Emma has been asking to visit Kenya ever since we read Mama Panya’s Pancakes – the first time. This book has been read daily ever since we checked it out from the library after reading about it at Musings of the Monroe Family. Emma loves the illustrations, and she always enjoys reading the facts about Kenya and the Kiswahili glossary at the end of the book.
Have You Filled a Bucket Today? is Johnny’s favorite book of the week, and asking him if he wants to be a bucket filler has been a surprisingly effective way to motivate him to be kind to others. I also love that, a few pages into the book, Emma said, “Oh, I get it! The buckets are our hearts!” – beautiful insight from a five-year-old.
I think we also found this book through a blog’s WMCIR post, but I couldn’t remember which one. Please let me know if you’ve seen it reviewed somewhere?
The ABC’s of Origami: Paper Folding for Children is a book I requested from PaperBackSwap for my alphabet-loving children. We haven’t used it much (just got it this week), but there’s a nice variety of shapes to make (one for each letter of the alphabet), with widely varying levels of difficulty.
I picked up Uncover the Human Body at Costco several months ago, because Emma LOVES learning about the human body. I loved the design, with thick pages full of information and a model human body that didn’t consist of tiny pieces that could get lost. The model comes apart layer by layer, as you learn about the skeletal system, digestive system, urinary system, circulatory system, respiratory system, muscular system, and nervous system. I’ve always felt that early childhood was a great time to learn about human biology, since children this age often have a natural curiosity about how their bodies work. They can understand a lot of the facts, and memorize terms without even appearing to try. I was a little concerned that the model would fall apart, but so far it has held up well.
Also sharing at Book Sharing Monday at smiling like sunshine.
MaryAnne is a craft loving educator, musician, photographer, and writer who lives in Silicon Valley with her husband Mike and their four children.
Mama Panya is a huge hit at our house too!
I have been meaning to check out the Bucket Book too and now will remember to place it on the list!
Thanks for sharing your list!
Kerri
Well, that was a silly comment, considering you left a link for it! Where is my brain? Maybe I left it behind at Publix this evening!
Not silly at all, I’m impressed you found the link =)
I wonder if I could find that anatomy book somewhere other than Costco? It looks great but we don’t have a membership. Our Classical Conversations cycle will be covering the human body this year. Bear has always been fascinated and we’ve read a lot of books on it from the library. t would be nice to own a good one.
I have noted the bucket one,too. Thanks for sharing these.I would love it if you linked up to Book Sharing Monday on my blog.
I made a typo with my website address in my previous comment. It links to another site and not my blog, ooops.
I fixed the link in your other post – thanks for letting me know. It should now link to your blog!
Have you Filled Your Bucket Today is another one of your suggestions that I think my cherubs would enjoy.
Recently Savvy has had to have a few medical tests and this has triggered a keen interest in the human body. We have a few books about this, but nothing that she has really taken to. The book you mentioned sounds perfect.
I laughed when I read Emma’s quote about the helicopter putting applesauce on the wall.
Plasticine is a hit here too. Blakie likes it more than the girls as well. Johnny looks adorable playing with the plasticine.
Is Savvy okay?
You cherubs would really enjoy that book, I think!
How interesting that Blakie also likes the plasticine more than the girls!
Emma’s helicopter quote is one of my all-time favorites =)
I also am intrigued by the “Have You Filled a Bucket Today?” book. “The ABCs of Origami” looks like one we might like too. We did quite a bit of origami, not too long ago.
I have to get the Bucket book – it sounds awesome. Putting in the request right away. Thanks for joining WMCIR!
I think you will really like it.
The bucket book looks really good – I like books that help motivate kindness!
Me too! And this one is very nicely done.
I’ve always wondered about books like that
I was surprised at how much my kids latched onto it – but since they have, it’s been very useful!
We have the bucket book, too. It’s a good book for explaining how one’s actions affect others.
I was surprised at how well thought out the idea was, and it has helped my kids think. Still working on the actions bit…
Those first two look awesome. I’m trying to gather book ideas for our summer reading so this is great!
I bet your kids would enjoy both of those books!
These books look great! I have to get a book on origami – I think my kids will have fun with that. We have a lot of anatomy books because my kids are obsessed with them!
Emma LOVES anatomy! We are constantly checking books on the human body out from the library, but this is our favorite (and the only one we own).
My kids are really enjoying the origami! They need a lot of help because they are so young, but it’s a quick and simple mess-free craft =)
Oh thank you! I’ve been looking for a good anatomy book or model for Nikki, and the one you mentioned sounds fantastic!
We know someone who is traveling to Kenya soon. :)
How exciting! It looks like a beautiful and fascinating country.