April

During the last week of March and month of April we will be celebrating spring and reading books by the author/illustrator Leo Lionni. He is a three-time Caldecott Honor winning artist and is the author of more than 40 books for children. Most of his books are animal fables in which the characters learn some truth about themselves and others through self-discovery. His illustrations often are done in a collage style.

His first children’s book, Little Blue and Little Yellow, was written in 1959 for his grandchildren during a train ride. Some other Leo Lionni books are: A Busy Year, A Flea Story, An Extraordinary Egg, Frederick, Inch by Inch, It’s Mine, Mr. McMouse, and Six Crows.

Research has shown that the best thing you can do for your child to get him or her ready for kindergarten is to read to them every day. Please take a few minutes each Thursday to ask your child about the book they made that day. A trip to the library to look for other books by the same author would be a wonderful follow-up.

We are enjoying the children very much. It is delightful to watch them working on creating their books. Thank you for sharing them with us!

Thank you very much for remembering us during the teacher appreciation week by giving us beautiful gerbera flower pots.

March

We have had lots of fun reading stories about our turtle friend, Franklin. His many adventures with his friends share important lessons about growing up.

During the month of March we will be looking at books that celebrate different cultures from around the world. We have stories from Mexico, the Pacific Northwest, Africa, China, Russia, Italy, Scotland, Ireland, England, Iran, and legends of Native Americans. Sharing stories from different lands helps us to become aware of the wonderful and diverse people of our world. We hope you enjoy the stories your children bring home and encourage them to find new books at the library.

As we look ahead to the warmth and sunshine of spring and the fun of seeing our world through books, we hope you and your family find many wonderful memory making moments together.

February

We feel sad we missed our class last week, and our last chance at making another book by Jan Brett. However, we sampled some of her imaginative stories and beautiful artwork. Don’t forget to visit the library to read more Jan Brett books.

February brings us to the Canadian author Paulette Bourgeois and illustrator Brenda Clark with Franklin the Turtle books. These books are favorites with young children because Franklin has to face familiar childhood fears like being alone in the dark or being lost.

Brenda Clark didn’t know very much about turtles when she was asked to illustrate a picture book called Franklin in the Dark in 1986. The story, about a turtle that was afraid to go into small, dark places, made her smile. She set out to learn about turtles – how they walked, where they lived, what they ate. She designed a woodland world and filled it with fun animal characters including, of course, Franklin, who is a mix of a box turtle and a Galapagos tortoise.

Since the first book, Brenda and writer Paulette Bourgeois have created more than thirty Franklin the Turtle stories, winning fans worldwide.

Please do not forget to send hats and gloves or mittens with your children. We go to the playground most Thursdays. We are enjoying this class very much and hope for good weather so as not to miss another Awesome Author class.

January

We have had a good time reading many different kinds of books by Tomie de Paola. We encourage you to continue to check these books out even as we move on to our next author.

During the next few weeks we will be sharing books written and illustrated by Jan Brett. Her gentle love for the animals she grew up with as pets and her deep passion for the outdoors and snow show clearly in her beautiful books. Jan Brett’s particular attention to detail and her desire to draw scenes true to their traditions maker her illustrations come alive. Even the borders of the pages are richly drawn with many of her animal friends hidden within. Please take the time to find a cozy place to settle in with your child and enjoy these wonderful stories and beautiful illustrations. You’ll be made richer for it!

We wish you all a happy and healthy New Year filled with many wonderful books!

December

We had fun in November reading all of those awesome “Arthur” books by Marc Brown.  Arthur and his friends had many interesting adventures that we were able to be a part of just by reading them.

In December we will be reading some wonderful Christmas books by Tomie de Paola.  He has written many great books that we hope you and your child will seek out and enjoy reading together. Tomie de Paola lives in New London, New Hampshire.

Please remember hats and gloves or mittens for your child.  We go to the playground most Thursdays. 

We wish you a blessed holiday season and a New Year filled with good health and lots of time to relax and cuddle up with a good book!  Thank you for sharing your children with us.

November

Dear Parents,

We have enjoyed sharing books written and illustrated by Norman Bridwell. Mr. Bridwell’s stories about the adventures of Clifford the Big Red Dog and his friend, Emily Elizabeth, are not only entertaining, they share an important message; you don’t have to be perfect to be loved.

During the month of November we will be reading books by author and illustrator Marc Brown. His very familiar character, “Arthur”, has a warm place in many of our hearts as he learns important lessons with his family and friends. As you look at the “books” your child creates in class, have him or her tell you about the stories we have read.

We have so much to be thankful for; our families, our friends, and for the many wonderful books we have to share. We are also thankful for the children in our class. They help to make our job fun! We look forward to a great November and we hope you all have a very happy Thanksgiving!

September

Welcome to Awesome Authors! Our class focuses on enjoying and creating books. Today we learned who an author and an illustrator are and how a story goes from an idea to an actual book we can read. We discovered that we can do this too, and together we created our own books. Already we are learning to be awesome authors and illustrators!

We will be looking at many different authors during the year including Norman Bridwell, Marc Brown, Tomie dePaola, Jan Brett, Leo Leonni and Eric Carle. In March we will focus on multi-cultural literature. September starts us out with Mercer Mayer. He has written many wonderful stories including the Little Critter books. As you can see, we will be quite busy! We hope you will take a moment to look at the “books” your child creates in class and ask him or her about the stories we have read.

Thank you for sharing your child with us. We look forward to a great year exploring the world of books together! We encourage you to enjoy this adventure with them as well, and read, read, read!

Lorna Miller

Shahnaz Alexander