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!

The Golden Egg Book - Easter Picture & KID KANDY

The Golden Egg Book
Written by Margaret Wise Brown
Illustrated by Leonard Weisgard
(Scholastic Inc., 1947)

I love the imagination that is used by readers when they read The Golden Egg Book.

In The Golden Egg Book (though I have no idea why it is called The Golden Egg Book when there is, in fact, no golden egg at all in the story), a small bunny discovers a beautiful and interesting egg. He immediately starts trying to figure out what is inside the egg. He tries everything he can think of and eventually falls asleep, exhausted from his efforts.

While the bunny is asleep, the egg hatches. A yellow duckling jumps out. The duckling does the same things the bunny did to try and wake up the bunny (not knowing it was a bunny at all).

The old fashioned illustrations together with the adorable story make The Golden Egg Book one of my holiday favorites.


KID KANDY:

Make Mystery Eggs

~ Purchase plastic eggs (now is the perfect time!)

~ Put different items in each egg

~ Let your child use his or her imagination to guess what could be inside the egg

~ Take turns filling the eggs and guessing

~ Change the game by filling 2 eggs with the same thing and let your child try to match the ones that sound the same

~ Go crazy and brainstorm things that could be inside eggs


Angie Quantrell loves mystery eggs. Her most favorite are real boiled eggs and chocolate eggs. Happy Easter!

Chickens Aren't the Only Ones - Picture Book & KID KANDY

Chickens Aren't the Only Ones
By Ruth Heller
(Grosset & Dunlap, 1981)

Chickens Aren't the Only Ones is the perfect book for spring. I love to use it at Easter as well, since Heller talks about Easter eggs in a section of the book.

Chickens Aren't the Only Ones is a wonderfully illustrated book about who comes from eggs. All sorts of animals, land, water, and sky travelers, grace the pages of loose rhyme. Heller has captured the imagination of readers who think eggs are only allowed to be oval-shaped. Which is not true!

This book, full of nature and scientific info (but shared in a fun way) is a great book for those nature lovers and inquisitive minds that you know. Learn a little, love a little. Read Chickens Aren't the Only Ones.

KID KANDY:

Spring is Egg Time!

~ Go for a walk at a local pond. Look for nests with eggs or ducklings or goslings swimming along behind mom and dad. Discuss the egg connection.

~ Get out the magnifying glasses. Search your yard (under leaves and rocks) for eggs of any type or size. Guess who will come out when the eggs hatch. Check out an insect identification book to help ID the eggs.

~ Continue the conversation in the car or on walks. Let your child list animals and put them into groups of eggs - yes or no? The discussion of egg laying creatures (oviparous animals) will naturally lead into talking about mammals who do not lay eggs. (Heller shows the two exceptions of mammals that lay eggs.)

~ Dig out the toy animals your child has at the bottom of the toy box. Sort by group - eggs or not.


Science and nature are amazing. Spring is the perfect time to notice new life. Get out there and get going!

Angie Quantrell loves to identify different eggs. She is very happy when she finds the foamy egg masses of praying mantis' and the tiny yellow eggs of ladybugs in her garden.

Dragonspell

Dragonspell by Donita K. Paul (Waterbrook Press, 2004)

I have discovered a favorite author!

Donita K. Paul is not new to the field of writing. Nor is my love of her characters and writing style recently discovered. I have been reading her books for several years. Notice my worn copy of this first book in her DragonKeeper series.

After stumbling upon her books while searching for a new read, there has been no turning back. Dragonspell has delightful and real characters set in a fairy tale world. The world of Amara has a spiritual base of Christianity. Wulder and Paladin guide the inhabitants of Amara who choose to follow their leading. Others who choose the opposite follow Risto and his plans.

Meet Kale, a used-to-be-slave-girl, who is recruited by Wulder as a gifted dragon keeper. She has the special talent of discovering dragon eggs. In the scheme of things, there is one very special egg, a meech egg, that is diligently sought out by Risto, who has not so good plans for the egg.

Paul has the fine fingers and voice of storytelling. Realistic details, character personalities and actions, and social interactions of beings on a quest make for a very good read. Paul's writing reminds me somewhat of C.S. Lewis. Now you have to read her books.

Check out Donita K. Paul's Web site to find out about other books, e-books, and even Monday night chats. Visit www.donitakpaul.com.

Happy 10th Year of Publication (2014)!