Google+ Mom to 2 Posh Lil Divas: Summer Virtual Book Club
Showing posts with label Summer Virtual Book Club. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Summer Virtual Book Club. Show all posts

Friday, August 24, 2012

Kevin Henkes Book Giveaway - Penny and Her Song

Did you get to read this month's post for the Virtual Book Club for Kids? We had lots of fun with Kevin Henkes book, Penny and Her Song so I am super excited that the folks over at Harper Collins are giving us a (free) copy of the book to giveaway to one of our US readers.


Yay! I know your children will enjoy this book so let's get right to the giveaway details.

Giveaway is open to US residents and will run until midnight on August 30, 2012.

To enter simply use the rafflecopter entry below and leave a comment about which is your favorite Kevin Henkes book. Be sure to leave us your email so we can contact you if you win.

For extra entries -
1. Share this giveaway on Facebook or Twitter and leave me a link.
2. Tell us what author you would like to see us cover on the Virtual Book Club for kids.

Good Luck!
Bern




Disclosure - Harper Collins Publishing is providing a free copy of Penny and Her Song to giveaway. This is not a paid or sponsored post.

Other blogs participating in Kevin Henkes Giveaways this week!
Chester's Way - Toddler Approved
Sheila Rae the Brave- Juggling with Kids
Lily's Purple Plastic Purse- Mommy and Me Book Club
Chrysanthemum- Teach Preschool
Old Bear- No Twiddle Twaddle
My Garden- Crafty Moms Share
Chrysanthemum- Ready.Set.Read!
A Good Day- Adventures in Reading
Old Bear- Reading Confetti
Wemberly Worried - The Eductors' Spin On It
Jessica - Crayon Freckles
Owen - Royal Baloo

Thursday, August 23, 2012

Learning With Books - Penny and Her Song by Kevin Henkes

This month the summer virtual book club was exploring author Kevin Henkes. There are so many wonderful books to choose from but I wanted to share Penny and Her Song with the Lil Divas.  I thought it would be the perfect book for my performance loving girls and I was correct. They enjoyed both the book and our activities.


If you've never read Penny and Her Song - it's a Level 1 "I Can Read" book and it recently came out in paperback which is fabulous because now you can get the book for a great low price. 


The Oldest Diva read the book to us and we took some time to discuss the story elements - characters and plot (beginning, middle & end and problem/solution) and how Penny and the Lil Divas were similar and different. 

The book could not have come at a better time. Now that the Lil Divas come out of school at the same time - they are very competitive over who gets to talk about their day first. This book opened up some great discussion about how sometimes we have to wait to share something we think is special with our parents.

Once we were done reading we moved on to some FUN - our very own performances of course! I have to admit that this not uncommon in our home.  Singing and dancing are usually part of our every day but the Lil Divas were inspired by the book to get dressed up, come up with their own song lyrics and put on a show like Penny did with her family.


These little girls put on a fabulous show. I love to sit back and watch them in action. I know these moments are fleeting so I am soaking them up. Aren't they adorable? I might be a bit partial because I am their Mom but they take their future pop stardom very seriously and it shows, hehe.


In the story Penny's song is all about numbers 1 thru 10. I thought this offered a good excuse to practice number writing with the Littlest Diva. It is an area that we haven;t worked too much on and I noticed that she needed some additional practice on some numbers (2, 6 & 8 especially). Using our dry erase board and markers I demonstrated how to write numbers 2 thru 8, helped her write them by guiding her hand and then let her write them independently.


With just 15-20 minutes of focused practice she made such marked progress. She was super excited about being able to write the numbers like a big girl and I was impressed with how well she was writing.

We had a lot of fun with Kevin Henkes book Penny and Her Song and I am super excited to announce that Harper Collins is generously sponsoring a giveaway for the book here on the blog. How awesome is that!? Please check back tomorrow for all the details and to enter using our easy rafflecopter giveaway.

Do you have a favorite Kevin Henkes book? I'd love for you to share your favorites and to join the blog hop for Kevin Henkes book inspired posts/ideas. 

AugustSummerVirtualBookClub

Bern

Friday, August 3, 2012

August Virtual Book Club - Kevin Henkes

The Virtual Book Club featured author for August 2012 is.......
Kevin Henkes


There are so many awesome Henkes books to choose from.
 To pick just one to focus on -
a truly difficult choice!

Here are a few of my personal favorites
(and the long list I am trying to choose 1 from)

 

Which Henkes book would you choose?
Join us August 20th
& share your book and activities on the linky.

Need some ideas?
Check out my Fun w/Kevin Henkes Pinterest Board.

Bern

Disclosure - This post does contain affiliate links. All opinions are still 100% my own.

Sunday, July 1, 2012

July Summer Virtual Book Club - Don and Audrey Wood

July's Summer Virtual Book Club FEATURED Author(s) are
Don and Audrey Wood

This husband and wife team have written many beloved children's books,
(including many of our personal favorites) so I am excited to see
what books and activities will be shared for this month's
Summer Virtual Book Club
on July 16, 2012


A few of our personal favorites are:


Happy reading,
Bern

Tuesday, June 19, 2012

Summer Virtual Book Club: Mo Willems' There Is a Bird on Your Head!

Welcome to the June Summer Virtual Book Club!
This month we are reading Mo Willems.
If you aren't acquainted with his books, all I can say is.....
run to the nearest library or bookstore, NOW!
You will thank me later.

My girls and I LOVE Mo. The Pigeon books and Knuffle Bunny are longtime favorites. Seriously, the Pigeon is one of the funniest characters ever. My girls can read those books over and over again and still laugh hysterically at his antics (I have to admit I do too).

Our new favorites though are Elephant & Piggie. They are the best of friends and always in some sort of dilemma which kids can easily relate to. But, honestly these books hold a special place in my heart for a more personal reason. The Elephant & Piggie books turned my reluctant and nervous reader into a  confident reader. I can not say enough about these books but I'll leave that to another post.


Being such huge fans I was excited to have Mo Willems as our Summer Virtual Book Club pick for June. It was going to be easy peasy. WRONG! I had the hardest time picking one book to work with. The Lil Divas were very little help. They wanted to use them all. We finally decided to use There is a Bird on Your Head! 

The Oldest Diva took charge and read the book to her little sister. I LOVE listening to her read these books. She uses such wonderful expression and lowers and raises her voice to coincide with the print. We talked about the main problem of the story, the beginning/middle/end and what we thought would happen next. With the Oldest Diva going into 1st Grade and the Littlest Diva going into Kindergarten, working on reading comprehension is very important to me.


We worked on a sorting/categorizing activity of Flying versus Non-Flying Animals. I simply used free clipart images I found on the internet.


The Littlest Diva practiced writing Nn and Bb in a salt tray. She really enjoys practicing her writing that way. 

The Lil Divas favorite part was the balance game we played. We made a nest by folding down a brown paper bag. With their nests placed on top of their head (like Elephant in the story) we added small plastic eggs (leftover from Easter) one at a time and they had to keep the nest balanced on their head. We got up to 12 eggs in each of their nests! They held their nests balanced on their heads so well that I had to make them walk to see if they could keep them up there. 


Look at the concentration on their faces! They were determined to keep those eggs from falling. Both girls did a fantastic job but........


Can you tell who had the last nest standing?! ;)

We had lots of fun with this month's Summer Virtual Book Club and we are looking forward to next month's author - Don and Audrey Wood

JuneSummerVirtualBookClub

For now, if you have any Mo Willems posts or activities to share please link them up below!  I am so excited to be part of this Summer Virtual Book Club with the following fabulous bloggers/blogs:
Toddler Approved

Bern

Friday, June 1, 2012

Let's Read Together! Join the Summer Virtual Book Club for Kids

I am SUPER EXCITED about today's announcement!
We have joined forces with 15+ amazing blogs/bloggers to bring you

It is so easy to let reading time slip by during the glorious & busy having fun days of summer. As a child, I always looked forward to the summer reading list from school. My books would always be read within the first 2 weeks of summer. Yes, I am a book nerd & quite proud of it! There is nothing I enjoy more that relaxing with a good book.

My girls have a fondness for books and reading and I like to think that it stems from me. I have been reading to them since they were babies. Now, we are at a stage where my Oldest Diva also reads to us nightly. It fills me with pride to listen to her read and know that I had a hand in that! 

We have big plans this summer to tackle some chapter books together - her idea! We will be making weekly trips to our local library and keeping track of all the books we read. She hopes to reach 100 (totally doable!). 

To help keep reading alive this summer we have joined in to host 
The Summer Virtual Book Club for Kids. 
This month's chosen author is..........
 Mo Willems

Oh, how we LOVE Mo Willems around here!
A few of our favorite books include -

 

How can you join in on the fun of The Summer Virtual Book Club?
1. Pick a book by Mo Willems to read with your child(ren)
2. Do an activity together inspired by the book.
3. Join us here on June 18, 2012 to share which book you read & any activities you do along with it on our Summer Virtual Book Club linky.

Looking forward to virtually sharing one of favorite authors with you all!
I can't wait to see which book you read & what activity you do with it.

Bern