a beautiful addition to your holiday book shelf: waltz of the snowflakes by elly mckay

Did you play with paper dolls as a child?  Do kids still play with paper dolls these days?  I wonder.  If you miss your paper dolls from childhood, pick up a copy of Waltz of the Snowflakes by Elly Mackay.  

When Running Press offered to send my a copy of this picture book beauty, I happily said yes please!  I became a fan of Mackay when I read her book Butterfly Park and got introduced to her collage, paper doll style illustration style.  Every page in her books makes me feel like I've been transported to a secret and magical doll house world.  

Waltz of the Snowflakes follows a grandmother and granddaughter as they attend a Nutcracker ballet performance.  The granddaughter doesn't know if she will have fun at the show because she learns that one has to wear fancy clothing at the ballet.  She doesn't want to have to wear an uncomfortable dress.  She goes to the ballet with her grandmother, and the pair have a wonderful time getting swept away with the exciting show! 

This is sweet story of a grandparent and child bonding in a special way, and the story has a certain magical holiday charm that is perfect for this time of year.  

take a trip down the river nile!

Do you have a kid who is interested in Ancient Egypt?  My younger son has been OBSESSED with all things pyramids, mummies, and ancient tombs since he could talk, so I am always on the look out for more books on the subject.  Our new favorite is We're Sailing Down the Nile by Laurie Krebs and Anne Wilson. 

I'll be honest with you.  My son wants to read EVERY Ancient Egypt book he can get his hands on, and some of them would give some people (me) nightmares.  We own several really informative and interesting books about mummies filled with pictures of real life unwrapped mummy skulls and one very realistic pop-up book that shows how they removed the pharaoh's organs during the embalming process (gag).  He loves them, but I would rather not.  

We're Sailing Down the Nile is my kind of Egypt book - informative and realistic yes, gory details about mummies no.  This book is a combination of exciting tour of the Nile river along with colorful, fun illustrations, historical facts, facts about Egyptian cities both ancient and modern, and lots of opportunities to learn the Egyptian language.  

recommended age: 4+

eat, sleep, poop by alexandra penfold and jane massey

Have any of the kids in your life become a big brother or big sister recently?  I remember when I had my second child, making my first child a big brother.  Once the excitement of the hospital and bringing a new little person home calmed down, my first child was quite disappointed with this new little person.  To his disappointment, this little person didn't do anything.  As the title of today's book pick suggests, our new baby just ate, slept, and well, pooped.  This simple and bright book by Alexandra Penfold and Jane Massey is the perfect read for a new big brother or big sister! 

Eat, Sleep, Poop is told from the perspective of a newborn taking us through his day.  All he does is eat, sleep, and poop, but that is really busy and hard work for a newborn!  The illustrations in this, along with every kid's favorite word (poop!), are really funny and bring a lot of humor to the story.  This is a celebration of that special, busy, exhausting time of bringing home a newborn.  Parents and kids alike will enjoy this one. 

recommended age: 2-5

Madeline Says Merci and other kid's books about manners

When a grown-up us introduced to you

Look up and say, "How do you do?"

If they extend their hand to take

Offer back a nice firm shake.

I don't know about your kids, but my kiddos could always use a little reminder every now and then when it comes to their "magic words" please and thank you.  We read this new Madeline book and not only is it very informative on good manners but it fits perfectly into the Madeline library with its classic illustrations and characters.

In Madeline Says Merci, Madeline and her friends show readers what to do in all sorts of situations like meeting a new person, eating at the dinner table, receiving a gift, apologizing when making a mistake, and playing with friends.  This is a great manners guide for preschoolers and early elementary school kids. 

*This portion of my post contains affiliate links.

Here are five more great books that teach our kids how to be polite people.

Richard Scarry's Please and Thank You Book (Pictureback(R))

By Richard Scarry

Buy on Amazon

Tea for Ruby (Paula Wiseman Books)

By Sarah Ferguson The Duchess of York

Buy on Amazon

Manners Mash-Up: A Goofy Guide to Good Behavior

Dial Books

Buy on Amazon

Manners

By Aliki

Buy on Amazon

Manners Time (Toddler Tools)

By Elizabeth Verdick

Buy on Amazon

Captain Underpants Giveaway!

We've got our popcorn ready for the Captain Underpants movie coming to theaters on June 2!  I'm giving away a Captain Underpants prize pack provided by Scholastic.  If you would like to enter to win, head over to my Instagram account, Booktomato Kids Books. 

In this series, fourth graders George Beard and Harold Hutchins are best friends that love to play jokes on their classmates and create their own comics.  They created a super hero, Captain Underpants, and their comic books are filled with his adventures. We love the silly, wacky humor in the Captain Underpants series by Dav Pilkey.  I love this book series for its age-appropriate jokes.  My fourth grader loves this series for its lovable characters and awesome adventures. This series would make for really fun summer reading for ages 7-11. 

To celebrate the upcoming movie, my very own fourth grader and I will be doing a read-along.  We will be reading the first book together, The Adventures of Captain Underpants Book 1, and then coming onto the blog to discuss what we think about it.  Join along if you would like!  We are starting Monday. 

Here is the movie trailer for the movie!  It looks like so much fun!  

new book alert: happy dreamer by peter h. reynolds

Thank you Scholastic for providing me a copy of Happy Dreamer for review! 

Great new book alert!  Have you ever given the Dr. Seuss classic, Oh The Places You'll Go, as a gift?  It's the perfect, inspirational gift for a loved one who is ending one phase of life and starting another making it an easy choice for baby showers and graduations of all stages from kindergarten to college.  Happy Dreamer by Peter H. Reynolds is sure to become the same classic and inspirational book gift for generations to come.

This book is all about possessing the bravery to put real value in your dreams, whatever they may be, and putting those dreams into action to live a happy life.  I like that the story emphasizes that not every person's path to living out their happy is going to lead in the same direction.  We all follow our dreams in different ways.  This is such a helpful message to give kids today in a world that makes it very easy to compare ourselves to others, measuring their success next to ours.  We all reach our goals differently and on different time lines.  Happy Dreamer promotes love and the freedom to live a creative life.   

I was so excited when I was approached to participate in the launch of Happy Dreamer because my kids and I are big, big fans of Peter H. Reynolds and his work.  The Dot and Ish are both faves at my house.  So, when Happy Dreamer came in the mail, we ripped the box open and immediately sat down to read it.  My four year old loved the colorful pictures and fun story.  I loved the encouraging message. 

If you would like more Happy Dreamer fun, check out these links:

Watch the Happy Dreamer Trailer here.

Here an interview with the author about the book on this podcast .

Check out the official website here.

retro clifford the big red dog!

Did you love Clifford, the big red dog, when you were a kid?  I loved this book series, and now my kids do too.  There are so many great titles in the Clifford series by Norman Bridwell.  What's your favorite?  I love the Halloween story where Clifford goes trick or treating. 

I was at my local bookstore recently, and I found these two little cuties on display.  These are reproductions of the original Clifford stories.  I love the hard covers, the original red, black, and white illustrations, and even the way they "aged" the edges of the pages to make it look like it's an old copy. They have the same great stories of everyone's fave big red do with a dose of retro cute. 

These vintage style books got me thinking about the history of Clifford.  Here's what I found out.

• The first Clifford book was written by Norman Bridwell and published by Scholastic in 1963.
• Clifford is still the official mascot of Scholastic Publishing.
• Bridwell wanted to name the dog "Tiny" but his wife convinced him to name the dog Clifford after her childhood best friend.
• If you were to meet Clifford in real life, he would stand at about 25 feet tall!
• There are over 80 Clifford titles as well as movies and a tv show.

spring time reads: miss maple's seeds by eliza wheeler

Do you have a green thumb?  Planting a garden, whether for vegetables or flowers, is a magical experience and a great activity to share with a child.  Nothing is more fascinating and hopeful than choosing types of seeds, planting them in warm soil, and waiting for life to spring up to the surface.  It's a lesson in patience and faith, and you get something pretty or delicious to show for it!  I unfortunately have a pretty black thumb, and my backyard is a shady swamp.  A veggie patch has never been an option until recently.  Unfortunately, a giant tree in my yard had to come down.  The silver lining is maybe, just maybe I will get enough light this spring and summer for a little patch of tomatoes or herbs.  Fingers crossed!

This charming picture book, Miss Maple's Seeds by Eliza Wheeler, is all about the life cycle of a seed with a touch of whimsy and magic.  Miss Maple is a miniature, Thumbelina-sized woman who travels the world searching for seeds that have been lost during spring planting.  She brings her collection back to her home in a giant maple tree and lovingly cares for them until they are ready to go forth into the world to grow into flowers, vegetables, and trees.

There is a lot to love about this book.  For one, the world the author created is so sweet and unique.  Miss Maple sails through the air on a dandelion.  She has pet blue birds that carry baskets of seeds on their backs like saddles.  Her home in a giant maple tree has all of these little baby cribs each with a seed snuggled in for the night.  It is all so heartwarming. 

I also love the lessons MIss Maple teaches her seed babies because they are lessons people need to learn too.  She takes them out in the rain to teach them to not be afraid of storms.  She tells them to remember that all big trees started as small seeds. 

This is a great book to read as a starting point for conversations with your kids about being brave, being kind and compassionate like MIss Maple is to her seeds, and in a more practical sense, about starting a plan for a spring garden