"Bibliotherapy" means that books can help people in specific situations. Yeah, it is an academic term. It has legitimate uses, though. In this case, I want to talk about a book that helped my daughter when she was being bullied. Some of the big kids ("school-agers") were saying mean things to her and calling her a "loser." She said that it hurt her heart. How horrible is it for a mama to hear this! Of course, I talked with the daycare director about the situation. Luckily, we also stumbled into a wonderful book for dealing with the issue.
I found a copy of The Cow That Went Oink by Bernard Most. In it, farm animals laugh at a cow who says "oink" and at a pig who says "moo." However, these two animals decide to teach each other the sounds that they know. With much hard work and perseverance, they become the only "bilingual" animals on the entire farm! I love the empowering message this has. My daughter, though, took it one step further. She kept telling the story where all the animals then started learning how to make different sounds.
We also read Chrysanthemum by Kevin Henkes. She had read with her Pre-K class, too. It is a classic for a reason. The title character's long, floral name-- while deemed perfect by her parents-- earns taunts from several classmates. Luckily, the awesome art teacher, Delphinium, restores Chrysanthemum's pride. It is amazing what the positive effect of a mentor can be! My daughter beams when she says how her name is also the name of a flower.
One of the Every Child Ready to Read 2 skills is "talking." I like that these books give a springboard for important conversations.
Friday, February 24, 2012
Thursday, February 9, 2012
Adventures in Process
I grew up in theatre, so permanently emblazoned upon my brain is the phrase, A story has a beginning, a middle, and an end." Acting teachers were pretty tired of scenes that lacked an end, I think. Anyhow, the theatre where I grew up recently did a production of If You Give a Mouse a Cookie based on the book by Laura Numeroff and illustrated by Felisha Bond. My daughter definitely enjoyed it.
This was several months ago. Last night, we read If You Give a Dog a Doughnut by the same author-illustrator team. She loved it, and I loved seeing her "get" how cause and effect works. (It reminds me of the "if...then" statements in the BASIC language of computers, but I digress). She proved her comprehension even more tonight when she started telling a story (showing off her--as Every Child Ready to Read 1 would call them-- "Narrative Skills) "If you give a llama a book." I asked her questions to prompt along the tale, but her imagination carried it. While, unlike the books in the Numeroff-Bond series, her story did not end where it began, I still enjoyed it. More importantly, she did.
This was several months ago. Last night, we read If You Give a Dog a Doughnut by the same author-illustrator team. She loved it, and I loved seeing her "get" how cause and effect works. (It reminds me of the "if...then" statements in the BASIC language of computers, but I digress). She proved her comprehension even more tonight when she started telling a story (showing off her--as Every Child Ready to Read 1 would call them-- "Narrative Skills) "If you give a llama a book." I asked her questions to prompt along the tale, but her imagination carried it. While, unlike the books in the Numeroff-Bond series, her story did not end where it began, I still enjoyed it. More importantly, she did.
Thursday, February 2, 2012
Happy Year of the Dragon!
Last week, my daughter and I enjoyed a community Chinese New Year's celebration. Due to the reading that we did before attending this arts & crafts event, she derived much more from the activities than she would have if we had gone without our biblio-prep. (Is that a term? I guess that it is now!)
The book, which bore repeated readings at D's prompting, is The Magic Brush: A Story of Love, Family, and Chinese Characters by Kat Yeh/ Illustrated by Huy Boun Lee. In it, Jasmine is a Chinese-American girl whose grandfather, Agong, teaches her the art of Chinese calligraphy as she explores her imagination. Each page features Chinese characters, and the end of the book has an extra section that includes a pronunciation key, history of Chinese art, and list of several Chinese treats.
The story itself is touching. ::Spoiler alert:: Although it does not say so concretely, it is pretty clear that Agong dies. However, the tale also deals with this in a touching though not saccharin way.
I love the connection between Agong and Jasmine as well as the way that she comes to transmit the values and culture he shared with her. The bold, colorful illustrations that incorporate Chinese characters like an Asian WordWorld are also impressive.
The book, which bore repeated readings at D's prompting, is The Magic Brush: A Story of Love, Family, and Chinese Characters by Kat Yeh/ Illustrated by Huy Boun Lee. In it, Jasmine is a Chinese-American girl whose grandfather, Agong, teaches her the art of Chinese calligraphy as she explores her imagination. Each page features Chinese characters, and the end of the book has an extra section that includes a pronunciation key, history of Chinese art, and list of several Chinese treats.
The story itself is touching. ::Spoiler alert:: Although it does not say so concretely, it is pretty clear that Agong dies. However, the tale also deals with this in a touching though not saccharin way.
I love the connection between Agong and Jasmine as well as the way that she comes to transmit the values and culture he shared with her. The bold, colorful illustrations that incorporate Chinese characters like an Asian WordWorld are also impressive.
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