Great Holiday Book Ideas from the OPL

By Jennifer Evans,  Children’s Librarian at the Hazeldean Branch of the Ottawa Public Library

A Big Guy Took My Ball! By Mo Willems (2013).

Gerald and Piggie are back for more adventures in this silly but relatable story. Piggie finds (and quickly loses) a most excellent bouncy ball – can Gerald get it back? Fans of the Elephant and Piggie series will delight in their 19th outing. This is a great series for early readers, as it features lots of word repetition amidst wacky story lines.

Clementine and the Spring Trip by Sara Pennypacker, with illustrations by Marla Frazee (2013).

I recommend Pennypacker’s Clementine series every chance I get, so I think it would be wonderful if it made its way onto some shopping lists this holiday season! Clementine is this generation’s Ramona Quimby. She is smart, silly, creative beyond words, and always seems to find herself in outrageous situations. For new readers to the series, start with Clementine. The newest addition to the series is Clementine and the Spring Trip, in which Clementine unravels the secret rules of Grade 4 and tries to find a way to survive The Cloud on Bus 7.

Fortunately, the Milk by Neil Gaiman (2013).

Gaiman won the prestigious Newbery Medal for another children’s book (The Graveyard Book), so you can’t go wrong picking up this story, which is geared towards younger readers. While going out to buy some milk for his children’s cereal, a father is abducted by aliens (I know what you’re thinking: typical Monday). As a result, the father is taken on a wild journey through the space-time continuum, meeting up with pirates, space aliens, dinosaurs, and volcano gods. This makes a great read-aloud for children ages 7 and up. Check out the author reading an excerpt here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kMEC87U1gT0

Frog and Toad Storybook Treasury by Arnold Lobel (2013).

If you often find yourself doing some last-minute holiday shopping, you’ll want to keep this title in mind (it won’t be released until December 23rd). However, Arnold Lobel’s Frog and Toad are worth the wait. This treasury brings together many of our favourite Frog and Toad tales, including Frog and Toad Are Friends and Frog and Toad All Year. This would be a lovely addition to anyone’s personal library, young or old.

LEGO Play Book: Ideas to Bring Your Bricks to Life by Daniel Lipkowitz (2013).

For the builders in your family, you will want to get a copy of this colourful guide to everything “LEGO”. The recently published LEGO Play Book suggests ways to improve building techniques, provides fun timed challenges, and features ideas from some of LEGO’s biggest fans. With easy, medium, and more difficult challenges, this book will appeal to builders of all skill levels.

Tap the Magic Tree by Christie Matheson (2013).

If you loved Herve Tullet’s Press Here, you’ll want to add this book to your holiday shopping list. In Tap the Magic Tree, readers are asked to help a tree move through the four seasons by tapping, rubbing, and wiggling the pages. Children will love the chance to participate in helping the story unfold – simply put, it’s pure magic.

The Adventures of Captain Underpants Now in Full Color by Dav Pilkey (2013).

Everything old is new again with Captain Underpants, as the formerly black-and-white series gets a blast of colour. If you’re unfamiliar with the series, it tells the story of two fourth-grade boys who hypnotize their school principal to run around town as the hero of the comic books they’ve written (enter Captain Underpants). Silly? Oh yes. But its popularity can’t be denied. The action, humour, and blend of text and pictures all come together to create something truly special.

The Day the Crayons Quit by Drew Daywalt, with illustrations by Oliver Jeffers (2013).

Like many young children, Duncan loves to colour and draw. However, his crayons have a few complaints about how they’re being used, and leave him a stack of letters outlining their protests. This is a delightful and funny picture book, with expressive illustrations provided by the always enjoyable Oliver Jeffers. This story is sure to appeal to a wide age-range.

The Night Before Christmas by Clement Clarke Moore, with illustrations by Barbara Reid (2013).

While there are dozens of versions of this quintessential children’s Christmas story, this is my new favourite. Barbara Reid has lent her creativity to the story, providing beautiful and intricate Plasticine illustrations alongside the classic text. Read this story with family and friends, and don’t forget to spend ample time poring over the pictures – Barbara Reid likes to hide lots of little details to reward the attentive reader. Watch the book trailer here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2rl4HEuxV8A

Who Goes There? By Karma Wilson, with illustrations by Anna Currey (2013).

Snuggle up with your little ones to read this cozy book by Karma Wilson. Lewis Mouse has moved into a lovely new nest just in time for winter, but something seems to be missing. Before he can figure out exactly what his new home is lacking, he starts to hear mysterious noises outside his nest. Will Lewis be able to figure out what’s making all this noise? A lovely surprise will help him to make his house a home. The story is comforting and feels familiar, which makes it a perfect story to share on a cold winter night.

App Review: Lola's ABC Party

By Amy My daughter is a big fan of games we play on the iPad and over the years I've found a few really great ones, but as she grows I'm always looking for new apps to help her learn and have fun.

Watching the video introducing Lola's ABC Party I noticed right away that the skills the app is teaching are skills we have been working on (letter sounds, drawing letters, etc) and that it has a format that she has liked in the past, of several mini-games inside the game, and when you're done a set of mini-games you get to build yourself a party – a bowl of ice cream, balloons, hats and cake.

The game is bright and colourful, and the kid liked Lola. The mini-games were similar to ones she had played before, but the first game where you find letters based on their sound was a bit tough with letters like 'I' – even I thought they were making the 'E' sound. Overall I could see what they were teaching, and she enjoying the rewards she got after each level. She did tell me one or two things was too hard for her, but with a bit of help and encouragement she kept going.

She really liked being told she was smart as a panda, and she loved getting to add toppings to the ice cream, blow up balloons, and decorate a cake.

Before I even got to show her the app she found it for herself and Daddy reported that she was giggling away. When I asked her if she like it she said yes, which is enough for her to keep trying and learning more about phonics and that's good enough for me.

Amy is mom to three year old The Kid and a 7 year old schnauzer named Henry. You can read her blog at amyboughner.ca where she writes about motherhood and anything else that’s on her mind. She was compensated for this review but the views are her own.

Birthday Magic Done Right

by Robin Redmond “Come one, come all! Step right up to the Greatest Show on Earth!” shouted my husband as he stood on the doorstep ushering birthday guests into the house.

After having been to the circus last summer, my daughter, Avery, was pretty sure she wanted a circus birthday party (but with a frog -- huh). Luckily, a chance to review BirthdayPartyMagic.ca services came up. I’d never hired a children’s entertainer before and I wasn’t certain if I’d ever go that route—but I knew that a magic show full of mystery and wonderment would certainly save me and my husband from having to put together our own circus show. (I’m not much of a tightrope walker!)

Ian Quick of Birthday Party Magic was wonderful at helping us plan the perfect magic show, tailored specifically for Avery’s party. Prior to the party, we discussed the number of guests and the ages of the children. Ian typically recommends magic shows for kids over six or seven because those under that age don’t really have the cognitive ability to believe that what they are seeing is impossible. Since we had nine children ranging in ages from two to nine, Ian offered to give us a mini-magic show and then spend the other half of his show creating elaborate balloon sculptures for the kids. I don’t know a kid who doesn’t love balloons, so I thought that was the perfect compromise! Done.

Many Pinterest ideas later and the day of the party finally arrived. Avery and her sister, Brooke, couldn’t have been more excited. With the decorations and circus-themed food in place, we were all set to go.

Ian arrived just before our scheduled time and the kids nearly went crazy with excitement. They all gathered around to watch as he set up his equipment. Once he slipped into his purple magician’s jacket, the kids knew it was time for the real show to begin! The parents couldn’t help but gather around too, all curious and eager for to be amazed. I think this is the first birthday party we’ve thrown where my husband and I have actually gotten to sit down and enjoy the party!

And enjoy we did. Ian was great with the kids—he was funny and entertaining and he involved each kid in one of his magic tricks, making it very interactive. The kids loved it and really got into it! And, so did the parents. They were laughing and oohing and aahing right along with the kids. And, the true magic of it all? I finally had a chance to sit down and actually enjoy my children enjoying their party. After about 15 or 20 minutes, Ian performed his grand finale (making a string of colourful scarves appear from within an empty box), inviting birthday girl Avery to come and be his assistant. She couldn’t have been happier to be the star of the circus show!

Then, as promised, Ian strapped on his balloon apron and true to his name—he quickly twisted away some amazing sculptures out of balloons while telling the kids more jokes. He made whimsical unicorns, colourful ladybugs, big-eyed turtles, adorable piggies and even a one-eyed red squid as per my nephew Hunter’s request! After that, we had a whole menagerie of rubber animals under our circus tent.

Upon speaking with Ian before he left, we learned that he is a bilingual magician who has been entertaining young and old alike within the Eastern Ontario and Western Quebec area for nearly 20 years now. His magic shows run the gambit from close-up, sleight-of-hand magic to grand illusions and he even offers special Harry Potter themed birthday parties for up-and-coming wizards. Besides magic and balloon art, he offers an assortment of other fun entertainment services including face painting and bouncy castle rentals and he has performed at a wide range of venues—from small house parties like ours to school shows, community festivals and even extravagant corporate events.

Having never had an entertainer at one of our parties before, I wasn’t certain whether or not the expense would be worth the service, but after having seen what a great show Ian put on and how much both the kids and the parents enjoyed it, I don’t think I’d ever hesitate again. BirthdayPartyMagic.ca did not disappoint. Ian's show truly helped make Avery’s circus birthday a magical and memorable event!

By day, Robin is a professional writer and a slave to the paycheque. By night, she is a mom to two very active little girls (with a third on the way) and wife to a wonderfully patient hubby. She enjoys writing, photography, scrapbooking, thinking up ways to be a better housekeeper without actually having to clean and playing dress-up with her daughters.

Welcome to the Mabelhood

  While those of you without kids may roll your eyes at labels, those with kids understand how much easier (and cost-effective) labels really are. It makes keeping track of your kids stuff SO much easier. Today, instead of those cheesy self-made, never-stick labels, we have Mabel's Labels to make sure you come home with everything you let leave your front door.

Mabel’s Labels began 2003 when 4 very innovative moms got frustrated enough with their children’s belongings leaving the house only to never return home, that they started to create personalized ID labels.

With Mabel's Labels you can label any and everything from water-bottles, shoes, back packs and clothing. They have thin labels, thick labels, sticky labels, iron on labels and even allergy alert and 411 wristband tags for kids you can personalize with vital information and contact details. The labels are colorful, durable, waterproof and come in sizes and shapes that can fit on virtually anything your kid needs labeled.

For me, as I start to get my girls ready for sleep-over camp, I have to say the Tag Mates have become my new best friends.  You simply apply the tag mate to the tag on your child’s clothing.  There is no ironing or sewing which is a huge time saver!  They wash up fantastic as well.

If you're looking for a way to make it a little easier to keep track of your kids belongings, you should give Mabel's Labels a try. You won't be disappointed.

You can connect with Mabel’s Labels through their website, Twitter, or Facebook. Have you tried them? What do you think?

I received samples from Mabel’s Labels to facilitate this review and Kids in the Capital is now an affiliate with Mabel’s Labels.  All opinions expressed in this post are 100% mine.

Review: Lola's Math Train

By Rebecca For his 5^th birthday, my son received a new 3DS.  It’s a Nintendo hand held game system that reminds me of when I had a Game Boy. Clearly, the new system has better graphics, more games, more tools like a camera, but the fun is still the same.

It was a great fit to have a chance to review the new math game for the 3DS called ‘Lola’s Math Train’.  Any time there’s an opportunity for my kids to learn while having fun, it’s a bonus. He was happy to have a new game to check out.

The one area that my son needs a little extra push in is math. He can do it, but often he doesn’t want to.  Subtraction seems to be trickier for him at this stage and while he’s great with patterns, he’s far more interested in language than numbers.

The game is leveled into easy, medium and hard. Easy identifies numbers, medium has more counting and hard has patterns, addition and subtraction.

The game is recommended for ages 3-8.  My kids are 4 and 6 and it was great for them, but likely even more so for my 4 year old.  The math problems in the easy and medium levels aren’t super challenging for my son, but they are really good for him to practice simple equations and build confidence (something that is half the battle for him).  Since he’s still needing help in some subtraction and problem solving areas (such as ‘which two numbers add up to 6), the hard level was a really good push for him. The beginning levels (easy and medium) were perfect for my 4-year-old who is just learning math concepts and loves to count.

I asked my six-year-old what he thought of the game and with beaming eyes he answered ‘really good!’.

His favourite part of the game is getting to the end of the level and selecting an animal friend to hop on the train with him.

His least favourite part of the game is subtraction (no surprises here!)

The game is a really fun, cute way of learning numbers and doing simple math.  It will soon become less challenging for my 6-year-old who continues to learn math and improve at school, however, for my 4-year-old the timing is perfect and the game will grow with her for some time.

Rebecca writes about parenting, food and family fun on her blog A Little Bit of Momsense.  She was compensated for her review but the views are her own.