25 Books of Christmas

Have you seen this idea?

You wrap up 25 picture books about Christmas and place them under your tree.  Each day your child may choose 1 new book to open and read with you to help count down the days till Christmas.

We think this is a fabulous idea and would like to provide you with a list of 25 (well, okay 30) of our favorite Christmas books for you to consider putting under your own tree.

The Animal’s Santa by Jan Brett

 “I’m not Santa!” by Jonathan Allen

 Deck the Walls! A Wacky Christmas Carol by Erin Dealey

 The Gift of the Christmas Cookie by Dandi Daley MAckall

 Christmas in the Barn by Margaret Wise Brown

 The Christmas Show by Rebecca Patterson

The Christmas Wish by Lori Evert

 If You Take a Moue to the Movies by Laura Numeroff

 Yes Virginia, There is a Santa Claus by Chris Plehal

 The Polar Express by Chris Van Allsburg

 Itsy Bitsy Christmas by Max Lucado

 The Legend of the Candy Cane by Lori Walburg

 Jingle Bells by Iza Trapani

 How the Grinch Stole Christmas by Dr Seuss

 Charlie Brown Christmas by Charles Schultz

Santa Claus is Coming to Town

 Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer by Rick Bunsen

 Frosty the Snowman by Diane Muldrow

  The Night Before Christmas by Charles Santore

The Legend of St.Nicholas by Dandi Daley Mackall

 Gingerbread Pirates by Kristin Kladstrup

Santa Claus by Rod Green

Bear Stays Up for Christmas by Karma Wilson

 The Little Christmas Elf by Nikki Shannon Smith

 Santa’s Favorite Story by Hisako Aoki

 Llama Llama Holiday Drama by Anna Dewdney

 The Littlest Christmas Tree by R A Herman

 Merry Christmas Mom and Dad by Mercer Mayer

 The Berenstain Bears and the Joy of Giving by Mike Berenstain

 The Poky Little Puppy’s First Christmas by Justine Korman

Lunch Walks Among Us

Do you have a child who sometimes worries about fitting in?  Perhaps it would help to introduce them to Franny K. Stein in Lunch Walks Among Us by Jim Benton.

The possibilities are almost endless with this fun book.

Here are some of our favorite tie-ins:

Talk about what makes a good friend and how to be a friend.

Work some free printable worksheets. 

Work on grammar with a Noun Chomping Monster 

Check out a few Monster math games.

Then, take a break and have a sandwich for lunch.  Don’t forget an extra slice or two of lunch meat for making monsters out of.

Make your own toxic industrial waste.

Play a build your own monster game.

Make a bat or two 

And learn to draw Franny 

Have Crab Ravioli in Pumpkin Sauce for dinner.

And, play a little baseball before bed.

Hooked on little girl mad scientists? Never fear! Franny’s next adventure is:

Attack of the 50-Ft Cupid

Want more books like Franny K. Stein? Try these!

Iggy Loomis, Superkid in Training by Jennifer Allison

The Adventures of Ali Baba Bernstein by Johanna Hurwitz

The Curse of the Bologna Sandwich by Greg Trine

Lunch Lady and the Cyborg Substitute by Jarrett J. Krosoczka

My Weird School by Dan Gutman

Flora and Ulysses by Kate DiCamillo

And always remember:

 

Breakout at the Bug Lab

Let’s have some fun with bugs, shall we?

Breakout at the Bug Lab by Ruth Horowitz is fun easy reader that will especially appeal to boys.

The bug lab features robber flies,

dung beetles,

grubs,

gold beetles,

and the star of the show: the hissing cockroach.

 

Ever seen one?  Come on! You’ve got to see this!

Before reading the book, review your sight words with this free bug game.

Do a little math. Learn to shoot a rubber band and aim for the paper bugs mounted on your wall or other surface.  Decide how many points each type of bug is worth, earn points for each bug you hit and add up your points.  Create a graph to show how many times each type bug was hit during the entire game.

Have snack of bananas: Spit them down the middle and spread on some peanut butter so your bugs will stick to the treat. (raisins, dried fruit bits, granola, chocolate chips, etc).  Don’t forget to leave your banana peel in an appropriate place for it to compost and be eaten by animals and insects in your area.  How long does it take for your peel to disappear?

Go on a bug hunt and create a discovery book documenting what you find and fun information about them.

The bug lab is located in a large environmental science building.  “The people who work there help keep our air, water, fish, and plants healthy.”  Take your learning a little further.  If you were to work in such a building which area would you want to study? Air, water, fish, plants or bugs?  Choose one category and think of a way you might help keep that part of our world healthy.

Need more ideas? Check our pinterest board.

And of course, here are some more awesome bug books:

Hi, Fly Guy! by Tedd Arnold

Beetle McGrady Eats Bugs by Megan McDonald 

Bean Thirteen by Matthew McElligott

The Bugliest Bug by Carol Diggory Shields 

Ultimate Bugopedia by Darlyne Murawski

Hissing Cockroaches: Cool Pets! By Alvin Silverstein