Welcome to the October Online Book Club for Kids!

Our author this month is Amy Krouse Rosenthal, who has a very unique way of communicating everyday experiences with humor.  We read quite a few of Ms. Rosenthal's books this month. 

First, I want to recommend that every parent read 'One of Those Days', a story about how one or two things can really alter a child's view of the day. 

It's a great book for those of us who might have forgetten what it was like to be a kid and have a 'not-big-enough day' or a 'feeling-left-out day'.

This month, we decided to feature two books (along with a page from a third)!

One of the book series by Ms. Rosenthal are the 'Cookie' books.  Each of the books chooses some great vocabulary words and puts them in kid-speak! 

I loved the idea of building a child's vocabulary by using examples from their daily life. 

Two of our favorites were:

One Smart Cookie: Bite-Size Lessons for the School Years and Beyond and

Christmas Cookies: Bite-Size Holiday Lessons

Most kids might be confused when hearing words such as 'tradition', 'perserverance' and 'integrity', but with these books, the words become more familiar and allow great opportunities for a parent-child discussion.

With that in mind, we created a Family Conversation Jar. 

I went through the books, typed up and printed out a number of the words with simple definitions.  We cut the words into strips, folded them and placed them in a special jar that we keep on the dinner table.  Each day, my daughter can choose a strip from the jar and we can discuss how the word may have applied to something that happened that day.

Not only are we building our vocabulary, but it's also a great conversation starter about our day! 

I also included many of the words that relate to the upcoming holiday season, such as gratitude and charitable, knowing that we are likely to be using these words more in the coming weeks.

Here is a printable version of the words we used so you can make your own jar at home. 

Please include other words that you think will communicate to your child or spark a conversation. 

Oh yes, and the third book I mentioned!  We found a very cute illustration of table manners in the shape of the periodic table in The Wonder Book, so we also used this as a fun jumping-off place to talk about table manners at mealtime!

I  hope this activity inspires you to have some fun family conversations as we enter the busy holiday seasons!!

Here are some more wonderful ideas for crafts & activities that pair with books this month from our co-hosts: