BeWitched, BoThered & BeWildered

After a flurry of articles last year about whether twins should be forced to separate in school classes, the story has resurfaced in the Concord Monitor of Concord, N.H.:

In New Hampshire, 436 people have signed a petition asking for such a law, and seven lawmakers are registered to sponsor the bill. Nicknamed the “twin bill,” the exact legislation hasn’t been finalized, but sponsors said the gist is that it would direct schools to consider parents’ wishes when deciding whether to place multiples, which is the preferred term for higher-order births, in the same classroom or in separate classrooms.

About Children’s Book Reviews @ BeTwinned

by Charlotte Doyle, illustrated by Julia Gorton
Photo from Amazon.com

Review by Sandra Horning

If your twin babies are just beginning to show an interest in books, then Twins! would be a good choice for them. Although the book is a picture book, it feels like a board book as the pages are thicker and sturdier than normal. The short text rhymes and easily keeps the attention of little ones, while the simple, bold illustrations provide lots of contrasts for young eyes. The book will provide some early learning too, with some numbers, colors and early word (for example, “up” and “down”) recognition.

The twins move through the book doing various activities, such as swinging on the swings, crying over dropped ice cream, looking at a book, fighting over a stuffed bear, taking a bath, and sleeping (always something a parent wants to encourage). All in all, this is a nice book for the new twins in your life to enjoy!

Ages 1-4

About Children’s Books Reviews @ BeTwinned

by Julia Rawlinson, illustrated by Tiphanie Beeke
Photo from Amazon.com

Review by Sandra Horning

Living in New England, surrounded by falling leaves, Fletcher and the Falling Leaves, really spoke to my children. This wonderful autumn tale tells the story of Fletcher, an adorable young fox, and his favorite tree.

As the leaves turn brown and begin to fall, Fletcher worries his tree is sick and runs around trying to catch each leaf. He becomes more distressed when the squirrel and porcupine take some of the leaves for their nests. Fletcher does everything he can to reattach the leaves to the tree and to keep the rest of the leaves from falling. Some kind birds even help Fletcher put some leaves back on the tree.

Despite all of his efforts, the last leaf finally drops and Fletcher sadly goes home. He takes the last leaf home with him and tucks it into bed. When he wakes up he finds his favorite tree looking more beautiful then ever, twinkling with frost and icicles in the cold winter air. Fletcher finally understands that his favorite tree is just fine. The soft, warm watercolor illustrations are perfect, a lovely tribute to the changing of the seasons.

Ages 3-7

About Children’s Book Reviews @ BeTwinned

by Margaret O’Hair, illustrated by Thierry Courtin
Photo from Amazon.com

Review by Sandra Horning

Many families with twins may already have a copy of this book, but for those just beginning their journey, Twin to Twin is a book to add to your must read list. It’s great for preparing an older sibling (of toddler age) for the arrival of twin siblings. And it’s a great early read aloud for young twins themselves.

The text rhymes and rolls gently from page to page, as the charming cartoon artwork shows a set of twins in their early years, learning to walk, eat, bathe, play and sleep together. The red-headed twins in the story are different genders and look very similar, but you can tell them apart (the bows help), just like real twins!

It’s clear that twins do all the things other babies do, but they learn to do these things together with twice the fun. The double hard work for parents is not forgotten as the twins have double messy diapers and double tantrums too. Of course, it all ends happily with double love!

Ages 1 – 5.

More than 3,500 twins, triplets and quads attended Twins Days, the annual twins festival in Twinsburg, Ohio.

Check out this news story, and don’t forget to watch this video too.

About Children’s Book Reviews @ BeTwinned

Mordant’s Wish by Valerie Coursen
Photo from Amazon.com

Review by Sandra Horning

Just this week I saw a turtle trying to cross the road. I stopped the car, and my older son hopped out and helped the turtle across the road.

This reminded me of one of my favorite books, Mordant’s Wish. When we came home that night we read Mordant’s Wish and that led me to write this review, which came about in the true spirit of the story, as it is about the way one thing leads to another in an unpredictable, but, nevertheless, interconnected way.

As the story opens, we see Mordant the mole staring at a turtle-shaped cloud in the sky and wishing for a turtle friend. Mordant’s wish is set in motion by blowing on a dandelion puff and thus begins a wonderful chain of events. Because, at that very moment, Calum is riding by on his bike and he sees the dandelion seeds, which remind him of snow, and this makes him decide to stop and get a snow cone. Peanut the bird sees the drips of Calum’s snow cone in the shape of a hat, which reminds her of Aunt Nat, and so off she flies to visit her aunt.

The story continues with each character unknowingly affecting the actions of the next until we get to a turtle being helped across the road and Mordant’s wish finally coming true. It’s a lovely story of serendipity!

Coursen’s beautiful watercolor illustrations flow from one page to the next. Young children of all ages will enjoy this book and, perhaps, it will inadvertently lead you on to a new adventure or to make a wish yourself.

Ages 3-8

About TwinWatch @ BeTwinned

Identical twins Janice Morris and Caroline Satchell Morris talk about silly questions people ask twins, identical childhoods and twin pranks on NPR’s Storycorps.

About TwinWatch @ BeTwinned

The British expo The Baby Shows conducted a survey to see what people thought about the idea of having multiples. A whopping 74 percent of respondents said liked the idea!

Read the article to see why they felt this way.

About Children’s Book Reviews @ BeTwinned

The Children Who Smelled a Rat by Allan Ahlberg, illustrated by Katharine McEwen
Photo from Amazon.com

Review by Sandra Horning

The Children Who Smelled a Rat is the fourth book in the Gaskitt series by Allan Ahlberg.

The Gaskitt family, Mr. and Mrs. Gaskitt, the twins Gus and Gloria, the baby Gary and the cat Horace, each have their own zany adventure within the book.

First, Mrs. Gaskitt finds a mysterious package in the back of her taxi, next Mr. Gaskitt loses the baby, then Horace meets a bird. Finally, Mrs. Fritter, the twins’ favorite teacher, turns into a crazy lady.

Each chapter zig-zags in and out of each adventure. The twins, Gloria and Gus, are determined to solve the mystery of their teacher gone crazy. Some triplets make a surprising appearance near the end of the story!

My seven-year old-son is having a great time slowly reading each chapter - an excellent book for children just starting to read chapter books. My son was especially fond of chapters 2 ½ and 2 ¾, each of which is only a half page long.

The spreads have lots of interesting little pictures and additional cartoon text to keep young readers interested. My three year old listens in too. Although he misses some of the humor, he gets more than would be expected, and he thoroughly enjoys studying the bright watercolor and crayon illustrations. And the crazy, twisting story easily brings on the laughs.

The book includes many examples of literary devices: chapters, a glossary, a table of contents and even footnotes referencing previous Gaskitt adventures. It’s a great introduction to reading and writing.

The Children Who Smelled a Rat is a fun read with lots of twists to keep children hooked, as well as guessing and laughing, Of course, we’ll now have to find and read the previous Gaskitt stories!

Ages 5-9

About TwinWatch @ BeTwinned

Nearly 100 families attended a recent convention held by the Triplet Connection in Phoenix, Arizona.

Parents had the opportunity to talk with veteran parents and to learn parenting tips and time and money management.

If you missed the convention this year, don’t fret — check out the Triplet Connection website for information about next year’s event.