February is always an exciting month. There is always so much going on. It is Black History Month and Valentine's Day and in our house a couple of birthdays. Plus Hazel always has a week off in February and this year and last my nephew is coming to visit for the week. Just a lot of exciting things going on. I was asked by Penguin Kids to participate in their Ordinary People Change the World Blog Tour. I jumped at the chance since Hazel LOVES this series. Brad Meltzer and Christopher Eliopoulos do an amazing job in these books. They are biographies for kids about famous people who made a difference in the world. The books are part picture book and part graphic novel. And there is often a little joke or theme going on through the book. We are starting the tour with I Am Abraham Lincoln. Seeing how President's Day and Lincoln's birthday are coming up it seems like a good one to kick off the month!
Now Abraham Lincoln is well known for ending slavery in the United States and for wearing his tall top hat. One of the fun things in this book is that the main character is always drawn as an adult even in his/her childhood. The joke throughout the book was that Abraham tells people he will be on the penny and everyone of course asks "What's a penny?" Hazel loves this joke.
Abraham Lincoln only went to school for a total of less than a year but he loved books and taught himself how to write. There are all sorts of fun facts of how Lincoln loved to read, learn and write as well as fight for what is right. Each book in this series has a general message from the main character. Lincoln's lesson is to always speak your mind and speak for others. It is such a great lesson and this book really has a fun way of delivering it to kids.
To go along with the book and series we decided to make puppets of each of them. (We were inspired by an Eskimo craft at Lakeshore Learning a couple of weeks ago.) We used the Extra People Shapes from Lakeshore Learning and craft sticks. Hazel colored and glued and I did most of the cutting. She glued all of the hat so we stuck a backing and never trimmed it again.
She is having so much fun with the puppets (yes we made one for the whole series and will be sharing them all month). It was fun to make them and even more fun to see her acting out the heroes from the books!! Stay tuned all month as we share each of these great books and people with you!!
Penguin Kids Giveaway for the Whole Series!!
Runs February 1-29 and is open to US Residents only!
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