When was the last time you visited Lunchpail Books' YouTube Channel? http://ping.fm/H6i5N

Which children's books do you think of during the holidays?

Have you checked out our YouTube channel lately? Nearly 20,000 people have downloaded views-- http://ping.fm/CMnhR

Hey- New book out... "I Love Pickles" take a look- let me know what you think!!
http://ping.fm/nbk32

Leaving for Africa tomorrow... will post pics.

Leaving for Botswana Wednesday-- excited for the adventure-- dreading the long flight(s). Will post pictures... any requests?

Mrs. Lunchpail and I are heading off to Africa (Botswana) next week... any tips or suggestions?

Another new blog post-- growing good readers:
http://ping.fm/f3ZdF

What makes a good children's book? http://ping.fm/2N5Sp

New uses for elephant poo...
http://ping.fm/o8p2l
New blog post.

Ideas for a new children's book? Something fun and quirky... Let's hear your ideas!

http://ping.fm/HbaTu

What Better Way to Say I Love You...
check out our new blog post:
http://ping.fm/z5DdE

¡pague menos!-- nuevos precios bajos… en los libros de Lunchpail: http://ping.fm/IV3zx

Peep Peep

Story Time with Sam E Circle... sit back and relax and enjoy the first Peep Peep book-- "Peep Peep Comes Home".

Peep Peep Quack Quack.mov

P


Enjoy "Peep Peep, Quack Quack"-- a rap courtesy of Lunchpail Books
http://www.lunchpailbooks.com

Small Words are Better-- Lunchpail Books!

Have you visited our YouTube Channel?  Check it out and let me know what you think!
Thanks,
Johnnie Lunchpail
http://www.lunchpailbooks.com

Toast on my Tie

Children as Teachers!
Lunchpail Books
Being a parent can be a humbling experience… the special spirits that are under  your care and stewardship change your life forever.  Not only do you learn to let go of your natural selfishness- you learn to be humble.  One time years ago, when the kids were very young– I headed off to work early in the morning, giving hugs and heading out the door.   Half-way through the day someone pointed out something stuck to my tie.   And there it was, a small piece of toast– solidly affixed to my neck-tie via peanut butter and jelly.  It must have been transferred to me via a morning hug.  It was stuck there just like a tie-tack… about 1/2 inch square.  At first, I was horrified– all those meetings I went to, all those folks I interacted that never said a word.   Did they think toast was a fashion statement?  After the horror subsided, I removed the toast, wiped down my tie and laughed to myself… I realized then how lucky I was to express such a fashion statement… it said “Loving Dad”.   Kids are grown now, so I have to put my own toast on.

Here are some lessons that kids have taught us:

Great Truths About Life That Little Children Have Learned

• No matter how hard you try, you can’t baptize cats.
• When your mom is mad at your dad, don’t let her brush your hair.
• If your sister hits you, don’t hit her back. They always catch the second person.
• Never ask your 3-year old brother to hold a tomato.
• You can’t trust dogs to watch your food.
• Reading what people write on desks can teach you a lot.
• Don’t sneeze when someone is cutting your hair.
• Puppies still have bad breath even after eating a tic tac.
• Never hold a dustbuster and a cat at the same time.
• School lunches stick to the wall.
• You can’t hide a piece of broccoli in a glass of milk.
• Don’t wear polka-dot underwear under white shorts.
• The best place to be when you are sad is in Grandma’s lap.

The Power of Reading to Your Child

I think we will all agree that reading is paramount to success… and most of us enjoy the enrichment or escape found in a good book of any genre.  However, for those of us with a beginner reader in our lives—it may be challenging to pass on, your love of reading.  For many of us, reading was hard.  It takes lots of concentration and memorization at first.  Some of us (i.e. me) were and are lazy… reading just represented way too much work.

So how can we help our early readers feel the joy of successful reading—without necessarily making it feel like work?  One of the very best ways is to start young and read often to your child.  It is a wonderful bonding activity and there is nothing like curling up together and sharing a book.   Some are migrating to e-readers, but there is something wonderfully tactile about holding a book and turning the pages—perhaps I am old-fashion?  Yet, there have been times that one of our children’s books has fallen in the tub—and we recovered.  I am not so certain that we would have been so relaxed about a $400 e-reader lying beneath the bubbles.

No matter which camp you lie in—take the time to read together.  At what age would be a good time to start?  I would start at birth and start the habit and tradition.   I used to read a variety of things to the kids, including Shakespeare’s sonnets.  I got the idea from Dylan Thomas’s father, who did the same.  When Dylan’s mother commented that she was certain that the child did not understand a word—Dad replied, that was probably so, but he would learn that English can be a beautiful language.  I can see the impact on my children… their writing and word choices… languages (any) can be beautiful.

Once your child is aware and can sit and enjoy a story, you may start with picture books and talk about the pictures.  Once they get the feel of this whole book thing—I would then move to an early or easy reader with a controlled vocabulary and a fun rhyming scheme.  Dr. Seuss was the master at this.  Check books carefully—make sure there are not too many challenging or big words.  Another source is Lunchpail Books, which also use a controlled vocabulary and rhyming scheme.  Words are common easy words that are important for a child to learn to site-read.

Here are some other ideas you may wish to incorporate into your reading routine:
Reading is more than just saying words. It's a shared activity between children and caring adults. Children can also learn a great deal about language by hearing parents and grandparents read aloud. Children benefit most from reading aloud when parents:

• are enthusiastic about the experience.
• give children time to look at the pictures and encourage them to hunt for objects in the pictures.
• discuss stories with children.
• help children learn to identify letters and words.
• use an index finger underneath words so that children connect the print to the story.
• talk about the meaning of words.
• answer questions asked by children at the time they ask them.
• continually re-read children's favorite books.
• compare experiences in books with like experiences in children's lives.
• encourage children to read with them when phrases are repeated in a book.
• ask their children questions related to the book after reading to them.
• encourage children to make up their own stories. Parents can write down the stories and then read them back to children.

Help children to create their own books by using their own stories and cutting out magazine pictures, photos and/or children's art work.

Parents will want to keep plenty of books around for children to pick up and parents should set up a regular routine for reading such as nap time and/or bedtime.   How many books are in your home?
Children also get the impression that reading is valuable when they see their parents enjoy and benefit from reading. When parents read at home and check out library books for themselves, as well as their children, parents model the pleasure and importance of reading.

Very Bizarre Children's Book Titles

Another installment of “You have got to be kidding” book titles.  Yes, they are real.  There are so many great children’s book authors out there longing to be published.  It stings to know that these books have actually been published.   I found some that were in such bad taste as note appropriate for our blog.

Here are some of the bizzaros…

[Not on my top 10 fears—Interesting toilet paper holder.]

[Wow—even bilingual!  I love adolescent humor, but even for me, this pushes the line…what do you think?]

 

[Potty for dummies? Do we really need instruction for this?]

[What constitutes funny places—I’m at the age where hair is growing out my ears, but it is not what I would call a “funny place”]

Well, that’s it for now… more later.

Do you have any captions or comments to add to these book covers?  Would love to hear your comments!

Regards,

Johnnie

Children's Books in Multiple Languages

New book available at Lunchpail Books: (available in English, Spanish, French, Italian and Mandarin)

“Peep Peep Finds a Friend”

The child in all of us notices the superficial differences in everything around us; but from the standpoint of innocence-- diversity is neither good nor bad—we are just different.  Peep Peep’s new friend Gua Gua captures that diversity that draws us together, not apart.   Aren’t we more alike than we originally thought?  “Gua Gua” by the way is the sound ducks make in China.

“Peep Peep the duckling

Tries hard to obey,

But it is not easy

To be good all day.”

Don’t we all have trouble being good all day!

Peep Peep is the precocious duckling who stars in “Peep Peep Comes Home” and “Peep Peep Takes a Walk”.  This time while feeling a little bored meets an unusual looking duck named Gua Gua.  Peep Peep eggs Gua Gua along and before they realize it they are in the midst of another adventure.  Adventures when shared, bond acquaintances into friends. 

Not familiar with Lunchpail Books?  Lunchpail Books, specializes in early reader books….hmmm that doesn’t help—

What is an Early or Easy Reader Book?

Easy Readers are relatively new.  They really started in 1957 with The Cat in the Hat by Dr. Seuss (Theodore Geisel).  Before then illustrated books were mostly read-aloud stories designed to be read to children by adults or perhaps older children.  The Cat in the Hat was written with a controlled vocabulary limited to the 220-word Dolch vocabulary list.  This was ideal for the beginner reader.  This is what made Dr. Seuss so special and fun to read.  A trip to the bookstore or anywhere that is selling children’s books, you will still find a plethora of titles by the late author.  Very few other books offer such compelling story telling with such a controlled vocabulary

Lunchpail Books continues the tradition of fun, exciting easy reader books utilizing the same controlled or restrictive vocabulary.   Each book is careful crafted inside and out to provide children with sound foundation in independent reading.  We highly recommend that you start with the “Peep Peep” series and watch your early reader get excited about reading!

We are also pleased to announce that in keeping with the theme of diversity… we will be offering “Peep Peep Finds a Friend” in English, Spanish, French and Chinese…  Here Is a sample:

Peep Peep the duckling

Tries hard to obey,

But it is not easy

To be good all day.

小鸭很努力,

努力學乖乖。

乖乖不容易,

何況是整天。

Peep Peep la canette

Essaie de bien écouter.

Mais ce n’est pas facile

D’obéir toute la journée.

Reading- Building Hooks

We all know that reading and reading comprehension are paramount to success in our country or really anywhere in the world.   I was surprised to find out that my homeland (USA) ranks 21^st in literacy rates around the world.  We are behind Slovenia, Kazakhstan (wasn’t that where Borat came from?), Turkmenistan and Albania… just to name a few.  About 14% of Americans are functionally illiterate.

What’s going on?

I don’t really have a good answer, but think about this a lot.  I have talked with some illiterate folks and politely probed into what happened… most respond that they should have paid more attention in school, or in some cases did not do well in school so dropped out.  The surprising thing to me is that some of these folks actually graduated from high school!   I know my observations are strictly anecdotal, but I would not be surprised if this was a common thread.

Reading is indeed basic, but it is much more than just reading and understanding the words around you.  Reading and learning in general changes your brain:  I like to think of it like creating “hooks” that ideas, facts and thoughts can hang on to.   I used to be a professor and found that some of our older returning students really struggled with their first class back in school.  I would encourage them, having experienced the same feeling when I went back to school.  I believe that our “hooks” get rusty.  However, I found and many of these students also found that it got much easier as time went on.  I also believe that the original “hooks” were grown there from earlier learning experiences, mostly through reading.

Some children struggle with reading… I was one of them.   Reading was hard.   I could recognize words pretty well… but to sit down and enjoy reading…never!   Perhaps today, I would have been diagnosed with ADD, but I don’t know for sure.  I can tell you that I fumbled my way through reading time, often feeling traumatized in our reading groups.  However, I really loved Dr. Seuss.  Sadly, I was still reading and enjoying Dr. Seuss well past the target reading group… I think I was still popping out the “Dr. Seuss Sleep Book” or “If I Ran the Zoo” well into 5^th grade.   I enjoyed them… fanciful, rhythmic, easy!

I think I am still a slow reader, but can “sprint” when I need to—just not for long periods of time… I can scan a page in a few seconds, but to sit down and read through “Harry Potter” doesn’t appeal to me.  Consequently, I read principally non-fiction; and have learned a lot.  In spite of my challenges, I am passionate about reading the fundamental skill for life- long success… no matter where you live.

Now, I have turned the tables and am an author… not of novels, but children’s books.   I am trying my best to capture the fun that I did find in the books I read as a child… the silliness, the rhyme the rhythm. So, I have created Lunchpail Books.   I designed them for readers like me… it’s got to be fun… I want to be anxious to turn the page.

So, how do we improve literacy?

Encourage your child to read… have books in your house!  The library is great—but owning a book and being able to pull it out anytime, is a treat!  I have raised a bunch of kids… and I spent lots of time teaching them to read.   I am very proud that every one of them reads better than me.  Their minds have been expanded and their “hooks” are in place.

I have spent considerable time and effort bringing you high quality books that are designed for the beginner reader. The world of children’s books is quite competitive- so what makes us stand out?  Like the great Seuss, we use a very controlled vocabulary… this makes it easier for the young reader to read the words on their own.   Many other children’s books although delightful and more artfully illustrated—fail to use words appropriate for the early reader.  

Also, we have taken this one step farther, by including translations in Spanish, French, Italian, and even Chinese… written with the same careful vocabulary, rhythm and rhyme.  Take a look at our multiple languages.

To make book ownership, even more special we are offering personalization.   You can personalize each book with a message directed at him or her.  Think how special it will be for them to see their name in print!

See what you think… check it out and let me know!

http://www.lunchpailbooks.com

Key Is To Build Reading Activity Into Routine

Parents are continuously urged to have their children read or be read to… through out the year.  Now that summer is upon us, can we work reading into our “busy” schedules? 

Children who maintain their reading skills or younger ones who are read to on a daily basis will be on target for back-to-school or back-to-regular routines in the fall. Those who don't typically have to pay catch-up in the classroom, which can set the stage for a challenging year.

Do you have a reading routine?  Is there a set time each day to read?  Do your children see you read?  Some of us don’t necessarily run a tight schedule, and reading (which can appear boring) often gets left off the “to-do” list.  So how do we jump the boring hurdle?  Is it like eating your spinach?  Making your bed… let’s put some spark into reading.

The key is to make reading an event!  Make it special in some way… something to look forward to!  Here are some suggestions I found in About.com

Take advantage of weather by dangling the reading carrot in fun ways. Be adventurous and make it a game as to where you should read to your child and how. In warm weather, read next to a pond or lake, under a tree, by the pool, or even in the tree house. Be bold and carefree. One mother reads to her young child in their blow-up children's pool in the backyard during the summer months. Another mom finishes the much-anticipated daily trip to the park in the spring or fall by reading a book before they leave. Cold months can mix reading activities by having books about snowmen, snowfalls, winter holidays, or sports such as ice-skating. Day care centers or child providers can add reading fun into the mix by tying it into a planned activity for the week. If the theme for the week is "Under the Sea," then the books can be about the ocean or fish.

Consider a reading series. There are countless book series tailor made for your child's age, and a good experience with one means there is a high likelihood your child will enjoy others about the same characters. There are series on action heroes and princesses, popular characters such as Bob the Builder, the classic Dr. Seuss collection, and about young heroes and heroines. There are series about beginning school for the first time or about going on vacation. Older children like series such as Harry Potter.

Build reading into the schedule. Parents and child providers can and should build a reading activity into the daily schedule. While evening or before-bedtime are popular times to read, reading after breakfast or before children go to an activity, sets a routine that most children embrace. Providers can set a daily story time and let parents know what book is being read and how it matches enrichment and learning activities for the week.

Plan ahead with exciting books on vacation. Vacation is a prime time for reading enjoyment, when family is together and fun is in the plans. Reading is a great activity for around the pool or in the hotel room in the evening.

Build a reading activity into life's planning. Children of all ages should learn the connection between reading and knowledge. If your family is adding a flowerbed, have children read about how to prepare a bed and what flowers and shrubs are optimal for the area of the country and whether it is in sun or shade. Getting a new family pet? Read up on varieties of dogs, care required, and even stories about children and their pets first. Traveling somewhere? You guessed it, read all about your destination first and you and your children will have the added benefit of knowing more about the area when you arrive.

Involve the entire family. Studies show that moms have the tendency to read more to their children then dads, robbing both children and fathers of positive reading experiences. Make reading time with dad or grandpa a priority. Dads read books aloud with children differently then moms do, and children will flourish with the perspective and experience of both.

Ask for your child's feedback. Evaluation and discussion is an important part of a positive book-reading experience. Ask your child simple questions, such as: Did you like the book? Why or why not? Who was your favorite character? What was your favorite scene? Did you like how it ended? Would you like to read it again someday? Don't be surprised if your child wants to re-read the same book again! That means you did your job well and helped foster a love of reading.

Also, don’t forget to get the right book.  Find something with age appropriate vocabulary that a child we feel proud to know that they can read the book all by their selves.  There are many sources to find such books.   You may wish to star with Lunchpail Books, which promises books that are both fun and easy to read. 

You Tube Channel

Lunchpail Books is pleased to announce its official YouTube Channel.   Take a view at...

http://www.youtube.com/user/LunchpailBooks

Make sure you check out story time by SamECircle (Peep Peep).

Do You Love Pickles?

What do you love about pickles?

Here are some types...

Types of Pickles

• Fresh-pack (or quick process) pickles are cured for several hours in a vinegar solution or are immediately combined with hot vinegar, spices, and seasonings. Examples include dills, bread-and-butter pickles and pickled beets. Quick Process is what these instructions (below on this page) show. 

Other types are:

• Fermented pickles are vegetables soaked in a brine solution for 4 to 6 weeks. During this time, lactic acid bacteria, naturally present on the surface of vegetables, grows. Other microbes are inhibited by salt. The color of the vegetables changes from bright green to olive/yellow-green, and the white interior becomes translucent. Examples include dill pickles and sauerkraut. See this page, if you'd rather make fermented pickles.
• Refrigerated dills are cucumbers marinated for 1 day to 1 week in a salt and spice brine (in the fridge) and then stored in the refrigerator for up to 2 months. No canning is required! See this page for refrigerated dill pickle directions!
• Fruit pickles are whole or sliced fruit simmered in a spicy, sweet-sour syrup. Examples include spiced peaches and crabapples. See this page for directions to make spiced peaches!
• Relishes are made from chopped fruits or vegetables that are cooked to a desired consistency in a spicy vinegar solution. Examples include corn relish and horseradish. See this page for cucumber pickle relish directions!
• NEW! Low salt / reduced salt dill pickles

What do you love about pickles?

Lunchpail Books, new book: "I Love Pickles" coming soon...  what happens if you love pickles too much... read along sing along with Lunchpail Books

You Tube Channel

Lunchpail Books is excited to launch our YouTube Channel:

http://www.youtube.com/user/LunchpailBooks

Let us know what you think-- would love to have some feedback to make it better.

Thanks!!
Johnnie

More on Where Stories Come From

On a previous blog, I shared a personal story that still makes me laugh.  However, the fabric of our lives is woven of tougher thread.   Our lives are a beautiful mix of tragedy and comedy.   Where we focus our mental and emotional energies has a profound impact on the way we perceive life in general.  We are here to learn, and it never hurts to ask ourselves “what did I learn from that experience”.

Here is an example from my life….

Date August 9, 1991:

Just celebrating my youngest son, Seth’s 8^th birthday. ..  We had just got home and were sitting around the table, and I was busy serving cake and ice cream.   Suddenly, there was a strange sound—sort of a rumbling.  As we lived out in the country, my first inclination was that a truck must be coming along our gravel lane.  Looked out the front… no truck.   Still carrying a plate with cake and ice cream, I casually looked out the back and same a little smoke.   My first assumption was that our neighbors were burning some leaves… but the rumbling still persisted.   It seemed to be coming from the garage.   I zipped over to the door into the garage and to my horror; the garage (with two cars) was in flames –floor to ceiling!

Got the family out the back and directly past the flaming garage just before the gasoline in one of the cars exploded shooting a fireball a hundred feet scorching the top of a nearby elm tree.   We watched in horror and disbelief as our house was engulfed in flames.  Fortunately a neighbor called the fire department (volunteer)… they were quite speedy, but I can tell you it seemed like an eternity as we watched this gas-fed fire start at one end of the house and rapidly burn it way across.   There we all stood, the kids frightened and shocked and me standing there barefoot on the gravel road.   The house burned for hours and the next day it was still smoldering.   It was a complete loss… nearly down to just the foundation.   Everything was lost…. Toys, pictures, albums, keepsakes, everything!   It was a tough time for all of us.   Now and then we would stop and just cry… that emotion needed to be released.  The youngest (Temple) was only 3 at the time.   She doesn’t have much recollection of the event.  At the time her favorite toy was one of those plastic Fisher-Price kitchen sets.  I took her back to her room to help understand.   I asked her… where is your kitchen?   She replied matter of factly, “It burned up.”   Where are your toys?  “They burned up” was her reply.  She did not seem to be upset. 

Perhaps she was just too young to comprehend what this all meant… or perhaps she knew what was really important.  We were all safe!  We made it out of a burning/exploding house… all safe.  We only had the close on our back—I didn’t even have shoes… but we were all safe.   Stuff is stuff.

I always knew that… it is just stuff…family is most important.  Deep down, I knew this, but to experience it was profound.   In Viktor Frankl’s books “Man’s Search for Meaning”, he discusses the meaning of life.  One way he writes, “… is to experience a value.”  This changed my life forever.   I am certain it did for the children as well… all six of them!  In different ways—Most of them still live a Spartan existence… not a lot of stuff accumulation, but comfortably.

There is much much more to the story, but for now this will suffice… experiencing a value does lead to the discovery of the meaning of life.

If you have had a life altering experience… please feel free to share it in the comment section.  Would love to publish them here.

--Johnnie
www.lunchpailbooks.com

 

Peep Peep on YouTube

A fun video trailer for the "Peep Peep" adventures put to "The Lion Sleeps Tonight."  Let me know what you think!

Children and Languages

How Many Languages Do You Speak?

If you grew up like I did, you probably were not introduced to a foreign language until the middle school years when you around 12.  Sadly, the prime language learning time in our development was much younger.  So most of us, just settle to be monolingual.   Later we may have taken a foreign language in high school, but speaking for myself- I was far away from being bilingual.  In fact, I took 4 years of Latin…go figure!

What languages were available when you were in school (American or otherwise)?  In middle school (called Junior High back in those olden days) we had two mandatory choices.  We could take Spanish or French.   I opted for French, but not sure why.   Perhaps it was because most of my friends signed up for Spanish and I wanted to be different, perhaps viewed as more sophisticated.  Not sure.  Then in High School, we had the usual choices, and of course Latin and I think there was German available.   Later they added a Japanese elective.  I don’t know exactly how the language choices were determined.  My guess is that because we lived in North America—they speak Spanish down South and places in Canada speak French…other than that I don’t know.   Why did they offer Latin?   Why did I take it? Hmmm

What languages are relevant today?

More than 300 distinct languages other than English are now spoken in the United States. According to the U. S. Census Bureau's 2009 Statistical Abstract, those with the most native speakers in this country are Spanish, Chinese, Tagalog, French, Vietnamese, German, and Korean (all with numbers of speakers in the millions), followed by Russian, Arabic, and Italian.

Other languages with large numbers of speakers (in no particular order) include Portuguese, French Creole, Yiddish, Greek, Polish, Hebrew, Hungarian, Navajo, Laotian, Thai, Hmong, Hindi, Urdu, and Serbo-Croatian.

What languages do you speak or desire to speak?

I have managed to finally learn Spanish, and can converse in French if I practice.   I would love to be fluent in several languages such as Chinese, Italian and I think it would very cool to be able to speak Mayan “Utz kin” to you!  Learning another language, as an adult can be daunting… the challenge is that we all have different learning styles; so there is not a one size fits all.  Personally, I did not really like the Rosetta Stone programs, but I love Michel Thomas… I have learned and strengthened language skills with his program.  I also use Pimsileur as a back up and for practice, but have settle on the Thomas method.

But those of you with young children with young developing brains… start now exposing them to languages.  I know a family in which the Dad is a native French speaker and the Mother among other languages speaks English.  To encourage their children to be multi-lingual Mom speaks English to the children, while Dad speaks French.   The children have come to recognize Mom’s language and Dad’s Language… even correcting them if parents accidently spoke in the wrong language.   Pretty amazing.

So you are monolingual—now what?

Exposure is the key… find opportunities for reading (looking at) foreign languages or watch or listen to media in other languages.  You probably won’t understand anything, but that’s OK.   Start by making it at least vaguely familiar.   Find children’s books in other languages—for fun, see if you can find books that are in multiple languages… curious children, may try to decipher the new language.  The idea here is to make other language use to feel normal… then let curiosity lead them.

Now in Chinese

Where do you find books in multiple languages?

Lunchpail Books is one example of site that offers fun books, that are not only easy to read, but are currently available in English, French, Italian, Spanish and Chinese.  Maybe this is one way to expose your beginner reader children’s books in multiple languages.

Peep Peep ... quack quack

 Peep Peep's first rap video...

Peep Peep quack quack

Where Do Stories Come From?

I was recently asked what inspires me to write... specifically where do stories come from?
For me they come from all over!  Sometimes, it is just imagination—such as “What would happened if I ate too many pickles?”  Often though, ideas come from those little (or big) life experiences.  As a parent of a large family there was never a shortage of events… some comedic, others tragic… some superficial and others life altering.  Taking one step back and examining the story (event) can give you insights into the human condition or simply make you laugh.  Both types weave the fabric that makes life interesting… I cherish both (tragic and comedic); but I can tell you—those moments that made us laugh are the ones we seem to relay over and over again.
Sometimes I found it a challenge not to laugh!   Here’s what I mean:
When my #2 son Noah was about 6 years old he created a complete family out of balloons.   He hand decorated them with markers, cotton and a collection of taped on accessories.   He made a little balloon replica of each family member and decided to take them for a ride in his little red wagon.  So, he loaded them up and headed outside.  It was a blustery day that morning in Arizona as Noah proudly pulled his balloon “family” outside.  A gust arrived and his “family” became airborne leaving him standing in the backyard devastated, as he watched them quickly drift over the fence.
Undaunted, Noah set to recreating his little family... this time however, he carefully taped the family members to the bottom of the wagon.  He was so excited to show me his creation—he ran to get me as soon as I walked into the door.  He ran to the backyard to proudly show off his little family taped securely to the wagon.  At that moment another gust came, but this time the balloon stayed put.  Unfortunately, a large tumbleweed came flying over the neighbor’s fence landing directly on the red wagon and sadly Noah’s balloon family!  For those who may not be well acquainted with tumbleweeds: They are round, aerodynamic and full of tiny thorns.  “Pop, pop, pop” balloons decimated.
Noah was in tears and needed comforting… I have to confess, that I found it very difficult to hold back the laughter.  I tried very hard to keep a straight-face and look sympathetic to his loss.  Biting my lip, I tried my best… but the overall humor of the situation for me was unbearable and a burst of laughter just popped right out….bad parent!
Well, Noah survived; in fact he just graduated from law school.   I wonder if you can sue tumbleweeds?
[Note: to learn more about the inspiration of some of my stories check out Lunchpail Books for more information]

The Moral of the Story

Seems like just about every topic of for children’s book has been covered.  What’s left to write about?  Are we near the end of ideas? Here in this blog, I have mentioned farting dogs, stepping in poo and variety of popular adolescent topics.  However, how important is it to have a “moral to the story?”  Should a message be straightforward or more subversively addressed?  Should there be a message at all?

Are there messages (morals) in our popular folklore?  How about “The Three Little Pigs?”  Aren’t we admonished to plan ahead and work hard…then bad things will pass by?   In a similarly themed fable “The Ants and the Grasshopper”, has a similar message about the benefits of hard work; but in this case adds the complexity of mercy and redemption.  Get’s kind of heavy!

What about my hero Dr. Seuss?   Surely he didn’t subversively preach us a message… or did he?
Did the great Seuss approach politically sensitive issues?

Many of Geisel's books are thought to express his views on a myriad of social and political issues: The Lorax (1971), about environmentalism and anti-consumerism; The Sneetches (1961), about racial equality; The Butter Battle Book (1984), about the arms race; Yertle the Turtle (1958), about anti-fascism and anti-authoritarianism; How the Grinch Stole Christmas! (1957), about anti-materialism; and Horton Hears a Who! (1954), about anti-isolationism and internationalism. Shortly before the end of the 1972–1974 Watergate scandal, in which United States president Richard Nixon resigned, Geisel converted one of his famous children's books into a polemic. "Richard M. Nixon, Will You Please Go Now!" was published in major newspapers through the column of his friend Art Buchwald.

Although Geisel never made any explicit or implicit mention of the abortion debate in his books, the line "A person's a person, no matter how small!!" from Horton Hears a Who! has grown, over the objections of his widow, into widespread use on the pro-life side of the issue.

So, back to my point… would we be better off having stories with no moral value other than that they are just fun… sort of like “Archie” or “Beetle Bailey”… is reading for the sake of reading or for practice a good reason to read?   Would it be better to read the ingredients of our favorite breakfast cereal (Wow 12% sugar!)?  Or perhaps good story telling on it’s own is adequate reason for a story to exist.   If they are reading, and enjoying the activity…that’s fine right?

What are your thoughts?  Should Children’s Books teach a message (have a morale)…If so what kind of message?  Where do we draw the line on appropriate and inappropriate messages?  Is it OK if it is buried deep?  Dr. Seuss viewed his own work as “Subversive as hell.”

The Importance of Sight Reading

When children very first learn that symbols can be used to represent ideas or spoken words, they begin with the assumption that the whole symbol represents the whole word. Because it is so difficult to memorize a complete, complex shape like a word, children adopt strategies of seeking out salient features from a word, and using those features to identify the word. This is why children can recognize the word "McDonalds" when the M is represented by the golden arches, but fail to recognize it when it is printed for them, and this is why children often mistake words like LOOK for BOOK or WAG for DOG. Children almost instinctively attempt to memorize words as wholes when they can, and they seek out distinctive features of words.

Philip Gough conducted a brief study that revealed these tendencies in children. He asked children to learn some made-up vocabulary words, which he presented on flash-cards. In the corner, on one card, he deliberately placed a thumb-print. Children were very quick to learn the word which was on the card with the thumb-print, but after the children learned that word, they typically did not recognize it when the thumb-print was removed. Further, when the thumb-print was moved to a different card with a different word, children tended to erroneously call the name of the word that originally accompanied the thumb-print. Even more revealing, however, when Gough presented a card containing only a thumb-print, and no word, children still tended to call the name of the word they had originally associated with the thumb-print.
Clearly this strategy for learning new words is maladaptive. Children memorize a word that is highly dependent upon context, and because most words share many visual features with many other words, children who attempt to memorize words as wholes tend to confuse words. Moreover, there is a limit as to how many words children can memorize - while most competent readers have a reading vocabulary of 50,000 to 75,000, children who memorize words as wholes are only capable of learning a maximum of about 5,000 words in isolation.
Moving from memorization to decoding
In order to become competent readers with reading vocabularies in the 50,000 to 75,000 range, children need to learn to decode words rather than simply memorizing them. Decoding words is much more generative and flexible and requires much less attention and memory. Children who can decode words are able to break down new, unfamiliar words, and arrive at a phonological code that they can communicate with others (i.e. a child can sound out an unfamiliar word, and, if necessary, ask others what that word means).
One important goal, then in teaching children to read is to encourage them to abandon their natural tendency to memorize words as wholes, or to memorize salient features of words, and instead to learn to break words apart, examine the letters and chunks within the words, and decode them.
How, then, are we to explain the time and effort spent teaching children to memorize words? An often stated goal of many reading teachers, reading programs, and even state standards documents, is that the teacher will enhance the child's repertoire of "sight words."
Sight words
The concept of sight words has foundations in the "Look-Say" approach to reading instruction - the idea was to teach children to simply memorize the most common words in written English on the assumption that memorizing the most common words in the language would give the child a leg up when attempting to read connected text. A child's natural tendency to memorize the whole word, or to memorize some salient feature of the word, was encouraged by teachers, and to facilitate the memorization of the words, children were presented with text that was composed almost entirely of words from the popular sight word lists. Children were able to read those texts, but usually had difficulty reading more authentic text which was not primarily composed of sight words.
The term "sight word" is still with us, and the sight word lists that were created before World War II, such as the Dolch list, are still very popularly used. However, some people have reinterpreted the definition of a sight word. Whereas a sight word once universally referred to a word which the child had memorized as a whole (without learning to decode it), now some have redefined the term to mean something different.
Some use the term "sight word" to refer to words which do not adhere well to the principles taught in phonics lessons (e.g. WAS, THE, ONE, OF, SHOE, SAID), and which must, it is therefore claimed, be memorized. These words have traditionally been called "irregular" words, or "exception" words, but some are also applying the term "sight word" to words in this category.
Some use the term "sight word" to refer to words which have been encountered so frequently that a reader no longer needs to laboriously sound them out. The first time a child reads the word YELLOW, the child may struggle and have some difficulty. Gradually, the child becomes more and more familiar with the word, and eventually, the child is able to read the word without hesitation or conscious thought. At the end of this evolution, according to this perspective, the word becomes one of that child's "sight words."
Exception words (Irregular words)
Neither of these applications of the term seems appropriate. Words that can not be directly sounded-out already have a designation, they are called exception words or irregular words, and even these exception words are not memorized as wholes - most of the letters in exception words are "regular" and children still benefit from processing these words at the letter level, chunking the words when necessary, and applying knowledge of letter-sound relationships.
Likewise, the notion that sight words are words which are processed so automatically that no conscious thought is required also seems specious. By this definition, pseudowords like BIP and FANK are sight words for most skilled readers because, even though they have never encountered those words before, skilled readers are able to process them automatically without concerted effort.
Conclusions
The term "sight word" has a clear definition, and adopting that term for other concepts only serves to confuse the issues. If a child has learned to recognize a word without learning to decode the word, then that word is a "sight word" for that child. When a teacher encourages a child to memorize more words by sight, that teacher is delaying the inevitable - eventually, in order to become a good reader, that child will have to begin processing words at the letter level. There is no clear empirical evidence that teaching very young children to memorize a few basic and common words is harmful - for very young children, this approach may actually help to build a foundation and familiarity with text. However, it seems clear that teaching children in the 1st and 2nd grades to memorize words only detracts from one of the primary goals of reading instruction - as early as possible, children need to learn to attend to the letters within the words, and to decode the words, and children need to become so proficient at this skill that words are decoded rapidly, and without conscious effort.

Where can you find books designed around sight reading?

First stop...Lunchpail Books... you will find books using the controlled vocabulary mentioned above.

What's In a Title?

Do we really pay any attention to the title of a book?  We have always been told to not judge a book by its cover, but does that apply to the title?  You may not be aware that each year there is a BIG book fair in Frankfurt Germany; where publishers and authors from all around world gather to show off their new books.  Each year there is a prize given to the oddest title.   Here are some “hopefuls” from the past years:

      Fancy Coffins to Make Yourself [A book for woodworkers]

      Knitting with Dog Hair

      Wood Carving with a Chain Saw

      Drying Flowers With A Microwave

      Nuclear War: What's In It For You?

      How Green were the Nazis?

      Old Tractors and the Men Who Love Them

      How to Avoid Huge Ships

      Bomb Proof Your House

We mustn’t forget about the many medical books published each year—going well beyond “Gray’s Anatomy” into some interesting “specialties”.

      A Pictorial Book of Tongue Coatings

      Brace Owner's Manual: A Guide To The Wearing And Care Of Braces

      Waterproofing Your Child

      The Secret of Sphincters

      DIY Brain Surgery

      Nasal Maintenance

      Inflammatory Bowel Diseases: A Personal View

      Hot Topics in Urology

Hey, while we are at it—let’s leave the real world of the ridiculous and move to the realm of adolescent humor (my specialty and favorite).  I grew up with wonderfully funny titles, Like “ Under the Grandstands”, by Seymore Butts; “The Yellow River”, by I. P. Freely; and many others.  Do have any you recall?   Here are some new ones (at least to me):

      The Broken Window by Eva Brick

      The Cliff Tragedy by Eileen Dover

      French Windows by Pattie O'Dors

      Forestry by Teresa Green

      Olympic Games by Arthur Letics

      How to Make Honey by B. Keeper

      Easy Money by Robyn Banks

      Gunfire by R. Tillery

      Long Walk by Miss D. Buss

      The Dogs' Dinner by Nora Bone

      A Hole in My Bucket by Lee King

      Falling Trees by Tim Burr

      How to Win by Vic Tree

      I Love Math by Adam Upp and Ima Adder

      Snakes of the World by Anna Conda

      Natural Bust Enlargement by Mine Power

What silly titles do you recall?