KidCrunch

Kids Book List: 2011 Newbery Award Winners

Janet — Wed, 12 Jan 2011 22:20:13 +0000

The American Library Association (ALA) has announced the winners of its 2011 Newbery Medal and 2011 Newbery Honor Awards. Following is a list of the 2011 Newbery Award-Winners:

Moon over Manifest by Clare Vanderpool (2011 Newbery Medal Winner)
Turtle in Paradise by Jennifer L. Holm (2011 Newbery Honor Book)
Heart of a Samurai by Margi Preus (2011 Newbery Honor Book)
Dark Emperor and Other Poems of the Night by Joyce Sidman (2011 Newbery Honor Book)
One Crazy Summer by Rita Williams-Garcia (2011 Newbery Honor Book)

Shop for these 2011 Newbery Award-winning books and other award-winning kids books through Amazon at the KidCrunch Store.

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Kids Book Series: Encyclopedia Brown by Donald J. Sobol

Janet — Mon, 04 Oct 2010 20:16:58 +0000

Smart kids love solving the mysteries presented in the Encyclopedia Brown series of books by author Donald J. Sobol.

As a parent, I like Encyclopedia Brown books because they encourage kids to read carefully and to notice and remember the details of what they are reading. I also like that our hero, Leroy “Encyclopedia” Brown, is celebrated for being smart. He is nicknamed “Encyclopedia” because his brain is filled with knowledge gained by reading a lot of books.

Encyclopedia Brown is a super-smart ten year old detective. He lives with his parents in the fictional town of Idaville where his father is the local police chief. Each Encyclopedia Brown book is a collection of short mystery stories solved by Encyclopedia Brown (often with the help of his partner Sally Kimball) by finding a mistake or inconsistency in a suspect’s story. The fun of reading Encyclopedia Brown books is trying to solve each mystery without peeking at the solutions in the back of the book.

Following are a list of the books in the Encyclopedia Brown series in order of first publication:

Encyclopedia Brown, Boy Detective (1963)
Encyclopedia Brown Strikes Again (1965)
Encyclopedia Brown Finds the Clues (1966)
Encyclopedia Brown Gets His Man (1967)
Encyclopedia Brown Solves Them All (1968)
Encyclopedia Brown Keeps the Peace (1969)
Encyclopedia Brown Saves the Day (1970)
Encyclopedia Brown Tracks Them Down (1971)
Encyclopedia Brown Shows The Way (1972)
Encyclopedia Brown Takes the Case (1973)
Encyclopedia Brown Lends a Hand (1974)
Encyclopedia Brown and the Case of the Dead Eagles (1975)
Encyclopedia Brown and the Case of the Midnight Visitor (1977)
Encyclopedia Brown Carries On (1980)
Encyclopedia Brown Sets the Pace (1981)
Encyclopedia Brown Takes the Cake (1982)
Encyclopedia Brown and the Case of the Mysterious Handprints (1985)
Encyclopedia Brown and the Case of the Treasure Hunt (1988)
Encyclopedia Brown and the Case of the Disgusting Sneakers (1990)
Encyclopedia Brown and the Case of the Two Spies (1995)
Encyclopedia Brown and the Case of Pablo’s Nose (1996)
Encyclopedia Brown and the Case of the Sleeping Dog (1998)
Encyclopedia Brown and the Case of the Slippery Salamander (2000)
Encyclopedia Brown and the Case of the Jumping Frogs (2003)
Encyclopedia Brown Cracks the Case (2007)
Encyclopedia Brown, Super Sleuth (2009)

I loved reading Encyclopedia Brown books as a kid. I read one after another and vividly recall my disappointed when I ran out of new ones to read. I moved on to read The Great Brain books by John D. Fitzgerald – which had a similarly brainy main character and were good, but not quite the same.

Buy Encyclopedia Brown books through Amazon at the KidCrunch Store.

The Best Classic Board Games

Janet — Tue, 28 Sep 2010 17:03:44 +0000

I am a big fan of board games. My kids need to be encouraged to play them (instead of the Wii) but when they do, they have fun – especially when we play as a family. The best board games also have educational value and help kids build social skills.

Board games make excellent gifts, particularly when they come from grandparents or other relatives who might otherwise give clothes.

I like the classic versions of board games, not the trendy, licensed versions. I have no interest in playing Harry Potter Clue or Littlest Pet Shop Monopoly.

I do love sitting down with my kids to play the classic board games on this list. Next to each game, I have noted the skills it helps to develop:

Scrabble and Scrabble Junior are the best games for building language skills.
Yahtzee helps kids learn math facts (at least for numbers 1 to 6.)
Mastermind and Mastermind for Kids encourage logical thinking.
Sorry! is a fun, easy game that everyone can play – great for learning sportsmanship.
Othello teaches kids to think–and anticipate consequences–before they act.
Rummikub teaches strategy with numbers.
Perfection helps kids learn to process information and act quickly under pressure.
Clue and Clue Jr. promote logical thinking and deductive reasoning.
Battleship builds concentration and memory skills (which for me are not what they used to be.)
Boggle and Boggle Jr. help build phonics and language skills.
Monopoly and Monopoly Jr. provide early training for budding real estate titans.
Connect Four is fun for younger kids and encourages strategic thinking.
Pictionary and Pictionary Jr. are great for developing presentation skills and confidence.

Buy these classic board games through Amazon at the KidCrunch Store.

Kids Book List: Books About Shapes

Janet — Sat, 21 Aug 2010 18:30:40 +0000

This kids book list includes books for preschoolers first learning about shapes, plus books for early elementary students learning geometric concepts.

A Cloak for the Dreamer by Aileen Friedman
Architecture, Shape by Michael Crosbie and Steve Rosenthal
Baby Einstein: See and Spy Shapes by Julie Aigner-Clark
Block City by Robert Louis Stevenson
Cubes, Cones, Cylinders & Spheres by Tana Hoban
Eight Hands Round: A Patchwork Alphabet by Ann Whitford Paul
I Spy Shapes in Art by Lucy Micklethwait
Mouse Shapes by Ellen Stoll Walsh
Museum Shapes by the Metropolitan Museum of Art
Shape Up! by David A. Adler
Shapes, Shapes, Shapes by Tana Hoban
The Greedy Triangle by Marilyn Burns
The Shape of Me and Other Things by Dr. Seuss
The Shapes Game by Paul Rogers
When a Line Bends…A Shape Begins by Rhonda Gowler Greene

Buy these books about shapes and other great kids books through Amazon at the KidCrunch Store.

You may also like the following educational products that teach shapes and build geometry skills.

Color and Shapes Bingo game by Trend Enterprises
Shapes Up! game by Educational Insights
Geometric Shapes and Activities at Learning Things

Kids Book List: Books That Build Math Skills

Janet — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 21:26:21 +0000

My daughter’s first grade teacher sent home this list of kids books that help build math skills:

12 Ways to Get to 11 by Eve Merriam
Anno’s Counting Book by Mitsumasa Anno
Count on Your Fingers African Style by Claudia Zaslavsky
Emeka’s Gift: An African Counting Book by Ifeoma Onyefulu
Emily’s First 100 Days of School by Rosemary Wells
Feast for 10 by Cathryn Falwell
Fish Eyes by Lois Ehlert
From One to One Hundred by Teri Sloat
I Spy Two Eyes: Numbers in Art by Lucy Micklethwait
Math for All Seasons by Greg Tang
Math-Terpieces by Greg Tang
My Numbers (Mis Numeros) by Rebecca Emberley
Numbers by Henry Arthur Pluckrose
Roll Over! A Counting Song by Merle Peek
Rooster’s Off to See the World by Eric Carle
Ten Black Dots by Donald Crews (English/Spanish)
Ten Flashing Fireflies by Philemon Sturges
Ten in the Bed by Penny Dale
Ten Little Rabbits by Virginia Grossman and Sylvia Long
Ten, Nine, Eight by Molly Bang (English/Spanish)
The Philharmonic Gets Dressed by Karla Kushkin
Uno, Dos, Tres, One, Two, Three by Pat Mora (English/Spanish)

The first grade team at our school has been using this list for a few years and it may have originated from another source. If you recognize this list, please leave a comment so we can give credit where it is due.

P.S. Thanks Mrs. Mitchell!

Buy these kids books through Amazon at the KidCrunch Store.

Kids Book List: Back-to-School Read Aloud Books