Hohoho! Christmas is coming and we have just the perfect books for your little ones' presents! From the beautiful illustrations of William Joyce to the charming tales about Santa, happy shopping!
But first, let's start with a couple of new additions to our selection of books for parents and teachers...
Read more here.
It's the school holidays! Time for some great reading fun without the need to worry about homework or exams!
Following up on the launch of our new section for parents, here's a round-up of the latest arrivals at My Imagination Kingdom!
If you have been looking for children's books that help to introduce your little ones to musical instruments or to music in general, you're in luck! This month's collection of books include Zin! Zin! Zin! A Violin as well as The Philharmonic Gets Dressed. Both books will be a delightful addition to your child's library and is guaranteed to get their curiosity piqued about musical instruments!
Read more here.
We have been out of action for a while but we're back and better than before! In the next few months, we will be making a whole new slew of additions to My Imagination Kingdom. To start us off, here's our newly-created section specially dedicated to curating books that will help parents cultivate a reading habit with children.
Read more here.
Dear Readers and My Imagination Kingdom Customers,
We are taking a break from the 3rd to the 13th August to recharge and rejuvenate ourselves in order to serve you better. All orders during this period of time will only be processed after the 13th August.
We thank you for your understanding and we look forward to meeting you again when we're back!
Have a wonderful National Holiday!
Regards,
My Imagination Kingdom
It's back to school again after a month long exploring the world outside the campus! For the month of July, we have gathered an interesting collection of bed-time lullabies, stories about diversity plus an all-time favourite of Richard Scarry! So scroll down now to find out more about what we have in-store for you!
In this unique and delightful picture book, the story literally unfolds as pages open dramatically, extending both outward and upward. Monica wants the moon to play with, so her Papa sets out to get it for her. It isn't easy to climb all the way up to the moon, but he finally succeeds -- only to find that the moon is too big to carry home! The way in which this problem is solved is a joyful surprise.
Here is a multi-faceted story that appeals to children visually, verbally and emotionally, and which also contains a first lesson in natural history, depicting the eternal cycle of the waxing and waning of the moon. The simple text, just right for reading aloud or for the beginning reader expresses perfectly the purity of a father's love for his child. Small readers will empathize with Monica"s longing for the moon, and will be reassured by her father's willingness to try to make her wish come true. And, on a deeper level, they will recognize that Papa is not merely fulfilling Monica's whim, but is demonstrating to her that even a seemingly unreachable goal can actually be attained. Papa, Please Get the Moon for Me is a book to be re-read many times, and to be treasured for its beauty and its positive message of love and inspiration.
With irresistible rhyming language and bright, whimsical illustrations, this perfect read-aloud by internationally acclaimed author Mem Fox will weave its way into the hearts of young children everywhere.
As promised in our last edition of ‘Reading Aloud With Mummy Bloggers’, today, we are extremely pleased to share with you our interview with Toddly Mummy!
Here’s a little self-introduction from our guest, Winnie
I'm a born-again drama-mama and creative extraordinaire. I've never considered myself to have much talent in those areas. However, I've learnt that motherhood makes you discover talents you've never expected yourself to have. I work full time and spend the evenings home learning and reading with my kids.
I blog at Toddly Mummy, where I share my thoughts on parenting, fun learning moments of our home learning sessions and our outdoor adventures. I sometimes share about our favourite food too.
I have a crazy love for red bean and I don't like coffee, chilli, chips or chocolate (??!!??). Coincidentally, all starting with the letter C. I love carrots though, and cucumber, and cake.
1. Tell us more about yourself and what you do.
I'm a full time working mum who used to be a journalist and public relations specialist. Now I'm an educator with a special interest in early childhood literacy. In the evenings, I'm on my second shift, when I home learn or read with my kids.
2. Tell us more about EV and AA!
EV is a bubbly chatterbox of three years old who loves her books, painting, blowing bubbles and doing crazy pretend play with mummy.
AA is a cheeky one year old explorer who is developing an early love for books, drawing and playing tricks on grown ups.
3. As a Jolly Phonics practitioner yourself and a mother who actively engages EV in home learning, how important do you think reading aloud to EV is in her development journey? How has it helped her?
I believe that reading aloud is part of a journey to developing a child’s appreciation of books and makes the stories come alive. Listening to stories being read aloud helps develop a child’s literacy, by increasing the kids' awareness of letter sounds (also known as phonemic awareness), rhythm and the way words sound. It also helps in print awareness, that is, understanding that the printed letters and words are representations of what is being spoken, and that pages are read from top to bottom, left to right.
As a strong believer in the importance of reading aloud in the development of literacy, I do pay attention to the way I read, making sure that I pronounce each word carefully and clearly. For example. I would make sure that I pronounce the 'th' in 'three', and when saying 'cat', I would sound the last sound 't' too, so that it does not end up as 'ca'.
Such strategies not only help a child’s reading skills, but also speaking skills. EV started reading independently (http://toddlymummy.blogspot.sg/2012/11/starting-on-road-to-literacy.html) when she was two, and by three, she was able to speak in full sentences and engage in simple conversations. At one and a half years old, AA has also begun to speak words, such as ‘apple’, ‘clock’ and ‘cat’.
4. When did you first start reading to EV? What was your experience like when you first started?
I personally love books, and i wanted to inculcate that love in my kids too. Since EV was six months old, both daddy and I have been reading aloud to her daily. Generally, daddy tends to focus on English books, while I read both English and Chinese books. It is a special bonding time for us as working parents, and we look forward to it every day. Every night, we would sit back, relax and enjoy a book. It could be a simple English tale about a busy spider, or Chinese nursery rhymes. Till today, EV still looks forward to this nightly story time, which has become a family affair.
Between daddy and mummy, mummy is the more dramatic one, often using different voice levels and tones when reading aloud. I adopt different ‘voices’ when reading the lines of different characters too. Combine that with some puppet play and the kids will be chuckling and giggling. Such acting out brings the stories alive for EV and AA, and I believe helped create a love for books.
5. Did you face any challenges in keeping EV engaged when you’re reading to her? What tips would you give our readers to help them become better at reading aloud to their children?
Thankfully, we have not faced much issues in keeping EV engaged when reading aloud to her, as it has become a must-do every night. Even AA is beginning to expect it every night before he sleeps. However, kids being kids, they do love exploring at this age, and there are times when they would be attracted by other things, or simply become bored with the books. What we do is to read to them in the same area every night, on a cosy mattress on our bedroom floor. It is familiar territory and minimizes the chances of them being distracted.
6. How would you advise our readers to go about using reading to improve their child’s literacy skills? Give us 3 things they can do.
Literacy is more than just reading. Being able to read does not mean that the child has the capability to understand the story. Having phonological awareness does not mean that the child can understand the word or even use it. To gain literacy skills, the child needs to be able to understand the word, be able to comprehend the plot and therefore the story, know that the story has a narrative structure from beginning to end, have print awareness and know that text goes from left to right, understand that different fonts on the cover indicate the title and author of the book, and be able to relate stories to their personal lives.
Visual literacy, or the ability to understand how visuals and images relate to the story, is equally important. More than just the text, the child needs to learn to ‘read’ the visual cues he sees in a book and understand them. For example, when we read the book Jonathan & Martha by Petr Horacek, the cover showed two worms eating from both sides of a pear. We did a short discussion of what we thought of that image, with questions like ‘whose names are Jonathan and Martha’ and ‘why are the worms on both sides of the pear’ and so on. This helps develop an understanding how visuals are related to a story.
Here are some fun ways to build literacy skills (http://toddlymummy.blogspot.sg/2012/11/starting-on-road-to-literacy.html).
- tell the story by describing the pictures, rather than read word for word. In this way, the child can see that a story can be told in many ways. Ask questions like ‘what do you think happens next’ to prompt the child’s thoughts and develop visual literacy.
- create crafts related to the story. Some crafts we did include a duck paper craft inspired by Eric Carle's The Ten Ducklings (http://toddlymummy.blogspot.sg/2012/03/craft-fun-10-little-rubber-ducks-paper.html).
- make it relevant to the real world. For example, stand in front of a tree and describe the different parts of it. We did that after reading The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein. We also went in search of shapes in nature, after reading The Perfect Square by Michael Hall.
Having reading skills is important, but even more precious is understanding the story and loving it, loving books. Most importantly though, is that parents have to demonstrate a love for books too with a reading habit that kids can model after.
7. How do you go about picking books for EV? Are there any resources or places you go to on the web for recommendations or reviews?
I generally choose beautifully illustrated books with simple storylines, rhymes and vocabulary. Some of the authors we like include Eric Carle, Julia Donaldson and Leo Lionni. Where possible, we also read the Chinese versions of these pleasurable tales. The National Library is a great source for such books.
8. Since you do home learning for EV, do you try to pick books for EV that fit into your teaching curriculum for her? If so, can you list some examples of how you have done that?
I like to pick books that fit into our home learning curriculum where possible. For example, in November last year, we read books that started with the letters P, Q, R, S and T (http://toddlymummy.blogspot.sg/2012/11/fun-with-p-q-r-s-t.html), as we went through the alphabets. When we headed to Hong Kong in December, we also did a tot book about the Chinese city.
9. What inspired you to start the “My Favourite Children’s Author” series on your blog?
I started this series because I believe that parents have their favourite authors that they love to share with their children. At the same time, they can also share related fun activities that they have done as an extension of the authors’ books.
10. Finally, despite all the efforts and time that is needed to make reading to EV and AA a regular activity, we know it must be a rewarding experience for you nevertheless. What do you enjoy most about reading to EV and AA?
I am very happy that EV, as well as AA, enjoy our reading and home learning sessions. The bonding that we have during these times is simply heartwarming and beautiful, and it is really wonderful to watch EV learn. Often times, things may not go according to what I planned. However, I look forward to seeing the bright spark in her eyes when she has that ‘aha!’ moment, or her delightful laughter as she engages in the stories, everyday, not to mention all the hugs and kisses.
Thanks Winnie for sharing with us your wonderful journey in reading to EV and AA! Check out Winnie's blog here: http://toddlymummy.blogspot.sg/ and stay tuned for future editions of Reading Aloud With Mummy Bloggers!
It's the June holidays and here's our selection of summer reads to keep your child happy and well-occupied. Enjoy!
Scroll through and click on the book's title to find out more about each book.
Books for Children Aged 3+
1. Mister Magnolia by Quentin Blake (Paperback)
Mister Magnolia has only one boot - he has an old trumpet, two sisters, a pond, green parakeets, some fat owls, a scooter, a swimming pool; he's a juggler, a general, the owner of a dinosaur... But only one boot - until a wonderful parcel arrives with the most glamorous boot you ever saw. Quentin Blake has created a wonderfully lovable comic character which will crease every child with laughter.
At My Imagination Kingdom, we are constantly looking to bring you fresh and relevant content that might help add some spark to the next read-aloud experience you share with your child. Today, we are really excited to reveal our new “Reading Aloud With Mummy Bloggers” series, where we invite a local mummy blogger to share with us her thoughts and personal experiences as she embarked on this amazing journey of self-discovery and bonding with her child.
To launch this series, we are delighted to have with us Alicia, mother of four-and-a-half-year-old Dumpling, phonics instructor, homeschooler and SuperMom from BeanieNUs!
Here’s a little self-introduction from our guest, Alicia
I am a reformed perfectionist and a caffeine addict based in Singapore. Having to battle post natal depression shortly after birth, I have definitely learnt that motherhood throws you the most unpredictable curve balls. I am also a working mum who homeschools my daughter (fondly known as Dumpling) in the evenings.
I blog regularly at BeanieNUs where I pen down my parenting thoughts, share my love for food (and cooking) and my (sometimes) creative moments during our homeschool sessions.
I also have a fetish for smelling Dumpling’s toes and having immense satisfaction in stealing kisses as she sleeps. :)
1. Tell us more about yourself and what you do.
I am a working mum and a caffeine addict. My day job revolves around Marketing and Corporate Communications while my evening ‘job’ is that of a homeschooling mum!
2. Tell us more about Dumpling!
Dumpling is a typical, active pre-schooler who loves the outdoors and playdates. She also has a voracious appetite for books and loves pretend play where she gets to be the “Mummy” instead. J
3. As a phonics instructor yourself and a mother who homeschools Dumpling, how important do you think reading aloud to Dumpling is in her development journey? How has it helped her?
Reading aloud is a daily activity for us and has been that way since Dumpling was less than one year old. Being a working mum, I treasure whatever time that I have, after work, with Dumpling and that is how we started reading aloud. Through the constant and consistent exposure, reading also becomes a pleasure where we have loads of fun acting out. I personally believe that this has helped create a love for books in Dumpling’s case.
In addition to the bond, reading aloud also helps to raise phonemic awareness in children which increases their sensitivity to letter sounds. Dumpling is an early reader and started reading independently around 2 years old.
4. When did you first start reading to Dumpling? What was your experience like when you first started?
I started reading aloud when she was less than a year old. In addition to being a phonics instructor, I am also a certified Baby Signing instructor hence as we read nursery rhyme and stories, we would often sing and sign to it.
Because I believe in the ‘play learning’ route, this was incorporated into our reading aloud sessions and Dumpling loved the ‘reading/singing’. We would also break out into dances and groove to some rhymes CD. Having said that, there were also some days when Dumpling would just walk away.
5. Did you face any challenges in keeping Dumpling engaged when you’re reading to her? What tips would you give our readers to help them become better at reading aloud to their children?
As shared above, young children do walk away because by nature, they learn by exploring at that age. That is actually very common as children this young are active and they tend to explore as they basically learn through touch, taste, sound, etc. So what I did was to read to her in an enclosed area (play yard / room) and dramatize certain parts. I’d suddenly go “wow, look at the turnip! It is huge! Look at how big it is!” More often than not, because of my tone, she’d walk over for a peep.
Gradually she began to linger around more before progressing to sitting on my lap while being read to. Some of my fondest memories are of her seated between my legs, my lips just a tad above hers where I’d plant kisses, smell her head and read on. J
6. How would you advise our readers to go about using reading to improve their child’s literacy skills? Give us 3 things they can do.
I do draw a line between ‘literacy’ and ‘reading skills’ because to me, they are vastly different. Having phonological awareness and being about to sight read do not mean that a child is able to understand the story. Literacy as a whole means much more:
So, I'd rather my child love books, understand the above than just being able to recognise words. And for that, truly the best tip would be to read, read and read a lot with your child. When your child hears you read daily, he is exposed to the sound of the language and the beauty of the story.
Some suggestions to make reading more fun would be:
7. How do you go about picking books for Dumpling? Are there any resources or places you go to on the web for recommendations or reviews?
When Dumpling was younger, we went with well-known children’s authors such as Eric Carle, Bill Martin, etc., who provided us with great moments in the evenings. I chose these authors partly because of the bright illustrations and the easy rhymes. The book list from BFIAR is also a good way to start; many of the listed books are truly lovely titles with a great storyline and introduce good vocabulary. I do not have any specific resources / websites to go to for recommendations but I often head to Amazon to read the reviews. Additionally, you can also view the inside pages for some titles at Amazon.
When the child is older (2 and above), you can even extend to Tot Pack activities which you can print them free-of-charge off the internet. Here’s a link for these printables. I do also look out for award winning titles such as those which are awarded Caldecott Medals. The illustrations and the storyline of those titles are usually beautiful and a pleasurable read.
8. Since you homeschool Dumpling, do you try to pick books for Dumpling that fit into your teaching curriculum for her? If so, can you list some examples of how you have done that?
When she was younger, we went through the BFIAR list so I would reserve the books via the National Library Board website and pick them up at a later convenience. Sometimes we would also explore a particular title if that month is the author’s birthday month – for e.g. in March last year, we explored Green Eggs and Ham and Lorax. Other times we would also work around a field trip: here we did an air transport theme in-line with the Singapore Air Show.
9. You’re a fantastic example of a Super Mom! What with a full-time job, an active blog and homeschooling Dumpling, how do you find the time to read to Dumpling? Is there any routine that you have worked out to fit reading into?
Thank you for the kind words! If you can only see how disorganised I am at times, you would not call me a Super Mom! LOL. I homeschool Dumpling every evening from 7+pm. We target to read an English and a Chinese title every evening. When she was younger, we would extend to craft and using printable packs. Now that she is older, after reading the title, I will usually work with her on Creative Expression which sometimes includes a bit of writing or extend into some simple Science experiments (we love Science and titles from The Magic School Bus series is a delight).
I hardly go out on weekday nights because homeschooling is a choice that we make and this is a commitment that I seek to meet. Instead I meet my friends over lunch and mummy friends for weekend playdates.
10. Finally, despite all the efforts and time that is needed to make reading to Dumpling a regular activity, we know it must be a rewarding experience for you nevertheless. What do you enjoy most about reading to Dumpling?
I count my blessings daily that we are able to homeschool. There are sacrifices to be made and there are ‘tough days’ too when nothing seems to go according to plans. But I do consider it a privilege. The “togetherness” during the reading time that we have is beautiful. Being ‘present’ and being able to be part of her learning process is a gift. I am often humbled when I am able to witness the wonderment in her eyes when she manages to uncover a new discovery and encouraged by her squeals of delight and hugs.
Thank you Alicia! For sharing with us your reading aloud journey with Dumpling! For all of you out there who are interested in finding out more about Alicia and her blog, visit BeanieNUs! In the meanwhile, stay tuned for our next interview with Winnie from Toddly Mummy!