Mathew's Monsters Book Review and Activities

The Book:

The book Mathew's Monsters by Stephanie Sisler is a story and an activity all rolled into one. It is designed to test and strengthen reading comprehension while having fun! This book is about a young boy who imagines there are monsters in his room at night. It's a cute story, full of wonderful descriptions, that had R giggling throughout. 

I read the story to R, who is not quite ready to read this one on his own, and he thoroughly enjoyed it. He absorbed the story and loved answering the comprehension questions. He took great pride in circling the correct answers, right there in the book! There were also several pages to color for further hands-on involvement. 

R loves to color, but it was a bit too much for him to color all at once. I see this as a bonus. As I read the book to him the first time, he answered all of the questions, but I let him pick out the pages he wanted to color. Then we read it again. And again. He kept coming back to this book and had a lot of fun while he worked his way through it. 

A Special Offer:

You can purchase this book on Amazon or at CreativeReadingForKids.com. The Creative Reading For Kids website also has a sneak peek and bonus activity! And if you buy this book through the website, be sure to type "Childhood Beckons" in the comment section at the end of the order to receive a free set of greeting cards. The greeting cards feature all of the monsters in the book and come with a set of markers. And they are awesome. This is a freebie worth 15 dollars just for Childhood Beckons readers!

And I hope that you'll follow Mathew's Monsters on Facebook for future updates. There are more books in the works, and clicking "like" will ensure you're one of the first to know when they are available!

{Disclosure- I received a copy of this book and a set of the greeting cards to review. The opinions expressed are my own and they are honest. I did not receive any other compensation, and I will not receive anything if you purchase a book.}

Extension Activities:

This fantastic book prompted a whole week on monsters! Here are a few of the activities we had fun with.

• Monster Math- Create your own monster minus the eyes! Have fun with math to add them afterwards. Please visit the post to find out more.
• Monster Hunt- Craft simple little monsters out of construction paper and hide them around the house. For an added element of fun, have your child search for them with a flashlight!
• Crayon-resist Watercolor Monster- Have your child imagine and illustrate their very own monster. 
• Monster Munch Phonics- Monsters love munching words! Create a simple monster using recyclables and have your child feed them the words they are reading.
• Make a Monster Game- This one was a ton of fun! Play like the classic Cootie Bugs game. Roll the dice to add features to your monster. Only you don't have to stop once you get a pair of eyes! Use play dough, craft supplies, and even Cootie Bug game pieces! 

Do you want to know more about the upcoming activities? Don't miss a post! You can subscribe or follow me on Facebook for future updates. 

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Fall Book Read-a-thon

Are you tired of reading about our fall bucket list? I hope not, because today we took down another leaf! We have been so busy the last several days, and it has been apparent by R's behavior that he wasn't happy about it. He likes our routine and our days, and I don't think he knows how to act when they are interrupted for an extended period of time. I feel bad because it's just the way it has to be right now, and I still want to be able to fit in special time. Today we took a break from the approximate eleven billion other things I needed to do and we had a fall book read-a-thon at the park!

First, we played. Hard. He had a lot of energy he needed to get worked out. We stayed a long time and he was joined on the playground by a sweet little girl, who surprised us all by giving him a great big kiss when we parted ways. Haha!

Then we found a quiet spot under some trees to read through our stack of fall books. We laid out a blanket and watched the leaves dance and fall around us. We cuddled and read a ton of books. We looked for leaf men! Here are a few of our absolute favorites.

• The Little Yellow Leaf by Carin Berger
• Leaf Man by Lois Ehlert
• Scary, Scary Halloween by Eve Bunting
• The Night Before Halloween by Natasha Wing

R really enjoyed our time together this afternoon. He already wants to do this again, and I can easily see this being a tradition. He told me that I was the best mommy ever, so it was a definite winner!

What are your favorite books to read during the autumn?

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We Enjoyed Charlotte's Web- The Book & Classic Movie

I have been reading Charlotte's Web to R and he has really enjoyed the book. We read a little at meal times, bed time, and any other time we might feel like a good story. He sits and listens very well and he looks forward to our time spent reading. We finished the book yesterday morning, just in time to go see the movie. The movie was being projected on the outside of our local art museum as a part of their summer program, "Classic Movies in the Park."  He was so excited.

We have been limiting screen time and R hasn't watched television in over a week, so this was a treat. We packed our chairs, blankets and cooler. We ate our dinner as we waited for night to fall. We watched the ducks and geese that were brave enough to come into the crowds searching for food.  And when it was time to start the movie, R crawled into my lap, where he stayed the entire time. Afterwards, we talked about the differences between the book and the movie. It led to a nice discussion and I loved hearing R's answers.

Then, even though it was late, we couldn't pass up the opportunity to walk around the park and show R all of our favorite places. He loved it and proclaimed that he wished he could live there. There was no playgrounds in sight, but lots of water and rocks and trees. And a lot of wildlife. There are so many ducks and geese that it warrants a "Ducks Crossing" sign on the nearby street. There are a ton of fish.  We also spotted a muskrat swimming along beside us. We'll have to go back during the day to explore a little more and get a few good pictures.

So, not only did Charlotte's Web entertain us for days while we were reading, but it also provided a perfect opportunity to do some cuddling and a little exploring.

There won't always be a "Classic Movies in the Park," but a lot of children's books have been turned into movies. Here is a website that has a large list with varying age levels. I see quite a few that we might enjoy together as a family. And although I'm sure it will never be a regular occurrence, with a little research, this could possibly revive our "family movie night" on occasion.

Are there any child friendly movies, that are based on books, that you would recommend?

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A New Favorite Book

In my attempt to further cut back on screen time, I began reading "The Indian In The Cupboard" to R. I'm not sure why I hadn't tried reading a book like this to him before. I started reading it during lunch one day. We made a picnic on my bed and I read to him while he ate, instead of turning on the TV. We read a lot, but it has always been picture books, and I wasn't sure how this would hold his interest. I was pleasantly surprised.

This book is by Lynne Reid Banks and is about a boy that gets a plastic Indian, a cupboard and a key for his birthday. Eventually, he discovers that he can bring his plastic toys to life using the cupboard. It was one of my favorites when I was younger, and it is sure to be one of R's. He sat on my bed and listened intently, often forgetting to eat. Eventually he laid back and started to zone out. If I quit reading he would protest and so I continued to read until he was fast asleep. He fell asleep with his sandwich in his hand, smashed between his little fingers.

He slept soundly and I wondered if he was dreaming about his own toys coming to life. When he woke up, he looked around and asked me why I wasn't reading. He didn't want me to stop! We've continued reading chapters here and there, mostly at lunch and before bed. He doesn't fall asleep during our reading anymore, but listens eagerly until its time to close the book. He looks forward to the next time we'll get to read it. This is going to be a lasting routine. A routine that we are both thoroughly enjoying.

What do you read to your children? What were your favorite books when you were a child?

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This Week In Books

This week was a slower week when it comes to reading.  We didn't read a lot of different books, but the books that we did read, we read several times.  This is what we read:

• The Eye Book by Dr. Seuss
• The Tooth Book by Dr. Seuss
• And To Think That I Saw It On Mulberry Street by Dr. Seuss
• I Love You Stinky Face by Lisa McCourt
• Daddy Calls Me Doodlebug by J. D. Lester
• Clifford, We Love You by Norman Bridwell
• Substitute Groundhog by Pat Miller
• Love and Kisses, Kitty by Max Haynes
• I Love It When You Smile by Sam McBratney



 His favorite was "I Love You Stinky Face", a book that I bought him for Christmas.  I ran across it, fell in love with it, and HAD to buy this book.  It is about a mother and son and unconditional love.  The little boy thinks up different scenarios and asks his mother if she would still love him.  She loves him regardless and tells him so. R *loves* this book.  We have read it eleven billion times since Christmas. He gives me a lot of hugs throughout.  I know that it makes him happy to read it.  He knows it by heart now and reads it to me as much as I read it to him.  This will be a favorite for awhile to come.  I think its a perfect book to read for Valentine's Day.

Another top pick was "Daddy Calls Me Doodlebug".  This was another book I had to have because R's daddy really does call him "Doodlebug."  This book is really cute.  It shows different animal daddies and the cute names they call their babies.  Its a wonderful picture book.  R likes reciting this one back as well.

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