Letter / Number Knowledge - Kristen Remenar

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Letter / Number Knowledge

A collection of 16 posts

"One Family" is one you need for Thanksgiving!

"One Family" is one you need for Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday, but it’s a challenge to find Thanksgiving picture books that connect with kids (I find many “pilgrim and Indian” books that are cringeworthy with stereotypes). This year, I’m focusing on the “thanks” in Thanksgiving and sharing One Family by George Shannon with pictures

September Bonus List of Books and Activities!

Because I gave a presentation to awesome librarians this month and I couldn’t resist sharing all the great ideas we came up with, you get a bonus post this month! And because you’re getting a bonus post, I hope you’ll allow me to indulge in a bit

27 Books You Can Use This Year

During the “Moving Beyond the Basics… Reaching for More” conference on Aug. 11 at the Byron Center High School in Michigan, a roomful of teachers and I read through boxes of books. (Thank you, Annemarie Johnson and Kate DiMeo, for inviting me to share informational picture books and to talk

Craft and Structure

Wumbers

“What do you get when you combine a word with a number? A wumber!” Wumbers is wri10 by Amy Krouse Rosenthal and illustr8ed by Tom Lichtenheld, the dynamic duo who made Duck! Rabbit! and other books I love passion8ly. With Wumbers, kids have 2 pay at10tion to the sound of

Max's Castle

Let me make it easier for you this holiday season, because I know how it is. You want to buy a book for a child for the holidays, but you think they’d probably like a toy better, but you don’t want to give plastic junk, and yet do

What To Do With All That Halloween Candy: Try The Great Graph Contest!

What To Do With All That Halloween Candy: Try The Great Graph Contest!

When I was a kid, my brother and I would empty out our bags after trick-or-treating on Halloween and divide the candy into piles: lollipops, bubble gum, candy we were willing to trade, favorites that would be hoarded, etc. I kept careful count of how many of each of my

Alphabeasties and other Amazing Types

Alphabeasties and other Amazing Types

My husband, the illustrious author/illustrator Matt Faulkner, is very intelligent (note his wise choice when picking a spouse). He was also the last kid in his class to learn the alphabet. Matt is very visual, and one of the reasons he had a hard time distinguishing some letters was

Lemonade and Other Poems Squeezed from a Single Word

Lemonade and Other Poems Squeezed from a Single Word

I know, I know, it’s September, we should be discussing fall titles, but here in Michigan it’s a glorious sunny day, perfect for Lemonade and Other Poems Squeezed from a Single Word written by Bob Raczka and illustrated by Nancy Doniger. Using only the letters from a single

Just a Second: a different way to look at time

Just a Second: a different way to look at time

How many times do you think a hummingbird beats its wings in just one second? 10? 20? Steve Jenkins makes math irresistible in Just a Second: a different way to look at time. In one second, a hummingbird beats its wings 50 times. In one minute, a grizzly bear can

Dream Something Big

Dream Something Big

Dream Something Big: the Story of the Watts Towers, written by Dianna Hutts Aston with collages by Susan L. Roth, is a visually stunning biography of an artist you may never have heard of before. Simon Rodia was simply Uncle Sam to his neighbors in Los Angeles. Over 34 years,

We Will Miss You, Maurice Sendak

We Will Miss You, Maurice Sendak

May 8, 2012, the children’s book world lost an honored artist/author/illustrator, Maurice Sendak. Most people remember his book Where the Wild Things Are, but Sendak was by no means a one-hit wonder. He wrote and/or illustrated dozens of children’s books, so today, I’m mentioning

1 + 1 = a lot of laughs

1 + 1 = a lot of laughs

Any kindergartner at this time of year will quickly tell you that 1 + 1 = 2, unless it’s a kindergartner who has read this fantastic book 1 + 1 = 5 and Other Unlikely Additions by David LaRochelle and illustrated by Brenda Sexton. The lucky kid who’s read this book knows

Why Nursery Rhymes Work

I had the pleasure of attending a kindergarten “family night” at an elementary school. The theme was nursery rhymes, and once again I was reminded why these rhymes are so powerful. I could (and often do) go on for days about the phonological awareness that rhyme builds, how children who

"One Boy"

With cool cut-outs on the pages, One Boy by Laura Vaccaro Seeger shows how one word can be found within another word. This counting book starts with the words “One boy” (who we see through a cut-out square on the next page.) Turn the page, and the square hole is

Shoo, "Old Black Fly"!

Shoo, "Old Black Fly"!

Old Black Fly gets into everything in this bouncy, rhyming alphabet book written by Jim Aylesworth and illustrated by Stephen Gammell. He nibbles on noodles, pesters the parrot, sniffs the salami, until the end – swat! The refrain of “Shoo fly, shoo fly, shoo!” (repeated on almost every page) is perfect

A Valentine Story You'll Love!

A Valentine Story You'll Love!

If you’re planning ahead for Valentine’s Day ideas, “1 2 3 Valentine’s Day: a counting book” by Jeanne Modesitt and Robin Spowart is great for preschoolers and kindergartners. The rhyming text helps build phonological awareness, and little ones get to count to ten as the mouse delivers