Pencil Play Pals Pencil Games and Press-outs

Pencil Play Pals Pencil Games is a series of fun games collected by Norman Childes. Each one is creative, uses items from around the house (most notably pencils, of course!), and most importantly does not require the use of electronics! Each game comes complete with instructions on how to make it, as well as how to play it. The characters involved are the cute stars of the Pencil Play Pals series of stories.

They range in difficulty to engage children of all ages. For example, Harry Stomp's Pencil Ring Toss simply requires sticking a pencil into a potato, and throwing rubber bands over it. More difficult is Lori Longneck's Fun Fruit'n Veggies, which requires children to draw their own game board of fruits and veggies. Some of the games, such as Humphrey Hump's Cover Your Eyes and Will Wool's Whacky Golf, have premade designs in the back of the book.

The game book continues to reinforce the purpose of the Pencil Play Pals series. Norman Childes created this series to inspire children to write and to draw. Children are encouraged to design the games within, and will probably be inspired to make up their own variations. In a time of video games, tv, and texting, kids are using their imaginations less and less. I find these games to be a breath of fresh air!

Accompanying the stories and the game book is a book of Press-out Pencil Play Pals. Children can press out the characters from the Pencil Play Pals books to put on their pencils. They can also find out more about their favorite characters from the series of books.

Purchase Pencil Play Pals Pencil Games and Press-out Pencil Play Pals (Series 1)

The Pristine Pig by Curly Tail

The Pristine Pig by Curly Tail is one of the Pencil Play Pals books by Norman Childes. Percy the Pig is different from the other pigs, because he absolutely despises getting dirty. This embarrasses his brothers and sisters, who are absolutely determined to make him as dirty as they are, no matter what it takes. They scheme and plot to get Percy filthy, which of course, greatly upsets him.

At the same time, Percy strives to find new ways of dealing with farm life, without getting dirty. He uses a straw to drink his mother's milk, and tries to walk around on stilts. Some animals make fun of him; the mouse tells him it is okay to be different.

Percy discovers that going for a swim is a great way to stay clean. While he is out swimming, his siblings try to throw mud at him. One slips and falls into the water. Of course, he cannot swim, and Percy saves him. With new appreciation for their pristine sibling, the other pigs now strive to find ways to help Percy stay clean.

I enjoyed this book much more than the other book in the series I read. This story is very cute. It demonstrates that it is okay to be different and to believe in yourself. The meanness of his siblings is a great starting point for conversations about being kind to others. And children can easily be inspired to come up with their own creative ways for Percy to stay clean, while simultaneously strategizing their own hygenic behaviors. A few pig facts at the end of the book can help it tie into a unit on farm animals.

The purpose of the Pencil Play Pals series is to inspire children to draw and write their own stories as part of literary habits. I think this book is a great way for children to do so.

Visit Norman Childes' website for more Pencil Play Pals fun at pencilplaypals.com.

Stay tuned for an interview with Norman Childes.

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The Crocodile Who Thought She Was a Duck by Charley Chomp

The Crocodile Who Thought She Was a Duck by Charley Chomp is one of the books in the Pencil Play Pals series created by Norman Childes.

Joan and Harry are two crocodiles who decide that they would like to have their own children. After receving a partial lesson from the birds and the bees, Joan becomes pregnant. But alas, a hunter appears and shoots at then happy couple. Harry's tail is nicked by a bullet and he disappears to maintain his safety.

Joan is left all alone, and after two months she lays a bunch of eggs. Because her lesson by the birds and the bees had been interrupted, she doesn't understand that crocodiles also lay eggs. She thinks that only birds lay eggs.

She then begins a comparison between herself and ducks, realizing that they have a lot in common. Now she is convinced that she is going to be a mother to a bunch of ducklings. A worm teases her that if she is going to be the mother of ducks then she needs to learn how to fly.

With the assistance of other animals, Joan tries to learn how to fly, but with little success. She returns home to her eggs, which are starting to hatch, and is ecstatic to discover that instead of little ducklings, she has baby crocodiles. And to complete the happy family, Harry finally reappears, after being in hiding from the hunters all this time.

Honestly, this book is my least favorite of the series. I think the story has potential and the general message could have been maintained, without a couple of parts. I don't think there needed to have been a discussion about the birds and the bees, or talk about how to go about having babies. Joan could have laid a bunch of eggs perhaps next to a duck who had laid eggs, and gotten confused that way. She still could have compared herself to a duck, and tried to learn how to fly, and still have been relieved to have hatched a bunch of baby crocs instead of a bunch of ducklings.

I also did not care for the entire part about a hunter shooting at the crocs. I know hunters exist in a lot of classic books, such as the story of Bambi, and Roald Dahl's The Magic Finger. But to me, those stories end up demonstrating why guns are not okay, and this one doesn't. Then again, I am not a hunter. I am a Montessorian, and naturally prefer the peaceful aspects of life.

This book does have some great points that I do appreciate. At then end, Norman Childes encourages children to create their own drawings and stories for Joan and Harry. I'm a big proponent of anything that inspires creativity and literacy in children. He includes numerous facts about crocodiles, which can serve as a science lesson. Children can make their own Venn diagrams or comparison charts about ducks v. crocodiles.

Find out more about Norman Childes' Pencil Play Pals series by visiting the website at pencilplaypals.com.

Stay tuned for reviews of more books in the series, as well as an interview with Norman Childes.

Purchase a copy of The Crocodile Who Thought She Was a Duck