Continuing down the list of classic children's books that topped our list of favorites at age 2 is The Little Engine That Could. This is a true classic.
That said, I personally found that it was NOT what I remembered from my own childhood. As an impressionable kid, I must have seen a cartoon version or two (or five) of the classic Engine that Could story. Those emphasized the final big climb up the mountain.
The original Watty Piper text, however, is different. It is almost like reading a historical text, which I personally found to be a lot of fun.
1 - There is a HEAVY emphasis on all the dolls and toys (led by the somewhat creepy-looking clown) pleading with the passenger engine, the freight engine, and the beaten-up rusty engine for help.
2 - The description of the stuff that the broken-down engine was carrying is straight from the Great Depression, as one would expect from a book written during the Great Depression.
3 - The illustrations are all in a style that you could readily
At any rate, I think this is all great stuff and so does our 2-year-old (though it is more about the trains and less about the history for him).
Here's a link to the 1930's style version.
And here's a link to an updated 50's-ish version.
Wikipedia has an entry on Watty Piper, which includes his real name (Monk). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Watty_Piper. It also includes an interesting history of the evolution of the story over time. The Wikipedia entry links to an article written by a historian at the University of Illinois called the "Search for Watty Piper," which is really interesting http://tigger.uic.edu/~plotnick/littleng.htm.
--TC Daddy
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
Thursday, January 13, 2011
Trains: The Niles Canyon Railway
Our son loves trains. I suspect we'll have a few posts in the upcoming months about various train-related activities in and around the San Francisco Bay Area.
We wanted to share a recent and new (for us) train activity - the Niles Canyon Railway. Tucked into the Niles Canyon, where Sunol is located, is an amazing steam train railroad. During the holidays, the railway runs evening "light trains." As the name implies, the trains are covered in holiday lights.
We took a ride on a holiday light-train this past December with friends from my wife's post-partum mommy group, who had rented out a car and asked friends to contribute a share towards the ride. It was a fantastic experience. Enchanting and fun for the kids, and a very good time for the parents (who were able to enjoy some grain and grape-based holiday cheer during the ride).
Here's a link: http://www.ncry.org/
You will want to check the Niles Canyon Railway website in advance of planning your visit. Unlike some train activities, the holiday trains and the trains year-round are all on a more limited schedule and do not run every day.
Note - we advise either reserving a spot on an enclosed train car, getting there early enough to secure a spot in one, or else bringing warm clothes and a warm set of blankets. Many of the train cars are exposed to the elements and it can get a bit chilly in Sunol at night.
--TC Daddy
We wanted to share a recent and new (for us) train activity - the Niles Canyon Railway. Tucked into the Niles Canyon, where Sunol is located, is an amazing steam train railroad. During the holidays, the railway runs evening "light trains." As the name implies, the trains are covered in holiday lights.
We took a ride on a holiday light-train this past December with friends from my wife's post-partum mommy group, who had rented out a car and asked friends to contribute a share towards the ride. It was a fantastic experience. Enchanting and fun for the kids, and a very good time for the parents (who were able to enjoy some grain and grape-based holiday cheer during the ride).
Here's a link: http://www.ncry.org/
You will want to check the Niles Canyon Railway website in advance of planning your visit. Unlike some train activities, the holiday trains and the trains year-round are all on a more limited schedule and do not run every day.
Note - we advise either reserving a spot on an enclosed train car, getting there early enough to secure a spot in one, or else bringing warm clothes and a warm set of blankets. Many of the train cars are exposed to the elements and it can get a bit chilly in Sunol at night.
--TC Daddy
Friday, January 7, 2011
Mother Goose Is Bigger Than Oprah!!!
Before I became a father, I had only the barest inkling of Mother Goose-related stuff. Sure, I knew a few Mother Goose rhymes. And I had some sense that many of the rhymes themselves dated back over a century or more. But I wasn't aware of the true scope of Mother Goose's commercial efforts until now.
Friends, there is a MOTHER GOOSE INDUSTRY out there. Mother Goose is big. REALLY big. Indeed, I submit that MOTHER GOOSE IS BIGGER THAN OPRAH!!!
Mother Goose stuffed animals. Mother Goose cribs and furniture. Mother Goose plates and silver/plastic-ware. Mother Goose dolls. Mother Goose CDs. Mother Goose DVDs (the Wiggles do lots of MG). Etc. Etc.
Some of this may have to do with the fact that Mother Goose is in the public domain and not subject to copyright. Some of it is doubtless due to "timeless charm."
I have had to develop a Mother Goose Strategy ("MGS" for short). This is my personal strategy, and you should feel free to disagree with it. But if you're a new dad (or know one), I think this is a pretty cool approach. I thought about it so you don't have to!
1 - Don't bother with small Mother Goose books with only 4 or 5 rhymes. You'll end up buying a ton of them if your son or daughter likes these sorts of rhymes. Instead, buy one of the BIG Mother Goose Collections.
Exceptions to MGS # 1: You can violate this rule if (a) the plan is to use the small rhyme book to teach your child to read, (b) you won the lottery, (c) you want to fill up shelf-space fast, or (d) you want to be able to have lots of books to sell back in 8 years as used books.
2 - When looking for a BIG Mother Goose collection book to buy, consider the illustrations. If you don't like the illustrations, or don't think you child will like them, then obviously don't buy it. I've noticed that many MG collections have REALLY REALLY CREEPY ILLUSTRATIONS. Stuff that would give me nightmares if I had to read them over and over, let alone what they'd do to a 2 1/2 year old.
Note: We have three MG collections. That's because no one told me MGS #1 before we ended up with a short MG collection of maybe 6 rhymes. Our personal favorite is one that is illustrated with lots of animals. The reason it is our favorite? The Humpty Dumpty rhyme shows a chick coming out of the broken egg! And there's a bird flying out of the crib on the pages for the Rock-A-Bye-Baby rhyme! Great stuff for really small children. I can't recall the illustrator; I'll provide that information in an updated post at some point, maybe with a link to it online.
3 - When looking for a BIG Mother Goose collection, also consider the rhymes in the book. If the book is missing your favorite rhyme (e.g., doesn't include the full version of Twinkle Twinkle or whatever), then don't bother buying it. Chances are another collection online or in the same bookstore will have what you remember from your childhood.
4 - If you followed my strategy and get a BIG Mother Goose Collection of some kind, then make sure from the outset to establish that you're only going to read some subset of them during any given bedtime session. Maybe up to 2 dozen, since many are really short. It is true that at some point you may need to do a Mother Goose Marathon and read the whole thing. But you don't want to have to do that every night, all the time.
5 - Edit while you read it. Many of MG's rhymes were intended for mature audiences. Lots of them involve kids being beaten, people or things falling, death, etc. No need to always read every rhyme verbatim. Better to pay attention to the rhyme and edit where appropriate. There's time enough for our kids to get the G, PG, PG-13, R, and NC-17 stuff later after age 5 (or whenever - you get my point).
Hope this is helpful!
UPDATE: I was thinking of "Sylvia Long's Mother Goose," from Chronicle Books in San Francisco. I've attached a link in case you are interested.
TC Daddy
Friends, there is a MOTHER GOOSE INDUSTRY out there. Mother Goose is big. REALLY big. Indeed, I submit that MOTHER GOOSE IS BIGGER THAN OPRAH!!!
Mother Goose stuffed animals. Mother Goose cribs and furniture. Mother Goose plates and silver/plastic-ware. Mother Goose dolls. Mother Goose CDs. Mother Goose DVDs (the Wiggles do lots of MG). Etc. Etc.
Some of this may have to do with the fact that Mother Goose is in the public domain and not subject to copyright. Some of it is doubtless due to "timeless charm."
I have had to develop a Mother Goose Strategy ("MGS" for short). This is my personal strategy, and you should feel free to disagree with it. But if you're a new dad (or know one), I think this is a pretty cool approach. I thought about it so you don't have to!
1 - Don't bother with small Mother Goose books with only 4 or 5 rhymes. You'll end up buying a ton of them if your son or daughter likes these sorts of rhymes. Instead, buy one of the BIG Mother Goose Collections.
Exceptions to MGS # 1: You can violate this rule if (a) the plan is to use the small rhyme book to teach your child to read, (b) you won the lottery, (c) you want to fill up shelf-space fast, or (d) you want to be able to have lots of books to sell back in 8 years as used books.
2 - When looking for a BIG Mother Goose collection book to buy, consider the illustrations. If you don't like the illustrations, or don't think you child will like them, then obviously don't buy it. I've noticed that many MG collections have REALLY REALLY CREEPY ILLUSTRATIONS. Stuff that would give me nightmares if I had to read them over and over, let alone what they'd do to a 2 1/2 year old.
Note: We have three MG collections. That's because no one told me MGS #1 before we ended up with a short MG collection of maybe 6 rhymes. Our personal favorite is one that is illustrated with lots of animals. The reason it is our favorite? The Humpty Dumpty rhyme shows a chick coming out of the broken egg! And there's a bird flying out of the crib on the pages for the Rock-A-Bye-Baby rhyme! Great stuff for really small children. I can't recall the illustrator; I'll provide that information in an updated post at some point, maybe with a link to it online.
3 - When looking for a BIG Mother Goose collection, also consider the rhymes in the book. If the book is missing your favorite rhyme (e.g., doesn't include the full version of Twinkle Twinkle or whatever), then don't bother buying it. Chances are another collection online or in the same bookstore will have what you remember from your childhood.
4 - If you followed my strategy and get a BIG Mother Goose Collection of some kind, then make sure from the outset to establish that you're only going to read some subset of them during any given bedtime session. Maybe up to 2 dozen, since many are really short. It is true that at some point you may need to do a Mother Goose Marathon and read the whole thing. But you don't want to have to do that every night, all the time.
5 - Edit while you read it. Many of MG's rhymes were intended for mature audiences. Lots of them involve kids being beaten, people or things falling, death, etc. No need to always read every rhyme verbatim. Better to pay attention to the rhyme and edit where appropriate. There's time enough for our kids to get the G, PG, PG-13, R, and NC-17 stuff later after age 5 (or whenever - you get my point).
Hope this is helpful!
UPDATE: I was thinking of "Sylvia Long's Mother Goose," from Chronicle Books in San Francisco. I've attached a link in case you are interested.
TC Daddy
Thursday, January 6, 2011
Top Five Children's Books in 2010 (From Daddy's Perspective)
I mean "top five children's books in 2010" in the sense that our 2 1/2-year-old loved these books in 2010 -- NOT that these books came out in 2010.
That said, and without further ado, our 2 1/2-year-old's top five books of 2010 - at least from Daddy's perspective:
5 - Mother Goose Collection (we have somehow ended up with three of these, all of which are a bit different)
4 - The Little Engine That Could, by Watty Piper
3 - The New Adventures of Curious George, Margaret and H.A. Ray (though really "Vipah Interactive" illustrating "in the style of H.A. Ray)
2 - Good Night Beach, by Adam Gamble
1 - The Snowy Day, by Ezra Jack Keets
More on each of these books in future posts.
--TC Daddy
--TC Daddy
Wednesday, January 5, 2011
Welcome!
Welcome to TeachingCurve! Our blog is going to do at least two things.
First, we plan to share our stories about raising our 2-year old -- providing entertainment and advice (including things NOT to do) along the way. We'll be sharing Daddy and Mommy perspectives, which we hope will make this a lot of fun for our readers and for us.
Second, in keeping with our name, we plan to offer perspectives on and recommendations about early childhood education for both parents and educators.
Welcome to our Blog!
--TC Mommy & Daddy
First, we plan to share our stories about raising our 2-year old -- providing entertainment and advice (including things NOT to do) along the way. We'll be sharing Daddy and Mommy perspectives, which we hope will make this a lot of fun for our readers and for us.
Second, in keeping with our name, we plan to offer perspectives on and recommendations about early childhood education for both parents and educators.
Welcome to our Blog!
--TC Mommy & Daddy
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