Richard Scarry's Storybook Dictionary

Do you know who Richard Scarry is?  I probably wouldn't if I hadn't been a teacher.  Even if you don't recognize the name, you probably recognize his books/artwork.  I LOVE his work!  It's so timeless and charming.

I always try to keep my eye out for his books at thrift stores.  My mom found this one of his at her local thrift store (hence the blue marker "decorations" on the cover).  More often than not, I end up taking the pictures or pages out of his books to use for projects.

Aren't these pictures so adorable?  There are so many pictures in this dictionary that could be cut out and used for a fun reading/alphabetizing activity.  I think I'm going to laminate these and keep them in a reading bag for the car.

 I have a bit of a word wall obsession.  So the second I saw these darling letters in the storybook dictionary, I knew I needed to cut them out and use them for a word wall.

I cut out each letter, mounted them on thick card stock, then  used my Martha Stewart letter stickers to dress up the clothespins.

I'm going to use the clothespins to hang the letters on a string in alphabetical order.  That will make the top of my word wall.  Then I'm going to put my boys' sight words for first grade under each letter that the word begins with ('after' will go under Aa, 'where' will go under Ww, 'very' will go under Vv, ....).

I love killing two birds with one stone.  Not only will this word wall be cute enough to be decor, but it will help my boys see these sight words often, and the more you see something, the more you remember it.

Next time you're at the thrift store (or on Amazon), see if you can find a Richard Scarry book.  Even if you don't cut it up, you can still read it.  I have plenty of his books intact for reading as well.

What ways do you keep learning fun and rolling at your house during the summer months?

Thanks so much for stopping by!  Hope you found a little something worth your time.

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