Dreidel is a game that Jewish children play during Hanukah.
Dreidels
come in many sizes with many different designs and colors. The dreidel
pictured on the left is called a Noah's Ark dreidel because the
pictures tell the story of Noah's Ark. It was painted by an artist
named Yair Emanuel. It's got a little stand to hold it up.
The
dreidel on the right is really something amazing to see. It's very big
- 10 inches high, in fact - and it's a plush toy! I thought that was
pretty interesting. I don't suppose you can actually play dreidel with
such a big dreidel, but it might be comfy to keep on your bed!
In Katie & Kimble: A Ghost Story,
you learn how to play dreidel at the same time that Kimble teaches
Katie how to play. However, you might not know how to pronounce the
letters on the dreidel. I wanted Katie & Kimble readers to be able
to hear how to say the Hebrew letters. So, I made up a list of two
different dreidel songs from iTunes so you
can hear free samples. In the first Dreidel Song, in the chorus, they
sing all the different letters on the dreidel.
Kenny Ellis sings his hit single from his Hanukkah Swings! Album on Favored Nations Records. Check out: www.kennyellis.com
Interesting Fact:
Hanukah is sometimes spelled in different ways! You might see it like
this, with 2 k's--Hanukkah--or you might see it like this, with a
c--Chanukah!
Mom’s Choice Awards® has named the Katie & Kimbleseries among the best in family-friendly media,
products and services. Winner: Juvenile Books Series.
Katie & Kimble: A Ghost Story(Book 1 in the series) and Katie & Kimble: The Magic Wish (Book 2 in the series) are available in the Katie & Kimble Shop and also on Amazon.com:
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.
Finding that First Teaching Job! I landed my first teaching job by asking a teacher! As most Katie & Kimble readers know, I used to be a teacher, and I still write books and materials for kids. But you may wonder how I found my first teaching job.
Well, it was pretty simple. If you'd like a job teaching, ask a teacher! That's exactly what I did. I was in the graduate program at the University of Northern Iowa, so I asked my adviser/teacher, Dr. Carolyn Shields, if there were any English teaching jobs around. Dr. Shields pointed me to a school that was called Hawkeye Tech at the time, and she gave me the name of the woman who ran the program. I called the director and asked her if she needed a teacher, and before I knew it, I was teaching there several evenings a week.
This method worked for me a second time several years later. I called the director of an English program in the town I was living in. She didn't have any openings, but she said to me, "In two days, I'm going to see the director of a program that's hiring. I'll take along your resume." She did, I got the job, and I stayed with that school for 5 years.
Katrina, 8, Reviews Katie & Kimble: A Ghost Story! *See the Katie & Kimble giveaway on the top, left sidebar.*
Today, I'd like to introduce our 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!
Download Your Free Katie & Kimble Coloring Pages Here! *See the Katie & Kimble giveaway on the top, left sidebar.* Now
you can download free Katie & Kimble coloring pages here! The coloring pages show five scenes from Katie & Kimble: A Ghost Story (a chapter book for ages 7-10, 280L).
Or, look on the right sidebar of this blog. You'll find the
coloring pages and other fun activities in the Katie & Kimble
Activity Corner.
Mom’s Choice Awards® has named the Katie & Kimbleseries among the best in family-friendly media,
products and services. Winner: Juvenile Books Series. 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:
[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.
Did You Know Kimble's Dress is Real? *See the Katie & Kimble giveaways on the top, left sidebar.*
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, five 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. Continued below. Mom’s Choice Awards® has named the Katie & Kimbleseries among the best in family-friendly media,
products and services. Winner: Juvenile Books Series. 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:
[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.
Kids, You Can Help Save the World Here! *See the Katie & Kimble giveaways on the top, left sidebar.*
If you've read the award-winning 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!
Mom’s Choice Awards® has named the Katie & Kimbleseries among the best in family-friendly media,
products and services. Winner: Juvenile Books Series.
Katie & Kimble: A Ghost Story(Book 1 in the series) and Katie & Kimble: The Magic Wish (Book 2 in the series) are available here:
[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.
*See the Katie & Kimble giveaway on the top, left sidebar.*
In Katie & Kimble: A Ghost Story,
you learn how to play dreidel at the same time that Kimble teaches
Katie how to play. However, you might not know how to pronounce the
letters on the dreidel. I wanted Katie & Kimble readers to be able
to hear how to say the Hebrew letters. So, I made up a list of two
different dreidel songs from iTunes so you
can hear free samples. In the first Dreidel Song, in the chorus, they
sing all the different letters on the dreidel.
Mom’s Choice Awards® has named the Katie & Kimble series among the best in family-friendly media,
products and services. Winner: Juvenile Books Series.
