Tag: picture books to read aloud

Monster Cookies: Recipe

~ cynthiahm ~ 1 Comment
In my story THE LULLABY MONSTERS, cookies are something the monsters absolutely love. So what kind of cookies do you bake to please a monster? Monster Cookies of course!

Here’s my recipe for Monster Cookies that’s sure to please any little monster running around your home.

Recipe for Monster Cookies
*note: I have tested and tweaked this recipe and it is awesome!

1/2 cup margarine
1/2 cup butter
3/4 cup light brown sugar
3/4 cup white sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 cups rolled oats
1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/2 – 3/4 cup candy coated chocolate pieces

Step 1

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Grease cookie sheets. Step 2

In a very large bowl, cream together the margarine, butter, brown sugar and white sugar until smooth. Beat in the eggs one at a time then stir in the vanilla. Combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and rolled oats; stir into the sugar mixture. Mix in chocolate chips and candy-coated chocolate pieces. Drop by tablespoonfuls onto the prepared cookie sheets. Step 3

Bake for 10 to 12 minutes in the preheated oven, or until the edges are golden. If you like chewy cookies, take them out before they look done.

Curious about the book? You can get it here!

Thanks for reading my blog! You are welcome here any time 🙂

Reading for Research: Reforemo Challenge Wrap Up

~ cynthiahm

At the beginning of March, when I began the Reforemo challenge, I had no idea that the libraries would be closed and much of the world shut down. Here’s my March 7th post, before the world changed. The first half of the month, I was able to check out many of the books and I still have many of them at home with the library currently closed and the loan period extended. Honestly, the whole world pandemic thing threw me for a bit of a loop, how about you?

Thank you Carrie Charley Brown and Kristi Call for doing this challenge; I hope to catch up and read through the daily posts I’ve missed over the coming weeks.

Here’s a list of the books I’ve read over the past 2 weeks, some of which I’ve researched using You Tube read alouds:

  1. Professional Crocodile by Giovanna Zoboli
  2. Vroom by Barbara McClintock
  3. Twinderella by Corey Rosen Schwartz
  4. Here We Are by Oliver Jeffers
  5. The Bear’s Garden by Marcie Colleen
  6. The Curious Garden by Peter Brown
  7. Maybe Something Beautiful by F. Isabel Campoy and Theresa Howell, illustrated by Rafael Lopez
  8. The Gardener by Sarah Stewart, illustrated by David Small
  9. Tar Beach by Faith Ringgold
  10. Truman by Jean Reidy
  11. How to Catch a Star by Oliver Jeffers
  12. Nine Months by Miranda Paul
  13. Pirasaurs! by Josh Funk
  14. Whale in a Fishbowl by Troy Howell and Richard Jones
  15. On Gull Beach by Jane Yolen
  16. Little Frog and the Scary Autumn Thing by Jane Yolen
Truman

How did I do with the challenge?

So keeping it real, I didn’t quite make it through the Reforemo challenge to read 100 picture books in the month of March, but I did discover a bunch of fabulous picture books in my research and what strikes me above all is the sheer diversity and variety of books out there available to children. It opens up new possibilities for creating books for young children and inspires me to keep writing as each writer has a unique voice that contributes to our diverse and changing world.

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Thanks for stopping by my blog. You are welcome back any time!