When the cat's away...

...the mice will play! Mark had to work today so I went out and did what I do best...SHOP! First stop....Books-A-Million. There is something about children's books that brings me total bliss. I love children's books more than shoes....well that was a little dramatic, but you get the point. Let me give you some background information before I share what I got at BAM. We read "Cook-A-Doodle-Do" every year which is part of our reading series. It's a different version of "The Little Red Hen," or what most people call a "mixed up fairy tale." MY KIDS AND I LOVE MIXED UP FAIRY TALES. 


When we read "Cook-A-Doodle-Do" we also examine different versions of the original story. I read them the following... 

Burro's Tortillas by Terri Fields. This story gives a Southwestern twist on "The Little Red Hen." Burro wants to turn corn into tortillas, but no one will help him. 

"The Little Red Hen Makes a Pizza" by Philemon Sturges. Little Red lives in the big city in this adorable tale. She tries to employ the help of her friends to make a pizza, but of course they have other "plans" and cannot help. 

Both stories are precious and big hits in my room when I read them. Well today, I found a NEW story to add to my "Little Red Hen" collection. When browsing the aisles of BAM I found "The Little Red Pen" by Janet Stevens. SCORE! I'm so excited! This book is ADORABLE!

One word sums up this story... hilarious! Little Red Pen turns to her friends for help when she has to grade papers, but no one is willing to assist. Things take a turn for the worst when Little Red Pen falls into the wastebasket. The other office supplies must work together to save her. I cannot wait to share this story with my kids. 

*Click on the picture of the book to watch a preview video on the story.* Enjoy!

Next, I went to Target. Target must be making a killing on the dollar section with us teachers around. As I'm sure most of you know, they currently have adorable Valentine's Day stuff in their dollar section. I found foam stickers for holiday crafts and noise putty for my class store. I ran out of this stuff the first day it debuted at the store and the kids have been hounding me to restock it. :) 

Then I went to the mall and shopped around. Nothing too exciting. 

Contest update: I'm currently in 1st place with 55%. I'm hopeful I can keep the lead until the 30th, which is when the contest ends. Every one I know has been super supportive and voting like crazy, even my students' parents. They are so AWESOME!

Got to go clean and do laundry. EW.