Sesame Street Turns 40!!

Happy Birthday Sesame Street!  Believe it or not, this long-running TV show first aired on November 10, 1969.  It's amazing how much it has changed since it's first season... and how much it remains the same.  The set changed from a dirty street to the clean, sunny one we're all familiar with now once they learned that more than just inner-city kids were watching the show.  Oscar the Grouch is no longer orange as he was in the first season -- but he's worn the same eyebrows for 40 years now!  Blecchh!  I'm sure Oscar would love that!

Before I had kids, I never understood Elmo.  I couldn't stand him at all -- and neither did Kevin Clash when he first started puppeteering with Elmo.  What happened to Grover?  Cookie Monster?  Who is this furry red monster taking over the show?  And then... I started watching Sesame Street with my daughter Rowan when she was six months old or so.  Omigawd.  She LOVED Elmo.  She would smile and laugh and kick her feet!  I then began to love Elmo because my daughter did.  She gradually moved on.  Cookie Monster became her favorite, then Grover.  She still watches Sesame Street everyday.  Now my baby Molly is seven months old and in love with Elmo too.

Sesame Street is now broken into six mini-shows and various video clips.  Bert and Ernie are done in stop-action clay now, and Abby Cadabby goes to Flying Fairy School.  (Abby has yet to grow on me.)  Of course, there's still the big skit at the beginning.  They've got a gazillion celebrity guests and an archive of all of the characters -- with videos to go with!  Find out more at Sesame Street:  On Air.  Susan and Bob have been with the show since it's premiere, as has Caroll Spinney (Oscar and Big Bird).  Wow!!

And who can forget that Christmas special ("Christmas Eve on Sesame Street") from the late '70s that had the whole gang ice skating?  Then Oscar gets Big Bird all upset because he doesn't know how Santa gets down those skinny chimneys, and he freezes while sitting on the roof waiting for Santa to come so he can ask him!!

Did you know Mo Willems (Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus) wrote, illustrated and directed for Sesame Street in the '90s?  That Pixar's Bud Luckey created animated sketches like "Ladybug's Picnic" and "The Alligator King"?  Did you know the Pointer Sisters sang the "Pinball Number Count" song?  Keith Haring contributed to the show as well?  

I am a HUGE Sesame Street fan.  It's perfect that I have two children under five to give me a legitimate excuse to watch it.

Sesame Street Books:

• The Monster at the End of This Book by Jon Stone and Michael Smollin --  Who didn't love this book as a kid?!
• Imagination Song by Joe Raposo --  The illustrations for this classic song are wonderful.  I used to play the song along with the book when I did storytime for toddlers/preschoolers.
• 1, 2, 3 by Elmo -- My daughter loved this counting board book
• Elmo's Big Lift and Look Book by Anna Ross and Joe Matthieu -- This lift-the-flap book covers counting, colors, shapes and more.  My daughter spent HOURS playing with this book every day as a toddler!
• Eat Your Colors (A Puzzle Book) by Sarah Albee and Joe Matthieu -- Help the Sesame Street gang build healthy meals, while learning what different color foods do for your body.
• Sesame Street Unpaved:  Scripts, Stories, Secrets and Songs by David Borgenicht -- This Young Adult book was written for the 30th anniversary of the show and has tons of interesting info in it!
  

Some of my favorite clips:

• Preschool Musical:  a spoof of High School Musical
• Rubber Duckie:  Ernie serenades in the bath tub!
• C is for Cookie
• Fuzzy and Blue:  Grover, Henry and Cookie Monster do their thing
• How about Grover and that blue man in the restaurant?!
  
• There are so many great clips!  Find your favorites here!
  

Official Sesame Street Websites:

• Sesame Street:  40 Years and Still Counting:  Vote for your favorites, watch vintage videos, read behind the scenes stories.
• Sesame Street -- from this site you can play games, download free podcasts, watch videos, get teacher/parent guides, print out pictures to color and more!
  

Teddy Roosevelt Books

Today is Theodore Roosevelt's Birthday, our 26th President of the United States.  My favorite president!  Here are some great picture books about him!

Teedie:  The Story of Young Teddy Roosevelt by Don Brown  The author/illustrator has done many other books about historical figures, and you won't be disappointed with this one either!  This covers Teddy's life all the way from childhood through the presidency.  And boy, does it have some great illustrations!  When Teedie is sick with asthma, you'll want to swaddle him in your arms just like his mama is doing.  My favorite illustration is in a bar in the Badlands.  The text reads:  "When a gun-toting cowboy made fun of Teddy's eyeglasses, he flattened the cowboy with one punch."  The cowboy is flying back across the room with his hat going the opposite direction.  Teedie began life as a timid, nervous, sickly boy.  This is his story of how he gained his larger than life persona through hard work, determination, intelligence and spunk.

The Legend of the Teddy Bear by Frank Murphy, Illustrated by Gijsbert van Frankenhuyzen  What child doesn't love their teddy bear?  This is the true story of Teddy refusing to shoot a bear who was tied up, the political cartoon that moved a nation, and the candy shop owners who named their bears after the beloved president.  Said Teddy:  "I don't think my name is likely to be worth much in the toy bear business, but you are welcome to use it."  Boy, was he wrong about that one!!

What To Do About Alice?  by Barbara Kerley, Illustrated by Edwin Fotheringham  This book had my daughter laughing out loud and inspired me to go find an adult book about Alice Roosevelt.  In fact, the first time we read it, she had me re-read it three more times!  It goes something like this:  Teddy had a small problem.  It wasn't bears or wars or outlaws -- but his daughter Alice.  "Father called it 'running riot'.  Alice called it 'eating up the world'."  As a child, Alice was a handful.  But Teddy's problems really began when he moved into the White House when Alice was 17.  Her exploits made her tabloid fodder and earned her the nickname "Princess Alice" while a goodwill ambassador.  However, Alice did grow up to become one of Teddy's most trusted advisers and had a long life in Washington politics.  You've gotta read this book!

Learn More:

• The Theodore Roosevelt Association has something for everyone.  Stuff for kids, stuff for teachers, political cartoons, speeches, quotations, his record -- anything you could possibly want!!
  

• The Theodore Roosevelt Center also has something for everyone.  It has a really cool kid's section called Kids' Corral.  In there you can find letters Teddy wrote to his children, things to ponder, and lots of interesting facts.   

• Almanac of Theodore Roosevelt has lots of pictures.

• Theodore Roosevelt National Park is in North Dakota.  Said Teddy:  "I never would have been President if it had not been for my experiences in North Dakota."

• For adults,  I really enjoyed reading the Pulitzer Prize winning biography The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt by Edmund Morris.  This covers Teddy's up until he wins the presidency.  He wrote a follow-up book to this one that covered his presidency, called Theodore Rex (but I haven't read it yet.  It's on my list of books to read!).

• I was totally charmed by Alice Roosevelt.  I have just started reading Alice:  Alice Roosevelt Longworth, from White House Princess to Washington Power Broker by Stacy A. Cordery. 
  

The Once Upon a Time Map Book

The Once Upon a Time Map Book by B.G. Hennessy and illustrated by Peter Joyce

Teaching map reading skills just got a lot more fun.  Using keys, coordinates, and a compass rose, follow detailed tour routes of fairy book lands.  Visit Neverland with Peter Pan, the Land of Oz with Dorothy, Wonderland with Alice, the Giant's Kingdom with Jack, Aladdin's Kingdom with the Genie, and the Enchanted Forest with Snow White.  Each tour has points of interest to look out for as well as hidden objects to find, and is strewn with danger as well! 

My daughter loves visiting Neverland.  The tour starts like this:  "Moor your boat at Mermaid Cove (E1).  Take the sandy path east.  Where the path splits go south through the jungle."  You're using coordinates and a compass rose already -- and you've just started!  You'll want to keep your eyes peeled for the Jolly Roger anchored in Pirate's Cove, Wendy's house, and Peter's hideout (a chimney sticking out of the ground!).  Try to find the treasure chest, and see if you can find seven Lost Boys as well.  The key shows how long a pirate mile is, and shows you the difference between a sandy path, a rocky path, the war path (which is littered with skulls), and a coastal path.

We've spent many an afternoon visiting these enchanted lands.  The most cool thing about this book?  You're sneaking in learning, and your kids won't even suspect it!

Learn More:

• Learning Map Skills:  This is a collection of websites from North Canton City Schools, and it has some AWESOME links on it.  It's categorized by "Online Activities", "Resources", 'Lets Make Some Maps!", and "Lesson Plans and Activities".
  

• While out on a walk in your neighborhood, make a map.  Note street names, landmarks (that house with the crazy rhino statue), their friends' houses and stores.  Then when you get home, challenge your child:  I went 2 blocks north and 1 block west -- where am I? 
  

• Google Maps:  Type in your address at this site.  When you click on your house on the map, does it say "Street View" in the window?  It gives you a virtual walking tour of your neighborhood.  Compare it to map you made above.  It's also fun to look at your neighborhood in the Satellite view as well.

• Collect maps from amusement parks, zoos, national parks, IKEA -- anywhere you go.  Keep them where your child can easily grab them and peruse at their leisure.  My daughter makes up stories using these maps (she's 4).   We also use Google Maps in their Satellite view and compare them.  She has fun looking at Disneyland in Google's satellite view and comparing it to the Disneyland map.
  

The Journey That Saved Curious George

The Journey That Saved Curious George:  The True Wartime Escape of Margret and H. A. Rey by Louise Borden and illustrated by Allan Drummond

We all know the story of Curious George:  the Man with the Yellow Hat found George in Africa and brought him home, thus beginning the monkey's adventures.  But did you know that George was originally called "Fifi", and there was a journey fraught with danger that the Reys undertook to save both the manuscript and their lives? 

Hans Augusto Reyersbach and Margarete Waldstein were both born Jews in Germany.  Hans moved to Brazil after World War One where he watched monkeys in the Amazon while wearing a broad hat (yellow hat, anyone?).  There he met Margarete and they married, living in an apartment with two pet marmosets -- very mischevious monkeys.  At this time the Reys changed their name to be something easier for the Brazilians to pronounce, and Margaret and H. A. Rey were born.

The Reys moved to Paris and began writing and illustrating books for children, and in 1939 began a new manuscript about a monkey named Fifi, who was very curious and always getting into trouble.  World War Two began, and being Jews in Europe, the Reys fled to save their lives.  They packed what they could onto their backs (including the Fifi manuscript) and started a journey on bikes south to Lisbon, Portugal, alternating biking and train rides.   From there they made it safely to America, and Curious George was published in 1941.

Much is to be learned from the primary sources in this book, including photographs, diary exerpts and passports.  My daughter particularly enjoyed following the Rey's journeys on the maps inside the covers of the books.  For Curious George lovers of all ages.

Learn More:

• Lesson plans from the publisher to go along with the book and a list of all Curious George books

• Did you know that the H. A. Rey also published two books on constellation identification?  He drew the constellations so they actually look like what they're supposed to resemble.  You'll never have problems identifying the constellations again!  The Stars:  A New Way to See Them and Find the Constellations can both be found in my store (link on left hand side).

• "Curious George" is now an animated tv-show on PBS that teaches math and science skills.  We LOVE it at our house!! 

• World War II for elementary students from the eMints National Center (University of Missouri College of Education).  Included is a link to:  Children of WWII, where you can find out what it was like for children to live during the war

The Graveyard Book

The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman, with illustrations by Dave McKean.

I read this young adult novel in one day -- I couldn't put it down!  I enjoy books that have a slightly quirky, spooky bent -- and Neil Gaiman is a master of that genre.  The Graveyard Book (TGB) won the Newberry Award in 2009, which is awarded annually to "the author of the most distinguished contribution to American literature for children".  Bravo!

To sum it up:  Nobody Owens is a boy who lives in a graveyard, and is being raised by ghosts and a vampire.  (Gaiman never comes straight out and calls him a vampire, but that he "belongs to neither the world of the living nor of the dead.")

That's usually enough to sell people on the story right there.  But if you'd like to know more... Bod, as his friends call him, has mastered as much of the art of being dead as a living person can:  he can fade, he can walk through walls, see in the dark, and instill fear in people.  He explores an ancient burial tomb deep within a hill, journeys to the land of the ghouls, befriends a dead witch and is tutored by a werewolf -- all within the walls of the graveyard.

But Bod wants to see what's out there, to learn about more current things (after all, his ghost teachers have been dead for hundreds of years), and to enjoy the company of other people.  However, when he leaves the safety of the graveyard, he must also deal with the man who murdered his family.

Learn more:

• The (Official) Graveyard Book website at http://www.thegraveyardbook.com/  

• Visit Neil Gaiman's website for children and young adults at http://www.mousecircus.com and hear TGB read aloud by the author.  Play Graveyard Sodoku.  Watch a trailer for TGB using illustrations from the book.  Learn about his other children's books, including my favorites:  Coraline (MUCH better than the movie), and The Wolves in the Walls (a picture book).  

• Bod dances the Danse Macabre with his graveyard friends.  Watch a recital of the "Danse Macabre" by Camille Saint-Saens as performed by the ASU Orchestra.  Find out more about the dance, the music, the poem by Henry Cazalis and the superstition behind it from this educational guide from the Minnesota Orchestra.
  

• Bod learns to read with the help of tombstone epitaphs.  Read some "Funny Stones to Tickle Your Funny Bones" -- real epitaphs found in cemeteries.
  

• Bod befriends the ghost of Liza Hempstock, a witch.  Learn more about witchcraft persecutions before Salem.  

The Rainbow and You

The Rainbow and You by E.C. Krupp and illustrated by Robin Rector Krupp

My daughter, like every little girl, is crazy about rainbows.  She even dressed up for one as Halloween!  (Rainbow striped dress, crown in the shape of sun rays, carrying a cloud shield with blue water beads hanging from it.)   I now have a member of the rainbow patrol living in my house because of this book!

Dr. Krupp is an authority on ancient and prehistoric astronomy, as well as the Director of Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles.  It should be no surprise then that this book starts with the importance of rainbows in ancient cultures.  We learn that Isaac Newton (yes, the laws of gravity guy) was also the first to show that sunlight is made up of the rainbow's colors using a prism, and how raindrops bend light.

It then encourages you to become a rainbow reporter, noticing as many details as you can, and explains how you can make your own rainbow.  My rainbow-crazy daughter especially liked the last page:  "Since no one sees exactly the same rainbow, that rainbow you see belongs to you."  Pure magic for rainbow lovers!!

Learn More:

• 3-D Rainbow Paper Craft:  A simple paper craft that results in a 3D ornament you can hang in the room.   http://www.dltk-kids.com/crafts/rainbows/m3drainbow.htm  Another Rainbow Mobile!   More rainbow craft projects can be found here.

• Plant a rainbow in your garden!  Read Planting a Rainbow by Lois Ehlert
  

• KinderKorner's "A Rainbow of Colors" is full of activities, books, songs and poems about rainbows.  Aimed towards kinder-aged kiddos. http://www.kinderkorner.com/colors.html
  

• "The Magic School Bus Makes a Rainbow" is available in both a video and a book based on the video.  

• Prism's Rainbow Teacher's Guide is written for kinder based on Texas state standards.  It's 40 pages long and has a lot of information in it!   http://centerforeducation.rice.edu/SST/resources/Bridging/Module1/Grade_K/1%20Rainbows.pdf

The Black Book of Colors

The Black Book of Colors by Menena Cottin and illustrated by Rosana Faria, translated by Elisa Amado

Try explaining to a sighted child what it's like to be blind.  How do they comprehend colors without their sense of sight?  It's a bit tricky, isn't it?  How do they read?  That's a little easier to answer, but not necessarily easier to do at all.  This innovative book uses a combination of embossed etchings and Braille to answer those questions, including a full braille alphabet at the end of the book.

What is red?  "Red is sour like unripe strawberries and as sweet as watermelon.  It hurts when he finds it on his scraped knee."  You don't even need to close your eyes to visualize that statement, as the book is black.  All black -- except for the white text, which is translated into braille above it.  On the opposite page is a black embossed picture of a strawberry, begging you to run your hands over it and feel the smoothness of the leaves in contrast with the bumpiness of the fruit.


Learn More:

• Braille Bug is a site for children (grades 3-6) that teaches braille, including it's creation by Louis Braille and it's use by Helen Keller, and learning to recognize braille letters and numbers using puzzles and games.   http://www.afb.org/BrailleBug/ 

• Alphabet Braille Blocks are colorful wooden blocks for all children with a raised letter to trace and the letter in braille as well.  http://www.lssproducts.com/product/4112/childrens-products 

• You've Got Braille:  Arthur's friend Marina is blind, and she shares five fun facts about communication for the blind and a braille translator.  http://pbskids.org/arthur/print/braille/index.html  Also check out Arthur's Communication Adventure Lesson Plans at http://pbskids.org/arthur/parentsteachers/lesson/communication/index.html  for teacher's guides, activity sheets, and online activities for 2nd-3rd graders.  Recordings of the episodes are available for check-out at many public libraries or for viewing online at YouTube.  Episodes to search for are "Prunella's Special Edition" and "Prunella Sees the Light".