Moms Inspire Learning

Open 2 Books: To write well, you first need to...

"Sam could not understand why people thought that writing and making up stories was so hard. If only they would try, they might find out that writing was really lots of fun."

~Library Mouse, by Daniel Kirk

Open 2 Books: Lions, Libraries, and Friendship

We'll close out the month by taking a little break from food, and connecting more dots of reading and children's books. As the picture books I've been writing about will mainly appeal to children between the ages of 3 and 8, I realize that some of you may feel left out of the equation.

Open 2 Books: Food, Culture, and Communication

Before we move on to other related subjects, I wanted to add an extra dose of cultural understanding into our healthy eating mix. Food connects us in so many ways, but it can also divide us, if we let it. Fear of the unknown can prevent us from learning and growing.

Open 2 Books: There's so much more to rabbits than carrots.

On second thought, I prefer the word "open" to the word "take." So, as you can see, I renamed this series "Open 2 Books." I like it a lot better because it suggests that people not only open more than one book, but that they BE open to books in the first place! Not everyone is, I'm afraid.

And so, today we connect the dots of carrots and rabbits. In the process, we go back and forth between real and imaginary worlds. So, who better to lead us on that journey than my favorite children's books author, Leo Lionni?

Take 2 Books: Carrot Tops and Bottoms

And so, today, we go from bread back to vegetables. Why don't we munch on some carrots?

The Giant Carrot, by Jan Peck (author) and Barry Root (illustrator), is adapted from the Russian folktale, The Turnip, and starts out with the planting of a single carrot seed. Papa is hoping to make carrot juice with it, Mama wants to make carrot stew, Brother Abel thinks about carrot relish, and Little Isabelle would like some "sweet carrot puddin'." That's a lot of pressure for a single carrot seed!

Take 2 Books: From Seeds to Bread

Today I'm starting my new "Take 2 Books" series because so much can learned by comparing, contrasting, and making all kinds of real world connections with, two or more children's books.