California Kids - May 2016

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May 2016

� CALIFORNIA KIDS! Family Fun Guide • MAY 2016

Table of ContentsTravel: Family Winter Getawayby Carmel L. Mooney .........................page 6

The Book Report: by Susan Roberts ............................page 8

Who Wrote That? Virginia Loh-Haginby Patricia Newman .................. page 11

First 5 Parenting tips .................. page 12

Parties! Parties! ........................... page 14

�MAY 2016 • CALIFORNIA KIDS! Family Fun Guide

www.valcomnews.com

Publisher: David HerburgerEditor: Monica Stark

Contributing Writers: Susan Roberts, Carmel L. Mooney, Patricia Newman

Art Director: John Ochoa

Graphic Designer: Annin GreenhalghAdvertising: Steve Crowley 916-429-9901

Cover photo courtesy Kimyetta [email protected] • 916-947-9315

California Kids! is published monthly and distributed to more than 1,000 locations in the Sacramento Valley, including all of Sacramento County, and portions of Yolo (Davis and Woodland), Placer (Rocklin and Roseville), El Dorado (Cameron Park, El Dorado Hills, Placerville) counties.

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Copyright 2016 by Valley Community Newspapers Inc. 2709 Riverside Boulevard, Sacramento, CA 95818.

Phone: (916) 429-9901. Fax: (916) 429-9906. E-mail:[email protected]. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without written per-mission is prohibited.

At just over two weeks old the male Masai Giraffe Calf, born April 10 is steadily gaining weight and growing taller. Zookeepers chose the name, ROCKET, based on his playful per-sonality and on-the-go attitude.

Shani and her calf are still behind-the-scenes in the barn, bonding. Rocket needs to learn the basics of being a giraffe from mom and grow steadier on his long legs before he learns to ma-neuver the giraffe yard and the rest of the herd. Currently, he is interacting with and becoming with his herd-mates when they stick their head over fences or stall doors to inspect Rocket. He has done the same and will continue to interact with them while he and Shani are off-exhibit.

Based on the signs Rocket, Shani, and the rest of the herd are giving, zookeepers anticipate the pair making their public debut in mid-May.

However, much like many animals that reside at the Zoo, everything is done on mom and the calf’s terms. This means that while the plan may be to wait until mid-May, one day Shani may decide it is time for them to go outside and return to the herd. Conversely, she may decide that they will stay in longer. Zookeepers and staff do not intend to interfere and will allow the mother and calf the time they need to adjust to one another before returning to the herd. Zookeepers and veterinarians continue to reevaluate Shani and Rocket’s needs regularly and change the daily plans accordingly.

In the meantime, Rocket and mom have in-termittent access to the giraffe barn’s side-yard, where lucky and quiet guests might catch a glimpse of Rocket. The area inside the barn and around it will continue to remain quiet zones, creating a peaceful environment for the pair until the time that they venture out into the big yard.

Cover picture

4 CALIFORNIA KIDS! Family Fun Guide • MAY 2016

Happy Holidays!

5MAY 2016 • CALIFORNIA KIDS! Family Fun Guide

(916) 405-5600 • www.yourcsd.com

Details and Registration:

Take a Walk on the Wildside!

Join Regional San and its partners for the 21st annual Walk on the Wildside. This FREE, family-oriented day in the country includes lively entertainment and up-close

views of many wildlife species. This free event celebrates International Migratory Bird Day

and highlights local efforts in protecting and restoring native Central Valley habitats and wildlife. Visitors can enjoy tours of restored wetlands and rookeries on Regional San’s Bufferlands, get up close and personal with wild animals, listen to some great blue grass music, and check out conservation exhibits. Highlights of the event include the following:• Wild animal presentations by Wild Things, Inc.• Folk music by Cliff Compton & Mountaintop• Children’s puppet show by Jason Adair• Guided and self-guided tours of wetlands and riparian forests• Wildlife viewing including one of the largest heron/egret rookeries in the County• Environmental exhibitors• Children’s activity center, games and prizes hosted by local Girl Scouts• Ollie Otter • Outdoor barbecue hosted by Elk Grove High School FFA and Rotary Club• Event and parking are free

Event directions: From Sacramento, travel Interstate-5 South and exit at Cosumnes River Boulevard and head east. At Freeport Boulevard, turn south. Continue two miles on the river road through the town of Freeport. Turn left at the signs (just opposite Cliff’s Marina) and continue until you reach the Beach Lake Picnic Area.

For more information, visit www.bufferlands.com or call 916-875-WILD. To learn more about International Migratory Bird Day, visit www.birdday.org. Event sponsors: Sacramento Regional County Sanitation District; U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service; California Department of Water Resources; Sacramento County Regional Parks; Friends of the Stone Lakes National Wildlife Refuge If you go: What: Walk on the Wildside is a FREE, outdoor festival celebrating local conservation effortsWhen: Saturday, May 14 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.Where: Beach Lake Park, FreeportWho: Hosted by Regional Sanitation District


By Carmel L. Mooney

Our family likes great movies and one of my kids actually aspires to be-come a movie producer so a pilgrim-age to Universal Studios is a must for us whenever we visit Southern California.

One of the largest and most popular amusement parks in the Los Angeles area, the park offers rides, shows, tours, roller coasters, other various attractions, and a downtown Univer-sal, called CityWalk, which is much like Downtown Disney, with its very own unique shops and outstanding dining areas.

Universal Studios Hollywood is a home studio to some of the most fa-mous blockbuster movies and shoot-ing sets of all time, with favorites such as Back To The Future, Jaws, and Ju-rassic Park, to just name a few. Tours are designed to allow park guests to be guided through the sets of vari-ous movies while being immersed in the excitement of rides, attractions, and special effects. Your family will never look at the big screen in quite the same way, after seeing the special effects, tricks, sets, stunts, actors, and secrets behind so many of your favorite films.

It’s helpful to note that the park is split into two very large and distinct

levels, all connected by huge escala-tors referred to as the Starway. The Upper Lot is the location of many family-friendly attractions and a large number of the shows including the Special Effects Stage, and Shrek 4-D, along with shopping, dining and more. The Lower Lot hosts Juras-sic Park: The Ride, Transformers: The Ride and many other favorites. Throughout the park as you walk, shop, or dine you will encounter fa-mous characters and Hollywood icons who roam the grounds to entertain and inspire guests. Betty Boop, Curi-ous George, Doc from Back to the Future, and Transformers are a very small sampling of what you will likely see on your visit.

While all the attractions are thrilling, educational, interesting and captivat-ing, some are tailored more towards younger visitors and many are more thrilling and high speed and best suited to tweens, teens, and adults. The real beauty of this particular theme park is that there is something for every generation and preference and all of the offerings incorporate special effects and technology you would expect from anything with the Universal Studios logo. Intelligently and conveniently situated outside some of the more thrilling or scary rides are play areas for small children

where a parent can watch one of the younger visitors while others choose to pump their adrenaline with thrills nearby.

We thoroughly enjoyed the genius of King Kong 360 3-D created by legendary and award-winning Peter Jackson. It’s the world’s largest 3-D experience, and is part of the amazing Universal Studios Hollywood Studio Tour where you will take a shuttle bus through many of the sets and

backdrops of prior Universal movies. You will see Western towns, a flash flooded desert, the clock tower from Back to the Future, and famous homes from some of your favorite sitcoms. You will experience earthquakes, fires, plane crashes, and other horrific disas-ters. This Studio Tour is the lifeblood of Universal Studios. You should plan to do this must-see attraction early in the day before the lines get too

Universal Studios in Hollywood is every movie loving family’s dream destination

See Travel, page 7


long. Be ready to take lots of photos and to be impressed.

Another favorite for any animal and film lover is the Animal Actors show which en-compasses an enthralling and elaborate animal show where audiences have live interaction with famous furry movie stars from such mov-ies as Beverly Hills Chihuahua and Hotel for Dogs. We saw dogs, cats, pigs, exotic birds and many other famous and perfectly trained animal actors perform spectacular acts and tricks. At the end of the show were wonder-ful photo opportunities for everyone in the audience and the entire experience was truly unforgettable.

More of our family favorites included Water World where guests can watch an ad-venturous and acrobatic live show with many famous actors partaking in a water based story of good against evil. This No. 1 rated show at Universal Studios Hollywood includes jet-skiers, acrobatic plunges, explosions, brawls, fireworks, fire fights, and a fiery hot plane crash. This is all executed beautifully and flaw-lessly on a new set with an all new cast and new action and stunts so you won’t want to miss any moment of all the excitement.

Aside from all the spectacular attractions and shows the park also has a number of exclusive dining areas, both in the CityWalk, and within the very park itself. Our kids loved the gargantuan donuts sold within the park. They literally, are the size of a Frisbee and will feed several people if not your entire fam-ily. They are a spectacle to see and taste. We also enjoyed a lunch at Panda Express. The options are varied and conveniently located throughout the park.

Universal Hollywood offers many more photo opportunities than many other large theme parks. Characters are often willing to

oblige for a pose and many of the shows offer fantastic vantage points for photos.

The park is large and does draw a large num-ber of visitors, particularly on the weekends and during holidays. Lines can be very long so plan to spend the entire day from opening to closing if you truly plan to enjoy all the at-tractions. A mid-week visit can be a good way to see the entire park at an unhurried pace. Even with an extremely recommended and valuable Front of the Line or VIP admission, you will need to plan your route throughout the park and utilize the entire day if you want to maximize your visit and experience all the fun. Parking is a bit pricey so plan ahead or you may consider taking advantage of the free shuttle from the nearby bus station.

Universal Studios Hollywood is an absolute must for any visit to Southern California. You and your clan will never look at movies quite the same way again.

Travel:Continued from page 6


Susan L. Roberts (www.Books4theCuriousChild.com) lives in Sacramento, CA where she reads dozens of picture books each month and reviews the best to help parents and teachers find books that will inspire and develop a child’s curiosity and love of life. An aspiring picture book author, she hopes to be published soon.

By SuSan L. RoBERtS

“Every great dream begins with a dreamer.” – Harriet Tubman

Dreams are like ‘magic’ to a child and provide them energy to live

life fully. They instill creativ-ity, confidence and help your child find meaning in their life. Encourage your child to follow their dream by sharing stories that inspire them to make their dreams come true.

Tiny Rabbit’s Big Wish, by Margarita Engle, illustrated by David Walker, (Hough-ton, Mifflin, Harcourt, Ages 3-5)

When small, a child often dreams of being bigger and it’s important to instill in them the patience to enjoy the journey and appreciate who you are now. Award-winning author Margarita Engle captures a small child’s frustration of thinking, wish-ing and dreaming of grow-ing bigger, but only being able to grow “to the height of a slightly taller small rab-bit.” In trying to copy the strengths of other animals, the tiny rabbit learns to cel-ebrate his own strengths and discovers he is “ENOR-MOUSLY” happy he is small. This playful, heartfelt book shares an important lesson

THE BOOK REPORT

The Power of Dreams

about chasing dreams. It’s a delight to read. Reviewer’s Pick of the Month.

The Power of Henry’s Imagina-tion, by Skye Byrne, illustrat-ed by Nic George (Aladdin, Ages 4-6)

“Believe, and it shall be” is the theme of this story. Henry was gifted Raspberry, a stuffed bunny, when he was born and played with it every day. Then one day, Rasp-berry disappeared. Henry and his parents searched ev-erywhere, but could not find him. Henry’s wise grandpa suggested, “You just have to imagine that Raspberry is with you—in this moment!” Trusting his grandpa, he did. He and Raspberry got caught in a storm, were pirates on the sea, and flew into space. He even went to sleep believing Raspberry was with him. Henry woke the next morn-ing with Raspberry at his side, just like Grandpa said.

The illustrations, combin-ing photography with pen and ink sketches, bring a mystical, yet reality-based touch to the story. A delight to read and a story that can help shape the development of a young one’s spirit.

Trombone Shorty, by Troy “Trombone Shorty” Andrews, illustrated by Bryan Collier Abrams Books for Young Readers, Ages 4-8

Trombone Shorty created music way before he had an instrument. When he found an old beat-up trombone, twice the size of him, he played it everywhere he went. When attending a Bo Didley concert, he started playing his trombone along with Bo. The show stopped. Bo asked who was playing the trombone and invited the youngster to play with him on stage, thus launching Trombone Shorty’s career.

Combined with Bryan Col-lier’s passionate colors, read-ers will feel the joy of music, the love of rhythms, and the passion Trombone Shorty has for his music. A wonderful introduction to music, the Mardi-Gras, and following your passion.

Wink, The Ninja Who Wanted to be Noticed, by J. C. Phillips (Viking, Ages 4-6)

Wink is about a young ninja in training who finds a way to express his most inner self and be accepted by others.

Wink dreamed of being a ninja and attended a school for

young ninjas. As he learned each lesson, he had a difficult time following them. Instead of being silent, he wanted to be noticed and would raise his ‘sword’ and holler, “Look at me!” One day, Wink was so out of line, he was banished from the school. On his way home, he saw a boy practicing tricks to perform in a circus. With his ninja training, he could see right away what the boy needed to do and demonstrated. Soon Wink found a way to be a Ninja and be noticed! A book perfect for young ninjas.

Wherever You Go, by Pat Zietlow Miller, Illustrated by Eliza Wheeler (Little Brown and Company, Ages 6-10)

Wherever You Go is a call to adventurers to take to the road and follow their dreams.

Using the road as a meta-phor, readers are invited to follow their dreams and em-bark upon life’s adventure. Whether travelers choose roads through country sides, rivers, forests, mountains, or cities, all roads offer sites to explore. Artist Eliza Wheeler enriches the pages with scenes in which readers can almost feel warm breezes and al-most hear streaming waters. She shows behind-the-scene stories not told in the text, as readers follow rabbit and owl joining others in life’s joys. After many adventures, the road returns travelers where they belong—home.


It’s time to get Berried Alive at the 21st annual Galt District Chamber

of Commerce Strawberry Festival being held on May 21 and 22. The event will be held on the Market Grounds off Caroline Avenue, in Galt. Entry fee is $6 per person (children 5 years old and under are free), and parking is free. Saturday hours will be 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. with Sunday hours beginning at 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

The festival gates will open Saturday morning with a tribute to the nation’s mili-tary branches in honor of Armed Forces Day. For those early birds, a fantastic pancake breakfast will be offered starting at 7 a.m. for just $6. If you’d like to work off a few calories before heading to breakfast, consid-er joining a 5K run for local high school Liberty Ranch. Contact Liberty Ranch High School Athletic Director Ja-nis Williams, 209-744-4250, ext. 6108, for registration information.

After opening ceremonies, with music provided by Galt/Liberty Unified Ensem-ble, the fun will begin and continue through Sunday with live music, crafts, bikes, classic cars, vendors, carnival rides, carnival games and, of

course, all things strawberry: frozen berries, dipped ber-ries, berry pies, berry short-cake and berries fresh from the vine. The strawberry is the toast of the festival, and these juicy, red and delicious treats will be on hand at every turn.

For the adults, the festi-val wouldn’t be complete without the Strawberry Bar, featuring fresh straw-berry margaritas, strawberry wine, strawberry beer and other great libations, which should go perfect with a warm day in the sun and an evening of entertainment.

Kids will not be left out of this festival. A special “Kids Zone” will feature activities and games for kids of all ages. And don’t forget about the carnival! Classic Amusement from Rancho Cucamonga features many family friendly rides, games and food to entice even the pickiest festival go-er.

Entertainment will be on-going throughout the week-end with four hit bands. Latin Magic, Liberty Junc-tion, Working Class Band and Soul Shakers who will provide music throughout the event on or near the Strawberry Stage.

Special to the Galt Straw-berry Festival are the Caba-

lleros de Wilton’s Dancing Horses. Always a crowd fa-vorite these beautiful horses dance to a lively mariachi group. The Dancing Horses will perform two shows on both Saturday and Sunday.

All shows are included with the cost to enter the festival.

On Saturday, Classic cars will fill the Market Green near Strawberry stage and the Strawberry Bar. Be sure to pick your favorite before they drive away, the cars will be on display from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Each owner is vying for “Crowd Favorite” and those drivers are counting on your vote. To enter your car in the Classic Car Show visit www.galtchamber.com and download an entry form.

Saturday entertainment will include Working Class Band, Latin Magic, and AJ,s Dance Studio.

The Galt Strawberry Fes-tival Battle of the Chefs will make its debut Sunday, May 22. Three local chefs will go head to head, competing on behalf of local non-profits. Faced with mystery food baskets for three rounds, the chefs will battle it out trying to create the best appetizer, entrée and dessert. To heat up the competition, chefs will only be provided with a barbecue, boiling water

and a limited pantry. Be sure to watch this exciting competition Sunday, begin-ning at 1 p.m. on the festival grounds.

Sunday will also feature the Miss and Mr. Strawberry Festi-val Royalty Pageant, where kids of all ages will get to show off their very best strawberry attire or Sunday best for a chance to win one of a variety of great prizes. If your child would like to participate download a pageant entry form at www.galtchamber.com.

The entire family will en-joy the amazing talents of

the Frisbee Dogs of Golden Gate on Sunday on the Market Greens. Talented dogs and their humans will perform stunts and tricks for all to enjoy.

Soul Shakers will entertain those visiting the bar area on Sunday and Liberty Junction will take the stage Sunday afternoon.

With something fun for every member of the family, be sure to visit the 2016 Galt Strawberry Festival.

Free parking for family fun event.

21st annual Galt Strawberry Festival set for May 21-22


tHE JunGLE BooK (2016) The MPAA has rated this PG

Walt Disney brings us another tel l ing of Rud-yard Kipling’s “The Jungle Book”, this time in IMAX and regular theatres, which they adapted from the clas-sic collection of stories by the famous author, first written in 1894. In 1967, Disney’s animated version with wonderful music be-came immensely popular, though varying from the original stories. They again returned to the story for their 1994 release, “Rud-yard Kipling’s The Jungle Book” with Jason Scott Lee, and “Jungle Book 2” in 2003. There have been nu-merous other film and tele-vision adaptations, the most beautiful, also live action and in Technicolor, may likely be Zoltan Korda’s version from 1942 which starred Sabu.

This time Disney’s opus is directed by long-time independent actor, Jon Fa-vreau. It appears to be live

action, yet you may be sure computer wizardry is afoot. This is indeed a very engag-ing telling of the classic tales where the law of the jungle holds forth. I came to this from a perspective of read-ing the stories in childhood and then seeing the 1967 animated feature, which made a profound impact on me. The voices of great personalities like George Sanders as Shere Kahn and Baloo the bear, so perfectly fitting the real Phil Harris who voiced him, are indel-ible parts of my memory.

Shortly after seeing the 1967 version, I was taken to visit a family friend, Vicente Urbistondo, who had been a film critic and later profes-sor at UC Berkeley. That day, he had a house guest, a gentle looking slender old man with a shock of white hair, who I had been told had been an actor in mov-ies. I was not yet 5 years old when this man leaned down to look at me and gently extended his hand to greet me. I was on my very best

behavior in the era when children were seen and not heard. Suddenly, he spoke very softly. I was stricken by great fear and ran screaming from the room! It was Ster-ling Holloway and I thought the snake from “The Jungle Book” was alive in the room and talking to me.

This is really a wonderful movie and very well made. Sir Ben Kingsley narrates and also is the voice of the s leek black panther Ba-gheera. Early in the picture young Mowgli must leave the pack of wolves to which he had been entrusted. The parental wolves are voiced by Giancarlo Esposito as the father wolf Akela and Lupita Nyong’o as Raksha, the mother wolf. He’ll go on to stumble into adven-tures with Baloo the Bear, get into Kaa’s terrifying grip, and run from Shere Kahn’s terror.

This new picture is by far the most delightful time I have had at a Disney movie in the last five or more years. It is outstanding from start to finish, and I felt the kind of fun I’ve not had at the movies since I was a child! It was full of adven-ture, wonder and highly entertaining throughout. I find that most Disney movies are preachy about political correctness, how-ever, director Jon Favreau does not use that typical Disney approach, instead relying on excellent story-

telling ability and stunning visuals, made even more impressive should you see this bigger than life in an IMAX presentation.

Top Hollywood talent has been brought on board for this production, including the voices of Bill Murray as Baloo the Bear, Idris Elba as Shere Kahn, and in his last work for the screen, the late Gary Shandling gives voice to the porcupine Ikki. Director Favreau has a dedication to him at the end of the credit crawl, in memoriam.

The most in te re s t ing choice in casting was King Louie, played by the always entertaining and unexpected Christopher Walken. If you are used to the king from the animated version, so perfectly tailored to the personality of jazz hound Louie Prima who voiced him, at first you won’t know what to think of Walken’s performance. However, it is only a matter of seconds before he has completely won you over. How his first sequence is introduced may be my favorite moment in the picture, but I won’t

tell you, you’ll just have to see it.

My deep seated fear of snakes, so vibrant since my childhood encounter with Ster l ing Holloway, was rekindled with fear and allure by Scarlett Johans-son as the famous serpent Kaa, made so much more effective by the remarkable stereophonic 5.1 sound reproduction used in the IMAX presentations. This picture is also in 3-D so when Kaa looms in, that snake is in your lap!

Magnificent IMAX, and also showing in other the-atres in 3-D, this is the most I have been entertained by new movie in recent mem-ory, as a joyful smile was fixed on my face thorough the whole experience. Once again, I was a child at a Sat-urday afternoon adventure matinee, thrilled by what I saw up there on the screen. One not to miss no matter what your age.

For more information about “Matias Bombal’s Hollywood” Please visit: http://www.mab-hollywood.com for exclusive con-tent.

Matías Bombal’s Hollywood


LEARN MORE ABOUT VIRGINIA LOH-HAGAN

Visit: http://www.virginialoh.com/

SELECTIONS FROM VIRGINIA LOH-HAGAN’S LIBRARY

Top 10: Venom, 45th Parallel Press, 2016.DIY Make It Happen: Haunted House, 45th Parallel Press, 2016.Odd Jobs: Odor Tester, Sleeping Bear, 2015.Nailed It: Extreme Base Jumping, Sleeping Bear Press, 2015.Splash: Discover Sea Turtles, Cherry Lake Publishing, 2015.Paper Son with Helen Foster James, Sleeping Bear Press, 2013.Jade Dragon with Carolyn Marsden, Candlewick, 2006.

UPCOMINGMagic, Myth and Mystery: Dragons, 45th Parallel Press, Fall 2016.Magic, Myth and Mystery: Unicorns, 45th Parallel Press, Fall 2016.

FOR TEACHERS40 Strategies for Guiding Readers Through Informational Texts with Barbara Moss, TBA.

Who Wrote that? is a monthly column that profi les the talented authors and illus-trators who bring children’s books to life.

Educator and curriculum designer only partially describes the tornado

of activity that is Virginia Loh-Hagan. With a doctor-ate in education and a special emphasis on literacy, she pre-pares future teachers enrolled in credential programs at San Diego State University for the rigors of the classroom. But arguably her dissertation on Asian-American children’s literature opened a path she’d never before considered—that of children’s author.

Virginia and I first met when, as she says, “Patricia crashed my lunch date with [author] Larry Dane Brimner at a California School Li-brary Association conference a couple of years ago.” Patricia: How did your dis-sertation infl uence your writ-ing career?Virginia: In graduate school I knew that I was going to study Asian-American chil-dren’s literature. Early on, I remember I was giving a presentation about Asian-American children’s lit based on the research perspective. Somebody in the crowd said, “So, what are you doing to help to get more books out there?” I never thought of myself as being a producer. I thought of myself as a scholar. But then I thought, why not me? Even though I still have an Asian-American focus as a writer, I fi nd my-self wanting to go outside of that, too, to explore new areas and genres.

P: How did you and your co-author for Paper Son come up with the idea for the book?V: I was teaching fourth grade, and in fourth grade we study California history. I wanted to teach about Angel Island and I realized there was a dearth of available fi ction books. That sparked an idea to write one. At the same time Helen [Foster James] was inspired by Larry Dane

Brimner’s nonfi ction book, Angel Island. So we both had these ideas stewing separately. Helen approached me at a So-ciety of Children’s Book Writ-ers and Illustrators (SCBWI) event, and said, “We’re both working on this idea. Let’s do it together.” We’d done a lot of research on our own, and combined it into a draft manuscript.

P: and Paper Son was re-cently nominated for the California young Reader Medal.V: This means a lot be-cause I really admire the sponsoring organizations: CRA [California Reading Association], CATE [Cali-fornia Association of Teach-ers of English], and CSLA [California School Library Association]. Plus, it’s a book about California and it seems appropriate for kids all across California to read it!

P: Po Po’s Lucky Chinese New Year will be released in December with Sleeping Bear Press. Can you tell me about it?V: The book was inspired by an author visit. I’d created a PowerPoint presentation about Chinese New Year. It started out as a straightfor-ward list of dos and don’ts, but then I imagined pictures of a spunky little girl pro-tagonist and the story was born. She basically took over what I was doing—telling the dos and don’ts—then I started to see more of a story.

I went through the writing process of drafting, revising, and polishing. There’s a plot line of Chinese New Year, but there’s also a sweet story between the [main character] and her brother.

P: How does the revision process work between you and your editors?V: We send many drafts back and forth. It takes me a long time to revise—way longer than writing the fi rst draft. My editor offers a lot of suggestions and I listen to them. Writing has taught me to have thick skin, be fl exible, be coachable. I like to think that I’m easy to work with. I’m a stickler for cultural and factual accuracy, but I’m open to critical feedback about my writing, characterization, plotting, etc.

P: Sometimes the series book ideas come from your editors. Is that true of your new Magic, Myth and Mys-tery series?V: 45th Parallel knew they wanted a new series, and I’d been trying to pitch monsters for a long time. I pitched it a couple of seasons ago, and I kept pitching it. Finally it hap-pened! I wrote about Bigfoot, dragons, hydra, unicorns, vampires, werewolves, witch-es, and zombies. So cool!

P: Describe a childhood memory that sticks out in your mind.V: I didn’t have the best child-hood. I came from a broken home. I was a happy person, but not at home. Libraries were safe spaces for me. I found that books were a way to escape into other worlds. I found refuge in stories.

Virginia Loh-Hagan

Who wrote that?KIDLIT CREATORS WHO MAKE KIDS WANT TO READFeaturing Virginia Loh-Hagan By Patricia Newman

P: Describe your daily writ-ing schedule.V: I’m a vampire. I write at night. I’m very social so I get distracted during the day. Plus, my day job at SDSU takes up my daytime hours. But my nighttime hours are reserved for my writing! No one calls me late at night and I’m most settled at that time. I’m a work horse, and I manage my time well. I also have a very support-ive husband. I’ve been lucky.

P: Explain one thing you’d like your readers to know about you.V: I have an obsession with pianos! I have three: a seven-foot Steinway, a Yamaha professional upright, and a Mason and Hamlin console. I host a recital group in which

we perform for each other. [Children’s author] Kathleen Krull is in my group.

P: any last words?V: I’m honored to be giving back. We all have stories to share. I hope mine inspire young readers like many au-thors inspired me.

Patricia Newman visits schools! Her newest book, Ebola: Fears and Facts, is on Booklist’s Edi-tors’ Choice List and is a Cali-fornia Reading Association Eureka! Silver Honor book for excellence in nonfiction. Ad-ditional books include Plastic, Ahoy! Investigating the Great Pacifi c Garbage Patch winner of the Green Earth Book Award. Visit her at patriciamnewman.com for more information.

1� CALIFORNIA KIDS! Family Fun Guide • MAY 2016

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succeed in school and life. First 5 Sacra-mento wants every child in school healthy and ready to learn. By helping your child master a few practical key skills, you can give your children the confidence they need to succeed on their first day of school – and every day after!

Kindergarten readiness includes both prac-tical skills that children will need to succeed, as well as social emotional skills that will help them successfully function in a classroom of peers. And parents play a key role in prepar-ing them for that first day from establishing a routine and easing their fears to holding a pencil and listening to directions. Helping them develop these skills is the most important job a parent can have.

Talk with meIt’s crucial for children to have the confi-

dence and ability to use their words.Parents can help develop language skills

by having frequent conversations with their children and encouraging them to use words to express their feelings and reactions to the world around them.

Read to your child for 20 minutes every day and talk about the story, the characters and what happened first, next and last.

Sing songs and read stories or poems with rhyming words to expose them to different

Kindergarten Readiness

See Readiness

1�MAY 2016 • CALIFORNIA KIDS! Family Fun Guide

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Scholarships are available. Open to the entire community.For additional information contact:

[email protected]

OR 916-488-1122

sounds as they build their vocabulary.

Your turn, my turn

Preschoolers are just be-ginning to understand the concept of sharing.

Parents can make sharing fun by teaching cooperative play, like completing puzzles or building a block tower together.

As you’re building the block tower, walk through the con-cept of sharing by saying, “Now it’s your turn to add a block and then it will be my turn.”

Use positive reinforcement to encourage sharing. When you see your child sharing with someone else, point out how she made the other person happy and give her a hug.

1,2,3 – Count with me

Children entering Kinder-garten can typically count to 10 on the first day of class.

Teach your child to count by using everyday objects like blocks, buttons, soup cans, even your child’s fingers and toes!

Parents can make counting part of your daily routine by asking your child to count the number of plates needed for dinner or the number of steps you’re climbing together. Or tell your child to pick out “two” books to read before bedtime.

My name is…Children are expected to be

able to print their first name.Start by teaching children

how to spell their name when they’re toddlers. Start by pointing out the first letter of their name whenever you see it. You can also play word games by saying, “Your name starts with ‘T’ like tiger. What else starts with that letter?

Your child can practice writing their name with their finger to get the feel of the letters. Try spreading shaving cream or pudding on a cookie sheet for fun practice.

Playing with play dough can also help develop muscles in the hand that are needed for writing or cutting.

Listen well to learn better

Kids learn best when they’re taught to actively listen when the teacher’s speaking to them.

Use multi-step directions to build your child’s attention span by outlining multiple tasks for them to do, such as “Pick up your toys first, then grab your coat.”

Try playing games with your child that require lis-tening and following simple directions. Games like Simon Says or Red Light, Green Light are fun games that re-quire listening and following directions.

Get fun ideas on the First 5 Sacramento Pinterest site with over 27 boards of par-enting tips—www.pinterest.com and search First 5 Sac-ramento.

Need parenting advice?

Call the 24-hour con-fidential Parent Support Line at 1-888-281-3000. These trained specialists can talk you through your

parenting questions from picky eaters, tantrums, to de-stress tips.

Looking for parent/com-munity resources in Sacra-mento County?

Call 2-1-1. With more than 3,000 referral resources, the 2-1-1 specialists can help you locate the services you need for your family.

about First 5 Sacramento Research shows that a child’s brain develops most dramatically in the first five years and what parents and caregivers do during these years to support their child’s

growth will have a meaningful impact throughout life. Based on this research, California voters passed Proposition 10 in 1998, a tobacco tax, to support programs for expectant parents and chil-dren ages 0-5. In the last year, First 5 Sacramento distributed approximately $14 million a year in Prop 10 revenues to programs and services that meet local needs in Sacramento County. All 58 counties have a First 5 Children and Families Commission pro-viding unique local services for that county. More information available at www.first5sacra-mento.net, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest.

Readiness:Continued from page 12


angry Bird Invitation Ideas

On red (or yellow) note cards cut out the faces of the angry birds and paste to the front. Embellish with a few red or yellow feathers. For the faces scale down the bal-loon template, trace onto pa-per and cut out. http://www.thepartyanimal-blog.org/Downloads/Angry_Birds_Balloon_Templates.pdf

*You can also use this tem-plate to put on solid color party hats, attach to a triangle

Angry Bird birthday ideas for kidsbirthday banner and/or use on goody bags.

Another great printable site for free Angry Bird printables for goody bags and cupcake toppers - http://www.sheryk-designs-blog.com/2012/01/free-printable-bithday-kit-angry-birds.html

Hang red, yellow and green helium balloons outside the party area. Make a large pig structure with cardboard boxes outside the party venue - glue them together and make it big enough to be an

arch that guests have to walk under to enter the party.

Angry Bird Decoration Ideas

Decorate the party in Angry Bird colors - red, yellow, black and touches of blue. Use this great angry birds template we found (see link above) to make faces for regular or helium balloons. Bring the pigs into the party by setting up one side of the party in greens and the other in angry birds colors.

Set up the party food table using red, black and yellow bowls on one side and green bowls on the other side. On the green side of the food table use small cardboard boxes or pieces of wood to make a pig fortress and place the snack dishes inside and around the boxes.

Angry Bird Party Game IdeasEgg toss

Divide party guests into teams of two. Have each team stand about 3 feet apart and on “go” they toss the egg to their partner. Then each team steps back a foot and they toss the egg back to their partner. Keep going - back-ing up one step each round - until there is only one team with an unbroken egg. * You can also play this during the summer with water bal-loons instead of eggs.

angry Bird Egg HuntKids search for hidden

plastic “Angry Bird Eggs” which are fi lled with candy or prizes. Before the party fi ll plastic eggs with candy and/or small prizes. Hide the eggs around the party

area. When it’s time to play the game tell the guests that the Pigs have hidden the Birds eggs and they must search for them. Let kids search and fi nd the hidden eggs. *For a twist you can hide eggs and have a few that contain red or yellow paper which the kids can turn in for a prize at the end. ** Variation - buy small prizes before the party and assign each prize a number. Write down the numbers on sepa-rate pieces of paper and place inside the eggs before hiding them. When the hunt is over the kids can turn in the prize numbers and receive the prize that is written on the papers they found in their eggs.

angry Bird Draw Icebreak-er Game

While the kids are arriving to the party set out pieces of paper and markers and let them try to draw the angry bird faces.

Have several examples that they can use to look at while drawing.

Hang up the drawings dur-ing the party and then send home with the kids when the party is fi nished.

Sidewalk Chalk angry Birds

You will need sidewalk chalk and water balloons

Before the party draw two very large scenes with pigs and their fortress on the ground. Make sure that the two scenes are almost identical. During the party divide kids into two teams and give them each a water balloon. The teams must stand back about 5 feet from the drawings (make a line with the sidewalk chalk for both teams to stand behind) and toss their angry bird wa-ter balloons at the sidewalk chalk drawings to erase the pigs. First team to erase their drawing fi rst wins.

angry Bird BowlingPaint or cover 10 - 2 liter

bottles with green paint

See Parties, page 15

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or construction paper. Fill them about 1/4 the way full with water and replace the caps. Set up the bottles in a pyramid shape and let the kids try to bowl the pins down from about 20 feet away using an angry bird ball (or a large red play-ground ball).

Capture the EggThis game is played just like

Capture the Flag - only the kids will try to capture the other teams eggs.

You will need: 2 large red or yellow eggs - or use a red bandana and yellow ban-dana.

Teams try to capture the other teams “egg” and re-turn it to their home base. Separate players into 2 teams. Determine boundaries and territory for each team - you can mark boundaries with yellow or red crepe paper or rope. To make it easy one team can take the front yard and the other the back yard. Teams must then decide where they want their eggs and jail to be located within their territory. The eggs have to be in plain site and can not be moved. Set up a safety zone around the eggs (a 5 - 10 foot circle). The team guarding their eggs may not enter this circle unless the other team enters first.

How to play: Teams send part of their players into “en-emy territory” to capture the eggs. The players left behind will guard their own eggs. If a player is tagged by the op-posite team they go to their jail. To get out of the jail they must be tagged by one of their teammates. After capturing the eggs the player with the eggs has to return to his ter-ritory - without being caught - to win. If they get caught and tagged with the eggs then the player tagged goes to jail and the eggs are returned. Variations:

Spies and Lookouts - When teams are deciding where their eggs will be spies can be sent out from the opposite team to see where the eggs are located - and look-outs can be sent out to catch the spies.

Pig Hideout tumbleKids try to knock down

their hideout first using differ-ent size balls. Collect enough cardboard boxes of different sizes and shapes to make two large structures. Set up the structures so that they are identical. Divide kids into two teams. Each team will receive 3 - 5 balls of differ-ent sizes. The first team to completely knock down the boxes with their balls wins. Set up the boxes again for another round and make the kids move back 5 feet to make it harder. You can also buy a water balloon launcher for the

kids to use as a slingshot with the balls.

On a smaller scale you could use red and yellow bean bags to topple over a pig hideout made from building blocks.

angry Bird activitiesBuy or make a large green

Pig piñata. Fill with candy and then instead of having the guests hit it with a stick let them throw small balls or baseballs at the piñata. Make sure everyone is in back of the person throwing the balls at the piñata. Take turns start-ing with the youngest first so everyone gets a turn.

Parties:Continued from page 14

Parties! Parties! Parties! Parties! Parties! Parties! Parties! Parties! Parties!

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California Kids - May 2016