My Three Favorite Book Quotes

To continue with the book theme this month (along with the Blogger Book Drive), here are my three Favorite Book Quotes.

Oh how I love this quote from "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets." I wanted to frame it and put it next to my behavior chart in my classroom when I was teaching. It is so true in most instances. I think of our own journey. My own choices have shown, even to myself, who I really am. And the choices of those around us have shown their true colors as well.

Having been a preemie and having a preemie, this quote from "Horton Hears a Who" resonates with me so much. And now that Princess is growing, you still see the same personality and attitude she had when she was in the NICU. She was so "feisty." And even now, she's so stubborn and head strong.

Normally I wouldn't like a quote said by the villain in a story, but this quote by President Snow is SO true! Hope is the only thing stronger than fear. I have had to rely on hope so much sometimes and sometimes it was the only thing that would get me through the day. This is one I still live by. When my life becomes consumed by fear, I rely on hope and faith to get me through.

My Seven Favorite Reading Rainbow Books

The other day, I wrote about Our Five Favorite Books. Well, that got me thinking about "Reading Rainbow." Yes, LeVar Burton launched a successful KickStarter campaign and now a whole new generation of kids get to experience "Reading Rainbow." But there's nothing quite like the original. Okay, just to make you all start singing along, here's the original theme song:

So now that are you singing along, here are my seven favorite "Reading Rainbow" books, in no particular order!

**NOTE: Cover photos link to Amazon. I get NOTHING from them!**

Also, I searched YouTube to find the reading of these stories from the show. No such luck. Thank you Reading Rainbow and PBS. The only one Reading Rainbow actually has on their site is "Abiyoyo".

1. Miss Nelson is Back by Harry G. Allard, Jr.

This is a favorite because, well, I taught for five years and substitute taught in between. Oh man, if I could pull off the whole "Miss Nelson is Missing--Miss Viola Swamp" thing, I would've! This is such a great book to read to kids, especially when they have a substitute teacher. Oh, and then you've got to have them write about it! What would Miss Nelson (or their teacher) be doing on their "day off.."

2. Gila Monsters Meet You at the Airport by Marjorie Weinman Sharmat

Oh how I wish this was true! But I moved around a lot as a kid and this book/episode made me feel like I wasn't alone in it! Thanks LeVar!

3. Gregory the Terrible Eater by Mitchel Sharmat

An all time favorite of mine! Gregory, the goat wants to eat human food! But he really needs to eat "junk" that is goat food! What a wonderful twist on the picky eater. I just wish it taught my own picky eater to actually eat!

4. Arthur's Eyes by Marc Brown

All hail Marc Brown!!!!! I LOVED the Arthur series. I also had to wear glasses and when I was in fourth grade, hated it! I could SO understand Arthur in this book! And then PBS went on to make Arthur into his own SERIES! So much love here for Arthur and his family and friends!

5. The Day Jimmy's Boa Ate the Wash by Trinka Hakes Noble

Yes, this one was a favorite. I mean, come on, who brings his pet boa constrictor to the farm??? Oh the havoc that ensues! So much fun to read about!

6. How Much is a Million by David M. Schwartz

We actually just read this one not too long ago. Little Man has been obsessed with large numbers lately. This, of course is the PERFECT book for finding out about those HUGE numbers!

And just because:

7. The Bionic Bunny Show by Marc Brown

This one HAD to be on the list because, well, it was in the episode where LeVar Burton introduced his OTHER TV show at the time, "Star Trek: The Next Generation." So of course this HAD to be on the list. And because I can actually find SOMETHING of it on YouTube, here's one tiny segment about bloopers:

And then, LeVar Burton actually talking about when "Reading Rainbow" and "Star Trek: The Next Generation" were on the same episode.

I always wanted to do one of those book talks as a kid. It always seemed like a cool thing. So those are my favorite "Reading Rainbow" books. I hope you like them. But, as LeVar always said, "You don't have to take my word for it!"

Our Five Favorite Books + Two of Mom's

Pam at HodgePodge Moments teamed up with a couple of other bloggers to do a Blogger Book Drive. It's a great idea because every child deserves a book! I don't know what I'd do if we didn't have a library and a library card. My kids could LIVE there. They LOVE books. It's never a problem to get them to read. But they do have their favorites. Some of which I have memorized. So here are the kids' current favorite books (at least ones that you MAY have heard of).

Note: Images link to the Amazon listing of the book. I make NOTHING off of these links.

1. Goodnight, Goodnight Construction Site by Sherri Duskey Rinker

This was the first book I actually memorized. It rhymes, so that helps. We initially checked it out from the library and I read it so much to Little Man that he got it for Christmas. Even though he's had this book for 4 years now, he still loves it and I still find him coming back and reading every so often. It's a great little bedtime story. Great for trying to get your construction loving boys to bed. Even the construction vehicles need to go to bed sometime! The author has written another book, Steam Train Dream Train which is another favorite, but we don't own it...yet.

2. The Poky Little Puppy by Janette Sebring Lowrey

This was another of Little Man's favorites. I read it so much that I would actually speed read it! And he memorized it! I found him sometimes sitting on his bed reading it! It's got so many words though even though the story repeats itself. But it's a great story for teaching that being poky isn't always the best thing.

3. The Little Engine That Could by Watty Piper

Who doesn't love this book? We got it last year during the Summer Reading Program at the library. And since then it has been a favorite of Little Man. What a great story! The smallest engine can pull the train over the mountain. It's got a great theme for little kids, though some of the things the children on the other side of the mountain are waiting for are a little out dated. (Who's giving their kid a jack knife this year for Christmas?)

4. Hippos Go Berserk! by Sandra Boynton

Ah Sandra Boynton. This was the first book that Princess actually LOVED from the library. I read it so much I had to hide it in order to take it back. And then I made the mistake of getting it for her for Christmas! This is yet another book I have memorized, thanks to the rhyming. I've recited it to her at various times without the book present! This is a great little book about how a lonely hippo simply calls a couple friends and it becomes a full blown party! (Who hasn't done that?) But then when everyone finally leaves, what is that one hippo to do?

5. The Belly Button Book by Sandra Boynton

Yet another Boynton favorite in our household! And look, more hippos! Do you know what hippos love? Their belly buttons! We've read this book so much that we now must refer to Princess's belly button as her "Beeboo." (The little hippo in the book calls it a "beebo.") Another rhyming adventure with a hippo and where do hippos go to show off their belly buttons? Why Belly Button Beach of course! So cute and so much fun!

So those are our current favorites in this household. But let me share a couple of my favorite children's books with you. These were actually my favorites growing up. (I'll do another post later of my Reading Rainbow favorites!)

Pat the Bunny by Dorothy Kunhardt

This interactive book for children was my very first favorite book. My mom remembers lying on the couch reciting it to me. I have bought it for my children. And, yes, I do have it memorized. It's definitely a favorite of ours!

Ramona Quimby, Age 8 by Beverly Cleary

As I grew, I LOVED these books. There's a whole series of them! They start when Ramona is 4 years old (Beezus and Ramona) and end when she is in fourth grade (Ramona's World). Granted, some of the words are a little outdated (arithmetic anyone?) but the general themes are there. Anyone in elementary school can relate to being sick at school or riding the bus for the first time. Cleary also wrote books about others in Ramona's world, like Beezus's friend Henry Huggins. And there were others as well, along with books about animals (Ralph S. Mouse and others). All in all a great series of books!

So there you have it! Our favorite books. I know my kids' favorites will change with time, but otherwise, it's nice to see them love reading and bug me to go to the library!

Summer Reading

Being I've been both a teacher and a librarian, I know how important it is to read, especially for kids during the summer. Little Man will start kindergarten in the fall, so of course we signed him up for the Summer Reading Program through the library again this year. (We'll probably sign Princess up either next summer or the summer after. Her reading log would probably have the same 5 books on it all summer right now!)

Little Man read the most books last year with 110! And I think we had even signed up late and he didn't read the entire time! So this year, we were the FIRST ones signed up! The children's librarian hadn't even gotten her cute display out yet! So with that, we were off on the reading!

This was Day One of his Reading Log. We actually added 3 more books at bedtime too!

Being Little Man got his first library card in September, we now have two library cards to check out on! Sometimes we use mine, but usually we use his. This means that right now we have books like this:

Yeah, that's like 20+ library books! Princess was actually reading one at the time, so it's not pictured! (And yes, I have been subjected to reading "The Book With No Pictures.") So how do I keep track of all of these library books with their due dates? Easy! I found a printable online here at Aussie Pumpkin Patch. They have "book pages" that have a "Weekly Library List" so I print off one of those and list the titles and the due dates. I cross off books as we turn them in and star the ones that I need to renew.

Little Man loves finding new books that fit his interests. Sometimes though, it backfires on us. He loves trains right now, so the very first week he found a book with a train on the cover. Sadly, it wasn't exactly about trains. It was about Harriet Tubman and the Underground Railroad. Went right over his head! Needless to say, that one got turned in the next time we went to the library!

Being this was kind of a disappointment for him, I also found a "Book Wish List" on the page and printed that. Right now, I'm listing "Construction Vehicle" books. I find book lists online and list the books in that category that we don't already have. Then it's on to searching our library catalog. Sometimes they have them, sometimes they don't. But we'll be requesting some here soon!

This year, he has already gotten to around 63 books read/read to and we are barely 3 weeks into the program. He is so on his way to reading 200 books this summer! How does this happen? Well, he goes on reading spurts. Usually after our library trips, he wants to sit down and read ALL the books we just checked out (8-10 of them!). And then, it also helps that I have finally gotten my classroom library books up here. So I pulled all the books that I thought he and his sister might like and it kinda looks like this:

So I don't think my kids will have any problem in the reading department! Especially when they bug me to go to the library! Sometimes I seriously have to tell them that we have to wait because the library isn't open yet! I so love having readers!