Henry and the Crazed Chicken Pirates Book Review and Giveaway

I'm so excited to bring to you a book review on Henry & the Crazed Chicken Pirates by Carolyn Crimi. Thanks to Blue Slip Media for donating books for the Tweet For Literacy #Tweet4Lit campaign we have running through the month of November. Click here to get details and enter the giveaway!

HENRY & THE CRAZED CHICKEN PIRATES is the silly follow-up to HENRY & THE BUCCANEER BUNNIES (2005). Henry is a bookish bunny surrounded by a crew of fun-loving (and lazy) pirate bunnies. When he discovers a threatening message in a bottle, he tries to warn everyone, but they think he's wasting his time. Will his plan to rescue his fellow bunnies work? This is a great story for very young readers, with lots of pirate words and silly fun.


My take on the book- I love all the illustrations done by John Manders.  The illustrations do an outstanding job telling the story.  My favorite illustrations are on the page where the crazed chicken pirates get sent out to sea in a small, crowded boat.  Thoughtful Henry gives them books on "50 Ways to Cook Coconut", "Survival at Sea" and "Seawater:  It's not for drinking".  The story is very clever.  Where Henry lacks courage he had ten fold in knowledge.  He has a book for everything... if not then he write it!


You can purchase the book anywhere books are sold. If they don't have it just ask and they will order it for you!

Here are a few things about the author that I got from her website! I have to share! They made me chuckle! She has a hobbies and interest in dieting, worrying, obsessing, e-mailing, taking pictures that turn out poorly. Likes unfrosted Blueberry Poptarts and Venti-skim-lattes. She dislikes tail-gaters, horn-honkers, people who don't like her books and critics (unless, of course, they like her books)

Go check out Carolyn Crimi! She has written some funny books! 
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Click to ENTER TO WIN GIVEAWAY

Prize Package Three
Winner to be chosen Thursday, November 12, 2009, at 6pm CT. Total value of Prize Package Three is $109.

1) Henry & the Crazed Chicken Pirates by Carolyn Crimi and John Manders for ages 4 to 8. ($15.99 value) This is the sequel to Henry & the Buccaneer Bunnies. Donated by Blue Slip Media.

2) Aurora of the Northern Lights by Holly Hardin (autographed -- an $18.95 value), the delightful Yuletide-themed picture book by one of our Tweet for Literacy sponsors. Donated by the author.

3) The Crypto-Capers: The Case of the Missing Sock (autographed) by Renee Hand ($12.95 value). Readers help the detectives solve the case by figuring out puzzles! For ages 9-12. Donated by the author.

4) Capital Mysteries #3: The Skeleton in the Smithsonian [A Stepping
Stone Book(TM)] by Ron Roy, for ages 9-12 (Value $3.99). Donated by Tweet for Literacy sponsor April Pohren.

5) Truth or Dare (autographed), Book 1 from the Scenarios for Girls interactive series by Nicole O’Dell. For ages 10-15. ($7.97 Value) Donated by the author, one of our Tweet for Literacy sponsors.

6) 1 set of SnapWords™  List A Teaching Cards by Child1st ($23.95 value). These are the most popular SnapWords™ product and are excellent foundational help for kids who are just learning to read. Donated by Child1st Publications, LLC.

7) Lighting Their Fires: Raising Extraordinary Children in a Mixed-up, Muddled-up, Shook-up World by Rafe Esquith ($24.95 value). Donated by FSB Associates.

Tweet For Literacy Giveaway SNAP WORDS

Thanks to Child1st Publications, LLC for donating 1 set of Snap Words List A Teaching Cards ($23.95 value) for our Tweet For Literacy Campaign #Tweet4Lit.    TO enter the giveaway click here!

SnapWords™ List A Teaching Cards include 59 word cards sized 4.25 by 5.5 inches. The set is best used to teach sight words to a group or class. The cards are very effective with children who are unable to decode, are stuck in the decoding process, or have difficulty remembering words. Sample activities and games to play with SnapWords™ are available on Child1st's blog.

The SnapWords™ cards embed meaningful images into 

words most commonly found in children's texts (sight words). They include a combination of Dolch words and the Fountas & Pinnell 100 frequently recurring words. Multisensory sight words enable all children to learn to read more easily, including visual learners, and other right brain learners, those labeled with dyslexia, autism, Asperger's, ADD, and those who struggle with reading comprehension. CFP's products are also highly effective in teaching beginning readers, building a strong foundation for learning from the very start. The front of each card acts as a powerful aid in reading comprehension, as it shows the child the meaning of the word through an embedded image, rather than just telling the child what the word says. Visual learners snap a mental picture of the stylized word which stays with them as they encounter the plain word in text later on, continuing to lend meaning to the word. The back of each card contains plain text with a sample sentence to say and motion to do while learning the word. The sentence teaches correct usage of the word, while the motion helps the kinesthetic child store the knowledge and then later retrieve it.

Child1st Publications is an educational publisher that produces reading and math materials to help those who struggle with traditional methods of teaching, and to provide a strong learning foundation for those who would naturally succeed in traditional methods of education. We've designed our products to integrate explicit phonics instruction with specific strategies (visuals, movement, storytelling, humor, rhyme, and patterns) to engage children with a variety of learning strengths.

Thanks to Child1st Publications, LLC for donating 1 set of Snap Words List A Teaching Cards ($23.95 value) for our Tweet For Literacy Campaign #Tweet4Lit.    TO enter the giveaway click here!

Lighting Their Fires Book Review and Giveaway with Tweet 4 Literacy

Thanks to Caitlin from FSB Associates for donating a copy of this book for our Tweet For Literacy Giveaway #Tweet4Lit .  Every other day we are giving away Prize packages that includes books and other items to encourage reading with your children.  This book, Lighting Their Fires: Raising Extraordinary Children in a Mixed-up, Muddle-up, Shook-up World by Rafe Esquith is perfect for our Literacy Giveaway.  Most parents want an instant way to make their kids more successful in school.  The author clearly states in this book that there isn't a magic pill.  Just like anything in life it requires work.  Time to work your children without them knowing that you are working them!  He states, too,  that instilling the value of working hard, being motivated without fear or disappointment, is a first step of many that will lead your kids to real success. Your kids are not born successful.  Over time with the right nurturing and encouragement through, school, home, extra activities they learn, grow and glow!  The author also states that "I fear that my children will be mediocre, that they won't live up to the tremendous promise that each of them possesses.  I don't want my children to be mediocre, because I now they are capable of more. "  We want our children to do the best of their ability.  This book gives a lot of great support in helping you do this and encourage this in your children!!! If you think someone has the best kids... just know that they were not born that way. 

Here are five ways to put your kids on the path to extraordinary: (From the book. You'll have to read it to get the specifics!!)

1)Toot Your Own Horn.
2) Be the Example. 
3) Great Books are Great books for a reason.
4) Do Unto Others.
5) Patience, My Dears.

Most of the tips given in this book is for parents.  It isn't a book where you just send it to school with your child and expect the teacher to do it for you.  From the author, "All follows from values and character, and in working to instill these, you'll create kids that you -- and the rest of the community and country -- can be proud of."
©2009 Rafe Esquith, author of Lighting Their Fires: Raising Extraordinary Children in a Mixed-up, Muddled-up, Shook-up World

Author Bio
Rafe Esquith, author of Lighting Their Fires: Raising Extraordinary Children in a Mixed-up, Muddled-up, Shook-up World, has taught at Hobart Elementary School in Los Angeles for twenty-four years. He is the only teacher to have been awarded the president's National Medal of the Arts. His many other honors and awards include the American Teacher Award, Parents magazine's As You Grow Award, Oprah Winfrey's Use Your Life Award, and People magazine's Heroes Among Us Award. He lives in Los Angeles with his wife, Barbara Tong.

For more information, please visit www.hobartshakespeareans.org 

ENTER TO WIN THIS BOOK

Tweet For Literacy Giveaway Prize Package 3

Our Motto: “The family that reads together has a lot of fun!” Our goal is to empower children and teens, especially girls, who are so often overlooked. We also seek to teach tolerance and self-acceptance through reading and through family interaction.

The Tweet for Literacy Giveaway is a campaign designed to raise awareness of the importance of involving the whole family in a child’s reading activities. Tweet for Literacy will be giving away literacy-related prizes every two days throughout the month of November in honor of National Family Literacy Month. Help a child to read, and let the fun begin!

How to Enter the Tweet for Literacy Giveaways
Step 1: Follow our 7 sponsors on Twitter. This step is required. We will all follow you back!

http://twitter.com/susieqtpies (ME!!!)
http://twitter.com/lindathieman
http://twitter.com/ccmalandrinos
http://twitter.com/cafeofdreams
http://twitter.com/hollyhardin
http://twitter.com/sherikayehoff
http://twitter.com/nicole_odell

Step 2: Re-tweet (RT) any post about the giveaway. Use the hashtag #Tweet4Lit on each RT. Be sure to add the bit.ly URL link for this contest page.
Sample Entry Re-tweets (use these or use your own just make sure you include hashtag #Tweet4Lit and link to my blog http://bit.ly/tCSIM)

RT @susieqtpies Tweet for Literacy is giving away 12 prize sets and a grand prize thru Nov Enter here http://bit.ly/tCSIM #Tweet4Lit

Step 3: That’s it! See the Official Rules below.

Prize Package Three
Winner to be chosen Thursday, November 12, 2009, at 6pm CT. Total value of Prize Package Three is $109.

1) Henry & the Crazed Chicken Pirates by Carolyn Crimi and John Manders for ages 4 to 8. ($15.99 value) This is the sequel to Henry & the Buccaneer Bunnies. Donated by Blue Slip Media.

2) Aurora of the Northern Lights by Holly Hardin (autographed -- an $18.95 value), the delightful Yuletide-themed picture book by one of our Tweet for Literacy sponsors. Donated by the author.

3) The Crypto-Capers: The Case of the Missing Sock (autographed) by Renee Hand ($12.95 value). Readers help the detectives solve the case by figuring out puzzles! For ages 9-12. Donated by the author.

4) Capital Mysteries #3: The Skeleton in the Smithsonian [A Stepping
Stone Book(TM)] by Ron Roy, for ages 9-12 (Value $3.99). Donated by Tweet for Literacy sponsor April Pohren.

5) Truth or Dare (autographed), Book 1 from the Scenarios for Girls interactive series by Nicole O’Dell. For ages 10-15. ($7.97 Value) Donated by the author, one of our Tweet for Literacy sponsors.

6) 1 set of SnapWords™  List A Teaching Cards by Child1st ($23.95 value). These are the most popular SnapWords™ product and are excellent foundational help for kids who are just learning to read. Donated by Child1st Publications, LLC.

7) Lighting Their Fires: Raising Extraordinary Children in a Mixed-up, Muddled-up, Shook-up World by Rafe Esquith ($24.95 value). Donated by FSB Associates.

Check back here daily as we will continue to update the list of prizes.
http://cafescrapper-scrapsoflife.blogspot.com
Official Rules
You can re-enter as many times as you like. Prizes are awarded every 2 days starting on November 8. First day to enter is November 6, 2009. Last day to enter is November 30. A prize package will be awarded on each even day of the month. Each prize package will be a set of items that are literacy related. See below for specific information on prizes.

The name of the winner will be selected at random and will be drawn at approximately 6pm CT. The winner will have 3 days to respond. If we don’t hear from the winner, we will select another winner for that prize package. We will notify our 13 winners by Direct Message (DM) on Twitter.

Whereas you can enter as often as you like, if you are not following all 7 sponsors on Twitter, which will be verified, your entries will be disqualified. All entries that comply with the above rules will be valid for each drawing, including the Grand Prize. The Grand Prize will be awarded on December 1, 2009.

How can your family go Green?

For some reason my mind always wanders to Kermit the frog when I hear someone say that they are going green. Please don't think I'm mocking you if you are the one going green. It is just a childhood mental picture of the cute frog singing and dancing. That image can be used to help us get "more green" as people are saying today. We should be happy, singing, and dancing to take care of what we have been given. I do see nature as a gift from God for me to enjoy.

My family knows that God has given us this planet as a gift. As with any gift or privilege it can be used for good or neglected and no longer holding a value. In our family we love the outdoors. I take pictures of nature all the time. It is a blessing to have such natural colors and objects at our finger tips. I always tell me girls that if you want to know what colors look good together then look to nature. The color palette is perfect.

Last time I was out taking fall photos of my girls we discovered trash. Now, this is not a new thing to find on the ground. I find myself taking pictures of the trash we find. It is ugly and not natural. The colors do not fit in.

This is not a natural part of nature so we pick it up and toss it out. Trash is our human contribution and we need to stop letting it happen. It is ugly and not a gift. Picking up trash that you see can become a habit. If you see trash pick it up. Sooner than later it will become a habit.

All my girls have learned in Girl Scouts that you should leave the place you were in better than when you found it. So picking up trash is just something we do.

IF each family concentrated on a ''green'' task, together we would make the world a better green place to live.

Our Green Living tips

1) Realize that nature is a beautiful Gift. A gift is to be used and respected.
2) Take care of that gift, don't neglect it and remove what doesn't belong.
3)Enjoy and use the outdoors. No matter where you are or what you are doing leave it in better condition than when you found it.


Thanks to Beth at Airwear and TwitterMoms for teaming up to find out what are our families Top Three Green-Living Tips. Go check out LighterSaferGreener.com. Airwear is Lighter, Safer, Greener. I love what this company stands for. Eyes glasses are so important to me. I wouldn't be able to take nature photos without them. I can't wait to give these "green" lens a try!

You too can check them out. You can share just as I did what your family is doing to make the world a greener place. The contest winner will get Airwear for the entire family. Good Luck and thanks for doing your part.



When Tweeting about the contest, please use #Airwear.

Keep track of reading by Mark My Time Giveaway

During the Elementary school days of 5th grade and under my girls had to keep track of how many minutes they read out of school for various reason. Several years they competed in City-wide reading programs. Their class and school won several times with the most minutes read. Other times they had to read x amount of minutes to earn class rewards. I always encouraged them to keep track of their own minutes. This promotes responsibility and independence. It is also great for math. You have to teach about how each second turns into a minute and how each minute turns into an hour. I love how math and reading are used together.

When we started homeschooling I carried over the "read for x amount of minutes" each day. They had a log sheet where they wrote down their time as well as what book and how many pages read. This is our 4th year homeschooling and we no longer use the "read for x amount of minutes" log sheet. All three of my girls are independent readers. They have been for many years. The log was used to make sure that they gave time to reading each day. They have established early reading habits and now that habit doesn't need timed.

The joy of homeschooling is that you can read a novel for 1 hour during the school day if you choose to do so. You can go to the Library for hours at a time instead of 15 minutes once a week. Reading is like learning to ride a bicycle. With books, you start when you are young by your parents reading to you, giving you board books to look at, and books on CD to listen to during play time. This is done over and over. Your parents, siblings, teachers still read to you but you pick up the books on your own and start the reading CD on your own. Before you know it, you are saying the words in the book by memory and by word recognition. You still make up stories by looking at the picture. A time comes where you begin reading all the words around you including the ones from out the window of the car. Over time you still love being read to and still need to be read to but you begin reading to others. This is the time your training wheels get sold in the garage sale or passed down to a younger sibling.

It all starts at the beginning. Take time to foster reading habits with your children. Find out what the school is doing and carry that over into your home. If you homeschool make that a big part of your day.

If you have a kiddo who doesn't like to read then help her find a book on a subject she enjoys. If she loves dogs then find her books on dogs to read. If she loves cartoons then find books on cartoons. Does she love telling jokes? Give her new material by finding joke books. Our policy was that reading had to be done daily. Set a timer for 5 minutes and read. Then increase the timer to 10 minutes. Over time the timer will be forgotten but the reading is being done. That again goes with the learning to ride a bike analogy. The biggest thing you can do as a parent is to make sure you are reading too! Kids follow your lead. It takes time but it will happen.

I'm offering a MARK MY TIME Timer for a giveaway in our Tweet For Literacy giveaway!
Click to get details!

Tweet For Literacy Giveaway Prize Package 2

Our Motto: “The family that reads together has a lot of fun!” Our goal is to empower children and teens, especially girls, who are so often overlooked. We also seek to teach tolerance and self-acceptance through reading and through family interaction.

The Tweet for Literacy Giveaway is a campaign designed to raise awareness of the importance of involving the whole family in a child’s reading activities. Tweet for Literacy will be giving away literacy-related prizes every two days throughout the month of November in honor of National Family Literacy Month. Help a child to read, and let the fun begin!

How to Enter the Tweet for Literacy Giveaways
Step 1: Follow our 7 sponsors on Twitter. This step is required. We will all follow you back!

http://twitter.com/susieqtpies (ME!!!)
http://twitter.com/lindathieman
http://twitter.com/ccmalandrinos
http://twitter.com/cafeofdreams
http://twitter.com/hollyhardin
http://twitter.com/sherikayehoff
http://twitter.com/nicole_odell

Step 2: Re-tweet (RT) any post about the giveaway. Use the hashtag #Tweet4Lit on each RT. Be sure to add the bit.ly URL link for this contest page.
Sample Entry Re-tweets (use these or use your own just make sure you include hashtag #Tweet4Lit and link to my blog http://bit.ly/3zrhuA )

RT @susieqtpies Tweet for Literacy is giving away 12 prize sets and a grand prize thru Nov Enter here http://bit.ly/3zrhuA#Tweet4Lit

Step 3: That’s it! See the Official Rules below.

Prize Package Two

Winner to be chosen Tuesday, November 10, 2009 at 6pm CT. Total value of Prize Package Two is $114.00.

1) Aurora of the Northern Lights by Holly Hardin (autographed -- an $18.95 value), the delightful Christmas-themed picture book by one of our Tweet for Literacy sponsors. Donated by the author.

2) Henry & the Crazed Chicken Pirates by Carolyn Crimi and John Manders for ages 4 to 8. ($15.99 value) This is the sequel to Henry & the Buccaneer Bunnies. Donated by Blue Slip Media.

3) The Katie & Kimble chapter book series by Linda Thieman, for ages 6 to 10. Lexile® measures: 280L and 290L. This set includes Katie & Kimble: A Ghost Story and Katie & Kimble: The Magic Wish. These are stories of love and healing, and are not scary! Donated by the author, one of our Tweet for Literacy sponsors. (Value: $11.90 per set)

4) Lexi by L.S. Matthews (Grades 4-8) ($14.99). Donated by our Tweet for Literacy sponsor, Linda Thieman.

5) Mark My Time, a totally cool digital bookmark/timer
($11.90 value), donated by our Tweet for Literacy sponsor Susan Buetow.

6) Light Up Your Child’s Mind: Finding a Unique Pathway to Happiness and Success by Joseph S. Renzulli, Sally M. Reis, Andrea Thompson ($25.99 value). Donated by Hachette Book Group.

7) And a little something for Mom! The Sidewalk Artist by Gina Buonaguro and Janice Kirk ($13.95 value), donated by Tweet for Literacy sponsor Linda Thieman.


Check back here daily as we will continue to update the list of prizes.

Official Rules
You can re-enter as many times as you like. Prizes are awarded every 2 days starting on November 8. First day to enter is November 6, 2009. Last day to enter is November 30. A prize package will be awarded on each even day of the month. Each prize package will be a set of items that are literacy related. See below for specific information on prizes.

The name of the winner will be selected at random and will be drawn at approximately 6pm CT. The winner will have 3 days to respond. If we don’t hear from the winner, we will select another winner for that prize package. We will notify our 13 winners by Direct Message (DM) on Twitter.

Whereas you can enter as often as you like, if you are not following all 7 sponsors on Twitter, which will be verified, your entries will be disqualified. All entries that comply with the above rules will be valid for each drawing, including the Grand Prize. The Grand Prize will be awarded on December 1, 2009.

Tweet For Literacy Giveaway Prize Pack 1 WINNER

@sixcents_aw You've won the 1st prize pack from #Tweet4Lit. Please DM me your email addy to @LindaThieman within 3 days to accept! Congrats!

Prize Package One
A Guardian Angel Publishing Gift Pack ($55 Value) with the following titles:
Jamie's Dream by Susan Berger and Christopher Corbin
Color Me Happy! by Sally M. Harris (autographed)
A Horse of Course by Shari Lyle-Soffe (autographed)
Earthquake by Susan Berger
The Sum of Our Parts: No Bones About It by Bill Kirk
Plus, Aurora of the Northern Lights by Holly Hardin (autographed -- an $18.95 value), the delightful Christmas-themed picture book by one of our Tweet for Literacy sponsors.

Click here to see Prize Package Two and enter to win!

Tweet For Literacy Giveaway Prize Pack 1

Our Motto: “The family that reads together has a lot of fun!” Our goal is to empower children and teens, especially girls, who are so often overlooked. We also seek to teach tolerance and self-acceptance through reading and through family interaction.

The Tweet for Literacy Giveaway is a campaign designed to raise awareness of the importance of involving the whole family in a child’s reading activities. Tweet for Literacy will be giving away literacy-related prizes every two days throughout the month of November in honor of National Family Literacy Month. Help a child to read, and let the fun begin!

How to Enter the Tweet for Literacy Giveaways
Step 1: Follow our 7 sponsors on Twitter. This step is required. We will all follow you back!

http://twitter.com/susieqtpies (ME!!!)
http://twitter.com/lindathieman
http://twitter.com/ccmalandrinos
http://twitter.com/cafeofdreams
http://twitter.com/hollyhardin
http://twitter.com/sherikayehoff
http://twitter.com/nicole_odell

Step 2: Re-tweet (RT) any post about the giveaway. Use the hashtag #Tweet4Lit on each RT. Be sure to add the bit.ly URL link for this contest page.
Sample Entry Re-tweets (use these or use your own just make sure you include hashtag #Tweet4Lit and link to my blog http://bit.ly/tCSIM)

RT @susieqtpies Tweet for Literacy is giving away 12 prize sets and a grand prize thru Nov Enter here http://bit.ly/tCSIM #Tweet4Lit

Step 3: That’s it! See the Official Rules below.

Prize Package One (winner picked Nov. 8th 6pm CT)
A Guardian Angel Publishing Gift Pack ($55 Value) with the following titles:
Jamie's Dream by Susan Berger and Christopher Corbin
Color Me Happy! by Sally M. Harris (autographed)
A Horse of Course by Shari Lyle-Soffe (autographed)
Earthquake by Susan Berger
The Sum of Our Parts: No Bones About It by Bill Kirk
Plus, Aurora of the Northern Lights by Holly Hardin (autographed -- an $18.95 value), the delightful Christmas-themed picture book by one of our Tweet for Literacy sponsors.

Check back here daily as we will continue to update the list of prizes.
Official Rules
You can re-enter as many times as you like. Prizes are awarded every 2 days starting on November 8. First day to enter is November 6, 2009. Last day to enter is November 30. A prize package will be awarded on each even day of the month. Each prize package will be a set of items that are literacy related. See below for specific information on prizes.

The name of the winner will be selected at random and will be drawn at approximately 6pm CT. The winner will have 3 days to respond. If we don’t hear from the winner, we will select another winner for that prize package. We will notify our 13 winners by Direct Message (DM) on Twitter.

Whereas you can enter as often as you like, if you are not following all 7 sponsors on Twitter, which will be verified, your entries will be disqualified. All entries that comply with the above rules will be valid for each drawing, including the Grand Prize. The Grand Prize will be awarded on December 1, 2009.

Open to residents of the U.S. only. Must be 18 years old to enter.

If you have any questions or comments about the giveaway, please contact Linda Thieman at blog (at) katieandkimble (dot) com.

Twitter Twub: #tweet4lit

Twitter Twub: #tweet4lit

Posted using ShareThis

5 Tips to Help Your Child Develop Natural Gifts

Five Tips to Help Your Child Develop Their Natural Gifts
By Rafe Esquith

Author of Lighting Their Fires: Raising Extraordinary Children in a Mixed-up, Muddled-up, Shook-up World

It'd be nice if there was a secret I could tell you about how to instantly make your kids more successful in school and life. But there is no magic pill, only that old stand-by, hard work. And the funny thing about that is, you can't force kids to work hard. I suppose you could try, but I've rarely seen anything useful come from kids whose parents had to hold their noses to the grindstone. If there's something close to a secret, perhaps it's this: Kids work hard when they want to work hard, and this happens only when are motivated to do so by some positive internal goal, and not by fear or because they are worried about disappointing others. They work hard because they value hard work. Instilling kids with values like this is the first step the long road to real success.

But that doesn't mean there's nothing you can do to make this happen. Here are five ways to put your kids on the path to extraordinary:

Toot Your Own Horn. Ask anyone who knows me and they'll tell you I sound like a broken record when it comes to spreading the gospel of music education. Put simply, every child should play an instrument, and parents should make whatever sacrifices are necessary to put a flute, trumpet, guitar, or tuba in their kid's hands. I don't have room here to list all the valuable skills that playing music can help develop, but one of the most important is the ability to listen to others: to make great music, a child must learn to pay attention to what others are playing. Doing so improves focus and teaches a valuable lesson about collaboration.

Be the Example. We've probably all seen a parent yelling at her kids to be quiet and perhaps chuckled to ourselves about the mixed signals sent by this gesture. It seems like an easy lesson: for kids to understand why things are important, you have to be consistent. But this isn't just situational advice. Kids mirror parents and adults in far more depth than we often realize. They internalize our values by watching what we do, which is why it's essential that we live the way we want them to live. We can stress the importance of being on time until we're blue in the face, but if we're constantly late to pick them up from school, that's what they're going to remember.

Great Books are Great for a Reason. Kids have two backpacks: the physical one they carry their books in, and the mental backpack where they store all the lessons and experiences they'll use to help make decisions. A paperback copy of To Kill a Mockingbird won't take up much room in the first one, but the wisdom contained within this book can be carried in the mental backpack for a lifetime. There are lessons here about choosing generosity over selfishness, making the right choice even when it's the difficult one, and standing up for your beliefs. I also recommend Thornton Wilder's fantastic play Our Town, and anything by Shakespeare (important note: kids are never too young for Shakespeare). A kid with a library card has the world at her fingertips, and when parents read with her, they can serve as map to help make sense of that world.

Do Unto Others. Volunteering is a great way to build character and teach values while making an important contribution to the community. Working at a soup kitchen on Thanksgiving, visiting an elderly person at a retirement home on a regular basis, or planting trees and helping to beautify your town are all great ways to help kids learn about the importance of selflessness and humility. I know several families who volunteer together on a holiday schedule: on each day off, they pick a different activity and spend a few hours volunteering together. This way, parents get to be the example, reinforcing the positive message.

Patience, My Dears. In today's on-demand world, kids are taught that anything worth having can be had instantly. This is an incredibly bad lesson, and parents must work to counteract this by instilling kids with patience and focus -- the skills that will let them buckle down to achieve the truly great things that invariably take much time and effort. I've found that gardening is an excellent choice when it comes to teaching patience. Kids see that reaching their goal is a slow process, one that requires dedicated care and attention at every phase. And since they get to watch their garden grow as they tend to it, they learn that the real pleasure is in the process (though ripe tomatoes are certainly also a pleasure, and tasty!).

You may have noticed that most of these "success" tips don't have anything to do with school. That's because making kids extraordinary people is the first step toward making them extraordinary students. All follows from values and character, and in working to instill these, you'll create kids that you -- and the rest of the community and country -- can be proud of.

©2009 Rafe Esquith, author of Lighting Their Fires: Raising Extraordinary Children in a Mixed-up, Muddled-up, Shook-up World

Author Bio
Rafe Esquith, author of Lighting Their Fires: Raising Extraordinary Children in a Mixed-up, Muddled-up, Shook-up World, has taught at Hobart Elementary School in Los Angeles for twenty-four years. He is the only teacher to have been awarded the president's National Medal of the Arts. His many other honors and awards include the American Teacher Award, Parents magazine's As You Grow Award, Oprah Winfrey's Use Your Life Award, and People magazine's Heroes Among Us Award. He lives in Los Angeles with his wife, Barbara Tong.

For more information, please visit www.hobartshakespeareans.or

Pumpkin and Ghost Brownies

This week I saw a really cute recipe for Pumpkin colored brownies on The Frugal Girls.com. I posted the link to share with my Facebook friends. Some pointed out that that was a lot of added coloring! My Facebook friend, Lisa, over at Retro Housewive Goes Green said "Having asthma I can't do yellow dye #5 and I seem to have issues with blue dyes. Plus they are linked to all kinds of health issues (lots are banned in other countries). She gave me a link to find natural dyes over at the Natural Candy Store.

I do understand about all the dye. These homemade pumpkins really do look yummy?Again these belong to The Frugal Girls.com so click picture to visit!

My daughter and I decided for school that we would make some. We chose to do GHOST so not to use all the food coloring. She also wanted to make pumpkins and decided to just use the white butter cream frosting on them too!

Here is our quick recipe makeover:

*Make your favorite brownies into a 9 X 13 pan.

*When cooled use your cookie cutters. Try to fit each piece in tight to not waste any brownies! We were able to get 12 cut-outs.

*We made buttercream frosting. Do this while the brownies are cooling. You can also buy frosting.

*Once cooled and cut out then frost and EAT! We do not like gobs of frosting so we lightly frosted ours.