Stop by my blog, A Mama’s Rant and enter my Get your toddler to sleep with a little help from Johnson’s contest. I’m giving away $50 worth of Johnson’s baby products!

While setting up the contest, I learned that a leading sleep expert, Dr. Jodi A. Mindell, recommends that you use Johnson’s bedtime products (bath wash and lotion) followed by quiet activities like reading books is the best way get your child to go to sleep. You may also want to try some sleep-inducing snacks.

Here are some sleepy time book recommendations from a few of my favorite publishers.

Kane/Miller Book Publishers

Sophie’s Big Bed by Tina Burke. Even though she’s been sleeping in a big girl bed for years, my daughter really enjoyed this book. If you’re trying to transition your child from crib to bed, this is a wonderful book to read together. Also available in Spanish. (Baby/Preschool)

I Don’t Want to Go to Bed by Tony Ross. Why do I have to go to bed when I’m not tired and get up when I am? asked the Little Princess. Why indeed? Because the King and Queen know best, that’s why. Never mind about spiders and monsters, never mind another glass of water, it’s time to go to bed! But when the Little Princess finally goes and the King comes in to kiss her goodnight…she’s gone! Baby/Preschool.

Marc Just Couldn’t Sleep by Gabriela Keselman and illustrated by Noemi Villamuza. It’s bedtime, but Marc just can’t sleep. He’s scared. He’s worried. Mom to the rescue! One of the first things you learn as a parent is you can’t force anyone, particularly your own child, to fall asleep. If they just can’t sleep, they just can’t sleep. Marc’s resourceful and resilient mom know this, but, like the rest of us, tries anyway. Ages 4 to 8.

The Nights Of The World by Corinne Albaut and illustrated by Arno. Everyone closes their eyes the same way, but then what? An original way in which to discover other places and people and to learn about similarities and differences. Read about five children from five different regions of the world and learn how each child sleeps. Ages 4 to 8.

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As promised, some last minute book gift ideas for the youngsters.

Two Baby to Preschool from Kane/Miller Books

Sophie’s Big Bed – Even though she’s been sleeping in a big girl bed for years, my daughter really enjoyed this book by Tina Burke. If you’re trying to transition your child from crib to bed, this is a wonderful book to read together. A Kane/Miller book.

The Spider and the Bee – Author Michele Shen wrote this simple parable to help explain “why parents sometimes live apart.” This is a gentle, quiet book, sized to fit little hands, and written to explain divorce in a way the very young will understand. From Kane/Miller.

For Ages Four to Eight

1001 Stories – I really enjoyed reading this book with Lucie, though it took most of the night to do so. So be forewarned! By Lila Prap, this Kane/Miller book starts out traditionally, but after that watch out! The reader is in charge when favorite fairy tales are put together in a way so you decide what what happens next. It’s really a never ending tale, so figure out how long you want to spend on it before getting into bed with your child to read. You may be there until YOU doze off. 

And What Comes After a Thousand? – By Anette Bley, this quiet, gentle, heartwarming book is meant to be share. It’s first about love and friendship between a granddaughter and her grandfather. And then it’s about loss and death. A good book for a child whose grandparent may be ill and dying or one who has passed away. Be warned that this very frank book will bring tears to your eyes. It did for me. A Kane/Miller book.

Bobbie Dazzler – From Australian author Margaret Wild comes a story about Bobbie, an energetic red-necked wallaby, who can hop and skip and bounce. But, she can’t do the splits. Bobbie Dazzler celebrates children’s small achievements and the value of friendship. Another wonderful Kane/Miller book.

Little Skink’s Tail – Written by Janet Halfmann and olustrated by Laurie Allen Klein, this story follows Little Skink will she hunts yummy ants for breakfast. Suddenly she’s attacked by a crow, and escapes by snapping off her tail! Little Skink is happy to be alive, but she misses her bright blue tail. She daydreams of having the tails of other animals in the forest and tries on tail after tail. Like all books from Sylvan Dell Publishing, the book comes with a “For Creative Minds” section with information on tail adaptations and communications and a mix-and-match tail activity. Check out the Sylvan Dell website for Teaching Activities, Learning Links, and a downloadable For Creative Minds (PDF).

The Mats – By Francisco Arcellana, this book is a discussion starter on the subject of death and those who are gone but not far from our hearts. In this tale, Marcelina’s father comes home from a trip to Manila with beautiful hand-made sleeping mats for each member of his large family, including the three daughters who died when they were very young. A Kane/Miller book.

New York: The Empire State – Planning a trip to New York this summer? Mother and daughter co-authors, Margery Facklam and Peggy Thomas, explore their home state region by region, offering historical accounts, natural history facts, and sightseeing suggestions. From Charlesbridge Publishing.

My Even Day – The Slyvan Dell Publishing followup to Doris Fisher’s One Odd Day, we follow a young boy through another strange day, but now everything is even, and his mom has two heads! Your kids will enjoy looking for all the hidden objects in the book’s art. And you’ll learn more “number fun” in the “For Creative Minds” section. Go to the Sylvan Dell website for the downloadable For Creative Minds (PDF), Teaching Activities, and Learning Links.

Selma By Jutta Bauer, this little book asks: What is happiness?  For Selma the sheep, the answer is easy. Happiness is eating grass, playing with her children, exercising, eating a little more grass, chatting with her neighbor, and a good night sleep. But what if Selma had more time? What if she won the lottery? Adults will enjoy this one – and learn a little, too. From the folks at Kane/Miller.

Don’t Forget the Big Kids (Ages Nine to 12)

Ox, House, Stick: The Story of Our Alphabet – By Don Robb and illustrated in bold collage style by Anne Smith, the book traces the origins of our alphabet from the proto-Sinaitic peoples, through the Phoenicians, Greeks and Romans. Also included is sidebar information on punctuation, writing materials, the technology of printing, and more. From Charlesbridge Publishing.

Halloween is a time when children (and some adults – you know who you are!) let their imaginations run wild. A book that reminds me of this is What Eddie Can Do by Wilfried Gebhard. Eddie is so busy exploring rain forests, traveling through space, and flying with birds that he doesn’t have time to tie his shoes.

Actually, he’s avoiding learning how to tie his sneakers, but finally conquers the “double-tailed monster” with the help of his mom.

In What Eddie Can Do, kids ages four to eight will appreciate Eddie’s vivid imagination. Parents will relate to all the ways Eddie will avoid something hard and slightly scary. All will like the step-by-step “how to tie your shoes” illustrations. (This title is available in Spanish as Lo Que Eduardo Sabe Hacer from Kane/Miller Book Publishers.)

Now how about a Jack-O-Lantern Smoothie courtesy of Horizon Organic?

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Has reading a book ever provoked such an emotional response that you’ve actually started crying? A few of the books that have cause me to tear up include Charlotte’s Web, Bridge to Terabithia and The Velveteen Rabbit.

But none have done me in like Samsara Dog by Helen Manos (illustrated by Julie Vivas). This Kane/Miller chidren’s book leaves me weeping, choked up and completely unable to talk leaving my children to wonder, “What the heck is wrong with mommy?”

Samsara Dog is based on the Buddhist concepts of Samsara and Nirvana (basically reincarnation and reaching enlightenment). The story follows a dog from his various incarnations where he learns about love, life, death and dying.

Samsara Dog lived many lives.
Some of his lives were long.
Some lasted only a few days.
Dog never remembered them.
He lived each life as it came,
until he learned the most
important lesson of all.

I found the concept of dog reincarnation a bit hard to understand since my beliefs are more in the Western Judeo-Christian realm. Even so, I appreciated the unique way Manos told a story of a dog learning not to fight and be vicious, but to trust, take care of, and love someone. Even if you don’t share a belief in reincarnation, you should be able to appreciate these universal life lessons.

So get out the tissues and be prepared for a lovely, enlightening, and touching story to share with your children. Afterwards, you may want to cheer yourself up with a treat. How about some raspberry peach cobbler?

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I came across children’s book publisher Kane/Miller as a judge at the Cybils, the 2006 Children’s and YA Bloggers’ Literary Awards. Out of La Jolla, California, Kane/Miller is a strong believer in using books to educate children about the world:

We search the world for books that through great stories and arresting illustrations enrich the lives and the imaginations of the children who read them. American children need to learn not just about the United States, but about the world. They need to know that they can share adventures, and fantasies and dreams. Because the children of the coming millennium will not simply be citizens of their own countries, they truly will be citizens of the world.

One of these stories is The Story of Cherry the Pig by Utao Yamada, a Japanese author. For ages four to six, the book teaches about self-esteem, identity, and value of friendship. Cherry the Pig is happy and content. Being a pig, she loves to bake and eat desserts every afternoon – lucky girl! Then one day, she hears a family of mice talking about her “incredible” apple cake. She thinks her apple cake is pretty incredible, too, so she enters  it in a bake-off at the Harvest Festival.

The Kane/Miller website features play pages with discussion topics and ideas, a word search, ideas for activities, and a recipe for a cake like the one in the book. (Cherry doesn’t share her recipes, but this one is almost as good!)

Cherry the Pig’s Winning Apple Cake

Ingredients:

1. 2 cups granulated sugar
2. 3 cups flour
3. 2 eggs
4. 1¼ cups light vegetable oil
5. 1 tsp baking soda
6. 2 tsp cinnamon
7. 1 tsp salt
8. 3 cups diced apples (whichever kind you like – crisp is best though)
9. 1 cup chopped nuts (unless you hate them)
10. 1 cup raisins (or dried cranberries, or dried cherries…)

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and then…put everything in a big bowl and mix it up with your hands. Bake in an ungreased 9 x 13 pan for an hour, and let it cool (if you can wait) before cutting.

I’ll be featuring more Kane/Miller titles this week, so stop on with a cup of tea and a slice of cake.

(Apple loaf picture courtesy of Delia OnLine.)