Weekend Wander is a weekly roundup of links, events and resources related to books, reading, literacy and dads too.  We would like to explore and share ideas from both the book blogging  and the dad blogging communities. Here is what we have to share this week:

• What We’re Doing Here | DadCentric
  
  at: www.dadcentric.com
  I walked in late, the last to arrive; yesterday was a travel day, and it had been delays and missing the invitees’ dinner and a steak with three Martinis to make up for that. The rest were sitting at the…
• Chicka Chicka Boom Boom Kindergarten Activity
  at: Er-u-di-tion
  Chicka Chicka Boom Boom was my first book review. Both of my children loved this book when they were in preschool. The author did a spectacular job introducing the upper and lower case letters. The illustrator did a fabulous job filling each page with colorful pictures that holds a child’s [……
• Susan Cooper Writes Exquisite Corpse Episode Number Four
  at: THE NATIONAL CHILDREN’S BOOK AND LITERACY ALLIANCE
  Exquisite Corpse Fans! Episode Four Now Live!In Episode Three of The Exquisite Corpse Adventure, Newbery winner, Kate Di Camillo left us wondering who it was that took Joe and Nancy’s card containing the clue that would unravel their destiny and lead them to The Exquisite Corpse!Well, you will just…
• Fatherhood Friday 38
  at: Front Page
  Man, I’m totally embarrassed that I haven’t been around. I mean seriously, how can I compete with Joe and Tyra? Even Joe’s kid was named Student of the Month! All I can claim is that I’m a level 18 farmer on FarmVille (who could use some more neighbors…just sayin’). In spite of my absence, it seem…
• Lunch Lady – fun graphic novels full of action & zany adventure (ages 7 – 10)
  at: Great Kid Books
  Action! Silliness! Pictures galore! Its no wonder that comic books and graphic novels are a big hit with kids.  Weve loved how authors artists are creating fun graphic stories for younger readers.  Babymouse has been a huge hit for the past few years – we can hardly keep them on our shelves.  An…
• ESL Readers: Cultural Identity Makes a Difference | Getting Boys To Read
  at: www.gettingboystoread.com
  Culture is important for second language readers. I learned the importance of cultural references in texts and the difference it makes on the reading experience from the boys with whom I work.
• Adventures in family learning
  at: First Book Blog
  Guest blogger Tina Chovanec is the director of Reading Rockets.org: the authoritative online source for comprehensive and accessible information about teaching young children to read and helping those who struggle. Reading Rockets is one of four multimedia educational websites created by Learning Me…
• 20 Sites and Tools to Encourage Lifelong Reading (Guest Post)
  at: Literacy Launchpad
  SpigooInvoking a lifelong love of reading in the children in your life can be difficult but it is very important. Fortunately, the Internet provides a number of sites and tools that can help you encourage and inspire any child to be a lifelong reader. Here is a list of 20 sites to explore:Reading Ro…
• Frances Lincoln Diverse Voices Children’s Book Award 2010
  at: Paper Tigers
  There are just under four months to go till the 26 February 2010 deadline of the second Frances Lincoln Diverse Voices Children’s Book Award 2010: Frances Lincoln Limited, the award-winning publisher, and Seven Stories, the Centre for Children’s Books, are proud to announce the second Diverse Vo…
• The Exquiste Corpse Adventure Illustrations Inspire Kids to Create Their Own Art!
  at: THE NATIONAL CHILDREN’S BOOK AND LITERACY ALLIANCE
  The Exquisite Corpse Adventure:Talk Art with Calef Brown! Use The Exquisite Corpse Adventure Illustrations to Introduce Young People to Art in the Classroom and at Home! … and read a brand new, never before published poem by Calef Brown!!This week we discuss Calef Brown’s boldly expressive illustr…
• Surfing Outside Your Zone
  at: mitali’s fire escape
  One of the many gifts of new media is an increased democracy in the public square (with thanks to our public libraries, who fight to narrow the digital divide). In her School Library Journal cover story about blogs, Betsy Bird quotes editor Cheryl Klein: “Book blogs have created community—a plac…
• New Dads Guide to Diapering; or, the Scoop on Poop
  at: Natural Papa
  If you’re an expecting dad, you may not know this yet, but it’s my duty to inform you: babies produce copious amounts of bodily fluids (and eventually solids). All day long. And you have to deal with it, one way or another. One of the laws of baby physics is that if it goes in, it must come bac…
• Learning Activities at Home
  at: Hooked on Phonics Blog
  Last week was the latest in our series of Virtual Coffees, where we chat with some of our favorite parent bloggers about topics related to reading, learning. This month’s topic was learning activities to do with your children at home. Our participants included: Amy Mascott – Teach MamaNirasha Jaga…
• Children’s Literacy Round-Up: November 2
  at: Jen Robinson’s Book Page
  This week’s children’s literacy and reading news round-up, brought to you by Jen Robinson’s Book Page and Scrub-a-Dub-Tub, a Reading Tub blog, is now available here. This week Terry Doherty and I have collected plenty of content for you about literacy reading-related events; literacy and…
• Tips for Growing Bookworms: #1 Read Aloud
  at: Booklights
  Back in 2007 I wrote a post on my own blog called 10 Tips for Growing Bookworms. This has remained a popular post, and people have suggested several other tips in the comments there. I’ve decided to expand upon each of these tips, and create a new Tips for Growing Bookworms series here at Booklights…
• Dr. Seuss + Superheroes = Oh, the Things You’ll Destroy! « 100 Scope Notes
  at: 100scopenotes.wordpress.com
• Reader’s Theatre (1)
  at: The Book Chook
  In July 2009, I discussed developing a child’s imagination through play by spring-boarding from literature. Reader’s Theatre is another wonderful medium for encouraging kids to use their imaginations. Basically, you develop a short script based on a book you’ve read together. Depending on your child…
• Reactions, Perceptions, Impressions
  at: The Daddy Diaries
  I didn’t know just how small he would be –mind you, he was born full-term, and he is average with a birth weight of six pounds –his feet, I think, are the most surprisingly small   I didn’t think that it would all be this easy –he eats well –he is comforted easily –he sleeps like a…
• November 2009 Events
  at: Paper Tigers
  National American Indian and Alaska Native Heritage Month~ USA Book Week~ ongoing until Nov 9, Japan 28th Santiago International Book Fair~ ongoing until Nov 15, Santiago, Chile The Once Upon a World Children’s Book Award Festival~ Nov 1, Los Angeles, CA, USA Exhibition by Illustrators and Writers…

We are looking for people to join the Book Dads team and contribute reviews and/or articles with our mission in mind. Check out our Guidelines for Reviewers/Contributors.

• This is a pro bono opportunity to review books and be “published.”
• Contributors can keep any review copy sent from a publisher or author for their ow use or to do a giveaway.
• We have lists of books we would like to review … in case you want something to get you started.
• We will allow you to crosspost your review after the post at Book Dads.

If you are interested in becoming a Book Dad then send us an email.

If you know of an interesting resource, event, link or a post you’ve written that you would like included in our Weekend Wander roundup at Book Dads, please feel free to let us know in the comments and leave a link. We’ll add it to the post.

The colorful pictures in this book fairly leap off the page, and perfectly capture the joy and excitement of dad and daughter’s fun day together.  Both the words and images work together make the love and pride between father and daughter palpable, and this book shows that sometimes the most simple joys shared with our children are the most important and most enduring of all.

Excerpt:

Our cottage is small and close to the beach, with little white windows and a fence near the street.  I go to school while my dad is at work.  He draws big buildings, while I get paint on my skirt.

The illustrations in Grandpa’s Town are in a colorful style reminiscent of wood-block printing and depict daily life in a small Japanese town, a culture that will be largely unfamiliar to Western children.  The idea of a public bath in particular is sure to strike children as novel.  But the greatest strength of this book is in the relationship between Yuuta and his Grandpa, which is not overly expressive although Yuuta loves his Grandpa and his Grandpa is proud of him.  Rather, in the way of many men’s relationships, more is conveyed by the time spent together rather than by the words that are spoken.  “Quality time” is important but “Quantity time” is too, especially for boys and their male relatives, and Grandpa’s Town reminds us of this with great eloquence.

Excerpt:

Grandpa and I decided to take the long way home.  Trudging along slowly, slowly, I pushed Grandpa from behind.  “You aren’t alone after all, are you, Grandpa?” I said.  Grandpa looked back over his shoulder at me.  “Hmm hmm…” he agreed happily.

Book Dads Twitter Digest is a weekly roundup of our posts on Twitter and we hope to share links related to books, literacy and dads too. Follow Book Dads on Twitter

• Don’t be the only one at the water cooler who doesn’t have a Brizzly account. Here’s an invitation, good for 10 people. http://bit.ly/14Fmru #
• Say hi to Green Lantern. http://yfrog.com/j3w26j #
• We Belong Together: about the feelings behind adoption and wanting to be a family. http://bookdads.com/xlD9 #
• We Belong Together by Todd Parr: about the feelings behind adoption and wanting to be a family. http://bit.ly/4wVKGb #
• Happy Halloween! It’s Weekend Wander time at Book Dads. http://bookdads.com/nB7T #
• Monthly Reader: A look back at October 2009 at Book Dads. http://bookdads.com/Ikcs #
• Cool Daddy Rat goes out every night to play jazz in New York City. http://bookdads.com/rX4v #
• The November Novel Giveaway at Book Dads, win 5 recent novels. To enter visit –> http://bookdads.com/OvUR #
• http://smub.it/dtqm Jen Robinson’s Book Page: Children’s Literacy Round-Up: November 2 #
• A Few Thoughts on Twitter Lists from @GregPincus http://shar.es/aAgIp (via @JensBookPage) #
• Breaking news: The new movie “Precious” will be donating up to $1,000 to Everybody Wins! USA … http://bit.ly/3zCD4d (via @everybodywins) #
• NPR is launching a new feature called “What We’re Reading” and they want you to weigh in. http://is.gd/4MlAQ (via @Powells) #
• Me and My Dad! an encouragement for fathers and sons to get out and be active together. http://bookdads.com/FyUf #
• Gramps and the Fire Dragon: A book about the power of dreaming, or storytelling, or both. http://bookdads.com/vkIV #
• RT @readingrockets: Saturday is National Bookstore Day. Drop in and celebrate the vibrant culture of bookstores. http://ow.ly/pFFm #
• Nature lovers, unite! Check out RIF’s brand new book lists for great suggestions on ways to help planet: http://bit.ly/4hFpsR (via @RIFWEB) #

Other Reviews:

• Books For Kids Blog

Excerpt:

“My dad is the best daddy bear there could be. We’re together forever-my dad and me.”

Excerpt:

It’s bedtime,” said Jesse.
“But I’m not sleepy.”
“Me neither,” said Gramps.
And they rocked in front of the fire,
back and forth,
back and forth,

We have one prize box of five novels to giveaway for the month of November. One winner will receive all five books, no substitutions or specific requests will be accepted.

The five books included in the prize box are (click the title to read our review):

1. Loot The Moon by Mark Arsenault

2. Wait Until Twilight by Sang Pak

3. When The Whistle Blows by Fran Cannon Slayton

4. The Way Home by George Pelecanos

5. The Nine Lessons by Kevin Alan Milne

Contest Rules:

The contest ends at 9:00pm ET on Sunday, November 29, 2009. We will announce the winner the following day. The winner will be chosen randomly using Random.org.

The contest is open to U.S. and Canadian residents only. You must have a valid email address to comment and to be contacted by if you win. If the winner chosen does not respond within three days to the email then the next person on the list will be chosen.

How to enter:

1.) Leave us a comment: For one entry, simply leave a comment on this post requesting an entry in the giveaway.

2.) Subscribe to Book Dads: For one additional entry, subscribe to Book Dads by RSS or by Email and leave a comment here telling us how you subscribed. Already a subscriber? Simply leave a comment here stating you are already a subscriber and would like an entry.

3.) Blog about this giveaway: For two additional entries, blog about this giveaway on your blog with a link back to this post. Come back and leave us a comment with a link to your blog post (not your main blog url!). (If your comment doesn’t show up right away, don’t worry, it may have been held for moderation)

4.) Twitter this giveaway: If you Tweet a link to this giveaway, come back and comment here and let us know your Twitter name or post a link to the tweet for another entry!

Do all 4 things above, leaving a separate comment for each and you will have 5 entries.

Big city kids – New Yorkers or otherwise – will recognize the settings, and the book is a good conversation starter for talking about any dad’s work (even if he’s an accountant and not a cool jazz musician!)

Excerpt:

Cool Daddy Rat
shooby dooby doo dat
grabbed his hat in his rat flat
zowie zowie zoo zat
and said good-bye to his spry guy.

Read other reviews:

• Provo City Library Childrens Book Review
• Literate Lives

Fall is my favorite time of the year, here is a photo from a hike we recently made to the top of Sunrise Mountain looking down on Lake George, NY. We’ve had a great month here at Book Dads, here is a roundup of our reviews and posts from October.

We hope everyone is having a great fall so far!

Weekend Wander is a weekly roundup of links, events and resources related to books, reading, literacy and dads too.  We would like to explore and share ideas from both the book blogging  and the dad blogging communities. Here is what we have to share this week:

• Top 5 Sports Books « Good4sports Blog
  at: good4sports.wordpress.com
  Go to Good4sports blog, to nominate your top 5 sports books of all time.

If you know of an interesting resource, event, link or a post you’ve written that you would like included in our Weekend Wander roundup at Book Dads, please feel free to let us know in the comments and leave a link. We’ll add it to the post.