Day 235: Animalogy - Animal Analogies

When I was a kid, my dad used to play an analogies game with me while we were driving in the car. He'd start the analogy, and I'd have to complete it, figuring out the relationship between whatever pairs he threw my way. I absolutely loved it, though how my dad managed to think up so many analogies on his own is beyond me. As I got older, of course, analogies were just a thing to learn for the SAT, but I was excited to find this book at the library a few weeks back. My kids are all about animals and love solving puzzles, so to me, this book seemed like the perfect way to introduce them to analogies. We also love some of Marianne Berkes' other works (especially Over in the Jungle and Over in the Ocean), so I was confident this book would fun and much enjoyed.

As you can guess, Animalogy's analogies all have to do with animals, and my kids loved it -- especially my 6 year old son. Here are a few examples:

"Bat is to flit as eagle is to soar.

Dog is to bark as lion is to roar.

Robin is to wing as goldfish is to fin.

Beaver is to build as spider is to spin.

Amphibian is to frog as mammal is to moose.

Fish is to flounder as bird is to goose."

See what I mean?  The comparisons are simple, yet offer a perfect introduction to analogies. My son loved trying to figure out the relationship between the two things (the bridge, as it's sometimes called), and immediately asked to "play some more" when we were done reading.  I came up with as many others as I could think of (though mine didn't rhyme!), and he did, too:

Bear is to den as bird is to ________ (nest)

Cygnet is to swan as gosling is to ___________ (goose)

Lion is to pride as jellyfish is to __________ (smack) -- that's one of our favorite 

names for a group of animals!

There's a fabulous section at the end of the book called "For Creative Minds," which offers all kinds of other ways to apply the thinking necessary for solving analogies.  Even grammar comes in to play, challenging readers to think about other verbs, adjectives, and synonyms they might be able to use when it comes to animal analogies. For example, "Which of these analogies uses action words (verbs) to compare what the animals are doing?", and "Which of these analogies uses skin coverings to compare or contrast the two animals?"  There is even a section on animal classification. So great!! I absolutely LOVE Berkes' additional educational activities at the back of the book, and think this would make a fabulous addition to any classroom library. In fact, I might need to get a copy of this book for my son's first grade teacher this year. 

Now that I've gotten around to featuring this fun, educational book, I suppose I can return it to the library and pay off my overdue fines.  We highly encourage you to check it out, enjoy solving the "Animalogies," and then come up with some of your own! 

Day 232: Animal Infographics

If your kids are like mine, they are incredibly inquisitive and ask more questions than I can count in a day.  (More than I can usually answer, too.)  I just love seeing how much information their amazing little minds can hold and how much they love learning new things. And their capacity to remember it all simply astounds me, especially since my memory is like that of a goldfish these days.  My kids also love animals -- my son, especially -- and we've learned so much together about the world's amazing creatures.  I wasn't surprised, then, when he brought this book home from his last visit to the library.  We renewed it in order to bring it on vacation with us, and have enjoyed learning some great animal facts along the way. While the parent in me thinks that this book is one worth featuring here on the blog, it's the teacher in me who really thinks it's post-worthy.

If you are unfamiliar with infographics, they are pictures that give you information in a very visual way. They can take the form of maps, graphs, or charts, among other things, and aim to make information easy to understand. I'm sure you've seen them everywhere: in magazines, ads, newspapers, etc. As a geography teacher, I can honestly admit that I love a good infographic! Here's an example, courtesy of PBS:

Source: PBS Nature

I realized once I became a teacher that as an adult, it is easy to assume that children know how to make sense of this type of visual information; after all, we can look at such pictures and understand them (and probably don't remember ever learning how to do that in school.) Interpreting this kind of data, though, is really its own literacy skill; one which we can help our children learn and which will, in turn, nourish their growth as thinkers and readers.

Animal Infographics is a perfect first book for this very thing, featuring plenty of fun animal facts in a visually simple way.  (I would have featured a page from the book itself, but couldn't find any examples online and didn't want to risk violating any copyright rules or anything.) It starts out with a simple pie chart about the number of different types of pets in the United States, and goes on to show all kinds of other information: a comparison of the weights of different animals (for example, that 1 blue whale = 22 African elephants), the world's biggest and smallest animals (compared to a human), food chains, food webs, life cycles, life spans, you name it.  There is even a page that shows a timeline of prehistoric animals, easily demonstrating, for example, the fact that Stegosaurus and Tyrannosaurus Rex did not live in the same time period.  There is a short glossary at the end, as well as other sources for learning more about the topics in the book.  The only thing that seemed a little confusing to my kids was that things are not pictured in their actual size, but rather in comparative scale to one another.  (We have and love Steve Jenkins' book Actual Size, which might account for some of their initial confusion.)  But that's the whole point, really; to teach them how to interpret visual information in a new way so that it makes sense! There is a series of these books featuring other topics such as population and the environment, as well, so I'm sure we'll be bringing home some of the others in the months to come.

If you're looking for a great non-fiction book to add to your little one's library or if you are an elementary teacher, be sure to check out this book.  The more we can expose our kids to a range of reading materials, the better!

Day 230: Hug

My son found this book when we were at the library last week and both of my children fell in love with it instantly.  It reminds me of another one of my childrens' favorite board books, Goodnight Gorilla, in that it contains only a few words (hug, Bobo, and Mommy) but still tells a sweet, charming story that even the youngest readers are bound to love.

Young Bobo the chimp is wandering through the jungle, admiring the various ways that his animal friends and their parents give each other hugs.  At first, he happily calls out, "Hug!," but it doesn't take long for Bobo to long for a hug of his own.  A pair of elephants set out to help him find his mommy, and along the way, we see even more cute creature parents and their young embracing each other.  Just when Bobo thinks all hope is lost, his Mommy calls out, "Bobo!", and all is right with his world.  Alborough's illustrations are wonderfully expressive, and I love the way the changing emotions of the story can be expressed with the same word.  We have yet to read this book fewer than three times in a sitting, and my 3 year old daughter loves that she can read it herself. (She even changes her voice accordingly to reflect the joy or sadness of little Bobo's refrain. It's adorable.)  It's also a story to which all children can easily relate, for sometimes we all just need a hug.

We found this story in a large board book format, though I think it comes in a smaller board book format, too.  Published by Candlewick Press (one of my favorite publishers), Hug has won an Oppenheim Toy Portfolio Best Book Award, as well as a Parenting Reading Magic Award.  I wish we had discovered this book when my kids were babies, since I know it would have been one of their favorites all along.  I'd recommend this story for newborns on up, especially when accompanied by a big, loving hug.

Day 223: Mr. Tiger Goes Wild

I've been eager to get my hands on a copy of this book since I heard of its release last fall.  Fortunately, my children get lots of books for Christmas, and this was one of them.  Hooray!  I fell in love with Peter Brown's work when we got Curious Garden a few years back, and it remains one of my favorite stories in our collection.  Mr. Tiger Goes Wild has only been a part of our home library for a few days, but we have already read it multiple times.  My 3 year old daughter is absolutely delighted by Mr. Tiger and his wild ways, and my 6 year old son finds the story equally fun.  It's a sweet, charming story with amazing illustrations that I know we will be reading again and again.

The story itself is fairly simple:  Mr. Tiger, sick of feeling confined by the expectations of society around him, decides to leave his conservative life behind and go a little wild.  First, he reverts to walking on all fours.  Enough of this two-legged nonsense!  Next go his clothes, portrayed in an adorable two-page spread.  So cute.  Appalled, some of his peers encourage him to take his nonsense to the wilderness, which he naturally thinks is a brilliant idea.  Once there, Mr. Tiger is free to be as wild as he wants, romping and roaring to his heart's desire.  Eventually, though, he begins to miss his friends and the city and decides to return.  Upon doing so, he is thrilled to discover that things have begun to change in his absence, leaving him -- and his fellow critters -- free to be himself.

I think my children and I love this book equally, though for different reasons.  My kids love the way Mr. Tiger busts out and just goes wild -- particularly because they love to be wild themselves -- and find his antics hilariously fun.  They also love the illustrations, and I'm always careful to give sufficient pause before turning the page so that they have time to study and enjoy them.  

As for me, I have found that this story grows on me more and more each time I read it.  The first time we read it together, I thought, "Okay, well, that was cute," but I wasn't blown away.  I liked it, to be sure, but it wasn't a story that immediately jumped out and grabbed me.  Then we read it again, at my kids' request, and I found myself trying to find a deeper meaning within its pages.  The overall message about the importance of being oneself (and feeling free to do so) is obviously a valuable one, but was there more that I was missing?  We read it a third time later that day, and I stopped reading as an (over-analyzing) adult and just let myself enjoy it the way my children do.  I studied the illustrations and details, and marveled at Brown's artistic style and artwork.  (I've never worked with ink and gouache, but now I'm dying to.)  Reading it again (and again… and again), I've come to the conclusion that while I find the story sweet and cute, what I really love is the way this book comes together as a whole.  The artwork is fabulous, especially the colors, and I love the emotion that Peter Brown is able to convey on the faces of Mr. Tiger and his fellow creatures.  Study their faces closely, and the story could tell itself without any words at all.  I even love the book's layout and feel of the pages.  (Be sure to take a look at the cover without the jacket on, too -- my daughter particularly loves the design!)  If I were on the Caldecott committee, I would certainly put Peter Brown and this beautiful book on my list of nominees! 

So, if you see this book on the new arrivals shelf at your local library, bring it home with you and see what you think.  Your children will likely love it, and there's a good chance you will, too.   

Day 222: The Animal Book: A Collection of the Fastest, Fiercest, Toughest, Cleverest, Shyest--and Most Surprising--Animals on Earth

Steve Jenkins has become one of our favorite non-fiction authors since we first read Hottest, Coldest, Highest, Deepest two summers ago.  We've read many of his books ever since, loving each one and learning all kinds of new animal facts and scientific tidbits along the way.  (Actual Size is a particular favorite of my kids!)  My children both love learning about nature, and my son is particularly obsessed with animals:  big ones, small ones, exotic ones, extinct ones -- you name it, he can probably tell you about it.  (And if he can't, he'll want to learn all about it.)  When my husband saw that Steve Jenkins was releasing The Animal Book this past fall, he knew just what to get our son for his 6th birthday.  What a fabulous book!

If your child loves learning about animals, this book is a must read.  It provides hours of educational entertainment and Jenkins' paper collage artwork is simply exquisite.  I can't imagine how many hours it must have taken him to create this book!  We recognized some of the artwork from other works (such as Prehistoric Actual Size -- another recent birthday book), and there are many fabulous diagrams throughout the book, as well:  an ecological pyramid (from producers up through apex predators), a comparison of animal sizes (both modern and extinct), and a timeline of animal lifespans, to name just a few.  I particularly love the pages about the forest food web (which inspired my son to draw his own food web the other day), comparative pie chart of types of species, and the timeline of life, including a history of the earth in 24 hours.  If the earth was formed at 12:00am, the first single-cellular life appeared around 5:00am, dinosaurs appeared around 10:50pm, and modern humans didn't enter the picture until 4 seconds before midnight.  Pretty cool, isn't it?

Just to clarify, The Animal Book isn't an animal encyclopedia, per se, but there are over 300 animals featured within its pages.  There is a glossary at the back and additional facts about all of the creatures mentioned, along with the pages on which they can be found.  I could go on and on about this amazing book, so to help wrap things up here, I'll highlight a few of my other favorite features about this book below:

• Its contents are sorted by themes rather than particular species or types of animals.  Categories include family, animal senses, predators, defenses, animal extremes, and the story of life.  I challenge anyone to pick up this book and not learn something new and amazing.

• Jenkins starts off by telling us about how his love of animals and art was formed.  He includes a picture of the first animal book he created -- 103 Favorite Animals -- on graph paper when he was 6 years old.  My son gets such a kick out of this, and I love that it lets him see that even famous animal artists once drew the way he does.

• The section at the back of the book about the history of life on earth, which includes simple yet thorough explanations and diagrams of such topics as natural selection and variation and mutation.  This would be great to use in an elementary school science class.

• The fabulous chapter at the end of the book about making books.  Here, we get to see how Jenkins creates his books, from how his initial ideas are formed, the research process, design stages, and ultimate publication.  Really interesting stuff, especially for aspiring young artists and illustrators!

It's obviously clear that we love this book and think you'd love it, too.  I'd say it's great for any animal lovers ages 5 and up.  I'll leave you with a few examples of some of the amazing animal facts we've learned while reading this book, many of which completely blow my mind.  We hope you love this book as much as we do!

• 97 out of every 100 known species of animals are invertebrates
• One out of every 4 living things is a beetle -- there are over 350,000 species of beetles out there!
• A termite queen may produce as many as 1,200 eggs an hour, laying them around the clock for 30 years or more
• Giant clams have 100s, even 1000s, of eyes
• For every species alive today, there are probably 1,000 that have died out or gone extinct

Day 221: Sleep Like a Tiger

My son likes to tell me that he never sleeps (and sometimes, it certainly feels as though he's right.)  Even if he sees a picture of himself sleeping, he says, "I wasn't really sleeping.  I was just pretending."  He also routinely claims that he is going to stop the earth from spinning so that it will always be daytime.  If only our children could look forward to and appreciate bedtime as much as we do, right?!  When I saw this book at a local bookstore a few months back, I just knew I had to bring it home to my little sleep-averse guy.

Sleep Like a Tiger is a beautiful story that is perfect for snuggling up and reading at bedtime.  When a little girl tries to convince her parents that she is not at all tired and doesn't want to go to bed, a sweet, clever conversation ensues between them.  "Does everything in the world go to sleep?" the little girl asks?  "Yes," her parents told her.  "Our dog is sleeping right now, curled up in a ball on the couch where he's not supposed to be.  And the cat is fast asleep, stretched out in front of the fireplace, the warmest spot in the house."  The girl proceeds to inquire about all kinds of other creatures -- bats, whales, snails, bears -- and whether or not they sleep, too.  Finally, she mentions an animal who sleeps a lot -- the tiger -- and the way he stays strong by finding shade and resting in the jungle when he's not off hunting.  I love the parents' calm, patient manner as they subtly bring their daughter closer to sleep, and author Mary Logue's language throughout is wonderfully vivid and descriptive.  In the end, of course, the little girl drifts off to dreamland, in a delightfully woven sequence of rituals that mimic the very creatures she has just discussed.

The artwork in the story is gorgeous and is what drew me to the book in the first place.  Pamela Zagarenski's illustrations are simply delightful; peaceful and fanciful at the same time.  There are several wonderful literary allusions in the story, as well, and plenty of small details within her artwork that I just love.  I will say, though, that there is something about the illustrations that doesn't really appeal to my 3 year old daughter.  Perhaps they are a bit too abstract for her liking.  My son seems to like them well enough, though even he is not nearly as impressed by the illustrations as I am.  Sometimes art is just like that, I suppose.  Regardless, Sleep Like a Tiger is a wonderful story that is one of my favorite new finds this year, and I'm thrilled to have added it to our home library.

 

Day 213: Where Fish Go in Winter

A few years ago, my mom gave me a big bin of books that she had saved from my (and my brothers') childhood.  Some of them were classics that we already knew and loved, but others, like this gem here, we had never read or heard of before.  The very first time I read this book, I knew I had to feature it on this blog.  My son fell in love with it the first time we read it, too, and it's truly a wonderful book.  It was first published over 25 years ago in 1987, so the hardcover copy that I have seems rather hard to find now.  

Fortunately, however, an easy reader paperback version was published in 2002 -- that's the one shown at the very beginning of this post -- which, as far as I can tell, has the same text as the original but with different illustrations.  Plus, it's only $3.99!  Can't beat that!

If you can ever get your hands on a copy of this book either at the library or your local bookstore, please do.  It's a fabulous collection of questions and answers that inquiring minds everywhere will love.  I smiled as I read through the questions that are the topics of each page, all of which are the very types of questions my curious, nature-loving son loves to ask (often at the most surprising of times.)  Where do fish go in winter?  How do birds fly?  Why do leaves change colors?  What is the sound in a seashell?  How do seeds know which was is up?  How do cats purr?  How does popcorn pop?  Why do snakes shed their skin?  Do islands float?

The answers are given in rolling, rhyming reply in a way that explains why scientifically, yet simply.  I definitely learned a few things reading this book, too, which I always love.  Did you know that not all of the strands in a spider's web are sticky, or that the noise we hear when we hold a shell up to our ear is caused not only by the sound of blood rushing through our ear, but also by both air molecules bouncing around?  I'll share an example so you can get a taste of just how informative and lovely this book really is.

What do clouds feel like?

Would clouds feel fluffy, 

Soft and grand,

If I could touch them

With my hand?

To clutch a cloud

Inside your fist

Would be like holding

Morning mist.

Clouds are not

The way they seem.

They weigh no more

Than fog or steam.

They're made of tiny

Water drops,

So light they float

Above rooftops.

I'd say this book is best suited for preschoolers and elementary students, but would make a fabulous addition to any child's library.  It's a must for any classroom, too.  As I mentioned earlier, the easy reader version (Level 3) seems easier to come by, but there are a bunch of the original hardcover versions available used on Amazon starting at only $0.01 (plus shipping.)  However you track down a copy of this book, I hope you love it as much as we do.

Easy reader paperback:     Hardcover (original version):

       

Day 210: Actual Size

We're on a bit of a Steve Jenkins kick here in our house lately, so I thought I'd feature another one of his books that also happens to be my son's current favorite:  Actual Size.  We first came across Jenkins' work with Hottest, Coldest, Highest, Deepest, and later discovered Living Color, both of which we all loved.  After renewing Living Color from the library 4 times, we finally returned it and brought home Actual Size, instead.  In this fun, informational book, Steve Jenkins uses his impressive paper collage art to show animal features in their real size:  the 2-inch-long pygmy shrew, the 12-inch-wide eye of a giant squid, and the 4-inch long tooth of a great white shark, to name a few.  My son particularly loves the 12-inch wide Goliath birdeater tarantula and 2-foot long giant anteater tongue.  (I love the fold-out picture of the saltwater crocodile's head and the African elephant's foot, myself.)  My little guy and I both love learning about animals, but what makes this book so great is that it depicts, in actual size, right there on the page, the very facts we are learning.  It's one thing for him know that an atlas moth has a 12 inch wing span, but another for him to see just how big that really is.  The back of the book contains additional information about each featured animal, as well, making this another fabulous read for any young animal lovers out there.

Oh, and if you're looking for a fun activity to do with your child after reading this book, trying having him create his own "Actual Size" book.  After reading this a few times, my son excitedly said, "Hey!  I have an idea!  Let's make an "Actual Size" book about dragons!"  And he got right to work.  He's invented many species of dragons in the past few months, so has had lots of fun drawing pictures of their claws, wings, teeth, footprints, and eyes in his art journal.  I just love it when my kids think up their own fun, creative activities!

Day 209: Living Color

A few days ago, a follower of the blog asked me for some nonfiction suggestions for 5-8 year olds.  As I searched through some past posts to see what titles I could share, I realized that I haven't featured many nonfiction titles on here.  Making nonfiction appealing to little ones can be tricky, but there are some gems out there that my kids and I absolutely love.

Living Color is one such book.  In fact, it's the kind of book for which I knowingly and willingly pay overdue library fines, because my son loves it that much and we've already renewed it as many times as we're allowed.  (I plan on sneaking it back to the library tonight so that it will be there for him to take out again tomorrow.)  Time to add another title to our must-own list!

We found this book on the library shelf in the nonfiction section about animals, and it was love at first read for my little nature lover.  In Living Color, author and illustrator Steve Jenkins has created a fabulous book that "takes a look at color in the animal world and some of the ingenious ways it is used."  Creatures of all kinds are sorted by color within its pages -- birds, spiders, snakes, fish, lizards, mammals -- each with an informative little description about what makes this animal unique.  The end of the book features an illustrated glossary of each animal mentioned within, including more information about the creature's size, habitat, and diet.  There is also an interesting page spread about why animals are different colors, how their colors are created, and how their colors have evolved through natural selection.  It's fascinating, colorful, and full of information for curious little minds.

If your child loves animals, science, or nature, be sure to look for this book the next time you are at the library.  My daughter (almost 3) loves looking at the pictures with us and learning about the animals, though doesn't have the attention span to sit through the reading the whole thing.  My 5 1/2 year old son, however, asks me to read this to him from cover to cover on a regular basis.

I've learned that Steve Jenkins has some other fabulous nature books out there, too, so am eager to look for more of them when we go to the library tomorrow.  In fact, I just realized that he also wrote Hottest, Coldest, Highest, Deepest, another great nonfiction book that we've read and loved.  If we're lucky, perhaps we'll find ourselves coming home with more than one of his books tomorrow.  If the others are as good as these ones, we'll be sure to let you know.

Day 203: My Heart Is Like a Zoo

My son picked this book up off the "New Arrivals" shelf at our last library visit, excitedly showed it to me, then immediately ran over to a chair to sit down and read it.  Needless to say, we checked it out and brought it home, and have read it many times since then.  Michael Hall's illustrations are colorful, creative, and engaging, and his short, well-rhyming text makes this book a wonderful one to read with your little one.

As you can probably guess from the cover illustration, the pictures of zoo animals in this book are made up almost exclusively of heart shapes.  The bold, simple design is very clever, and the text includes some great adjectives, as well.

My heart is like a zoo --

Eager as a beaver, 

Steady as a yak,

Hopeful as a hungry heron fishing for a snack...

See how cute these are?

My son, 5, loves the different animals and counting all of the heart shapes he can find within their designs, while my daughter, 2 1/2, loves the animals and pointing to the hearts, too.  My son also loves being able to read it to my daughter himself, which is always cute to see.  The bold, colorful designs and rhyming text would make this a great book to read with babies, as well.  It's currently only available in hardcover from what I can tell, but I wouldn't be surprised if a board book version will be in the works sometime in the future.

I especially love the way this book inspires creativity.  After reading it for the first time, my son said, "We should make our own animals out of hearts!"  He was so excited to create his own creatures using shapes once we got home, and couldn't wait to get started on a peregrine falcon picture.  He told me which animals he wanted to make, and then we brainstormed together about what colors to use and what size hearts we might need.  I just loved watching his creative little mind work!  I include a few pictures of his creations below.

Whether you're a teacher looking for a great art-inspiring book to share with your class or a parent looking for a fun, easy story-themed craft to do with your child, My Heart Is Like a Zoo is the perfect book.  We hope you love it as much as we do!

My son's favorite animal, the peregrine falcon

A butterfly

Crocodile

Poison Dart Frog (inspired by the frog in the book)

Yeti Crab, inspired by Wild Kratts (our favorite show)

 * the red dots on the claws are the bacteria it collects and eats - fascinating!

Day 178: We're Sailing to Galapagos

I think if my son could go anywhere in the world, he might choose the Galapagos.  Home to some of the world's most unique wildlife, the Galapagos Islands are truly amazing.  We love exploring and learning about the world through Laurie Krebs' books, and this has been a favorite of ours since the very first time we read it.  We're Sailing to Galapagos, like so many of Krebs' stories, is bursting with fun information about this unique part of the world and the animals who live there.  Grazia Restelli's collage artwork is bold, colorful, and wonderfully intricate, and is the perfect accompaniment to Krebs' rollicking story.  Both of my children love everything about the book, and once again, my geography teacher self is always more than happy to read it with them.

As we sail across the sea to visit the Galapagos, we meet a different species on each day of the week:  "On Monday, giant tortoises, With weathered shells of green, Plod past us while they munch their lunch of vegetable cuisine."  Each day ends with the same chorus, too, for which I made up my own little rhythm and song:  "We're sailing to Galapagos, Galapagos, Galapagos, We're sailing to Galapagos, I wonder who we'll see."  You can also sing the each verse to the tune of Row, Row, Row Your Boat, but I prefer to simply read the part about the animals and then sing the chorus.  Either one works, of course, or if singing is not your thing than just reading it all aloud works fine, too!  Along the way, we meet albatrosses, black iguanas, lava crabs, blue-footed boobies, sea lions, and frigate birds... and the learning doesn't stop there!  The back of the book features fabulous write ups about the Islands themselves, Charles Darwin, and 11 other Galapagos species.  I absolutely love the way Krebs' books grow with children and are appealing to such a wide age range.  The sing-songy verses and colorful illustrations make her books engaging for toddlers, while the additional information at the back is perfect for curious, older adventurers.  Someday, perhaps, we might even be able to go to the Galapagos... but until then, we'll just keep enjoying fabulous books like this one and imagining that we are there.

Day 173: The Water Hole

Graeme Base is one of the most amazing children's illustrators I know.  His artwork is simply stunning, with beautiful, intricate detail that gives his drawings a truly magical feel.  We love Animalia, and recently found The Water Hole at our local library.  We brought it home because my son wants to read any book about animals, but mostly because I'm always fascinated by Base's illustrations.  I briefly flipped through the pages and noticed that it was a counting book, and that each page had a cut-out area for a watering hole which kept getting smaller and smaller as the book went on.  Cute, I thought.  A nice little counting book about animals (with gorgeous illustrations, of course.)  My son took to the book immediately and enjoyed looking at it throughout the afternoon, but it wasn't until the next day that I really sat down to read the book with him.  We've read it many times since, including for an hour together this morning, and each time we pick it up we discover new gems hidden within its pages.

This book is a classic example of a picture being worth a thousand words.  There are so many amazing things about this story that I really don't know where to begin.  You can tell just by looking at the cover illustration that the artwork in the book is incredible, but there is so much more to this wonderful book! Each page features wildlife from various parts of the world, such as India, Australia, South America, the Galapagos Islands, and the Himalayas.  Hidden within each drawing itself are a variety of other native creatures, whose silhouettes appear in the borders of each spread.  We love finding all of these hidden animals, and I am always blown away by the artistry and creativity involved in crafting such elaborate illustrations.  As more animals come to drink at the water hole (that's where the counting element comes in), the level of water gradually goes down... until there is none left!  By weaving in the themes of seasonal change and migration, Base creates wonderful opportunities for further learning and discussion within his pages, as well.  You can see why the geography teacher in me absolutely loves this book!

My son's favorite page is the one for Europe with all of the ladybugs, but I think my favorite is actually the one where, after the water hole has dried up, "All the animals went away."  This page features a beautifully eerie and desolate image of a barren land, with 10 extinct animals hidden within.  It is the least colorful image in the book, but is positively brilliant in every way.  I also love the page shortly thereafter where the rains come, forming shimmering puddles in the shapes of the earth's continents as the world slowly comes back to life.   Yes, I think it's safe to say we've added yet another book to our "Must own someday" list!

I suppose I've gone on enough about how fabulous a book I think this is, so I'll leave you with this tidbit from the author himself about the inspiration behind the story.  I hope you enjoy it as much as we do!  "The Water Hole was inspired by a four-week sight-seeing safari through Kenya and Tanzania.  I had in mind a simple story about the cycle of season on the African plains, but the idea gradually expanded to embrace other countries and their wildlife, in the process giving the central image of the water hole a certain metaphorical significance -- and, of course, providing me with the perfect excuse to draw lots of animals from other parts of the world, as well!"

Day 160: The Animal Atlas

The last time we were at the library, my son came running over to me with this book in his hands, beaming, "Is this the perfect book for me or what?!"  He has been obsessed with it ever since, reading parts of it every day and bringing it with us wherever we go.  When we went on vacation recently, we took it with us, knowing that we would accrue overdue fees as a result.  But we didn't care.  We knew that it would keep him entertained for hours and would be a perfect book for reading in the car on our road trip.  In fact, once we got home, we found a used copy on ebay and ordered it for him.  For $4.99 and free shipping, we couldn't resist.  I can't wait to see his face when it arrives in the mail and he finds out he'll have a copy of his very own!  He loves it that much and it is just that awesome.


The Animal Atlas is a stunning guide to hundreds of the world's species.  Sorted by continent and region on oversized, double-page spreads, it offers a wealth of information about the unique and magnificent animals that call those areas home.  The South America chapter, for example, has sections dedicated to the Galapagos, Andes, Amazon Rainforest, and Pampas.  Additional pages at the front and back of the book include information about how to use the atlas, animal groups (fish, reptiles, mammals, invertebrates, etc.), types of habitats (tundra, grasslands, woodlands, etc.), endangered animals, and "Amazing Animals."  Each page features dozens of native animals and descriptive paragraphs for each one, along with photographs of the landscape and gorgeous color drawings of the wildlife.  Kenneth Lilly's illustrations are beyond incredible.  Honestly, it's easy to forget that they are actually drawings and not photographs.  I can only imagine how long it must have taken him to illustrate all of the creatures in this amazing book!  I love that each regional spread contains a map, too, showing just where one can find the featured animals.  We have all learned so much from this book, and my husband and I get such a kick out of hearing my son talk about (and pretend to be) so many of these different creatures.  In the past week alone, he has pretended to be a hog-nosed bat, African jacana, jerboa, bee hummingbird, and marine iguana, among countless others.  Just this afternoon, upon seeing some of the characters from the newest Ice Age movie on a bag of Pirate's Booty, he said, "I think that one there must be a colugo."  I looked at a critter who vaguely resembled a flying squirrel, and asked him what a colugo was (since I had no idea.)  "You know," he replied, shocked at my ignorance.  "It lives in Southeast Asia and India."  Later, when we had the book nearby, he flipped to the Southeastern Asia and India page and said, "See?  There's the colugo."  And he was right.  It's a flying lemur that looks just like that Ice Age critter.  Supposedly this book is for grades 4 and up, but I see no reason why it isn't perfect for animal lovers who are much younger.  After all, my little guy is 4 and he is simply fascinated by it.  I'm sure there are countless other animal atlases that are more recent (this one was published in 1992), but the information and illustrations in this version are simply amazing.  If your chid loves animals and you can find a copy of this book, you will be in for a real treat.

Day 157: Alphabet (and other fun books by Matthew Van Fleet)

We recently discovered Matthew Van Fleet's fabulous series of interactive books at my good friend Katie's house and my kids couldn't get enough of them.  Fortunately, our local library has several of his titles, so we decided to bring Alphabet home with us last week.  Believe me when I tell you that this book is full of flap-lifting, texture-feeling, scratch-n-sniffing, tab-pulling fun!  In fact, I can't even keep the book near me while I write this because my son keeps wanting to read it and explore each page!  Alphabet brings us from A to Z with an array of creatures and plants along the way, including several species that were completely new to us (such as uacaris, xenops, and zorillas. My son just came flapping over to me pretending to be an Io moth.  I love it!)  The back of the book features a list of extras to go back and find once you're done, as well, including 3 other creatures and one plant that begin with each letter of the alphabet.  The playful rhymes make it fun to read -- "Striped iguanas climb, spotted jaguars pounce.  Playful baby kangaroos -- bounce, bounce, bounce!" -- but most of all, kids will love all of the tactile components of the book.  My son's favorite is the sticky octopus.  The book is rather sturdy, but with so many flaps to lift and tabs to pull, you should probably expect to have to mend it from time to time.  Don't let that deter you from getting it, though.  The amount of fun your child will have with this book makes it too great to pass up.  I also love that Alphabet comes with an amazing fold-out lift-the-flaps poster (seen above) that my children absolutely love!  As with some of our other favorite books, this is one that grows along with your child and is appealing to a wide age range.  Babies will love feeling all of the fluffy tails, fuzzy coats, and bumpy scales, and older children will love learning about and looking for all of the animals and plants.  I can't wait to get this book someday, as it really is a must-have for our collection.  Be sure to check out some of Van Fleet's other titles, too, which are equally fun and fabulous:  Heads, Tails, Dog, and Cat, to name a few.  We hope you love them as much as we do!

Day 151: We're Roaming in the Rainforest

Looking for a fabulous Earth Day book?  Check out the beautifully illustrated and fantastically educational We're Roaming in the Rainforest by Laurie Krebs and Anne Wilson.  Follow along from sunrise to sunset as parrots squawk, monkeys chatter, sloths doze, caimans snap, and jaguars growl in one of the most magical places on earth:  the Amazon Rainforest!  We've had this book for a few months now, and my son absolutely loves it.  He is obsessed with animals at the moment, so loves learning about some of the exotic creatures that call the Amazon home.  My daughter is always fascinated by the bold, colorful illustrations and can't wait to spot the animals on each page.  Among (many) other things, I love that she and my son are both so engaged while we read it.  (It's not always easy to find books that appeal equally to 4 year olds and 20 month olds!)  We especially love learning about some of the lesser known rainforest animals that are featured in this book, such as pink river dolphins and giant river otters.  Did you know that poison dart frogs are smaller than your thumb nail, or that green iguanas can grow to be six feet long?  I didn't, either, until I read this story.  Like so many of our favorite books, We're Roaming in the Rainforest features all kinds of fabulous educational extras once the story itself has ended.  The endnotes cover a range of topics, including the peoples and native tribes of the Amazon, the role of the rainforest as a vital global resource, conservation efforts, and interesting facts about each of the animals featured in the book.  And, of course, there is a map!  You can see why this book is so great now, right?  It's fun to read, teaches us all kinds of new things, and appeals to kids of all ages.  What's not to love?  If you're looking for a book to read with your child or class this Earth Day, this is one we highly recommend.

Day 149: Driving My Tractor

We have thoroughly been enjoying the spring weather we've been having lately, and one of our favorite new places to visit is a community organic farm that is just a few towns away.  They have all sorts of adorable animals to see (including, at the moment, 2 week old piglets!), trails to explore, log bridges to cross, and even a child's nature center hidden away in the woods.  Both of my kids love visiting there, and I am always so thankful for places like this farm who open their doors so graciously and offer such fabulous learning opportunities for children.

Our visit to the farm got us thinking of (and singing) one of our favorite sing-along books, so I thought it only appropriate to feature it today.  I'm also excited because after borrowing it from the library on several occasions, watching its animated video on youtube repeatedly, and singing the song more times than I can count, I'm finally giving my son his own copy of Driving My Tractor as an Easter gift.  I can't tell you how many times I've had this song stuck in my head, and yet, I'm still happily willing to add this sing-along to our home library.  That's got to say something about how great it is, right?


Driving My Tractor is an upbeat, fun, toe-tapping sing-along that is a favorite of both my son and daughter.  Watch the video clip mentioned above and you'll immediately see what I mean. The colorful, bold illustrations are wonderfully appealing to toddlers and preschoolers, and the fact that is a counting book about animals makes it perfect for that age group, as well.  The end of the book also features some fabulous information about other types of farm machines (such as combine harvesters and balers) and a beautiful two-page spread about various types of crops that farmers grow (including at what times of the year they can be planted and harvested.)  I love books that include informational "extras" like this, and love watching my son soak up all of that knowledge even more.  The other thing that is so great about this book, as with so many others from this publisher, is that it truly grows with your child.  My daughter (20 months) loves the bold pictures and the silly sing-along song, just as my son (age 4) has for quite some time.  Now that he is a little older, though, he appreciates other things about the book, such as the information about the types of crops at the end.  Plus, the book comes with a cd featuring the vocal talents of Steve Songs, so you'll know just how the tune goes and be able to add the song to your child's music collection.  In fact, the tune is so catchy and easy to sing, I don't think I could read the book without singing it now even if I tried.  Driving My Tractor is a perfect book to have in the car for road trips, afternoon story time, or any time you simply want to stop what you're doing and sing and dance with your kids.


** One last little thing... Driving My Tractor was one of the first Barefoot Books we read and came to love, and was part of the reason why I became a Barefoot Ambassador last summer.  I am continually impressed by the quality of Barefoot Books and their passion for art and literacy, and I always find it refreshing to know that there is a publisher out there whose books I am pretty much guaranteed to love.  I felt I needed to add this disclaimer here because I don't want anyone reading this to think that I am only featuring this (or other Barefoot Books) out of possible personal gain.  On the contrary, I just want you to know about them because they are truly great books that I think everyone with children should know about!  Find them in your local library and see what I mean.  After all, this is the whole mission of my blog:  to share fabulous children's books that are well worth reading so that no day goes without a great story.  No pressure, just great books!  That's what it's all about.

Day 147: Barnyard Dance!

"Stomp your feet!  Clap your hands! Everybody ready for a barnyard dance!"  It would be an understatement to say that my daughter (now 20 months -- I can't believe it!) is obsessed with Sandra Boynton books at the moment.  We have a dozen or so of Boynton's books, all of which have taken up a permanent residence next to our reading chair in little E's room.  If a book is not on the table there, it's inevitably in her crib, as she routinely insists on bringing one of them into bed with her.  My daughter insists on reading each one before her afternoon nap and bedtime each night.  And I mean every. single. one.  Fortunately, I don't mind, since I happen to like all of Boynton books that we own (and they're quick reads.)  When we finish a story, E will flip the book over to look at the pictures of the other books on the back, pointing to the one she wants to read next.  It's really quite cute!

Sandra Boynton has to be one of the most well-known authors of children's books, and with good reason.  She has written over forty board books for young children, and her cute rhymes and colorful, playful illustrations make them fast favorites of babies and toddlers everywhere.  We've already featured a few of our other favorites (Moo, Baa, La La La, Snuggle Puppy, and Blue Hat, Green Hat), but I couldn't resist writing about Barnyard Dance, too.  It's definitely one of our favorites.  My daughter loves the way the animals play and frolic about, and my son loves to act out the story as we read.  "Trot with the turkey.  Leap with the frog!  Take another spin with the barnyard dog."  It's fun and interactive, with rollicking rhymes that make it read more like a song than a story.  Both of my kids just love the window feature of the book's cover, too.  After four years and hundreds of readings, I still enjoy snuggling up to read this book with my kids.  If that isn't a sign of a great book, I don't know what is.

Day 137: The Goat Lady

One of our local libraries has the cutest, coziest little children's room around.  It also has a nice little section of staff recommended books.  I like to browse through its titles whenever we visit, and try to check out at least one or two each time.  (I'll admit, too -- the more I write this blog and the more great books we find, the more I want to make a recommendations shelf of my own!)  Last time we visited, I brought home The Goat Lady by Jane Bregoli.  I'm so glad I did.  What a surprisingly touching and wonderful story!  

The Goat Lady, based on true people and events, tells the story of Noelie Houle, an elderly woman who lives in a run-down, old farmhouse with her family of goats.  All of the other homes in the neighborhood are newer, freshly painted, with neatly mowed lawns, but not the goat lady's house.  To many neighbors, it stuck out like a sore thumb with its peeling paint, crooked door, and a yard full of goats.  Some people complained about the unkempt nature of the property and considered the goats to be a public nuisance, but our young narrators are intrigued.  They like to watch the frisky goats and can't help but wonder about who takes care of them.  Finally, one day, they see her -- "a slightly bent, but still rather tall woman" with mismatched clothes, a warm smile, and a twinkle in her eye.  She invites them to come meet her goats and kindly introduces herself.  It is the start of a wonderful friendship, and in the weeks and months to come, the children return to Noelie's house often, learning all about how to care for the goats and helping Noelie with her chores.  They learn more and more about her life, too -- how she moved there from Canada to work in a factory but became ill with arthritis.  How goat's milk gradually cured her, and how she set out to raise goats so that other people could be helped by drinking their milk.  How she eventually had so many goats, she gave some away to an organization (Heifer International) that sent them to people in poor countries, "so that those people would have fresh milk to drink, too."  Perhaps the most important thing the children learn from their friendship with Noelie, though, is tolerance.  Unlike their neighbors, they don't judge Noelie by her outward appearance.  In taking the time to get to know her, they see the kind, compassionate woman that she is, and that is a beautiful thing.

The children soon ask their mother, a portrait artist, if she might like to paint a picture of their friend Noelie and her goats.  She happily agrees, and eventually goes on to create enough paintings for an art show at the town hall.  (Some of Jane Bregoli's actual paintings from the real Dartmouth Town Hall art show about Noelie are featured in the book.)  As word gets out about the show and more and more people begin to learn more about Noelie, people's attitudes about her start to change.  "The neighbors became more accepting of Noelie's way of life.  The yard didn't seem quite as messy, the old house didn't look so rundown, and the animals didn't appear to be as unruly as before."  Soon, those neighbors that used to complain about her ways are stopping by to help Noelie, too.

The message of acceptance and tolerance that pervades this book is inspiring and refreshing.  I love the way it shows the incredible difference children can make in the life of an adult, and in some cases, an entire community.  Everyone knows people who are different, eccentric, "strange," and it is easy to judge them or cast them aside without taking the time to get to know them or their circumstances.  The fact that Noelie is elderly and impoverished is subtle but relevant, and although it might not be immediately noticed by children, it can certainly be discussion worthy.

The Goat Lady is beautifully written and a wonderful story in every way.  My son is just as engrossed by this story as he is with much sillier ones, which just goes to show that a book needn't be funny or fictional to be fully appreciated by a child.  The fact that it is a true story makes it all the more wonderful.  The real Noelie and Bregoli lived in Dartmouth, MA, so I hope that this book is easy to find outside of Massachusetts.  With its many important lessons about kindness and compassion, we highly recommend the Goat Lady for children in preschool and beyond.

Day 125: Bear Snores On

Today was one of those days where I looked out the window and could just feel winter approaching.  The leaves were fluttering steadily down from the trees, which are just about bare now, and the sky was a chilly shade of gray.   We've reached that point in the season where we need hats and mittens to play outside, and I feel the need to eat chocolate even more than usual.  (That must mean winter is coming.)  A steady rain was falling all afternoon, too, making me want to start a fire in the fireplace, make some hot chocolate, and curl up with a good book!  I like winter -- in limited amounts, at least -- but I am not ready for it yet.  In fact, there are many times when I feel like bears are really on to something by hibernating the cold weather away.  What better book to feature then today, I thought, than one of our favorites, Bear Snores On.  We already featured the second book in the Bear series, Bear Wants More, back on Day 1, but have been waiting to share this one until the weather seemed a bit more fitting.  My mom gave us Bear Wants More as one of my son's first books before he was even born, and we loved it so much that we needed to get some of Karma Wilson's other Bear books, too.  Bear Snores On is where we first meet our beloved Bear and his host of friends:  Mouse, Hare, Gopher, Mole, Badger, Raven, and Wren.  I absolutely love these characters and never get tired of reading this story.  In fact, I read it so often to my son when he was two, that I can still recite the whole story from memory. "In a cave in the woods in his deep, dark lair, through the long cold winter sleeps a great brown bear.  Cuddled in a heap with his eyes shut tight, he sleeps through the day, he sleeps through the night.  The cold winds howl and the night sounds growl but the bear snores on."   One by one, new friends begin to enter Bear's den seeking shelter from the winter storm raging outside.   As they make themselves at home popping corn, brewing tea, and chit-chatting the evening away, Bear's den grows cozier and more lively until there is an all-out party going on!   When Bear finally wakes up and sees all of the fun he has been missing, he is not a happy camper... but leave it to his woodland friends to save the day!  Wilson's rhymes are flawless, fabulous, and so much fun to read, and Jane Chapman's illustrations could not be any cuter.   I especially love the picture of the animals dancing around the fire in Bear's den while the storm rages outside.  The whole scene just looks so cozy and inviting!  This is another one of my favorite books to give as a baby gift, particularly the board book version.  If you haven't discovered this fantastic series, look for Bear the next time you are at the library or your local book store.  Bear Snores On is a perfect book to read with your little one during any kind of weather at any time of year. 

Day 124: Baby Beluga

A few weeks ago, I took my children to the fabulous Mystic Aquarium in Mystic, CT.  If you ever get a chance to go, you must!  It is such a gorgeous facility and both my son and daughter loved everything about it.  We also had the pleasure of going on a Friday in October, so there were no crowds whatsoever.  Some of the first marine animals you see when you enter the complex are the beluga whales.  Their tank is right inside the entrance, and you can watch them from above or below, through underwater viewing windows.  As soon as she saw a beautiful white whale swim by, my daughter was obsessed!  She LOVED those whales (as did I -- they are just so gorgeous), and would point enthusiastically toward them anytime she saw them that day, even if they were only in a photograph.  When I saw that the gift shop sold a Baby Beluga board book, I knew I had to get it for her.  It has been one of her favorite books ever since!  She held on to the book our whole ride home, and asks to read it whenever she sees it.  I knew the song before I realized that there was a book to go along with it, having first gotten it on cd when my son was my daughter's age.  We LOVE singalong stories, and Baby Beluga is a perfect book to read and sing along to at bedtime.  I usually find myself still singing the song to my daughter even after we've shut out the light.  The verses are soothing and simple, and the lyrics are accompanied by lovely illustrations of the baby beluga and his Arctic friends.  "Baby Beluga in the deep blue sea.  Swim so wild, and you swim so free.  Heaven above, and the sea below.  And a little white whale on the go."  My son usually comes running in to read with us if he hears us singing the song, too.  I particularly love the page that shows the baby belugas hugging fish under their flippers as night time draws near.  It's just so cute!  With soft, gentle lyrics and engaging illustrations to match, Baby Beluga is a wonderful singalong story that your baby is bound to love.