Blog

12 10, 2016

Mrs Dog and Baa Raa help grow imagination.

By |October 12th, 2016|Australian, Australian author/illustrator, Author, Award winning, book review, Good for grouptime, Illustrator, Playgroup, Preschool, Uncategorized|0 Comments

Janeen Brian and Marjorie Crosby Fairhall recently held one of the best story times we’ve been to.(Thanks to Paul Macdonald from The Children’s Bookshop. (Recent winner of the 2016 Lady Cutler award)

Mrs Dog is a story built over many  years and experiences.Both its award winning author- Janeen Brian ( I’m a Dirty Dinosaur fame) […]

4 10, 2016

Make a street library? Easy peasy!

By |October 4th, 2016|Books, community, Early educator, Early literacy, Families, Fathers, Fun, News, Out and about, Preschool|0 Comments

I’ve just completed  a workshop at Street Library Australia with  expert help from Nic,Stephen, and other attendees.

Ready to go were Dads with their kids,a teacher, and some enthusiastic other ladies. It was a breeze and a lot of fun.

All the materials had been pre cut, we just needed to learn how to use a […]

6 09, 2016

We’re making a street library

By |September 6th, 2016|Australian, Books, community, Families, Homemade, News, Parents, Resources|0 Comments

So….what’s a ‘little street library”?
It’s a small community library offering free books to your local community.

Most libraries encourage swapping a book for a book.

I don’t think it matters, as long as there’s always enough books in the street library to choose from.Our library will have a mixture of kids and adults books, with some from […]

29 08, 2016

Reading with book chewing toddlers on the run

By |August 29th, 2016|Babies and toddlers, Book list, book review, Books, Early educator, Families, Good for grouptime, Parents, Playgroup, Preschool, Stories, Uncategorized|0 Comments

We’ve just taken part in the “Read Aloud Hour” in Australia with our little toddler grandson ( just 1 year old).

How did we choose books for a newly walking, book chewing,toddler ?

At times we only get 2 pages in, but it all adds up.

We looked for some books with:

interactions with babies/toddlers – preferably in photographs
new […]

9 02, 2016

Chinese New Year -Monkey stories, rhymes and more.

By |February 9th, 2016|Book list, Books, celebrating cultures, community, Good for grouptime, Literacy calendar, Resources, Rhymes, Stories, Uncategorized, video, Wordless|0 Comments

Preschool Chinese New Year Resources 2016
Sydney has luminous displays of the animals of the zodiac for Chinese New Year.

Houses around us are decorated and our shops are full of red and gold decorations.We’re welcoming the year of the monkey , a “charming, inventive and successful, confident, enthusiastic, flexible and happy character.”

Kids love monkeys so […]

2 12, 2015

Preschool Christmas story resources and activities

By |December 2nd, 2015|Book list, Literacy calendar, Resources, Uncategorized, video, Wordless|0 Comments

 

There are many wonderful Preschool Christmas books you can share before Christmas.

Find many here from  our 2015 100 Stories Christmas Stories Booklist .(Click on the link halfway down the page.)

Here are resources for some of these well loved stories.
Christmas Wombat by Jackie French and Bruce Whatley. Harper Collins.
“Christmas comes but once a year, and […]

27 11, 2015

Australian Christmas stories-sun not snow!

By |November 27th, 2015|Australian, Australian author/illustrator, Book list, Good for grouptime, Literacy calendar|0 Comments

This time of year, getting ready for Australian Christmas celebrations can become quite crazy.

Kids are finishing up at school and preschool .It can seem a never-ending rush from one place to another.

We’ve put together eleven  Australian Christmas stories (and eleven extra favourites) to share 10 minutes of calm together.Almost one a day until Christmas!

With […]

20 11, 2015

Construction story time-how storytelling helps communities.

By |November 20th, 2015|Book list, boys, community, Good for grouptime|0 Comments

Our little suburb has a lot of construction happening, including a third rail track. The children’s playground is temporarily closed and there’s lots of dust and noise.

Paul from The Children’s Bookshop at Beecroft had a brilliant idea to present a “Construction” story time.

 

 

 

 

Two big , burly, and really quite tall construction workers, who had […]

19 11, 2015

Why Imagination matters- Little Red Riding Hood.

By |November 19th, 2015|book review, Books, Good for grouptime, Imagination, Traditional tales, well loved|0 Comments

Books are a gateway for children to develop their own imagination. Imagination leads to creativity.

Creativity leads to many different ways of  learning -essential in coming years, where many children will have to reinvent their careers as adults.

I always think of the “Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe” as a visual symbol of opening a door […]

5 11, 2015

Help your child make their own starting school story

By |November 5th, 2015|Books, Early educator, Families, Homemade, Literacy calendar, Parents, Preschool, Resources, starting school, Stories|0 Comments

School readiness-
make your own stories
Many children visit their school before their first day.

It’s an ideal opportunity to take photographs or make drawings for a book, (or “social story”) that can be shared until your child starts school.

Children who help make the story have ownership,putting in whatever is most important to them.

Social stories can be:

Small […]