If you are considering an “ART”ificial tree, these examples may give you a few ideas.
Peterkin Meets a Star, by Emilie Boon – a video trailer
…There was once a star that twinkled…and a boy who reached for it. Thus begins a simple but profound story about friendship, holding close, and letting go.
Introducing author Gina Ricci and her new picture book – and app – “Boo!”
Click on the image above to go to the YouTube trailer!
Meander Art’s new release – “BOO!” is a Halloween-themed picture book by Gina Ricci featuring Sophie and Sam. It has also just been released as a PicPocket Books app. Get to know the author, Gina, as she describes the inspiration behind her writing and illustration, and especially her newest picture book, Boo!
"Boo!" picture book by Gina Ricci on the iPad
About Boo!:
Sophie (the little witch in Boo!) and Sam (her cat) have been in my life for years. In fact, Erin, my daughter, was my inspiration for Sophie. 
Sophie and Sam celebrate Halloween!
With her cat Sam, tucked under her arm, Sophie made her debut in “Splish! Splash! Splosh!” the first of many adventures Sophie and Sam take together. Their latest story is “BOO!” – a Halloween night full of black cats, bubbling cauldrons, and a haunted house.
Sophie and Sam in "Splish! Splash! Splosh!"
“BOO!’s” richly detailed illustrations bring to life the magic of Halloween and the playful, rhyming adventure, which young children will love to read.
About Gina:
I was born in England, but have lived in America for the last 30 years. I’ve always loved to draw and paint. One Christmas, my sister Louise was visiting, and we had such a bad snowstorm that we were stuck indoors for a week. We sat at the dining room table and decided to make our own Christmas cards. On the back of them we wrote “from Me and ‘er.” And that’s how Meander Art was born.
Each year I designed another card, wrote a poem for the inside, and from those first few cards came my designs and the stories for our children’s books.
At the heart of Meander Art’s books are wonderful childhood memories, splashing in puddles, building sandcastles, trick-or-treating, and more. We want our stories and artwork to make children smile, and for the parents to remember when they were young–those days of endless summers, the first chill of Autumn, memories of building snowmen, and best friends.
Look out for another Sophie and Sam–whimsical tale from Meander Art– coming this winter “Snowflakes are Falling.”
Mo Willems’ Red Elephant Has a Home
This past weekend, on an extremely wet and soggy Saturday afternoon, I found a very cheery bit of art at the Eric Carle Museum of Picturebook Art. My family and I arrived at the museum to see Mo Willems and his crew standing in the rain and maneuvering his fire-engine red, whimsical elephant sculpture into place in the museum’s outdoor courtyard.
In between book signings, Mo gave a talk and slide show about the inspiration for his work in metal and other mediums besides his famous picture books, and his process in creating this sculpture. Museum founder Eric Carle was in attendance for the event, so I got to snap this photo of two of my picture book heroes:
Mo Willems and Eric Carle
And if you are a fan of Eric Carle’s work (who isn’t?!), I highly recommend a visit to the museum to check out their exhibits, including the one on Eric Carle’s work and life. Make sure to pay the red elephant a visit, too!
First Day Jitters and a Back to School Surprise
Luckily, my son does not seem to have first day jitters as he contemplates going back to school. In fact, as the winds and rain of Hurricane Irene dissipated early yesterday morning, he climbed into my bed and declared, “I can’t wait for the first day of school tomorrow. I am so excited!”
However, our back to school surprise is that his elementary school is one of a handful in our county that is still without power in the aftermath of the hurricane, so, you guessed it: no school. What a weird way to start the school year!
In case you know anyone who DOES have first day jitters, here is a funny book with a surprise ending that may just help to smooth things over:
First Day Jitters, by Julie Danneberg
Enjoy the summer days with Sunny Bunnies
"Sunnies Bunnies," by Margie Blumberg, illustrated by June Goulding
The Sunny Bunnies picture book is available as an iPad and iPhone app from PicPocket Books, and in traditional print format from MB Publishing.
These sunny bunnies can’t wait to dig their toes into the sandiest spot in Carrot Cake Park. There, with big sister leading the way, they’ll build a castle, fly a kits, and – of course – jump in the waves! This endearing rhyming tale with its cheerful illustrations captures a perfect summer day.
"Lunchtime, munchtime...!"
Apps in the Classroom: A Teacher’s Perspective
Mrs. Torres’s 4/5 grade class at Zuni Elementary Magnet School for Communication and Technology in Albuquerque, New Mexico is one of the growing number of elementary schools across the county that has access to a set of iPod touches for the classroom.
Michele Torres recently contacted PicPocket Books to let us know that her students have been working with a number of our apps for reading. Mrs. Torres uses the book apps to get her students excited about new titles and subjects and they write book reviews in their writing journals, record reviews in Photo Booth and also present book recommendations to their classmates and “Reading Buddies” from younger grades. Mrs. Torres noticed that the recommendations from the more advanced readers and the inherent appeal of the iPod touch device are successful ways to get reluctant readers more motivated and interested in reading.
In addition to book apps for reading, the class uses several apps for math. The students do math drills, complete story problems, and listen to math lessons. Torres uses lessons from iTunes U to supplement some of the concepts they are learning in class. “If a student isn’t “getting it” I look for a lesson to download and have them complete it on their own,” she says.
Michele says, “I love that the kids are so excited about using these amazing little pieces of equipment. Using the iPod Touches engages my students in learning and increases their motivation. I am able to accommodate the many learning styles of my students by finding different apps for the students to use.”
The flip side of having a huge variety of specialized apps in the App Store is that finding appropriate educational apps in Apple’s vast collection takes some research. “I didn’t want apps that the kids would just play a game on, I wanted to use the apps to supplement what the kids were already doing in the classroom,” explains Torres. For age-appropriate and subject appropriate recommendations, she turned to MomsWithApps. Through their popular website and catalogue of apps, MomsWithApps brings developers of family friendly and educational apps and app users like educators and parents together to share best practices and feedback.
Visit the MomsWithApps website for info and articles about family-friendly and educational app
A recent day found students from Mrs. Torres’ class reading and discussing PicPocket Books’ Human Body Detectives: The Lucky Escape, written by Dr. Heather Manly, N.D. Because of the contact information for the publisher and the author is included in the app, Mrs. Torres was easily able to contact PicPocket Books and the author to provide feedback and ask questions – most importantly, “When is the next book in the Human Body Detectives series coming out?” PicPocket Books directed Mrs. Torres to online resources on the author’s website to supplement science lessons and also let the class know that the next adventures will be published as apps in the early summer of 2011.
Human Body Detectives: "Battle With the Bugs" now available on iTunes
A number of factors make this kind of communication with the readers, author and publishers of book apps much more direct and immediate in comparison with previous models form the traditional print world. Publishers are benefiting from reader feedback, and readers feel that they can be more connected by giving input on what kind of content is useful for them.
Torres’ students have an “iTouch Notebook” to record their notes and feedback on apps and iTouch activities. Torres added, “I love when the kids come to school and tell me, ‘Mrs. Torres, I did some research last night, and I found a couple of apps you should check out for us.’ Most of the time, the apps are very appropriate for what my goal for them is, and that is to learn.”
This article was originally published on the MomsWithApps website, on May 7, 2011.
Encourage summer reading – and prevent summer reading loss
It is called “summer slide,” “summer reading gap,” “summer learning loss,” and “summer setback.” Unfortunately, each year, summer learning loss accentuates the reading gap that exists between students from low–socioeconomic and high–socioeconomic families. One way to combat the summer slide is to get books into kids’ hands and encourage them to actually read them. Linda B. Gambrell, Professor of Education at Clemson University, and former president of the International Reading Association has some very practical tips for connecting kids and books. These suggestions were first published in her 2008 article “Closing the Summer Reading Gap: You Can Make a Difference!”
Ways you can make a difference
by Linda B. Gambrell
There are a number of things that individual classroom teachers can do to encourage summer reading. In a study conducted with elementary–age students, Jimmy Kim found that reading four to five books during the summer was potentially enough to prevent a decline in reading achievement from spring to fall.
The key to overcoming summer reading loss is finding novel ways to get books into students’ hands during the summer break. Here are four suggestions for classroom teachers:
- During “teacher read–aloud time,” share information about a variety of books. Students are more likely to read books they know something about. During the 15 to 20 minutes that you would read aloud from a single book, give a brief overview of multiple books instead, making sure you share a balance of narrative and informational texts reflecting a range of reading levels. Encourage students to make a list of the books they want to read over the summer. If a teacher shares 12 to 15 books a week during the final four weeks of school, students will be introduced to 50 or 60 books for potential summer reading.
- Share “3–a–day.” If you can’t devote 15 to 20 minutes at a time to book sharing, try taking 5 minutes each day during the last month of school to share “3–a–day,” quickly sharing a narrative text, an informational text, and something else, such as a book of poetry. Using this approach, you could share up to 60 books with your students.
- Distribute older books to students to take home for summer reading. When I was a classroom teacher, I carefully guarded my own library, making sure I could account for every book. As a consequence, the number of books in my classroom library grew substantially each year. I’ve since come to realize that students, like adults, gravitate toward newer titles. While there are some classics we will want to retain in our classroom libraries, perhaps it is time to weed out some of the older or never–touched books and give them to students for summer reading. If the books in your classroom library have been purchased with school funds, first obtain permission from your principal.Giving students books to take home on the last day of class is a powerful way to increase the likelihood of summer reading. You might want to duplicate a book plate that students can paste inside the front cover of the books they select. This book plate might say something like “Happy summer reading from your 5th–grade teacher, Mrs. Brown.” Books given to students by the teacher often become favorites and are highly likely to be read over the summer.
- Explore other ways you and your school can promote access to books, particularly for students from low–socioeconomic families. Suggestions include keeping the school library open during the summer months, taking a class trip to the local library during the last month of school to ensure that every student has a library card, and working with local businesses to sponsor the purchase of books for each student to take home on the last day of class.
The Twelve Days of Springtime
by Deborah Lee Rose
This charming picture book for ages 4-9 is a delightfully fresh take on the traditional 12 Days of Christmas carol. The beautiful spreads of this counting book will delight young readers as they find activities that can be part of their own springtime days.
“The kindergarten gang from The Twelve Days of Kindergarten (2003) and The Twelve Days of Winter (2006, both Abrams) is back in a hilarious counting book that welcomes spring. The text could be sung or acted out. Areas of the primary curriculum are presented within the illustrations showing insect study, plants, and metamorphosis. Many aspects of kindergarten life are revealed through the entertaining illustrations such as a child with her stuffed animal, field trips, music class, and various learning centers. Even the class hamster has fun on the field trip to the farm, rowing a boat in the stream, and riding on a turtle near a pond. [The Twelve Days of Springtime is]…a perfect choice to use with a group.” ~from School Library Journal
You Can Have Your Cake and Read It, Too!
A Literary Treat to Sweeten Your Day!
Here are some fun picture book themed cakes!
Wild Things cake made by Glenda's Good Witch Goodies
Mother Goose cake made by jaimecakes09
Narnia cake by Rosebud Cakes
