1) Way Out in the Desert
2) Way Up in the Arctic
Both books have very creative rhymes (we love rhymey books) and cute illustrations of animals. I love how much of a learning opportunity these books provide - even for me! In each rhymey spread, you learn new vocabulary of animals, plants, and places - many of which we've never heard of - as well as what their babies are called and what a group of that animal is called. All in just a concise little blurb. Then in the back of the book, there's a kid-friendly glossary (this must be the new trend in children's books?) that gives the pronunciation and description of each thing. A nice tool for extensive learning.And one last cool point of interest: each page has a number hidden on it that coordinates with the number of animal babies on that page, which Will LOVED! You can see in this picture that there are a pod of white beluga whales. The text talks about the three babies and you can see the number 3 hidden in an iceberg on the top left page.
Jennifer Ward has two more books written along these lines called Somewhere In The Ocean and Over In The Garden. I'm not sure our library chains carry these, so I may have to do some digging. But I definitely want to buy the whole set one day.
Jennifer Ward has two more books written along these lines called Somewhere In The Ocean and Over In The Garden. I'm not sure our library chains carry these, so I may have to do some digging. But I definitely want to buy the whole set one day. 3) There Was an Old Monkey Who Swallowed a Frog - also by Jennifer Ward - reads just like the Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly but with much more unusual verses. The end of each verse goes: "I don't know why he swallowed the frog... What a hog!" It was Will's job to say "What a hog!" when I pointed to him and he thought that was SO FUNNY. He said it all silly and cute.
4) Because You Are My Baby - a more tender book by Jennifer Ward - parallels the work of human and animal mothers to keep their babies warm, comfortable, fed, entertained, etc. Each page has a different animal mother and baby with a verse about something the mother does for her baby. There's also a picture of something (i.e. a hat, a cradle, a ball, etc.) beside the text that all show up in the last page of the human baby's nursery... that ties it all together. Very sweet.
5) A Friend Like You by Julia Hubery - has super cute illustrations of a pair of friends that are on an adventure together in search of a secret. At the end of their journey, they watch a million purple butterflies take flight. Will likes the line when the monkey is swinging on the vine across the river: "Weeee! Look at meeee!" We selected this one off the display shelf of newer books.
6) Guess Who Lives Where by Liesbet Slegers is part of a "guess series" that I'd like to look into a little more. This book in particular is cute as far as peek-a-boo and guessing and animal habitats. But it's far too simple for Will and, though it would probably hold her interest, it's a little advanced for Sophie since she can't talk or reason a guess using given clues yet. Nonetheless, it was one of Will's most requested books and he smiled through the whole thing every time. On the back of the book, there's a little code-grid that indicates age-appropriate levels and topics. So I'd like to find something more appropriate for each of my kids.
7) A Farming Town by Valerie Bodden - I just searched "farming" on the library's online catalog and came up with this in the children's book section. It's pretty much a non-fiction, educational read that describes the details of a farming community. The text was a little too in depth for Will but he liked the pictures.
8) More, Fewer, Less - here's another Tana Hoban book (remember the shapes one from last week's Tot School post?) with no words and just interesting pictures that can be used to teach a concept. There are lots of ways to "read" and interpret this book but basically, we talked about the words (and concepts) of "more, fewer and less". Will actually requested this and seemed to grasp it easily. I plan to try to get a new Tana Hoban book each week - they're brilliant!
9) A Book of Sleep by Il Sung Na - this was another book we snatched off the display shelf. It also coincides well with our Tot School discussion of nocturnality and sleep habits... although the book shows a picture of Koalas sleeping at night time and we learned this week that Koalas are nocturnal. I like the illustrations a lot (especially the owl) and it's a cute read.
We've got a really good group of books this time. In fact, I think we may keep them awhile longer just so we can enjoy them some more. Life has been so hectic lately and we've been spending so much time outside, that we haven't gone through each book as many times as we normally do. Also I'm running another 5K race on Saturday morning and may not have a chance to get to the library. But we'll see...
4) Because You Are My Baby - a more tender book by Jennifer Ward - parallels the work of human and animal mothers to keep their babies warm, comfortable, fed, entertained, etc. Each page has a different animal mother and baby with a verse about something the mother does for her baby. There's also a picture of something (i.e. a hat, a cradle, a ball, etc.) beside the text that all show up in the last page of the human baby's nursery... that ties it all together. Very sweet.
5) A Friend Like You by Julia Hubery - has super cute illustrations of a pair of friends that are on an adventure together in search of a secret. At the end of their journey, they watch a million purple butterflies take flight. Will likes the line when the monkey is swinging on the vine across the river: "Weeee! Look at meeee!" We selected this one off the display shelf of newer books.
6) Guess Who Lives Where by Liesbet Slegers is part of a "guess series" that I'd like to look into a little more. This book in particular is cute as far as peek-a-boo and guessing and animal habitats. But it's far too simple for Will and, though it would probably hold her interest, it's a little advanced for Sophie since she can't talk or reason a guess using given clues yet. Nonetheless, it was one of Will's most requested books and he smiled through the whole thing every time. On the back of the book, there's a little code-grid that indicates age-appropriate levels and topics. So I'd like to find something more appropriate for each of my kids.
7) A Farming Town by Valerie Bodden - I just searched "farming" on the library's online catalog and came up with this in the children's book section. It's pretty much a non-fiction, educational read that describes the details of a farming community. The text was a little too in depth for Will but he liked the pictures.
8) More, Fewer, Less - here's another Tana Hoban book (remember the shapes one from last week's Tot School post?) with no words and just interesting pictures that can be used to teach a concept. There are lots of ways to "read" and interpret this book but basically, we talked about the words (and concepts) of "more, fewer and less". Will actually requested this and seemed to grasp it easily. I plan to try to get a new Tana Hoban book each week - they're brilliant!
9) A Book of Sleep by Il Sung Na - this was another book we snatched off the display shelf. It also coincides well with our Tot School discussion of nocturnality and sleep habits... although the book shows a picture of Koalas sleeping at night time and we learned this week that Koalas are nocturnal. I like the illustrations a lot (especially the owl) and it's a cute read.
We've got a really good group of books this time. In fact, I think we may keep them awhile longer just so we can enjoy them some more. Life has been so hectic lately and we've been spending so much time outside, that we haven't gone through each book as many times as we normally do. Also I'm running another 5K race on Saturday morning and may not have a chance to get to the library. But we'll see...P.S. - I think I've mentioned that I keep a running list in my Tot School notebook of books I'd like to check out (based on referral from other blogs), so I'm always interested in new ideas. If any of your children have favorite books that you would recommend, please post a comment - I'd love to hear them. :)
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