We adore Laura Numeroff's "If You Give..." books about a Mouse, Moose and Pig who ask for favors and keep wanting more and more!It's so much fun to think about what would happen if you gave a mouse a cookie, took him to the movies, or even to school! Make this delicious-looking sandwich that can be built, rebuilt, and rearranged and have a fun sandwich-building experience again and again.

Make Way for Ducklings, by Robert McCloskey is one of my all time favorite books for many reasons.  The illustrations are nostalgic and sweet and they show Boston landmarks like the Public Garden and the Charles River the way they looked almost 75 years ago!   As a child I loved going to visit the Public Garden and seeing the bronze statues dedicated to the book - they made the story feel so alive.  To make story come alive at home, try making these duckling magnets.  

Do your children have a favorite book?  Have you ever noticed that some special books begin to take on a life of their own? When my 5 year old daughter latches on to a book, she wants to act out the story, she imagines what happens to the characters after the story ends and sometimes she even wants to  build or make something based on the book. That what this blog - Playing off the Page - is all about!  We've picked our favorite children's books and put together really cool building projects based on those books.