And our July pick is...
The Book That Almost Rhymed by Omar Abed & Hatem Aly
July Pick -- The Book That Almost Rhymed
What do you do with an interrupting sibling? Especially when she’s stepping all over your story with wild ideas that don’t even rhyme. Knights riding rockets? Dancing pirates? Who's ever heard of a fire-breathing armadillo?! Join us on a great adventure with two storytelling siblings who learn that the adventure is way more fun when you build it together.
Meet Our Creators:
Omar Abed is an award-winning children’s book author. After a decade spent writing software as a professional engineer, Omar rediscovered his childhood passion for storytelling. His picture books offer a generational bridge, making children laugh out loud while helping adults rediscover the magic of a good story. In his spare time, Omar is probably playing with his son, watching movies with his wife, or hacking away at some passion project. Omar is Palestinian-American and lives in Northern Virginia with his family. We really enjoy Omar's blog & think everyone would benefit from reading this particular article -- Starting Over. And to check out this post we made celebrating & educating Arab American Heritage Month, featuring books about Palestine & books by Palestinian- American authors -- BOOKLIST. You can find her work & learn more about his on his website: https://www.omarabed.com/
Hatem Aly is an Egyptian-born illustrator who has illustrated many books for young people that earned multiple starred reviews and positions on the New York Times bestseller list including The Proudest Blue with Ibtihaj Muhammad and S. K. Ali, In My Mosque with M. O. Yuksel, the Newbery Honor winner The Inquisitor’s Tale with Adam Gidwitz, The Unicorn Rescue Society series also with Adam Gidwitz and several amazing coauthors, The Yasmin series with Saadia Faruqi, Raj’s Rule (for the Bathroom at School) with Lana Button, How to Feed Your Parents with Ryan Miller, Takshira (Frown) with Naseeba Alozaibi You Are a Star, Jane Goodall with Dean Robbins, Ethan and the Strays by John Sullivan. Egyptian Lullaby with Zeena Pliska, and Salat in Secret with Jamilah Thompkins-Bigelow. He has more upcoming books and projects in the works. Hatem currently lives in New Brunswick, Canada, with his wife, son, and more pets than people.
Below you will find our monthly craft; printable activity sheets; and our community outreach activity where we will be discussing how we can share our stories & encourage others to read. For more books to read this month, don't forget to check out our perfect summer booklist featuring stories about stories:
We really hope you enjoy this month of book club as we try to keep our nationwide book club free & accessible for all. Each book is intentionally handpicked with each activity and outreach curated to engage and enrich our youth's experiences. Through these diverse and inclusive reads, working and playing together, and giving back to their own community, we hope to instill empathy, understanding, & kindness in our kids. If you didn't receive a copy of the book, don't fret. Email us at hello@mosskidsbooks.com for a virtual storytime reading of The Book That Almost Rhymed, read by our co-founder, Kara Cecchi.
Let's Craft: write your own story with a twist
Materials:
Colored construction paper (1x each)
White paper (2x each)
Markers/Crayons/Colored pencils
Stapler
Timer
Modifications:
With this craft, you can modify based on developmental level. We are working on our fine motor skills & bilateral coordination to fold the paper, to draw & to write.
Easy: Pre-assemble the book. Allow child to free draw. Write their sentences for them.
Moderate: Allow child to fold independently. Child may need assistance. All child to free draw. Child may need assistance with writing. Print their sentences in pencil & encourage them to trace the words.
Hard: Allow child to create independently.
Instructions:
1. Gather materials. Fold each piece in half with paper oriented horizontally.
2. Put both folded white papers inside your chosen construction paper.
3. Staple 3x -- top, middle, & bottom. See below.
4. Allow child to start their story on the first page. Set the timer for 8-10 mins to allow them to complete the beginning of their story.
5. Now this is the fun part. Once the timer goes off, they need to pass their story to their left in a clock-wise rotation. Reset the timer for 5 mins. Now they have 5 mins to draw the next page of their neighbor's story. Once the timer goes off, rotate again. When all pages are filled, hand back to the original owner. Have them read their story & decide on a title to design the cover.
Tip: Some children, my 6yo included, did not love the idea of having to pass his story to the next person. He said he had his own story in his head & didn't want it to be interrupted. This was the perfect* opportunity to talk about what happens in our July pick & why sometimes with more people the adventure is more fun. However, I wanted to make sure we did what he was comfortable with because I did want him to enjoy the experience. So instead, he shared his story back & forth with me. It's okay to do this activity paired up to go back & forth. Once we started, he actually enjoyed it & wanted to make another one with all of us included.
For our littlest readers:
Make lift the flap story boards! All you need is cardboard, hot glue, felt, scissors, & markers. Draw a couple designs on the cardboard with markers. Cut felt pieces to size that would cover your designs, leaving a little extra on top to glue down. Hot glue down just a sliver on the top so our littlest readers can lift the felt to find the drawing underneath. You can even have them guess where each specific drawing is after showing them a few times.
Remember: After you are done reading the book (if you received a copy from us!) & making your crafts, please have your kids sign the library card located in the front of the book (first names only!). Let's bring back a little bit of fun from our childhood. Also, please donate your book to your local public library, to your school library, or to a little free library in your area so more kids can enjoy a new diverse & inclusive read.
printable activity sheets:
Our incredible illustrator, Hatem Aly, has created us a couple coloring sheets to download & print. Our first pdf features our siblings with their brave knight & incredible detective designs to color. Our second pdf features just our siblings, so kids can design their own adventure outfits for our friends! Download below:
Community Outreach: Make bookmarks to share
We are encouraging others to read by creating bookmarks for others. This activity is simple. Allow children to create bookmarks using bookmarks like this or by using scrap papers (if using scrap papers, we suggest laminating to increase longevity of the bookmark). Talk with your kids about where people within your community can get books -- the library, bookstores, & even Little Free Libraries. It's vital to discuss with your kids the importance of book accessibility & whether your community has equitable access to books, especially diverse & inclusive stories. Book deserts are real. Take a look at this map. Darker colored areas also expose areas of structural inequality where families historically do not have access to a regular stock and flow of culturally and linguistically relevant books. Do you live in a book desert? What can you do to change that? How can you help other communities living without access to these books? Kids have some really incredible ideas, if only we would take the time to listen.
This is also a great time to introduce your kids to Little Free Libraries. Download the app & search for libraries in your area. Look through your bookshelves to see if their are books that your children no longer read & donate them into a library. There may even be a book that they would like to read inside. Our 6yr is making a few books of his own to put in our Little Free Libraries (remember we steward 9 of them!). Check out our little free libraries on our socials with #mosskidslittlefreelibrary !!
Once they are done making bookmarks for others, have them make one for themselves! And you can donate your bookmarks around the community. Have them available at check out in your local library or bookstore. Leave a few in the free libraries you visit, coffee shops, or even the post office. By doing this, we can encourage others to pick up a book & read!
supplemental books:
We're also reading To Make, Once Upon a Book, The Story of a Book, & When You Love a Book to encourage & illustrate a love for storytelling, creativity, & BOOKS!! There is a great activity kits for a few of our supplemental books, check them out below:
Please do not skip this activity. We truly believe this outreach activity is a vital part of childhood & an opportunity to raise kind kids. Teaching our youth the importance of community. A community that can help create more empathetic, accepting kids who understand that power of coming together. To learn the importance of protecting our waters. To protecting the ocean's creatures. And how they can make an impact within their own homes & communities.
YAY! Another MOSS Kids Book Club pick, craft, printable sheet, and community outreach activity. We would love to see when you receive your books and all the stories your kids create. You do not need to share kid's faces. Please be sure to tag us on Instagram @mosskidsbooks & use #mosskidsbookclub. Sharing about MOSS Kids Book Club is a way for your community to learn more about what MOSS Kids has to offer & for them to know where they can find the book you're donating. By doing so, we can reach & help more kids across the country. We'd also love to hear any feedback you may have, please email us at hello@mosskidsbooks.com. We appreciate you all so much for taking the initiative to bring kids together to read diverse books & hopefully learn vital life skills to help make our world a better place.
A book club change is coming...
Stay tuned. If you would like to stay up to date with all our plans to enhance our book club:
Don't Forget: We Have Local moss kids book club locations in eastern north Carolina!!
Tuesday, 7/9 at 11am: MOSS Kids Book Club at Elm City Branch Library in Elm City
Monday, 7/22 at 430pm: MOSS Kids Book Club at Wilson County Public Library in Wilson
Saturday, 7/27 at 10am: MOSS Kids Book Club with Drag Story Hour at Boxyard RTP with reader queen, Mx Princexx Peritwinkle
Sunday, 7/28 at 2pm: MOSS Kids Book Club at Larema Coffee House in Rocky Mount
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