I love to expose kids to great authors and the stories behind them. Many authors have terrific blogs and websites with activities related to their books.
One of my favorites is Mo Willems’ blog where today’s entry is all about his painting his dining room walls with chalk paint so the family could illustrate at whim. Who paints their dining room walls in chalk paint? Someone who is creative and inventive. Check out the pictures that his family contributed. Mo Willems’ website is a wonderful collection of activities related to his books, with PDF files to download. Go to the Barnes and Noble interview of the author and get the background to his genius. He was raised by immigrant parents and loved books by a certain illustrator. Since he didn’t understand the language, he “read” the pictures. He said he wants his books “to be played more than read.”
Kids get it. I was with a 4 year old who is already starting to read. She ran upstairs to get her collection of first readers by Mo Willems and asked me to read for the Elephant while she was the pig! In her squeaky voice, she loved every minute of reading I Love My New Toy.
So check out his site and print out some activities to enrich your child’s reading experience.
What websites of authors do you like or use with your kids or in the classroom. Let me know.
