The Leprechaun's Gold

The Leprechaun's Gold, written by Pamela Duncan Edwards and illustrated by Henry Cole, tells the tale of Old Pat and Young Tom, two harpists entering a contest for the title of best harpist in the land. Young Tom knows Old Pat is more talented and sabotages Old Pat's harp by cutting one of the strings. When the two men hear a leprechaun in need, Old Pat helps out, while Young Tom continues onward to the contest. Old Pat is rewarded with The Leprechaun's Gold and Young Tom, well you'll have to read to find out what happens to him. This story received my four year old son's approval as he has already requested to read it again tomorrow. There are also hidden shamrocks in the illustrations, which my son thought was great.

The Leprechaun's Gold
$5.03
By Pamela Duncan Edwards
Buy on Amazon

After finding shamrocks in this story, you can make your own shamrock prints using a green pepper, green paint and white paper. All you have to do is cut the green pepper in half horizontally as the stem is facing up.

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Then carefully scoop out the seeds without damaging the edges that will make the shamrock print.

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Next simply place upside-down on a plate.

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And stamp away!

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Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed

It's been a while since I picked a book for younger children, so this week's pick is courtesy of my almost 2 year old daughter. This girl LOVES books (almost as much as her Mama does) and her current favorite is Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed by Eileen Christelow. One of ten in a series of monkey books written by Eileen Christelow, this one tells how five rowdy little monkeys play instead of going to bed. It follows the sequence of the familiar rhyme, and I cannot help but read it with a singsong voice.

Five LIttle Monkeys Jumping on the Bed is a perfect story for retelling, in fact one of my favorite things to do is sit and listen to my daughter "read" it while she flips through the pictures in her board book. She's speaking in two to four word sentences so she doesn't say every word, but you can certainly get the gist of what she's saying, especially when she shakes her finger and says, "No, no, jump!" when she gets to the part about what the doctor said.

I also use this book (the paperback version) with my kindergarteners to introduce subtraction. My students draw a bed on construction paper and use cut out monkeys to act out the story as I read. I pause and my students help me write subtraction sentences after each monkey falls off the bed. Cute and versatile this book is a hit at home and in the classroom!