PICK OF THE LITERATURE
— by Dr. Donna Phillips
I
t’s time!! Time for August ac-
tivities for children who are en-
tering their summer phase of, “I
am bored!” Whether on vacation or just
having a “staycation,” it happens to most
of them at some point. Of course, I have
some recommendations to answer this
lament… books!
They can provide
just the diversion
you’re
looking
for — with a bit
of learning added
in! Some books
may be good for
children to use by
themselves
but
others may require
adult assistance.
A staycation
is a good idea but
sometimes
the
staying has to be done by the children…
and we all know how they will feel about
that. If you have planned an adult-only
getaway, Bunny’s Staycation (Scho-
lastic, New York, 2018, $17.99), written
and illustrated by Lori Richmond, might
come in handy. Formerly titled “Mama’s
Business Trip,” the book works regard-
less. Little Bunny has to stay home
with Papa while Mama goes away on
business. Of course, Bunny wants to go
and is very upset when Mama leaves.
But Papa has a plan to make this the
best staycation Bunny has ever had and
they will be “going” many places! After
Mama leaves, they get up early on Mon-
day morning and start getting ready. To-
16 WNY Family August 2018
gether Bunny and Papa build a pretend
car out of a cardboard box and they be-
gin to fill it with everything they will
need for the trip. On Tuesday they fill it
for a trip to the tropics with beach tow-
els, sunglasses, beach toys, and snacks,
and palm trees they made out of paper.
Bunny spends his
time in the bath-
tub pretending to
be at the beach.
On
Wednesday
they travel to a
wintry wonderland.
Dressed in winter
clothing, they deco-
rate the house with
paper
snowflakes
and icicles, pictures
of penguins and polar bears, and play
games with ice cubes. Thursday takes
them on a safari with binoculars, grasses
made of paper, stuffed animals and even
a camera! Friday is the big day when
Mama returns. But the adventure is not
over yet. She walks into the house to find
her very own family staycation. They
have planned for a campout complete
with a tent and marshmallows to roast
over the paper campfire!
I’m sure everyone knows how to
build a sandcastle, but do you know how
to code one? This book will take a trip to
the beach to a whole new level. How to
Code a Sandcastle (Viking, New York,
2018, $16.99), written by Josh Funk and
illustrated by Sara Palacios, is a book
that helps children begin to understand-
ing coding from a practical perspective.
While aimed at girls to encourage them
to think about careers in technology, it
is a book for everyone. It is Pearl’s last
day at the beach for summer vacation
and one last day to try to build the per-
fect sandcastle. Having been trying for
a week, she is pretty sure what the prob-
lems are… but now she needs to figure
out a plan. This is where coding comes
in! Coding is really just breaking a pro-
cedure and the problems into small logi-
cal steps. Of course, Pearl has her trusty
robot, Pascal, to help her. If she can
code him just right, he can build it for
her. And so the adventure begins. Step
by step, we learn how she works through
each problem in the process and teaches
us some of the language of coding along
the way. After reading this book, build-
ing a sandcas-
tle will never
be the same for
kids or adults!
If you are
looking
for
some fun sum-
mer crafts to
do with your
younger ones,
Foam Crafts
for Kids (De-
sign Originals/
Fox
Chapel
Publishing,
Mount Joy, 2018, $17.99), edited by Su-
zanne McNeill, might be your answer.
This colorfully photographed book
gives step-by-step directions for cute
and engaging projects. The Introduc-
tion provides a helpful list of materials,
tips, cautions, and techniques to make
each project turn out perfectly. It even
includes templates for project parts.
Once you’re ready, the projects are sim-
ply described and you are guided to a