Lessons Learned from a Pre-Schooler

I was in the unique position of spending two uninterrupted weeks with a four year old. My camera roll reminded me of ten very important lessons we can all learn from spending time with our little ones.

 

#1 One piece of candy is worth three baby carrots.

 

#2 A box is never just a box.

 

#3 Sing, dance, and do the hokey-dokey. (pronounced as spelled)

[Musical accompaniment from storyteller and bookseller at our local bookstore, Joseph-Beth.]

 

#4 Cows do not have upper teeth.

 

#5 Fairies like mushrooms, acorns, and painted rocks.

 

#6 Even a field of dying sunflowers is magical.

 

#7 Blanket Forts are great places to eat cookies and play games on rainy days.

 

#8 Speaking of cookies, if you take only a nibble maybe no one will notice.

 

#9 You only need a cape to have superpowers.

 

#10 Make friends everywhere!

 

 

 

Goldi Rocks and the Three Bears

Goldi Rocks and the Three Bears written by Corey Rosen Schwartz and Beth Coulton and illustrated by Nate Wragg (2014)

‘Once upon a rock-and-roll time’… the Bear family played in band. However, they didn’t have very many fans yet. Papa Bear decided that what they needed was a soprano who could sing all the high notes. And it just so happened that as soon as they left their house in search of a soprano, a little girl came to their house. Inside, the little girl hurried over to their practice stage and began preforming a do-whop dum-diddy-do until she fell and broke the microphone. Then she tried Papa Bear’s drum set, Mama Bear’s guitar, and Baby Bear’s keyboard. She played and played until she fell asleep on the stage. When the bears came home from an unsuccessful day of listening to tryouts, they found the mess and the little girl drooling on the keyboard. Papa Bear disrupted her sleep and she awoke with a scream, which just so happened to be a perfect high C. Instead of running away, the girl stayed with the bears and together they wrote a new hit single – ‘Too Hot, Too Cold, or Just Right?’ They topped all the rock charts and their new fans were crazy about… Goldi Rocks and the Great Three Bear Band!

Corey Rosen Schwartz and Beth Coulton have come up with a modern twist to a favorite old fairy tale. Written in rhyme and set with a rock and roll background, this story delivers a punch!

Nate Wragg brings the timeless characters to life. The illustrations are both nostalgic and edgy.

I love this new take on an old favorite! The traditional theme of breaking-in and destroying the bear’s belongings is freshened up with the final working together of Goldilocks and the Bears. The story is music to my ears!

Lazy Bones

Happy Fall Everyone!

I’m in a festive fall mood and so I’m going to share with you a rhyming story I wrote called,  Lazy Bones.  I wrote it last week.  After a trip this weekend to the Cumberland Gap in the Appalachian Mountains of Kentucky and the Great Smoky Mountains in Tennessee, I decided to add some photos to my story.   Where I didn’t have a photo, I added images from google.

Just for fun, I added two videos from youtube.  The first is a cute skeleton cartoon dancing to Michael Jackson’s Thriller.  The second is an easy craft for Q-tip skeletons.

I hope you enjoy the story.  Please share it with your little ones and leave me a comment.

 

LAZY BONES

by Juliana Lee

“Lazy Bones get out of bed!”

Mama Bones, Papa Bones, Baby Bones said.

“Let’s go to the pumpkin patch.”

“Let’s go sleepyhead!”

Three orange faces giving off light.

Lazy Bones slumbers, sleeps through the night.

“Lazy Bones get out of bed!”

Mama Bones, Papa Bones, Baby Bones said.

“Let’s go the apple farm.”

“Let’s go sleepyhead!”

Handpicked bushel, caramel apples crunch.

Lazy Bones dozes, naps until lunch.

“Lazy Bones get out of bed!”

Mama Bones, Papa Bones, Baby Bones said.

“Let’s go to the mountain trail.”

“Let’s go sleepyhead!”

Leaves, red, orange, purple, yellow, brown.

Lazy Bones blinks, eyelids falling down.

“Lazy Bones get out of bed!”

Mama Bones, Papa Bones, Baby Bones said.

“Let’s go to the park hayride.”

“Let’s go sleepyhead!”

Long bumpy trail, bouncing on the bales.

Lazy Bones drifts on his dreamboat sail.

“Lazy Bones get out of bed!”

Mama Bones, Papa Bones, Baby Bones said.

“Let’s go to the dried corn maze.”

“Let’s go sleepyhead!”

Right turn, left turn, all turned around.

Lazy Bones snores, doesn’t hear a sound.

“Lazy Bones get out of bed!”

Mama Bones, Papa Bones, Baby Bones said.

“Let’s go to the haunted house.”

“Let’s go sleepyhead!”

Screech, screech, howl, howl.  Shiver, shiver, shake.

Lazy Bones snoozes, just won’t wake.

“Lazy Bones get out of bed!”

Mama Bones, Papa Bones, Baby Bones said.

“Let’s go to the graveyard dance.”

“Let’s go sleepyhead!”

Rattle-clatter, conga.  Hip, bump-bump.

Salsa-samba, swing.  Jazz-jive-jump.

Funny Bones, Crazy Bones

Riff-rhumba, rump.

Silly Bones, Skin n’ Bones

Shimmy-swing, stump.

Haunted Bones, Spooky Bones

Wiggle-waltz, wump.

Groovy Bones, Funky Bones

Dip-disco, dump

Lazy Bones got out of bed.

Music rocking in his head.

Rhythm, beat, lyrics, tones

Boogie, Mojo, Footloose Bones!

Hope you liked the story.   (Don’t forget to leave me a comment.)

Here are the youtube videos promised!

Cartoon skeletons dancing to Thriller:

Q-tip skeleton craft: