With only a few more days until the end of 2009, I have one more post to write to complete the 2009 Mini-Challenges. The last task is to promote literacy:
Promote literacy. This is wide open - use your imagination. You could give a child a book, or read a book to someone who cannot read, or volunteer at an event which promotes literacy, or donate to your local library, or write something on your blog with a link to a group which promotes literacy, or anything in between. The only rule with this one is that you must PROMOTE literacy in some way.
I'm going to take the easy way out on this one as I've got a huge headache from playing with all the toys the Little One received for Christmas and just don't have the energy or time to do much more right now. (I guess that is what you get for leaving things until the last minute.) Anyway, I thought I would just list the books the Little One received for Christmas and talk a little bit why "Santa" chose these books and why they would be a great addition to a young child's library. I hope this counts as promoting literacy as all of these books were given to a child by me (AKA Santa).
Lego Star Wars: The Visual Dictionary— "Santa" ordered this book from Amazon after seeing it in a book store. The Little One is obsessed with Star Wars and Legos right now so this book was a no brainer. (It even came with a little Luke Skywalker minifigure.) The book must be immensely popular as "Santa" got a message saying the book was back-ordered and wouldn't arrive until April 2010. But the elves must have worked overtime, because at the very last second, Amazon came through and shipped the book, which arrived on Christmas Eve. If you have a Lego Star Wars fan in your life, this book is amazing—showing photos of all the sets, minifigures and discussing them. "Santa" was so happy the book showed up as it was a huge hit and made up for the lack of the $110 Lego set the Little One was hoping for. Behold the power of books!
Life-Size Sharks, Killer Creatures and Reptiles — This book features illustrations and facts about all kinds of "dangerous" animals and shows many of them in "life-size" form. For example, one page features illustrations showing the life-size teeth of sharks, whales, lions, coyotes and more. Another fold-out page shows the actual size of a Komodo dragon (albeit partial). This fascinating book is a must for any child interested in animals, and the life-size feature helps you truly imagine the scale of some of these creatures.
Four Alphabet books by Jerry Pallotta — Jerry Pallotta has a wonderful series of alphabet books that focus on different topics (including ecosystems, ancient animals, transportation, critters and garden goodies) and include scads of interesting facts and a fun approach to learning. The Little One really enjoyed The Skull Alphabet Book (which features skulls from different creatures and asks readers to guess who they belong to based on visual and verbal clues) and The Bird Alphabet Book, so "Santa" brought four new ones—The Yucky Reptile Alphabet Book, The Furry Animal Alphabet Book, The Butterfly Alphabet Book, and the Icky Bug Alphabet Book. The books in these series are filled with interesting science facts, packed with amazing illustrations, and feature a great sense of humor and playfulness. These books are a worthwhile addition to any library—and with 20 different books, you can easily find one that fits any child's interests.
Three Dr. Seuss Beginner Books— The Little One is starting to read (much to my delight), and I'm discovering why Dr. Seuss is such a genius. Although I always loved Dr. Seuss books when I was a child, now that I'm looking at them from a parent's perspective, I realize just why these books were so amazing and have stood the test of time. The Little One just loves that he can read a 65-page book and figure out almost all of the words on the page by himself. Plus, the illustrations are so much fun, and a sense of humor adds interest to the stories. The I Can Read It All By Myself Beginner Book collection includes books written and illustrated by authors other than Dr. Seuss—but they stay true to the "Seussian" style. One such book by Robert Lopshire is Put Me In the Zoo; this was one of the Little One's favorites that Santa brought. Two of the other books Santa brought were Ten Apples Up On Top! and the classic The Cat In The Hat. Although we had tried some of the other early reader series (like the BOB books and some from Scholastic), nothing has fit the needs of an early reader quite like Dr. Seuss.
An interesting factoid: Did you know that books written by Dr. Seuss but illustrated by someone else are published under the name Theo. LeSieg?
With only a few more days until the end of 2009, I have one more post to write to complete the 2009 Mini-Challenges. The last task is to promote literacy:
Three Dr. Seuss Beginner Books — The Little One is starting to read (much to my delight), and I'm discovering why Dr. Seuss is such a genius. Although I always loved Dr. Seuss books when I was a child, now that I'm looking at them from a parent's perspective, I realize just why these books were so amazing and have stood the test of time. The Little One just loves that he can read a 65-page book and figure out almost all of the words on the page by himself. Plus, the illustrations are so much fun, and a sense of humor adds interest to the stories. The I Can Read It All By Myself Beginner Book collection includes books written and illustrated by authors other than Dr. Seuss—but they stay true to the "Seussian" style. One such book by Robert Lopshire is Put Me In the Zoo; this was one of the Little One's favorites that Santa brought. Two of the other books Santa brought were Ten Apples Up On Top! and the classic The Cat In The Hat. Although we had tried some of the other early reader series (like the BOB books and some from Scholastic), nothing has fit the needs of an early reader quite like Dr. Seuss.
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