Archive for the ‘Childrens books’ Category

based on a 6th grade-ish level?

We’re writing Childrens books for my German clas.
Any ideas? please help, anything is much appreciated!

thanks lots

Write about a mouse and a cat who used to hate each other but then when they are forced to on a quest to save the master of the land Mr. Peacock goes missing. They go on a dangerous adventure and they become best friends.

I know, its slightly bonkers.

The paper said they have to be my annotations not any off the web, I don’t know what to do.

Well, you could start by asking your teacher.

Annotations are notes on something explaining it further. So in an annotated bibliography, there is a few sentences under each source saying what it is or how it was used. My guess is your teacher wants you to explain each page of the book (or chapter or something, if it’s a longer book), analyzing it–maybe explaining how the illustrations add to the story?

It is hard to raise your children to be good communists in this decadent capitalist bourgeois country. They are indoctrinated with capitalist propaganda such as "free market is good" from Kindergarten. Does anyone know any good communist Childrens books I can read to my kids to counteract this propaganda?

If you find our system so offensive to live under, feel free to move to Cuba, China, North Korea, or Russia, or one of the many other highly successful communist countries you seem to think so highly of. This country has it’s faults, as do all others, but at least here we can believe as we choose.

I’m thinking of writing a childrens book and I was just wondering what people usually go for when they buy children books. Do you go for something gender specific like fairy stories for girls?

I tend to buy books that have learning aspects (abcs, numbers, colors, seasons, manners, animals) mixed in with a cute plot, characters and pictures. My son’s favorite book is Ten Little Ladybugs. He loves the 3D ladybugs, the counting, rhyming and brightly colored pictures. I also like books that are part of a series like Clifford, Berenstein Bears, Sweet Pickles, Arthur, Muppet Babies etc…I do not do gender specific books as I want my son to learn a variety of different things, not just boy things like cars, planes and bugs. On his book shelf right now, he has a barbie and cinderella book.

My portfolio has been selected for a childrens book Illustration job, one time gig. Problem is, I dont know what to charge! They want to know what I need per illustration.
Anyone have any experiance with this

It is almost always Time and material You have to figure what your time is worth per hour and then also what the cost of materials are added in to it. Example = Lets say you feel your time is worth fifty dollars an hour and you work on a single

picture and it takes you 3 hours then it would be $150.00 plus your material cost paint ,paper etc.If you feel you are worth more then charge more If you feel is is not worth more then charge less.
The final cost is all up to you .
But remember this as an artist, don’t ever under sell your self, you can always come down in price but you can’t come up in price once you have made that commitment. Good luck with the book

No, this isn’t a treatise on how to paint your playroom walls green – although it’s certainly an option as well as a very nice, versatile color. No, this is how to create a child’s playroom using earth friendly alternatives. If youâ??re a parent who wants to go green for both the environment and your childrenâ??s health, here are some tips to help you decorate and furnish a playroom the eco-friendly way. Your children will be able to play in an area that is healthier for their bodies and a playroom done over in an eco-friendly format is likely to become a selling point if you decide to market your home in the future.

The floor of the playroom should be done over in an easy to clean, natural material, such as bamboo or cork, both sustainable alternatives. If youâ??re after a warmer touch, consider scattering natural fiber rugs around. They are both more sustainable than a new carpet (especially if you make or reuse them) and easier to clean.

The walls should be painted with a low- or no-VOC (volatile organic compounds â?? very bad for lungs of all sizes!) paint, or covered with earth friendly wallpaper, sustainable natural products or fabric. One terrific option is painting with chalkboard paint, something that allows the kids to unleash their creativity on the walls without rousing parental wrath!

Lighting should be ample. Energy efficient compact fluorescent or low level LED light bulbs will give you the best bang for your buck. A playroom should have a mix of overhead and close lighting. A couple of good reading lamps will provide light for both reading and craft projects.

Furniture should be mixed for big and little users. Re use old couches, chairs and tables â?? they can be made to fall in with a roomâ??s décor with a coat of paint. You can repurpose old clothes and leftover fabric to make pillows and patches for old upholstery. Consider making your own bean bags and filling them with recycled Styrofoam bits that come in packaging of various items or may be got cheap or free from local stores. Plenty of bins and shelving will help contain toys and craft supplies and lessen clean up time.

While toys, craft supplies and books are important parts of a playroomâ??s appeal, donâ??t rush out to buy them new. Many popular books can be found in secondhand shops. Stuffed toys can be found in secondhand stores as well â?? run them through the washer before giving them to children.

Crafts are another area where you can go green. Instead of buying construction paper, consider reusing things that already come into the home, such as cardboard boxes and newspaper. There are a number of instructions on the Internet that will teach you how to make a nontoxic â??play-doughâ? from household baking ingredients.

After expending a lot of time and effort to make your playroom eco-friendly, it doesnâ??t make much sense to use a bunch of chemicals to clean it. Most cleaning can be done with water, rags, a broom and a mop. For more serious cleaning, consider natural products like enzyme or orange oil cleaners. Many natural cleaners leave behind a pleasant scent as well.

Congratulations on choosing the green alternative for your childrenâ??s play area! You are helping out the environment and creating a cleaner, healthier atmosphere for your children. With more parents looking for earth-conscious living spaces, a playroom done over in an environmentally friendly way will also be a good marketing point if you choose to sell your home in future.

Mike Taylor
http://www.articlesbase.com/real-estate-articles/tips-on-creating-a-green-playroom-for-the-home-715912.html

Themes for parties tumble in all directions, but a baby shower begins with one common denominator, babies. Sit down with a notebook and pen, start writing down words that come to mind when the word â??babyâ? is spoken. The mind conjures up images that provide a multitude of ideas. Babies: lullaby, rocking, sweet, gentle, tiny animals, storybooks and their characters, downy soft, sunny, silly, and whimsical are a few words associated with babies. Add to the list of words specific things you know about mom and dad to be. Perhaps they love the outdoors, gardening, camping, or hiking. It could be a family that finds music and playing instruments to be an important part of their life. A sports family with riotous good humor who believe nothing is better on a hot July night than going to a baseball game. Incorporate what you know about the family with words associated with baby to come up with a very personal theme.

A Sunny Lullaby Baby Shower Theme

A family that listens to Mozart and plays Gershwin on the piano would find a lullaby theme music to their ears. Choose a second word from the list that brings to mind color or touch such as soft or sunny. A Sunny Lullaby Shower would be personal and charming. A Sunny Lullaby Shower brings to mind all shades of yellow, soft creams, and if you know if the baby is a boy or girl you could bring blue or pink into the palette. Start jotting down ideas like having the cake decorated with a cradle in the middle a huge smiling sun and tiny musical notes in all the colors of the palette chosen. Decorate around the theme using suns, babies, and musical notes. If games will be included borrow the premises of the game show â??Name That Tuneâ? using lullabies or nursery songs instead of popular tunes. While serving cake and punch play soft lullabies or classical music suited for a baby shower. Music stores carry loads of music for babies or children.

A Fairy Baby Shower

Gardeners and outdoorsmen would find a garden fairy shower to be enchanting and whimsical. The colors of nature come to mind with thoughts of garden fairies: greens, yellows, lavenders, and the iridescent flash of wings. A shower held outdoors on a deck, patio, or even in or near a garden would be a perfect setting for this theme. All things small and botanical could be used. Pressed flowers found at hobby stores like Michaelâ??s could be used to decorate invitations. Fresh flower arrangements with tiny fairies perched among the flowers would create a darling centerpiece. Fairy cakes and nectar (punch) could be part of the refreshments served. There are books galore relating the tales and legends of the wee folk. With a little research A Fairy Baby Shower would make a charming theme.

Zoo Babies Shower

Think about the joys visiting a zoo brings to little ones. Take the wild animal theme and tame it down to become a Zoo Babies Shower. Colors could be as soft as the pink of a flamingo to the cream of a kangarooâ??s tummy, or the calm gray of newborn elephant. Call friends and family to gather as many stuffed zoo animals as you can for decoration. Stickers of every kind are available at craft stores and could be used to make fun invitations. Ask the cake decorator to create a wonderful baby animal scene on the cake. Games might include name that animal with only a portion of the animal showing. The possibilities are as endless as the imagination.

Animals on Parade Baby Shower

Two things that children everywhere love are animals and parades. Combine the two for a party with rollicking good fun. The primary colors, red, blue, yellow, green, and orange come to mind with thoughts of Animals on Parade. Kittens, puppies, silly geese, tiny mice, a white goat, a gentle brown cow all marching to band music brings smiles and giggles to faces. Expand on the theme by having a cake decorated with animals clutching bright balloons.

Storybook Themed Showers

Browse through any storybook to spark the imagination. Jot down ideas while reading the story. Take note of the colors used in the stories to create a palette for decorations and favors. A few suggestions follow.

Eloise Baby Shower

The book, Eloise, by Kay Thompson allows a glimpse into the world of a little girl living in the Plaza Hotel in New York City. Read the book and then develop an entire baby shower around Eloiseâ??s escapades. Colors would be â??rawtherâ? Eloise, deep pink, a lighter shade of pink and a touch of black. This theme would be especially great for a city baby.

Tasha Tudor Theme

A theme surrounding Tasha Tudor, a beloved childrenâ??s book illustrator, would incorporate children, animals, nature. Books sheâ??s written and illustrated such as Pumpkin Moonshine, A is for Annabelle (an alphabet book), and Corgiville Fair could be used as guidelines.

Dr. Seuss Theme

Choose any of Dr. Seussâ??s wild, whacky rhyming stories as a theme. From the charm of Horton Hears a Who to Green Eggs and Ham or the perennial favorite The Cat in the Hat fun showers themes could be gleaned. Green Eggs and Ham is everything green, punch, food, decorations. Invent a game of where is Sam-I-Am using the book as a guide.

Draw inspiration from libraries, bookstores, childrenâ??s clothing shops, a park, or anywhere that attracts babies and their families. Once the motivation sets in the imagination takes over and unique, personal baby shower themes will come to life. The fun is in the planning and the satisfaction in the face of a mother to be when she walks in to the shower and finds herself whisked into the wonder of baby enchantment.

Sandra Canfield
http://www.articlesbase.com/babies-articles/unique-and-personal-baby-shower-themes-519177.html

For as long as there have been carpets, they have needed cleaning. However, vacuums and carpet cleaners are fairly recent inventions when you compare them to carpets. So how did people manage to clean carpets in the past? There are actually a lot of ideas they turned to. These methods today might seem a tad ridiculous to us, but people in the past swore by them, even going to the extent of actually publishing the techniques in various books and even immortalizing the various methodologies in paintings.

One of the commonly employed methods of carpet cleaning is beating the carpet with a stick. Each carpet section was often hung out on a clothesline in the sun and then beat with a stick in order to loosen and embedded dirt and to shake off any accumulated dust. This method of carpet cleaning is so popular that some people actually use this method today in cleaning area rugs.

This method of carpet cleaning was quite tedious, as other techniques were during this period. Because of this, emphasis was placed on protecting the carpet from dirt and wear. This was done by using druggets to cover up any areas and protect the carpet from spills. Druggets were often used in childrenâ??s rooms and other potential problem areas. As such, one can often see them depicted in various painting and illustrations.

Another great idea for past carpet cleaning lay not in a separate method, but in the carpet itself. Some carpets were actually reversible, enabling people to hide stains and gain a fresh carpet when the urgent need arises. Thus, stains can be hid quickly by simply turning the carpet over.

Stain removal is also a very important part of carpet cleaning. Even back in the past, spills were actually quite common and a lot of substances could not be removed by simple washing with soap. Common problematic substances were oil â??from lamps- and ink â??since ball-point pens have not yet been invented. With ink, people often used lemons in order to remove the problematic stain. With oil, people used lemon juice and a good brushing with bread crust to absorb the oil and get rid of it.

Sweeping the carpet was also a very necessary task in those days, and as such, also enjoyed a variety of ideas both in method of sweeping and the implements to be used in the task. A lot of people swore by the use of tea leaves in sweeping the carpet, mainly because the tea deodorized the carpet effectively. However, tea leaves also tended to leave stains on the carpet when used improperly. Some people also suggested using grass for carpet cleaning, claiming to freshen up the carpet more effectively. Another common toll used in this part of carpet cleaning is a corn broom, claimed to restore the carpet to a brand-new look.

Another substance used in Chicago carpet cleaning was ox-gall. A few tablespoons of ox-gall, when added to warm water, was claimed to serve as a great solution when the carpets need washing. The solution is said to revive the carpet colors effectively, making the carpet look brand-new. A lot of companies actually still manufacture ox-gall soap today for use in carpet cleaning.

Of course, there came the invention of the vacuum cleaner. Did you know that old carpet cleaners were not even powered by electricity? Rather, they were designed to be operated by hand, creating a partial vacuum every time the appliance was swept over the carpet. Soon, though, these manual carpet cleaners were rendered obsolete by the introduction of the electric vacuum cleaner.

So there you go: itâ??s amazing what weâ??ve learned by taking a quick look at the history of carpet cleaning.

Raz Barr
http://www.articlesbase.com/home-improvement-articles/a-look-at-the-history-of-carpet-cleaning-736842.html

The forthcoming spring season will mark Toyota’s Spring Traffic Safety Campaign. The surging Asian company has partnered with 429 companies to make the campaign possible.

Toyota’s partners in this endeavor include vehicle dealers, logistic systems and organizations, parts distributors, rental or lease dealers and even forklift dealers. The campaign will start on the first of April and will run for the two months until the 31st of May. This is in connection with the Nationwide Traffic Safety Campaign which happens from May 11 until 20.

The Toyota Motor Corporation will focus on two areas of traffic safety this year. First, the company will address the issue of children running into the streets. This is a very well known cause of accidents and Toyota will try to educate young children of the hazards of running out into the street. Another issue that Toyota will pay attention to is the â??traffic safety for the elderlyâ?.

As part of the campaign, Toyota and its partners in the crusade will be distributing educational materials to young children and to the general public as well. Educational picture books will be distributed to students at kindergartens and nursery schools across the country. These picture books emphasize the hazards of running out in the street.

About 2.65 million copies of these picture books will be distributed through car dealerships across the country. Aside from that about 47,000 copies of another picture book will put emphasis on how to avoid the hazards of children running out into the street where they face tremendous amount of risk. These will be distributed to kindergarten and nursery schools as well as libraries and childrenâ??s services nationwide.

Toyota will also be distributing about 730,000 educational leaflets to children and motorists. These leaflets will also emphasize ways to prevent children from running into the street and how to protect elderly pedestrians. These leaflets will be distributed by car dealerships, parts stores, and rental or lease facilities which have partnered with Toyota in the campaign.

Aside from the leaflets, Toyota will also display educational posters around the country in about 7,400 locations. These posters will be displayed at car dealerships, parts stores, rental or lease dealerships, logistic systems, and forklift dealers scattered all across the United States. The said posters are aimed at the general public to educate them on â??Consideration of Each Person Leads to Traffic Safetyâ? topic.

The said campaign is a good step for Toyota to show that they care about their consumers. As the general public knows, traffic safety is of utmost importance and Toyota is one of the car manufacturers dedicated to traffic safety. Their dedication to safety for motorists and pedestrians can be likened to Volvoâ??s dedication to provide safe vehicles equipped with Volvo plugs to their consumers.

Glady Reign
http://www.articlesbase.com/automotive-articles/toyota-to-launch-spring-traffic-safety-campaign-124224.html

Spanish is one of the world’s fastest growing languages and is a phenomenal tool to have up your sleeve. Problem is, can you learn Spanish fast? Today we look at how anyone can learn Spanish quickly and be speaking the language in under three months.

Here are some helpful hints to facilitate the process of learning Spanish. While you’ll still need to have a good textbook, classroom instruction or online course, these steps can speed along the process of mastering the Spanish language.

Subtitles

Watch DVDs of English language movies with the Spanish subtitles turned on. Read along and you’ll eventually start to learn Spanish words as you watch movies! This is a simple and fun way to build your Spanish vocabulary.

Kids’ Books

Reading children’s books is Spanish is another great way to learn the language. These can either be very simple books or ones which you are already familiar with in English – consider picking up a Spanish translation of a favored book; when you already know the book, figuring out the meaning of the Spanish words will be far easier.

TV

Television and radio programs in Spanish are valuable tools for picking up the language as well. Telenovelas (similar to soap operas) are great ways to hear Spanish spoken clearly.

Comic Strips

Reading Spanish language comic strips (available both online and in newspapers) are a great way to learn the language – you’ll get to see idiomatic Spanish you’d never learn from a textbook and the format makes them easy to follow.

3×5 Cards

You can use these cards to create your own flash cards. Carry some with you and when you find words or phrases you are unfamiliar with, write them down and learn the meanings later. You can then add these to your flash cards and have a great learning tool.

Remember High School?

A lot of us took some Spanish in high school or college or perhaps a related Romance language such as French or Italian. These provide you with a good basis to build on, since you’ll have learned a bit about grammar and verb conjugation. If you know some Italian or French you will already have something of a handle on word order within sentences, but keep in mind that pronunciation will be significantly different.

Talk With Native Speakers

If you live in an area with a large Spanish speaking population (for instance, Texas, California, Florida or larger cities like Chicago and New York), you’ll have an easy time meeting native speakers to practice your skills with. However, even if you don’t have a lot of native speakers to converse with in your area, get in contact with a Spanish club or students from a Spanish class.

Practice Every Day

Daily practice will quickly help to build your Spanish language skills. The more you work on your skills, the quicker and easier you will master Spanish. Mix up your study routine to keep things interesting.

By using these tips, you’ll make learning to speak Spanish much quicker and more fun. You should also choose a self-study or classroom Spanish course which has a proven track record and uses a variety of teaching techniques. Many people give up on learning a new language due to burning out on a dull routine. However, there are fun and interactive methods now available which can have you speaking Spanish quickly.

Lynn Halladay
http://www.articlesbase.com/education-articles/you-can-learn-spanish-in-under-three-months-a-great-tool-for-traveling-688714.html