A Fall for Books: Seasonal Suggestions

We've been reading all kinds of fall and Halloween books lately. It helps that our library children's section just got a face-lift and that Teddy is recently easier to handle in the library. I've always loved the children's section, but last week we visited and found that they have even more tables and chairs and stools and bins and display shelves.

Teddy's favorite spot is on the giant Teddy Bear's lap.

Books organized by character-- we always have to run to the Thomas bin
first and then the Berenstain Bears bin.

This is my favorite new piece of furniture. It's a book bar for kids!

Anyway, on to the seasonal books we've found. Some were appealing to Teddy, some more appealing to Cal and Clark, and some I liked better. Here are most of the books about fall and Halloween that we've read lately. (Yes, I'm the annoying mom who puts a bunch of seasonal books on hold at the library all at once, and requests review copies for my blog whenever offered.)

The first pile of books about autumn and Halloween 

 Our top books and honorable mentions:

Hoot Owl

I will admit that when I first read Hoot Owl I thought it was weird, though I chuckled a little. The boys also thought it was weird. Then we read it again and laughed more. And again. And now they want to read it all the time and say it's awesome. We love that little Hoot Owl! I was trying to think of what is unique about this book and I think it is that it's a little sarcastic, tongue-in-cheek, but in an optimistic and child-like way. It's not your average children's book, and includes some excellent words and metaphors, that prompted great discussion for the twins and me. Teddy (two years-old) doesn't get much out of it yet, but I highly recommend it for kids maybe ages 3-7. Give it a chance to grow on you.

Monster Needs a Costume

Another favorite of the boys is about a creative, yet distracted monster. The illustrations are great and the concept is soooo familiar, as mom of specifically one indecisive child.

My First Book of Football

My First Book of Football is a brand new one from Sports Illustrated for Kids and Cal and Clark absolutely adore it. It breaks down football into easy-to-read and understand concepts and also has pictures of all the NFL stars. There's a little guy in there with thought bubbles that makes them laugh. That one's a big hit.

Here's a poor quality picture of a couple pages. 

Cal and Clark also liked reading Olivia Loves Halloween, though they'd probably not admit it to you, since she's a girl. It's cute with a cute little moral and I like that.

Ghost in the House

This one is more Teddy's speed. Ghost in the House has super cute illustrations and flaps to open and close. It is a counting book with a great cadence and rhyme with a silly ending. Who is really afraid of whom?! The boys (age 6) enjoyed reading it and Teddy (age 2) also liked listening to it and of course lifting the flaps is always a fun way to get them engaged.

Teddy also loved the Thomas the train book Ghost on the Track, because he loves everything that is Thomas. There are a couple counting ones that Teddy likes, but his favorite is the counting down one called 10 Trick-or-Treaters. He likes looking at the kids' costumes, but mostly at the school bus on a couple pages, and he loves countdowns.

My favorite two are The Little Yellow Leaf by Carin Berger, and Bear Has a Story to Tell by Philip C. Stead. The Little Yellow Leaf is whimsical and friendly and Bear Has a Story to Tell is just adorable. Cal and Clark enjoy it as well. Calvin and I got to meet the husband and wife author and illustrator for this book a few years ago at the National Book Festival, and they are such peaceful, sweet people that I just love them. They live in a barn in Michigan...which is weird but somehow cool, and the charming story of Bear is perfect.

Another good one is The Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid of Anything. This comes with a cool story. My grandmother used to do storytime for the kids at the library when she worked there many years ago. She just this year sent us a copy of the book that she used to read to her kids at storytime around Halloween. The kids loved it any I can see why.

The other books we read weren't much to write about, but I thought I'd share these recommendations with you. Thanks to Candlewick Press and Sports Illustrated for Kids for prompting me to review some books!

Yellowstone in January!

Today I had the best surprise I'd had in a long time. I accidentally found pictures from our summer road trip that I thought had been lost when my computer died! I thought all our pictures from Yellowstone and the ones from our three days in Denver had disappeared, but this morning a file window popped up and there they were!

240 pictures I thought I'd never get back!

So here are a few. I already shared some of the Denver ones here, and some from our Yellowstone cabin-stay here, but below are some Yellowstone ones I thought I'd lost.

Clark kissing a tree...I don't remember the story behind this.

And here's what happens when you do Yellowstone in a day.

PLAY WORK BUILD

Last week we spent time at the new exhibit for kids and families at the National Building Museum. It's called PLAY WORK BUILD. There are several small display boxes of tiny block structures, some of them old building blocks of cities and towns, but the bulk of the exhibit is a hands-on celebration of blocks, and building. There are the familiar Lincoln Logs and Tinker Toys, but most of the blocks are made of bright blue foam in different shapes and sizes, including tubes. There is a big light table for building the smaller blocks, and a huge padded area for the bigger blocks in the exact same shapes as the small ones. You can even build into the wall itself.

The last part of the exhibit is an interactive screen. As kids move in front of sensors, their outlines are projected onto the wall. When they stop, virtual blocks form the shape that their body is in. They can also run straight at a virtual wall of blocks and their motion will knock the blocks over. It's completely amazing to me.

The boys absolutely loved the exhibit. I'm sure their tummies had to have been rumbling by the end, but they still did not want to leave, and neither did the girls we came with. Too bad my boys have a pregnant mom who has to eat something every hour or she'll pass out.

This was a big hit with my three year-olds. If you make the trip, which I highly recommend, plan to spend a couple hours there.

The only thing I wish was included in the exhibit is patterns for various structures. You can tell that there are so many possibilities out there for what can be built with these great shapes, but I think laminated patterns for bridges and stadiums and robots would add a whole new level of fun and learning. Maybe I'm just not creative enough. There were some pictures of structures people had made in the past, but it was pretty hard to tell exactly how they were built.

For more information about the concept and vision for the exhibit, read this.

PLAY WORK BUILD gets 5 SHOUTS from me!

Clark's "Nats Park"



Cal works on building his train.

The kids' "castle"  

A leaping castle guard

Clark, setting up his "football" to launch through his "goal posts"

Peek-a-blue!

Clark interacting with the giant screen

A block so big you can sit inside it? Yes, please!

The Kozy Cabin at Brook Trout Inn, Yellowstone

After a few days of outdoor fun in Rocky Mountain National Park, Grand Teton National Park, and Yellowstone National Park, (write-up on those high-altitude adventures coming soon) we had only one more night to spend on the road before we arrived at my parents’ house in Idaho. We finished our day in Yellowstone and headed for a cabin just outside the park at Brook Trout Inn just outside the town of West Yellowstone. After a day of walking around looking at geysers and bison in the sun, we were ready for a nice relaxing evening followed by a low-stress morning. And we got it. The owner of Brook Trout Inn had the Kozy Cabin all set up for us, so we walked right in. The place doesn't look all that big from the outside, but it has plenty of room and all the log cabin charm you could ever want.

When we pulled in after Yellowstone, the boys were only a little sleepy.

There’s a big kitchen, a living room with a big TV with a million channels and a gas fireplace, a bedroom, a bathroom, and a big deck with picnic table. There’s a covered and walled-off area by the kitchen with a nice grill—you can grill in rain or shine. The bedroom has a King sized bed and the couch opens to a bed. Not only is the cabin charming and much nicer than your average hotel room, but the owners have anticipated every need you could ever have when staying away from home. The kitchen has everything from dishes to a crockpot to a blender to a toaster to a coffee maker with filters to a fully loaded spice rack to any utensil you may ever need. This is a place you could stay for weeks while exploring Yellowstone and any surrounding areas. 

That night we were able to lounge around watching baseball while eating sausages, baked beans, potato salad, and broccoli—a welcome change from eating on the road and hiking in the sun. We got to stay on the proverbial grid with the WiFi, and afterward we all slept like rocks. In the morning we had a leisure breakfast on the deck before we cleaned up and started the last leg of our trip to Idaho. 

Lounging with baseball

The boys played with this broom for about an hour.
Seriously. It was many things including
 a rocket and a hairbrush.

Scratchy and Smoochy enjoyed themselves immensely.

Sunset from the deck

The boys made themselves at home, spiking their hair
with water at bedtime.

Deck breakfast!

I highly recommend Brook Trout Inn as a welcoming, cozy place to stay while exploring Yellowstone. The Kozy Cabin is the smallest of the properties, but I can only imagine that the bigger properties are just as accommodating, especially for multiple families.

5 SHOUTS!