The Little Book of Farmyard Tales

This is a book for fans of "Find the Duck" (of which I am). It is another book by Stephen Cartwright (and Heather Amery). If your child enjoyed finding the duck, then this is for them.

This is a collection of stories about Appletree Farm (which appears a lot in Stephen Cartwright books) that will grow with your child. At first, you'll be reading the entire story to your child . As they start to read, they can start with the short sentence at the top of each page. There is a longer sentence or two at the bottom of each page which you can read. Eventually, the child will be able to read the entire book.

A little game that you will be able to play together will be Find the Duck! Yes, the little duck from the original book is located in every picture in the book!

 Click Here to get your own copy of "The Little Book of Farmyard Tales" from Miss Stacey's bookstore

Find the Duck

When Matt was just a toddler, a friend was getting rid of some old books her children had outgrown and passed on "Find the Duck" to us.

I fell in love with the drawings and loved helping Matt find the little rubber duck on each page. At the back of the book there are additional characters for the child to find throughout the book. It also includes a page with some simple counting. I think it's a great book for the 1-year-old into kindergarten child. At an Usborne party I hosted a 6-year-old girl loved this book so much she wanted to get it for her little sister.

This was the book that introduced me to Usborne Books and Stephen Cartwright's illustrations. I love both now.

Click Here to get your own copy of "Find The Duck" from Miss Stacey's bookstore

Classics

My favorite book of all time is "Jane Eyre". I read it every couple of years. Having said that, I must admit that the first time I tried to read it I couldn't finish it. I just couldn't get through it. The sad thing was it was a Reader's Digest Condensed Book! The language bogged me down. A few years passed and I tried again. By that time I had matured and I could appreciate everything about the book.

I have discovered the Usborne Classic Collection and have to recommend these books to introduce kids to the classics. I just finished "Jane Eyre", "Tom Sawyer" and "Moby Dick". Never having read the original "Tom Sawyer" I can't compare the versions, but I can say that I liked it, a lot. Boys would really enjoy it (as well as a certain 10 year old girl I know who recently read it also!). "Jane Eyre" was only missing the formal English language and phrasing. The only condensing I found was that some of the conversations were just summarized. In other words, the very things that can intimidate a young reader were omitted. These books should help smooth the transition to the original works. After reading "Moby Dick" I am actually planning on reading the original - I enjoyed it that much! I found it a little slow to start, but once Captain Ahab appeared I was riveted.

The Classic Collection is an excellent way to introduce children to the great authors and their works.

Click Here to get your own copy of "Jane Eyre", "Tom Sawyer" or "Moby Dick" from Miss Stacey's bookstore

A Squirrel's Tale...

The squirrel says, on the front cover, "Please come with me through the woods and help me to find my nuts!" What child doesn't want to help? The great thing is that while they help the squirrel, they will be working on their pre-reading skills, pre-writing skills and fine motor skills.

The book comes with a little squirrel that sits in a pocket on the front. Encourage your child to take the squirrel out and follow the dotted line. Every page has a slot for the squirrel to "hop" through as he goes through the woods and asks other animals for help.

One little thing that I appreciated was that the people behind the book understand the reality of kids. Just in case your little one destroys the squirrel, instructions on creating a new one is included! I looked at them and they are really simple.

Every child who has looked at this book has loved it! So much so, that their mothers have gotten them its sister book, "There's a Mouse About the House."

Miss Stacey

Click Here to get your own copy of "A Squirrel's Tale" from Miss Stacey's bookstore

Come Join Me for "Mom's Night Out!" (MD Moms)

I wanted to invite you to join me for a fun and FREE event without the husband or kids!

Lisa Steve and the staff at SupperThyme USA in Cockeysville, MD have put together a wonderful time just for Moms to enjoy some food, meet some friends and check out some services and products for you and your family! I will have a table set up and hope you will stop in and say "Hi!"

Here are the details:

Celebrate National Mom’s Night Out @ SupperThymeUSA!

Date: Thursday, April 30
Time: 7:00pm - 9:00pm
Address: 9972 York Road
City: Cockeysville, MD 21030
Phone: 410-667-2665

Visit with representatives from the following companies:

Miss Stacey's Bookshelf - Usborne Books
Close to My Heart Scrapbooking
Stroller Strides
LaPapillon Spa & Gift Boutique
Upper Case Living
Pampered Chef
The Longaberger Company

Not sure about Supper Thyme's Meal Assembly? You can make One 3-serving Dinner for just $10 tonight. Make it, Take it Bake it!

We will be serving samples from our Extreme Fitness Meals as well as our 3-A-Day Fast Track Weight Loss meals!

Door prizes will be given away throughout the evening. Need not be present to win!

See you there!

Miss Stacey

Mary Ann and Miss Mozart

This is the first book in the "Historical House" series. The series is set in a house in London. Each book involves a different era and different characters. The books are written for girls aged 10 and up. They take place between the 1700's and 1960's.

In "Mary Ann and Miss Mozart" a girl is sent to a school for girls - which she loves. She especially enjoys her music lessons as she wants to be an opera singer. The school takes some of the girls to see Amadeus Mozart and his sister perform. The genius of Mozart and his sister are explained without sounding like a lecture. Trouble ensues when she finds out she will be forced to leave the school.

I would recommend that Mom reads the book first - not because of inappropriateness, but because the book offers a lot of chances for discussion (e.g. how Mary Ann should have handled things, the inequality between boys and girls at that time, how girls were not expected to want a career or have ambition).

I enjoyed reading it and look forward to the other books in the series.

Miss Stacey

Click Here to get your own copy of Mary Ann & Miss Mozart from Miss Stacey's bookstore

Matthew's Pick of the Month: The Adventures of Sinbad

This is a great chapter book. It is a little above Matthew's reading level right now, but an excellent book to read aloud to him. Each of the 7 chapters is one of Sinbad's voyages. We read a chapter a day (although it is short enough we could have read it in one day if we really wanted to). Matt couldn't wait to read the next adventure. He found it exciting and, to quote him, "Sinbad is cool! He rocks!" The best part of this book is that he'll enjoy hearing it again and again, and, when he is able, read it himself again and again.

I realized that I had never read anything of Sinbad's adventures and hadn't realized that they were part of 1001 Arabian Nights. For those who don't know, the Arabian Nights is a legend about a woman who told her husband - The Sultan - stories to entertain him because he wanted to have her killed. She continued to tell him these tales for 1001 nights. I actually had a question answered by a note on the back of the book. Did the wife save her life or not? Do you want to know? If so, look further...if not, stop right now.

He spared her life.

Hop on board and sail off to adventure with your child!

Matt & Miss Stacey

Interested in more about Matt's Pick of the Month?
Click Here!

Welcome to my bookshelf

Welcome.

You probably have at least one child you love - whether it's your own child, niece, nephew, grandchild or godchild - and you also love to read and want that special child to have the same love. That's what I want too. But, HOW can I figure out, among the THOUSANDS of choices what my son would like? There are book reviews to help me find new and established authors and books to try for my personal enjoyment, but what about for my kids? I know that there are "professionals" out there but sometimes I wonder, "Do they even have kids?" They seem to approach it from an intellectual perspective, not an emotional one - and that's where kids live, in the emotion.

So, I am going to offer my humble opinions on what I loved as a child, what my son loves now (including his pick of the month) and other interesting tidbits along the way. I hope it helps you discover new books and maybe even some classics, that you never thought of trying. I'll be posting at least once a week and trying to give you ideas for different age groups, suggestions for specific times of the year and other ways to make reading fun and exciting for your kids.

I would love to hear from you! I hope that you will post your comments and/or send me an email to: stacey@missstaceysbookshelf.com

Hope you enjoy.

Miss Stacey