“Meet the Latkes” by Alan Silberberg and Latke Recipe

Your Nanny Family doesn’t have to celebrate Hanukkah to enjoy reading “Meet the Latkes” by Alan Silberberg and then share in making and eating latkes. When reading “Meet the Latkes” get ready for some wacky good fun with the Latke family of potato pancakes. Lucy Latke’s family is just like yours or mine. Except that […]

Gustavo the Shy Ghost by Flavia Z. Drago

Gustavo, the Shy Ghost is the winning debut picture book from Mexican artist Flavia Z. Drago about finding the courage to make friends is perfect for the spooky season —- or anytime. In Gustavo, the Shy Ghost Gustavo is good at doing all sorts of ghostly things: walking through walls, making objects fly, and glowing […]

“The Good, the Bad, and the Spooky” by Jory John and Pete Oswald

The main character of “The Bad Seed Presents: The Good, the Bad, and the Spooky” is a sunflower seed in a cranky mood because he can’t seem to find the perfect Halloween costume. Despite trying to ruin the holiday for the whole field he ends up learning some positive lessons from a kindly neighbor and […]

The Color Monster

Halloween has a lot of scary characters but the monster in The Color Monster by Anna Llenas is not scary at all. The Color Monster helps children identify emotions and feel more in control. One day, Color Monster wakes up feeling very confused. His emotions are all over the place; he feels angry, happy, calm, […]

“The Anxiety Workbook for Kids: Take Charge of Fears and Worries” by Robin Alter and Crystal Clarke

Have you ever cared for a child that was scared to go to school, eat a new food, join a sport, or so extremely shy that they were unwilling to play with kids at the playground? Does the child become irritable, jittery, over-tired, sleepless, or have physical symptoms such as headaches and stomachaches due to […]

“Too Many Carrots,” Origami, Carrot Cookies, and Worksheets

Lesson Plans “Too Many Carrots” is such a cute story about kindness all children love. Rabbit loves carrots and that’s a big problem! In this phenomenal bestseller, Rabbit loves carrots a little too much. In fact, his carrots are crowding him out of his cozy burrow. When his animal friends offer to help, they’re just […]

“The Day of the Bad Haircut” and Cutting Paper Hair

All kids I have ever met have cried at least once during or after getting a haircut. That’s why I have often borrowed The Day of the Bad Haircut by Eva Moore from the library. In The Day of the Bad Haircut Molly finally allows her mother to cut her hair, after weeks of protesting, […]

“Hooray for Hat!” and Make Paper Hats

Creative Wednesdays There’s a pervasive dark cloud of grumpiness among the animal friends in Hooray for Hat! by Brian Won, until Elephant gets a delivery of a box containing hats. So he puts all of the hats on his head, and goes visiting his friends, who are also grumpy, giving each of them a hat […]

“Little Dandelion Seeds the World” and Cotton Swab Dandelion

Creative Wednesdays Who doesn’t love blowing fluffy dandelion seeds? My Nanny Kids literally spend hours blowing the soft flowers in the parks and fields we visit each summer. So, I was so excited to find Little Dandelion Seeds the World by Julia Richardson. This is a wonderful book for young readers that teaches that the […]

Painted Fireworks

Fourth of July means fireworks in America. Read “The Night Before the Fourth of July” by Amy Wummer then have your Nanny Kids make painted fireworks. To help keep the colors separated we made one toilet paper roll for each color of paint, (red, white, and blue). This craft is great because it is simple […]