My Granny Went To Market by Stella Blackstone is an amazing book. It's a counting book, a trip around the world and a view into different cultures as well. Granny buys a magic carpet and goes from place to place, buying souvenirs that number from 1-10. The text isn't lengthy and the illustrations are bright and busy that even really young toddlers will love it.

The Colors of Us by Karen Katz. You may recognize Karen Katz because of her awesome board books for babies. Well this is a book for older ( preschool) kids but it's equally awesome. Lena is a 7 year old artists and she is discovering that there is no one "skin color" . She goes for a walk with her mom and notices all the different beautiful shades of skin colors of the people she knows and loves. I love the part where the authors writes that Lena gets red, yellow, black and white to mix all these wonderful colors! Poignant without being preachy.

How to Make An American Pie : and see the world. by Marjorie Priceman is another gem. Readers follow a little girl who wants to make an apple pie but there is one problem, the market is closed. Unlike us she doesn't run to another market, she goes straight to the sources, Italy for wheat, Sri Lanka for cinnamon , Vermont for apples among other fantastic places! I like that is shows readers that wheat doesn't magically appear on the shelf, and that butter needs to be churned and the like. A lovely book that shows how even something as American as an apple pie is really global.

This time of year I find myself writing list after list, for holiday shopping among other things. This craft is perfect for jotting down chores, homework or friend's phone numbers. [more]

All my son wants to do is relive Halloween. It was his first time trick or treating and he fell in love. I decided to harness this candy madness and use it to teach. Check back tomorrow for more candy related learning!

Candy Alphabet [more]

Have we scared you yet? This next project is fun any time for year just draw different pictures and use different color paints.

Magic Ghosts

1. Gather your materials. You will need some white paper, white crayons , a sponge roller or plain old sponge and orange paint. [more]

Ghost week continues with my favorite ghost project! My son liked this too -- well, the dumping of the glitter anyway! [more]