Author Kimberly P. Johnson

I got the privilege of hearing children's author Kimberly P. Johnson speak at conference on Monday. She was excellent. She was really genuine and stands up for the things she believes in. She recited some of her incredible poetry. It was amazing and inspiring. Kimberly puts her whole heart and soul into her work. Here  is how she encourages us to move F.O.R.W.A.R.D. in our lives:

F-forget the past
O-optimism
R-reach for the stars
W-willingness to listen and learn
A-avoid the dream stealers
R-reward others with praise
D-don't give up

For more information about Kimberly P. Johnson, her products and how you can get her to speak at your event, go to her website.

"Magic Beyond Words: The J.K. Rowling Story" Review

Ok, so Harry Potter is not exactly a preschool book, but I thought other teachers may be interested in this, plus it is all about creativity which is what makes great teachers great. So... now that I have justified my post, I will begin. LOL

I thought it was a good story about Joanne Rowling's life. I especially liked how they showed all the things she imagined and dreamed up for the book and how she came up with it in her everyday life. For example, the goblins in the bank, the liver on the candy cart on the train, and the candles floating. What an awesome imagination! I also thought it was interesting to find out the reason she used the name J.K. instead of Joanne was because boys don't generally read books by female authors.

This was an inspiring story of how Rowling went from being homeless to being a world famous author. I also thought it was interesting how so many publishing companies turned her down at first and how the agent kept telling her that people rarely make any money in children's books. Joanne's determination especially in the midst of so many negative things happening in her life was fascinating. She surely showed everyone that you can truly accomplish your dreams under even the direst of circumstances. And as far as being a children's book, I started reading the first book in collage for my children's lit class and never put them down until I got to the last one. They are as much for adults as they are for children. My mom even told me the other day (The same person who told me the books were satanic) that she is actually starting to like the movies.

I would recommend this movie to anyone who likes the Harry Potter books. Congratulations to J.K. Rowling and all her success!

Bountiful Boynton

I would first of all like to thank my sister-in-law for passing down all her Sandra Boynton board books to us for the baby. These books are wonderful! Fun to read and so much to learn. From rhyming to alliteration, to body parts, to position and direction words, to animals sounds, to counting, to opposites, to ABCs to predicting. These books have it all! They are great for infants and toddlers as well as preschoolers. Also passed down to us were the book and CD Rhinoceros Tap and Philadelphia Chickens. I have yet to listen to the CDs, but I hear they are lots of fun. I would recommend these books to anyone with young children or teachers of young children. There are so many things you can do with each book, I am not even sure where I would begin. I think I might have to just read one and see where the kids go with it. And I especially love that they are board books. I never really appreciated the true worth of board books until my son was born and I realized that literally everything goes in the mouth, not to mention paper tears really easily.
I would also like to mention briefly (since I know not everyone has a Nook), that the Nook Color app of The Going to Bed Book is AWESOME! It is interactive, but not in the same way I have seen other Children's Nook Books where you can click on something and it says the word aloud. This actually has moving things in the pictures that you can click on and make things happen. Great value for $3.99.
One last mention is that Barnes and Noble is actually having a great sale on toys and games. Lot of educational board games that would be great for the classroom!