Beyond the Book: Jamberry by Bruce Degen

One of my favorite books growing up was Bruce Degen's Jamberry. This rhyming, somewhat nonsensical story captures a tale of a boy, a bear and a billion berries with a plot that is as whimsical as the illustrations that accompany it. Because I loved this book so much, it is one of the first books we bought when S was a baby in board book form. And the only thing more fun than just reading it is listening to a musical version that I grew up hearing on audio cassette.
Thanks to YouTube, a whole new generation can enjoy the catchy tune of the brass-berry band as they read along!

Now that summer has berry season in full swing, I knew this would be the perfect week to bring out a story stretcher with this great book. We began by taking a field trip to our local produce shop to pick out some fresh berries. If you live near a pick-your-own location, picking berries can be a great family activity to accompany this book! We had just as much fun looking at all the produce in season at the produce shop. We had visited the same store in the fall, so it was nice for S to see how the selection of locally grown produce is different in the summer. 

With a busy week here, this story stretcher is perfect for a rainy afternoon like the one we had yesterday. I began by introducing the book in the morning before we went out for a play-date. After his nap, S was greeted by a berry taste testing station:

I created and printed a simple chart to track which berries we each tried and which were our favorites.

We taste-tested blueberries, raspberries and blackberries. I soaked and washed the berries in advance, but little ones would love the opportunity to help with this step! As it was lunchtime, I also included a fourth bowl of strawberry yogurt, per S's request. S is a huge berry-lover, however, if your little one is trying berries for the first time, you may want to provide just the berries first and than offer yogurt or whipped cream for dipping.

S decided blueberries are his favorite! He had fun eating through all three bowls (with my help!) and liked to eat one type of berry at a time. Some blueberries even made it into his yogurt, but most of them went right into his mouth!

As we tasted and tested our berries, S asked to hear our target book again. This was also a good time to introduce some supplemental reading. Here's a brief list of books we enjoyed along with Jamberry this week:

• Blueberries For Sal by Robert McCloskey is another great classic about a little girl who goes blueberry picking with her mother, a little bear who goes blueberry picking with his mother and a little mix-up that happens in the process!
• Bread And Jam For Frances by Russell Hoban was another childhood favorite of mine. It is about a badger named Frances who struggles with picky eating (something I definitely could relate to as a child). She eats bread and jam for every meal of every day but is hesitant to try new foods. After all, she knows what she likes and likes what she knows... Nearly every growing eater can relate to this struggle and as parents, it is a pleasant and comforting reminder to pick our battles with picky eaters.
• Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood: Daniel Tries a New Food by Becky Friedman appeals to this generation of Daniel Tiger lovers (and also to the previous generous of Mister Rogers fans!) as Daniel Tiger, his friend Miss Elaina and even his dad all try new foods for the first time. 

S loved the opportunity for independence when I invited him to make his own strawberry jam toast. We put the bread into the toaster oven together and then used a cookie cutter to shape it like a heart. I provided him with a small dish of strawberry jam and a plastic knife for spreading. He loved spreading jam onto the toast. Ironically, just like Frances who loves bread and jam and knows what she loves, S also knows what he loves... He asked for a cheese toast as well and was not interested in even trying the jam toast. Such is life! I don't push him to try new foods, but rather offer ample opportunities. I have found taste tests to be a great tool for encouraging this in a positive light. S definitely flocks toward books he can relate to and as such, even requested to read the Daniel Tiger book about trying new foods when I presented this activity. Many times if a food is presented and offered repeatedly, he will eventually try it and eat it. Jam is not something I'm too worried about him eating if he isn't interested; berries in their fresh form are a lot healthier --

Jj is for Jamberry!

Story Stretchers provide us with a great opportunity to review our letters as well. I brought out some berry-hued paint, some sponge brushes to dab and a printout of an uppercase letter J to paint. S liked mixing and layering the colors outside the J and then along the inside. Even the act of filling in a bubble letter in this way introduces early writing skills as children familiarize themselves with the shape and structure of each letter.

One of my favorite parts of Jamberry is when the boy and the bear dance along to the brass-berry band. S and Y both love music and instruments, so we took out our instrument collection, cranked up some John Philip Sousa and formed our own living room band!

S was thrilled with the chance to play his drums and then took to marching around the living room!

Y was a bit wary of this at first...

...but if you can't beat 'em, join 'em!

Once Mommy had enough of the marching band, it was time for a quieter activity, like this simple DIY berry sorting activity. I recycled our berry containers and printed/laminated several images of blueberries, blackberries and raspberries. I labeled each container with a picture taped to the inside and put the remaining collection of laminated pictures in a basket. S loved sorting them and also turned it into a great dramatic play game, including the toy cash register he got for his birthday from his Nana and Poppa, his shopping cart and his brother! Sorting activities are a great way to develop early mathematical concepts--but S would never notice how much he was learning, he was very busy at play!

We had a berry good time jamming to this week's story stretcher pick, Jamberry by Bruce Degen. It's a great book for some summer fun, tasting and, of course, playing!