Epic Reads: Goals, Leaves and Cookies
Have you heard of the Epic! app? It is the “leading digital reading platform” for kids 12 and under. It contains over 40,000 high-quality books, audiobooks and videos from 250 publishers!
The books are from both educational publishers (primarily consisting of expository nonfiction found in school libraries and used for student reports) to traditionally published fiction and nonfiction (books you would expect to find in a bookstore).
It is free to use at school (if your school/district subscribes). If you want unlimited access (like I did) it costs about $12 Canadian a month.
The Netflix of wonderful books!
I’m sure it is beneficial for kids...but I love it for me!
Beautiful art and a well-crafted, succinct story (whether fiction or nonfiction) has always appealed to me. As children’s author Jean Little has expressed it: “For the most part, [children’s books] are among the few books that still rejoice in life, still pulse with awe and wonder at its miracle, and still communicate a sense of growth and hope and love.”
Fall’s a time to reset, enjoy the beautiful changing leaves and eat chocolate chip cookies.
I read accordingly.
Here’s some EPIC reads I’ve enjoyed this week!
Set Goals by Susanne M. Bushman. “In this book, readers learn the benefits of setting goals as well as best practices for setting achievable goals.” A simple, clear explanation of SMART goals. Ages 7-11.
This brief book got me thinking.
I misread the acronym as “SMILE”. Now, is SMILE an acronym for goal-setting?
It is!
SMILE stands for several different word combinations that relate to goal setting. I’ll discuss my favourite word combinations in the next post!
There weren’t many books related to the keyword ‘goals’ on Epic. (Well, there were, but they related to sports).
Leaves Change Color by Linda Crotta Brennan and Why Do Leaves Change Color? by Beth Bence Reinke are two great books about leaves for young readers.
In which I learn summer leaves also contain the colours orange and yellow (we just can’t see them). The orange and yellow pigments help the leaves gather the sunlight for food. As cold weather approaches the trees don’t need sugar from the leaves. The tree creates a separation layer at the base of the leaves. This blocks water from flowing to the leaves. Without water the green pigment dies and the brighter colours show. The leaves still try and make sugar and this appears as red and purple.
Our Favorite Foods: Chocolate Chip Cookies by Joanne Mattern. “Nothing beats the smell of fresh chocolate chip cookies baking in the oven. Learn about the creation of this delicious and popular dessert.” Ages 5-8.
The book includes a wonderful chocolate chip cookie recipe. Other books in the series teach kids about the history of grilled cheese sandwiches, popcorn and more!
What good books have you read on Epic, lateley?
