Online Storytime {FREE}

Thanks to Pinterest, I have discovered Barnes and Noble's online storytime. They have animated books read by the author(s), illustrator and sometimes even famous people! The best part is that it's FREE! 


Currently there are 14 books available to listen to and a new book is added the 1st of every month. They have a great selection mixed with classics and newer releases. Somebody was thinking when they set this up, because it automatically keeps reading the next book until you hit stop. 


I thought this was a creative and different way, other than me reading, to incorporate literacy into our house. And Grace LOVES it!

Grace's current favorite: Where the Wild Things Are

I don't think it will ever get old watching daddy/daughter moments like these.

changing the world- one girl at a time

My friend, Amber, sent me the following email with a link to an interesting article:
"This was so profound to me. I will here forward be asking Grace questions about books and current events when I see her." xo, A


It has inspired me enough to blog about it and take the pledge....

I highly recommend you read the GREAT article How to Talk to Little Girls by Lisa Bloom, which encourages adults to ask little girls about ideas and books, instead of complimenting their looks. "Teaching girls that their appearance is the first thing you notice tells them that looks are more important than anything," says Bloom. 


(It's crazy how true this is if you think about it. I admit, I think it's natural to compliment a little girl (or her parent) on how adorable she is, her big beautiful eyes, contagious smile, gorgeous outfit, and so on...)


"Clothes or hair or bodies...it's surprising how hard it is to stay away from those topics with little girls, but I'm stubborn," Bloom writes. "Try this the next time you meet a little girl [ask her what she's reading]. She may be surprised and unsure at first, because few ask her about her mind, but be patient and stick with it...Model for her what a thinking woman says and does."


I tried this out tonight with an adorable 9 year-old. She had beautiful blond hair, a big smile and her outfit was so darn cute. Instead of complimenting her, which I have to admit I'm a little paranoid about how often I have done this in the past, I literally asked her what the last book was she read. She thought about it and said, "the American Girl magazine. I really like the pictures." We ended up having a conversation about how she loves taking pictures, particularly the side view of objects. She grabbed her parent's DSLR camera and showed me her favorite picture she has taken so far on her holiday (holiday=vacation here in London). I complimented her picture and told her specifically what I liked about it (a teaching technique) and asked her to show me another picture she was proud of. This discussion turned into how she's continuing her holiday to Paris tomorrow and she's excited to take really cool pictures of the Eiffel Tower. I told her how, Amber, our mutual friend, took cool pictures of the Eiffel Tower while she was there and suggested they swap their favorite pictures via email to see each other's perspective. I'm curious to see if they do this and hope I can check out both pictures. What an idea to travel to a country with your big kid camera and later compare your perspective of the same thing with a 9-year old? I know I'm a dorky teacher at heart, but it doesn't get much cooler than that.

What enlightening advice from Lisa Bloom's to have real conversations with little girls (and boys!). Can you imagine the possibilities, teachable moments, and random influences that can be had with kids everywhere! This concept definitely fulfills my passion to talk to complete strangers who are willing to listen to me. Hopefully, I don't become the creepy mummy who tries to have meaningful conversations with the little kids at the park. Who cares...you know this is going to be me. :) Students and parents have complimented me in the past for talking to their child as "an adult" instead of talking down to them. It's amazing how excited they are to share their thoughts and opinions with you when you take the time to just talk to them. It was something I felt was important to do as a teacher, especially being a teacher of kids with special needs. I just never knew the depth behind it or the potential affect. 


The stats behind Lisa Bloom's article are unsettling and thought provoking. "15-18% of girls under 12 now wear mascara, eyeliner, and lipstick regularly; eating disorders are up and self-esteem is down; and 25% of American woman would rather win Next Top Model than the Nobel Peace Prize."


Now it's your turn. Just try it...[what book are you reading? How do you feel about summer coming to an end? What are you most/least excited about school starting in a couple of weeks? Who's your best friend? Why is he/she your best friend? Where do you like you'll live when you're your parents' age? What is the last dream you remember having? Do you want to go to college? What do you want to be when you grow up? What is your favorite vacation/holiday you have taken with your family? Can you share a picture you took that you are proud to show off?] Who is the last girl you had a conversation with and what was it about? Was she your daughter, niece, cousin, neighbor, family friend, student, patient, or maybe a complete stranger?  


Will you take the pledge? Please share your story(ies) with me if you're stubborn enough like Lisa Bloom, and now me, to initiate intelligent conversations with little girls (and don't forget about the boys) instead of complimenting their good looks. 


This topic is currently consuming my mind. I literally couldn't turn off my brain last night while sitting in bed. Katie, I was thinking of you because I was up past 1 AM. I have two new books added to my must read list. Can you tell I'm excited to feed my brain something other than the daily conversations between my 7.5 month old daughter and me?


Good luck changing the world- one girl at a time!


*Thanks, Amber for feeding my brain today.

How to Talk to Girls, original article by: Lisa Bloom
A Cup of Jo, the blog post Amber sent me
Think: Straight Talk for Women to Stay Smart in a Dumbed Down World, title of the book

Landmark London

Dear Grace,

When we moved to London and I bought our little blue book at an old school book store on Fullam Road, I decided to wait and go on the first adventure walk with our first visitors. They happened to be Mr. and Mrs. Elpers. The weather was perfect and it was a nice way to see most of the London landmarks. You couldn't get enough of the Elpers while they were here. You were constantly staring, smiling and laughing with them. Enjoy.

Cheers! Mummy 

Adventure Walk #1: Landmark London: the best sights in the shortest time

The Adventure: For those of you who have just arrived in London or haven't done the tourist thing for years, we've created a quick taster (or refresher), get your bearings kind of walk that will take you past as many of London's most famous landmarks as possible in a couple of hours. 

The walk starts at St. Paul's Churchyard and Cathedral. We didn't start our walk here with the Elpers, but you and I have already been here with Daddy. If you need a reminder of the London Fire adventure walk, click HERE. Come to think of it...we didn't start, end  or walk past some things in the middle. Once you are done reading this walk, you decide if it should even count as completing adventure walk #1.

We didn't go to St. Paul's Cathedral with the Elpers, but we did stop by the Monument. They climbed all the way to the top and were handed their certificate upon their exit. You and I were patiently waiting; listening to tourists read about the London fire and the Monument in their languages. French, Italian, and of course English from groups of loud and crazy Americans. :)

London Bridge is falling down, falling down, falling down...

At one point on this trip, Mrs. Elpers and I were singing the London Bridge nursery rhyme to you and you loved it. 

I made our friends stop at a red phone booth to take silly touristy photos.

 

Grace, do you remember doing this with me when we first moved to London? In case you need a reminder, click HERE.

We saw this friendly chap as we were passing the Tower of London. Little did we know there were many more interesting street performers in our near future...

London Bridge is falling down, falling down, falling down...

Just kidding. We were walking across Tower Bridge. London Bridge is not this cool in person.

Grace, Mr. and Mrs. Elpers were our friends who Daddy and I went out to California for their wedding when I was pregnant with you. 

There was a cool art display along this part of the River Thames. The artist traveled all over the world taking pictures of different ceremonial events. He went to all the continents, and photographed all the major religions and all stages of life including both traditional and modern events. "Irrespective of our culture we are all basically the same- and we all share a need to manifest our steps along the path of life." - Anders Ryman 

For more information go to Rites of Life.

Old and new

Many years ago this used to be filled with water for horses to drink instead of beautiful flowers for a photo opp today. It is called a horse's troff. 

Who wants to check out this museum? It's on the other side of the River Thames as the Tower of London.

We are finally starting our adventure walk. "Ahead of you is the towering chimney of the Tate Modern art gallery in the old Bankside Power Station. To its left is the reconstruction of Shakespear's timber-framed Globe theatre." 

"Cross over to Doggett's pub and hop down the stairs towards the river. Head west along the Thames Path, passing the Oxo Tower, the National Theatre, the National Film Theatre and the Festival Hall."

I saved the best for last.

"There are often street performers and free events along this stretch, as well as skateboarders and bikers, pavement artists and musicians." Boy, was the little blue book right...

I look so determined to find old school leather bound books. It must have been the teacher in me. The Elpers and I also found some cool antique maps.

I spy an action photo of somebody spray painting the wall.

The street performers made me feel back home in Chicago, except for this interesting fellow. Look closely at the man whose head is exposed but his body is hidden under the table. This is probably one of the weirdest things the Elpers and I have ever seen. 

"Pass under the Waterloo Bridge, heading for the London Eye, the great wheel where you can ride high over London." Mr. Elpers took a cool photograph of the London Eye. 

"When you reach Westminster Bridge, cross back over the river. Big Ben and the House of Parliament are on your left."

"Turn right into Whitehall. Quite soon you'll pass the bottom of Downing Street, where the Prime Minister lives. Peer through the railings and see who you can see: there is always a policeman on the doorstep of No. 10. Walk on until you get to the guards on horseback at the entrance to Horse Guards Parade." The Elpers took pictures on their camera, but these are the pictures we took on ours the first time we walked by here.  

"Turn left between the guards, crossing over to St. James's Park."

These chairs are all over the royal gardens in London. This was the perfect spot to relax and enjoy a coffee for a moment. 

Just taking in our surroundings...

"Run through the park all the way to the end to see Buckingham Palace. If the flag is up, the Queen is at home."

Just around the corner from the palace people were "tailgating" in their fancy clothes (proper dressy hats included). We later found out the Queen was having a biannual garden party. To attend the garden party, you have to receive a personal invitation from the Queen herself. The majority of the guests received some type of recognition for their service to the country. (ie military or philanthropic) This group was even drinking champagne. I took this picture as I was walking past them so it's a little fuzzy. You get the idea.

"Walk all the way back down the Mall, through Admiralty Arch to Trafalgar Square. Look out for the ships on the top of each lamp-post, representing Lord Nelson's fleet, and head for the the 170 ft high Nelson's Column dominating the centre, the stone lions at each corner, the fountains and the National Gallery. The columns here were taken from one of George IV's old palaces. Trafalgar Square is the very centre of London." 

We skipped St. Martin-in-the-Fields church and the London Coliseum, which is home of the English National Opera. The walk ends in Covent Garden, but we didn't go that way with the Elpers. Instead we headed back toward Old Brompton road to meet Derik and Martha at a pub for dinner.

If we would have continued to the rest of the walk we would have "headed down King Street, to the cafes, bars, street entertainers and shops where we could have had something to eat or drink, or just stop and take in the free entertainment." You did this with Daddy and me on one of our first weekends in London. We don't have a picture of Covent Garden, yet because we didn't have our camera with us the first time we checked it out.

The end. What do you think? Should we be able to tick this off as completing the first walk from the list of adventure walks through London?