Cottage Door Press

An amazing new publishing company has emerged, focusing on babies and toddlers and I would like to proudly introduce to you the world of Cottage Door Press. Each book they create focuses on one or more skills and developmental milestones of our youngest readers which they highlight on the back of each book, known as the Early Bird Learning Guide. The company focuses on books for children ages 0-4 and really hones in on what those children are learning and strengthening every day. With six different categories of books you are sure to find something appropriate for your little ones (and you may love every book offered so much you just might want to collect them all). Here are a few titles for each type of series:

  

I: Babies Love Series

These Lift-The-Flap books are perfect for baby’s first year. Titles in the series include Things That Go, Animals and First Words. They have sturdy pages and flaps (definitely not a rip-the-flap kind of book!) and I personally love that the text is full sentences and real content, not just words to teach vocabulary.

   

II: I Can Do It Books

These books are perfect for the toddler learning to do things on his own. They are all relatable, brightly illustrated and encourage children to grow.

Good Night Octopus goes through a typical nighttime routine, cleaning up toys, bath time, pajamas, story time and a kiss goodnight.

The Peas Say Please focuses on table manners. It has an engaging rhyming scheme and is filled with relatable pictures including a booster seat, sippy cup and bib.

Everybody Potties is a great book for introducing toilet training. It brings up knowing and understanding the feeling of having to go, making on a toilet, flushing and washing up afterwards. (I personally noticed there is no mention of wiping but that gives the reader the opportunity to share that with that child as they read together.)

  

III: Sing and Smile Stories

These books with familiar texts will get your toddlers singing and dancing, enhancing vocabulary skills in the most engaging way. They are also designed with a cut out handle so they are easy for young ones to hold and carry with them everywhere.

In the book Wheels on the Bus the circus is coming to town! The book is interactive and encourages children to move like the characters on the page or make fun noises. It is the perfect sing-along read-aloud.

In Old MacDonald Had a Band the farm is filled with animals’ sounds and musical instruments making this the noisiest farm in town! The text is fun and encourages musical expression. Also a perfect read-aloud.

Twinkle Twinkle Little Star is sure to be your child’s new favorite bedtime story. Fairy tale themed illustrations accompany this sweet nighttime lullaby.

   

IV: Look, Look Baby – Point and Match

A baby’s first I Spy book that teaches matching, pointing and other early math skills. Titles in this series include Zoom! Zoom! (Things that go), Whiskers and Tails (Animals) and Sunny Day (Things found outdoors). Every book builds vocabulary and is essentially a game that informally teaches numbers, colors, shapes and anything else you spot on the pages. There are suggestions on how to use the books on the inside cover and the really bright two page spreads are extremely inviting to young eyes. I strongly suggest this series, it is so much fun and takes story time with your child to a new level.

     

V: Tabbed Board Books

These books have a unique border making them more appealing on a bookshelf. Books in this series are:

ABC Animal Party – a story incorporating the alphabet and animals. It is a cute story about the animals preparing a surprise party for their friend and the alphabet on the last page has a picture of each animal that corresponds to the letters (except for K and X. I understand X can be hard but Kangaroo, Koala? There are animals that start with the letter K!)

Big Day for Baby maps out a typical day in a toddler’s life including waking up, getting dressed, eating, playing and bedtime routine. The last page spread highlights vocabulary and common pictures that babies and toddlers can surely identify.

123 Count With Me – count from one to ten with these adorable animals! I love the playful rhyming scheme in the text but no matter how many times I read this book, I always cringe at the “mousies” because the word is “mice”!

 

VI: Padded Board Books

These softer (but still sturdy!) board books are perfect for cuddling up and reading as a family.

Grandma Wishes – almost prayer-like, a grandmother wishes on a star that her baby grows up to be happy, healthy and a good person. If you know a grandmother, this book MUST be shared with her!

My Little Beast – every parent lives through these moments. Your child does something to set you off – a toy in the toilet, a new box of cereal spilled on the floor, coloring on the walls… (Is this just my kids?) This book is an adorable reminder that no matter how “beastly” the act, parents never stop loving their children and never cease to remind their children about that simple fact. I personally do not love the title (I don’t think it is particularly nice to refer to a child as a “beast”) but the pictures are cute and the text really resonates with many families.

The Moon Sees You and Me reiterates to children the idea that whether you are close by or far away there is always a sense of security between a parent and a child. This book sends a really positive and loving message to young ones.

In addition to these series, they also sell book and toy gift sets and button sound books. I really love the books that Cottage Door Press has to offer and I am excited for future titles to add to my toddler’s personal library. You can purchase Cottage Door Press Books on their website, Amazon, Kohl’s and other fine retailers. 

Music and Early Literacy

 

While I think it is great to take time to read with your child everyday, I very much understand the reality of life with babies and toddlers and sometimes you just do not want to pick up a book. That's okay! (We've all been there!) However, there are many other ways to promote early literacy without actually reading and music or singing songs throughout the day can actually do wonders for your child. Here are some tips on how to include music into your daily routine.

Phonological Awareness

In song, each syllable of the word has its own note. This helps children hear the

smaller sounds that make up words. When picking music to help with Phonological

Awareness, try songs that are slightly slower so your child can sing and hear every

note. Also, songs that include animal noises or other sound effects are great for this

skill. Some great songs for Phonological Awareness include nursery rhymes and

popular children’s songs such as Old MacDonald and If You’re Happy and You

Know It. If you can’t understand every word perfectly, pick a different song.

Vocabulary

For younger children, any kind of “naming song” where you are singing a long list of animals, foods, or any other objects will work. For older children, provide pictures

and text that go along with the unfamiliar words in a song.

Narrative Skills

Repeat, repeat, repeat. That’s the key to a song that strengthens Narrative Skills. Makeup songs that go through a sequence of events (This is the way we brush our teeth, wash our face, comb our hair, before we go to bed.)

Letter Knowledge

Be very careful how you select alphabet songs. Most recorded songs blur L, M, N, O,

and P. Try slower versions, or songs that highlight one letter at a time. Have your

child listen for one particular letter (start with the first letter of their name). When

they hear it, have them wave their hands up or down.

Print Awareness and Print Motivation

Pick music that goes with a book. Read it and then sing it! Nursery rhymes are great

for this, or adapted songs like “The Wheels on the Bus.” You can also sing the song

and then read something like The Seals on the Bus by Lenny Hort. You can sing

along to I Ain’t Gonna Paint No More by Karen Beaumont and then play “It Ain’t

Gonna Rain No More.” Some books even contain parts of songs within the text, like

Punk Farm by Jarrett J. Krosoczka or the Pete the Cat books by Eric Litwin. Even non-readers can learn sight words as you point to words in books and sing together.

Adapted from www.ohreadytoread.org/music_in_early_lit_storytime.pdf

Favorite Board Books These Days...

Here are my favorite board books that have been recently published. Both you and your youngest reader are going to love them!

    

Spot Goes Shopping - Eric Hill

Who doesn’t love Spot the puppy? He is on an adventure with his mother to the grocery store and what fun it is to watch them shop! The different groceries are easily discernable and the text lends itself to really expand a child’s vocabulary about different things bought in a supermarket. A great example is when Spot’s mother holds orange juice and asks Spot if he would like to buy it and he holds oranges and says “Can we make our own?” The oranges are next to lemons and grapes and when I read this to my three year old I asked him what would be made if Spot held the grapes and my son deduced it would make grape juice and the lemons would make lemon juice. The only thing better than the bright pictures and Spot’s enthusiasm is the opportunity this book creates for a child and their parent to create a shopping list of their own and go on their own shopping expedition!

Who's My Baby - Sassy

I am always on the lookout for great board books for babies and toddlers. My criteria is that the book must be engaging for both the child and the reader, educational and worth reading over and over again. Who’s My Baby is exactly this kind of book. It has vibrant pictures, large, sturdy lift the flaps and a mirror in the back for the child to get excited to see themselves. The book has few words but gives the reader the opportunity to say things like “These are cats, their babies are called kittens”. It is a great book to teach the names of animals and their young and you will always find the cutest baby at the end!

Baby's ABC - Sassy 

With sturdy pages, vibrant illustrations and excellent depictions of words, this is a really fun way to learn the alphabet. I love that the book shows both the capital and lowercase letter on each page and it is an easy engaging board book to jumpstart baby's vocabulary!

FINGER PUPPETS!

I love Finger Puppets. They are the easiest way to engage the youngest audience. They are extremely easy to make or if you are not very creative, they are extremely easy to find. The picture above is the "Little Scholastic Old MacDonald" that I got as a baby gift when my son was born and has become a staple in my children's singing routine.

From all my years doing Mother Goose Time at the library, I always made sure to have finger plays and finger puppets dispersed throughout the half hour to keep the children engaged. Babies can stare at fingers for hours and it is so easy to sing along to a hand gesture. Some of my go-tos include "Open, Shut Them", "The Itsy Bitsy Spider", "Where Is Thumbkin?" and "Mr. Sun". For those who are a little more self-conscious, bring on the hand puppet! While babies and toddlers don't really care what your voice (or the caregiver's voice) sounds like, if you feel like it matters then this is the perfect way to have the little ones focus on something else. Puppets are brightly colored and can guide you while you sing (ex: each animal on your fingers), so you can get as expressive as you want. 

If you are arts-and-craftsy, you can make your own puppets for so many rhymes and songs. I personally used the same glove and made adhesive "Green and Speckled Frogs" (five with a speckled log in the middle) , "Five Little Monkeys" (with a mother and and a doctor in the middle) and "This Little Piggy" for each of the fingers. It was easy to do three back-to-back "puppet shows" or just one or two depending on the time and audience. 

Using your fingers and puppets to engage babies and toddlers is a great way to enhance their early literacy skills. Get your hands moving and get singing! 

My Favorite Purchases For My Kids...

When it comes to buying toys for my children, I always think to myself "How many times will this be used"? Certain toys are definite staples in a house with babies - soft and large balls to roll around, ring stackers, fake keys (even though they always want the real ones), stuffed animals and board books. However, I have made some purchases for my children that I definitely second guessed at the time, but have become staples in enhancing early literacy in my toddler's day.

Every child loves to "push the buttons" on their parent's laptop or computer, so I figured it was obvious I should get my son his own laptop. At first I found the sounds of the "Little Scholar Laptop" extremely irritating but then my son started to mimic what he heard and walked around saying "The letter "w" says "wha". I then realized this was probably the best $18 I ever spent. Within a few months my son was able to make the sound of most of the consonants and with the help of "Wheel of Fortune" my son was able to recognize all of the upper case letters. There are also other games on this "computer" including "find the letter" or "spell the word". There are so many of these "laptops" out there (I know LeapFrog makes a similar one) so if you were debating it as a gift for your one year old the answer is absolutely go for it!

Remember those wooden blocks from when you were a child that had letters, numbers and pictures on them? When my son got them as a gift for his first birthday I thought to myself "What a great thing to regift since we have so many other types of blocks". I am so happy that my son ripped the box open because they truly play an integral part of his early literacy education. He can build a tower and then I help him spot the letters that spell the word "tower". Now that he knows the letters and numbers, we spend a lot of time focusing on the pictures on these blocks. It helps to expand his vocabulary and the pictures vary from elephants to ice cream cones.

One time I was shopping in the pharmacy to quickly pick something up and my son decided it would be a great idea to reach out of the stroller, grab a box of Munchkin foam letters and numbers (a bath toy) and open it up in the store leaving me no choice but to buy it. When I took them home, I played with the idea of letting these be special for the bath, but realized he would never play with them there (maybe when he starts to spell we can have spelling bees at bath time). Instead, I put them in a bin and we play a game called "pick a letter or number and tell me what it is". We take turns and we can do this for a half hour easy. You can even make this game yourself, no need to buy the foam letters. It has evolved with my son's knowledge and now when we pick a letter we also have to say the sound it makes (if you pick a number you obviously don't have to make a noise).

I love every musical instrument that my child owns. I love when he plays songs on his piano and gives them titles (my personal favorite, "Be Careful"). I love when he plays his xylophone and sings along. The instrument I love the best is his own two hands, when he hits a surface and says "I am banging like a drum". Music and rhythm is so important and helps a child focus and enjoy playtime in a totally different way. So don't worry if your pots and pans become a drum set, your child is exploring the world and learning a ton!

TV TIME!!!!

The trick to getting the most early literacy out of television is to watch with your child. Yes, you could just plop your child down in front of the TV or iPad or computer with an "educational show", but sitting with your child and bringing up aspects of what they are watching or review after the viewing can be extremely valuable to your child. If you are not home during the day with your child, preview the shows yourself and tell your caregiver what you approve and do not approve of.

Some of my personal favorites:
Super Why (PBS Kids) - this may be one of the most underrated shows on TV but it has an incredible amount of value when it comes to early literacy. My son 100% learned all of the lower case letters from watching Princess Pea spell in every episode. There is singing, reading, letter recognition...anything you can ask for in a 24 minute period is pretty much in this program. It was definitely a great find.

Sid The Science Kid (PBS Kids) - you know your child really pays attention to the screen when he takes a cup of water and pours it into another cup and says "I playing Science". There is something really special about this show. Every episode has the same structure: Sid wakes up, eats breakfast, goes to school, learns, plays, gets picked up by his grandmother, reviews what he learns and then heads to bed. Repetition is so important, think of all the choruses in songs and nursery rhymes! You get an added bonus of learning something educational in the field of Science and let's be honest, a kid who can sing about an inclined plane is very impressive looking in the supermarket!

Little Einsteins (Disney): A show that incorporates famous pieces of art with famous pieces of classical music. Adventure, singing, problem solving...everything a two year old wants in a television program that can make a mother relax while her child watches back to back episodes.

Of course there are so many shows dedicated to the toddler set it is so easy to just let your child watch whatever is on at the moment. Someone recently asked me why I let my son watch Thomas the Tank Engine because it has "nothing of value to offer a child". I told her that my son learns all about emotion from Thomas and Friends. When an engine does something wrong they usually frown and my son would say "Percy looks so sad" or "Emily looks troubled". When an engine gets praised you can clearly see "Thomas is so happy" or "James is so excited!". Learning emotion and how to express feeling is a huge feat in the land of toddlerhood.

My advice is pick and choose programs you believe your child will learn the most from and ask them questions about what they are watching. Make them tell you about the episode so that they are storytelling and expanding their vocabularies. If your child is too young for that, ask questions about specific parts. I do that a lot with my son and ask "What were they looking for?" or "Where was the dog hiding?" He can then answer "A key" or "In the kitchen" and recalling what he saw makes watching television an early literacy moment.

My Son's IPad...

Yes, you read that correctly. My SON is the proud owner of an iPad mini. He got it for his second birthday. What does he do with it? He learns many nursery rhymes courtesy of Fisher Price, he learns stories thanks to Nosy Crow, and he learns his letters, numbers, colors and shapes thanks to many other developers. My son is not yet two and a half, but he knows the entire upper and lower case alphabet by sight. He can count to 20 and can count backwards from 10. He knows so many names of shapes I am shocked (pentagon? decagon?) and he knows all the colors of the rainbow plus grey, pink, brown, black and white. While I wish I could say I taught him all of this myself, I have come to conclusion that the IPad is his teacher, and I simply reinforce what he is taught in his virtual classroom. I make sure we play games based on what he is learning throughout the day. When we are out on a walk we will spot things he sees in the stories he is read (ex: trees, traffic lights, zucchini or peppers at the supermarket). We sing the songs he learns throughout the day, and my most favorite, I watch him draw circles or certain letters on the window when they are fogged up. It is such an incredible thing to see how my child takes what he sees on a screen and applies it to paper and the world around him.

I see people judge me ALL the time. They tell me it's extremely bad for him and that I should be ashamed that he has "so much screen time" (how do you know how much time he has on this device? What makes you think he is always on it?) but I am not and I take pride in the fact that I am a mom not ashamed to say my son can navigate an Apple product better than I can. He has learned SO MUCH from his preschool education apps that I truly believe this tool is essential in teaching early literacy. There are many different ways to teach reading skills. What better way to teach the letters than an interactive interface? It's 2014, there is no way children can get along in this world without technology, so put the right apps on your IPad and give your child the gift of reading on a whole new fun and engaging level.

Disclaimer: My son does not sit on his IPad all day. He has time limits because I believe that it is important he does not stare at a screen for a prolong amount of time and he also needs to talk to people and read books and eat and play outdoors....

"Hey Mommy, Pick A Book!"

This is the phrase I look forward to hearing everyday around 2 pm. That is the time I shut off all the technology devices (TV, IPad and my cell phone) and we have reading/play with your toys time. This lasts until 3:30 when Little Einsteins starts on the Disney channel. I know I haven't posted in a while, but I had a second child in June, and then I became a stay at home mom. The world forgot to tell me that everything I do for myself (including blogging), would have to take a back seat for a while and that's okay.

Being home with my 6 month old and my 28 month old has been quite a challenge for me. As one who loves to be in fancy clothes and high heels all day, that has all been traded in for comfy shirts and skirts due to so much time spent at the playground or at home (especially now with the cold weather upon us)! So followers, it's not that I haven't been reading, I just haven't been telling you about it lately.

I believe the time has come to remix this blog. Reviews are great, but as a children's librarian and as a mother the time has come for me to share with you the importance of Early Literacy. Not just because I took a continuing education class on it last month and not because I need to increase my numbers at "baby storytime", but because school is getting harder for our children, and we need to take back their childhood while preparing them for the real world. I am ready to help each and every one of you have your child knowing the ABCs and their Numbers by 2. (Sorry, my book is not yet published). The best part? You don't have to do much - except spend some time with your baby/toddler! You already do that? AWESOME! You are a hard working full time Mama? Excellent - here are some tips for your caregiver. Your caregiver doesn't speak English? Jackpot! She can sing and dance in whatever language she knows best - your baby will LOVE it!!!

I will try to post these helpful tips as often as possible, but I cannot promise daily due to my crazy work schedule. In any case here is an overview of how to get started:

We are parents in 2013. Our children need to be all kinds of literate. They need to know about reading in addition to technology and the world around them - trees, dirt, snow, food, clothing etc. I know there are many studies out there that say "no screens for anyone under 2 years old". I don't think anyone who wrote that had an 18 month old at home who also needed to cook dinner and get the laundry out of the washing machine and into the dryer. Spoiler alert: My 18 month watched television. However, I was the one in charge of the remote, which is why he spent a lot of nights watching "Wheel Of Fortune" which led to his knowledge of the letters in the alphabet. My advice (and I will definitely discuss this at length in another post) is to allow your child screen time if you need to, both a television and an IPad, within moderation, and make it a bonding time for you and your child. That way, there is still family time and the child learns these items are part of the world, not rewards.

As for those under two years of age, welcome to the world of giggles and bouncing and preparing your child for everything there is that needs to be learned! All babies need to be read and sung to, in any language. Board books are great (I will post my top picks for books at every age and stage). A lot of my personal favorites can be found at www.downtownbookworks.com, and singing to your baby is an absolute must, even if it is just your schedule of the day. Babies love rhyme time, so get that baby on your lap and sing "Open Shut Them". I promise you that if you sing that every day for a week, by day 8 your child will anticipate when to open up their little mouths (and that's a really big deal in the literacy world!)

The time has come to prepare our youngest children to live in a world that is filled with a lot of things that did not exist when we were young. We have to make sure they use their imaginations when they build with their blocks, and still want to dress up in tiaras and cowboy hats. But, there is no harm in having your two year old be able to recognize the letters in his name!