Flatt, Lizann. (2007). Let's Go! The story of getting from There to Here, Toronto, Ontario: Maple Tree Press
ISBN: 978-1-897349-02-1
About the Book: This book explains to us the journey that people had across North America. It takes us through the different stages of motorvehicles and other inventions, it shows how different it was when we did not have automobiles or planes or trains. This book is one big journey and exploration of what people in our past had done, it also shows our present day inventions such as cars, trains, bikes.
Illustrations: The illustrations are very simple; Scot used neutral colors, which gave the book an outdoorsy and natural feel. I think the children would like the drawings because they almost look like drawings a child would draw so it could be something they relate to. I personally was drawn to the illustrations because they were so simple and I think that is an important thing in a children’s book as it can give them the opportunity to try and copy one of the pictures.
Why I would use it for 3-5 year olds: the second paragraph in this book was the entire reason I chose this book, right away it provokes WONDER. I think wonder is a great thing for children because every child wonders, how much more fun would it be to wonder with a whole group of children. Some children don’t get the chance to wonder at all it’s just not something they were taught or even asked to do so this book gives a children a chance to wonder about what it would be like with no modern materials.
Provocations: *put stars on the bottom of the room and lead the children to a globe which would be placed somewhere in the room, allow children to get to the globe anyway they want, a plane, boat horse whatever let them use their imagination, once they have all reached to the end of their journey “the globe” ask them how it was.
Three ways to present the book:
*Felt board, have cut outs of the different stages of the book e.g.: canoes, ships with big sails, horses, steamer boats, trains, bikes, horse carriages, buses, cars, planes, spaceships.
*Prop story, bring toy canoes, ships, horses, trains, bikes, buses, cars, planes, spaceships, etc allow the children to be one of these objects and ask them where they would go and who’d they bring and what adventures they would go on with the object they had chosen.
*Musical Story, bring pieces of wood and allow some children to hold them whenever I say horse let them bang the sticks together to make the hoof noise, bring in water and containers and allow the children to drop the water in the bucket to make water noises when they see water on the page, get a bicycle horn allow them to beep it when I read the part where the cars are, get a bell for when the train part comes, give children all these materials before and then read the story tell the children what they need to do and when they should make their sound.
*Felt board, have cut outs of the different stages of the book e.g.: canoes, ships with big sails, horses, steamer boats, trains, bikes, horse carriages, buses, cars, planes, spaceships.
*Prop story, bring toy canoes, ships, horses, trains, bikes, buses, cars, planes, spaceships, etc allow the children to be one of these objects and ask them where they would go and who’d they bring and what adventures they would go on with the object they had chosen.
*Musical Story, bring pieces of wood and allow some children to hold them whenever I say horse let them bang the sticks together to make the hoof noise, bring in water and containers and allow the children to drop the water in the bucket to make water noises when they see water on the page, get a bicycle horn allow them to beep it when I read the part where the cars are, get a bell for when the train part comes, give children all these materials before and then read the story tell the children what they need to do and when they should make their sound.
Extensions:
*making boats out of cardboard I would bring out materials so they can decorate it anyway they want let them experience what it was like to travel by boat and not by car this will enhance the childrens imagination
*allow them to draw what they think it looked like before cars street signs etc.
*go on a field trip and visit an aboriginal person have them talk to the children about their personal experience for example hunting for their own food, riding on canoes instead of driving a car.
*making boats out of cardboard I would bring out materials so they can decorate it anyway they want let them experience what it was like to travel by boat and not by car this will enhance the childrens imagination
*allow them to draw what they think it looked like before cars street signs etc.
*go on a field trip and visit an aboriginal person have them talk to the children about their personal experience for example hunting for their own food, riding on canoes instead of driving a car.
Jenkins, Steve. (2005) Prehistoric Actual Size, Boston Massahusetts: Houghton Mifflin Company
ISBN: 0- 618-53578-0
About the Book: The title to this book says it all, actual size prehistoric animals, aka DINOSAURS! This book is all about becoming up close and personal with animals that roamed this earth millions of years ago and getting an idea about how big these animals were.
Illustrations: One word, fantastic! Jenkins illustrations are mind blowing, he gets into every single teany tiny detail. How big these illustrations are absolutely the center of this book, without the illustrations this book would not be the same. The colors the size of the illustrations everything about them is eye catching for a three-five year old.
Why I would use it for 3-5 year olds: I chose this book because it's fun and it also teaches the children about dinosaurs that they will never see, children love learning about new things and I think learning and reading about something that most children have only seen on tv is exciting. Another reason is the illustrations, the actual size illustrations actually show how big they are instead of telling you, the children get a good sense of how big that prehistoric animal was in their environment. Also another reason why I chose this book for 3-5 year olds is because it is suitable for three year olds and five year olds, Jenkins does a great job on organizing this books information, if I were to read this book to three year olds I would just simply say the prehistoric animals name and the explanation about that and move on, unless a child were to ask more about it. For five year olds I would do the same thing but read the small text as well, which is just more information about that prehistoric animal.
Provocations: Photo copy and laminate the page with the big teeth, either put it up right where the children enter the classroom or on a wall, listen carefully about what the children are saying about the teeth. Do not answer any question they may have about what that animal is, allow their imagination flow. When you finally end up reading the book, which doesn't have to be the same day, include what the children had wondered about the teeth.
Three ways to present the book:
*Felt Story, make dinosaurs (some places may have the felt story already cut out and ready to use) give each child a dinosaur to hold when you say the name of it (at first some children may need a little help to recognize the name) allow that children to put it on the felt board.
*Nature walk, after a few times reading this story go on a walk in a trail or wherever has trees or bushes, allow children to pretend their dinosaurs (ones from the book if they remember) as they are walking through the forest. Sit down in a park or somewhere nice and read the story, see if the children can recognize what dinosaur they were.
*Participation story- photocopy a few dinosaurs and laminate them, hand out the dinosaurs to the children, have the props of each dinosaur either where they lived or what they ate. eg: Protoceratops eat plants so the child could pretend to eat a flower, or grass just as the book states.
Extensions:
*If the center has a sandbox outside use it, if not get a big tub and put sand in it. Put fossils or fake bones inside the sand get sifters and other different materials so the children can look for "dinosaur" bones. *Allow children to draw their favorite dinosaur from the book, don't worry if it looks nothing like what it shows in the book, let the child use their imagination as much as possible * Bring out clay after drawing let children make dinosaurs out of clay, the different texture will let their imaginations flow even more. *Compare Sizes to the dinosaurs and the children, put a few of the dinosaurs names by tape one small, medium and tall one, mark the childrens names where their height is a fun way to let the children recognize how big or small these certain dinosaurs were
* Sing a song:
I'm a Mean Old Dinosaur (Tune: I'm a little Tea Pot)
I'm a mean old Dinosaur
(Make a mean face, the kids make the cutest mean faces)
Big and Tall
(Gesture hands big and tall )
Here is my tail, here is my claw.
(Gesture hands behind your back for tail and make claw hands)
When I get all hungry
(rub your tummy)
I just growl
(have the kids exaggerate the grrroooowwwlll)
Look out kids I'm on the prowl.
(Here I tickle each one of the tummy and they all giggle)
About the Book: The title to this book says it all, actual size prehistoric animals, aka DINOSAURS! This book is all about becoming up close and personal with animals that roamed this earth millions of years ago and getting an idea about how big these animals were.
Illustrations: One word, fantastic! Jenkins illustrations are mind blowing, he gets into every single teany tiny detail. How big these illustrations are absolutely the center of this book, without the illustrations this book would not be the same. The colors the size of the illustrations everything about them is eye catching for a three-five year old.
Why I would use it for 3-5 year olds: I chose this book because it's fun and it also teaches the children about dinosaurs that they will never see, children love learning about new things and I think learning and reading about something that most children have only seen on tv is exciting. Another reason is the illustrations, the actual size illustrations actually show how big they are instead of telling you, the children get a good sense of how big that prehistoric animal was in their environment. Also another reason why I chose this book for 3-5 year olds is because it is suitable for three year olds and five year olds, Jenkins does a great job on organizing this books information, if I were to read this book to three year olds I would just simply say the prehistoric animals name and the explanation about that and move on, unless a child were to ask more about it. For five year olds I would do the same thing but read the small text as well, which is just more information about that prehistoric animal.
Provocations: Photo copy and laminate the page with the big teeth, either put it up right where the children enter the classroom or on a wall, listen carefully about what the children are saying about the teeth. Do not answer any question they may have about what that animal is, allow their imagination flow. When you finally end up reading the book, which doesn't have to be the same day, include what the children had wondered about the teeth.
Three ways to present the book:
*Felt Story, make dinosaurs (some places may have the felt story already cut out and ready to use) give each child a dinosaur to hold when you say the name of it (at first some children may need a little help to recognize the name) allow that children to put it on the felt board.
*Nature walk, after a few times reading this story go on a walk in a trail or wherever has trees or bushes, allow children to pretend their dinosaurs (ones from the book if they remember) as they are walking through the forest. Sit down in a park or somewhere nice and read the story, see if the children can recognize what dinosaur they were.
*Participation story- photocopy a few dinosaurs and laminate them, hand out the dinosaurs to the children, have the props of each dinosaur either where they lived or what they ate. eg: Protoceratops eat plants so the child could pretend to eat a flower, or grass just as the book states.
Extensions:
*If the center has a sandbox outside use it, if not get a big tub and put sand in it. Put fossils or fake bones inside the sand get sifters and other different materials so the children can look for "dinosaur" bones. *Allow children to draw their favorite dinosaur from the book, don't worry if it looks nothing like what it shows in the book, let the child use their imagination as much as possible * Bring out clay after drawing let children make dinosaurs out of clay, the different texture will let their imaginations flow even more. *Compare Sizes to the dinosaurs and the children, put a few of the dinosaurs names by tape one small, medium and tall one, mark the childrens names where their height is a fun way to let the children recognize how big or small these certain dinosaurs were
* Sing a song:
I'm a Mean Old Dinosaur (Tune: I'm a little Tea Pot)
I'm a mean old Dinosaur
(Make a mean face, the kids make the cutest mean faces)
Big and Tall
(Gesture hands big and tall )
Here is my tail, here is my claw.
(Gesture hands behind your back for tail and make claw hands)
When I get all hungry
(rub your tummy)
I just growl
(have the kids exaggerate the grrroooowwwlll)
Look out kids I'm on the prowl.
(Here I tickle each one of the tummy and they all giggle)
Patkau, Karen, (2006). Creatures Great and Small, Toronto Onatario: Tundra Books
ISBN: 978-0-88776
About the Book: This book is all about different types of animals and insects all over the world, and yes it covers the biggest animals and insects to the most teany tiny animals and insects that are living on planet earth! Lastly at the very end of this book it shows the actual size and measurments of all the animals/insects that are in the book, how neat!
Illustrations: The illustrations in this book are big and vibrant, they are so big some of the animals look like they are going to crawl right out of the page! The colors are so rich and vibrant children won't be able to look away! Why I chose it for 3-5 year olds: The great thing about this book is it is suitable for a wide range of age groups, for younger children you just simply have to read what the animal/insect is on that specific page. For the older children there is a small definition about what that animal/insect does. Another big reason I chose this book was because Karen explored creatures that aren't as common as most of the animals we normally hear about, this gives children an opportunity to learn about something they have never seen before. Provocations: Cut out foot prints of all the different creatures in the book, put them all around the classroom, allow children to wonder with their friends what creature it could be.
Three ways to present the book:
*One way would be to go out and buy either stuffed animals or use cut outs of all the different creatures in the book, read the book with the help of whatever creature is on that page.
*Participation Story, allow the children to be the creatures as you read the book it will say what that specific animal may do in their habitat let the children act out their animal,
*Magnet story create the creatures however you would like and glue a magnet to the back, you can get a package of magnets at any dollar store or Wal-mart, get a cookie sheet and paint a scene, I would get two cookie sheets have one with land and one with water, as there are creatures from both habitats in this book.
Extensions: *Allow children to choose one of the creatures in the book that they would like to become, let them explain why they would want to be this animal
*Make a trip to a local library get into more depth about the animals the children have chosen.
*Go out for a nature walk, look at the ground look at trees look in the sky, see what insects or animals the children can see or find
*Also you could always take the children to an aquarium or zoo if there is one close to allow the children to see some of the creatures in the book up close and personal.
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