#suzanne lang

[wellesleybooks]

Book Face Friday- the Halloween Edition

[wellesleybooks]

Make way for Jim Panzee. Behind that Grumpy Monkey is our assistant manager Bill who loves him.

[myflyoverstateofmind]

I needed to take a little time to clear my head today after leaving the Ortho clinic before heading home. After all, I was just told that the debilitating pain I've had for the last 6wks not only won't get better anytime soon, it's likely to get worse.

There's a Barnes & Nobles right around the corner, so I went there.

Might sound funny coming from a guy with a bit of a bristle to him, but I always go straight to the children's section. I adore kids' books for their incredible creativity and feel-good.

I don't know how it was published in 2018 and I never saw it until now, or knew that movies had been made, but I have to tell you... my shoulder and back aren't going to be ok anytime soon, but stumbling onto Grumpy Monkey healed my heart quite a bit. I just read it for the third time before going to bed and it still feels just as good.

The rest of the Grumpy Monkey books I went through were -meh- but the first one is amazing.

[no-barbarians-here]

[gettingready2read]

Grumpy Monkey: Party Time!

Grumpy Monkey: Party Time! by Suzanne Lang describes Jim's greatest fear—he can't dance! When Porcupine invites all his friends to his party, Jim fears attending and embarrassing himself since he cannot dance. After some assistance from his friends, Jim learns that he doesn't have to do what everyone else does in order to have fun.

As you read the story with your children, ask them to talk about the different animals. Talking and reading new words fosters vocabulary and print awareness (noticing print everywhere). You can also ask your children to recognize the word “dance”. By repeating the word aloud, they will develop phonological awareness of the word as well as letter knowledge of the word (knowing letters and their sounds).

Additionally, children can improve their narrative skills (knowing how stories work). Ask your children what they think will happen next. Will Jim learn how to dance? Should the other animals pressure him to dance? By talking about the story together, you and your children can make reading playful and fun!

Have a Dance Party!

Tell your children to dance out each new move the different animals demonstrate. Through dancing, children are playing and learning more about what the word “dance” means. This will foster phonological awareness as well as vocabulary. Invite your children to create their own dances and to sing their own songs. The possibilities are endless as they imagine!

[gettingready2read]

Families, Families, Families!

Families, Families, Families by Suzanne and Max Lang is a great book to start a conversation about families of all shapes and sizes! Each page of this book features a portrait of a family. Some families are big, some families are small, but all of these families love each other.

As you read this book, you can talk about your own families. This is a great book to share with a classroom at the beginning of the year or during family day. Talking and sharing stories with each other helps children build narrative skills. Learning about the way others live increases their background knowledge.

Extend the book with a picture frame craft!

You will need:

4 craft sticks

Thick cardstock

Hot glue gun

Yarn (optional)

Buttons or other decorations

Lay your craft sticks in a square shape and ask an adult to use hot glue to glue them together.

Cut the cardstock to fit the back of your frame and ask an adult to glue 3 sides to the craft sticks. Now you have a pocket that you can slide a photo into.

Optional: Glue a string to the back of your picture frame so you can hang it

Decorate the outside of the frame however you like. We used buttons but you can use sequins, stickers, pom poms, or anything else you have lying around.

Cut a family photo to fit inside your frame and slide it through the unglued side of your frame.