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Yes, it is February. But, now I at last sit down at my desk to plan the what-comes-next for Imagination Celebrations. 
The new year has started wonderfully and full of new opportunities and events. We were able to host quite a few terrific birthdays for some very terrific kids. I was also invited to many pre-schools and libraries for the Story Time Explosion program. The past few months I have jumped in to snowy stories, pirate stories, tropical stories, and more!
So, what is new for the New year? Well, coming very soon we will be giving our website a little makeover- which includes a brand new structuring of our party themes! I have also started compiling albums on phanfare, where you can actually SEE what we do. (I’ll post some links later!) The new year also brings new themes like Space Camp and Fabulously Fancy.In April, we will even have a chance to do an adult murder mystery party- So fun!
And for the blog…..hopefully my weekly book review will become more than a-one-time-thing. More on that to come.
In the mean time, may I just say for a kid-lit lover how fabulous it is to live in Western Mass. If you don’t know what I am talking about watch this. (Notice all the lovely Northampton shots!)
Jenn, Imagination Celebrations
I think if you have ever read my blog, than you know that I love Mo Willems and his terrific books. His funny, bright and clever illustrations and wonderful characters make such great read alouds. And though Mo doesn’t’ technically have a “Halloween” book he does have the tale of “Leonardo the Terrible Monster”.
I can’t even tell you how much the children love this book. I see their little faces go right to the cover when I am setting up for my “Frightening Fairy Tales” STE. By the time I open the first page the kids are already giggling with excitement. They know it’s going to be funny.
We are introduced to poor little Leonardo who is slumped in the corner of the first page, pathetic, and not scary at all. Then he attempts to scare two adults who are not in the least afraid. The children open their mouths as big as Leonardo’s and stick out their tongues. I check to be sure none of them are bright blue like the little monster. At every story time though, the kids remind me that their tongues occasionally change that hue when they eat lollipops.
Next, the really great, not terrible at all monsters are introduced. Tony for instance has 1,642 teeth and six mouths! Little foreheads move during the story imagining having a mouth above their eyes like Tony. Then there is the huge Eleanor who is so large only her feet fit on the large pages. Many of the children tell me Eleanor is pretty. I ask how come and they point out the dress, the nail polish and the beads around her ankle. It’s nice to know she puts in some effort. Lastly, we see Hector who is “just plain weird”. The kids love this. They are usually not encouraged to call all the weirdos they see “weird”. So, they make up for it by pointing out all the weird things on Hector giggling as they go.
Leonardo shows us his scary moves which we try to copy. The kids are great at this. Even when Leonardo stands on his hands, I have a few brave children give it a go. I have even seen clever attempts to stand on ones tail.
When we think all hope is lost for our poor little furry friend, he gets a great idea. He will find the most scared kid in the world and “scare the tuna salad out of him”. I don’t think I have encounter a single preschooler that knows what “scare the tuna salad out of him” really means but they laugh because they do understand its the funniest thing they have ever heard. Leonardo researches. We notice in Mo’s illustrations that he needs a cell phone, lots of books, a trash can, a clipboard, pens, a folder, and coffee-of course. The kids love that Leonardo needs glasses to read.
Leonardo pin points the most scared child: Sam. Similarly to our introduction to Leonardo, we find Sam slumped in the opposite corner alone on the page. Leonardo scares Sam with all of his heart which makes him cry. We love to act out crying and being the cocky and excited Leonardo. But, then Sam explains that Leonardo had not made him cry.
The following page is bright pink and absolutely covered in words. The children are surprised that I am going to read all of that. They look at Sam, who appears to be wailing and they are in an awe of his major temper tantrum. We learn that many horrible things have happen to Sam including being pooped on by a cockatoo. When I have fully read Sam’s words I ask the children: what was the worst thing that happened to Sam? It’s always the poop. My favorite was a little boy who raised his hand when I asked the question to which he responded, “when the peekatoo pooped in his head.” I wish it had been a peekatoo.Their poop is way funnier.
Then Mo brings us up really close to Leonardo while he makes the biggest decision: to be a good friend. The kids are pleased to see that Sam and Leonardo are friends, but even more pleased to see that they like to scare and chase each other. Then the story is over, but the kids want to see Sam up close. Maybe there is still a little poop in his hair. Oh yes, I think I see some.
Only one day to Halloween!!
Jenn, Imagination Celebrations
Well, actually, I didn’t “technically” talk to them. BUT, I heard Jon speak and I saw Mo walking around. So, that counts, right?
This past Thursday I had the great pleasure of attending the Annual Educator’s Night at the Eric Carle Museum. I absoulutely love that museum and am always impressed by the quality of their speakers, programs and gallery art.
It all began with really cool literary swag. I grabbed up tons of great reading pictures, book marks, stickers, story group packets and other stuff I stashed in my Eric Carle tote bag. I am still going through all the neat stuff I got- can’t wait to use it!
After all the giveaways, we had time to wander through the cafe and gallery. On showcase right now is “Flight’s into Fantasy”. Extremely impressive. My favorite was Johnny Gruelle’s Raggedy Ann. 
Also while walking the gallery I spotted Mo Willems, who was a surprise guest of the night.
Later, I heard Jon Scieszka speak in the auditorium about education, boy readers, his own experience, pagan babies, and George W. Bush. It’s amazing he could work that all in, huh? He is the ambassador after all- he has a metal- he showed us (a few times). I really enjoyed hearing his take on all these things, praticuallry his mention of boy readers. It’s a subject that is near and dear to my heart and a topic that I have given a lot of throught to. First of all, I hate steriotyping in any fashion. So, to say that one book is a “boy” book and another is a “girl” book makes me cringe. Haven’t you ever read William’s Doll? But, I do think that every reader is different. Kid’s have different opinions in toys, movies, video games, activities and so on. Why would reading be any different? I loved that Jon said we have to trust our kids to pick their own books and should be alowed to dislike other books. Even “classic” ones. Jon was recalling a time when he was teaching where he stopped reading aloud a book and announced that they weren’t going to read any more saying, “this book blows”. While I think it is crucial to introduce boy and girl readers to many genres of literature, I think they also must be given opportunity to like or dislike them and further given more opportunity to pursue genres they enjoy (including non-fiction!). After alll isn’t the point of reading to kids to create life long readers instead of adults who still think reading blows?
Thanks to Jon and everyone at the Carle for a fabulous night! (And thanks to Mo for, erm, walking around and stuff)
P.S. I just read “Naked Mole Get’s Dressed” which I recieved that night. Hilarious!! Also, I can’t wait to pick up “Knucklehead”. Good stuff.
Jenn, Imagination Celebrations
“Do you offer boy parities, too?” I get asked this question so often. My answer is always: “Yes!” We offer a lot of themes that were created with boys in mind. Other themes were created with no gender in mind, and work great for either sex. However, for some reason or another we book far more little girl parties than boys. Sure we do a great deal of pirate parties for the under six fellas. But, after six we rarely see them again. For girls we book spy parties, wizard parties and of course spa parties up until nine, ten sometimes even older! In Story Time Explosion (my interactive story time program), there is so much more attention and interest from parents of daughters than those with sons. I have heard that the boys desire being active, or experiences that are more literal as “playing pretend” is corny or useless to them. This is so hard for me to believe. At these illusive boy parties, I see boys equally “jumping” into the story with their own ideas and thoughts. They are thrilled to drive the pirate ship (which I might add IS quite physical) and are completely engrossed by the stories twists and turns. Where then do these ideas come from?
When looking around children’s literature, it is surprising to see how spoiled our little female readers are with the most fabulous girl characters. There is of course wonderful, well written books starring boys, however, it seems that the chain bookstores prefer to carry the sassy girl books. I am of course talking about Olivia, Fancy Nancy, Eloise, Lilly (and her purple plastic purse) and many other picture book divas. Then you scan the isles of small chapter books and you see Ivy and Bean, Clementine, Judy Moody and a plethora of girl heroines (not to mention the entire section of American Girl books!) What is going on? I know that you are screaming at your computer the most obvious boy hero: Harry Potter, but he is surrounded by bookshelves of “girl’s only” reads.
My worry is that reading and in turn imaginative play as turned into a girl’s sport or at least that is the perception among adults. In working with children, I have asked many times, “What is your favorite book?” I am always amazed at the number of boys who respond by mentioning a Star Wars book, Sponge Bob book, Scooby Doo Book, etc. You know the ones that are for the most part poorly written about a TV show or movie, and are used as mass marketing? But, the characters with in these stories have much more appeal to the guy reader than a girl who wears a feather boa everywhere. Like previously stated, there are amazing books out there that are geared with boys in mind, but they may be harder to find. They aren’t going to be on every card board cut out in Barnes and Noble, or at the checkout line in the grocery store.
In my rant, I must also mention that there is a great deal of good being done for our dear boy readers. There are a few great series that have become commercial enough for the big books stores to take notice like the Spiderwick Chronicles, A Series of Unfortunate Events and of course the literature super star Harry Potter. Also exciting, Jon Scieszka our new ambassador of children’s literature (I love that there is such a thing!) has just introduced a new series of books called Truck Town. The series focuses around a group of vehicles that also happen to be in pre-school. It’s adorable, and the cast of illustrators is unbelievable. More impressive still, is Jon’s website that houses a collection of guy reads. My favorite is the search engine where children or parents can put in specific interest and press a button, and viola! The perfect book is found. I played around with the site for awhile listing every possible interest I could think of. I was super impressed to see terrific reads mentioned by wonderful authors like Richard Scarry, Mo Willems, Dr. Seuss and Jon himself.
The truth is boys love to read. They love to play pretend and they have superb imaginations. For some reason or another, this in my opinion, is not represented at our book stores. Why?
I would love to hear your thoughts.
Jenn, Imagination Celebrations
