Good Night, Gorilla

This is my daughter's and was one of my son's favorite Bedtime books.  Good Bedtime books are hard to find, and this is one of the better ones.  The illustrations are great, and the storyline is cute.


"When a weary zookeeper says goodnight to the animals, he doesn't notice the gorilla steal his keys. Before you know it, there's a parade of animals following the zookeeper home and snuggling up in his comfortable house - even in his bed! With spare text and humorous, vibrant illustrations, this picture book will delight any little one who has tried to escape his own bedtime."


http://store.scholastic.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay_Good+Night,+Gorilla_14626_-1_10052_10051

Don't judge each day by the harvest you reap...

‎"Don't judge each day by the harvest you reap but by the seeds that you plant." 
Robert Louis Stevenson

Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?

This is one of my daughter's favorite board books at the moment.

Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?

"is a children's picture book, published in 1967, written and illustrated by Bill Martin, Jr. and Eric Carle, and the book is designed to help toddlers associate colors and meanings to objects. The narrator asks various animals what they see with the response usually being another animal, the respondent is then asked what they themselves see, and the process is repeated. It features a Brown Bear, Red Bird, Yellow Duck, Blue Horse, Green Frog, Purple Cat, White Dog, Black Sheep, a Goldfish, a Teacher, and Students."

Some more Favorite Books of my son's from middle to late grade school

Best Book Recommendations for 4th to 6th Graders
Some more "Favorite Books" of my son's from middle to late grade school.

Harry Potter Series by J.K. Rowling
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis
Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder
The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett
My Father's Dragon by Ruth Stiles Gannett

That is it for now.
Sean Surlow
San Clemente, California

The Great and Funny Books of Roald Dahl

Hello Everyone,

We have had good luck with Roald Dahl books. They are both entertaining to children and adults, which is an added bonus.

His two most famous books probably are "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" and "James in the Giant Peach."


Below is a list of his books that my son also liked…
· Witches
· BFG
· Matilda
· George's Marvelous Medicine
· The Magic Finger
· Fantastic Mr. Fox
· Danny, The Champion of the World

Have A Good Week Everyone,
Sean Surlow
San Clemente, California

The "Goosebumps" Series

When my son was nine, he was a big fan of the "Goosebumps" series by R.L. Stine. He liked the thrills and the monsters in them.

He mostly learned how to read on Dr. Seuss and "The Magic Tree House" series in Second Grade.

As for a source of books, I got him going to used bookstores early. I think that this created a love of hunting for books in him, which turned into a love of collecting and reading them later on.

We would trade in garage cleanouts of books to the used book store, and I would pick up stacks of books off curbs after garage sales when people wanted to get rid of them. We would turn in all these scrounged up books to the used bookstore. They would give us credit, and we could buy him books for around 25 cents each. We also had good luck in finding high-quality and interesting inexpensive books at "The Friends of the Library" and at Garage Sales.

Have a Good Week,
Sean Surlow

Things and persons appear to us according to the light we throw upon them from our own minds.

Things and persons appear to us according to the light we throw
upon them from our own minds. How unconsciously we judge others by the light that is within ourselves, condemning or approving them by our own conception of right and wrong, honor and dishonor! We show by our judgment just what the light within us is.

Laura Ingalls Wilder, February 7, 1867 – February 10, 1957


This great quote is by the woman who wrote The Little House on the Prairie books.

I keep it in my wallet to remind me to keep an open mind and to have patience in dealing with people.


Have A Great Week,
Sean Surlow

Favorite Early to Mid-Grade School Children's Books

Here are some of my son's favorite books while growing up.
Add your child's own favorites to this thread.


The Grouchy Ladybug by Eric Carle
The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle
Chicka Chicka Boom Boom by Bill Martin Jr.
Harold and the Purple Crayon by Crockett Johnson
Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak
The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein
Where the Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverstein
Green Eggs and Ham by Dr. Seuss
Hop on Pop by Dr. Seuss
How the Grinch Stole Christmas by Dr. Seuss
Oh! The Places You Will Go by Dr. Seuss
The Cat In The Hat by Dr. Seuss
The Sneetches by Dr. Seuss
One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish by Dr. Seuss
My Many Colored Days by Dr. Seuss
The Lorax by Dr. Seuss
Good Night Moon by Margaret Wise Brown
The Polar Express by Chris Van Allsburg
Are You My Mother? by P.D. Eastman
Stellaluna by Janell Cannon
Horton Hatches the Egg by Dr. Seuss
Make Way For Ducklings by Robert McCloskey
The Little Engine That Could by Watty Piper
Olivia by Ian Falconer
Bunnicula by James Howe
Frog and Toad by Arnold Lobel
Harry the Dirty Dog by Gene Zion
The Five Chinese Brothers by Claire Huchet Bishop
The Story About Ping by Marjorie Flack
The True Story of the Three Little Pigs by Jon Scieszka

Have a great week,
Sean Surlow
San Clemente, California


"Education can be a bridge to accomplish your goals in life no matter
what your station in life is."

Ian de la Rosa

Here are 4 other books that my son liked when he was 9

The Hobbit by Tolkien is wonderful.
Here are 4 other books that my son liked when he was 9.

+Favorite Chapter Books
"Charlie and The Chocolate Factory" by Roald Dahl
"Coraline" by Neil Gaiman
"Witches" by Roald Dahl
"The Wizard of Oz" by Frank Baum

I will keep adding books as I find them.
I look forward to your suggestions also.
Sean Surlow
San Clemente, California

The Itsy Bitsy Spider by Iza Trapani (board/picture book)

The Itsy Bitsy Spider by Iza Trapani (board/picture book)

One of my son's favorite preschool and kindergarten books.
Nice board/picture book with great illustrations.

Percy Jackson & the Olympians

My 11-year-old son's favorite book at the moment is "The Titan's Curse" by Rick
Riordan.

It is the 3rd book in a series of books by Rick Riordan. My son Ian said that
they are the best books that he has ever read.

From Wikipedia:
"Percy Jackson & the Olympians is a series of fictional adventure and fantasy
books authored by Rick Riordan. Set in the United States, the books are
predominantly based on Greek mythology. The series consists of five books.
The protagonist is Percy Jackson, who discovers that he is the son of Poseidon,
god of the sea and earthquakes. He learns that the legendary beings of Greek
mythology still exist and have always existed, including monsters, cyclopes,
empousae, Titans, and the Greek Gods (Olympians) themselves who dwell in
Olympus, which is now situated at the mythical 600th floor of the Empire State
Building. Percy is frequently attacked by monsters because he is a child of one
of the "Big Three": the lord of the sky, Zeus, the king of the sea, Poseidon,
and the leader of the Underworld, Hades, who made a pact after World War II to
not have any more children because they were too powerful and unpredictable.
Percy meets many other young demigods, both friendly and hostile, who are also
in the process of discovering their ancestry and powers."

1. The Lightning Thief
2. The Sea of Monsters
3. The Titan's Curse
4. The Battle of the Labyrinth
5. The Last Olympian

Live so that when your children think of fairness, caring and integrity, they think of you.

Live so that when your children think of fairness, caring and
integrity, they think of you.
+H. Jackson Brown, Jr.

Frog and Toad Books

Frog and Toad Books
These were some of my son's favorite books in kindergarten and first grade.

'Frog and Toad are the main characters in a series of easy-reader children's
books, written and illustrated by Arnold Lobel.
Each book contains five simple, often humorous, sometimes poignant, short
stories chronicling the exploits of a frog and his friend, a toad, simply named
Frog and Toad. Some of their adventures include: attempting to fly a kite,
cleaning Toad's messy house as opposed to waiting until "Tomorrow" to do so, and
figuring out the ethics of being "Alone".

The Frog and Toad books, in order of publication date, are:
Frog and Toad are Friends (1970)
Frog and Toad Together (1972)
Frog and Toad All Year (1976)
Days with Frog and Toad (1979)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frog_and_Toad

Teaching

I am also getting ready to start teaching English and "English and as Second Language" again along with some other subjects.
We recently converted the garage into an office, put up drywall, painted, redid the floors, etc.

Our tomatoes are planted for the Spring.
Here we go...off to the library

Parent's and Teacher's Creed

I always liked this.

Many people find it useful to print out and put on the fridge.

Parent's and Teacher's Creed

If a child lives with criticism,
They learn to condemn.
If a child lives with hostility,
They learn to fight.
If a child lives with ridicule,
They learn to be shy.
If a child lives with shame,
They learn to feel guilty.
If a child lives with tolerance,
They learn to be patient.
If a child lives with encouragement,
They learn confidence.
If a child lives with praise,
They learn to appreciate.
If a child lives with fairness,
They learn justice.
If a child lives with security,
They learn to have faith.
If a child lives with approval,
They learn to like themselves.
If a child lives with acceptance and friendship,
They learn to Find Love in the World.

By DOROTHY LAW NOLTE

WONDERMENT

SINCE OUR DAUGHTER IS NOW 2 AND INTERESTED IN BOOKS, I THOUGHT THAT I WOULD PICK UP THIS BLOG AGAIN. IT WILL BE A PERSONAL RECORD OF READING TO OUR TWO-YEAR OLD DAUGHTER AND MIGHT PROVIDE A USEFUL JOURNAL OF OUR EXPERIENCES. THIS BLOG COULD GO ON THROUGH TIME AND MIGHT OFFER SOME GOOD IDEAS TO PARENTS,TEACHERS, ETC. WHO COME AFTER ME. CURRENTLY, MY DAUGHTER IS INTO BOARD BOOKS AND MERCER MAYER BOOKS.. 

ALSO, I WILL INCLUDE THE READING INTERESTS OF MY SON WHO IS NOW 12.

SEAN SURLOw, SAN CLEMENTE, CALIFORNIA