April 20 – It’s the Month of the Young Child

About the Holiday

During the month of April, we celebrate families and their young children. The aim of the holiday is to raise awareness of all the ways people can support and advance children’s happiness and wellbeing. Getting kids excited about learning and experiencing new things, getting to know their community, engaging in healthy habits like eating well and exercising are important components of a happy life. Today’s book incorporates many of these goals and will delight young readers. Earlier this month, families, schools, and caregivers celebrated the Week of the Young Child with different special activities encouraged each day of the week. These activities are fun all this month and anytime of the year. To learn more about how you can incorporate Music Monday, Tasty Tuesday, Work Together Wednesday, Artsy Thursday, and Family Friday into your schedule visit the website of the National Association for the Education of Young Children.

Animals Move

Written by Jane Whittingham

It’s no secret that little ones love to jump, run, climb, and snuggle. Not only are these activities fun and great for getting the wiggles out, they help kids build strong muscles and develop large and fine motor skills. In her new book, Jane Whittingham entices children to get moving while also introducing them to fifteen baby animals and what they are called through her engaging rhythmical and rhyming text. Even the youngest children will pick up on Whittingham’s lively words and want to read along too.

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Beautiful, action-packed nature photographs of each baby animal – from whale calves to swan cygnets , echidna puggles to alpaca crias, puppies and kittens to tadpoles and more – are paired with photos of a wide range of kids, including a girl with Down syndrome and a young ballerina who uses a walker, mirroring the animal’s motions and inviting readers to pounce, nibble, splash, and dash along with them.

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Animals Move is part of the Toddler Tough series, which, in addition to the text for children, provides adults with a guide on how the book assists with physical, language, and subject-matter learning development. The spirited photographs of readers’ peers engage kids in recognizing a variety of facial expressions, emotions, and body language, which enhances social emotional learning – important skills for success in school and beyond. Back matter also provides ways in which to use the book as a springboard for your own creativity through games, singing, movement exercises, and even making your own book. Sturdy construction and a padded cover complete this well-thought-out book.

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If you’re looking for a book that’s sure to be an active story time favorite at home, in the classroom, or for library programs as well as a terrific take-along for spontaneous fun on walks, at the park, on picnics, and during other outings, you’ll want to add Animals Move to your book collection.

Ages 2 – 5

Pajama Press, 2022 | ISBN 978-1772782387

Discover more about Jane Whittingham and her books on her website.

Month of the Young Child Activity

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Match Up the Animals! Game

Test your powers of memory—or your ability to guess correctly—with this Animal Pairs matching game!

Supplies

Printable Match Up the Animals! Cards to color
Printable Full-Color Funny Matching Cards – Set 1 | Set 2
Colored pencils, markers, or crayons
Scissors

Directions

Print the Animal Pairs Cards, print two pages to have double cards. To make the game more difficult print 3 or more pages to find 3 or more groups of matching animals
Color the cards
Cut out the cards
Lay the cards face down on a table in random order
Turn over cards to look for matching pairs
When you find a matching pair leave the cards face up
Continue playing until you find all the matching animal pairs or groups

**You can find Animals Move at these booksellers**

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Books-a-Million

To support your local independent bookstore, order from

Bookshop | IndieBound

Picture Book Review

June 21 – International Day of Yoga

Posted by Kath Carroll

About the Holiday

The idea for an International Day of Yoga came from India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2014 during a speech to the United Nations General Assembly. The proposal was met with enthusiastic support, and June 21—the Summer Solstice—was chosen as the official date. On the first International Day of Yoga in 2015, nearly 36,000 people from around the world, including world leaders, gathered in New Delhi and performed twenty-one asanas for thirty-five minutes. Since then the day has been celebrated across the globe. In 2018 more than 100,000 people participated. This year, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the theme of the holiday is “Yoga for Health – Yoga at Home.” With its emphasis on connecting the mind, body, and spirit, yoga provides an excellent way to exercise while relieving the stress of the day – something we can all use this year. To watch or participate in this year’s virtual event, visit the United Nation’s International Day of Yoga page.

Yoga Baby

Written by Amanda Flinn | Illustrated by Shane Crampton

Mom, sporting a pretty wild bedhead hairdo, wakes her baby, whose own rakish ‘do is topped with a small fountain tuft. In the living room, Mama, rolls out her yoga mat as a water bottle sits nearby. Her baby, sitting on her own blanket and ready with a sippy cup, claps her hands eagerly. The baby watches her mom and from her sitting position follows along as best she can: “Yoga mama, reach up high. / Yoga baby, touch the sky.”

When Yoga mama poses in Steady Tree, Baby gets up “on one knee.” For this enthusiastic baby, though, her mom’s yoga routine turns into a time for play, tickles, and giggles. After a hair yank during Mama’s push up plank and a bit of tumbling during her downward dog, however, Baby finishes up strong: “Yoga mama, shoulder stand. / Yoga baby, feet in hand.” Cool down is as sweet it gets as Baby’s eyes grow tired and she and Mom enjoy a snuggly nap.

An Author’s Note giving simple tips for practicing yoga with little ones follows the story.

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Image copyright Shane Crampton, 2020, text copyright Amanda Flinn, 2020. Courtesy of Beaming Books.

Moms, dads, and kids—whether they do yoga or not (yet!)—will fall in love with this awe-dorable, pitch-perfect board book. In her charming rhyming couplets, Amanda Flinn captures the “me too!” baby-and-mom dynamic that makes doing activities with little ones so fun and educational. The baby’s attempts to copy her mama’s poses are clever and will have kids and adults laughing—and trying them—together. The cuddly ending will make this book a favorite for loving story times, nap times, bedtimes, or anytime.

Happiness shines from every page in Shane Crampton’s bright illustrations that reflect the enthusiasm and love between Mom and child through their shared gazes, eager smiles, and breaks in the routine for playtime. Crampton clearly depicts Mom’s yoga poses and her baby’s interpretations of them, adding to the humor. Small, homey details, like toys, a guitar, a laundry basket, and proudly displayed drawings by Baby, create a realistic home environment that gives adults and kids more familiar items to name and talk about. Little readers will also giggle at the family cat, who stretches and rolls and wants to join in the fun too.

Sure to be an often-asked-for read, moms, dads, caregivers, and especially kids will want Yoga Baby on their home bookshelves. It also makes an enchanting and mindful read for daycare, preschool, classroom, and public libraries.

Ages Birth – 5

Beaming Books, 2020 | ISBN 978-1506456997

Discover more about Amanda Flinn and her books on her website.

To learn more about Shane Crampton, her books, and her art, visit her website.