Junie B. First Grader : BOO --and I MEAN IT!

I remember when my kids first got hooked on the Junie B. Jones series by Barbara Parks. It was about four years ago when the twins were in the first grade. Their teacher read Junie B. books aloud to the class everyday and let me tell you, they loved it

There seems to be a Junie B. book for just about every occasion, including Halloween. In book number 24 of the series, Junie B. First Grader: BOO-and I MEAN IT!, Junie B. needs to find a costume that will scare off the real witches and ghosts she believes will be out haunting on Halloween. She decides to dress up as Squirty the Clown and then even the scariest of witches and goblins will be scared of her.

Junie B. Jones has a funny and unique way of expressing herself, coining phrases that ring true to the way most children her age say things. Ex: "Chills came on my arms."

Click here to download a Junie B. screensaver, color with Junie B., or to print Junie B. activity pages.

The Berenstain Bears Halloween Books

Stan and Jan Berenstain have written several stories featuring everyone's favorite bear family. Here are some stories I thought you might enjoy reading to your children around Halloween.

In The Berenstain Bears and the Haunted Hayride, Farmer Ben takes a dim view of the cubs' plan to hold a Halloween Festival to help save his floundering family farm and the Bear cubs are surprised by what happens next.





In The Berenstain Bears Trick or Treat, Brother and Sister Bear learn that looks can be deceiving as they venture out to Trick or Treat on their own for the very first time.



For more great Berenstain Bear books, check out the Berenstain Bear website. You'll find a gallery, calendar of event dates, and The Bear Museum. You can also sign up to receive the Berenstain Bear newsletter.

The Kissing Hand

The Kissing Hand by Audrey Penn is a wonderful story to read on the first day of school. All four of my children started school with this book.


It's about Chester the Raccoon and his fear of going to school. Chester's mom relieves his fear by kissing the palm of his hand and telling him that she is always there with him. If he misses her or becomes frightened or anxious at school, all he has to do is hold his palm to his cheek and feel her love and kisses.

It is truly a sweet story and one that every young child should enjoy in their early days of school.

There are several activities and resources to enhance your child's experience with Chester and The Kissing Hand.

Johnny Appleseed

John Chapman, better known to most as Johhny Appleseed, was born on this day in 1774 in Massachusetts. To celebrate, my kids and I enjoyed some of these tasty treats and read Johnny Appleseed, a book from the Folk Heroes series.

This particular Johnny Appleseed story tells about John Chapman's life as a peaceful apple seed planter. How he cared for everyone and dreamed of a land where apple trees blossomed everywhere, providing food for the hungry. He wore clothes made of sacks and a tin pot for a hat. It's been told he didn't wear shoes and travelled many miles barefoot. He was tough and friendly. Everyone liked Johnny, and many called him Friend. He created apple orchards in Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Pennsylvania, and Ohio. Many of the trees he planted still blossom, even after all this time.

Teachers and Homeschoolers: You can find an 8 day Johnny Appleseed lesson plan here. It is geared towards K through 2nd grade, but I'm sure many of the activities could be restructured for older children as well. There are printables, book recoomendations, snack ideas, and links to even more Johnny Appleseed resources. I hope you can find at least a few ideas to implement in your classroom.

Chicka Chicka Boom boom

I've used Bill Martin Jr.'s Chicka Chicka Boom Boom book to teach all four of my kids their ABC's. It's fun, colorful, and repetitious.

In my opinion asa former teacher's aide and literacy tutor, books that are repetitive help kids (and adults) learn to read faster. They give them more confidence because they know what to expect and will start to recognize the words in other contexts.

There are several activities that can be done with this book. One of my favorites is to draw a coconut tree and put it up on your fridge with some alphabet magnets. As you read the story, have your kids find the right letter and add it to the tree. Before ya know it, they'll have letter recognition down pat.

If you'd rather not have your fridge covered in magnets, you can print out these coloring sheets and let your kids color along while you read the story.

If you're a teacher or homeschooler, you might find this literature unit helpful. It's full of great ideas to go along with the book.

My four year old still loves Chicka Chicka Boom Boom and we've been reading it practically her whole life!

We're Going on a Bear Hunt

We're Going on a Bear Hunt by Michael Rosen has been one of my favorite children's books for as long as I can remember. When I was an early childhood teacher's aide about five years ago, we read it every morning as part of circle time. The kids loved it because it was repetitious and fun. We made up actions to go along with the story and the kids really got involved. After a few weeks, every kid in the class could "read" the whole story by themselves.

Scholastic offers an online lesson plan for use with this book. The DLTK-kids website has several bear crafts that would go along with the book as well.

I recommend We're Going on a Bear Hunt to teachers, daycare providers, and parents of young children. You will not be disappointed. Your children will love it and so will you!