Where in the Wild?

Where in the Wild? by David Schwartz and Yael Schy has to be one of the coolest books I have come across in a long while! I just know your child will love this book.

Where in the Wild is jam packed with learning.  It combines thought provoking poetry, beautiful photography and easy to read non-fiction text about ten different animals. The poems offers context clues about the identity of each animal as well as it's location in the picture.  The animals are camouflaged on the corresponding page.  When you think you have spotted an animal, just lift the page.  The animal is highlighted against the photo's background.  Well written informational text is provided for each animal.

This book is great because you cannot read it without creating inferences. The context clues within the poems, plus your child's background knowledge will help your chid infer the name of the hidden animal.   Your child will love guessing what animal the authors are describing. 

When you read this book to your child, I suggest  you cover up the photo while you are reading the poem.  Make your child rely on the text and the context clues to try and figure out the name of the animal.  After reading and discussing the poem, show your child the picture and see if they can find the camouflaged animal!  

Start with the title of the poem.  Read it and ask your child:  What could this title mean?  After reading each poem have your child complete the following stem:  My guess is.... or I predict....  Be sure to share your thinking too.  You can point out different parts of the poem that offer up clues to the animal's identity.  

If you cover up the picture, you can also practice visualizing with your child.  The descriptive language used in the poetry is perfect to practice visualizing!  Encourage your child to use the following stems when reading the poems:  I can imagine.... and I am picturing....

This is also a great book to work on determining importance.  When you read the informational text about each animal, you and your child can determine what information you think is important to remember. Have your child complete the following stem after reading about each animal:  I want to remember...  

I told you this book is jam packed with learning.  

Let me know your thoughts on the book!

Press Here

Stop. The. Presses.  I found a great book and am so excited to share it with you!  Press Here by Herve Tullet is truly a one-of-a kind book. I have never seen anything like it!

On the first page, the reader simply sees a yellow dot.  The text instructs the reader to "press here and turn the page."  Once you press the yellow dot, you (and your child) will be hooked.  Each page instructs you to press, rub, shake, tilt or blow on the page! You will be rewarded with some type of action on the next page!  This is truly an interactive book.  Who needs an iPad full of apps when you can read  Press Here?

Not only is this a fun book,  but it also full of teaching and learning.  The book is one big set of directions.  Read this book with your child and see if they can follow the simple one and two step directions.  This is also a great book for making predictions.  For every action, there is a reaction.  Have your child predict (make an educated guess) what is going to happen if they do as the book instructs.  

The audience for the book is meant to be pre-school aged children.  However, I guarantee you will love it!  I could not help but follow the instructions!  I think it is an age-less book.  

Get your hands on this book and try it out!  

Brontorina

Ballerinas and dinosaurs do not have much in common.  Or do they? 


Brontorina by James Howe* is a cute story about a a dinosaur, Brontorina, who dreams of becoming a ballerina.  She works really hard, but Brontorina meets several challenges along the way.  She is too big, does not have the proper shoes and her tail gets in the way.  

This story is a great reminder to hold fast to our dreams and anything is possible.  It is one of those great books that provides a fun story, but also teaches the reader a lesson. The book gently teaches acceptance, rejection, individualism and perseverance.   

This is a great book for making text-to-self connections.  Most children (and adults) can relate to feeling out-of-place.  This story can be used as a springboard to start a conversation with your child about how to handle peer pressure and rejection.  

The book also provides the opportunity to talk about problem and solution.  There is a solution to every problem, but sometimes it takes some creative thinking to come up with a solution!  

Some questions to guide your thinking conversation:

1.  Before you read the story have your child make a few predictions.  What do they think the story is going to be about?  What problems might the main character run into in this story? 

2.  Read to,  "I want to dance!" and ask your child:  What might the teacher and kids be thinking?  

3.  Read to,  "...Madame Lucille turned her commands to her students" and ask your child: What do you think is going to happen next?

4.  Read to, "You could not" and ask your child:  How do you think Brontorina feels? How would you feel?

5.  Read to, "The problem is that my studio is too small" and ask your child:  What do you think the solution might be?

6.  Read to the end of the story.  Ask your child the following questions:  

• What lesson do you think the author wants us to learn? 
• Can you think of a time when you did not fit in?  How did you handle the situation?  Be sure to share a time you did not fit in too!  

You will LOVE this story!  

*Author of Bunnicula!  Another one of my favorite books!

A Bad Case of Stripes

Today I am sharing an oldie, but a goodie!  A Bad Case of Stripes by David Shannon is one of my all time favorite picture books!  

Camilla Cream is a young girl who LOVES lima beans.  Even though she loves lima beans, she will not eat them because none of her friends like lima beans.  Camilla is worried about what other people think about her.  She is so worried that on the first day of school she breaks out in a bad case of the stripes!  When she breaks out in stripes, she becomes very worried about what people will think of her.  Will she find a cure to her bad case of stripes?  You will have to read the book to find out!

This is such a great story to share with your child!  It is a great way to introduce the concept of peer pressure and the power of just being yourself to younger children.  Since the story is about a young girl and the first day of school, children will easily make text-self and text-world connections.  Anytime we can connect what is happening in a story to our own lives we have a greater understanding of the story!  This is also a great story to practice inferring.  The author never comes out and directly states the lesson that Camilla learns in the story.  The reader must infer what the lesson is through his/her own background knowledge and the text clues provided by the author.  

Some questions to guide your thinking conversation:

1.  Read to, "Camilla was always worried about what other people thought of her" and ask your child: Can you think of a time when you worried about what someone thought of you? After your child shares, you can share a time you were worried about what someone thought of you.

2.  Read to, "Then she screamed" and ask your child:  What do you think happened to make Camilla scream?  

3.  Read to, "And he went off" and ask your child:  What do you predict will happen when Camilla goes to school?

4.  Read to, " ...and she broke out in stars" and ask your child:  How do you think Camilla feels? How would you feel?

5.  Read to, "But the Experts didn't have a clue, much less a cure" and ask your child:  What do you think might cure Camilla?

6.  Read to, "...but she was still afraid to admit it" and ask your child:  Why is Camilla so afraid to admit she likes lima beans?

7.  Read to the end of the story and ask your child:  What lesson do you think Camilla learned?  How can you apply that lesson to your life?  

This story is great for kids (and adults) of any age.  The message is priceless.

The Winner Is....

The winner is comment number two belonging to Lori!  Congratulations!

I am excited about the upcoming books on my list to share with everyone!  Now that my summer has calmed down a bit, I should be back to posting regularly.