“One day, I came home from school. On the table, there was an apple. But wait a minute. It might not be an apple after all… “
It Might Be an Apple is a thought-provoking book that doesn't take itself too seriously. Shinsuke Yoshitake's charming philosophical musings pique a child's wonder and hold it captive long enough to engage it in some playful and intriguing ideas. An amusing way to teach children to question the quotidian and the world around them. Absolutely love this one!
S is for soporific. ABZZz… is a new take on the alphabet picture book by Isabel Minhós Martins and Yara Kono of Planeta Tangerina, and is the kind of innovative and design-centric picture book that this Portuguese publishing house is known for. This is why I love them. We’ve all had many a night where our kids fight going to bed. Your kids won’t be able to resist this sleep-inducing book, in more ways than one.
Bev Bos, who served as director of Roseville Community Preschool for almost 50 years, was an early childhood educator with incredible expertise about play-based learning, process art and developmentally-appropriate learning experiences for preschoolers. There is no one in the field of early childhood who hasn’t been impacted by her work. She was quoted as once saying, “The basics for young children are wonder, discovery and experience. If it hasn’t been in the hand, the body and the heart, it can’t be in the brain.”
We have her seminal work on children and art: Don’t Move the Muffin Tins: A Hands-Off Guide to Art for the Young Child. There is so much goodness in the book, too much to share in one post, so I’ll leave you all with some quotes and implore you to seek out a copy of Don’t Move the Muffin Tins for yourself. I got this copy, used, years ago. It’s out of print but shouldn’t be too hard to find. Bev Bos will help you provide experiences for your child so that they can tap into their innate creativity through exploration and making their own choices. It will teach you how to listen to your child in ways that you’ve never thought of.
“The young child grows from the head down and the midline out. If we are in tune to the child’s growth, we know, for example, that a two-year-old will probably not paint or draw circles. Does this mean a different set of activities for each age? Certainly not. We need only to learn to present materials and let each child develop an individual creativity.
Children need to please only themselves. Does this mean the child can throw the paint? Spill the glue? Of course not. I’m referring to basic use of art materials. Once you’ve presented the materials, forget how *you* intended them to be used. Sometimes it’s difficult. You may have one end product in mind, but the child may have another idea. If that’s the case, hands off! It’s easier to observe this principle in art activity than in crafts because there is no right or wrong in art, of course, just creating.”
The theme is fairy tales this month for #littlelitbookseries.
In Little Lit, eighteen artists and illustrators turn fairy tales and folk tales on their head, reinterpreting them with unexpected twists and a touch of the bizarre. Little Lit: Folklore and Fairytale Funnies includes some new originals as well. It was the first in a series edited by Art Spiegelman and Françoise Mouly and is out of print, but should be relatively easy to find online.
To see what everyone else is sharing this month, search the hashtag #littlelitbookseries on Instagram.
We are sharing fairy tales this month for #littlelitbookseries.
Technically, A Wolf's Tale is a folk tale, not a fairy tale per se, but I thought it be a good one to share. In the story, the great-great-great grandson of the infamous big bad wolf tries to crash a party at a brick house in Pig City. But his reputation precedes him and he stands at the door trying to convince a bunch of pigs to let him in (sound familiar?!). This one is a folk tale for the next generation. 😉
For more fairy tales, search for #littlelitbookseries on Instagram.