The Elf on the Shelf - the Best Visible Reason to be Good

I realize I am writing about this late in the game, with Christmas a little over than a week away. I ordered the elf online and pretended that my boys were receiving him directly from Santa because he heard that there have been some problems being good lately (we all know who that might be - Ricky).

Ricky is in kindergarten and has bought into it. He looks for "Scooter" every morning and loves to announce where he is when he's found. The pain though, is remembering to move the darn thing and coming up with more spots to put him - we only have so many places in this house. I hate it when my husband puts the elf in our room. I mean, have you seen him???

What a creepy-looking doll. I really do love the elf on the shelp idea - I just wish that the creator made the doll a little cuter. Put a few more pounds on him and he looks like Chucky!!!

Anyways, the Elf on the Shelf kit comes with the elf, and nice story book that explains the elf and his powers. You are supposed to name him. As a family, we finally agreed on Scooter Von Snitch. The whole idea is very cute and I'm sure we'll have several years of finding good spots for Scooter ahead of us. My only regret is that we should have bought him last year - I think we only have another year or two of Ricky truly believing in Santa before someone at school convinces him otherwise. Oh well. In the meantime, it's a good way to get Ricky to be good.

So what do I do after Christmas is over and we put all our stuff away - including Scooter?

Bob Books - Tools for Learning to Read

I first learned about Bob Books when I worked for one of the largest book retailers. Parents would come in looking for them frantically. So of course when Ricky was 4, I bought them and tried to introduce them to him.

He hated them almost immediately and one time had a fit so big that I never brought them out for months. Earlier this summer, Mark introduced Halo - an inappropriate (age 17) video game on the xbox to Ricky. I decided to grasp the opportunity and bribe my son to learn to read and his reward would be time on Halo. It totally worked.

Ricky has now mastered 16 Bob Books so far and knows many sight words. He enjoys reading these books to his grandmothers, his aunts, uncles, and anyone who will listen. Learning them has boosted his confidence at school and about himself in general and it's really great to see. It's cool to be able to read a book by yourself!

For those of you who may not know what Bob Books are, they are little books - about 8 pages each, that build on reading. They have to be read in order - as each book builds on the previous one in terms of sight words, and the sounds. The box set Ricky has almost finished is the short vowels. He has 2 more books to go to finish the 18 book box set. The second box set has the long vowels. I bought these larger box sets from Costco earlier this year.

I totally recommend these books for parents to do with their kids to supplement what they are learning in school.

Photo borrowed from http://www.bobbooks.com/img/mfbb-1.jpg

Funny Farm by Mark Teague

As a fan of Mark Teague's books, I knew this book would be a winner when I saw it. I bought it for Ricky's 5th birthday although I think it's more for the 2-5 year old group. I can still read it to Ricky, but it will be more for Teddy pretty soon.

The story is about a dog named Edward who visits his aunt and uncle on the farm. Each page has one sentence with great illustrations - also by Teague - that describe Edward's adventure on the farm.

Very cute, simple, and great illustrations. A great book for little ones who like to hear stories about the farm.

Orchard Books, 2009

The Night Before the Tooth Fairy by Natasha Wing, Illustrated By Johansen Newman

Ricky has all his teeth and our next door neighbor (who is 6) just started losing his teeth and told Ricky about it. Ricky's a little freaked about losing his teeth but is intrigued by the Tooth Fairy thing so I decided to get him this book.

The book is written in the Night Before Christmas style and is very funny and cute. Here is the opening lines,

""Twas the night before the Tooth Fairy

would come take my tooth,

I'd been so excited

ever since it got looth."

This book does a great job addressing what happens when your tooth gets lose, when you lose it, and how cool it is when the Tooth Fairy comes. I think Ricky feels a lot better about the whole thing now, thanks to this cute book.

Scholastic, 2003

The Circus Ship by Chris Van Dusen

The author of this book also has a book called If I Built a Car - which we actually own. I can't believe I didn't review that book! It's on my list of books to review in the near future. He's also written and illustrated Down to the Sea with Mr. Magee - which is also quite good.

We got hammered with snow last night and Ricky didn't go to preschool today so I read this book to him. The story is about a circus ship that has an accident and all the animals swim to shore to a town in Maine. They all grow to love living in the town and want to stay. The circus owner comes to town, looking for his animals. The animals hide and blend into their surroundings so they cannot be found. The mean circus owner goes home empty-handed.

The book is written very well - in a rhyming fashion - and the illustrations are great. They made Ricky laugh at many points.

Chris Van Dusen's books are not your ordinary children's books and do not follow the usual cookie cutter formula. They are original stories that grasp your child's attention. I really enjoy his books and so does Ricky. Our book is overdue and he's asked me to keep it for another day - that's how much he likes it.

Candlewick Press, 2009.

Crow Call by Lois Lowry, Illustrated By Bagram Ibatoulline

I can't read the name Lois Lowry without thinking of Anastasia Krupnik - one of my favorite characters as a young adult. Lois Lowry wrote some great books for kids and is partially responsible for the book lover I have become as an adult. So when I saw this book at the library, I had to check it out - because I knew it was going to be good - and because I was curious.

Crow Call is based on a real life experience of Lois Lowry as a young girl. This book is about a young girl and her connection to her father, who has just returned from the war. She and her father set out on an autumn morning in Pennsylvania and share some cherry pie in town. Then they go out in hills and call the crows. Having lived in Chicago my whole life, I never heard of crow calling. So this was educational for me too.

Since Ricky is a soon-to-be 5 year old boy, he was a bit bored by this book. I think he might be too young for it and doesn't really appreciate the book's merits quite yet. He knows about war from Star Wars but we haven't told him about the actual world wars yet - and the killing, death, etc. He also has no concept of being apart from either of his parents for more than just a day while he sleeps at grandma's house. Living in Chicago, he has gone to the park several times, but has never been out in the woods or anything close to the beautiful Pennsylvania hills. Gosh, this book is pointing out so many things I have yet to show my son!

This book would be perfect for a girl who is ages 6 to 8. I will definitely read this book to my son when he is bit older and can appreciate it. As a young girl, I know I would have loved this book myself. The story is sweet and the illustrations are breathtaking.

Scholastic Press, 2009

The Elevator Man by Stanley Trachtenberg, Illustrated By Paul Cox

I got this book from the library for Ricky. I was attracted to it because of the illustration style. This book is about a little boy who is friends with the Elevator Man. The building's elevator is renovated and the Elevator Man gets a promotion to Doorman.

I was worried that Ricky would be bored during some parts, but he was at full attention the whole time. This book was good because it struck up a conversation about the whole elevator man thing. Riding an elevator is probably one of Ricky's favorite things to do when we go anywhere - specifically, pressing the button.

I explained to Ricky that old elevators needed an elevator man, and we talked about condos, and hotels and the number of floors on them, etc. etc. Actually there is one page where the illustrator shows several floors in a courtyard fashion - and all the people waiting for the elevator. In a nutshell, this book was a good tool for teaching Ricky about buildings and elevators. A Life Tool.

I appreciate this book because it gave us a topic that we wouldn't really talk about otherwise.

So in that sense, it's educational for little kids.

Eerdmans Books for Young Readers, 2009

The Adventures of Harvey the Wonder Dog by Lise Dominique, Illustrated By Chrissie Vales

The author of this book, Lise Dominique, did a reading at my son's school yesterday. Since Ricky has dog allergies, he had to stand in the back of the room as far away from Harvey as possible. He liked the book and what he could see of Harvey the dog.

This is the first time I've blogged about a book I haven't read to Ricky but made an exception since the author read the book to his class. Ricky told me that he liked the book and would like me to find it for him at the library so he can hear the story again.

Hoping our library bought this book. Will blog again after we read it together at some point.

Star Wars Sticker and Activity Books

Sticker books are the best. And if your child loves Star Wars and Star Wars the Clone Wars, these books published by DK Books are a total must-have.

The book here on the left features the movies and the book is divided up in sections that coincide with scenes from the movie. There are names of all the characters, ships, and alien beings with definitions. Since Ricky can't read yet, I find myself reading the descriptions of the stickers he picks out. All very educational for the young Star Wars fan.

There is also a Star Wars the Clone Wars sticker book, and one that is a coloring book and sticker book. Ricky has all of these books and when he finishes them, I buy him a new one. He never gets tired of them. These books are great to travel with as well.

A Must Have Book for the young Padawan: LEGO Star Wars The Visual Dictionary

Ricky will be 5 years old in a few weeks and is already hooked on Star Wars - the movies, video games, and the toys. Since Mark and I are fans ourselves, it's kind of nice and lots of fun. I've decided to dedicate the next few posts to Star Wars & Star Wars the Clone Wars.

Let me start off by saying that Ricky and Mark have spent countless hours playing the Lego Star Wars game (as well as Lego Batman and Indiana Jones but that's for another post).

We bought him this dictionary before Christmas last year and Ricky enjoys flipping through it and looking at the pictures while we read the captions to him.

Chapter one is the movie saga, chapter two is the Clone Wars, Chapter 3 is Specialist Sets and Chapter four is Lego mumbo jumbo - merchandising, etc. which is very cool to see.

What's interesting is that the book shows the history of star wars legos. For example, the entry for Slave I shows the set in 2000 (which looks very blocky) and then they show the picture of the exact same set in 2006 and it looks so much better. It shows how the Lego company redesigned and improved the star wars lego sets. You can see this difference throughout the book for the entries whose sets have beeen released and re-released.

The pictures of the legos are amazing and it's fun to flip through. Our dictionary came with a Lego Luke Skywalker figure. This book is a must-have for a young padawan.

Published by DK, 2009.

Look Inside an Igloo by Mari Schuh

Am I on a non-fiction kick? Not really but I did visit the library again yesterday and picked this up for Ricky too. Same author and publisher as the previous book!

When snow builds on our patio set we refer to it as an igloo. We had a pretty good snowstorm a few weeks back and Ricky was able to hide in his "igloo." Mark and I have explained what igloos are to him, but I thought I would pick this book up to show Ricky.

The book talks about Inuits and how igloos are built. It also describes how the Inuit cook food and sleep. We found it fascinating the way they used a sheet of ice as a window - among a few interesting tidbits.

This is a great brief snapshot of an igloo but I feel like the book could have been longer. Just when Ricky was getting more interested, it was the end of the story. Still, I thought this was a decent snapshot for a preschooler. The photos were excellent.

As in typical non-fiction fashion, the book has a glossary and index at the end of the book. I also want to note that the publisher also offers "A Look Inside" a log cabin, pyramid, and tepee plus other titles as well. I foresee reviews of these books in the future if I can find them.

Published by Capstone Press, 2009

Tornadoes by Mari Schuh

Every once in a while I get the urge to read something non-fiction to Ricky. Since he is so faschinated with tornadoes, I grabbed him this book at the library.

This book is very brief, and talks about - in a high level for kids - what tornadoes are and how they form. There is one page that shows destruction, but it's not too bad. Just a bunch of wood and debris everywhere. Don't worry, there are no dead bodies!!

This book is good for preschoolers to just a basic understanding.

Published by Capstone Press, 2010

Max's Words by Kate Banks, Pictures by Boris Kulikov

I've been working with Ricky on sight words for a few months and when I saw this book I thought it would inspire him.

Max has one brother who collects coins and one brother who collects stamps. He wants to collect something too. So he picks words. He discovers that when you put them together, you can say all kinds of things.

What a great concept. Ricky enjoyed this book but it won't be an every-single-night or several times a week kind of book. He told me that he likes the book but I can return it to the library if I want to. hehe.

Published by Francis Foster Books, 2006

Other Countries, Other Cultures - A National Geographic Picture Book: One World, One Day by Barbara Kerley

With the earthquake in Haiti, we've all been thinking about a country other than our own (for a change) and what it is like living in another country. So when I came across this book at the library on the "new" shelf, I grabbed it and wanted to share it with Ricky.

Other than brief clips on Sesame Street, Ricky's never really been exposed to other countries. I mean, we went to the Dominican Republic on vacation 2 years ago when he was 3 but that was on a resort - so he didn't really experience much other than the resort.

This book is interesting because it shows how kids across the world get up in the morning, eat breakfast, go to school, learn in school, eat lunch, go home, do homework, eat dinner, and prepare for bedtime. Ricky liked this book because he could relate to what all these kids were doing. He found it interesting that 2 girls in the pictures had nose rings and we ended up having a conversation about nose rings and why people want them and what they mean. He was actually grossed out!!

Anyways, this is a good book for kids because it exposes them to other cultures. The photography is excellent but I expect nothing short of excellent from a National Geographic book!

Published by National Geographic Society, 2009

Teaching Your Preschooler to Read? A Gizmo For You: Leapfrog's Tag Reading System

Ricky will be 5 years old next month and goes to 4 year old preschool. Since I stay home full time, I've taken it upon myself to teach him at home. He enjoys numbers way more than reading. He's been able to count to 200 since he was 3 and finished the preschool math website in 2 weeks - 1,400 math problems! But reading? Forget it. He just tells me flat out that "mom, I wanna do numbers. Not this."

Right now I've been trying to teach him some phonics, sight words, and concepts that will teach him how to read.

So he got this for Christmas. So far, he has The Cat in the Hat, Po's Tasty Training, and the set of Short Vowels. I've sat down with him and done the Cat and Po books and it's pretty nice. The pen will read each page to you. There is also games. I am kind of disappointed in the sense that I expected it to have an option where it reads each and every word to you as you run the pen across the words - but it doesn't do that. I don't know if the short vowels set does that yet - maybe it does. I'll have to review this again after he gets more books.

In any case, this is a great educational toy because it gets your child interested in independently reading or just simply sitting down with a book.

I'll blog again about this product later on when Ricky's used more books!

More then Just Your Typical Numbers Book - One Wolf Howls by Scotti Cohn, Illustrated by Susan Detwiler

When you go to the bookstore or your local library, there are tons of number books to choose from. We probably own a good 20 of them - they mostly count to 10, involve animals, and rhyme. This is a pretty successful formula. This particular book - One Wolf Howls by Scotti Cohn, kicks things up a notch and takes the learning thing to higher levels. My soon-to-be 5 year old son really enjoys this book - and it has done more than just reinforce the numbers 1 through 12.

Ricky's impression of wolves was largely based on the mean wolves who served the Ice Queen in the Chronicles of Narnia movie and the mysterious pack of wolves in the Polar Express. When we read this book he is able to view them as animals who have a family, who hunt for food, and take care of their pups.

In addition to the nature element, the book has reinforced the months of the year - along with the corresponding seasons and the weather those months bring. Scotti Cohns' writing is appropriate and engaging for preschoolers and very enjoyable to read aloud for parents. The illustrations are picturesque and look very life-like. I feel that this age group has too many books that are cartoon-like already - and they are old enough to start looking at more accurate and life-like pictures. In other words, it's good to mix it up!!

There is a surprise at the end of the book for readers - a matching activity, fun facts, life cycle, and a calendar activity. There is also a page that discusses hunting and endangered wolves.

I highly recommend this book for preschoolers. It goes beyond your ordinary numbers book and tricks your child into learning months and seasons. Since I'm committed to looking into more educational materials for my kids, I've chosen this as my very first review for the new year.