Showing posts with label octopus. Show all posts
Showing posts with label octopus. Show all posts

Saturday, July 22, 2017

Fishy Tales Book Review

Fishy Tales - a DK Reader for Pre-School Age


Fishy Tales book cover
Fishy Tales on Amazon

This is part of the DK Readers series, which includes 4 levels for you to choose from to match your child's reading ability.  The levels include:

  • Pre-Level 1 - Learning to Read - These books include simple sentences to introduce and reinforce vocabulary.
  • Level 1 - Beginning to Read - Books which have short and simple stories to engage interest.
  • Level 2 – Beginning to Read Alone - Books with longer stories to develop fluency and understanding.
  • Level 3 – Reading Alone - These include more complex stories to build confidence in reading. 

Fishy Tales & Friends




Fishy Tales Book and crocheted 'friends' (stuffed animals)

Fishy Tales is a DK Reader in the Pre-Level 1, for children ages 4-6.  The Fishy Tales story takes a journey in the deep blue sea where we see fish swim through through a coral reef.  There is also a starfish on the sandy ocean floor and a jellyfish floating up and down in the waves, plus pages about the sea turtle, Sea horses, jellyfish, sharks, octopuses, crabs, eels, rays and dolphins.

There are 12 different sea-life creatures shown in two-page spreads with color pictures and simple one sentence descriptions.  Each sea animal has words that describe different parts of the animal. 


TURTLE


For instance, the turtle page says:
Turtles – The turtles play in the ocean. 

The words Shell and Flipper are labels which point to those matching parts on the turtle. 

Plush tortoise reading about turtles in Fishy Tales
Terrance Turtle reading Fishy Tales

A handmade plush tortoise from my Etsy Toybox loves reading about the sea turtle who lives in the deep blue sea. This plush turtle is named Terrance (Terry for short) and he is hand-crocheted. 



A handmade in crochet turtle
 He has  a tan body with a sage green shell. His head, legs and tail are done in yellow. His eyes are embroidered. He's soft and cuddly and ready to be hugged by a child who loves turtles.



Crabs & Clams

 

Plush clam toy reading about ocean clams in the book Fishy Tales

My Etsy Shop currently has several toy clams, like this little yellow yarn clam in her clamshell.  They are fascinated by the ocean crabs who can hide in the coral and in big shells. She can imagine how  much fun it would be to be 'real' and live by the seashore like the crabs in this story. 

Handmade plush clam
Plush Clam in Clam Shell - Etsy
This two-piece set includes a bright yellow clam with black safety eyes and filled with soft polyfil. The 'clam' measures 3 inches across. She comes with her own 'clamshell' crocheted in brown and tan. Clamshell measures nearly 4 inches across.

Yellow clam loves the sandy beach, but she'd be just as happy living in a child's toy box or reading books with a child.  She could also be a friendly plushie sitting on your desk.




Fishies


Plush toy tropical fish reading Fishy Tales

Colorful fishies swim everywhere through the Coral reef and elsewhere in the ocean. This plush toy tropical fish pretends he could join them when he reads about them in the book. 



tropical fish plush toy
Plush Toy Tropical Fish

The Tropical fish in my Etsy Shop is handmade in the Amigurumi style of crochet. Fish has two back fins, two side fins, one top fin and one bottom fin -- all crocheted in royal blue yarn. He is stuffed with non-allergenic polyfil and measures 12 inches long from nose to the top of back fins and about 4 inches across the body. Fish is 6" tall from bottom fin to top fin.



Octopus

 

Plush toy octopus find the page about the octopus in the storybook Fishy Tales to be their favorite

The many toy octopuses in my Etsy Shop find the page about the octopus in the storybook Fishy Tales to be their favorite, of course. Two of these plush yarn octopuses are busy reading about the octopuses who live in the sea.

Dolphin

 

Plush toy dolphin reading the dolphin page in Fishy Tales

My favorite page in Fishy Tales is the one about the dolphin, as there are multiple dolphins in plush in my Etsy crochet toybox.  And, since I live near the ocean, I also get to see real dolphins swimming and leaping in the sea close to my nearest beach.



Bottlenose Dolphin in crochet
Plush Toy Crochet Bottlenose Dolphin
Come meet my replicas of a plush, stuffed toy version of a bottlenose dolphin, a favorite sea animal.

My current dolphins measures about 14 inches long and 9 inches across the side fins. They are about 3.5 inches high (6 inches at the dorsal fin). The eyes are craft safety eyes.

Summary

 

A page in the book Fishy Tales

Any child would enjoy reading all about these marvelous sea creatures shown here in Fishy Tales. And we hope you have enjoyed the featured crochet plush sea animals who have also enjoyed reading about the real-life sea animals which were their creators' inspiration in crochet.


  • For more DK Reader books for pre-school and older children, visit their website at DK.com.

Quick Links
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*Children's book review of Fishy Tales by Wednesday-Elf



Note: The author may receive a commission from purchases made using links found in this article. “As an Amazon Associate, Ebay (EPN) and/or Esty (Awin) Affiliate, I (we) earn from qualifying purchases.”


Saturday, March 7, 2015

Crafting in St. Patrick's Day Green

St. Patrick's Day March 17 sign
Happy St. Patrick's Day! (Pixabay)
St. Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland, is honored and celebrated on March 17 each year.  The green of the Irish flag is the official color for St. Patrick’s Day.  Green is also associated with Ireland's poetic name, the “Emerald Isle”.  Creating crafts in green is a fun way to add to the pleasure of St. Patrick's Day.


If you are a yarn crafter like me, grab some green yarn and create anything from a plush animal to whatever 





St. Patrick's Day Crocheted Octopus

Handmade Baby Octopus in Green & Gold
Plush Baby Octopus in Crochet

This little plush octopus is handmade in crochet in a combination of Irish green and the gold of the 'pot of gold' at the end of the rainbow we sometimes associate with Irish mythology. 

This St. Patrick's Day crocheted octopus measures about 2 inches tall and 6 inches across his tentacles. This one is available in my Etsy Shop of Coastal Crochet Crafts.  If you crochet and would like to create your own Irish octopus in crochet, I created a free pattern tutorial for you. 



What is a Shamrock?



St. Patrick's Day Gnome in a field of Shamrocks
Source: Pixabay

The Shamrock is known as a symbol of Ireland. According to legend, St. Patrick used it as a metaphor for the Christian Trinity.   



Shamrock Beverage Coasters



Shamrock Coasters, handmade
Shamrock Tabletop Coasters

Shamrock designs are popular in any form.  These cute beverage coasters handmade in needlepoint on plastic canvas are just the thing to protect your tabletops at your St. Patrick's Day celebrations, which might include 'green' beer or Irish coffee!

These Shamrock Beverage Coasters were created by Pat and are available in her Etsy Shop Coastal Crochet Crafts.   Irish drink coasters measure 4 x 4 inches with a design of that Irish clover and stitched in two shades of green with the design outlined in black.  

*This set of Shamrock coasters just sold, but I would be glad to create a new set just for you.  You can contact me anytime at Coastal Crochet Crafts on Etsy.


A Collection of St. Patrick's Day Crafts


For a large selection of St. Patrick's Day crafts for both children and adults, check out this article The Best St. Patrick's Day Crafts by Loraine Brummer (lbrummer)


Irish Green Plush Penguin

 

Handmade plush penguin in green
Irish Green Plush Penguin

I crocheted a plush penguin in Irish Green yarn as my way of celebrating St. Patrick's Day.  This green penguin is a round and roly-poly 5 x 5 inches and enjoys this March holiday loved by the Irish. He can be found in the Etsy Shop of Coastal Crochet Crafts



Shamrocks by Kathie


A collage of shamrocks on handmade purses, lanyards and coin purses
Shamrocks on Purses, Coin Purses & Lanyards

A collection of Shamrocks on handmade quilted purses, coin purses, fabric quilted table runners and fabric lanyards created by Kathie in Iowa for her Etsy Shop called CutePurseNalities

Kathie's beautiful purses and tote bags are outstanding and her fabric lanyards and coin purses are so handy. In addition to St. Patrick's Day Shamrock themes, Kathie creates in many other designs, including animals, nature, other holidays, seasons, foods, shapes and science. 

More St. Patrick's Day Craft Ideas


St. Patrick's Day Crafts Book Cover
Available on Amazon
As a parent, a teacher, a Scout leader or a child caregiver, have fun with the children you know while telling them about St. Patrick's Day or getting ready for a St. Paddy's Day party.  

This book of 12 St. Patrick's Day crafts easy for kids to do is an enjoyable place to begin. The book is available in Amazon's Kindle Store.



If you have any St. Patrick's Day crafts or tutorials to share, please leave the link in the comment section below. 



Happy St. Patrick's Day!

 



Quick Links:




 
Article by Wednesday Elf of the crochet blog Crochet - Crafts - Critters. 
Wednesday Elf can also be found in her Etsy Shop Coastal Crochet Crafts  





Note: The author may receive a commission from purchases made using links found in this article. “As an Amazon Associate, Ebay (EPN) and/or Esty (Awin) Affiliate, I (we) earn from qualifying purchases.”


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