Word of the Day: February 4 (Happy Birthday, Bad Kitty)

It's day 2 of our Word of the Day feature here at LitLad. Here's how it works: The boys and I choose a different book every day and they pick a word from it for which they don't know the meaning. They each write the word at night and the next day we act like Pee-wee Herman every time someone says the word (until one of us gets annoyed and we just say the word and shout out the definition).

Today's word is masticate, a verb meaning "to chew."

And we're reading Happy Birthday, Bad Kitty, in which Bad Kitty masticates (and gobbles and munches) all of his favorite foods (from an aardvark bagel to a yak zabaglione) for a special birthday breakfast.






















Happy Birthday, Bad Kitty
Author/illustrator: Nick Bruel
Publisher: Roaring Brook Press (September 2009)
Source: Scholastic book fair/home library

It's Bad Kitty's birthday and she really wants a cat scratcher. What will happen if she doesn't get what she wants? The guest list at her party is full of interesting cats from the neighborhood, plus Poor Puppy, and Uncle Murray makes appearances throughout with his "fun facts" about cats.

More Bad Kitty books (both picture and chapter): Bad Kitty, Poor Puppy, Bad Kitty Gets a Bath, Bad Kitty vs Uncle Murray (which we might get at this year's book fair if the ice here in Dallas ever melts) and, coming in June 2011, Bad Kitty Meets the Baby.

Activities to go with the book: Check out the Bad Kitty website for games, a trailer, a drawing activity, a word search, "Bad Kitty Bad Libs," and a word scrambler.

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