Elizabeth Yetter's Blog
Posted by Elizabeth Yetter
Looking for the perfect “I love you” book for your little girl? Whether you want to tell your daughter you love her on Valentine’s Day or you want her to know that she’s special everyday, check out the latest book by Jane Yolen called Mama’s Kiss (Chronicle Kids, ISBN 978-0-8118-6683-5).
Mama’s Kiss begins with a kiss. Mom throws a smooch through the air towards her daughter, but the kiss misses and goes straight towards the baby. Baby burps and sends the kiss flying out the open window where the wayward kiss gets passed around from a dog, a cat, a bee, a bear, and then back to a person. Eventually, the kiss finds its way back to the daughter.
Mama’s Kiss is one of the happiest children’s books I’ve read in a while. It’s sweet, easy to read, and makes a special gift to the girl you love most.
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Posted by Elizabeth Yetter
With exciting facts and gorgeous pictures of cats, Why Do Cats Have Whiskers? by Elizabeth Macleod (Kids Can Press, ISBN: 978-1-55453-196-7) is packed full of ohs and ahs. Kids, ages 8 to 12, will love to read to read and share this book with their friends and family.
Questions and Facts
So, why do cats have whiskers? Why do they meow and purr? There are so many questions children ask about cats that adults have to stop and wonder what the answers truly are. Why Do Cats Have Whiskers? answers all the common and not so common questions kids can come up with about cats.
Kids will learn how cats seem to see in the dark and how cats became pets in the first place. They’ll learn fascinating tidbits to wow their friends, such as the name of Isaac Newton’s cat (Spithead).
Speak Cat
Besides facts, kids will learn to understand cat body language. They’ll learn how to read cat whiskers, ears positions, and tail twitches.
When kids learn to read cat language, they’ll also be able to let their favorite cat know how much its loved by practicing a blinking exercise.
Gorgeous Photos
The photos of cats are beautiful. Kids will get to see many types of cats, from common tabbies to the ocicats. There are also photos of Persians, Siamese, Abyssinians, and other pedigree cats.
Oodles of Fun
Kids love to learn about their pets. Why Do Cats Have Whiskers? teaches kids how exciting their kitty cat is and why cats are such a fascinating and popular pet.
Posted by Elizabeth Yetter
Feeling like you don’t belong is a common theme in many children’s stories, but it’s never been more adeptly written about than in The Uglified Ducky by Willy Claflin (August House, ISBN 0-87483-858-4).
The story begins with a young moose that’s wandered off from his little moose nest. He finds a snug place to rest by a pond, right next to a duck nest, and, upon waking, discovers that he is now a duck.
The mother duck is not pleased with having an “uglified ducky” in her brood but settles to teaching the moose and her offspring how to be all ducky.
First, mother duck teaches moose and his five new siblings how to waddle, but all moose can do is stumble and trip. Things get worse when mother duck attempts to teach him how to quack and swim.
Both the mother duck and the young moose are fed up. Mother duck can’t figure out why the uglified duckling can’t do ducky things and the moose feels as though he doesn’t belong to this family.
The Uglified Ducky is an adorable story that will be loved by children as well as adults. The story is told in “Moose Speech” (a glossary is at the front of the book) which adds to the charm of the tale.
The is a great book for reading out loud to groups and for discussion.
Posted by Elizabeth Yetter
Wild Cards: Who's Hiding? is a deck of 48 animal cards put out by Birdcage Press (ISBN 978-1559960039-0). Each card features a critter that is camouflaged in its natural environment. Some of the animals are easy to spot in the picture, such as the saw whet owl, but other critters are more difficult to find, like the yellow pygmy seahorse that looks just like the coral.
The animals are divided into goups. In the birds group there are black skimmers, ostriches, saw whet owls, and willow ptarmigans. For sea creatures there's the clownfish, moray eel, pygmy seahorse, and scorpionfish. Insects include the false leaf katydid, leaf insect, one-eyed sphinx, and orchid mantis. For amphibians there's the eyelash leaf frog, fowler's toad, Panamanian golden frog, and red spotted newt. The reptiles are Elliot's chameleons, green snakes, spectacled caimans, and thorny devils. Finally, for mammals there are cheetahs, ermines, night monkeys, and zebras.
Aside from spotting each animal on its card, Wild Cards: Who's Hiding? can also be used to play three different card games: Old Toad (played like Old Maid), Memory, and Go Fish.
Wild Cards: Who's Hiding? is a fun, educational, and versatile deck of cards that children will love to look at, play with, and collect.
Posted by Elizabeth Yetter
The Ghost Catcher by Martha Hamilton and Mitch Weiss (August House, ISBN: 0-87483-835-5) is a charming folktale from India. Written for young children, ages 4 to 8, The Ghost Catcher entertains and fires up the imagination.
A barber in Bengal loves to cut hair and trim beards, and for each story a customer tells, he gives a free haircut. But while the barber’s heart is filled with goodness, his home hasn’t enough food to feed his family.
One day his wife tells him that she can no longer live so poorly. The barber must leave and not return home until he has food and money to feed their family. So off the barber goes.
The barber decides to travel to the next town because he believes he would feel more comfortable taking the money for haircuts from strangers instead of his regular customers.
When night falls, the barber stretches out under a banyan to rest until morning. As he starts to drift off to sleep, a ghost appears and decides the barber would make a tasty meal.
Quickly, the barber gets to his feet and tells the ghost that he is a ghost catcher. He shows the ghost its reflection in the mirror as proof that he has already caught an ugly ghost.
Terrified, the not-so-smart ghost promises to do whatever the barber asks of it.
As a story of wit and charm, The Ghost Hunter is a favorite folktale that children will want to hear over and over again. The simplicity of the folk tale, as well as the cunning barber who quickly outthinks his predicament, plays itself over and over again in the imagination.
This is a great book for reading out loud to groups and for class discussion.
