This week we bring to you!!
The Tale of Despereaux by  Kate Di Camillo


This book has been reviewed by two students:

Darby age 12

"Despereaux, dark, light, soupy, and fright.
One little mouse trying to save the only thing that matters in his life. 
Did I forget cauliflower?
Mad rats, bad rats, tricky rats and a rat that just wants to get you back.
Well then, if you like stories that talk about these things
 I would suggest you read it."

Sage age 8

"Evil rats, friendly knights, royal kings, and a small mouse?
Twisting tales of soup and rodents clatter into chapters bursting with perfidy!
A book filled with sadness and betrayal.  A book of a mouse in love with a princess whom he must save.
If interested I recommend The Tale of Despereaux"
 

My daughter and I made these adorable little cards to celebrate spring.




bird with nest and 3 eggs


bird with branch and nest


bird with 2 eggs and one baby bird

I love the details she added to each one.

Here is the basic pattern-you can print and xerox to the size you want.



Trace the bird pattern and use a contrasting color for the wing.
Then give your child a black marker to draw the legs, nest, baby birdies......

I am addicted to Soulemama these days.  Amanda has such a great sense of style.
I can't wait until her book comes out, I will be one of the first to snatch it up.
Here is a sample of what she will be sharing with us.


Please check out her blog and her etsy site, if you are lucky you might be able to buy one of her originals(warning-they sell like hot cakes)

The Paper Bag Princess by Robert Munsch
I remember my friend Kim reading this book to her daughter over 10 years ago.
I loved the book then, forgot about it, and rediscovered it this week
If you haven't read this book, put it on your list of books to get next time you go to the library.


Read about Princess Elizabeth-"A dragon smashed her castle, burned all her clothes with his fiery breath, and carried off Prince Ronald."

I remember mom my telling me that when she was a little girl, her mom use to whip up some icing and serve it on graham crackers-and today that is what we decided to do.

What you'll need

graham crackers
frosting
bowl or plate full of sprinkles

1.  Seperate the graham crackers into fourths.
2.  Spread with icing (use a good amount)


3. Top with another graham cracker and push until the icing is starting to squish out of the sides.


4.  Dip each side of cracker in a bowl full of sprinkles


5.  Serve the cookies with milk

While searching through the internet last week, I ran across the tuturiol to make these really cute matchbook notebooks.


Michelle from Greetingarts was nice enough to share this pattern with us.

Check out her blog-she has great ideas.

These would make such great gifts!
There are endless ideas!

Here are a few I thought of
.
*fill them up with drawings for the grandparents
*print off pictures and paste inside as a little photo album
*make one for your child if you go out of town with a sweet message to them for everyday you are gone
*autograph/best friends book for older girls
*Mother's day/Father's day gifts with a nice thing about them for each page

Let me know of your ideas!!!

Here in Chicago it doesn't feel nice enough to stay outside, so we brought the outdoors inside-and painted them too.

My daughter collected a bunch of pinecones


and a bunch of these


brought them to school, and the kids decided to paint them.

and then decided to add glitter.

They were entertained for a very long time.


I had to make some too

Do you still have valentines lurking around your house?
My daughters still have their valentines, and they don't want to throw them away so this is what we decided to do with them.
 
Glue stick them on a large piece of construction paper-(both sides of paper if they have a lot of them)


sprinkle with heart confetti or stick on some extras stickers


laminate with clear contact paper or strips of packing tape.

Now you have a placemat for your table or desk.

(if you want, you can apply the valentines directly to the contact paper-that way you can see who they were from-although this is a lot harder for kids).

Welcome to my Little Bear blog-thanks for stopping by.
As many of you may know, Kiddley has taken a break.
I was sad to see this happen and I understand and respect Claires decision.
I received a lot of great feedback from my buckets and thought
"Hey Joy, you could do this, you've been working with children for over 15 years, written 2 childrens craft books,what is the hold up?"

This is where you come in- If you would like to share an idea with us-just let me know-It would be great to start our own little blog for kids crafts/stories/recipes here in the states.  Maybe like a Kiddley cousin?

I don't want anyone to think I am stealing the idea behind Kiddley, just brainstorming with other moms to come up with new and creative ideas to help each other out.
Claire from Looby Lu has given me a new inspiration-thanks Claire.

WELCOME TO LITTLE BEAR


It's another dreary February day- we want to see some spring around here.

(If your child is begging for a pet, see how long you can fool them by making one of these).


This is not an original idea, but I did buy a few vintage birds to make the birds look a little bit more realistic.
Check out this link for directions

it might be a little messy, but it is worth it, we have had ours hanging up for close to a year now.

Here is another one