Ladybug's Garden {Book Review}

The fact that I teach kindergarten and have done so for the past decade means everyone assumes I write children's books. 

It does make sense. I'm sort of an expert. But it takes a certain something to write an appealing children's book and I am far too obsessed with big words to attempt it.

However, I still follow a number of children's authors and illustrators on Twitter because I fully appreciate what they do. So, when I was invited to participate in Ladybug's Garden Blog Tour, I came right on board! Ladybug's Garden is a sweet story that touches on the importance of attending to the needs of others. Since we've been discussing community helpers in my classroom lately, I introduced Ladybug's Garden to my kindergartners.

Kindergartners' Response to Ladybug's Garden:
Out of the fifteen children, twelve enjoyed the story and three were unsure if they liked it. (BTW all three were boys. All the girls present liked Ladybug's Garden.) After reading the book, we discussed what they liked or did not like about the story and how they felt about the illustrations.

Me: What did you like about the story?
Boy: Well, ladybug helped bee and snail. It made me feel happy.
Boy: They made it up the hill. That made me happy.
Girl: She made everyone help. I like that they made her a party.

Me: What did you not like about the story?
Boy: The snail was going slow. He couldn't deliver so much.

Me: What did you think about the illustrations?
Girl: I liked all of them.

Overall, it was a very positive response from the Schofields' intended audience. Ladybug's Garden is especially appealing to girls. They appreciated both the story, the illustration, and the fact that it was written and illustrated by younger authors. I believe that when I add it to our classroom library, students will choose to reread it. 

My Response:
Initially, I didn't fall in love with Ladybug's Garden. but when I shared it with children, I enjoyed the rhythmic flow and bright illustrations much more. I think this would be a wonderful story to share with the youngsters in your life. As an adult, I would probably rate it as 3.5 stars.

Ladybug's Garden Coverart

About the Book:

When Ladybug receives an invitation to a picnic, she prepares a basket of treats to share and sets off into the garden. On her way, Ladybug notices several bugs in need. She happily stops to help them, but worries she won’t make it in time. When Ladybug finally reaches the picnic, she discovers a sweet surprise! Watch the trailer for Ladybug's Garden for more details!

Annabella & Sofia Schofield

About the Authors:

Anabella and Sofia Schofield are sixteen-year-old twin sisters and best friends. When asked in preschool what they wanted to be when they grew up, both responded, “A ladybug!” Their goals have changed, but they’re happy to be writing about a ladybug now! Ladybug’s Garden began as a project the authors wrote and illustrated at age thirteen. In their spare time, Anabella and Sofia enjoy reading, writing, watching movies, photography, music, and art.

Ladybug's Garden is available on Amazon and Barnes and Noble.

See what everyone is saying about Ladybug's Garden! 

Ladybug’s Garden Blog Tour Schedule:

February 8: Mom Read It

February 9: Beach Bound Books

February 10: Book Review Mama

February 11: I Heart Reading {Pre-launch Party}

February 12: TheReader’s Salon

Books Direct {Review & Giveaway}

Pop’s Blog {Author Interview}

February 13: Little Fox Reads {Author Interview}

February 14: Life with A

SolaFide Publishing Blog

February 15: Katie’s Clean Book Collection

February 16: Cranial Hiccups

Two Heartbeats

February 17: Sarah Boucher

February 18: The Resistance

Coloring Contests & Captain America

Maneuvering through today's marketing world requires finesse, creativity, and maybe a collection of dorky tee shirts. Luckily, I have kind friends who've helped me to set up a website, arrange author events, and connect with readers both on- and off-line. (Thanks, friends!)

I've learned something from those much more wise friends of mine. The key to marketing is keeping everything fresh. Blog posts, status updates, traditional book signings and other author events, etc. 

After arranging a couple of book signings, my marketing guru Raylynn Sleight suggested holding a coloring contest at the same time. My kindergarten teacher brain flipped into high gear, visualizing unsupervised children graphitti-ing every possible surface. 

“They have a kids area," she reminded me calmly. “But we don't have to do it if you don't want to.”

My teacher brain shut up for a second. My inner problem-solver filled the void. “Maybe we could do an online contest too?”

That did it. We located free Beauty & the Beast coloring pages online, nabbed crayons from my classroom, and gathered all my regular book signing paraphernalia. Raylynn designed custom posters and graphics to promote the signings online and at the various locations. (Have I mentioned how awesome she is?)

The technique worked beautifully at the signing, which was held during Friday Night Art Stroll in Ogden. Engaging kids in an activity while chatting up their parents--which was exactly what Raylynn had envisioned--was more fun than I could have anticipated. (And no, there were no crayon mishaps.) In addition to a successful sales event, involving social media in choosing the winner was a fabulous plan. I haven't had so much interaction and discussion in a long time! So much fun!

The next author event was a signing at Salt Lake Comic Con with several other Cedar Fort authors. We needed something to encourage super fans to stop long enough to chat with them about our books. After much deliberation, we settled on a prize wheel. It gave us a reason to call people over and offer freebies, but what really kept them chatting with us was the fact that all of us were friendly published authors. Some sales were made based on that alone. (Seriously thought, if you can't find any talking points at Comic Con, you need to watch more movies and read more books/comics. Because Captain America!)

These two events went quite well, but sometimes things won't work as well. Stay positive and learn from the experience. Spend more time thinking about the people who will be attending and cater to them for the next event. Just because you don't sell many books doesn't mean you are a crap author with nothing to offer. (That last bit was for me. *hangs head in shame*) At the last author event Raylynn and I set up, I sold very few books, but I made some fabulous connections. 

Here's my nugget of wisdom: the only time an author endeavor is a failure is when we give up. So, carry on and keep writing and schmoozing! It's good for you.

Finding Jesus

I have a philosophy about classroom chatter. It's permissible as long as the assignments are being completed. Also, it's good for my own entertainment. I present the following as evidence:

Finding Jesus

A conversation between five-year-olds

“Did you see Jesus' footprints?” a boy whispers loudly. His expression is a mixture of mischief and barely contained excitement.

I'm already holding in snorts of laughter. The teacher next door has set up some sort of alphabet game in the hallway with brown footprints laid out in a path.

“Maybe he's hiding!” a girl replies. “Let's play hide-and-seek with Jesus at recess! He's fast!”

I have to walk away to keep from bursting out and alerting the whole class to the situation. Nothing prevents everyone from hearing what the boy hollers out next.

“Baylee's found Jesus!”

Who knows? Maybe this is who she found...

* * *

For other gems from my kindergarten life, please read: 

Adventures in Kindergarten 

Business as Usual

It's Playtime!

The Last Goodbye

In pursuit of more sanity and brains for creative endeavors, I'm leaving my career in public education for a stint in the charter school arena. It has been the best hard work I've ever done, but after ten years, it's time to say goodbye.

Goodbye extreme diversity. 

You've taught me to love children of all colors. You've taught me that children from all walks of life can learn and grow regardless of their background. Truly, some of my greatest success has been with children who spoke no English at all when I met them. It doesn't matter if their parents had little schooling, by working together, we made miracles. I will never forget your beautiful faces or your bright eyes.

 Goodbye fellow teachers. 

You are my friends, my mentors, and my inspiration. Serving in the trenches with you has been a pleasure. You helped me through difficult times with laughter, lots of chocolate, and a few tears. You taught me how to love and serve our children best. I carry with me all your wisdom, devotion, and every last lesson I learned from you. (And no worries, I'll be texting you about all the crazy things that happen in the new school.)

Goodbye unique community. 
Your families have won my heart and your cultural flavor is one of a kind. The warmth with which you welcomed me will never be forgotten. Memories of special celebrations, dedicated parent volunteers, Zumba nights, and Halloween madness will accompany me wherever I go. 

My emotions have been on a roller coaster since I made the decision to submit an application for the new position. And there will definitely be more water works to come. Though I'm pleased to have the opportunity to try a new path, I'm happy to have worked hard and well with students who needed me so desperately. I will not forget my time with them. Ever. What can I say? I love my people.

For more on my Kindergarten Journey, try Adventures in Kindergarten, It's Playtime! or The Start of Something Good. And don't ever let anyone tell you teaching is for those who can't do anything else! 

Thank you all!

Adventures in Kindergarten

Even in the middle of things like book releases, book tours, and author events, life goes on and so does my teaching career. In case you're wondering, yes, teaching is hard. But we're not gluttons for punishment. We have plenty of reasons why we do what we do. Here are a few of mine:

It's Getting Hot in Here...

“You may want to take your jacket off. It's gets pretty warm in here.”

Student just looked at me, so I explained, “You know, because I'm smokin'.”

He gave me a half smirk & went to hang up his jacket. From the hall I heard, “Miss Boucher's been smoking!”

So Creepy

A handyman was perched on a ladder working on something in the ceiling. He could only be seen from the waist down. Children passed by on their way to lunch.

“Whoa...” 

“That's creepy!”

Apparently they thought it was half a human hanging up there. I was too amused to correct them.

Any Questions?

 “Does anyone have any questions?” The unsuspecting student teacher asked. One child raises his hand.

“Yes?”

“What does the fox say? Ring a ding da ding da ding ding!”

Beer. On a Wednesday Morning

Feeling like she needs a burst of energy, the teacher cracked open a Diet Coke. “Teacher, is that your beer?” A student inquired innocently.

Astronaut

Let me preface this by saying that our school mascot is an Astronaut. Pictured on my school shirt, the children were trying to guess what it was one day. 

“It's a man!” one called out excitedly.

Being the helpful teacher I am, I gave them a clue. “It starts with aaaaa...” They look at me blankly. “Aaaaaa...” I cue them. "Sssss..."

One dude perks up. “Ass man!” Yes, my friend, I long to say. This is our school mascot, the ass man.

Big Baby

Kindergartners have a difficult time with numbered dot-to-dots. I'm not sure why, but they do. By the time I came to the aid of one student, he had connected 1, 3, 4, 5,  and 2. So I tried to help him understand. “So you're growing up. You're 3 years old, then 4, 5. Then you go back to 2? You're a baby again?”

That was apparently the wrong thing to say.

“I'm not a baby!” he blustered. “I'm a big baby!” 

Of course I didn't make fun of him. I was too busy laughing.  

My Hands Aren't Black

When you run cardstock through the industrial strength copier, the ink rubs off on your fingers. My students discovered this during an activity and made numerous comments about how their hands were turning black. 

One of the African American students piped up. “My hands aren't black.” 

No one responded so he said it again, more loudly. Still no response. 

So he repeated it again. “My hands aren't black! Because I'm already black!”

I had to walk away and laugh somewhere else.

* * *

I'd love to hear your silly kids moments. Leave me a comment below! And here's a little something extra, just for you.

Kid Definitions: 

Skunky: when something smells bad. 

Instinct: when you stink in your body.

Chummy: when something is super duper huggable (ex: a teddy bear).

Read more of my adventures in Kindergarten in It's Playtime! Closing Time, & The Start of Something Good. And poke around the site for news on Becoming Beauty. Thanks for dropping in!

Its Playtime!

As a teacher I have to rationalize why much of what we do in kindergarten--building with blocks, doing puzzles, and dramatizing stories--looks like play. My professional response is:

Play fulfills a wide variety of purposes in the life of the child. On a very simple level it promotes the development of sensorimotor skills, or skills that require the coordination of movement with senses, such as using eye-hand coordination to stack blocks (Frost et al., 2005; Morrison, 2004). 

But what I'd really like to say is:

Adults need playtime as much as children.  With all the hubbub of adult responsibilities, we lose who we are beyond our professional and family roles.

For this reason, my summer break is sacred. A summer full of deadlines (self-imposed and otherwise), family drama, and more schedule than I'm accustomed to, wasn't exactly what I hoped for. Luckily, I reserved plenty of time for playtime. And when I say playtime, I mean actual plays. As an escape, I scheduled four plays within three weeks at the end of the summer.That's right, I'm a genius! 

This summer, I attended Shakespeare's Comedy of Errors, Austen's Sense & Sensibility, Mary Poppins, and Wicked. Between SuperCaliFragilIsTicsExpiAlidocious and Shakespeare my soul was fed, my heart was touched, my funny bone was tickled, and my imagination was set free. 

Play is important.  As adults, we need to spare a moment to nurture the child within each of us.   Finding time to do what we love reminds us of who we are, lightens our hearts, and keeps us going.  If you need an excuse, tell your significant other, boss, or children that your kindergarten teacher said to do it.  I'd be pleased to take the blame.  

What activities keep your mind fresh? I'd love to hear about them. Leave me a comment!

For more on my summer of fun, read Sun, Surf, & Solace and Unexpected Sweetness.  Thanks for stopping in and go forth and play, my friends! 

The Start of Something Good

Teaching young children is like growing a garden, you get to see everything from sobbing and knowing nothing on the first day of school to the development of competent readers and writers who vow they'll miss you forever on the last day of school.

One of my--ahem--cherubs was just such a girl.  I had educated her older two sisters, who were both bright and willing to help, and I expected much of the same. What actually happened took me by surprise. I've crafted a short story to give you the basics of her first day of kindergarten:

          I glared at the airplane thingy stuck on the front of the school.  

          Nope. 

          There was no way I was going under that thing or through those big glass doors, no matter what was behind them.  My sisters, after saying hello to everyone, had already gone in, but I wasn't going to follow. No matter what they'd told me about school, I just wanted to be home.

          “Come along, m’hija,” Mom said quietly, her warm hand tugging mine. "It's time for school. Your teacher will be waiting." 

          I fixed my big brown eyes on her. It didn't matter that I was only five. I already knew what my big eyes could do. You'd see. She'd cave in a minute, and then it would be home, my favorite cereal, and cartoons galore.

          Mom didn't look convinced. She raised her eyebrows and gave me the Mommy Look instead.

          Usually, being the smallest in the family means I do what I want. Today, being the smallest meant that if she towed me where I didn't want to go, I had no choice but to follow.

          We passed through the big glass doors and were swallowed up by too much noise and too many long legs. A few kids peeking through their parents legs like me, but most of them hurried off and left their parents behind.  I could never do that.

          A wall of windows, the sun glaring through them, stretched in front of us. Between the brightness, the noise, and all the people, it was too much.  I tried to hide behind mom, but she didn't give me the chance. To both sides branched wide, white hallways, like at the hospital.  My stomach felt funny just thinking about it. When Ana had gotten hurt, we'd all gone to the hospital. 

          I hated it. 

          Remembering she'd gotten hurt at school, I tried to dig my heels in, but the floor was too slippery. Mom didn't seem to be bothered by any of it.  Ignoring everything, she led me down one of the hallways.  More glass doors stood at the end of the hall. Had I won? Looking at the doors, my insides felt less funny. Home, cereal, and cartoons, here I come!

          Right before we got there, mom turned again and I lost sight of the way out and forgot about cartoons for a second. In front of me were kids my size with Dora, Barbie, and Sponge Bob backpacks strapped to their backs. I wanted a closer look at them, but not if it meant staying at school. 

          Parents helped kids put their things away, took pictures, and shelled out kisses and hugs. Were they all leaving? Would my mom leave? I dug in my heels the best I could. I wasn't going any further. The only place I was going was home.

          Mom turned to me and crouched down so she was looking right in my eyes and said in her softest voice, “You're going to be fine. Your sisters loved kindergarten.”

I didn't believe her, but I didn't have time to think about it because that's when she got there.  I'd seen her before.

          “Good morning, Mari. How are you?” she asked. Unlike mom's, her voice was loud. And how did she know my name? 

          “Are you ready for kindergarten?” Her smile—like the rest of her—was too big. She was even bigger than daddy.

          Tears splashed down my cheeks. Mom was going to leave me with this big lady! I flung my arms around my mom. She wasn't leaving without me.

          Her big brown eyes were sad as she peeled me off and passed me to the big lady. The big lady's hand went to my back as she steered me to a room full of bright colors and strange girls and boys. I glanced back at mom, trying to decide if I could make it back to her.  She smiled a little smile at me.

          Just then the big lady crouched down to whisper in my ear, “You know, Mari, there are so many fun things waiting for you. And I already know we're going to be good friends.”

          Her warm hand on my back and her words still in my ears, something inside me grew less scared. I looked back at mom one more time, and taking a deep breath, I stepped into the classroom.

 * * * * *

I'd like to say it was that easy.  In reality, the little friend in question spent the better part of the first month of school sobbing and refusing to eat breakfast for the first 20 minutes of every day. However, in the end she became one of my greatest success stories.  Not only does she read and write beautifully, but she is confident and happy at school and simply adores me.  (That last part probably isn't important from an educational standpoint, but I really did tell her we were going to be best friends, because even with all those tear, I had that feeling from the get-go.)

For more of my adventures in kindergarten, read Closing Time and Run, Forrest, RUN! And if you ever need a slice of sunshine, feel free to volunteer at your local elementary school.  Seriously, little people are the most gracious and welcoming individuals I know.

Closing Time

As we draw the curtains on the summer sun, scrub the last crayon marks off the tables, pussyfoot around the cereal snack still littering the floor, and switch the lights off on yet another school year, I feel the need for a bit of introspection.

I often express the wish that I could write children's literature. I admire the creativity, simplicity, and power of a well-written picture book. Regrettably, I don't have the talent for working in that genre, but with a lifelong love of teaching and fostering early literacy, I can impart the skills necessary for children to tell their own stories instead.

This time of year is particularly rewarding because I get to see the fruits of my labors. Students who came to me in August knowing nothing about books, speaking very little English, and writing nothing more than their names (if I'm lucky), now fluently read and write.

We completed our bout of testing (don't get me started!) with a test to determine students' reading level for first grade.  One of my comrades in arms was concerned because with so many distractions, reading instruction has been spotty lately.  Regardless, all of the children except those with severe learning disabilities are reading on a first-grade level because these are skills we've worked on since day one.  It makes me pleased to see children who once struggled to recognize their own name in print reading confidently.

These children inspire, uplift, and entertain me.  I can't wait to see where they will go and what they will do next.  Though I am the educator, they have taught me so many things that I will always carry with me.

And as the one and only Pig Queen, I wear my big, green, bejeweled tiara with pride and confidence. After all, who wouldn't?

For more about teaching and how I survive it with my sanity intact, revisit Run, Forrest, RUN! Plot Twist! The Power of Fairytales

The Power of Fairytales

Fairytales are timeless. They cross the boundaries of language and culture to teach enduring lessons. Messages of hope are nestled between Once upon a time and Happily every after, it doesn't matter where you live or what language you speak. (Versions of Cinderella can be found in any culture.)

As I have seen in my own classroom, children love these whispers from long ago. Tales like Cinderella and Snow White encourage them to dream and imagine something greater for the future. A spark ignites when children are exposed to the magic, wonder, friendship, cleverness, and true bravery characterized by fairytales.

Perhaps I'm a romantic, but I believe in fairytales. I believe in their enduring goodness and their ability to uplift souls.  I'm not naive enough to believe in happily ever after, but fairytales have taught me to hope for better things and to embrace the beauty I find each day.

That's why I write and educate.  There is enough darkness, hate, and depression in the world.  The world needs more laughter, happiness, and good causes to champion. We need heroes and heroines, princes and princesses who will fight boldly and refuse to surrender when dragons appear, just as they read in their favorite fairytales.

Learn more about my own fairytale, Becoming Beauty, based on my favorite fairytale, Beauty and the Beast. Also, links are embedded throughout the post to direct you to related posts. Thanks for stopping in!  Everyone has favorite fairy stories from childhood. I'd love to hear about yours.