The Right Word - Roget and His Thesaurus ~ Picture Book & KID KANDY

by Angie Quantrell @AngieQuantrell

The Right Word - Roget and His Thesaurus
By Jen Bryant
Illustrated by Melissa Sweet
(Eerdmans Books for Young Readers, 2014)

Fantastic illustrations reminiscent of vintage nature journals fill the pages of this wonderful book.

Meet Roget and discover his love of list making. After losing his father at a young age, Roget began his lists with his father's death. Moving often did not allow Roget to make and keep friends, but books made great friends and he didn't have to leave them behind. Making lists kept Roget's world in order. Organized word lists helped those searching for just the right word.

The Right Word - Roget and His Thesaurus is the perfect book to engage young readers in the study of words.

KID KANDY:

Make a List

1. Grab a notebook or pad of paper.

2. Think of a theme for your list of words. Some ideas are animals, food, places, sports, school, or toys.

3. Make a list of all things that relate to your theme. You can include how they sound, look, smell, taste, or feel. Think of words that mean the same thing as words you list.

4. Stuck? Ask for help looking up your word in a thesaurus. You will find word lists that could have possibly originated back when Roget was making his lists. How cool is that?

I love making lists. It helps me organize my to-do's and helps me remember what needs attention. Making grocery lists seems to take up most of my time. Maybe you can help your parents make their shopping list!

P.S. This is the perfect way to add chocolate or ice cream to the grocery list.

The Perfect Dog ~ Picture Book & KID KANDY

by Angie Quantrell @AngieQuantrell

The Perfect Dog
By Kevin O'Malley
(Crown Books for Young Readers, 2016)

Her parents have finally said she could get a dog. The perfect dog.

But what makes a perfect dog? Big, bigger, biggest? Maybe or maybe not.

Humorously written and brightly illustrated, The Perfect Dog shares the tale of a young girl who is searching for the perfect dog companion. All goes well, until a dog chooses her.

I enjoyed this funny book and the comparative language used to tell the tale. Readers will laugh and begin to predict before the story is told.

KID KANDY:

Compare Your Toys

Materials: variety of toys, at least 3 different sizes of each type (3 dogs, 3 cars, 3 blocks, and so on)

Can you line up your toys by comparing them to each other?

Get 3 dogs. Put them in order of big, bigger, and biggest. Or maybe they are small, smaller, and smallest!

How about 3 blocks? Tall, taller, tallest? Or long, longer, longest?

Do you have 3 dolls? Tiny, tinier, tiniest?

3 instruments? Loud, louder, loudest? Quiet, quieter, quietest?

There are all sorts of ways to compare objects! See how many different words you can use to show comparisons. I'd love to hear your favorite!

My Two Blankets ~ Picture Book & KID KANDY

A perfect book to grow empathy for those new to our country

by Angie Quantrell Quantrell Quips

My Two Blankets
By Irena Kobald
Illustrated by Freya Blackwood
(Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2014)

She used to be called Cartwheel. And then there was a war.

My Two Blankets is the story of a girl who moved to a new country where everything was new, different, and confusing. She loved her old blanket of the sounds and words she grew up with. It was warm and made her feel safe.

In her new country, the girl had nothing. Then she met a friend at a park. The girl befriended her and slowly gave her new words to learn and new experiences. As the girl learned to speak a new language, she realized she was creating a new blanket of sounds and words. By the end of the story, she was comfortable with both blankets.

My Two Blankets is a wonderful picture book. Readers who are new to this country or readers who want to learn how it feels to live in a completely different home with a strange language will find this book insightful and refreshing.

KID KANDY:

Do a Cartwheel and Listen to a New Language

1. The girl in this story was called Cartwheel by her auntie because she loved to do cartwheels. Do you have a nickname?

Go out on the grass or playground and do cartwheels. If you don't know how, ask a friend to teach you.

2. To see how the girl felt when she first moved to a new country, listen to a different language. You could:

- listen to a radio station
- check out a book in a different language from the library (look for books that have listening CDs)
- watch a television show featuring actors speaking a different language
- ask an adult to help you find an online video of someone speaking or singing a different language

How did you feel when you couldn't understand the words?

What would you do if you had to move to a place where no one spoke your language?

Can you think of a friend at school or in your neighborhood that speaks a language different from yours? Maybe he or she needs a friend!

Don't Eat the Baby! ~ Picture Book & KID KANDY

No one is going to eat his baby!

By Angie Quantrell Angie Quantrell

Don't Eat the Baby!
By Amy Young
(Viking, 2013)

Don't Eat the Baby! is a funny story about new babies, big brothers, and misunderstandings.

Tom is not sure he wants a new baby. In fact, he names the baby The Blob. At first he is jealous of all of the attention being placed on baby Blob. But soon, Tom hears people saying they want to eat the baby because it is so adorable.

What? They can't eat his baby. Tom decides he has to save the baby. His baby.

Families with new babies will love reading this as they merge the new family member with older siblings. This book also provides humor as discussions take place about silly things adults say.

KID KANDY:

Baby Doll Play

Materials: baby doll, doll clothes and accessories, doll bed or toys

Do you have a new baby sister or brother? They are noisy, tiny, cute, and here to stay. While mom and dad are busy taking care of the new family member, this is your time to play and take care of your own baby.

Pretend the baby is your baby. Feed, rock, burp, and put the baby doll to bed. You can even give your baby a name. It's fun to pretend, isn't it?

You can also ask mom or dad how you can help with your new sibling. Maybe you can go get a diaper for mom or hand dad the blankie. Snuggle in close while baby is sleeping. You used to be that tiny!

Congratulations on being the big brother (or sister)!

What Is Part This, Part That? ~ Terrific Tuesday Picture Book & KID KANDY

What Is Part This, Part That?
By Harriet Ziefert
Illustrations by Tom Slaughter
(Blue Apple Books, 2013)

What Is Part This, Part That? is part rhyme, part language, part literacy. Ziefert shows readers how to look at the same object from different points of view. The glass is part empty, or is it part full?

I love this book! Readers will be engaged to figure out the opposite of each object. The illustrations are bold and simple. Fold out flaps, cut-outs, and other features make this a fun book to read. The last part of the book is a long list of both parts of something - and the reader gets to guess what the object is from the two parts.

Kids will learn, read, and enjoy. I even had fun reading this clever book.

KID KANDY:

Figure Out the Object from Both Parts

On the very last page of What Is Part This, Part That?, Harriet Ziefert gives a big list of two parts for something. How many can you figure out by just knowing the parts?

Challenge: Make up your own part this, part that list. Try them on your family or friends at school.

Hint: Brainstorm some compound words (treehouse, catbird, ladybug). Use them to make your own what is part this, part that?

Mrs. Wishy-washy ~ Picture Book & KID KANDY

Mrs. Wishy-washy
By Joy Cowley
Illustrations by Elizabeth Fuller
(Shortland Publications Limited, 1980)

Mrs. Wishy-washy lives on a farm. One day, the cow, the pig, and the duck found lovely mud and spent their time rolling and splashing about until Mrs. Wishy-washy found the mud splattered animals. Into the tub they went. And then Mrs. Wishy-washy cleaned them up. Wishy-washy, wishy-washy, wishy-washy.

When the animals were spotless, Mrs. Wishy-washy went back to the house. But the animals spied something fantastic. Mud!

This read-together book is catchy and funny. Readers will love to sing-song wishy-washy, wishy-washy, wishy-washy and laugh at the ending.

KID KANDY:

Play in the Mud

1. Get permission to play in the mud.

2. Put on old play clothes.

3. Dig a hole in the dirt.

4. Fill the hole with water.

5. Splash about and mix up the dirt and water. Make some fantastic mud! Paint your legs and hands. Make mud pies. Walk on cement to make mud footprints.

6. Hose off before you go into the house.

7. Take a bath. As you scrub, sing, "wishy-washy, wishy-washy, wishy-washy."

Chicken Cheeks - Wacky Wednesday Picture Book & KID KANDY

Chicken Cheeks
By Michael Ian Black
Illustrated by Kevin Hawkes
(Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2009)

This Wacky Wednesday is really, well, WACKY! I stumbled upon Chicken Cheeks at the public library. After one read-aloud to my grandson, I was hooked and we were both in giggles.

Chicken Cheeks is about bums. Backsides. Buttocks. The "B" word, though I use the word buttsy with my grands.

The entire book is a story of animals, their cheeks (not the ones on their faces), and their attempts to work together to reach a honeybee hive at the top of a very tall tree. The results (and illustrations) are hilarious.

Readers will come away from Chicken Cheeks with a whole new list of words to use for butts. Think vocabulary building while having a good time.

Too much fun and smirking are involved in Chicken Cheeks. So get your buns on out there and find a copy.

KID KANDY:

Word Games: Implement New Words & Build Vocabulary

~ Silly, but yes, children will love to start using their new words in daily life. Maybe you will get tired of the hilarity, but just crack a grin and go with it.

~ Learning never comes to an end . . . try and drum up some new words that were not in Chicken Cheeks. Add those to your conversation (in appropriate circles, of course).

Make sure to read the book jacket and blurb. The play on words is hysterical!

What Is Your Language? - Picture Book & KID KANDY

What Is Your Language?
Song by Debra Leventhal
Pictures by Monica Wellington
(Scholastic Inc., 1999)

Musical notes are included for this book you can sing. If you can't play a piano, don't let that stop you. One can enjoy reading the book aloud just as much.

What Is Your Language? is the story of a little boy who goes on a long trip around the world to meet new friends. At each stop, he asks his new friends to tell him their language. The friends, dressed in simplified traditional clothes, answer the boy and use the word for 'yes' in their own language. After many stops and new friends, the boy must return home. Now all of the friends respond with 'no' in their language, "Don't go!"

Of course, the boy has to go home. But the reader can tell how much he learned on his international journey just by looking at his room.

What Is Your Language? is a simple and fun language book. Though readers will only learn yes and no in several different languages, they will see clothing and some of the attractions from each country the boy visits. The last page of the book gives a pronunciation guide and tells a little about languages around the world (for adults or older readers).

What Is Your Language? is a great book to introduce young children to different languages and new friends that live around the world.

KID KANDY:

Adopt a Country!

~ Let your child choose a country about which he or she is interested. Adopt it!

~ Check out library books to read more about your country.

~ Search online for tourist sites featuring your country. Find language links that let you listen to the spoken language of the country. Listen and practice some words.

~ Go out to dinner at a restaurant that serves foods from your country.

~ Collect dress-up clothes that look like traditional clothes from your country. Play dress-up.

~ Adults: Start a Pinterest board about your country. Search for pins and pin them to the board. This is a great source of images specific to countries. Show the board to your child.

~ Enjoy learning about other countries and people.

Angie Quantrell likes to use Pinterest to collect ideas and images from other countries. A few simple clicks and it's almost like you are visiting in person. Almost. Maybe she needs to prepare some of the traditional foods so it will also taste like she is visiting.