The Beckoning Cat - Picture Book & KID KANDY

The Beckoning Cat, Based on a Japanese Folktale
By Koko Nishizuka
Illustrated by Rosanne Litzinger
(Holiday House, 2009)

Have you seen a beckoning cat?

I have, in several shops and restaurants. I've always wondered what they were for. What is the symbolism and the story that goes along with these cats with waving paws?

The Beckoning Cat, Based on a Japanese Folktale, is the best place to go to find out about those cheerful looking cats.

Yohei was a young boy who goes to the port each morning to buy fish to sell. He was very poor, but worked hard to find buyers for the fish that rested in buckets on both ends of a pole placed across his shoulder.

One rainy evening, a muddy kitty showed up at his door. Yohei fed the stray with as much of his meager food as he could. The next day it was gone.

Yohei's father came down ill with a high fever. Yohei was forced to go home and care for his sick dad instead of selling the fish in his buckets. He wished he could do both, as they desperately needed the money to survive.

Mysteriously, people started knocking on Yoshei's door. They wanted to buy fish. Who told them where to go? It was the beckoning cat, sitting by the door, waving her paw to garner attention.

This adorable story continues on with the story of Yoshei, his father, and the cat, who helped Yoshei sell enough fish to buy strong medicine for his father.

Now the beckoning cat is seen as a good-luck symbol. Many merchants put them in their windows or at cash registers. Now do you recall seeing a beckoning cat?

KID KANDY:

Go on a Beckoning Cat Hunt

~ Search online to learn more about beckoning cats.

~ Visit a Japanese or Asian restaurant for lunch or dinner. Is there a beckoning cat?

~ If you find a shop or restaurant with a beckoning cat, ask the owners or servers to tell about the cat. Is their story like the one found in The Beckoning Cat, Based on a Japanese Folktale?

~ Make your own beckoning cat with construction paper, scissors, markers, and a brad. Cut out the cat, making it's arm separate. Attach the waving arm to the side of the cat with a brad so you can move it back and forth. What does your beckoning cat wave at?


Thanks for reading and sharing. Have a wonderful day!

Art & Max - Picture Book & KID KANDY

Art & Max
By David Wiesner
(Clarion Books, 2010)

Explosions of color and detail fill the picture book Art & Max.

Art (the lizard, not the subject) and Max are exploring art (the subject, not the lizard) while out in the desert. Art (short for Arthur) is quite good at painting portraits. All Max wants to do is to try and do the same thing. Art finally agrees to allow Max to begin experimenting with paint.

Literal Max creates quite the scene with his interpretations of painting. Readers will be engaged in imagining what happens next as they read Art & Max.

Bright colors, imaginative illustrations, and simple text combine in Art & Max to make a fascinating book. Color mixing, techniques, and a variety of drawings are perfectly used to not only entertain but to educate readers about art.

I give Art & Max two thumbs up.

KID KANDY:

Art (the Subject, not the lizard) Time

There are several art techniques shown in Art & Max. Choose one to explore.

~ painting with acrylics on an easel

~ painting on an object with acrylics

~ using rainbow colors to paint

~ adding water to paint to thin the colors

~ watercolor painting

~ charcoal (pencil) drawings

~ string art

~ pointillism art (dots of paint)

~ splatter technique of painting


Use Art & Max for ideas of what you would like to try. Maybe you better paint outside. It could get messy!

Duck on a Bike - Wacky Wednesday Picture Book & KID KANDY

Duck on a Bike
By David Shannon
(Scholastic Inc., 2002)

Have you seen a duck on a bike? Sounds like a Wacky Wednesday feature to me. Let's read Duck on a Bike, shall we?

Duck got a wild idea and decided to go on a bicycle joy ride around the farm. As Duck passed other farm animals, each one mentally expressed varying opinions of duck on the bike. But after a group of children arrived on their bikes, dashed inside, and left the bicycles unattended, well . . . one can only imagine what happens next!

I've never seen a duck on a bike. But wouldn't that be a fun thing?

KID KANDY:

Go for a Bike Ride

After reading Duck on a Bike, put on your helmet and go out for a bicycle ride. Consider the thoughts of the different animals. Do they apply to your bike ride? Which animal are you most like? Why?

Pretend for just a bit. If you could see ANY animal riding a bike, which one would it be? Draw me a picture. I would love to see that, too!


You are welcome to share ideas and book suggestions found on this blog. Happy trails to you!

Thanks for sharing!


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Maple & Willow Together - Terrific Tuesday Picture Book & KID KANDY

Maple & Willow Together
By Lori Nichols
(Nancy Paulsen Books, 2014)

Maple & Willow Together is the story of two sisters who did everything together. Maple and Willow even had their own language.

But alas, they did not always agree on the right way to do things. One day, the sisters got into a fight, disagreeing and acting out. They did not want to see each other again.

It only took a short while for the separated girls to decide that they did indeed want to spend all their time together again.

I love the names Maple and Willow. I love how the story allows the sisters to spend lots of free time playing outdoors. I think the illustrations are adorable.

Maple & Willow Together will help readers to see that it's okay to spend time together AND do different things.


KID KANDY:

Build a Fairy House

Materials: nature items such as pebbles, sticks, leaves, acorns, flowers, and pinecones

Find a spot where you want to build a fairy house. Use whatever you can find in your backyard (or park, forest, meadow, playground) to use as building materials. A fairy house can be flat on the ground or built up tall propped between rocks or tree branches. Maybe you want to build a fairy house in a hole or under a tree root or beneath a flower bush. Any place will be perfect for your fairy house.

Have fun!

Do you see any place to build a fairy house in the above pictures?

Jack's Garden ~ Picture Book & KID KANDY

Jack's Garden
By Henry Cole
(Greenwillow Books, 1995)


It's that time of year. For me, I am picking out hundreds of sunflowers seeds gone wild in the middle of the strawberry bed. Not to mention digging out the little clover roots that have invaded the same triangle garden. Last fall, I loved the groups of birds foraging in my overgrown sunflower patch. Unfortunately I allowed a few strays to grow. They took over. This year, my laziness has been found out. So the weeding progresses.

Meet Jack.

Jack's Garden is a book about a, well, perfectly tilled, measured, and planned garden. Each two-page spread tells what Jack does in his garden. Borders are edged with tools, garden critters, life cycles, and so on. Jack is not lazy though. He wants flowers to take over his garden so he can enjoy the ladybugs (detailed life stages illustrations), birds, bees, butterflies, and all of those other wonderful animals that frequent flower gardens. The end result is beautiful.

Readers will learn much about gardens and wildlife when they read Jack's Garden. The illustrations are labeled, so everyone can tell which is a ladybird larva and which is a bee balm flower. This nature book not only allows the reader to learn, it is a good scientific source for accurate information and gives suggestions for planting your own flower garden to attract wildlife.

Jack's Garden is a great resource for gardeners of any age.

KID KANDY:

Plant a Flower Patch

~ With mom or dad, choose a spot to clear of grass or other plants. Dig up the soil and mash up the dirt chunks.

~ Smooth the dirt with a rake or your hands. Doesn't the soil feel nice and cool?

~ Decide on which flowers you want to plant. Sunflowers? Black-eyed Susan's? Daisies? Maybe you want a mix of seeds and a surprise.

~ Get your seeds.

~ Read the package directions together to find out how deep to plant the seeds. Plant them in your flower patch dirt.

~ Gently water the soil and keep it moist until seedlings sprout.

~ Continue to water. Wait to pull weeds until you are sure which sprouts are weeds and which are flowers!

~ Enjoy the beautiful flowers that bloom. Spend some time watching to see who visits your flower patch - bees, butterflies, robins, cats, slugs, ladybugs, and spiders may check out your flowers.

~ Don't forget to take pictures of your beautiful flowers!

Happy Easter, Little Critter - Picture Book & KID KANDY

Happy Easter, Little Critter
By Mercer Mayer
(Scholastic Inc., 1998)

Ah, the good old days. Happy Easter, Little Critter takes me right back to the Easter holidays of my childhood.

Getting up too early? Check.

Easter baskets the same as my three siblings? Check.

Get dressed up for church in a new (and sometimes matching but different color than my sister) Easter outfit? Check.

Try to eat all the candy BEFORE church? Of course.

Decorate eggs? The messier the better.

Hiding and finding eggs? Over and over. We could play that game all day.

Fighting over who got the (prettiest, biggest, coolest - you fill in the blank) eggs?

Happy Easter, Little Critter tells it like it was.

KID KANDY:

Decorate Boiled Eggs

(As always, allow your child to help you as much as possible to capitalize on learning activities.)

1. Boil the eggs. I always add extras, just in case. Cool.

2. Prepare the egg dying kit. I actually read the directions this year. Yes. I know. Vinegar only goes in some of the dyes, not all. And the eggs need to be completely dry and at room temp for the best results.

3. Use crayons to draw designs on eggs - stripes, zigzags, dots, and so on. Add rubber bands, bits of tape, or other sticky items make patterns.

4. Dye the eggs. This year (it really was a learning year for me and I'm 52!) I let my grands use wire whips as egg holders. I love this tip!

5. Dry. Add stickers, washi tape, glitter, or whatever else you want. Dry again.

Time for hide and seek!

You hide the eggs the first time. And then let your children take it from there.

HINT: Count the eggs. Find the same number of eggs that were hidden. Trust me. Don't leave eggs hiding in your yard. Ewww.

Happy Easter, little critters!

Z is for Moose - Wacky Wednesday Picture Book & KID KANDY

Z is for Moose
By Kelly Bingham
Pictures by Paul O. Zelinsky
(Scholastic Inc., 2012)

Z does not normally begin with M, as in moose. But Moose will do anything to get in on the alphabet action play.

In Z is for Moose, Moose is so excited to get in on the alphabet fun, he is willing to jump in anywhere. Moose sneaks into many pages, interrupting the flow and annoying the zebra director and other animal actors.

What is wackier than a Moose impatient with waiting his turn for alphabet representation?

The fit that same Moose throws when he is not listed under the letter M. M is for mouse.

Read all about Moose and his alphabet mayhem in Z is for Moose. Totally wacky.


KID KANDY:

Sing the Alphabet Song (Wrong)

My students LOVED it when we sang the ABC song and I messed up. Your child will love it as well.

~ Look at an alphabet book or chart.

~ Sing the song, pointing to each letter as you go.

~ Make mistakes. Be dramatic. Mess it up big time.

~ Act innocent when you are accused of being wrong. Who me? What? Couldn't be!

~ Begin again, progressing past the first mistake. Sing the wrong letter and make more mistakes.


Really. Your child will not let you stop singing. By the end, both of you will be laughing and having so much fun, neither of you will notice that someone is learning about the alphabet.

P.S. My kinders had so much fun with this silly activity, we literally disturbed all of the other classes on our wing!

Angie Quantrell loves singing silly songs with kids. The sillier, the better. A, B, C, F, G, H, J, . . .