Smile

Two new children’s books explore the lengths we go to just to see our children smile. Laugh –Out-Loud Baby by Tony Johnston and   illustrated by Caldecott Medalist, Stephen Gammell has the whole family working to make the baby laugh out loud.    I Love it When you Smile, by Sam Bratney ( Guess How Much I Love You) and illustrated by Charles Fuge has Momma Kangaroo doing everything she can think of to cheer up her grumpy child. It is not until they both end up in a mud puddle that she succeeds.

While young children may never understand the depths of an adult’s love for them, these two new books will certainly provide the opportunity for building a more secure relationship, spending some quality time, and sharing more than one smile.   

P.S.  As long as your head doesn't hurt, sick days can be so good for catching up on those quiet things you never have time for. :)

I heard this song long ago.  I cannot find the author or copyright  so I thought I would share it with you. Use it to cheer up these dreary February days. 

It isn't any trouble
Just to S-M-I-L-E
It isn't any trouble
Just to S-M-I-L-E
So smile when you're in trouble,
It will vanish like a bubble
If you'll only take the trouble
Just to S-M-I-L-E

It isn't any trouble
Just to L-A-U-G-H
(or ha-ha-ha-ha laugh)
It isn't any trouble
Just to L-A-U-G-H
(or ha-ha-ha-ha laugh)
So laugh when you're in trouble,
It will vanish like a bubble
If you'll only take the trouble
Just to L-A-U-G-H
(or ha-ha-ha-ha laugh)

It isn't any trouble
Just to G-R-I-N, grin
It isn't any trouble
Just to G-R-I-N, grin
So grin when you're in trouble
It will vanish like a bubble
If you'll only take the trouble
Just to G-R-I-N, grin!

It isn't any trouble
Just to Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha!
Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha!
Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha!
Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha!
Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha!

Finding Friends in Two New Books

Go to any park, preschool, or some of the indoor playgrounds and you are sure to hear the words, “Go play.” We are so quick to say those words as if  playing with others is completely natural and stress free.  For some children, it is as easy as can be, but for others, it is not. Some children struggle because they are set in their ways and how they think things should be; they have trouble playing by a different set of rules.  Others, for whatever reason, find themselves rejected by other children. We so casually ask children about their friends, but not every child has a friend and some desperately yearn for one. 

I am constantly learning more about how children view friends and friendship. Just the other day I heard one girl tell another, “Try your oranges and I’ll be your best friend.”  I heard a boy, who was playing across the room, yell to another child, “I had that first. I won’t be your best friend.”  Being a friend is used as a threat or a promise.  Children may not see friendship as long term commitments and neither do some adults. Think how quick we are to move to another place, change a child’s class and say, “You’ll make new friends.”

All of this reflecting about friendship brings me to two new books, the first is Bear in Love by David Pinkwater and illustrated by Will Hillenbrand. The second is  Lovabye Dragon by Barbara Joosse and illustrated by Randy Cecil.

The bear in Bear in Love finds small treats left for him by a secret admirer; someone who knows what he likes and cares for him.  Even the art in this book makes you feel good.  Read it to children to help them understand that doing for others, things others like, is one way to be a friend.  Follow up with a discussion of what friends can do to build friendships. You can have this discussion once a week and it will still be meaningful to at least one child. Since children are so self centered, it could be valuable to have the children draw pictures of what kinds of things make them feel good. This will help others better understand what the friends like and may help them see differences. One friend my like to have help with a puzzle, while another likes to do puzzles by himself. One child may like noisy games, another quiet ones. 

In Lovabye Dragon, the girl and dragon in the story are both looking for someone to love them back. One day a dragon follows a trickle of tears to the little girl.  When they met they both understand this is the person for which they have been looking. Children need to know that finding a friend is not always easy. This story helps with that. While I understand this book was written with the child who wants a friend in mind, but I think it would be a wonderful adoption day gift.  

Llama, Llama

If you love the Llama, Llama books, you will certainly enjoy Llama Lama Time to Share.  . Llama Llama does manage to share with the new neighbor, until  she takes his favorite Fuzzy Llama. Then there is a tug of war, with the expected result. Most children will easily relate to how Llama Llama feels.  How comforting to have a friend like Llama Llama who faces the same problems. Sharing is not something children master overnight and can be especially hard for some. Reading stories about the topic makes it just a little easier.

Anna Dewdney the author of the Llama Llama books has a nice website with free activities and printable for teachers. You can find it at http://www.llamallamabook.com/forTeachers.html   You will also find some pages for children.

I Want to be Miss Harmony

We all have people we look up to; those we want to emulate.I am here to admit, I want to be like Miss Harmony in Rosemary Wells new book, Miracle Melts Down. I realize the book was written for children, but I think it is a good book for teachers, maybe better than some of those 300 page text books I've seen on social emotional development.

Miss Harmony doesn't have the perfect class of alligators. She has regular alligator kids, but within that room she has  built a wonderful class community. It is a room, in which the children clearly care about each  other. When poor Miracle has a bad day, the other children and Miss Harmony help her get through the day.They give her tissues to wipe her tears, sing the Feeling Better song, make her a crown and a necklace, clean up her messes, and they help her count to ten.

Rosemary Wells has written an excellent book for younger children, to help them learn about handling emotions. It also helps them learn how to help others and it just might remind teachers that they don't have to always take care of everything themselves. If they work to build a sense of community, everyone in the class can contribute to making classroom better.

Mistakes- Brownie and Pearl

When I think of Cynthia Rylant, I think of quality books for slightly older children. Somehow I have missed the toddler books. I'm here today to try to "make good."  Brownie and Pearl Make Good is the title of the 8th in a series of  wonderful books for the younger crowd. This simple text book tells the story of  Brownie and her cat, Pearl who were running in the house. They knock over the radio causing it to break. Mom is not pleased but helps them find a way to make up for their mistake. There is no crying or yelling, just a very simple yet mature example of how you try to make up for a mistake. It is absolutely wonderful.

Children learn so much by example and this short story provides such a positive example of what to do when things go wrong. This book will help children who feel guilty for way too long, as well as those who just don't understand the hurt they may have caused to others.

As caregivers, we all deal with this issue everyday. Teaching children appropriate ways to make amends to others is not always easy. I plan to use this book in a classroom of 4 and 5 year olds, but it could be used for a younger group.  Before reading, I will have the children recall a time when something was broken in their life or maybe someone got hurt. Next we will read the story. We will follow up with a discussion of the feelings in the story and a discussion of how we can make ourselves and others feel better when mistakes happen. We already talk about how we can "fix it" when some thing happens, so this will be a great way to reinforce the concept    We might even make a class book of our own to help us recall what we can do. Even as an adult, it is sometimes hard to know what to do in the heat of the moment, but thinking back to how Brownie and Pearl did it might just make it a little easier. For those who work with the younger children, check out all the books about Brownie. The children may just have a new best friend.

P.S. Thank you to Bernice Crouse, executive director of the Franklin County Library System, for introducing me to this great series of books. As Frank Zappa said, "So many books, so little time" As much as I want to,  I just can't keep up on all the new great books.