Dr. Seuss Book Club

We’ve been collecting Dr. Seuss books for years now.  I even have a few from my childhood.  I also like to pick up extra books to use for crafting.  We have books in every nook and cranny in our house. This is the Dr. Seuss quote that inspired me to start this blog.


I assume most people with children have a Dr. Seuss book or two in their home already, but, if you are just starting your collection, or want to add to it, you should check out this Dr. Seuss Book Club.

I am a new affiliate for the Early Moments Dr. Seuss Book Club and receive a portion of sales for those who sign up. These programs and ads help me run this blog.  If you are looking to grow your Dr. Seuss collection, this is a great way to do it.
 

They have a great starter set and you’ll receive more book deals each month.Once you sign up you can decide how many months you want to keep adding to your collection.

This is a perfect program for new parents, homeschoolers and teachers.

If you order this week, Feb. 28th-March 7th, they will give you this fun 2-sided decorative Dr. Seuss Parent Guide to hang as a gift to celebrate Dr. Seuss’ birthday March 2nd.

One side is a collection of inspiring quotes by Dr. Seuss for kids young and old.

The other side is a list of tips for raising a reader!

With Dr. Seuss’ birthday this week, now is the perfect time to add to your book collection and grab a free poster.

SNAP! Just Be You!

I recently attended SNAP! Creativity at Your Fingertips, a creative blogging conference at Thanksgiving Point in Utah. 


JUST BE YOU!
The theme of the conference was "Just Be You!" I loved that they focused on everyone being unique and having different ideas and personal stories to offer through blogging.
It reminded me of this Dr. Seuss quote. “Today You are You, that is Truer than True. There is no one alive who is Youer than You!” – Dr. Seuss





SEUSS STYLE DECOR
The bright colored whimsical decorations reminded me of Dr. Seuss. Wouldn’t these be perfect at a Dr. Seuss party? The Thistles were from Taiwan Imports (available during the winter holiday as white, then the SNAP! creative team spray painted them). The white vases are from IKEA. Upper right photo by Kendra at My Insanity.

This conference was full of craft, photography, DIY, and lifestyle bloggers.  It was amazing to see so much talent in one place.



EVERYONE HAS A FAVORITE CHILDREN’S BOOK:
As I met other bloggers we traded business cards. Mine was a bookmark. Everyone had creative cards including accessories like washi tape, baker’s twine, gum, cookies, glittered unicorns and more (it was a creative conference after all).

I've noticed several people who find out I blog about children's books often like to tell me about their favorite books. So as I traded cards  I asked many of of the bloggers what their favorite children’s books were and wrote it down on their business card to remember them by. They told me about a childhood favorite or what they like to read to their kids. Below is a list of some of the responses I received (and the amazing people I met). You’ll recognize a few classics and I was introduced to some new titles as well.

• Tauni, who started SNAP! loved reading Anne of Green Gables as a child. She now reads David Shannon books with her boys.
• Heather from The Sewing Loft Blog ~ I Know a Rhino by Charles Fuge. On the last page the little girl is surrounded by all her animals/friends. (The sketch looks just like Heather’s daughter and this is how she sleeps at night.) 
• Amanda from Everyday Elements mentioned she homeschools her children. She mentioned her favorite book site is fiveinarow.com. She used the Sonlight curriculum which is literature driven. Books she mentioned were Roxaboxen by Alice McLerran, The Pumpkin Runner, Katie and the Big Snow, The Glorious Flight, The Rag Coat, A Little Red Light House (to name a few, she had a great list).
• Ashlee from I’m Topsy Turvy ~ Gregor the Overlander, The Ranger’s Apprentice, Fabel Haven, Alcatraz Versus the Evil Librarians, Hounds of Morgan, Sesame Street’s There’s a Monster at the End of This Book.
• Kara from Creations by Kara ~ The Francis books (especially the bedtime one), Tops and Bottoms (about a bear and rabbit), Ed and Fred Flea.
• Julie from Sweet’s Baby Mama ~ Going to Bed by Sandra Boyton
• Jamie from Love Laughter and Happily Ever After ~ Chicka Chicka Boom Boom
• Stephanie from Somewhat Simple ~ When You Give a Mouse a Cookie
• Destiny from A PLACE for Us  ~ David Shannon books, Babysitter’s Club and Sweet Valley Twin series.
• Gwen from Gwenny Penny ~ I am a Bunny by Richard Scarry,
• Ana from We Love Citrus ~ Peaceful Pig
• Tam from Sew Dang Cute ~ Amelia Bedilia and Little Bear books
• Heather from A Couple of Craft Addicts ~ Mr. Pine’s Purple House and she also created this AMAZING DR. SEUSS PLAYROOM.
• Rebecca from Freckles Crafts ~ Mr. Brown Can Moo
• Vanessa from Our Thrifty Ideas ~ I’ll Love You For Always and the Babysitter’s Club series
• Camilla from 1st Lady of the House ~ Where the Wild Things Are and Fancy Nancy series 
• Kristy from The Diary of Dave’s Wife ~ The Little Engine That Could
• Leanne from Organize and Decorate Everything ~ One Fish Two Fish by Dr. Seuss and If You Give a Mouse a Cookie.
• Jonie from Just Between Friends ~ All the Berenstain Bear and Little Critter books by Mercer Mayer.
• Emily from Is This REALLY My Life ~ Ferdinand and Harold and the Purple Crayon.
• Katie from Sweet Rose Studio ~ Kevin Henkes books (especially Chrysanthemum) and Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (one of my childhood favorites).
• Kristin from The Vocal Sokol ~ All Mo Willems, A Fly Went By and Pickle Schiffon Pie.
• Elizabeth from Sew Chatty ~ The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle.
• Linda from Craftaholics Anonymous ~ The Little Engine That Could
• Kristyn from Lil’ Luna ~ loves David Shannon books – She also has the best story so I saved her for last. Her husband proposed by writing a children’s book!  Kristyn collected children’s books before she got married. Her husband knew how much she loved them so he wrote a book, had a friend illustrate it and had it printed. Then he hid it at Barnes and Nobel. He took her there one day and led her to the children’s book area. He pulled his book off the shelf, read it to her and proposed right there. What a romantic and unique story.  I love it soooooo much!

Speaking of Books and Bloggers
If you are a blogger, how do you explain what you do to your kids?
I received a copy of this book called My Mommy Is A Blogger! from Sommer, who blogs at Green and Clean Mom, last year at Evo’ and have loved reading it to my kids. It helped open up a conversation to discuss why I often check my email and sit at the computer.  My kids giggle each time the child in the story calls her mom a booger. She takes her mom to school for career day and has to explain what her mom does. I suggest sharing this with your kids to help them understand what you do. The illustrations are great and it is a quick read for younger children to sit through.

FAVORITE PARTS OF SNAP!
Meeting in Real Life:
I first met several of these bloggers at the Evo’ Conference (for Women in social media in Park City each July). Some live near me so I’ve been lucky to see them at other local events as well. It was fun to see them again.
I loved the Ultimate DIY class where Stacy, from Not Just a Housewife, brought her power tools to show us some tips on how to use them. Jen, from Tatertots and Jello taught about spotting trends, Ashlee from I’m Topsy Turvy made a magnificent cake (seen here, and was my roommate). And I finally met Tara, from Tara Dara Made It, who I’ve interacted with through twitter, instagram and blogging but now I know she is a real person. She makes amazing Dr. Seuss fabric cases (for business cards, ipods, phones, ipads). Check out this case.


1. I also met Jamie and Julie who are sisters and just getting rolling in the blog world.  Julie has started a blog (SweetsBabyMama) about her decision to become a surrogate mother. Jamie has a personal family blog but plans to explore more.
2. Another great sister duo is Julie and Diana from I Heart Salt Lake.
3. Steph, from The Daily Blarg, did much of the behind the scenes planning and online coordination for the conference and Mandy, from Vintage Revivals, is a DIY queen.
4. Kami of NoBiggie, and my other roommie  Jill, Being Spiffy.




Picture 1. 300 + bloggers rushed at the opening of The Queen Bee Market. This handmade market had all the trendy décor, accessories, and more. I ended up grabbing owls from The Salty Bison, Earrings from Hoop-La and Frames from Cut It Out.
2. I met Cindy (@VitaGirl) who I follow on Instagram and play DrawSomething with.
3. We also had a fun dance night (I mainly took pictures) and 4. ate fabulous food.


New Look for ObSEUSSed Coming Soon:
After the conference I found out I won a prize from SNAP! I get to have my blog redesigned by Kendra at Key Lime Digital Designs. I can’t wait to make some changes and make my site a little more user friendly and easy on the eyes.
If you consider yourself crafty at all, and you like to blog or look at blogs, SNAP! will be happening again next spring so watch for details. They also have a wonderful community they keep connected through the year with Twitter chats each Thursday at 10:30 MST (#SNAPit) and great features, crafting and blogging tips on their blog all year.

Stuffed Animal Activities, Toy Bag and Books

I’ll admit, I used to be a stuffed animal hater. I didn’t like them much growing up and as a parent I thought they just collected dust. But my kids have loved playing with their animals.  Here are some of the things we’ve done.

STUFFED ANIMAL SLEEPOVER:
Our local library had a sleepover party for stuffed animals this past month. Kids were invited to drop off their animal Friday night and come back Saturday morning to watch a slide show of what the animals did during the night.
Too Many Toys - If you’re anything like us, stuffed animals have taken over the house.  Our Dr. Seuss characters alone filled our nightly reading spot. How could we choose which animals would go on the sleepover?

Surrounded by Dr. Seuss Stuffed Animal Toys

 
My kids finally picked these 3 as they lucky ones to go on the library sleepover.

Click here to see the video the library put together of photos from the sleepover. The animals got to roast s’mores, ride the elevator, read books about themselves and brush their teeth to prep for bed. The pics are so cute and the kids giggled through the whole slide show, especially when they saw their own animal featured.



10 Ways to Play with Stuffed Animals:

• Librarian/Storytime – Find toys that match book characters (like the Cat in the Hat). Have your child hold the toy when you read the book. Let kids connect and play with the character during reading time. If they are old enough, let them read to the animal.
• Zoo Keeper - Sort the animals into categories (monkeys, elephants, etc.), then kids get to take you on a tour of their zoo.
• Tea Party – Set up all the dishes just for the animals and let the party begin. See our party here.
• Veterinarian – Kids get to be the animal doctor and fix their toys
• Dog Catcher – Get a butterfly net and let your kids try scooping up the toy you tell them to catch.
• Circus – Have the lions and tigers and cats jump through hula hoops and your kids can ride on the elephants.
• Photographer – Let your kids pose the animals doing silly things then practice taking pictures with the digital camera (great teaching opportunity with a still object, talk about lighting and the rule about not cutting off limbs - and you can always hit delete).
• Parade – Put the animals in a wagon and take them on a walk around the block.
• Animal Safari- Hide a few of their animals around the house and help them find them by giving them clues.
• Puppet Shows – who says you have to be able to stick your hand inside and move their mouth? Just stick up a spring-loaded curtain rod in the hallway, pin a blanket around the top and use stuffed animals to put on a show.

Stuffed Animal Picture Buddy:
We picked a stuffed animal to be in a weekly photo series we took of each of our children. It is so fun to see how much they grew and compare their size to the stuffed animal. After doing this three times I would recommend the following:

• Find a toy about 20 inches tall so they start out about the same size (many babies are between 18-21 inches long at birth).
• Take your photo in the same spot or with the same backdrop each week
• Line the animal’s feet up with your babies feet so you can see your child get taller (I really wish we would have done this).

 
 


MAKE A TOY BEAN BAG:
To corral all of our stuffed animals I made these toy bean bags for my kids this past Christmas.  It has a mesh window and a drawstring opening so they can take their animals in and out. Filling it with stuffed animals makes them soft to sit on so it becomes a functional chair in their room.

See the stuffed animals peeking out of the mesh windows?
I just found my Dr. Seuss fleece fabric (I bought several years ago) and whipped up this bag in 20 minutes today, without the window.
Click here to see how to make your own bag.
 
Books about Taming the Toys:
We just found The Berenstain Bears and the Messy Room at the thrift store yesterday for 50 cents.

Another favorite is David Shannon’s Too Many Toys . See my post about this book here.

A funny book we love is Pigsty by Mark Teague.

What kind of things do you like to do with stuffed animals?



More fun ideas here: