The Sticker Ninja

Yesterday was my first day as a classroom volunteer at Greta's school and though my inner child was kinda wigging out at the prospect of returning to the classroom after twenty-plus years away, I gotta tell ya, it was awesome!

I helped the kids with a craft project, Clorox wiped the tables after play time, and organized next week's math homework, but the highlight of the day was playing Sticker Ninja during quiet reading time. While the kids “read” books at their tables, my job was to walk around the room and place stickers on the hands of those that were being the most quiet. It was adorable! Even the pushy kids that kept thrusting their hands at me, silently pleading for stickers, were cute. They didn't get as many stickers as the kids who were actually quietly enjoying their books, but, trust me, everyone had stickers to spare by the time my “shift” ended.

I'm hoping to make the Thursday volunteer gig a regular thing, and in the meantime, I've also helped pass out donunts and bagels (at 7:45AM!) for a Breakfast with Buddies event and helped the kids work on a cool ocean mural on the back wall of the auditorium. It's been a lot of work but the parents, teachers and kids I've met along the way have all been awesome and Greta and I have been having a lot of fun. Even if we do collapse the minute we get home every day!

Speaking of things that exhaust me, one mom who I've seen at almost every event jokingly asked me when I was running for PTA president. Ha! Probably not in this lifetime, but, then again, President Yeti does have kind of a nice ring to it…

 

 

 

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Princess Book Party

Speaking of Halloween costumes, Greta got to test drive her Queen Elsa costume over the weekend at the Friends of the Burbank Library's very cool Princess Book Party. Held at the Burbank Library's central branch on Glenoaks, the event featured Princess trivia, bingo, crafts, cookies, gift bags and even a visit from everyone's favorite Disney Princess/Queen du jour, Queen Elsa from Frozen! Hooray!

As you can see, Greta had an awesome time. And despite the fact that there are already piles of library books scattered all over her bedroom, we came home with another big old batch of new ones as well. Now if I could just remember when they're all due back at the library, all would be right with the world. Either way, enjoy the pics!

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Greta’s Bookshelf: “Dragons Love Tacos” by Adam Rubin

For those of you who were worried that all I’d ever blog about again is climate change, women’s rights and gun control, I give you a charming, very funny children’s book about dragons eating tacos. Actually, the title of the book says it all, because “Dragons Love Tacos” is about exactly that.

Written by the very witty Adam Rubin and beautifully illustrated by Daniel Salmieri, “Dragons Love Tacos” isn’t just fun to read, but it’s also highly re-readable (is that a word? If not, it should be!) and best off all, it’s short!

Seriously, “Dragons” is the perfect bedtime length book for kids: meaty enough to feel substantial and yet not so long that you’ll need a bookmark. I know that sounds like a weird thing to be happy about, but, considering the fact that Greta usually crawls into bed with at least three books, I’ll take short, cool books over epic poems anytime!

And books about crazy, Mexican food loving dragons? What’s not to love? Rubin and Salmieri had me at “tacos!” Best new kids book ever!

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Greta’s Bookshelf: “Press Here” by Hervé Tullet

Anyone who has ever been to our place can tell you that we have an s-load of books. There are books in the kitchen, the dining room, the bathroom, and don’t even get me started on the bedrooms. Greta actually has so many kids books in her room that we have to rotate them out.

It’s kinda crazy, but, all three of us love to read (or, in Greta’s case, pretend to read) and re-read our favorite books, so, honestly, I can’t imagine life without them. To tell you the truth, I kinda distrust people with no books in their house. I don’t care if you keep them in the closet, but, you best have some books somewhere if you wanna hang these Yetis.

Anyway, Mrs. Yeti and I started collecting kids books before we even dreamed of having an actual kid. If we found one (or twenty) that we loved, we bought them. And we rarely, if ever, get rid of them. Hell, one look at the bookshelf in Greta’s room and you’ll see that many of the books there were ours when we were kids. Sure, they moved up a few shelves when Greta started eating them as a baby, but, those vintage kids books hold a place of honor in our home and our hearts.

So, whenever we read a new kids book that moves us as much as those old classics did, well, we just have to tell the world about it. So, without further ado, I give you: “Press Here” by Hervé Tullet.

Mrs. Yeti has been selling this book in her store for a while now, but, Greta and I are new converts to the wonders of “Press Here” and let me tell you, it’s a very fun read. I don’t want to give too much away, but, this very creative book is interactive in the extreme.

It all starts with the first page’s simple command to “Press Here” and quicker than you say “Twister: The Novel” you are turning the book on its side, tilting it to the left, then to the right, shaking it really hard and even blowing on the pages at one point. If you don’t have fun reading this book to your kids, you must just hate fun. Seriously, we were cracking up, it’s a very cool read.

And aside from now having an iPhone App, this book is so cool it even has its own trailer on YouTube. Ha! Top that Frog and Toad! Just kidding, I love the Frog and Toad books. My brother and I used to fight over who got to be Frog and who got to be Toad before we started reading them. Yep, he’s a book nerd too. You should see how many books he and his wife have…crazy!

Anyway, if you have a toddler in your house (or even if you don’t!) you must check out this book today. But make room on your shelf first, because, trust me, you’re gonna wanna own this one.