Your guide to activities and fun things to do with your preschoolers, toddlers and kids in vancouver, CN

Books, Stories, and Baseball

May 01, 2009

Stories are the theme of this weekends what to do list. With three literary events for kids and a concert featuring baseball, a fun and educational time can be had by all.

Starting Friday 1 May, the West Vancouver's Children's Literary Festival Booktopia runs until Saturday 9 May. The opening reception of the art exhibit is Friday May 1^st with an exhibition of art work created by local youth. From preschoolers to graduating students there is a wide variety of work. The exhibition runs until May 31^st. Next Saturday, 9 May, there is a presentation of the Jungle Book with puppets. Ticket are $5 and are available at the door or in advance at the Kay Meek Centre or the West Vancouver Memorial Library.

There is the Spring Book Hatching at the main branch of the Vancouver Public Library on Saturday 2 May in the Alice MacKay room on the lower level. A celebration of the release of the latest books by local children's authors and artists. The afternoon will feature presentations, displays, a book sale and the chance to meet your favourite BC author or illustrator.

Agent Story is making a visit to Once Upon a Huckleberry Bush. On Saturday 2 May from 1pm to 3pm Agent Story will entertain the troops with storytelling at 4387 Main Street,Vancouver. Come and cheer on these made in BC stories written and performed by Laura Thomas. This is gear to the 3 to 8 crowd.

As a part of Music in the Morning's Family Musik series, Play Ball is the brainchild of Composer, conductor and commentator Rob Kapilow. Using the poem Casey at the Bat as the basis for this concert, Play Ball is a major blend of music, comedy, audience participation. Having heard Rob Kapilow interviewed you are in for a big treat, all the while enjoying an engaging musical education. The concert starts at 3pm Sunday 3 May at the Chan Centre. Tickets can be purchased through the Chan Centre box office (in person only) from 12pm to 5 pm Monday to Saturday, and on performance days from 12pm until intermission. You can also purchase through Ticketmaster.

Author Event: Ashley Spires, "Penguin and the Cupcake"

by Gwendolyn Floyd

January 28, 2009

Once Upon a huckleberry bush is having another author event this Saturday, 31 January 2008, from 1 to 3 pm. Author Ashley Spires will present her book "Penguin and the Cupcake." Come to find out if on Penguin's trip to the Northern Hemisphere is successful, and if he finds the delicious pink frosted cupcakes. There is also a rumour that there will be some delicious cupcakes  Read more...

Family Literacy Day

by Gwendolyn Floyd

January 22, 2009

Family Literacy Day® (FLD) was created by ABC CANADA Literacy Foundation and Honda Canada in 1999 to promote the importance of reading and learning together as a family all year round Every year on January 27, families and communities across Canada celebrate this special day  Read more...

Journals and Blank Books

by Gwendolyn Floyd

January 15, 2009

I love Journals and blank books. I like them so much that I wish I was a better writer and especially a better illustrator. While I have not given my son a beautifully bound blank book he does have a few Hilroy Journals. What I really like about these journals for preschoolers is  Read more...

Father Christmas Letters and Other Holiday Favourites

by Gwendolyn Floyd

December 11, 2008

Every year when Advent started we had one book that always came out for our bedtime read aloud time, the " Letters From Father Christmas " by JRR Tolkien. These are the letters and stories and drawings that were left at his house in answer to his children's letters to Father Christmas. They started out simply, and as the years went on the stories of Father Christmas and the North Polar  Read more...

More Book Reviews

by Gwendolyn Floyd

December 04, 2008

There are a number of books that we love in this house and are also reviewd on the Savvy main site. Thinking about what to give? A book is always a good thing and here are some ideas to help you choose. How the Grinch Stole Christmas by Dr. Seuss : This is a  Read more...

Books That are Essential to B.C., Local Publishers to the Rescue

by Gwendolyn Floyd

November 25, 2008

When I looked at today's list topic I was a little worried about constantly repeating myself with recommendations for local authors. Since I love books and I was involved with the Canadian Children's Book Centre and the Red Cedar Awards, I have recommended a lot of local Vancouver authors in previous posts. Then I thought more about it and decided that to find books essential to B.C. I  Read more...

Book Reviews on Savvy Source

by Gwendolyn Floyd

November 24, 2008

Did you know that there are hundreds of book and toy review on the Savvy Source main site? You can browse through the different themes and find all kind of different toys and books. Feel free to leave your comments on your favourites, or let people know where some might fall down on the  Read more...

Five Funny Favourites

by Gwendolyn Floyd

November 18, 2008

I think by their very nature children's picture books tend to be funny. While this is not always true, most of the books we have at home are either funny books, or non-fiction truck and machine books. This makes it difficult to choose our top 5 funny favourites, but I persevered  Read more...

Goodnight Gorilla

by Gwendolyn Floyd

November 17, 2008

When I looked at the topic for today and saw it was favourite bedtime stories I immediately thought of " Goodnight Gorilla " by Peggy Rathmann . I thought that just in case it was only my favourite bedtime story (well until my son is ready for a chapter a night then it is "Wind in the Willows") I would ask my son what his favourite was. Without hesitation my son answered  Read more...

Book Nooks

by Gwendolyn Floyd

November 11, 2008

There are a number of good children's bookstores around Vancouver. Some are not just children's bookstores but have a really good children's section and or good staff. Number one is Kidsbooks in Vancouver and North Vancouver. It has very knowledgeable staff and a huge  Read more...

Building a Preschool Library: Scholastic

by Gwendolyn Floyd

November 10, 2008

When my son entered preschool I was excited by a lot of things. We had a chance to meet new kids and become more social. He was able to be in an environment where I was not the adult in charge. We were able to get Scholastic books again. Scholastic is a great way to build a library for our preschooler. The books are cheap and you can always find some real bargains for good  Read more...

Halloween Poems for Preschoolers

by Gwendolyn Floyd

October 23, 2008

I love Halloween and I also love Halloween Poems and songs. There are lots of resources on the net for Halloween activities and they almost always have colouring pages, crafts and carving templates and sometimes they have songs and poems as well. One of my favourite Halloween poems for this age group is "Five Little Pumpkins." Five Little Pumpkins sitting on a gate,  Read more...

What is up this weekend? Rain

by Gwendolyn Floyd

October 03, 2008

Since it will be raining all weekend and conceivably for the rest of the winter it is time to bring some of the weekend activities inside. Good thing planners know the weather patterns in Vancouver. There are lots of things going on at the main branch of the Vancouver Public  Read more...

One of the Best Things About Preschool

by Gwendolyn Floyd

September 26, 2008

When I was working Elementary School teacher one of the things I loved about having my own classroom was running the Scholastic book club every month. I loved the teacher catalogues, the student flyers and the incredible deals on books of all kinds. A good portion of my son's library is from  Read more...

Word on the Street

by Gwendolyn Floyd

September 24, 2008

I let you know earlier in the fall that this Sunday is The Word on the Street. A sure sign of fall and fun for the whole family. Starting at 11 am until 5 pm all around the Vancouver main branch of the public library downtown. The Kid's Tent and The Vancouver Sun Raise-a-Reader  Read more...

Extra Classes for the Preschooler: Academic Enrichment

by Gwendolyn Floyd

September 10, 2008

Your child may not be in a preschool class for various reasons, and those who are may only be there for a few hours a week. What do you do the rest of the week? Are there any interesting classes for the preschooler? Of course there are. In this series over the next few days I will highlight a  Read more...

Fall is in the Air

by Gwendolyn Floyd

August 28, 2008

Fall is in the air and to me that means a few things, shiny new school supplies, a brand new start at school, bright crisp days and the Word on the Street . The Word on the Street is a national book and magazine festival held across Canada. I first became aware f the Word on the Street or  Read more...

Book Nooks for Tots: Once upon a huckleberry bush

by Gwendolyn Floyd

August 18, 2008

There is a new independent children's bookstore in town and its name is Once upon a huckleberry bush . Located at 4387 Main Street (about 28 th and Main) Once Upon a huckleberry bush is a little away from the trendy parts of Main street but has a nice atmosphere. My son and I went during the opening week last week, and while it was a little smaller than I thought  Read more...

What's Up This Weekend: 16-17 August

by Gwendolyn Floyd

August 15, 2008

While I may wish I was on the other coast this weekend, (two birthdays and a wedding I would love to attend) there is still a lot to do this weekend in Vancouver. The biggest thing happening this weekend is the opening of The Fair at the PNE Vancouver . Open from August 16 th to  Read more...

Pirates Pirates Everywhere

by Gwendolyn Floyd

August 07, 2008

I guess that you could say we are a little bit pirate obsessed in this family. When my son turned two I went all out and had a pirate theme for his party. I made pirate vests, and a Pirate pinata in the shape of Pa Grape as a Pirate. So in honour of pirates I will list some of our favourite  Read more...

Favourite Summer Reads

by Gwendolyn Floyd

July 15, 2008

I am a bibliophile, and my love of books is well addressed in our very small house. Of the hundreds of books there are a few hundred that are my son's. At three he is now trying to read some of them himself, but he still loves to be read to. I fully expect to be reading aloud to him for many, many years to come. He is not quite ready to stay still for some of my favourites yet, but if you  Read more...

Authors and Illustrators In and Around Vancouver

by Gwendolyn Floyd

July 07, 2008

One of my passions is children's literature and the effect good books can have on children's imaginations. As a teacher I was able to foster a love of books of all kinds with children and now with my own son I am doing the same. An easy way to do this is to find really good books with  Read more...

Book Nooks for Tots: Library Edition

by Gwendolyn Floyd

June 04, 2008

The Vancouver Public Libraries all have story times for babies, toddlers and preschoolers during the Fall, winter and Spring, but are a little lacking during the summer months. It seems that the children's librarians are a little busy with the school aged children and the summer reading programs. Don't get me wrong I love looking through the children's and YA novels and I think that it  Read more...