Bird and Little Bird

Library Monday: Bridges Are to Cross.

I've been spending just a bit of time thinking about bridges this week.  Well, to be more accurate, bridges and tunnels.  Because here in the San Francisco area, that is how one gets around.  You cross bridges and go through tunnels.  Generally, you do these things at the exact same time as many, many other people and therefore, you do them slowly.  Which lends itself to a bit of thinking about how the bridges are built, how the tunnels are tunneled.  This is especially true at the moment, because the new Bay Bridge is actively under construction and you can't help but notice the skeleton of this new bridge as you drive across the old one. 

 

Mariam seems to have noticed the built environment here in California a bit more on this trip than on previous ones, and the resulting car conversations reminded me of one of our favorite reads on the topic of bridges and the reasons that people build, cross and admire them.  Bridges are to Cross by Philemon Sturges (illustrated by Giles Laroche) is a truly enjoyable read, with plenty of detail for mini-engineers who are curious about bridges and the way that they are constructed.  As an added bonus, the text is accompanied by brightly colored cut paper illustrations that are themselves enough of a reason to pick this one up. 

 

Bridges Are to Cross got the Inspired by Literature treatment in Volume Three of Alphabet Glue, so many of you may have had a chance to give this one a well-deserved read.  If not, click the link below for a PDF file containing the last couple of pages of Volume Three.  You'll find a bit more information about the book, as well as a fun kitchen-table engineering project to go along with it. 

Making Toothpick Bridges

Library Monday: Miss Rumphius.

This morning, when I saw that Kara, from Simple Kids, had written a post wondering if anyone had a good "guerilla style" gardening activity to accompany Miss Rumphius, the lovely storybook by Barbara Cooney, my first thought was something like "Oh! I love that book!"  And then, shortly after that, "Wait! I totally have a fun guerilla style garden activity to go with Miss Rumphius."  Those of you who have a copy of Volume One of Alphabet Glue floating around your hard drive may remember the wildflower seed pods from that first issue .  You see, Miss Rumphius was the first book to be featured in the Inspired by Literature section of Alphabet Glue, and for good reason.  It a heartwarming and gently inspiring tale that reminds each of us that we are not only able, but in many ways responsible, for leaving the world a better place than we found it.  It is one of those rare picture books that has something to offer readers of any and every age, and it is a permanent favorite of many families that I know, including our own. 

So, I thought that I would share the Inspired by Literature feature from Volume One of Alphabet Glue with you here today.  Click on the link below to download a PDF copy of that section of the magazine; it includes a short review of Miss Rumphius, as well a tutorial for making wildflower seed pods to get your spring season started off in the spirit of making the world around you a little more colorful and bright.

download seed pod tutorial

'Tis the Season (Printable Thank You Notes for Kids).

Between holiday festivities of various sorts and the much appreciated "big sister" presents that have come her way, my girl has some serious thank you note writing to do.  I would love to tell you that she relishes this task and dives in without prompting, cajoling or the need for numerous reminders.  However, this would be a bit untrue.  Not that Mariam isn't grateful for the wonderful gifts that have come her way over the last few weeks, she certainly is, but she would probably rather build with her awesome new blocks than sit at the dining room table writing notes about how awesome they are.  You see?

So, in the spirit of making it easy to say thank you to those that certainly deserve the courtesy, I made up some simple printable thank you notes.  Just download, print, cut out and fill in the blanks. 

You can download the notes by clicking the link below:

 printable thank you notes

 

Alphabet Glue: Volume Three!

I am quite pleased to report that Volume Three of Alphabet Glue has arrived, just in time for fall.  This newest issue boasts all sorts of bookish fun, from sticker books and story buntings to non-fiction reading inspiration and printable story maps to suit all ages.  Pop on over to the Alphabet Glue page to read up on all the important details and even better, to download your very own copy post haste.  I think you'll be oh-so-glad that you did!

Behind the Scenes of Alphabet Glue (and Printable Bookmarks for You).

Summer is winding down, vacation is coming to a close (only days left!) and I am officially working on Volume Three of Alphabet Glue.  I've been making lists, rewriting lists, sketching and planning in a somewhat lazy way for weeks, but the computer phase of the work has really just begun.  I got a good bit done yesterday morning while sneaky Mariam used the quiet time to get an entire chapter ahead of me in our read-aloud book. 

Volume Three will contain all the usual fun stuff; book lists, bookmaking tutorials, printables and the like, plus there will be an activity focused on non-fiction writing and research prompts as well as a special section on the "geography of the fictional world."  What exactly does that last bit mean, you wonder?  Soon enough, dear friends, soon enough. 

In the meantime, I do have a little present for you.  The other evening when I was doing some illustration work for the upcoming issue, I somehow found myself drawing rows and rows of little mushrooms.  I'm not sure exactly how I arrived there, considering that it wasn't at all what I started out to do, but I had a really good time mushroom-making just the same.  And honestly, I had a good enough time that I made an extra set of printable bookmarks decorated with my mushrooms.  The bookmarks can be printed with or without text, but I would recommend putting them on cardstock to make them sturdy enough for daily use.

 

You can print them out here: Printable Bookmarks for Fall

 

Printable Bookplates for You.

You were promised bookplates, and indeed, you shall have them.  But first, just a few useful bits of information:

- The bookplates can be downloaded as a PDF file and are designed to be printed onto a sheet of standard 4" x 3 1/3" sticky labels.  You can find them at pretty much any office supply store and usually drugstores as well.  

- I ran into all sorts of ridiculousness with getting these guys out of InDesign and into a PDF without the spacing of the text getting out of whack.  Given my relative ineptitude with very fancy computer software programs, I am not able to tell you why.  But you will need to do one important thing when you print.  

When you press the print icon in Adobe, the print dialog box will open up.  Down towards the bottom, where it says "page scaling" click the tab and set this at "none."  Well done. Hey, that rhymes. 

 

There are six different labels on the sheet, each with the same little illustration but with different text.  Some are for putting in books at your house, some are for putting in books that you are giving to someone else.  

So, now that you've read these highly technical and important notes, you may download your copy of the bookplates by clicking on the highlighed link below.

bookplates

 

 

Library Monday: A Bit of News and a Handy PDF for You!

Greetings from the land of endless winter and twenty-inch March snowfalls!  

Today I've got a little something different for you all.  Instead of my usual Library Monday book review, I'm sharing this printable library list that I made, as well as a bit of news.  I mentioned a couple of days ago that I've been working on a really fun project, and I figured that I might as well tell you a bit about it, so that maybe you'll be as excited as I am about its arrival in a couple of weeks.

I am planning to launch a quarterly e-magazine!  It doesn't have a title just yet, but it will be filled with activities, tutorials and printables, all centered around the childhood experiences of reading, writing and storytelling.  Each issue will have an overarching theme, and many of the featured activities will be rooted in favorite children's literature. There will be booklists, games, fun writing activities and bookmaking tutorials (of course). 

The theme of the first issue will be "libraries," and along with the bookmaking and storybuilding activities that you'll find in every issue, Volume One will also feature printable pages designed to help your family get the very most out of your local library.  The "library list" at the top of this post was something that I originally planned to include in the first issue of the magazine, but I kind of wanted something to give you now. Because I'm really excited about this project! 

You can download the library list for printing here:

library list

It has a place to note the author and title of any books that you might be wanting to find, and includes a handy little box by each line so that you can mark things off as they've been located, checked-out and read.  Yay for that! 

More about the magazine in days to come, but I hope to have it ready for launch two Library Mondays from today (also known as March 21st on regular calendars).  

Seventeen Things to Put in a Tiny Envelope (Plus One More).

1. Little penpal letters

2. Secret messages

3. Tiny love notes

4. Small surprises

5. Fancy grocery lists

6. Coffee money for a rainy day

7. Things to remember

8. Things to hide

9. Lists for the library

10. Your library card

10. Itty bitty drawings for sharing

11. Treasure hunt clues

12. A handful of stickers

13. Gift cards

14. A (short) recipe

15. A very small painting

16. Secret codes

17. Lists of favorite things

And, of course, small and sparkly valentines for a little girl I know. 

 

You can download an envelope template for your own use by clicking here:

Envelope template