Tag: family fun

Fun for kids, middle grade, new release, ornaments

Make a Cheerful Llama Ornament

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I am teaming up this week with three other Chicken Scratch authors for a fun event we are calling “AUTHORS & ORNAMENTS.”

Make a Llama Ornament: A Connection Activity for the book SOLEDAD AND THE CURSE OF THE PHOENIX by Mindy Baker

One of my characters in the novel SOLEDAD AND THE CURSE OF THE PHOENIX is a llama named Suri. Why not make this cute little llama ornament with your middle grade child?

You will need:

  1. Felt of two different colors (one for the body and one for the saddle)
  2. Llama pattern to trace (I used this one). I found it online by a creator named Tutitati Tati.
  3. Small amount of batting to stuff the ornament.
  4. Embroidery thread and needle.
  5. Hot glue gun.
  6. Beads and small pom poms for the embellishments.
  7. Sharpie

DIRECTIONS:

  1. Trace and cut two llama bodies and one saddle.
  2. With the embroidery thread and needle, use a whip stitch to sew the two pieces of felt together. Here is a video to demonstrate.
  3. Make sure to leave a small opening for the batting. Stuff the llama with the batting and stitch it the rest of the way.
  4. Create a hanging loop with the embroidery thread by pulling your needle through the top of the ornament and tying the ends in a knot.
  5. Draw the face with a sharpie marker. (Option: cut out a face from the pattern, color it, and glue onto the felt. Googly eyes are also an option if you want the ornament to have a more playful look.
  6. Use the glue gun to attach the saddle.
  7. Use the glue gun to add the embellishments and tail.
  8. Hang on the tree!

Simpler version: Trace one llama shape and one saddle shape. Skip the sewing and stuffing. Glue on the saddle, embellishments and tail. Consider attaching the felt shape to a cardboard shape to make a more sturdy ornament. Add a hanger.

Interested in making more ornaments?

Here are the websites for the other authors where you can find out how to make their ornaments!

SUSAN REIMER: She’s making a horse ornament to accompany her book THE SPACE BETWEEN.

www.susanreimer.com

ROBIN KOLB: She’s making gingerbread horse cookie ornaments to accompany her book GALLOPING AWAY.

www.robinkolbauthor.com

ABBI LEE: She is making a “hidden box” ornament to accompany her book entitled GHOST TOWN TREASURE HUNG about geocaching.

www.abbileebooks.com

All of our books can be found on the Chicken Scratch Books website! In addition, our books are available wherever books are sold!

Which ornament would you like to try? If you make an ornament, I’d love to see a photo of your finished product!

#ornamentsforkids #authorsandornaments #chickenscratchbooks #middlegradefiction #bookishfun #homeschooling #familyfun

Book Review and Author Interviews, Fun for kids, Kid Ministry, My Faith, Parent and Child Connection

A Chat With Laura Sassi About Her New Book

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Today I’m highlighting Bunny Finds Easter, the latest board book from author Laura Sassi. I invited Laura here today because I wanted to discuss how much the role of the illustrations play in bringing a picture book story to life. I’m so thrilled that she accepted my request!

MINDY: First of all, Laura, thank you so much for stopping by! What a treat for you to be here!

LAURA: I’m happy to join you, Mindy. I love to discuss picture books!

MINDY: I have to tell you, Laura, how much I have enjoyed my advance copy! I really love that Jesus is highlighted so prominently as the reason we celebrate Easter. That is so dear to my heart and my faith! I also adore the illustrations in this book and wanted to discuss that topic with you a little bit. I know that once you turn your manuscript in, the artist job begins. It is always amazing to me how much charm illustrators are able to add to the text. My first question for you is, what is your favorite page spread in this book? 

LAURA: Truly, I love them all but I’m going to pick the spread that reads “She hops to town. Cheep. Chirp. Who’s there?  Babies, babies, everywhere!” because I think it captures beautifully the amplified way that the illustrations add heart and depth to the story in board books. 

MINDY: What do you love about it?

LAURA: At first glance, this spread seems simple enough. But if you look carefully, there are oodles of picture clues and story elements for littlest ones and their parents to notice and enjoy. 

First, the text says simply “Babies, babies, everywhere.” The illustrations fill that out with adorable chicks sliding down a hay stack while a mother hen (with matching Easter bonnet and purse) looks one. But there are other babies, too. Can you spot the tadpoles?  

MINDY: I do spot them! So adorable!

LAURA: Second, observant little ones might notice that Mama is now carrying a bouquet of lilies. These are the lilies that Bunny clipped on the previous spread. Now we know why she clipped them. For Mama!

MINDY: I love how the story connects from page to page. Brilliant!

LAURA: Third, look what’s peeking through in the background. It’s the church!  If you are observant, you will notice that from this spread on, Bunny keeps hopping closer and closer to church.  I like to think of this as the board book version of foreshadowing because guess where Bunny will discover what Easter is all about?  If you guessed that the will find the final clue in that little chapel, you are right!

MINDY: I am so intrigued by this! What else?

LAURA: Other details to notice on the spread. The houses. Where is everybody? On their way to church, maybe? And is Bunny holding a basket? Why might that be? (Hint: It’s a clue to the activity on the next page.)

MINDY: Wow, Laura! The illustrator truly did a fabulous job bringing your words to life! I have loved taking this deeper look at some of the treasures on each page.

LAURA: Yes, the illustrations are so important in picture books!

MINDY: One other thing I wanted to ask, I have heard you mentioning on social media about some fantastic freebies that accompany this book. Can you tell us how we can take advantage of these opportunities?

LAURA: Yes, Zonderkidz has created two great resources for BUNNY FINDS EASTER. The first is an activity kit that includes coloring pages, a maze, a printable Easter card and more. Here’s the link for that: https://laurasassitales.wordpress.com/2022/02/03/parents-teachers-kidmin-download-your-free-activity-kit-for-bunny-finds-easter-2/

The second is an instruction sheet for a BUNNY FINDS EASTER book walk, an intergenerational event in which participants walk from station to station to read spreads from the story and have an activity at the end. Here’s the link for that: https://laurasassitales.wordpress.com/2022/01/24/host-a-bunny-finds-easter-book-walk-free-printable-resource/

MINDY: Both of these resources look fantastic and fun. I truly can’t recommend it your new book enough, especially as the perfect gift to be tucked into an Easter basket! Thank you so much for joining me today, Laura! I wish you all the best in your future writing endeavors. I know you have a book coming out this fall for the Christmas season. I will be following your blog to hear more details about that one, too!

LAURA: Thanks for having me! It has been a delight to chat together.

MINDY: Thank you, Laura! It has been a treat!

And, for all of you readers, if you are interested in buying the book, here is a link.

Also, to find out more about Laura and her other books, check out her website or follower her on social media. I also recommend following her blog. She posts regularly with fantastic content!

Did you know?? Laura and I work together with several other authors including Rebecca Gomez, Tina Cho, and Trine Grillo on a new website called www.readdiscussdo.com. I will be doing another interview with Laura there later this month.

Watch for more details and thanks for joining us today!

Book Review and Author Interviews, Fun for kids, Promoting Literacy, Summer reading

Four Mermaid Picture Books and an Extension Craft Idea

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Directions: Let your imagination take over and create a crown, necklace, ring, or bracelet. String beads, glue feathers, find some sticky foamies and have fun! We used a glue gun for the feathers. This is a great craft to practice patterns!

Here is a fun photo of my daughter and a few friends who helped me create my samples. Notice that mermaids come in all sizes!

Check out this Mermaid Pinterest Board for more mermaid craft ideas and mermaid snack ideas.

And now for some mermaid books! Drumroll please….

Part-time Mermaid by Deborah Underwood and illustrated by Cambria Evans celebrates the imagination and imaginative play! Pretending to be mermaids was always a very popular playtime event for my daughters when they were young. The book is told in first person and the reader experiences the adventure of a little girl who becomes a mermaid at night. She pets the otters, explores a sunken pirate ship, and even encounters a sea witch while attending the Midsummer Sea Festival.

How to Meet a Mermaid by Sue Fliess and illustrated by Simona Sanfilippo is a charming book that invites playtime fun. The author takes you through a progression of ideas of how you might meet a mermaid. One of the suggestions is to have a crown she can wear. In the back of the book there are directions for making a mermaid crown (I based my crown and jewelry craft off of this idea). There are also directions for going on a field trip to the beach, and even the suggestion of cleaning up the beach by throwing away any litter you may encounter.

The Ocean Calls– This is a beautiful book by Tinal Cho and illustrated by Jess X Snow. It is the beautiful story of a girl who has a grandmother that shows her how to be a “haenyeo” which is like a treasure-hunting mermaid. The back matter explains and gives quotes from authentic present-day Korean haenyeo divers. The beauty of the artwork drew me in and the story captured my heart. Love this book!

The Little Mermaid-by Jerry Pinkney. Melody wants to explore and find out what is above the surface of the water, and she really wants to be friends with a little girl she spies on the shore. She trades her voice for legs. Don’t you love variations of familiar stories? The stunning artwork will keep you mesmerized for a long time.

Fun for kids, Mouse's Christmas Gift, Parent and Child Connection

Exercise and Play Games with Mouse’s Christmas Gift

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During the pandemic, I noticed my friend and former co-worker Heidi Stan making some wonderful videos with her daughters to help kids stay active and have fun even during quarantine. I liked and shared them on my FB author page.

Fast forward to Christmas season! I was planning a virtual storytime with my friends Glenys Nellist and Kathy Bostrom and we were brainstorming. What could we do to get kids playing games and having fun?

I thought of Heidi and her girls, and asked them if they would be interested in doing a video for me. THEY SAID YES!! See the video above for the wonderful result! Here is a listing of all of the games.

Table of Contents for Mouse's Christmas Gift Games
Mouse’s Christmas Gift Games

I hope you enjoy these fun family activities! Thanks Heidi, Bexley and Jorie!!

During our Virtual Story time event, we also played a Scavenger Hunt Game. Here is a copy of a longer version for your family to enjoy! We set a timer and raced to find each item, but you can make up your own rules!

Scavenger Hunt
Fun for kids, Mouse's Christmas Gift, Parent and Child Connection

Mouse Ornament inspired by Mouse’s Christmas Gift

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This week I teamed up with some author friends Laura Sassi, Jill Roman Lord, and Tama Fortner to create ornaments inspired by our picture books. It was loads of fun! You can see all of the the ornament ideas on my Instagram or Facebook page.

I had seen the idea many places, but I had never tried it for myself. I recruited my daughter Chelsea to help me. We created this YouTube how-to video. We had so much fun making it!

YouTube Video link: https://youtu.be/6zy727A5yLc

Hope you can use the idea with your family!

Merry Christmas!