Little Readers Ages 6-8 – Details, episodes & analysis

     The Day the Kids Took Over  written by Sam Apple, illustrated by Julie Robine, and published by JIMMY Patterson Books, an imprint of Little, Brown and Company, a division of Hachette Book Group Inc. in 2021.
     Listeners will discover the meaning of compromising, and how to resolve disputes through this story.
     

Who Will Kiss the Crocodile? written by Suzy Senior, with illustrations by Claire Powell, and published originally in Great Britain by Little Tiger Press Ltd. & the U.S. by Tiger Tales Books in 2022.
   A modern version of Sleeping Beauty that will delight little readers with its rhyming cadence and happy ending!

Run, Turkey, Run! written by Diane Mayr, illustrated by Laura Rader, and published by Walker Publishing Company, Inc. in 2007.
    This story is strictly entertaining! It provides examples of personification and onomatopoeia, which helps youngsters in the process of re-telling the story, and remembering the correct sequence of events.  

   Pencil: A Story with a Point, written by Ann Ingalls & illustrated by Dean Griffiths (2019), was adapted for this podcast by Joanne Avery(2020). 
   This episode is dedicated to a young man with the initials M.D.A., who loves his tablet and knock-knock jokes! 
   This story contains fun with puns and personification. Jackson, the main character, and Pencil used to have loads of fun drawing together.  But after Tablet arrives on the scene and takes over, Pencil is no longer #1.  He feels pointless.  How will he win Jackson back?
   You can get this book at your local library, too!

The Man with the Violin, written by Kathy Stinson & illustrated by Dusan Petricic (2013) Adapted for the podcast by Joanne Avery (2019).  This story recaps the experiment done by world-famous violinist Joshua Bell with The Washington Post on 1/12/2007.  Bell was dressed as an ordinary street musician playing his Stradivarius violin in the lobby of a Washington, D. C. train station.  After playing 43 minutes he only observed a few people stopping to listen, and he only had $32.17 laying in his violin case-yet people usually pay hundreds for a ticket to hear him in a concert hall.  The story inspires all to stop, look, and listen to the beauty and miracles in our daily lives, and to respect the imagination and curiosity of our children in their quest toward their aspirations.

This podcast is dedicated to music teachers everywhere and to my mother, Beatrice Gilbride, a concert violinist, and Josh Z., a former student of mine, who could make the violin ‘sing’ from the time he was 3 years old!

Resources:

Washington Post Subway experiment, Joshua Bell, 2007

www.itunes.com/voice of the violin, Joshua Bell

www.youtube.com/Vocalise, Op.34 No.14, Joshua Bell & Michael Stern Orchestra 

www.youtube.com/ Am I Wrong by Nico & Vinz, Cover by Damien Escobar, Black Star Elephant, 2014.

 Subscribe to hear Damien Escobar first: http://bit.ly/1QIGLXi For more Damien Escobar covers click here: http://bit.ly/1SmLI85

Tacky's Christmas written by Helen Lester and illustrated by Lynn Munsinger (2010) is a story for all ages!  It captures the true meaning of the holiday season by demonstrating how an odd gift and warm hearts can save the day.  Enjoy festive carols and a new selection of music by Igor Khainskyi entitled "Christmas Magic" during this episode.  Happy Holidays to all! 

This story was written and illustrated by Amy Young in 2010. The main character, Emmalina, is a fairy trying to earn her wings by doing something important.  Her talents and interests are quite different from the other fairies.  The lesson here is to be true to yourself, exploring your talents & interests, as long as you are enjoying them and getting better every day. 

In this story, the main character demonstrates how differences make every living creature special.  The author, Karina Wolf (2018), wrote this story about her own dog.

Trudy Ludwig (2013) highlights strategies of relationship building for children- demonstrating the value of consideration, compassion, and empathy.

A classic story, by Russell Hoban, encourages youngsters to try new things. This episode may foster productive discussions about health and nutritious foods.  Something we all need to focus on in this 'fast food' society.