kristen remenar

A collection of 26 posts

black history month

Celebrating Black History Month with Carole Boston Weatherford!

I tried to pick just one book to talk about for February but when I look at all the great books Carole Boston Weatherford has written, how do I choose only one? So instead of highlighting a book this month, I'm celebrating the brilliance of this amazing writer.

Art

"How To Grow a Family Tree"

Free reading activity from Kristen Remenar for How To Grow a Family Tree by Bea Birdsong and Jasu Hu

Art

Celebrate Disability Awareness Month with Music and Art!

This July, I had the incredible pleasure of hearing author/illustrator Cece Bell speak about her creative process. Many of us know Cece from her graphic novel, El Deafo. Her newest picture book, Animal Albums from A to Z, is ideal for punsters, fans of Sandra Boynton, animal lovers, musicians,

Art

Free for Father's Day!

When Squirrel feels a bit frantic as a single dad to three busy kits, his friends decide to give him a break and take the kits for a day. How hard could it be, the friends figure, to watch little ones for a day? When I ask kids this question

Biography

This book is a hit!

In Michigan, we are loving baseball season, because the Tigers are on a winning streak and because we have books like this one: You Never Heard of Sandy Koufax?! by Jonah Winter and Andre Carrilho. This picture book biography hits it out of the park. It has a conversational writing

Craft and Structure

Home is In Between

Today is #weneeddiversebooksday and I can think of no better book to feature than this gem written by Mitali Perkins and illustrated by Lavanya Naidu. Home is In Between is a story about a little girl making America her new home. As Shanti learns and adapts with her new experiences

Charlesbridge

Girls with Guts!

Girls with Guts! The Road to Breaking Barriers and Bashing Records written by Debbie Gonzales and illustrated by Rebecca Gibbon tells how women and girls throughout history were discouraged from playing sports, but some courageous female athletes and activists - girls with guts - fought for the passing of Title

Common Core State Standards

The Big Book of Barf

Your kids will gobble up this non-fiction book by Vicky Lorencen! The Big Book of Barf: A Spewnami of Sick Science, Hurled History, and Body Oddities is chock-full of gross facts that kids can't get enough of. Made easily digestible in its nonlinear format, kids can flip through

Craft and Structure

Go! Go! Go! for Kende! Kende! Kende!

So many kids will relate to Lolie, who from the time she was little always wanted to go! go! go! But a scary day comes when her family quickly has to go from their home because it is no longer safe. Lolie goes by wheelbarrow, by foot, by truck, and

Early Learning

This November, choose WE ARE WATER PROTECTORS

This November, celebrate Indigenous People’s month with this wonderful book, the Caldecott winner WE ARE WATER PROTECTORS written by Carole Lindstrom and illustrated by Michaela Goade. The art is glorious and the message is important. Our Earth’s water needs protecting for the sake of all life on our

Craft and Structure

SQUIRREL NEEDS A BREAK!

I’m thrilled to announce that my newest picture book, SQUIRREL NEEDS A BREAK, will be published by Charlesbridge on May 7th! Squirrel is especially grumpy after having been stuck in the nest all winter with three rascally kits so his friends decide to take the kits for the day

Early Learning

"Grandma Heaven" & "Grandpa Heaven"

Shutta Crum and Ruth McNally Barshaw are two of my most favorite people in the kid lit world. They have two new books out, “Grandma Heaven” and “Grandpa Heaven” that sweetly feature my own parents as two of the people enjoying the afterlife. Is Heaven a fun-filled place of laughter,

Craft and Structure

SQUIRREL NEEDS A BREAK!

See these cuties from GROUNDHOG’S DILEMMA? Well, they get to be the stars of their very own companion book! SQUIRREL NEEDS A BREAK, written by me and illustrated by the wonderful Matt Faulkner will by published by Charlesbridge in Spring of 2024! Watch this space for more updates. Hooray!

Craft and Structure

"The Capybaras" and the Message of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

This is my new favorite book, The Capybaras by Alfredo Soderguit. It’s a wonderful read anytime but it’s especially poignant to share in January when we celebrate Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Soderguit beautifully shares one of Martin Luther King Jr.’s beliefs that we are all part

Craft and Structure

Play the Book!

Oh, 2021, we waited all through 2020 for you and frankly, you’re not off to the start we’d hoped for. We’re exhausted in so many ways. We still need to show up for our little ones. We need a bit of lightheartedness. “Playing the book” is a

Craft and Structure

Reading an "Again, again!" book in a new way

Happy Almost-the-End-of-2020! I think this year has been most challenging for those living with or working with small children. How do you keep them enticed if you can’t get new books from the library or from school? How do you keep yourself from going nuts if you’re tired

Uncategorized

Easy choice: GROUNDHOG'S DILEMMA!

In Michigan, the only predictable thing about the weather is its unpredictability, and I bet it’s like that where you live, too. Weather makes life so hard for Groundhog in Groundhog’s Dilemma – my book! Half of Groundhog’s friends want him to predict an early spring, and the

Early Learning

Start your new year off with compassion

This is a post I’ve shared before but I think it’s more important than ever to make your classroom a place of acceptance and compassion from day one. It’s September, the start of a new school year. I have no apples for you teachers, but I do

Craft and Structure

The winner is: You Are (Not) Small!

Happy Book Award Season! Many of us look forward to the annual announcement of the Caldecott and Newbery Medal Awards from the American Library Association, but the one that made me hoot and holler loudest this year was the announcement of the winner of the Theodor Seuss Geisel Award for

Early Learning

The Cybils 2014 Finalists for Fiction Picture Books

I was honored to be a first round judge for the 2014 Cybils Awards in the fiction picture book category. I was one of seven people who volunteered to read more than 229 picture books and to argue for the books we thought were outstanding. The reading part was easy.

Early Learning

Ling & Ting & Grace & Me!

If you heard a loud, squeeing sound on November 11, that was me. I’m thrilled because the newest book in an early chapter book series I adore was just released: Ling & Ting: Twice as Silly by Grace Lin. I’m twice as excited about this book, because I

Early Learning

Ten Rules of Being a Superhero

I’ll bet you a sack of Halloween candy that most of us have dreamed of being a superhero: saving the day, maybe flying, definitely wearing a cool cape and a mask. Snazzy accessories aside, if you want to be a superhero, you need this book: Ten Rules of Being

Early Learning

Moo!

It’s the beginning of a new school year and we want all our students to start off feeling successful. If you have kids that are beginning or struggling readers, here is a book that almost everyone will be able to read confidently: Moo! written by David LaRochelle and illustrated

Early Learning

Dig in to fun summer books!

These books are so much fun I couldn’t choose just one! Now that summer is here, I’m looking for books that encourage outdoor play. Here are two books that will have kids scurrying to the sandbox: Digger, Dozer, Dumper written by Hope Vestergaard and illustrated by David Slonim

Art

"Rah, Rah, Radishes" and Go, STEM!

Happy May, everyone! I had the pleasure of speaking at an early education conference where our theme was literacy and science. I brought stacks of books that tie into STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) or STEAM (add Art) to share. Rather than just lecture all day, I led a session