Tuesday, September 25, 2012

Does no one care about cleanliness anymore?

After a month of pouting because my new school didn't order any Mrs. Wishy Washy books I finally discovered why- it's not that they hate children and children's literature or that they don't want children to read- it's that IT IS OUT OF PRINT.

Um...  

How am I suppose to teach reading without Mrs. Wishy Washy?

Or entertain myself wondering about her crazy cleaning lifestyle?  

I don't understand.

What is wrong with you people? Did EVERYONE stop loving Mrs. WW? Did you find something better? Am I missing the next best thing in children's literature? 

Did she find counseling that helped her stop cleaning her farm animals? 

Why, oh why would they stop publishing these books?

They're not fab literature, but they get the job done. Now I'm desperate for book recommendations- what children's books are out there that:

-Tell a good story with a beginning, middle, and end that is easy to retell
-Using simple language and vocabulary words that most children know
-Use just a few lines on every page
-With entertaining pictures that get kids to pay attention (any other books out there that have a huge pig rear-end on the page??)
-Aren't obviously babyish so that they can be read by kindergarten through second graders?

Please, please help me! 

6 comments:

Jenny said...

Wow. Who knew that one downside of a brand new school was that some fabulous books are out of print? That had to be unforeseen. Wow.

As to your question, I'm a huge fan of Jan Thomas (Rhyming Dust Bunnies, Where Will Fat Cat Sit?, the Doghouse) but they don't have as clear of beginning, middle, and end as the Mrs. Wishy-Washy books. They are fabulous and great fun though.

Kassia said...

Mrs. Wishy Washy is alive and well! She was at the Reading Recovery conference last year. I think a different publisher took over the books. Check this site out.
http://www.hameraypublishing.com/the-joy-cowley-collection

organized chaos said...

Thanks! I'm using Dustbunnies this week for shared reading but my kids don't get it :( However with the speech bubbles it is great for teaching one to one matching!

organized chaos said...

Kassia, you've made me so, so happy! I'm so thankful to know that Ms WW did not go to therapy and stop her crazy ways. There is hope for young readers!

turtlemama said...

Tried to think of the favorites for this age group my girls have loved. Most of these have stood the test of time for us with all four girls being huge fans.

Caps for Sale by Slobodkina
I Love You Blue Kangaroo by Clark
Bear Snores On by Wilson
Have You Got My Purr by West
Harry the Dirty Dog by Zion
Mole and the Baby Bird by Newman
Corduroy by Freeman
and for fall, nothing beats Pumpkin Moonshine by Tasha Tudor

A new favorite we just heard about and checked out from the library is The Gruffalo by Donaldson--don't know if it stands the test of time, but it is a wonderful story; funny, too.

We've found that many of the newer books such as the ones by Jan Thomas and even some of the Elephant and Piggie series are just too clever for my little ones. My older girls get more out of them than the littles do. Rhyming Dust Bunnies being an exception. Evelyn loves sucking the dust bunnies with the vacuum!

Good luck! I love read alouds!

organized chaos said...

Thanks Turtle Mama! That's a great list- I'm loving this great list of books everyone is sharing. I'm excited to dive into them. Totally forgot about Caps for Sale- that may be my book of the week next week...