Depending on how long you’ve been reading this blog, you may or may not know that I’m an author. My first book came out in 2005, titled Notes From the Underbelly, which was a fictionalized account of my own experience with pregnancy, followed by the sequel,
Reading books to your kids is one of the most important things you can do to promote literacy development - but why stop there?
In addition to just regurgitating the words on the page, try these creative strategies to foster your child's love of reading:
1. Add a little play-acting.
I don’t remember how I actually discovered this site, but one day I came upon www.crappypictures.com, created by Amber Dusik, and I have been a loyal follower ever since. It’s a hilarious blog about day to day experiences all of us parents can relate to, and it’s illustrated with her “crappy pictures.”
Once there lived an ant and a grasshopper in a grassy meadow. All day long the ant would work hard, collecting grains of wheat from the farmer's field far away. She would hurry to the field every morning, as soon as it was light enough to see by, and toil back with a heavy grain of wheat balanced on her head.
If you've read a few Nicholas Sparks' novels, you may have wondered whether the author has some type of magical formula for creating such compelling stories of romance.
(One part of the equation: Good people who fall in love despite their differences, usually in North Carolina.)
Anyone who ever read Laura Ingalls Wilder's beloved tales of the Little House on the Prairie remembers the heartbreaking moment when the family realized that older daughter Mary Ingalls had lost her sight.
But was it really from scarlet fever? A new study published in the journal Pedatrics says it was most likely the result of brain and spinal cord inflammation.
We just love celebrity mommy authors! Not only do these women look beyond killer on the red carpet, but they've written books. Beautiful and smart - what a combination!
When my daughter was born ten years ago, we hired a live-in nanny.
It was a perfect arrangement at the time; I needed help with the baby and the housework, and having someone there all the time gave me the freedom to work from home, or run out to the market while my daughter napped, or have a date night with my husband.
If you grew up in the '90s, you probably remember Goosebumps. Written by R.L. Stine, the horror fiction series for children was known for its sweet cover art, scary titles and super cool 3-D lettering on the front (it was bumpy, like Goosebumps, get it?).
But the iconic books aren't just about thrills and chills - no, no. There are some underlying life lessons that kids can find buried beneath all the gory and gruesome monsters, ghosts, aliens and more.
Don't believe us? Check out what we can learn from three of our favorite spooky tales:
Julie Cole is away this week. Our Guest blogger and book-loving mama Heather Wray talks about her favourite childhood books and how the right book at the right time can encourage children to become lifelong readers.
