How Do Dinosaurs Eat Their Food?

How Do Dinosaurs Eat Their Food? is another in the How Do Dinosaurs.... series. This book goes over eating and manners with the same familiar language as the other books in the series. I think that it is a great addition to the series and can be useful for the familiarity for young children.

I think that his book can be used in a kindergarten or first grade classroom when talking about manners in the lunch room. Many students come in not knowing how to behave in public eating places and this book can spark much discussion about proper manners. I think that this text gives great bad and good behavior examples that can help make the distinction for young children on what they should and should not be doing.

I really do like how the children characters in this book and the others are all represented by dinosaurs and the parents are all still represented by humans. I thin that a lot of young children like to make-believe that they are something other than actual children and this feeds into that type of imaginitive play while teaching good human behaviors.

Can I Have a Stegosaurus, Mom? Can I? Please!?

Can I have a Stegosaurus, Mom? Can I? Please!? is a book about a little boy who begs and pleads with his mom for a stegosaurus. He gives his mom reasons as to why he needs one, like protection from scary monsters, a trick-or-treat  buddy and so he won't have to eat his vegetables. He gives all these reasons because he found a gigantic eggs in the forest and has been sitting on it waiting for it to hatch. By the end of the story the egg hatches AND....... it's not a stegosaurus! What will he be begging for instead?

I think that this is a cute book for kids with very imaginitive children language. I think that it will be relatable to children because when they want something they can come up with some of the best reasons as to why and this book captures that.

I think that this book could be used as an introduction to a creative writing unit. Through the whole book every page starts with "Can I have a stegosaurus, mom? Can I? PLEASE!? If I had a stegosaurus, mom..." (Grambling, NP). You could read the story and then have the children use the beginning part to come up with their own reason as to why they would need a stegosaurus. You could also let them choose what to put ask for instead of a stegosaurus. 

The drawing in the book are also very cool. They are very soft pencil drawings with muted colors. The illustrations give the effect like you are dreaming.

I Dreamt I Was a Dinosaur

I Dreamt I Was a Dinosaur is a book by Stella Blackstone. The book is about a little boy who has a dream about being a dinosaur and all his dinosaur friends. The book uses all of the scientific names of the dinosaurs in child friendly writing.

My favorite part of this whole book is the illustrations. The entire books illustrations are made out of felt, stitching, beads, sequins and bits of decorative lace and/or edging. It reminds me of a blanket that a grandmother has stitched for a grandchild. I think that it is a very unique way of illustration and one that I have not seen before. I think that it would be a great introduction to an art lesson involving felt or could be used as an interactive play board in a classroom.

The other reason I really like this book is because of the simple text. The story is short so it would not take up a lot of time but in the back is some informational text that would great if doing a unit on dinosaurs. It would give a nice introduction to the dinosaurs through the story and then great facts about each in the back. It is visually and mentally appealing.

Won't You Be My Kissaroo?

Won't You Be My Kissaroo? is a sweet little book about how love can make us feel. In the book it shows different animal parents giving kisses to their children and how those different kisses make a child feel. "A playful kiss will often squeak and make a POP! upon your cheek." (Ryder, NP)

I think that this is a good book for the artwork. The illustrations are done in watercolor and they all have this soft, sweet, glow about them. When you read the illustrations complement how the words make the reader feel.

While I love this book to read to my children I would probably not use it in the classroom for a read loud book. I would add this book to my classroom library for children to read independently but I'm not sure if the text level is appropriate for the level of the story. I think the story is appropriate for young children for about pre-school to first grade but the text is much higher.                                             

Pinky Dinky Doo: Where Are My Shoes?

Pinky Dinky Doo: Where Are My Shoes is part of a series including books like Pinky Dinky Doo: Polka Dot Pox and Pinky Dinky Doo: Think Pink! In this installment Pinky Dinky Doo makes up a story to tell her little brother Tyler. In her story she imagines she cannot find her shoes for school and has to wear baloney shoes with string bean laces or she will miss her bus. When she gets to school she realizes that all of her friends also could not find their shoes and had to use various types of food as well. Just when you think it could not get any better the principle comes over the loud speaker to say that there has been a mix-up in the kitchen and they are serving shoes for lunch! Can Pinky Dinky Doo come up with a solution for this? You will have to read and find out.

I have never read any of the Pinky Dinky Doo series and I was pleasantly surprised with this story. I think that is was imaginative while also being practical. Not practical in the sense of the story but of the way the book was sett up and the strategies it used to foster literacy. For some of the actions it used visuals to represent for the reader to understand which would be good for not only emergent readers but language learners as well. It also used a good strategy for comprehension and prediction as well. Twice in the story Pinky Dinky Doo gave A, B or C answers for what would happen next. Two of the answers were completely silly and one was the correct answer. The author gives the answer but it would be helpful for teachers to check for skills like comprehension and prediction.

There was also a spot in the book where a big word was used.The word was exasperated. On the next page there was her brother looking up the word in his "Book of Big Words". A little conversation box said, "X-AS-PER-AY-TED. It means upset." (Jinkins, 13). I thought that this was such a good strategy to help emergent readers learn big words in context without having to put the book down and look up a word or skipping over it.

I also liked at the end when the story was over Pinky Dinky Doo asked her brother which part was his favorite. When he couldn't answer she would ask questions about the story changing a minor detail to see is he understood the story. She was checking for comprehension. I think that this is a great thing to show children because reading comprehension is so important.

This would be a great book to use as a read aloud in the classroom and as a silent reader in the classroom. 

I Don't Want to Go to Bed!

I Don't Want to Go to Bed! is a book about a baby tiger that simply does not want to go to bed. One day her mother gets fed up with her not wanting to go to sleep and lets her stay up all night. As she goes in search for her friends she realizes that all of her friends are completing their night time routine or already fast asleep. When she realizes that she has no one to play with she becomes very scared. She meets an unexpected friend who finally returns her to her mother. I won't tell you what finally happens but I'm sure us mothers can guess.

I think that this text would be a great book for us to read to our children or for us teachers to read to our class. I think that it has a good message about doing things that are good for us, like sleeping, even when we don't want to.

I also like the pictures in this book. They are very cartoon like and I think that small children will enjoy looking at them. I also think that this is a good beginning book to have in the classroom library for emergent readers to start reading independently. 

Where the Sidewalk Ends

Where the Sidewalk Ends is another poetry book from Shel Silverstein that is one of my favorite books of all time. This collection of poems was published before Light in the Attic and in my opinion is just a little bit better.

The drawings in this book are exactly the same as Light in the Attic which would be a great thing to point out if doing an author study with the children. The set up and the font of the book is also the same. 

In this book are two of my favorite poems, "Sarah Cynthia Sylvia Stout Would Not Take the Garbage Out" and "Sick". I think that both poems can be relatable to children on many different levels.

In "Sarah Cynthia Sylvia Stout Would Not Take the Garbage Out" a little girl who refuses to take out the garbage and eventually it reaches "From New York to the Golden Gate" (Silverstein, 71). By the end of the poem she agrees to take out the garbage and by then it is too late and "Poor Sarah met an awful fate," (Silverstein, 71). I think that this poem has such a relatable message that kids enjoy because it deals with doing chores around the house. Kids also love it because of the description of the garbage. When I read it to my kids I get laughter and things like "yuck" and "cool".

The second poem is "Sick". In "Sick" little Peggy Ann McKay is unable to get out of bed to go to school. In the poem she list every ailment she could possibly think of to get out of going to school. By the end of the poem the reader would think Peggy Ann McKay was on her death bed but, [SPOILER] "What's that? What's that you say? You say today is...Saturday? G'bye, I'm out to play!" (Silverstein, 59). I think that the kids can relate to this poem and so can parents.

A Light in the Attic

A Light in the Attic was one of my favorite books growing up. I would sit for hours and get lost in the world of Shel Silverstein. From poems like "What Did?" about carrots talking to wheat and paper talking to pen, to poems like "Buckin' Bronco" about riding a horse in the rodeo, a child can get lost for hours inside their own imagination.

I think that this book would be good for a unit on poetry. I think that sometimes teaching poetry to children can get a bit muddled if not using the right material. I think that if a teacher ran off copies of some of the shorter poems from the book and gave students a choice as to which one they would like to study it could build on the child's interests while keeping it short enough to not bore them. Once their interest has been sparked I think that a whole unit or even an author study could be done on Shel Silverstein and his works.

The one thing I think is most useful in this text is the mental imagery the poems provide for children that are merely sparked by the illustrations. All of the illustrations are pencil drawings with no color but seem to be the poem come to life on the paper. 

This book would be great used in the upper elementary grades like third through fifth. I think that once a students interests are sparked for this book it would be great silent reading book or a great read aloud book for the whole class.

The Big Wide-Mouthed Frog

The Big Wide-Mouthed Frog is a story about a big wide-mouthed frog and the animals he meets on his travels to see the world. He is a little loud and obnoxious but in the end he meets a special friend that teaches him a little humility.

I think that the art work is unique and colorful so children will be drawn in by the pictures. I think that the artist got a lot of inspiration from the Australian outback that relates to the animals in the book.

I think the book would be good to use in a unit on animals for  kindergartners or first-graders. The animals in this book are ones that you could find in the Australian Outback. The book gives the proper name for each animal and what they eat. And here's a hint, one of the animals likes to eat big wide-mouthed frogs!

I think that book is a perfect length for students of a young age and will keep them engaged from beginning to end. I think that a lot of students will also have interests in the animals talked about in the book. 

One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish

One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish is a classic Dr. Seuss book that I remember from when I was a child. There is no real story plot just a bunch of imagination gone wild.

I do love this story because it is a classic but as a teacher I don't think it would be useful in the classroom and here is why: 1) It is too long and I don't think it will hold the attention of the children, and 2) It has a lot of nonsense words. 

When choosing a text to read to students the time limitations are always a factor. There are time limitations on the amount of time we have to spend on lessons and time limitations on students attention spans. With taking these two factors into consideration I do not think that this text would be a wise choice for what it could teach. It does have good concepts like counting and color recognition but no enough to be useful in the classroom.

I also think that with the use of nonsense words like "wump" and "Yink" it reverses the concept of comprehension that teachers strive for when teaching emergent readers. It does help with teaching children to decode words but not overall comprehension.

I think that this book is geared more toward parents for at home reading. I think that it works well as a bedtime story.

Moose's Loose Tooth

Moose's Loose Tooth is a silly story about Moose and his efforts to meet the Tooth Fairy, but his "wibbly, wobbly tooth" (Clarke, NP) just won't budge! Even when his friends come to his aide that stubborn tooth stays put, until one friend helps more than he bargained for.

This story is a great story to read to your class when a child loose's a tooth. Loosing a tooth for a child is such a momentous occasion that to make a special to-do about it always makes them feel special. Plus it is a way to incorporate literacy into everyday activities.

The repetition in the book is also beneficial to emergent readers for word recognition. The order in which the friends pull stays the same so it can help young readers with pattern recognition. 

There is also lots of opportunities to use silly voices to engage the children. The art work is also very interesting. The characters are all drawn in chalk or pastels but Moose's tooth is drawn in a way that it looks more like a real shiny tooth. This effect makes the tooth stand out for maximum effect.

A Tiger Grows Up

A Tiger Grows Up is a book about a Bengal tiger cub that follows her as she grows up. On the introduction page it introduces the Bengal tiger and states that it lives in India. In the back of the book it has a map that you can show the children of where India is.

The text is great for a lesson on mammals. Throughout the book there are little captions with facts about the tigers. I think that the book could be linked to children's prior knowledge of family. There are pages in the book that can be linked because they are mammal traits and humans are mammals. It could help the children make that connection as well.

The art work of the book is also very stunning. It looks like a painting and the colors of the Bengal tigers are vibrant like they are in real life. The book also comes full-circle with the cub growing up and eventually having her own family that is linked to how the book starts.

How Do Dinosaurs Learn Their Colors?/How Do Dinosaurs Play With Their Friends?

The version of How Do Dinosaurs Play With Their Friends? and How Do Dinosaurs Learn Their Colors? is a double flip book that contains both books in one. The first book, How Do Dinosaurs Learn Their Colors? is a great book that goes through "Dinosaur colors" (Yolen, NP). It is a great book to teach colors both for the actual lesson of teaching colors and for emergent readers to identify color words. The words that say the color are bolded and colored with the color of the word, i.e., the word "red" is colored red. The colors also correspond to the pictures and the objects are colored just a vividly ans the word to make a further connection.

The second book How Do Dinosaurs Play With Their Friends? is a great book about sharing and friendship. It would be a great book to teach classroom/playground behavior. It goes into depth on sharing with friends giving great examples of how not to be as well as ways you want children to be.

Both books use rhyme to add to the text and great illustrations of life-like dinosaurs with the actual name of the dinosaur printed by it.

Sea Turtles

Sea Turtles is a great beginning informational text that utilizes great real life pictures that children will love. On the first page of the text there is a "Note to Educators and Parents" that explains why this text is helpful and in what areas it can be used. As a teacher I was pleased to see that the text could be used in a guided reading group and then scaffolded into independent reading.

As you read through the text there are bolded vocabulary terms that are relevant to the subject with glossary definitions in the back. The pictures are also labeled with the type of sea turtle it is and the parts of the anatomy. It also has a world map with the locations of where the sea turtles lay there eggs.

I think that not only would this text be good in small guided reading groups but also with a unit on ocean animals where vocabulary would be introduced. I also think that the map on pages 14 and 15 are a good way to insert geography and reading a map key on a very simple level that young children could understand.