The growling turned to rumbling, and the rumbling turned to snarling, and the snarling turned to Roaring! Hey, no sweat. Its only a nightmare on the loose...Yow! Dan has dreamed up a nightmare that takes on a life of its own, leaping right off his sketch pad and into his room. But, instead of giving in to his fears, Dan gives chase and tries to erase the Boogieman and the Beastie that he has drawn. Dan even draws a zippy six-legged dog and a fire engine to help him in his battle. Battle he does...and wins. Then it's back home and back to sleep. Sweet dreams ahead!!
Children's literature to help them deal with troubled times. Organized by topic, with detailed summaries, questions and recommendations for connecting to the issues.
From the creator of the bestselling Anti-Coloring Book series with more than 600,000 copies sold, a new parenting guide to encouraging creativity in preschool-age children Young at Art is the first and only comprehensive book for the general audience about the nature, value and impact of art on very young children. Directed towards parents and educators of one to five year olds, Susan Striker explains why children's art is not a frill, but the very foundation upon which all later fundamental skills are built. She drives home the idea that encouraging children's artistic growth will have beneficial effects on all other aspects of their emotional and intellectual development. At the core of this practical guide is the understanding that art is an important tool in teaching young children crucial concepts related to self-expression, reading and writing. As opposed to more structured exercises, such as coloring on dittos and underlining pictures in workbooks, Striker stresses that scribbling and free drawing experiments are the most important art activities a child can engage in; they better prepare children to read independently as they grow. Young at Art provides descriptions for age-appropriate art activities, tips for carrying them out safely, and helps parents recognize what a child's art work should look like at each stage of development. With Young at Art, parents will develop realistic expectations of their children's work, learn how to speak to their children about their art, and facilitate skills well beyond their creativity that will benefit children.
Any parent of a toddler knows the drill: you're having a nice day with your child, then suddenly-meltdown! How to react? Or not react? I Brake for Meltdowns offers parents welcome relief: an annotated listing of all the exasperating things little kids do and step-by-step advice on how to handle each situation. From "Public Meltdowns" to "In Search of Sleep" to "Dinner Disasters," this book covers every bugaboo by category-including biting, teeth-brushing, refusal to wear a coat, and what to do when your youngster won't hug Aunt Marge. Handy action points, suggested language, and "Been There" sidebars point the way to resolution. Infused with funny, often commiserating advice, this is an invaluable resource for parents who try their darnedest but need a cheat-sheet for when they're stumped by their willful tots.
Balancing traditional and literature-based instruction, the author presents dozens of stimulating lessons, each built around an engaging children's book. With these activities, 150 skills commonly found in basal readers can be taught (from alphabet and alphabetization and oral reading to parts of speech and word recognition).
J. K. Rowling achieved astounding commercial success with her series of novels about Harry Potter, the boy-wizard who finds out about his magical powers on the morning of his eleventh birthday. The books' incredible popularity, and the subsequent likelihood that they are among this generation's most formative narratives, call for critical exploration and study to interpret the works' inherent tropes and themes. The essays in this collection assume that Rowling's works should not be relegated to the categories of pulp fiction or children's trends, which would deny their certain influence on the intellectual, emotional, and psychosocial development of today's children. The variety of contributions allows for a range of approaches and interpretive methods in exploring the novels, and reveals the deeper meanings and attitudes towards justice, education, race, foreign cultures, socioeconomic class, and gender. Following an introductory discussion of the Harry Potter phenomenon are essays considering the psychological and social-developmental experiences of children as mirrored in Rowling's novels. Next, the works' literary and historical contexts are examined, including the European fairy tale tradition, the British abolitionist movement, and the public-school story genre. A third section focuses on the social values underlying the Potter series and on issues such as morality, the rule of law, and constructions of bravery.
