythm than Tap Tap Boom Boom, which needed to follow the pacing of a building and diminishing storm. Q. I love the illustrations by G. Brian Karas - he captured the mood perfectly. Did you squeee when you saw them for the first time? A. G. Brian Karas did such a beautiful job capturing the palette of the city and the colors of a storm, as well as populating the book with the most delightful cast of irrepressible little people! Yes, I was absolutely delighted when I saw the first round of artwork. It's magical to me how you illustrators bring words to life, and so often in ways I would never even think of. I've been very, very lucky with all of my illustrators; I have Candlewick to thank for those perfect matches. Q. You love to write with alliteration. (I'm thinking of HOW DO YOU WOKKA-WOKKA?) Where does that come from? A. Hmm. I haven't thought about my alliteration as much as I do about cadence and rhyme and near-rhyme. But I love wordplay and lively language, and I suspect any alliteration in my writing has to do with fun. I'm also a big fan of assonance. I keep waiting for someone to tell me they like my assonance.... Q. As a children's bookseller, you read tons of children's books and read them to kids as well. How has this influenced your writing? A. I think all of that reading has had many effects on me as a writer. My bar is high; I have read so many gorgeous books, memorable books, funny and haunting and sparkling books for children that I have the deepest respect for the craft -- not to mention a LOT of humility. There are geniuses out there whose work just lights up the universe, and I marvel at that work. So I am always striving to live up to what children deserve in a book. That can be as intimidating as it is inspiring, of course. I do think this perspective allows me to throw out manuscripts of mine that I like quite a bit but are, at the end of the day, not quite there. Q. I'd love to hear about your writing process - do your stories come easily to you or are they a ton of hard work? A. The stories themselves tend to come on me in a burst. Sometimes in two or three bursts. And then I spend more time than I care to think about tinkering and tweaking and reworking that piece. Once in a while I have to "break the spine" (Kate DiCamillo's phrase) of my manuscript and completely restructure it to get it right. Most often, though, it's a matter of cutting bloat and adding texture, shaping the pacing, and looking hard, many many many times, at each word in its place. My editor--the fabulous Joan Powers, who has worked with me on all four of my books--would tell you she pretty much has to pry my manuscripts out of my hands to send them to press. Q. CONGRATULATIONS on a wonderful, sweet book perfect for sharing! A. Thank YOU so much for inviting me to your blog, Elizabeth! Thanks for all you do to promote children's books, authors, and illustrators. It's such a generous use of your time. GIVEAWAY! Candlewick has generously agreed to give a free copy of TAP TAP BOOM BOOM to one of my lucky followers. Must live in the US/Canada to win. Enter below! Entry -Form TAP TAP BOOM BOOM. Text copyright © 2014 by Elizabeth Bluemle. Illustrations copyright © 2014 by G. Brian Karas. Reproduced by permission of the publisher, Candlewick Press, Somerville, MA.
About the Book In the beginning, there were three colors--Reds, Yellows, and Blues. All lived in harmony--until a color kerfuffle ignites. The colors decide to separate. Can they come together once again? Chung's inspiring book subtly deals with issues of prejudice and inclusion. Full color. Book Synopsis The reds, the yellows, and the blues all think they're the best in this vibrant, thought-provoking picture book from Arree Chung, with a message of acceptance and unity. In the beginning, there were three colors . . . Reds, Yellows, and Blues. All special in their own ways, all living in harmony--until one day, a Red says "Reds are the best!" and starts a color kerfuffle. When the colors decide to separate, is there anything that can change their minds? A Yellow, a Blue, and a never-before-seen color might just save the day in this inspiring book about color, tolerance, and embracing differences. Review Quotes "This book's simple and straightforward approach to confronting discrimination is age-appropriate without trivializing difficult, hurtful situations, offering children and adults excellent moments for discussion and personal growth . . . . A colorful story about celebrating difference as complementary and transformative." --Kirkus Reviews, starred review Ninja!: "Lively and charming. . . . High-flying fun." --Kirkus Reviews, starred review "Laugh-out-loud fun. Prospective ninjas, take notice!" --School Library Journal, starred review Ninja! Attack of the Clan: "Chung (Ninja!, 2014) returns with a second comic-book-style tale about lovable, freckled-faced ninja Maxwell. . . . A clever, laugh-out-loud story." --Kirkus Reviews, starred review Out!: "A bouncy nighttime blend of easy graphic novel and almost-wordless picture book." --Kirkus Reviews"Chung puts a multiracial family at the center of this suburban adventure, the spare text rewards new readers, and his cartooning makes the characters familiar and approachable." --Publishers Weekly About the Author Arree Chung is the author and illustrator of Out! and the Ninja! series, which includes Ninja!, Ninja! Attack of the Clan, and Ninja Claus! You can usually find him playing basketball or riding his bike near his home in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Discover the best SEL (social emotional learning) picture books about feelings and emotions. Use them to support your children and students.
This week was pink and gray week. Students learned how to spell these color words and celebrated those colors by wearing pink and gray on ...
