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Books for Kids

Winter Nature Books for Kids

January 11, 2017 By Terri Thompson

Our winters in Minnesota are so cold and snowy that’s it’s tempting to stay inside ALL THE TIME.

But sometimes, you’ve got to just shake off that cabin fever, bundle up, and get out and enjoy nature in winter.

If you need some inspiration, grab one of these winter nature books. They’re all great choices that will make you want to get outside and have some fun.

When the weather gets cold, grab some of these winter nature books for kids. They will definitely inspire you to get out and explore outside.

Disclosure: There are Amazon Affiliate and other affiliate links in this article which means, at no additional cost to you, we could receive compensation for our recommendations. You can read our full disclosure policy on our Disclosure Page for more details.

Best winter nature books for kids

Time to Sleep by Denise Fleming is the story of a group of animals getting ready to hibernate. It’s a great choice for toddlers and preschoolers.

Best in Snow by April Pulley Sayre. This simple story is probably more appealing to toddlers and preschoolers than older kids, but the beautiful snowy photographs will draw all ages in. This is a beautiful book!

Tracks in the Snow by Wong Herbert Yee. Follow along as a young child tries to discover what made the footprints in the snow outside her window.

Animals in Winter by Henrietta Bancroft and Richard G. Van Gelder. We’ve had this science-based story book in our collection for years. It’s a great and simple book about how different animals spend the winter.

Over and Under the Snow by Kate Messner tells the story of all the wildlife that make their winter homes under the snow while a young girls glides her way over the snow and all the wildlife.

Someone Walks By: The Wonders of Winter Wildlife by Polly Carlson-Voiles. Not all animals hibernate in the winter. Take a walk through the woods in this book to see all the animals that are still active in winter.

When the weather gets cold, grab some of these winter nature books for kids. They will definitely inspire you to get out and explore outside.

Winter Eyes by Douglas Florian is a book of kid-friendly poetry about winter. The poems are short, fun and a great poetry choice for a cold, blustery day.

Sugar Snow: Adapted from the Little House Books by Laura Ingalls Wilder. This Little House Picture Book is a simple story of the Wilder family’s experience with sugar snow and tells the process of making maple syrup.

Blizzard by John Rocco. Have you ever experienced a blizzard? Hear what it’s like in this fun book based on a true story from the author’s childhood.

Cold Snap by Eileen Spinelli. Winter can get COLD! This fun book tells the story of how one small town survived (and enjoyed) a cold snap.

The Story of Snow: The Science of Winter’s Wonder by Mark Cassino. This nonfiction book is packed full of great information all about snow that is more suited for your older kids (ages 7-10) than your younger kids. It’s a fascinating read with a ton of great close-up snowflake pictures.

When the weather gets cold, grab some of these winter nature books for kids. They will definitely inspire you to get out and explore outside.

Our favorite winter nature books

I had my girls choose their favorite book out of the pile of books we reviewed. They liked all the books, but these two were the overall favorites.

My 9-year-old chose Waiting for Winter by Sebastian Meschenmoser. She loves a book that makes her laugh out loud and this book (and its illustrations) did. It’s the story of a squirrel, hedgehog, and bear who have never seen snow and decide to stay awake until it snows.

My 7-year-old chose Winter’s Coming: A Story of Seasonal Change by Jan Thornhill. She loved the story of a young snowshoe hare named Lily, who has no idea what to expect from winter. As she talks to her many animal friends, she learns how they spend the winter and also how she will too.

Now that you’ve read these winter nature books and are inspired to get outside, what are you going to do? Sled, build a snowman, feed the birds?

Maybe try one of these 10 Ways to Explore Nature in Winter.

No matter what you choose, get outside and have some fun!

When the weather gets cold, grab some of these winter nature books for kids. They will definitely inspire you to get out and explore outside.

You may also like one of these winter activities:

Snow Painting Art Project

12 of the Best Winter Art Projects for Kids

Winter STEM Activities

Outdoor Winter Activities for Toddlers and Preschoolers at Rainy Day Mum

Add these books to your library:

Any of these books would be perfect to add to your at-home library. You can find most of them to purchase on Amazon here:

Do you want to do more activities with your kids?

Join our fun Facebook community, Creative Family Fun for Busy Families, for daily activities that are great for kids and families. We’ll chat, share, and have fun. It’s a safe and private place to share ideas for family and kids activities.

I’d love for you to join me! Just click the link below, request to join, and answer the questions (they’re easy, I promise). Come join the fun! Join the Creative Family Fun for Busy Families community here.

Learning About Ancient China Through Books and Activities #ReadYourWorld

January 21, 2016 By Terri Thompson

The Multicultural Children’s Book Day is an amazing initiative whose mission is to spread the word and raise awareness about the importance of diversity in children’s literature. There is nothing better than reading a book about a kid who is just like you. I’m a big believer in the fact that every kid should be able to see themselves in a book.

As part of the Multicultural Children’s Book Day, we were able to whisk ourselves back to ancient China. It was a fun and fascinating journey.

Disclosure: This post contains Amazon Affiliate links. Please see my Disclosure Page for more details. I was sent a free copy of this book for review. All opinions are my own.

I’m very grateful to have been introduced to Icy Smith through the MCCBD team. We were sent a copy of the Mystery of the Giant Masks of Sanxingdui, written by Icy Smith and illustrated by Gayle Garner Roski. It was a beautiful book that we greatly enjoyed.

In 1968, construction workers found an amazing discovery. Two pits full of over a thousand artifacts, containing bronze, jade, gold, and elephant tusks. This Sanxingdui site is considered one of the greatest archaeological discoveries in China. Who buried these? Why? What happened to the ancient Sanxingdui culture? Icy Smith tells the story of what she thinks may have happened through the eyes of a young girl Min and her older brother Wei.

The story was fascinating and quite approachable to my 1st and 3rd grade daughters. We enjoyed this glimpse into ancient China and we were happy to see it through the eyes of a young girl. We learned a lot and are eager to read more books from Icy Smith.

Extend the fun with some activities:

  • Build a replica of the Great Wall of China. Check out this amazing project from Confessions of a Homeschooler.
  • Planet Smarty Pants has a list of so many great activities that she and her daughter have done together. They explored through math, crafts, food and more.
  • Read a Chinese folktale. What Do We Do All Day has a fantastic list to choose from.
  • Learn some words in Chinese. Miss Panda Chinese is a wonderful blog dedicated to teaching children Mandarin Chinese.
  • Learn about pictograms, Terra Cotta Warriors, and more with these ancient China activities from Creekside Learning.

 

The Multicultural Children’s Book Day team’s mission to spread the word and raise awareness about
the importance of diversity in children’s literature. Our young readers need to
see themselves within the pages of a book and experience other cultures,
languages, traditions and religions within the pages of a book. We encourage
readers, parents, teachers, caregivers and librarians to follow along the fun
book reviews, author visits, event details, a multicultural children’s book
linky and via our hashtag (#ReadYourWorld) on Twitter and other social media 

“Our mission is to not only raise awareness for the kid’s books that celebrate diversity, but to get more of these of books into classrooms and libraries.”

The co-creators of this unique event are Mia Wenjen from Pragmatic Mom and Valarie Budayr from Jump Into a Book/Audrey Press. You can find a bio for Mia and Valarie here.

Thank you to all the sponsors of the Multicultural Children’s Book Day:

Multicultural
Children’s Book Day 2016 Medallion Level Sponsors! #ReadYourWorld
Platinum: Wisdom Tales Press * StoryQuest Books*Lil Libros
Gold: Author Tori Nighthawk*Candlewick Press,*
Bharat
Babies
Silver: Lee and Low Books*Chronicle Books*Capstone Young Readers T
Tuttle Publishing ,NY Media Works, LLC/KidLit TV

 

Bronze: Pomelo Books* Author Jacqueline Woodson*Papa Lemon Books* Goosebottom Books*Author
Gleeson Rebello
*ShoutMouse Press*Author
Mahvash Shahegh
* China
Institute.org
*Live Oak Media
Also, thank you to the hosts:

All Done Monkey,
Crafty Moms
Share
, Educators Spin on it, Growing Book by Book, Imagination Soup, I’m Not the Nanny, InCultural Parent,  Kid World Citizen, Mama
Smiles
, Multicultural Kid Blogs, Spanish Playground

 

12 Days of Picture Books

December 10, 2015 By Terri Thompson

Can an ordinary person change the world? You bet they can! This is one of the many life lessons I’m trying to teach my girls and luckily there’s a great book series about real people to help inspire this lesson.
We’re joining forces with Penguin Kids to share some of their favorite picture books as a part of the 12 Days of Picture Books. They will have daily giveaways on their Facebook page between now and December 18th. You’ll have to check it out!
Penguin Kids generously sent us a copy of one of the books they’re featuring in the giveaway. Keep reading to find out why we loved it!
Disclaimer: This post contains Amazon Affiliate Links. Please see my disclosure for more details.
The day our book came in the mail was not the first time we had read I am Amelia Earhart by Brad Meltzer. We had checked it out from the library a few months back and renewed it as many times as we could. It is that good. We’ve since gone on to read others in the series. In fact, I am Rosa Parks is sitting in our library basket as we speak.
Quite frankly, I’m grateful for Brad Meltzer for writing this series. I’m grateful for a easy-to-read and engaging series of biographies for young kids. I’m grateful to have this tool to teach my children about amazing people who did extraordinary things in a way that shows them that anyone can do great things. I am grateful for Amelia Earhart and how she is teaching them to reach for the skies and to know no bounds.
If you haven’t read this series, I’d encourage you to check it out. Abraham Lincoln, Lucille Ball, Jackie Robinson, Helen Keller, and Albert Einstein round out the series. And, to my 3rd-grade daughter’s relief, I am Martin Luther King Jr. will be coming out in January.

 

 

If you would like the chance to win I am Amelia Earhart, you must stop by Penguin Kids Facebook Page today!
Stop by everyday through December 18th for even more chances to win some of the books pictured above.
If you’re looking for great books to give this holiday season for kids of all ages, you need to check out this awesome Penguin Holiday Gift Guide! (If you go nutty over beautiful covers like I do, you need to check out the Collectibles section. Drool.)
 

Life Lessons from Ladybug Girl

October 20, 2015 By Terri Thompson

“Ladybug Girl is sooooooooooooo awesome.” sighs my 8-year-old after we put down the last book in the pile. Yep, we read them all in one afternoon. It was a perfectly delightful afternoon.

My girls have some messages for you.

“Mama, can you tell them I like Ladybug Girl and Bingo the best. It’s so funny.” says my 6-year-old.

“Mama, tell them about The Super Fun Edition. I love it. The book jacket folds out into a poster and there’s paper dolls inside. They’re so awesome! And, they’ve got reusable sticker costumes for Ladybug Girl to wear.” says my 8-year-old. (I’ll tell you more about this one later.)

And I want to say thank you to Penguin Kids for sponsoring this post and giveaway.

Disclosure: Penguin Books sent us complimentary copies of the Ladybug Girls books and are providing the prize for the giveaway. All opinions are my own. This post also contains Amazon Affiliate links. Please see my disclosure for more details.

After reading the Ladybug Girl books, I paused. There are so many life lessons to learn from Ladybug Girl – not preachy life lessons – just simple lessons from a girl who always stays true to herself.

 

From Ladybug Girl and Bumblebee Boy, we learned that if you compromise with a friend, you can have so much fun! After all, it’s more fun to play with friends than to argue.

From Ladybug Girl at the Beach we learned that it takes some bravery to try new things. But, if you do, you can have more fun than you did did worrying about it.

From Ladybug Girl and the Bug Squad, we learned that friends care about how each other feels and it’s important to say you’re sorry when you hurt someone’s feelings – even if you did it on accident.

From Ladybug Girl and Bingo we learned that everyone has responsibilities and you can still have fun while taking care of those responsibilities.

 

From Ladybug Girl and the Big Snow we learned to always look on the bright side even when everything seems to be going wrong.

From Ladybug Girl and the Dress-Up Dilemma we learned that it’s best to always be yourself. You’re you and that’s what makes you awesome!

From Ladybug Girl and the Best Ever Playdate, we leaned that friends are better than even the most fantastic toys.

Thank you Ladybug Girl for showing us how to be kind, brave, and true.

 

Penguin Kids is celebrating Ladybug Girl books by David Soman and Jacky Davis with a brand new gift edition of the first Lady Bug Girl book. Ladybug Girl: The Super Fun Edition has been a favorite with my girls ever since it landed on our front porch. Not only do you get a hardback copy of Ladybug Girl, but it’s packed with other fun stuff. The book jacket folds out into an awesome poster of Ladybug Girl and Bingo. Plus, the best part ever as described by my daughters, it contains Ladybug Girl and Bingo paper dolls along with two pages of reusable sticker outfits in the back. The paper dolls have already gone on many adventures at our house.

I’m so excited that I get to give away a copy  of Ladybug Girl The Super Fun Edition to one of you. (US based addresses only, please). You can enter below. Giveaway ends October 28, 2015.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Activity Books Rock!

May 13, 2015 By Terri Thompson

I’ve partnered with Parragon Books to start bringing you fun book reviews each month. They have a ton of fun books – including a favorite type in our house, activity books.
Why are activity books such a favorite? Because, they rock!
Disclosure: I received a free copy of the book from Parragon Books; all opinions are my own. All links are Amazon Affiliate links. Please see my disclosure for more details.
We received Busy Busy Things That Go with 2000 Stickers and my kindergartner claimed it as soon as she saw it. It rocked her world. It’s rated ages 3 and up and it’s absolutely perfect for that age group. There were a few mazes and matching activities, but most of the pages ask the child to complete a picture using the stickers. My daughter added piles of rubble and safety signs to a demolition site. She also added missing parts to construction vehicles. The pages are fun and colorful. Plus, they are great prompts to storytelling. All in all, it fit our criteria for a rockin’ activity book.
We always keep a pile of activity books on hand. Why?
They’re portable. Take one along to a restaurant or a waiting room. Activity books are mess free, quiet, and have plenty of things to keep your child from getting bored.
They’re perfect for the car. Take one (or two, or three) along on road trips, for all the reasons listed above.
They keep the mind working in many ways. Whether your child is solving a maze, spotting differences, making matches, or storytelling, they’re using their brains. Not only that, but they’re using their brains while having fun.
It’s an independent activity. Kids can work on activity books independently. Pre-readers may need a someone to read the instructions, but for the most part they can work on it alone. As long as you make sure you buy activity books at the correct level for your child, they’ll love the opportunity to work on something on their own.
They’re fun. This right here is the #1 reason why we love activity books. They’re fun and my kids enjoy them.
Do your kids love activity books?
Thank you Parragon Books for the opportunity to review. You can find more of their activity book titles here. You can also follow them on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest for more fun.

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