This Month’s Book: All Around Us
Our Cover to Cover Book of the Month for March is All Around Us by Xelena Gonzalez!
Children create understanding of their world and culture through oral traditions. All Around Us by Xelena Gonzalez encompasses the beauty of this tradition as a Grandpa teaches his grandchild about the circle of life. While reading, explore with your child the special times that you practice the tradition of oral storytelling. “This grandpa tells stories while they garden. We like to tell stories while we ride in the car together. You love to hear stories of what you were like as a baby!” You could also explore new opportunities to put this tradition into practice. “Maybe I could tell you the story of the day you were born on your birthday every year.”
Celebrate life and all its beauty with a traditional Spanish song called De Colores! José-Luis Orozco performs a beautiful rendition of this song found here:https://youtu.be/9rn43pLNtlY
A sense of belonging is also an important component in a child developing positive self identity. Promote this concept by connecting the stories you share with your child to their personal life and own experiences. This will help them feel connected to these stories and messages. “You also spend time with your grandpa, what kinds of stories does he tell you?” or “They are going for a walk, we walk to the bus stop everyday!”
Being in nature has positive effects on us all! Gardening is a fun and easy way to connect with nature and with your child! The Make Way For Books App has some wonderful suggestions to keep gardening simple. You can find these suggestions in the preschool section of activities under Grow a Garden. The Pima County Public Library also a has a seed library where you can obtain FREE seeds for your garden!
Share your experience with All Around Us and be entered into a raffle to win next month’s C2C Book Club title! For example, you could:
- Tell us about your child’s favorite part of the story.
- Send a video of you sharing the book together.
- Send a picture of you and your child creating a garden!
Share your photos and videos with us on Twitter and Instagram and be sure to tag Make Way for Books. For example:
@mwfbaz My plants are growing! #storytime
Or email us your photo or video at info@makewayforbooks.org.
Be creative! We can’t wait to see what you loved about All Around Us!