Mudpuppy Puzzles

Mama L promised to share some of gal S's favourite toys in my earlier blog. So here goes...

I introduced puzzles to gal S when she was going 3. We started with the simple, jumbo sized, regularly shaped (usually comes in 24pcs) ones, then moved on to the large 36 pieces and now, she does the 100 pcs with her papa. I'd searched hard for nice puzzles and tried a variety of puzzles with gal S. Our favourites are definately the ones from mudpuppy. Its just amazing to observed how gal S fumbled at the beginning with the new puzzle, and then eventually be able to pick up each piece and simply put them in the correct places. And I never understood why she never start with the "frame" of the jigsaw puzzle like adults would? **scratch head**


Mama L simply LOVED the mudpuppy jigsaw puzzles for their quality and variety. Its simply great that their puzzles relate to the books that gal S had read and loved, like The Very Hungry Caterpillar, Rainbow Fish, Where Wild Things Are, etc. Gal S also likes the Around the World puzzles as she learns where penguins lived, where the pyramids are found, etc

Walker's Books

Another Crazy Mamas' favourites are the titles from Walker's Books. The titles from Walker's books teach the first magic of words through songs, rhymes, pictures and patterns. One of the all-time favourite is "We're going on a Bear Hunt" I don't think there will be any kids who will NOT fall in love with the story and the catchy tune.

It's one of the story with a catchy tune, that Mama L use to keep gal S occupied while waiting for the train or the bus. Great way to keep her happy, especially when Mama has her hands full. "Little Rabbit Foo Foo" is another story with a wonderful catchy tune about a naughty rabbit who goes around bobbing animals on their heads, before he was turned into a goonie (even though Mama was a little stumped when gal S asked, "What's a goonie?").

Gal S also loved the "Ravenous Beast", which gobbles everyone up, to prove that he's the hungriest of them all.

Little Tiger Press Picture Books

Crazy Mamas are NUTS over the books from littletigerpress. We can never get enough of the books for their exquisite storyline, wonderful illustrations and layout.

Mama L picked some of gal S's favourite reads to share with all. The Lamb Who Came For Dinner, started off as a typical wolf wants to eat lamb story, but along the way, the wolf's conscience got to him, and he started to care for the helpless little lamb. I also took the opportunity of the story to teach my gal S to take care of her little brother. The Biggest Baddest Wolf, is about Harum Scarum the wolf, who wanted to be nasty to everyone as he's the biggest baddest wolf around, but has a unknown weakness, aka his teddy. Ouch! is one of the amusing stories about the little hedgehog who ended up with more stuff stuck on his back, while trying to get off the apple that fell on his back and got stuck there. Gal S like the central character, the little hedgehog and kept pestering Mama to get more of the little hedgehog's titles like One Snowy Night, One Winter Day and One Rainy Day.

Mama L's favourite is The Three Horrid Little Pigs and the Big Friendly Wolf. An absolute quiky twist to the all-time favourite "Three Little Pigs" story. You never know what to expect in the story.


The Lamb Who Came For Dinner

When a hungry old wolf gets an unexpected visit from a little lamb, he starts planning a delicious hotpot. But the lamb doesn't want to be the wolf's dinner, she wants to be his friend...

The Biggest Baddest Wolf
Harum Scarum’s idea of fun is to scare people. Well, he is the biggest, baddest, hairiest, scariest wolf in the city! But after a really good day of scaring little children, old people, and even a builder, Harum Scarum gets back home to find he’s lost his teddy. Oh no! He’ll do anything to get him back…

Ouch!
Hedgehog has just finished building a cosy nest ready for winter when… OUCH! …an apple falls from a tree and sticks in the spines on her back! Squirrel tries to remove the apple but things don't go quite as planned and soon Hedgehog has a juicy red apple AND three brown nuts stuck on her back…

The Three Horrid Pigs and the Big Friendly Wolf

Mother Pig has had enough of her three horrid little pigs. So she packs their bags and sends them on their way. The first two little pigs build their houses by stealing straw and pinching twigs. While the third little pig is so lazy, he moves into the hen house! What horrid little pigs they are! Will the big, friendly wolf help them see the error of their ways?This is a wonderfully quirky twist on a classic fairy tale from an award-winning picture-book creator.

Cheers

Mama L

Enid Blyton - All Time Favourite

Our all time favourite author - Enid Blyton. Mama W has been thinking... maybe is time that I should introduce Enid Blyton's books to my boi R. And happened to see this title - The New Adventure of the Wishing Chair - The Island of Surprises , so mama decided to give it a try. This series is recommended for age 5+, the content and words are great for children who are ready to go beyond the Usborne books. Although the choice of words used are simple, the story is interesting and easily digest by readers. Thus, it gives them confident to read and want more books.

About :- Jack and Jessica find an old rocking chair in the shed of their new house. Suddenly, a pixie called Wishler appears and says he was trapped in the chair. He wants to go home, so soon they're off to the Island of Surprises on the magical wishing-chair. But there they meet a rather naughty wizard named Flick and they discover that surprises aren't always nice.

Cheers,

Crazymama W

Oops!

Dear ALL,

Crazymamas have this wonderful book to share - Oops! Both our children LOVE this book very much, even mamas LOVE it too. Boi R loves the part where Mister Wolf was banned from store, park and school. The tricks that Mister Wolf thought of to capture Preston Pig are funny too.

Introducing... A Preston Pig Story

Preston sets off to take a basket of food to his granny's, wearing a red coat and hood, and looking very much like Little Red Riding Hood. As ever, Mister Wolf is in hot pursuit, but he can't think which story Preston's red coat and hood reminds him of, and consequently can't remember what he is supposed to do...

Here's some review by others:-

Review 1:

This has been the bedtime story book of choice of my young daughter for the last 3 weeks.
She absolutely loves it although I must admit that I am now dreaming about falling chimney pots and Cunning Wolf Tricks.
She now knows all of the words and tries to get into character when reading with me.
I am now on Amazon looking for more Preston Pig and Colin McNaughton desperately trying to expand my literary repertoire.

Review 2:

My four year old son really enjoys this book, he finds it very funny. It really appeals to a four year olds' sense of humor. There are also things going on in the illustrations to talk about. As a parent, this is one that I enjoy reading too.

Review 3:

My five year old son loves this book and can tell the story almost word perfect. He loves the story and the wonderful illustrations and is always asking for more Preston Pig books. He loves the accidents that keep happening to Mister Wolf and never tires of the story. I would highly recommend all the Preston Pig books.

Review 4:

I work in a school and the children love all the Colin McNaughton books and 'Ooops!' was missing. The children loved this book just as much as the others - a great success.

Love,

Crazymama W

Cultivate Your Child To Read

Dear Daddies and Mummies,

Crazymama W would like to share this article that I found in the Little TigerPress website.

Helping your child learn to read
Your child is learning from the day it is born and, as a parent, you can make a huge difference in teaching your child good language skills that will help them to make sense of their world.

SHARE
Even very young children can get a sense of enjoyment out of sharing the experience of reading a book with their parents. Children learn to talk before they learn to read, so reading a book together is a great way of talking to your baby about lots of different things. Baby will find the experience enjoyable and learn how books work at a very early age. Best of all, sharing a book together is a fantastic way of being close to your child.

TIPS for SHARING books with your child:

• Pick a peaceful place to read the book so that you and your child don’t get distracted.
• Let your child hold the book and turn the pages with you – they will soon understand that you read a book from the front to the back.
• Talk about the pictures in the book and point out images that your child knows. For example, if there is a picture of a car, ask your child questions like “What colour car do we have?” and “Where do we like to drive in the car?”

LISTEN
Children learn to talk by listening to the people around them. By frequently reading and talking to your child, you will encourage them to respond and join in with their own opinions. Listening and offering praise to your child is a great way of boosting their confidence in their reading skills.

TIPS for LISTENING to your child read:

• Make sure you give your child plenty of time to answer when you ask them a question.
• Teaching your child rhymes and poems is a great way for them to practise familiar language sounds.
• Use books to encourage your child to talk about their feelings and fears about new situations and experiences.
• Let your child make up stories about the characters in the book or ask them what they think will happen next.

TEACH
Even though your child will be taught to read at school, learning to read needs more practice than they will be able to get during the school day. Parents play an incredibly important role in helping their child improve their vocabulary and reading skills, and it’s never too early to start. A recent study showed that children who read to their parents improved their reading more than those who were getting extra support from a teacher in school.

TIPS for TEACHING your child to read:

• Practise the letter-sound relationships your child will learn at school.
• Sing the alphabet while pointing to each letter on an alphabet chart.
• Encourage your child to read all sorts of different reading material – newspapers, magazines, the internet, as well as books.

ENJOY
The most important thing to remember is that reading should be fun! If your child sees reading a book as a chore, they are unlikely to get much out of the exercise. There are lots of games you can play to make reading with your child a pleasurable experience that you will both enjoy.

TIPS for ENJOYING reading with your child:

• Sing along to nursery rhymes and use funny voices and sounds. As your child gets more familiar with the rhymes they will begin to join in.
• Novelty books with pop-ups, flaps and textured finishes can be a great way to get your child interested in books.
• Encourage your child to act out their favourite stories and, as they get older, write their own.
• Make a collage of the alphabet by cutting up old papers or magazines. For example, if your child loves animals, try making an animal alphabet – a is for antelope, b is for bird, etc.

Usborne Wind-up Tractor Book - with Wind-up Models

CrazyMamas just felt in LOVE with this book. The illustrations are simply irresistable. Two mamas are so fascinated that we just picked up and go without giving second thoughts to it. Wow!! our older children adores it. Even my boi E (10+ months old) loves watching the tractor going round about the tracks.

This is how it looks inside....

Interested mummies, can visit this link:- http://seeinside.usborne.com/default.asp?id=2481&site=4

Cheers, CrazyMama W

My 3+ gal S's All-Time Favourite Books

I started reading with my gal S when she was a baby, it was amusing to see her run over every time to get her red toy car, when the boardbook about 'What I want to be' talked about becoming a racing driver. Initially, we started with books with characters that are familiar to her, like Elmo, Big Bird, Thomas the Tank Engine, Bob the Builder, Little Einstein, Dora the Explorer etc. We then moved on to other book collections from Dr Seuss, Eric Carle, Child's Play, etc.

Eric Carle's is one of her (and mama's too) favourite authors. 'Head to Toe' is the book that she proudly proclaimed that she could "read" all by herself. It is always amazing how kids can seemed to remember the sequence of the book after reading it just once. This is an interesting book, as S had fun doing all the actions while reading the book. She enjoyed ALL of her Eric Carle's books, and simply loved the boardbooks editions, with the cutouts, sounds and foldouts. 'Papa, please get the moon for me', 'The Very Clicky Beetle', 'The Very Hungry Catapillar', 'The Secret Birthday Message' are some of S's favourites reads.

Usborne, I think every mommy and daddy out there would had heard of the famous Usborne books. Usborne Phonics Readers were S's all time favourite for quite a while. We had read them countless times, over and over again. Now, she had moved on to the Usborne Reading Programme doing the First Reading Level 3 and 4, and Young Reader Series One. S loved the maps drawn at the front of the First Reading Level 3 books, influence of Dora the Explorer I guess..

Dr Seuss, is another mommies' favourite, I first introduced S to Dr Seuss with the Flip-A-Flap Collection, and we both enjoyed the use of humour, rhyme and illustrations of Dr Seuss. She had moved on to the beginner books, i.e. blue back and green back books.

MathStart is another of S's favourite series. It was fun as math concepts like addition, subtractions, multiplication, sets, capacity, etc are introduced through interesting stories

I'll upload more of S's favourites books, and some of S's favourite Chinese books in a later post.:)

Do we do any other stuff besides reading, you might ask? Of course!! S enjoys Gym, Ball, Music, Art and Craft, Logico, Lego, Puzzles, Mazes and lots more. I'll try to share some of her favourite activities in another post.

Cheerio,

Crazy Mama L

Let's Read And Find Out About Science & MathStart

2 great series of books, one focusing on science and the other on maths; that I would strongly recommend to any mommies. Both series comes with different levels aim at kids at different ages. I finished MathStart Level 1 Series with 3+ gal S, who enjoyed the stories while learning about Maths. Through the stories, she learnt about sets, doubling, simple subtracting, mutiplication by factor of 10, etc. Among her favourites are 'A House for Birdie' which teaches capacity through the search for a house of the right size for Birdies, with all her feathered friends, and 'Seaweed Soup' which teaches the concept of sets, through Turtle setting different sets of bowl, cup, spoon and napkins for his friends.










For the Let's Read and Find Out About Science, my gal does them selectively regardless of the levels, based on what she's interested in, like penguins, dinosuars, etc. The reading session can be extremely fun, as we got to do the penguins' walk, the tobogganing i.e. the belly sliding, and learn about how papa penguin keep baby penguin warms while mama goes out to hunt for food.


Crazy Mama L


You can find out a bit more about both series from these 2 websites, or simply drop us a post or email.


Let's Read and Find Out About Science


MathStart

Titles Listing

MathStart Level 1

3 LITTLE FIREFIGHTERS
BEEP BEEP, VROOM VROOM
BEST BUG PARADE
BUG DANCE
CIRCUS SHAPES
DOUBLE THE DUCKS
EVERY BUDDY COUNTS
THE GREATEST GYMNAST OF ALL
HENRY THE FOURTH
A HOUSE FOR BIRDIE
IT'S ABOUT TIME!
JACK THE BUILDER
JUST ENOUGH CARROTS
LEAPING LIZARDS
MIGHTY MADDIE
MISSING MITTENS
MONSTER MUSICAL CHAIRS
ONE…TWO…THREE…Sassafras!
PAIR OF SOCKS
RABBIT'S PAJAMA PARTY
SEAWEED SOUP



MathStart Level 2

100 DAYS OF COOL
ANIMAL ON BOARDS
THE BEST VACATION EVER
BIGGER, BETTER, BEST
CAPTAIN INVINCIBLE & THE SPACE SHAPES
COYOTES ALL AROUND
ELEVATOR MAGIC
A FAIR BEAR SHARE
GET UP AND GO
GIVE ME HALF!
LET'S FLY A KITE
MALL MANIA
MORE OR LESS
PEPPER'S JOURNAL: A KITTEN'S FIRST YEAR
PROBABLY PISTACHIO
RACING AROUND
SAME OLD HOUSE
SPUNKY MONKEYS ON PARADE
THE SUNDAE SCOOP
SUPER SAND CASTLE
TALLY O'MALLEY


MathStart Level 3

BETCHA!
DAVE'S DOWN-TO-EARTH ROCK
DINOSAUR DEALS
DIVIDE AND RIDE
EARTH DAY-HOORAY!
GAME TIME!
GRIZZLY GAZETTE
HAMSTER CHAMPS
JUMP, KANGAROO, JUMP!
LEMONADE FOR SALE
LESS THAN ZERO
PENNY POT
POLLY'S PEN PAL
READY, SET, HOP!
RODEO TIME
ROOM FOR RIPLEY
SAFARI PARK
SHARK SWIMATHON
SLUGGER' CAR WASH
TOO MANY KANGAROO THINGS TO DO
TREASURE MAP




Lets Read and Find Out About Science Level 1

Air Is All Around You
Animals in Winter
Baby Whales Drink Milk
Big dipper, The
Big Tracks, Little Tracks
Bugs Are Insects
Dinosaurs Big and Small
Ducks Don't Get Wet
Fireflies in the Night
From Caterpillar to Butterfly
From Seed to Pumpkin
From Tadpole to Frog
How a Seed Grows
How Animal Babies Stay Safe
How Many Teeth?
I'm Growing!
Is There Life in Outer Space?
My Feet
My Five Senses
My Hands
A Nest Full of Eggs
Sleep Is for Everyone
Snow Is Falling
Starfish
A Tree Is a Plant
What Lives in a Shell?
What's Alive?
What's It Like to Be a Fish?
Where Are the Night Animals?
Where Do Chicks Come From?


Lets Read and Find Out About Science Level 2

Almost Gone The World's Rarest Animals
Ant Cities
Archaeologists Dig for Clues
Be a Friend to Trees
Chirping Crickets
Corn Is Maize
Did Dinosaurs Have Feathers?
Digging Up Dinosaurs
Dinosaur Bones
Dinosaur Tracks
Dinosaurs Are Different
Dolphin Talk
Earthquakes
Follow the Water from Brook to Ocean
Fossils Tell of Long Ago
How Do Apples Grow?
How Do Birds Find Their Way?
How Mountains Are Made
Let's Go Rock Collecting
Look Out for Turtles!
Milk from Cow to Carton
My Visit to the Dinosaurs
Octopus Is Amazing, An
Oil Spill!
Penguin Chick
Snakes are hunters
Spinning Spiders
Volcanoes
What Happened to the Dinosaurs?
Who Eats What?
Who Lives in an Alligator Hole?
Why Do Leaves Change Color?
Why Frogs Are Wet
Wiggling Worms at Work
You're Aboard Spaceship Earth
Zipping, Zapping, Zooming Bats
Day Light, Night Light
Down Comes the Rain
Drop of Blood, A
Energy Makes Things Happen
Feel the Wind
Flash, Crash, Rumble, and Roll
Floating in Space
Forces Make Things Move
Germs Make Me Sick!
Gravity Is a Mystery
Hear Your Heart
How People Learned to Fly
International Space Station, The
Mission to Mars
The moon Seems to Change
The planets in our solar system
The skeleton Inside You
The sky Is Full of Stars
The Sun
Sunshine Makes the Seasons
Switch On, Switch Off
Tornado Alert
What Color Is Camouflage?
What Happens to a Hamburger?
What Is the World Made Of?
What Makes Day and Night?
What the moon is like
Why Are the Ice Caps Melting?
Why I Sneeze, Shiver, Hiccup, & Yawn
Your Skin and Mine