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Books and Stories

Book Love at Your Child's Preschool

November 26, 2008

I recently attended my very first book fair. I don't remember them from when I attended school. The surprising thing is that even though it was my first book fair, I somehow ended up as the chairperson of the book fair committee. What happened is, I responded to one of those letters I found in Noah's mailbox at his preschool, asking for volunteers. When I called, it turned Read more...

Local essential books for kids

by Julie Yang

November 25, 2008

We all have our own way of thinking about things. But then there are the collective pictures in our heads. These are pictures and memories we all got from the same source. Like, when we think of a Hungry Caterpillar , we think of Eric Carle's drawing because we all read the same book in class at some time or another, and then watched a butterfly go through the phases. At least itâ¿¿s Read more...

Highlights from books, toys and more

by Julie Yang

November 24, 2008

If you haven't noticed, there have been changes to this savvy site since I started writing here; changes in the form of improvements for you. Beside the amazing list of preschools in your area, we've added tabs at the top to help better guide you in your search for relevant information. One of the tabs is labled " Books, Toys and More ". Under that tab you'll find over 500 books and toys Read more...

An author who loved our Keiki

by Julie Yang

November 20, 2008

Keiki is the word for "child" or "children" in Hawaiian. I just realized that I've used that word many times here and not explained it to people who might be reading this, but unfamiliar with the Hawaiian language. It's our way of referring to children in the islands. Our keiki are lucky with all the local literature and stories in print these days. When I was growing up, there Read more...

A must have picture books about our island life

by Julie Yang

November 19, 2008

In my pre baby life when I worked as a speech therapist with really little ones, I brought along many different books to my sessions. But one book was always in my bag. H awaii is a Rainbow Stephanie Feeney. I came upon Hawaii is a Rainbow one day at the Friend's of the Library books sale. I'm always looking for kids books with bright real pictures to stimulate words Read more...

Funny Books

by Julie Yang

November 18, 2008

Everything is funny to Noah these days. Especially poop, shi shi and burping. He thinks that when he sings "twinkle, twinkle little doo doo!" it's the funniest thing ever. And of course I think it's funny, because it's funny that he thinks it's funny. He's starting to get the whole humor things through the written word too. Our three go to books right now to get a good laugh are: Read more...

Bedtime Books

by Julie Yang

November 17, 2008

I don't know about anyone else, but the last thing I do before I turn out the light to sleep is to read. It helps me relax and put the day behind me. It's probably why, even with so much going on, I'm always reading a book or two. Without that time, I probably wouldn't be able to find the time to read during my crazy day with two little ones. The only pitfall is that sometimes the Read more...

Learning from David

by Julie Yang

November 13, 2008

We call them the "David" books at our house. The David books are books about a little troublemaking boy named David by David Shannon. The original book " No David!" shows David doing lots of things he's not supposed to do like, playing with his food, splashing water out of the tub or playing baseball in the house. The written words on each page are phrases David's mom says to Read more...

Our book of thanks

by Julie Yang

November 12, 2008

We have one book about thanksgiving. I don't like hokey books and have you noticed that almost all of the thanksgiving books are the hokiest? Plus, most thanksgiving books give sugarcoated false versions of what happened to bring about the first thanksgiving, or just talk about the food. I always looked through the thanksgiving books, but with the small amount of choice and cheesy writing, I Read more...

A surprising local, but not local find.

by Julie Yang

November 10, 2008

Let me explain. The other month, as I was perusing the children's books at Barnes while Natalie napped in a stroller, I came upon a book about a little Hawaiian girl, not in the Hawaiian book section where they keep books by local authors, but in the general book section. I felt like I had unearthed a precious treasure, especially because the book was written by a well known author. Read more...

Your own perfect book

by Julie Yang

November 06, 2008

I've tried to utilize Noah's love books to help him explore other skills and experiences. I copied the idea from his preschool teacher, and made a book at home about Noah, himself. I stapled some pages together between sheets of colorful construction paper. On the first page, Noah wrote is own name out. You can make out the lopsided and multisized letters just fine. On another Read more...

Books with rhythm

by Julie Yang

November 05, 2008

My favorite book to read aloud are the kind written in rhythm. Sometimes they rhyme, sometimes they don't. Either way, it's fun to read to a beat. And after a few run throughs, the rhythm makes it easy for Noah to pretend to read along too. Some of our favorites are: Miss Mary Mack by Ann Hoberman, illustrated by Nadine Bernard Wescott: A really cute book about a girl and Read more...

Local City Alphabet Books

by Julie Yang

November 04, 2008

Alphabet books are always fun. For a person like me who likes to categorize and organize things, it's the perfect quirky way to give props to a place. And there's certainly a lot of interesting things about Hawaii that makes our alphabet books all our own. Some suggestions: A is for Aloha by Stephanie Feeney: Stephanie Feeney is a favorite at our house. She has a Read more...

Raising a Constant Reader

by Julie Yang

November 03, 2008

I guess I'm what you'd describe as an avid reader. I like the phrase that Stephen King uses when he writes to his readers. He calls us *constant readers*. And that I am. I am ALWAYS reading at least one book, more often I'm into a couple at a time. I need to read like I need to eat. Even when Noah was a month old and I was living in a new maternal haze, I somehow managed to read the Read more...

Tykes on the town: 11/1 ~ 11/7

by Julie Yang

October 31, 2008

Hope you have your costumes ready, because today's the day! Just as a reminder, here are some of the events happening around town: Mall and Museum places to trick or treat : Take your children down to some of these establishments if you want them to trick or treat at a place where you won't have to worry about traffic or having to knock on stranger's doors. Windward Read more...

Mommy, there's a monster in my room: monster and nightmare books

by Julie Yang

October 27, 2008

Ever get woken up to your child standing over you? I am, more and more often. The thing is, I was totally one of those fearful kids who actively imagined the monsters under my bed or in my closet. So I understand. Even if it's not real, your brain tells you it's possible and you get scared. To help him work out his fears, I recently purchase several books that are in my Read more...

Halloween books at our house

by Julie Yang

October 20, 2008

Ive started to compile a Holiday box of books. I buy books that have to do with specific holidays and put them in the box, pulling them out in a timely manner. As soon as October began, I went to the box and sifted through it. It's been a long time since the last kid holiday and it was nice to bring out some fun stories. I also bought a few more to add to our growing collection. Read more...

Places to inspire the imagination

by Julie Yang

October 14, 2008

Whenever were out and about, I try to keep a dialogue going with Noah about what he may be seeing or experiencing. His language skills grow every day but sometimes he still needs me to guide him and put his thoughts to words. Then there are other times when he doesnt need me. The words he puts together may not be in perfect sentences, but they make up the perfect story in his head, inspired Read more...

Imagination books: Dr Seuss

by Julie Yang

October 06, 2008

Books naturally spark the imagination. Even with pictures on the page, it requires imagination to see a story through. I remember imagining the characters on the page moving through the motions of the words. While I read, Noah's eyes are usually glued to the illustrations, and I hope he's seeing the same things I did. But sometimes a book can stretch the imagination. They push the Read more...

Our Favorite Books to Read About Being a Good Brother or Sister

by Julie Yang

September 11, 2008

When you think of social skills, it usually regards your child dealing with people outside of your family. But, with the arrival Noah's baby sister, we discovered that he needed a bit of schooling at home too. We couldn't plop him into a new role without making him understand what we expected, so I went in search of books to help me explain. Not surprisingly, there were a lot Read more...

Tykes on the town: 8/30 to 9/5

by Julie Yang

August 29, 2008

There's lots going on down at Waikiki this weekend. Good to know whether you want to dive into the crowd or stay away. Here are some great things you can do with your preschooler. I've done all the hard work for you and compiled a list of things specifically for preschoolers. Honestly, I didn't list anything I wouldn't take my own Noah too. Sometimes they say the art tour or poetry Read more...

Best beach books

by Julie Yang

August 25, 2008

There are times that Noah likes nothing better than to curl up in my lap with some good books. I think I've mentioned before that he's finally reached a maturity that allows him to sit through an actual reading and discussion of a book. For a constant reader like me it's so exciting to share my love of books with him. His favorite books are constantly changing. The common factor in Read more...

Great summer read alouds

by Julie Yang

July 15, 2008

Noah has finally reached a point where he'll sit through a reading of a book with apt interest. In the past I've had to shorten the story or describe the pictures with my own words to keep his interest. But now, I just have to read the words on the page and he'll follow me all the way through. It's caused a reading revolution in our house. Suddenly, the little bookcase that was Read more...

Tykes on the town

by Julie Yang

June 20, 2008

It's time to plan for the weekend and beyond. There's quite a bit going on around town. This is the last weekend for Sesame Street Live: Elmo! Ready for Action . Show times are on Friday, Saturday and Sunday (6/20 to 6/22). We got out tickets online at Ticketmaster . I know I said that we were going last week, but it turns out I got tickets for this weekend. Boy, did Read more...

I usually don't like cockahroaches.but

by Julie Yang

June 19, 2008

Okay, the HUGEST cockahroach (cockroach, for those who didn't grow up in Hawaii ) just flew through our living room. I ran from the room screaming for my husband. As soon as I knew for sure that he knew where the grossest thing that God ever created sat flinging its feelers about, I headed for our room and closed the door to hide. I shuddered and tried to forget the enormous bug I'd just Read more...