Sundays with Gage – A Quest for Good Manners

July 15, 2012July 15, 201215 Comments

Gage will be 21 months old this week, can you believe it?! Every day I see his mind working in new ways and it is exciting and fun to watch and encourage. (The encouraging part is also exhausting, but that’s another post) I see some toddlers his age doing the most amazing things, like listening to their mamas, drinking from a big boy cup, NOT throwing their sippy cups to the floor, not throwing most things on the floor from their lofty perch in the high chair…Anyway, Gage has a lot to learn about manners. In the past week or so he’s started saying please (or peas in Gage-speak) with some encouragement and I’m very excited about that! So, it was a no brainer when I was offered to review the book The Quest for Good Manners by Karin Lefranc and illustrated by Hannah Neale. I read it to Gage while he was eating breakfast this morning and he was surprising engaged. I thought there might be too many words, but he was captivated by the illustrations and listened to the whole book. We took it on our morning walk and I took some pictures of his reactions to the story and pictures…

A Quest for Good Manners follows Princess Rosalind and her pet dragon, Sparkler, on their journey to find good manners. From the wizard Percival she learns how to handle a fork, from the fairy with purple wings how to say please, thank you, you’re welcome and I’m sorry, and from Lady Grace how to behave at the dinner able and showing kindness and consideration.

It was the perfect amount of teaching with the perfect amount of story and with a beautiful full-page illustration on every page, this is an easy one to recommend. Gage and I both loved it. I liked the lesson and I think Gage really liked the pictures. A fire breathing dragon that burps is going to be a hit with any little boy I think.

I suggest going to the website where you’ll find fun, printable activities for the kids that follow the story. Placements, coloring pages, connect the dots, and a quiz (you all know how much I love quizzes. Poor Gage).

A Quest for Good Manners by Karin Lefranc and illustrated by Hannah Neale. Facebook page. Website.

I’m giving this 5 stars!!! Thanks so much to Karin for sending me a copy of her book. It’s a hit in our house.

Sundays with Gage – A Neighbor AND an Author

February 20, 2012February 20, 201216 Comments

It’s no secret that the Cleveland area is left-leaning politically. I consider myself an independent voter, but due to some unfair laws in Ohio I had to declare myself a democrat to vote in a chosen primary. I wasn’t very happy about it, but it did lead to one good thing. I was able to be a polling location coordinator (only possible if you are the party of the current governor, sort of, there are some really weird laws out there). Anyway, election days are long and can be made longer if the people you are working with are, um, let’s just go with ‘fun-challenged’. That day I had a great group and that was due in large part to My Republican and his lovely wife. As a coordinator I was in charge of lots of paperwork and most things had to be signed by a republican and a democrat. All well and good unless there is a big shortage of republicans. Bob, spent the better part of the day laughingly responding to my frequent calls of “Where’s my republican?” He was seriously such a great sport about it and he was full of positive and happy energy all day long that he made my day a lot easier. Don’t worry, I think this story is going somewhere.

Flash forward a few years and nice fall day when my parents were visiting and we all went out for a walk and decided to stop by an open house down the street. The door opens and Bob greets me by name and I greet him with, “My Republican!” Come to find out that Bob wrote a children’s book (and turned independent) and I knew I’d have to get my hands on a copy. So, Gage and I went by this week to pick up a copy of The Littlest Lamppost. As you can see, Gage thinks Bob is a fun guy 🙂

This is the story of a real highway lamppost by the Cleveland airport. Why is he so small compared to all the other posts around him and how does he feel about it? This is the story of how and why he was made the way he was. The story is a sweet one to read with an older child and has a great moral lesson. It’s all about loving yourself and others even when some of us may be different from everyone else. It just means that we have a special reason for being here.

I thought the story was great and I know that Gage and I will be reading it together in a year or two. It’s never too early for children to understand that different is just different, and it doesn’t mean it’s bad or something to make fun of. I am looking forward to my next trip that takes me by the airport so I can look for the littlest lamppost.

The Littlest Lamppost is available through Amazon and directly through the Littlest Lamppost’s website www.littlestlamppost.com. The Littlest Lamppost also tweets ( @llamppost ) and has a facebook page www.facebook.com/littlestlamppost !

I told the story about how I met Bob because I thought it showed what a great sense of humor he has. He never once took offense and instead spread good cheer the whole day long and was also very gracious when Gage and I stopped by. I am happy to recommend his book!

Kid Konnection – September 11th

September 10, 2011September 10, 20114 Comments

A Gift Of Love by Dr. Claus. Illustrated by Christopher Vassallo. 30 page paperback. First published in 2001.

I saw somewhere recently that 97% of Americans remember where they were on September 11, 2001. I am one of them. For some reason I was watching the Today Show (it was not normal for me to be up at that hour!) and they were talking about the first plane, still thinking it had been a horrible accident. But when the second plane hit confusion reigned there and on all the other channels. I was glued to the television that day and most every day for a few weeks time. I love New York City. Jason and I had enjoyed almost 5 months living in midtown just the year before. On that day I opened my photo album to the page of pictures I took from the top of the World Trade Center in September 2000 and had a hard time coming to terms with the terror that the people who were there must have felt when they realized that being rescued probably wasn’t going to happen.

I am sure that one day I will share the chaos of that day with Gage and A Gift of Love by Dr. Claus is a good starting point. A young girl is about to start her first day of second grade and she shares the excitement of the morning with her mom and dad, a New York firefighter. The story is told beautifully from her perspective, as she is sent home early from school and her mother tells her what had happened to her dad. I was completely touched by it.

Dr. Claus is an Iraq veteran and he also has a personal story that is included in the book that will remind us all to thank soldiers, veterans, and those that protect us on our own streets for their service to us and to this country. Our lives are richer because of their committment and sacrifice. You can visit his website for more information and to order a copy for yourself.

I admit that as much as I loved the story I was less than excited by the illustrations, but Gage seemed to like them 🙂

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Kid Konnection-Abe’s Lucky Day by Jill Warren

August 6, 2011August 6, 201112 Comments

Gage loves books. At 9 months he looks, listens, then eats. We took him to the park today and brought along a book that was graciously sent to us by the author.

Abe is homeless in the big city, but homeless doesn’t mean hopeless. When something he needs is presented to him through good fortune (food, gloves, money) he gladly shares his bounty with others that are also in need.

This is a lovely book about sharing without expecting anything in return. It reminded me of Gift of the Magi by O.Henry, but with a happier ending! It was also made more relevant to children by using a person they may see on the streets. It is a great way to teach kids about sharing and treating everyone with respect, even those who you don’t know or understand.

The illustrations by Kalpart were very good, although there was a mother who looked like she was supposed to be a nurse but looked she was wearing a man’s shirt with thigh high tights. This really wasn’t a problem, but I kept coming back to her because it didn’t seem right. Definitely not a problem for a child reading the book.

I think this is a great book with life lessons for kids in the preschool age group. I know I’ll be reading it to Gage again in a year or two.

You can purchase this book at Outskirts Press. It was published last month and is 31 pages.

Booking Mama hosts this feature every Saturday to post anything related to children’s books. This is my first week joining in the fun. Why not you too?