Tons of Trucks

Title: Tons of Trucks

Author: Sue Fliess
Illustrator: Betsy Snyder

Publisher: HMH Books, 2012
Book Type: Fiction
Ages: Birth – 4
Themes: Trucks, Rhyming, Interactive

Opening Lines:

“Tons osf trucks before our eyes, in every color shape and size.

Big trucks, strong trucks, scoop and dig trucks.”

Synopsis (from Amazon website):

Big trucks, small trucks, dump trucks, tow trucks, and all kinds of other trucks can be found in this playful touch-and-move book. A backhoe scoops and digs, a cement truck spins, a tar truck oozes sticky tar, and tabs pull up and out to reveal surprises. The trucks eventually slow down for a rest, where little hands can lift the flaps to see animals snuggling up for sleepy-time—under a rising moon. Filled with vibrant art and adorable characters, this book gives a child everything he’s looking for when he presses his face against the fence at a construction site!

Activities:

Read more truck books, sing truck songs, or do truck crafts! (see this awesome post by Playing by the Book)

More links for truck crafts, printables (coloring sheets, mazes, word puzzles), and Pinterest boards on Cars & Trucks and Transportation.

Why I Like This Book:

Colorful, engaging concept book about trucks which have cute animals too. I fell in love with this book right away. The rhyming text has a good cadence, and the illustrations are just gorgeous. I love the way the colors just pop and the animals have a roundness to them making them appear child-like. The best part is the interactive aspect. The reader gets to pull, push, spin, swing, and lift as they explore all the different trucks. A unique aspect of the book design is that in some of the “lift” or “slide” parts, you don’t just see the rest of the truck but also the characters doing something fun or silly. Good feature which increases the re-readability and play-ability. Each spread shows the trucks at work. The final spread is a bedtime scene with parked trucks under a full moon. Lift the flaps to see how the animals are getting ready for bed.

Perfect holiday gift for any toddler, girl or boy!

This review is part of Susanna Leonard Hill’s Perfect Picture Book series. Visit her site to see the other books recommended.

Snow Games

Title: Snow Games

Author: Joanna Marple
Illustrator: Maja Sereda
Publisher: uTales, May 2012
Book Type: Ebook Fiction
Ages: 2-5
Themes: Animals, Winter Activities, Rhyming
Opening Lines:
“On a crisp, frosty mid-winter’s day,
the woodland youngsters ran out to play.

The first game that popped into squirrel’s head
was to slide down a hill on a homemade sled.
Bear charged forth and crashed down the slope,
on a sled from boughs tied together with rope.”

Synopsis (from uTales website):

The woodland winter games are underway. But, faced with Bear’s strength, Squirrel’s speed and Owl’s self confidence, what is a wee mouse to do?

Why I Like This Book:

A wonderful tale of four cuddly animals having fun in the winter. Each animal the Bear, Squirrel, and Owl have their own special talents, while itty-bitty mouse wonders how he can possibly compete or even win an event. As with any well-crafted story, the author does a superb job with the ending, showing little readers everywhere that you can be small and still do something big.

The rhyming text and soft hued, hand-drawn like illustrations lend a warmth of friendship to the winter games story. Some of my favorites are the sleds being made made out of items from the woods and the child-like animal expressions. So sit down with a cup of hot cocoa, cuddle up with your kids, and enjoy this simple, lovely tale which may even bring back a bit of nostalgia.

About uTales:

uTales is an eBook platform providing a library of great books for young readers. Books can be read on a computer, iPhone, or iPad. I think is a great compliment to hardcover picture books. Often times I would like to read my kids books while we are out an about. I am not about to lug the picture books (which are from the library, and I am afraid of losing) but I do have my iPhone. Currently uTales is offering a $4.99 monthly subscription plan, so I recommend you go check it out. Most eBooks on the site do offer a sample reading (~first 8 pages), you can also sign-up for a free 15-day trial with full access.

Want to learn more about uTales, come back tomorrow and join us for a wonderful interview with author Joanna Marple and learn about her experience in creating Snow Games, her first book.

Update: Link to interview with Joanna Marple.

My Monster Mama Loves Me So

Less than 48 hours ago I received a request to do storytime at the Mother’s Day party the following day. I began frantically looking for a suitable  book to read to a KG classroom and their moms. Eeeks, too much pressure. Luckily, I have got a great group folks who were quick to recommend books. I would like to publicly thank Hicklebee’s Bookstore, Allen the children’s librarian at the Santa Clara City Library who proactively pulled books on put them on the holdshelf for me, and the 12x12ers (Susanna Hill, Julie Hedlund, Tina Cho, and Julie Rowan-Zach)

Here is the list of Mother’s Day Books recommended:

• Make Way For Ducklings
• Are You My Mother
• Llama Mama series of books
• Is Your Mama a Llama
• A Mother for Choco
• Little Chicken’s Big Day
• If Mom Had Three Arms
• The Seven Silly Eaters
• The Night Before Mother’s Day
• My Monster Mama Loves me So
• Love You When You Whine
• Mother’s Day
• Clifford’s Happy Mother’s Day
• My Mom
• Thanks to You
• Because Your Mommy Loves You
  

So many great books to choose, how to choose. I had a  number of criteria, main one being availability at the library that day; I chose Mother’s Day (thank you Allen) and My Monster Mama Love Me So (thank you Tina). Storytime went splendid and quite interactive.  Here more about the kids reactions on the Monster Mama book in the review below. Enjoy!

Title: My Monster Mama Loves Me So

Author: Laura Leuck
Illustrator: Mark Buehner

Publisher: Lothrop, Lee & Shepard Books, 1999
Book Type: Fiction
Ages: 3-8
Themes: Monsters, Rhyming, Family

Excerpt:
“My monster mama loves me so!
Let me tell you how I know

When I wake up, she tweaks my nose,
tickles all my pointy toes,

combs the cobwebs from my bangs,
and makes sure that I brush my fangs.”

Synopsis:

This sweet, funny story is about the relationship between a monster and his mommy. The monster goes on to list how he knows his monster mama loves him, from brushing fangs, to attending beastball games, and singing monster lullabies. Sure to elicit some monster hugs.

Activities:

At Home:

• The best activity for this book is to just sit down with your kid for story time. Start a conversation of all the favorite things the child likes to do with mom.
• Create a Monster Bean Bag Toss game.

Classroom:

• List of preschool activities including a monster song, exploration activities, monster puppet craft and much more. These are excerpts from “Preschool Activities” book published by Teacher Created Resources.

Why I Like This Book:

A monsterly good book. Love the silly, rhyming text and the detailed, colorful illustrations showing the monster world. Some monster book illustrations just focus on the monster and maybe a few other nearby objects; this book does it throughout and beautifully. The creaky floor-boards and cobwebs in the house, to a green murky swamp with billowing trees and an amphibious lifeguard, to a park bench at night with an owl perched on a tree with bats flying around.

It was no surprise that half the KG class were sitting on their knees to get a better look. The KGers cried “Ewww” or “Eeek” at their favorite lines: cookies filled with bugs, lizard juice with ice. I liked the ending ‘ and hangs my favorite bat above me’, you’ll have to just get the book to see which type of bat it is.

This book was recommended for Mother’s Day, but would work just as well for Halloween.

This review is part of Susana Leonard Hill’s Perfect Picture Book series. Visit her site to see the other books recommended.

The Gruffalo

This review is part of Susanna Leonard Hill’s Perfect Picture Book series. Visit her site to see the other books recommended.

Title: The Gruffalo

Author: Julia Donaldson
Illustrator: Axel Scheffler

Publisher: Macmillan Children’s Books, 1999

Suitable for: Ages 4 – 8

Themes: Humor, Irony, Thinking on your feet

Opening Sentences:

A mouse took a stroll through the deep dark wood.
A fox saw the mouse and the mouse looked good.
“Where are you going to, little brown mouse?
Come and have lunch in my underground house.“
“It’s terribly kind of you, Fox, but no–
I’m going to have lunch with a gruffalo.”

Synopsis:

A sneaky mouse outwits various forest animals who are anxious to gobble him up by scaring them off with tales of the ferocious gruffalo. But what will the mouse do when the gruffalo actually shows up?

Activities: Visit the Gruffalo Activity Site for games, coloring sheets, and more.

Why I Like This Book:

This is just a great, fun read-aloud book. The rhyming text and meter is pitch-perfect. Descriptions of the gruffalo are reminiscent of the monsters in “Where the Wild Things Are”. Younger kids will enjoy the colorful light-hearted illustrations and the repetitive lines for each encounter with a predator. Older readers will enjoy seeing the mouse outwit the other animals and being in on the joke, as well as the irony that the gruffalo really exists!

I read this book to a Kindergarten class and had them show me their terrible claws and their terrible tongues, which they loved. They also enjoyed the repetitiveness and were finishing some of the lines for me.

If you like this book also check out other books by Julia and Axel: The Gruffalo’s Child, Room on a Broom, and Snail and the Whale.

Perfect Picture Book Friday – Bear on a Bike

I’m joining in Susanna Leonard Hill’s Perfect Picture Book series. Visit her site’s Perfect Picture Books to see the other books recommended.

 Bear on a Bike

Author: Stella Blackstone
Illustrator: Debbie Harter
Publisher: Barefoot Books, 1998

Suitable for: Birth to 3 years

Themes: Discovering new places, people, and animals by using different transportation means, a rhyming adventure

Opening Sentences:

“Bear on a bike,
As happy as can be,
Where are you going, bear?
Please wait for me!

Synopsis: Bear shows the boy different places the market, forest, beach, island, and castle. They use different transportation vehicles to get to each of the wondrous places.

Activities: The best way to read this book, is with a kid in your lap or right next to you. Various question games you can play such as on question page spread “Where do you think the bear is going?” There is a hint in the pictures. On the answer page spread, ask the child to find various things in the picture for you or do the reverse where you point to a picture and have the child tell you what it is.

Why I Like This Book: I love this book for the rhyming text and the colorful, detailed illustrations. Every two page spreads covers a single place. The first page spread is the question page “Bear on a <bike, boat> .. Where are you going, bear?” The second page spread is the answer page “I’m going to an <island, castle>”. The second page spread is filled with so much detail, you could easily spend several minutes asking your young child to find things. My daughter’s favorite pages where the market and the beach.

This book was a favorite for my older daughter when she was a baby. She loved it so much that I used this book as an incentive to get her to crawl and walk.

Take a look at the page spread below, and fall in love with the book as I have.