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Wednesday, May 27
Two Days Left to Enter the Katie & Kimble Book Giveaways
by
Linda Thieman
on Wed 27 May 2009 09:04 AM CDT
Two Days Left to Enter the Katie & Kimble Book Giveaways
 This Friday is the last day to enter the Katie & Kimble: A Ghost Story giveaway contests.
These book giveaways are hosted by friends of ours: two mom bloggers who like to read!
You can enter to win a copy of Katie & Kimble: A Ghost Story in both contests, and you can enter more than one time.
Click here to visit the Homeschool Messenger website! Susan has a wonderful review of Katie & Kimble: A Ghost Story up. She also reviews the blog! And, of course, you can enter her contest here. The last day to enter is May 29th.
Click here to visit From Melissa's Desk. Melissa also has a great review up of Katie & Kimble: A Ghost Story, and you can enter to win a copy here, too. The contest ends on May 29th at 10pm ET.
Tuesday, May 26
Why a Chapter Book Series Helps Your Child Read - Katie & Kimble: A Ghost Story, for ages 7-10
by
Linda Thieman
on Tue 26 May 2009 08:00 AM CDT
Why a Chapter Book Series Helps Your Child Read
In a recent interview with Reader Views, children's book author Linda Thieman was asked the following question:
Do you think children should read Katie & Kimble: A Ghost Story (book 1) before reading Katie & Kimble: The Magic Wish (book 2)?
Linda replied: The books do stand alone as independent stories. However, I think it greatly enriches the experience of reading Katie & Kimble: The Magic Wish if a reader has already read Katie & Kimble: A Ghost Story.
Each
story in the series builds on what has come before it. If you haven’t
read the first book, you might wonder how the relationship between
Katie’s mom and Kimble (the ghost of a 10-year-old girl) has developed.
You might wonder why Kimble calls Mrs. Russell Mama. That’s certainly the reaction that Katie’s dad has in the second book!
And
if you’re looking at it from the point of view of enhancing your
child’s ability to read, teachers acknowledge that series books with
continuing characters take some of the pressure off of the child. By
the time they get to the second book, they already know who all the
characters are and what the settings are, so they have less work to do
and can focus on the actual story.
Katie & Kimble: A Ghost Story (Book 1 in the series) and Katie & Kimble: The Magic Wish (Book 2 in the series) are available here:
Paperback version: $5.95
Click here to order Katie & Kimble: A Ghost Story!
Click here to order Katie & Kimble: The Magic Wish (Book 2)!
Instant download version: $2.48
Click here to order the instant download editions.
[Reading Level 3, 280L, for ages 7-10]
Nine-year-old Katie Russell and her family look
normal. But the Russells don't know they are living with Kimble,
the ghost of a ten-year-old girl. That is, until Katie discovers Kimble
and the two of them set off on a quest to find out what happened to
Kimble's mother.
Monday, May 25
Katrina, 8, Reviews Katie & Kimble: A Ghost Story, for ages 7-10
by
Linda Thieman
on Mon 25 May 2009 08:45 AM CDT
Katrina, 8, Reviews Katie & Kimble: A Ghost Story!
 Today, I'd like to introduce our first guest blogger here at Katie & Kimble Kids' Corner. Her name is Katrina, she's from Virginia, and she's 8!
Katie
& Kimble is a very honest book with a lot of friendship and truth.
I thought it was a really great book, one of my top favorites. It was a
very sweet, loving book. There are some parts that I wasn’t expecting,
but I liked the whole thing. I think it would be cool to meet a ghost
like Kimble and to live in that type of house. Katie didn’t really have
any friends and I think Kimble made a smart choice of showing her
feelings so Katie would like her.
I wish that I had a friend like Katie or Kimble or even both. I think
Katie & Kimble is a book I would enjoy reading again and I look
forward to reading more about Katie and Kimble’s adventures. I also
liked the pictures in the book. I think Mrs. Russell made a smart
choice about trusting that Kimble was real and I was surprised that she
believed in the end.
[My birthday is] April 8. I am homeschooled. I like playing piano.
And I recently built a volcano for my first science fair and I received
a really good score for it. (See some pictures here!) I like to make people happy and to make new friends.
Thank you, Katrina! I appreciate your sending in your post! Well done!
Now you can read the first 6 chapters of Katie & Kimble: A Ghost Story for free. Click here to download the PDF. All the pictures are included!
© 2008 - 2009 by Linda Thieman
Saturday, May 23
Did You Know Kimble's Dress is Real? (Katie & Kimble: A Ghost Story, for ages 7-10)
by
Linda Thieman
on Sat 23 May 2009 08:19 AM CDT
Did You Know Kimble's Dress is Real?
 I wrote Katie & Kimble: A Ghost Story (a chapter book for ages 7-10, 280L) in May, 1994. At that time, I knew Kimble would be wearing a dress from the fall of 1918.
It took me years to find a pattern for Kimble's dress. I looked and looked. Then,
three years ago I finally contacted Mrs. Penny Ladnier over at CostumeGallery.com to see if she had any books or catalogs from 1918.
In Kimble's day, most girls did not go to the store and buy clothes.
They bought patterns and cloth. Then they made their dresses at
home! They would put the pattern on top of the cloth and then cut
out the pieces of the dress. Then they would sew the pieces together.
When I contacted Mrs. Ladnier, I was truly surpised. Mrs. Ladnier
had just won an auction for a pattern book from the fall of 1918!
And what was even more amazing was the auction was over in
France!
So we waited and waited for the book to arrive. Once Mrs. Ladnier
received the pattern book for children's dresses, she faxed me the
different dresses that were for a girl Kimble's age. Then I chose
one I liked.
Later, the illustrator for Katie & Kimble, Mrs. Kim Tharp, helped
me design the back of the dress. We could guess at the back
pretty well because we could see the front and the side of the dress.
Mrs. Tharp also painted in a plaid pattern for the cloth of the dress. Plaid was very popular that year.
So, that means that Kimble's dress is REAL and that real girls wore
that dress in 1918. They also wore big red bows in their hair,
just like Kimble. And we took Kimble's hairstyle and her dress
boots from the pattern book, too!
Just thought you might like to know!
Fun Katie & Kimble Hint: On the sidebars, click on the yellow stripes for a little surprise or two!
Katie & Kimble: A Ghost Story (Book 1 in the series) and Katie & Kimble: The Magic Wish (Book 2 in the series) are available here:
Paperback version: $5.95
Click here to order Katie & Kimble: A Ghost Story!
Click here to order Katie & Kimble: The Magic Wish (Book 2)!
Instant download version: $2.48
Click here to order the instant download editions.
[Reading Level 3, 280L, for ages 7-10]
Nine-year-old Katie Russell and her family look
normal. But the Russells don't know they are living with Kimble,
the ghost of a ten-year-old girl. That is, until Katie discovers Kimble
and the two of them set off on a quest to find out what happened to
Kimble's mother.
Thursday, May 21
Kids, You Can Help Save the World Here! (Online Learning Games from the Katie & Kimble Blog for ages 7-10)
by
Linda Thieman
on Thu 21 May 2009 08:00 AM CDT
Kids, You Can Help Save the World Here!
 If you've read Katie & Kimble: A Ghost Story, you know that Katie is the kind of girl who likes to HELP people and animals (um, and ghosts!). Now, here are three ways that YOU can help people and animals, too.
It's fun and it's important.
And you can learn great things at the same time! I've added all three
to the Katie & Kimble Activity Corner on the right sidebar of this
blog. That section of the sidebar is called Save the World.
 1) A 12-year-old girl named Mimi Ausland from Oregon started a website called FreeKibble.com.
Kibble means pieces of dog or cat food. Every day, Mimi adds a new Bow Wow
Trivia question about dogs. If you answer the question
(correctly or not), Mimi will donate 10 pieces of kibble to dogs who
live in shelters. This really adds up! Mimi has provided dogs with
thousands and thousands of pounds of dog food. That must be very heavy
to carry!
 2) Mimi also started a site to help feed cats. So if you go to the FreeKibbleKat.com website and answer the Meow Trivia question every day, Mimi will donate 10 pieces of kibble for cats!
 3) The third way that you can help is found at FreeRice.com.
Here, if you answer questions correctly, FreeRice will donate 10 grains
of rice to a hungry person for each question you answer. This can add
up quickly, because you can keep answering questions as long as you
want.
FreeRice has all kinds of questions. You can start at the
lowest level and build your English vocabulary. Or you can do the same
thing in other languages, too, like Spanish and French.
They
also have questions about art and famous artists, where you get to look
at famous pictures. You can also look at maps to answer questions
about countries and world capitals. And you can practice your math and
multiplication tables and earn rice for hungry people at the same
time! You also get to keep track of how much rice you've donated.
So, have fun, learn things, and help dogs, cats and people! Here's to saving the world!
Katie & Kimble: A Ghost Story (Book 1 in the series) and Katie & Kimble: The Magic Wish (Book 2 in the series) are available here:
Paperback version: $5.95
Click here to order Katie & Kimble: A Ghost Story!
Click here to order Katie & Kimble: The Magic Wish (Book 2)!
Instant download version: $2.48
Click here to order the instant download editions.
[Reading Level 3, 280L, for ages 7-10]
Nine-year-old Katie Russell and her family look
normal. But the Russells don't know they are living with Kimble,
the ghost of a ten-year-old girl. That is, until Katie discovers Kimble
and the two of them set off on a quest to find out what happened to
Kimble's mother.
Wednesday, May 20
NEW Homeschool Messenger Reviews Katie & Kimble: A Ghost Story (Giveaway!)
by
Linda Thieman
on Wed 20 May 2009 09:00 AM CDT
NEW Homeschool Messenger Reviews Katie & Kimble: A Ghost Story (Giveaway!)
Susieqtpie at The Homeschool Messenger has a wonderful review up of Katie & Kimble: A Ghost Story! Susie and her 10-year-old daughter, Emily, shine their light on both the first book of the Katie & Kimble series and on the Katie & Kimble blog!
Here's an excerpt of what Homeschool Messenger had to say about Katie & Kimble: A Ghost Story and the Katie & Kimble blog:
My
10 year old homeschooled daughter, Emily, loved the book! She is an
avid reader who devours 5 books at a time. She was excited to read the
book and then explore the Katie and Kimble blog. Very few fictional
books link you to a blog! ... Emily loves the interaction with sound
bites! How fun to go hear the Kimble Kimble chant, Graceful Ghost and
even see the Katie and Kimble video that uses graphics from the book!
Homeschool Messenger is also giving away a signed copy of Katie & Kimble: A Ghost Story.
Click here to visit Susan's website and to enter the contest! The contest ends on May 29th.
Katie & Kimble: A Ghost Story (Book 1 in the series) and Katie & Kimble: The Magic Wish (Book 2 in the series) are available here:
Paperback version: $5.95
Click here to order Katie & Kimble: A Ghost Story!
Click here to order Katie & Kimble: The Magic Wish (Book 2)!
Instant download version: $2.48
Click here to order the instant download editions.
[Reading Level 3, 280L, for ages 7-10]
Nine-year-old Katie Russell and her family look
normal. But the Russells don't know they are living with Kimble,
the ghost of a ten-year-old girl. That is, until Katie discovers Kimble
and the two of them set off on a quest to find out what happened to
Kimble's mother.
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