Tuesday Tales Welcomes Laura for Guest Post

My friend Elle from "Fingerprints On My Window", who guest posted last week introduced me to her long time friend Laura. Many of you know her from "Storytellin' Mama". Well, she happens to be a professional in child treatment. She too has posted children's book reviews and we, with Elle became "three amigos" when it came to children's literature. She so graciously agreed to guest post this week. I welcome your comments on this post but please visit Laura at her site and leave her a comment too!

Thank You Laura!

Avtcoach

I am a family counselor and a mother of four little ones eight and under, so I understand the importance of children’s literature. My own kids are at a variety of ages and stages and they all love reading and books. Stories can also play a significant role in the emotional development of children and families as we all deal with the normal stressors and frustrations of daily life.

"Autumn is a time of nature’s beauty and outside fun, but the turn of the season also signals the holiday season approaching. School is back in full swing and there are shopping trips to be taken for back to school clothes and supplies. The upcoming celebrations are not complete without shopping trips for holiday meals and holiday gift giving. These shopping trips can be trying for both parents and children."

The book I have chosen is Llama Llama Mad at Mama by Anna Dewdney.

It is a great read for the upcoming holiday months and provides some much needed humor and relief to get through the holiday shopping season.

This fun and whimsical book tells the story of a mother Llama who takes her young son shopping. The little llama becomes overwhelmed and bored as the shopping trip continues and he has a major temper tantrum. The mother stays calm and emotionally responds to the needs of her little llama by encouraging him to work with her as a team. They clean up the mess he has made and finish the shopping trip. The story ends with mother and son sharing an ice cream treat together.

The tale is told in short, witty rhymes that are fun to read aloud and say together. Each page is illustrated by the author herself and has colorful and emotionally expressive drawings of the shopping trip. The faces of the characters are slightly exaggerated which makes it easy for kids to identify the emotions happening in the story.

I know from personal experience that shopping with kids can be difficult and frustrating. My own children have had many meltdowns while shopping and as we read this book together we have had fun laughing at events that we all know well. It is one of my kid’s favorites books at story time and they have memorized a few parts of the story:

“It’s no fun at Shop-O-Rama Llama Llama MAD at Mama.”

“Please stop fussing, little llama. No more of this llama drama.”

Here are some learning activities that can enhance the reading of Llama Llama Mad at Mama:

“Yucky music, great big feet.
Ladies smelling way too sweet.
Look at knees and stand in line.
Llama Llama starts to whine.”

(A page out of the story where the little llama is growing impatient. Any rhyming part of the story can be used for these activities.)

Looking at Words and Letters

1. Ask your child to count the lines on the page.
2. Have your child point out the first word and the last word on the page.
3. Ask your child to find the words that start with “L” and have them practice writing the letter L, l


Playing With Sounds

1. Say, I’ll say two words clap your hand if they rhyme:
a. Feet, sweet

b. look, ladies

c. line, whine
2. Clap out the beat of the poem and say it together.
3. Ask your child which word doesn’t belong in each group of three:
a. Sweet, smelling, knees

b. look, ladies, whine

Emotional Development

1. Go through the story and have child identify emotions (happy, sad, mad) on the characters faces.
2. Have child draw a picture of a part of the story they like and tell you what will happen next.

To encourage reading development and independent reading in my children at home, I read out loud to my children, we read the story out loud together, and then I listen to them read the story back to me.

My favorite part of Llama Llama Mad at mama is hearing my kids peals of laughter at the words and pictures of this zany shopping trip. I hope you will enjoy it as well.

Happy Reading,

Storytellin’ Mama

Abundance is...a shopping trip with no meltdowns!

Note from Avtcoach:

Yesterday I posted about the site My Cup 2 Yours and her One Month to Live theme for this month. Well, Storytellin' Mama posted on this subject this Monday and you will not want to miss the insights she shares on this subject!!