The school year has started. Our little Year 2 girl is loving the school days! And still has the time and energy to read after school. (YES- THIS IS WHY WE DON'T LIKE HOMEWORK!)
There are a lot of ways to encourage kids how to read although our favorite is talking about the book after reading and discussing the lessons and practical applications for the book.
Here's what she has to say about Little Women. With little side comments from our little boy.
Our last chapter book for summer 2012: The Phantom of the Opera (A Stepping Stone Book)
! Tomorrow is back to school and our little lady is Year 2! We must admit that we missed reading chapter books during the summer since we have lots of excuses really! New baby, new house, new job, new office, travel - we should have sneaked in one chapter book a week but we got too comfortable adjusting to the changes in our family lives. No valid excuse really..
Anyway, here is the how she understand the book, The Phantom of the Opera and right after this video, she watched a very good version of the play and here is the link: The Phantom of the Opera.
I know at the moment, this classic play is showing back home in the Philippines. Maybe we could watch the play once it's showing in this part of the world.
By the way, we got this awesome book from Dubai Mall during our Dubai travel. Let's see if these Stepping Stone books area available here in Doha. (and of course, we will let you know!)
Turknoys just love reading! These two videos below show the fun we always have every time we read a book and attempt to analyze the story and video the book summary for our blog.
We had a good laugh (lots!) tonight viewing these videos and reading bedtime stories. We are share the laughs, we share the book titles - we hope you are reading lots same as us!
Who ever said summer in Doha is boring? They might be partly correct but not for our little Kylie enjoying the Doha Players summer activities. She calls it drama school! Obviously, our family loves drama a lot. It is my wish that my daughter thrives in drama as much as I did.
This summer activities is so worth it. She is very happy and always excited to go to drama school. She learns a lot and she gets encouraged to read lots of books as well.
Here are just few of the things that she learned for the past two weeks:
One Knight
Macbeth
Helen of Troy
Greece and goddess (they also study about a specific country during the session " The World Around Us
The important thing is that she is enjoying a lot! That's what matters most. That and the bonus of some quite time at home. (Mommy kids a lot, ha!)
We may have been offline for quite some time but we didn't stop reading. We even read more! One time we were hanging out in a cafe in a mall, we discussed Horrid Henry and here is what Kylie has to say about the book.
I have to keep track of the these book series as this may interest our little boy K when he is ready to read chapter books. We are wishing that he'll be as book maniac as our little girl K1.
DISCOVER THE SERIES BOYS AND GIRLS AROUND THE WORLD LOVE TO READ!
Horrid Henry makes a deal with his parents in return for eating his veggies; accidentally wears girls' underwear to school; tries to prove he is sicker than his brother; and writes the meanest thank-you cards ever (and makes money on it too).
Francesca Simon is one of the world's best-loved children's authors. She is the only American to have ever won the Galaxy Book Award, and her creation, Horrid Henry, is the #1 bestselling chapter book series in the UK—with a hit TV show and over fifteen million copies sold! Each book contains four easy-to-read stories and hilarious illustrations by the one and only Tony Ross, so even the most reluctant of readers won't be able to resist Henry's amazing talent for trouble!
Thank you my little girl for telling us about the book!
Looking for the life's "pause" button because the kids seem to be growing up way too fast? Somehow, for me, reading these type of books for kids make everything stop: forever they will be my babies. These books will always be remembered as their bedtime stories. They may sometimes think that I am cheesy I love you to them all the time, every chance I got, but I want to absorb every moment until they say eoowww. Well, K1 is actually starting to mock me but hey, I still got two kids to go. And deep down inside, K1 still loves to told I love you and all the time looking forward to our cuddle time.
Here are our favorites:
I Love You With All My Heart - Polo the polar bear questions how his mother can love him with all her heart and learns from his many friends the all-encompassing quality of a parent's love.
I Want a CuddleKisses - Poor Little Rabbit has fallen over and hurt her paw. She wants a cuddle, but where can she find one that's not too prickly, tickly, bristly or bumpy? A warm and gentle story in which Little Rabbit discovers that everyone needs a cuddle at times, even Little Foxes! Ages 3-6. Kisses: In this warm, playful tale, a father helps his daughter get ready for bed. Lisa asks her daddy to give her a kiss. "Of course, " Daddy says. "Do you want a witch's kiss? A butterfly kiss? A Morn kiss? A circus kiss? An Eskimo kiss?" Finally Lisa tells him what kind of kiss she really wants. Each of the kisses is lovingly and humorously illustrated with Marijke ten Cate's expressive artwork.
Parents and children cherish the quiet time at the end of the day when books are read. Bedtime stories are a comforting, shared ritual of love, laughter, and anticipation of sweet dreams.
I Love You Stinky Face - A vividly illustrated bedtime story that shows how the unconditional love of a mother can be tested through the relentless questions of her little boy. "But Mama, but Mama, what if I were a super smelly skunk, and I smelled so bad that my name was Stinky Face?"
Mothers love their children and this unconditional love is truly tested in I LOVE YOU, STINKY FACE. Lisa McCourt and Cyd Moore beautifully weave a reassuring tale of the love and affection of a parent. The imaginative son turns himself into a meat-eating dinosaur, a swamp creature and much, much more before being satisfied with the fact that no matter how stinky he is or how slimy of a creature he could possibly be, he is loved and nothing will change that.
Here is K1's version of her review of the books:
Hope you like these bedtime books as much as we do!
It's that time of the year again that we spend a lot of time indoors that reading indoors could be so boring. As much as we want to read outdoors and enjoy the breeze, the extreme heat outside may prevent us from doing so. This will not stop us. We commit ourselves to everyday reading. And we have this in writing! We joined the summer reading challenge 2012. And it's going to be fun!
We will definitely prevent "summer slide" where reading abilities lapse during summer. NO!
Parents can help make this magic happen. Here are a few simple tips:
Make sure your kids have plenty of books. Take your kids to the library or the bookstore (new or used) to pick out some interesting new books. Go to the library every week, if you can. Go to yard sales, and sort through the books there. Organize a book swap in your neighborhood or scout troop. Do whatever you need to do to keep a fresh supply of books around.
Always pack up books whenever you go somewhere, for your kids and for yourself (including audiobooks). Make sure your kids see you reading, whether it's on the beach, while waiting for the softball game to start, or at home. Bonus points if you spend some of your time reading kids' books. Then you can also talk about the books with your kids, and recommend other books that they might like. Listen to audiobooks in the car, especially on long trips. Pick books that are fun and/or exciting. You'll find that these add to your family's common frame of reference. And they makes the drives go by a lot more quickly.
Encourage social reading. If your child wants to read a book because other kids are reading it (and you don't have personal reasons why you think your child isn't ready for the book), by all means get a copy. This reinforces the idea that reading is cool, and gives your child a chance to talk about the book with others. Consider buying two copies of the same book, for your child and his or her best friend, so that they can both read it. Maybe start a book club. Take the kids to see a movie based on a book, and also read the book. Do whatever you can to make reading cool and social.
Try not to get hung up on whether or not your child "could" be reading more advanced books. Do you read Proust on your summer vacation, or do you read James Patterson? Kids turn to books for a respite from cares sometimes, just as adults do. They don't want everything they read to educational. There's no harm in suggesting the occasional book that's more of a stretch, but don't push too hard. If kids find reading enjoyable, they'll keep reading, and they will eventually push themselves. For that to happen, they just need to spend time reading.
Try to keep some time available for reading. This is perhaps the hardest thing, as schedules fill up with sports, cookouts, trips and movies. These are all fun, too. But if you ask me, there's no substitute for the occasional afternoon spent perched up in a tree exploring far-off worlds through books.
And that's it. A prescription for getting kids reading this summer. Get great books, take them places with you, make reading social, keep reading from being a chore or a contest, and leave a bit of time for reading on the schedule. There are no guarantees, of course. But if you do all of these things, you're setting the stage for a reading-filled summer.
We immediately moved on to read The Knight at Dawn (Magic Tree House, No. 2)
and here is what she has to say about the book. She prefers the dinosaurs over the knight however, she is becoming more intrigue by the clues of who owns the book in the Magic Tree House.
Apart from discussing the book in video to enhance the "public speaking skills", she also writes the summary of the book answering the question on what the book is about, the lesson of the story and the new words she learned from reading the book. This aims to make her love writing too and to enrich her vocabulary.
Needless to say, we can't wait to read the next boo of the series!
We hope to read this chapter book, Magic Tree House series, over the summer and have lots of activities about the books.
Book #1 in the series is about dinosaurs. Dinosaurs Before Dark is a very great introduction to reading chapter books for both girls and boys alike. Adventure with dinosaurs is simply intriguing for kids at these age (5-7) and the book can be read by an adult for 30 minutes. Our reader K1 here can read the book in less than two hours if she concentrate on the book and not distracted by her little brother.
All kids can definitely relate with Jack and Annie and will want to read more about their adventures. For parents who want their kids to love reading, this is a perfect series!
We have tried another chapter book and this time, it's a bit different. Gosh Look Teddy, It's a Werewolf Pb (Jumbo Jets) is not your typical adventure book! There's a lot of silliness and weird parts in this book. Made us look up who the author is as well as his other books. Bob Wilson has lots of books similar to this book that are worth checking out. This type of books is refreshing for both kids and adults alike.
The story is indeed a frightfully romantic story. Frightful and romantic are words that usually don't go with each other. Not even words to be used in the same sentence. It completely makes sense, though, to describe the book.
Who could have imagined that werewolves could co-exist much more fall in love and what if all teachers and all adults around kids were werewolves? Ha, now that is a thought. Hideous adventure!
Here is K1's summary of the book as well as her reactions. We hope that we are getting better with the recording as this is our fourth chapter book.
I was sure that Little Ms. Reader will like the fairy books but I wanted her to read first the famous chapter books from US - Nancy Drew and Junie B Jones. I was hoping she would love the book series and find these books imaginative enough to her taste. Apparently not!
So, reading Nancy Drew book was not a big hit for the 6-year old reader. So we try again reading another chapter book for first grader (supposedly!) This time it's Junie B. Jones
book. We have enjoyed the 10 chapters of the book - again in one seating. We just have to learn to leave the book alone and use bookmark!
Here's the feedback from the little Miss K1:
Looks like we have to try again another set of chapter books for her or maybe not. Just needs to keep reading with my little law breaker here.
Again, here are the collection of books we wished to have; and we are not losing hope.
Our little Miss K1 is starting to get bored with the Year 1 books. And since the summer holiday is so close, we decided to try chapter book - Nancy Drew and the Clue Crew! She read the book in a day which is why I think she was overwhelmed with understanding the story behind and as a result, she didn't like it as much.
Let's see how she rated the book:
We have read chapter books before but this is her first time reading a chapter book closer to a "novel."
Our next reading goal is to make her understand fully the story as well as most of the details in each chapter of the books.
Here are the chapter books we are really keen to have to enjoy reading. Donations, anyone?
Moppy Is Angry explores how anger can feel and how it makes us behave. It emphasizes for kids that they can get angry sometimes and that is a very difficult emotion to handle. It doesn't teach though how to handle the anger - but the book have great illustrations why our emotions, especially anger, should NOT control us.
Our little girl is working on her anger management issue!
We like the book but not that much. There are other books that we could recommend for anger management for children:
Why not give these books a try: well illustrated and well articulated books make it easier to teach the kids about feelings especially anger management:
Winston The Book Wolf is a very interesting book. We just love how Winston The Book Wolf is so hungry for words rather than meat. The story reinforces the many reasons why we just LOVE LOVE to read books. And with the modified Little Red Riding Hood story to Winston's story, we had lots of laughter and analysis while reading this book.
A very well written and brilliantly illustrated book! We definitely recommend this book.
Winston the Book Wolf
Great books have tasty words and this book is definitely delectable.
We love the good old traditional books especially for toddlers. There is something about actually feeling the pages of the books, turning these pages and trying to destroy the book that appeals to us. It's fun. But of course, we love also our iPad applications of Young Readers. They are also handy and mobile.
For the past months, we have read hundreds (well, almost!) of books and here are some of our favorites.
Who Do You Love?
: A Touch and Feel Book - This is indeed a must have or must read book to toddlers. We love it so much especially the part where we feel the next bear. We simply can't get enough of this book.
Who Do You Love: A Touch and Feel Book
Click, Clack, Moo: Cows That Type: Do you want to teach your toddler how to handle "dispute resolution" or simply what a typewriter is? This book is perfect for these two things. Here is a very good review from Amazon. This book is definitely worth checking out.
Click, Clack, Moo recently won the Caldecott award, and is very deserving of that honor. I enthusiastically endorse it for your children aged from 2 through 6. This book will be considered a classic children's tale within five years.
Many great children's books start from the point of view of role reversals. You take objects or animals and make them be like humans. But no one could have developed a funnier idea along those lines than having typing cows who lead a general strike on a farm.
"Farmer Brown has a problem. His cows like to type."
"All day long he hears. Click, clack, moo. Click, clack, moo. Clickety clack, moo."
"At first, he couldn't believe his ears."
But it gets worse. One day he receives a typewritten note that says:
"Dear Farmer Brown,
The barn is very cold at night. We'd like some electric blankets.
Sincerely,
The Cows"
Farmer Brown makes the mistake of treating the cows like cows. He tells them, "No way." They type up a note and put it on the barn door. "Sorry. We're closed. No milk today."
The next day, another note appeared.
"Dear Farmer Brown,
The hens are cold too. They'd like electric blankets.
Sincerely,
The Cows"
The negotiations continue toward a hilarious conclusion.
Each of these letters to Farmer Brown cannot help but inspire gales of uncontrollable laughter among your tykesters. The ending may actually cause laughter-induced pain because it is so hilarious.
The illustrations are particularly appealing. Ms. Lewin has drawn them to be large in features, vivid, bold, and colorful. They make the story more intense by capturing both a sense of movement and the personality of the characters. This is one of the best illustrated stories I have ever seen for preschoolers. That is important, because the illustrations carry a heavy burden as you first read this story to your child. No one has ever seen a typing cow, so the illustrations help fill in the gaps. Naturally, you will see opportunities to handle side issues like "how would a cow type, if a cow could type?"
Interestingly, Ms. Cronin is an attorney who also collects antique typewriters. Anyone who has ever been part of a labor negotiation will quickly recognize the universal truths around which she has structured this delightful story. I suspect that she has been part of one or two.
After you and your child become familiar with the story, I suggest that you think together about what is the right thing to do with regard to animals who do not send you typewritten letters. It is never too early for children to learn about each person's responsibility to live in harmony with our fellow creatures and to properly care for them.
May you always be clear about what you are looking for! Who knows? You may even get it.
CLICK CLACK MOO: COWS THAT TYPE
No More Eee-orrh!: Donkey says EEE-ORRH, says our adorable Kerim. And we read this book for more than gazillion times. Here's the book description from Amazon.
Patient: Dicky Donkey.
Symptoms: No more Eee-orrh!
Treatment: 1. Mule Gruel. 2. Bray Spray. 3. Donkey Tonic. Notes: What can we do to make this donkey better? Dicky Donkey drives everyone crazy! Each morning, they wake up to "EEE-ORRH!" Then one day, Dicky opens his mouth and nothing comes out. He's lost his Eee-orrh! Poor Dicky Donkey! In the meantime, the neighbors realize how much they miss Dicky's Eee-orrh. How will they wake up in the morning? How Dicky finally gets his Eee-orrh back is endearingly recounted by Lydia Monks, whose paint-and-collage illustrations pop off the page.
NO MORE EE-ORRH!
Fish Finds A Home (Sparkle Books)
It's never too early to teach kids how to care for the environment. As much as this book is so cute and sparkly, it also has something to say about the environmental management.
FISH FINDS A HOME!
There are lots more books to be posted here so please stay tuned. If you are interested to get these books, go shop at Amazon. They deliver to Doha.
Turknoys just love Story Time. And we are always fortunate enough to find lots of story time activities. This time, we found a Story Time activity at School World in Parco Mall. This mall is located close to Salwa Road and very close to D-Ring so it was accessible for us.
And what a great story time it had been not to mention what a find the bookstore, School World, is. There are lots of great book titles which are very difficult to find here in Doha. A must-visit for all kids book lover in Doha.
We story time session is so fantastic we are already looking forward to the second session. It's the free things in life... ;)
early bird - can't wait for the story time session to start, he started already on his own!
he's so at home, love the books and can't stop reading!
some of the books read during Story Time!
someone is impatient for the story time to start! ready, set..... go!
funny guy, he knows the book already so he decided to get his own book while listening to the story time!
Kerim definitely spend a very productive day during the Story Time at School World.
Another great way to encourage kids how to read is to make them appreciate arts. We went to Mathaf - Arab Museum of Modern Art to join the Maktaba and Mathaf Reading Circle.
Maktaba will be the first Arabic/ English children's library in Doha, Qatar. To say that our Turknoy family is excited about the opening of the library is an understatement. Now, when will they open, we are wondering and waiting!
For the mean time, we are attending the reading circle to be held in Mathaf Museum every week.
It was actually the first time for Kerim to attend a book reading session with another facilitator other than his mommy! We usually have our book reading in the park and at home but it's always me who's reading to the group. He was asking a lot of questions to the facilitator and kept disturbing her from reading the story. He was asking question - "What is that?!" and pointing to the animals and telling the children what those were. Awesome for a my 2.5 year old book lover!
Kylie, on the other hand, created an awesome book cover and participated a lot during the book reading. It was a great experience to be part of the reading circle.
preparing his book cover!
now on to the text of the book cover!
our little girl presenting her awesome book cover about the birds!
Our little boy asking a lot - A LOT - of questions during book reading
How I wish we could participate in more of these sessions. These sessions aim to encourage families to think about links between stories and arts. Hence, the art about kids' book cover. It's an awesome idea indeed. Art and book reading.
! Tomorrow is back to school and our little lady is Year 2! We must admit that we missed reading chapter books during the summer since we have lots of excuses really! New baby, new house, new job, new office, travel - we should have sneaked in one chapter book a week but we got too comfortable adjusting to the changes in our family lives. No valid excuse really..
- Polo the polar bear questions how his mother can love him with all her heart and learns from his many friends the all-encompassing quality of a parent's love.
Kisses
- Poor Little Rabbit has fallen over and hurt her paw. She wants a cuddle, but where can she find one that's not too prickly, tickly, bristly or bumpy? A warm and gentle story in which Little Rabbit discovers that everyone needs a cuddle at times, even Little Foxes! Ages 3-6.
- A vividly illustrated bedtime story that shows how the unconditional love of a mother can be tested through the relentless questions of her little boy.
and here is what she has to say about the book. She prefers the dinosaurs over the knight however, she is becoming more intrigue by the clues of who owns the book in the Magic Tree House.
is a very great introduction to reading chapter books for both girls and boys alike. Adventure with dinosaurs is simply intriguing for kids at these age (5-7) and the book can be read by an adult for 30 minutes. Our reader K1 here can read the book in less than two hours if she concentrate on the book and not distracted by her little brother.
. It will be a very productive summer for us, I hope!
is not your typical adventure book! There's a lot of silliness and weird parts in this book. Made us look up who the author is as well as his other books. Bob Wilson
has lots of books similar to this book that are worth checking out. This type of books is refreshing for both kids and adults alike.
and naturally, she loved the book.
book. We have enjoyed the 10 chapters of the book - again in one seating. We just have to learn to leave the book alone and use bookmark!
explores how anger can feel and how it makes us behave. It emphasizes for kids that they can get angry sometimes and that is a very difficult emotion to handle. It doesn't teach though how to handle the anger - but the book have great illustrations why our emotions, especially anger, should NOT control us.
: A Touch and Feel Book - This is indeed a must have or must read book to toddlers. We love it so much especially the part where we feel the next bear. We simply can't get enough of this book.
: Do you want to teach your toddler how to handle "dispute resolution" or simply what a typewriter is? This book is perfect for these two things. Here is a very good review from Amazon. This book is definitely worth checking out.
: Donkey says EEE-ORRH, says our adorable Kerim. And we read this book for more than gazillion times. Here's the book description from Amazon.
It's never too early to teach kids how to care for the environment. As much as this book is so cute and sparkly, it also has something to say about the environmental management.
