As so much of the plot of Katie & Kimble: The Magic Wish centers around a box of cereal, I thought this clever and fun idea to build a book report around a cereal box was the perfect class or home school activity to feature here on the Katie & Kimble Blog. The activity comes from the book 24 Ready-to-Go Genre Book Reports by Susan Ludwig (Scholastic) and was adapted for the Katie & Kimble Blog by Mrs. Barbara Day, a 4th grade teacher from Des Moines, Iowa.

24 Ready-to-Go Genre Book Reports: Engaging Activities with Reproducibles, Rubrics, and Everything You Need to Help Students Get the Most Out of Their Independent Reading

My students read fiction, and created a Cereal Box Book Report. Students were to invent a cereal based on a fictional book that they had read during the month. They were to think of a name and shape for the cereal that was somehow connected to the book they had read. We covered real cereal boxes with paper, and each side of the box was to follow a specific guideline:

* Front: the name of the cereal and picture to go with it.
* Back: A game based on the story, which must include information from the story.
* Right Side: Ingredients—the characters and story setting. (Some of the kids got confused on this one and just listed food ingredients.)
* Left Side: A summary of the book, including the main conflict and resolution.
* Top: The title and author of the book, and the student’s name.

The last step was for students to plan and present a commercial for their cereal to the class. I was very pleased with the results. We had 100% completion of this project, and the kids seemed enthusiastic.
Thank you to Mrs. Day for sharing your classroom experience with us, and to Ms. Ludwig for allowing us to reproduce such an exciting classroom activity from her creative book. We appreciate it!

Mom’s Choice Awards® has named the Katie & Kimble seriesamong the best in family-friendly media, products and services.

Winner: Juvenile Books Series.

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!

Before Katie met Kimble, Kimble was all alone in that big, old house for many years. At times, she was lonely and sad.

There is a song that reminds me of Kimble. I think of it as Kimble’s song. It’s called “Graceful Ghost Rag.”

“Rag” means that the song is ragtime. Ragtime uses certain patterns and rhythms. Often, ragtime is fast and bouncy. In the case of the “Graceful Ghost Rag,” this ragtime piece is slow, beautiful, and so sweet you could just cry.

The “Graceful Ghost Rag” was written in 1971. The man who wrote it, William Bolcom, did so to remember his father who had died. I hear it’s one of the hardest ragtime pieces to play on the piano!

A pianist named John Roache recorded “Graceful Ghost.” He provides us with a free sample. Click here to hear his 30-second sample.

Mom’s Choice Awards® has named the Katie & Kimble series among the best in family-friendly media, products and services.

Winner: Juvenile Books Series.

Get the Katie & Kimble books at http://www.katieandkimble.com

Here’s something fun to do! Watch the video for Katie & Kimble: A Ghost Story! The video tells the story of how Katie and Kimble meet, shows lots of colored pictures, and uses the Kimble, Kimble chant. You can find the words to the Kimble, Kimble chant over
on the sidebar of this blog and chant along.

You can click here to watch the video on You Tube, or you can watch the video below.

Mom’s Choice Awards® has named the Katie & Kimble series among the best in family-friendly media, products and services.

Winner: Juvenile Books Series.

©2010-2012 by Linda Thieman

Twinkle, Katie Russell’s big Old English sheepdog, is one of the most popular characters in the Katie & Kimble: A Ghost Story series. One of our Katie & Kimble readers wondered if Twinkle had a song. Here’s the answer!

Twinkle sort of does have a song! Here is what I am thinking. Well, have you read the Kimble, Kimble chant? It’s over on the sidebar and also on the last page of the Katie & Kimble books.

Well, this chant almost fits into the melody of “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star.” I especially like the part where it goes, “Twinkle, Twinkle, great big dog!”

So, I guess, at this point, Twinkle’s song is “Twinkle, Twinkle, Great Big Dog!” I thought that was kind of fun!

Here is how the Kimble, Kimble chant fits into the melody of “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star.” You CHANT the first two lines: Kimble, Kimble is a ghost. Katie, Katie loves her most!

Then you can either keep chanting, or you can start singing, “Twinkle, Twinkle, great big dog.” And if you start singing there, the rest of the chant fits into the song perfectly! I did not plan that, so I think it’s pretty funny!

Give it a try!

You can listen to the Kimble, Kimble chant when you watch the Katie & Kimble: A Ghost Story video here!

Or, click on Freddie on the sidebar up at the top of this blog page. She’s the Katie & Kimble Blog host and she will recite the Kimble, Kimble chant for you!

Fun Katie & Kimble Hint: On the sidebar, click on the yellow stripes to hear Twinkle barking!

Mom’s Choice Awards® has named the Katie & Kimble series 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:

Paperback version: $5.95

Click here to order Katie & Kimble: A Ghost Story!

Click here to order Katie & Kimble: The Magic Wish (Book 2)!

This is Freddie! She’s the talking host of the Katie & Kimble Blog. If you turn on your speakers and click on her picture over on the sidebar, you can hear her recite the Kimble, Kimble Chant. (You can find the words to the Kimble, Kimble Chant on the sidebar of the blog, too.)

If you place your cursor over Freddie’s picture in the sidebar, she will follow it with her eyes. Also, you can click on her one time and she will repeat her welcome. If you’d like to hear it more than twice, you can close your browser for a little bit and come back to it later. She will then speak again!

I named our little host Freddie because there are two fictional characters I like who are named Freddy. I am a big fan of the late author Georgette Heyer, and she wrote both Cotillion and Frederica, my two favorites, and both books have a very likable character named Freddy!

Fun Katie & Kimble Hint: On the sidebar, click on the yellow stripes for a little surprise or two!

Mom’s Choice Awards® has named the Katie & Kimble series 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:


Paperback version: $5.95

Click here to order Katie & Kimble: A Ghost Story!

Click here to order Katie & Kimble: The Magic Wish (Book 2)!

by Linda Thieman, author, Katie & Kimble

Hi! My name is Linda Thieman (pronounced TEE-mun). I write the Katie & Kimble stories.

I wanted to share with you my favorite story from when I was 9 years old. This is a true story. It happened to me!

Right after I turned 8, my family moved to Minnesota. Minnesota is a beautiful state in the midwest. It is just south of Canada and just north of Iowa.

You may have heard of the Minnesota Twins baseball team. There are two big cities in Minnesota – Minneapolis and St. Paul. These cities are called the Twin Cities. That’s how the Minnesota Twins got their name.

Well, we moved into a town that was near the Twins’ ballpark. And, to my surprise, we met three Twins. And I mean baseball players! They lived in our neighborhood!

Two pitchers lived nearby. The third baseman lived across the street from us. His name was Rich Rollins. He was an All Star.

Rich was a kind and friendly guy. His family and my family became friends.

Rich lived across the street from us for two years. During that time, he gave us a lot of free baseball tickets. So, my family went to a lot of home games. We sat right behind home plate! Good seats! At the same time, my dad taught me the game.

Well, when I was 9 and in fourth grade, I was also a Junior Girl Scout. My troop was going to have a Father/Daughter Banquet. Every girl would bring a box lunch. Then, she and her father would eat that lunch together with all the other girls and dads.

Well, the day of the dinner was drawing near. I was getting pretty excited. It was a big deal. Then, boom! My hopes were dashed. I found out that my dad couldn’t go with me. He had to work and he was going to be out of town. I was very disappointed.

But then, I got an idea. I decided to ask Rich if he would go with me. I got my courage together, and I knocked on Rich’s door. When Rich came to the door, I invited him to go to the dinner with me. He checked to see if he was free, and then he agreed! I was so thrilled.

I must say, at the dinner the other “fathers” were pretty amazed!

I served Rich a dinner of fried chicken. My mom made the chicken for me. She also packed the dinner. We also had salad and rolls.

To tell you the truth, I think after we ate, Rich was still hungry. He was a big guy. He needed lots of food!

Then, they started some music for dancing. I asked Rich to dance, but he said no. He said he was having trouble with his knees. It’s true, no doubt. But I also thought he was just shy. Also, maybe he didn’t want all those other people to watch him!

But the funniest part of the day was this. Rich and I had turned around in our chairs. We were watching the dancing. Then I saw a man watching us. He was standing near a wall and taking pictures.

I said to Rich, “That man is taking your picture!”

And Rich said to me, “No, he’s taking YOUR picture!”

Rich was a funny guy.

Well, the man with the camera never spoke to us. But a few days later, our picture was in the local paper. Under the picture, it said, “Rich Rollins, 3rd baseman for the Twins, attends the Father/Daughter Banquet with his daughter.”

The newspaper thought I was Rich’s daughter! Now THAT was funny!

I still have that old newspaper photo of Rich and me buried in a box somewhere. If I ever find it, I will post it on the Katie & Kimble blog for you to see!

*Listen to an interview with Rich Rollins at twinstrivia.com here.*

---

Copyright © 2007-2012 by Linda Thieman

 

 

 

Mom’s Choice Awards® has named the Katie & Kimble series among the best in family-friendly media, products and services.

 

Winner: Juvenile Books Series.

 

 

 

Get the Katie & Kimble books at http://www.katieandkimble.com

 

 

 

 

Click here to download the Katie & Kimble coloring pages in PDF format.

Or, look on the sidebar of this blog. You’ll find the coloring pages and other fun activities there.

Mom’s Choice Awards® has named the Katie & Kimble series 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:

Paperback version: $5.95

Click here to order Katie & Kimble: A Ghost Story!

Click here to order Katie & Kimble: The Magic Wish (Book 2)!

[Reading Level 3, 280L, for ages 6-10]

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.

© 2007-2012 by Linda Thieman

The Katie & Kimble books come with free downloadable Activity Packets at third-grade reading level for teachers to use as they see fit. There are six Activity Packets per book. Each Activity Packet contains 7 pages, all of which can be adapted for use in ways other than printing out in order to stretch your paper budget. Download Stretching Your Paper Budget here.

The No-paper Alternative

Transparencies: To put the no-paper alternative into practice, have each reader bring a spiral notebook from home. Call it a reading notebook.

The first teacher to use the Katie & Kimble books can take the Activity Packets and burn a set of transparencies that can be passed around from teacher to teacher with the classroom sets of the books. These can be placed on an overhead projector for readers to use.

At the beginning of each Activity Packet, the reader will copy the Content/Getting Started (prediction) page into his or her notebook. Then as the reader completes each of the activity pages that follow, he or she can check off the completed pages.

Readers can write the answers to many of the activity pages in the notebook. In some cases, they will need to write the questions in their notebook and then write their responses. In the case of the floor plan of Katie’s bedroom, readers can sketch it in to their notebooks and then fill in the labels that way, or one reader would stand at the projector as they fill in the worksheet as a group with an erasable marker. This would no doubt be the best way for the crossword puzzle activity pages, too.

PDFs: The reading notebook can also be used in a similar fashion if readers have access to computers. The teacher is welcome to download the PDFs of the Katie & Kimble Activity Packets to as many computers as is necessary and to rename the files to suit her/his purposes. Readers can then work at their own pace and use the above system.

Computer plus projector: If your classroom is equipped with a computer and a projector, you can show the pages on the screen from the PDFs. You are free to download these PDFs into any computer.

The Three-page Alternative

Similar to the no-paper alternative above, the three-page alternative involves running off copies of the Content/Getting Started page for each of the six Activity Packets, front and back, on three sheets of paper. This may make the Activity Packets seem more “official” in the mind of the reader.

Readers can also draw the Awards Ribbons into their notebooks at the end of each packet or draw them on scraps of paper to put up on the wall or the bulletin board.

Download the free Katie & Kimble classroom materials here.

Now you can read six chapters of Katie & Kimble: A Ghost Story for free! Yes, that’s half the book and it includes all the pictures from the first half of the book.

No special software is needed. It’s a pdf file that you can read with any version of Adobe. It doesn’t cost you anything and we don’t collect your email address!

To read Chapters 1 through 6, click here!

Mom’s Choice Awards® has named the Katie & Kimble series among the best in family-friendly media, products and services.

Winner: Juvenile Books Series.

[Reading Level 3, 280L, for ages 6-10]



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.

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)!

We’ve got the cutest surprise for you today! Ki, whose mother is Brandy over at the mom blog Happily Blended, is now 7 years old. She is in the middle of reading Katie & Kimble: A Ghost Story (a chapter book for ages 6-10), and her mom asked her to do a video review of the book.

Scroll down to see the video review done by Ki. If you have a video review of one of the Katie & Kimble books to share with us, email me. The email address is at the bottom of the blog page.

The Homeschool Messenger (Susieqtpie’s review of
Katie & Kimble: A Ghost Story)

“…It is 106 pages of pure fictional fun! Don’t let the Ghost Story title keep your young ones from reading the book. It isn’t a scary book! Katie moves to a new town with her family and discovers a kindred spirit! She goes on a quest that is engaging and heartfelt!”