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Picture Book Preschool Book of the Week #14

Apr4

The theme for this week in Picture Book Preschool is rain, and the character trait to be emphasized is independence. Umbrella by Taro Yashima is a good book for thinking about both of these themes. Momo, the little girl in the story, gets an umbrella and a pair of red rubber boots for her third birthday. She is so anxious to use her new umbrella that she asks her mother every day why the rain doesn’t fall. She even tries to talk her mother into letting her use the umbrella and boots to keep the sun out of her eyes, but she is admonished to wait and keep the umbrella for a rainy day. Finally the rainy day comes, and Momo has an exciting walk to and from nursery school in the rain with her new umbrella, a walk in which she grows up just a little without even realizing it.

I love this gentle story, and so do my little girls. It speaks to so many preschool concerns: growing up and acting grown-up, the difficulty of waiting for good things to happen, the excitement and joy of experiencing those long-awaited pleasures. The watercolor illustrations also by Yashima include various Japanese characters for nouns used in the story.

Possible activities to complement the reading of Umbrella:
Did you know that you can get a cheap umbrella at the dollar store? At least, out dollar store has them. What a wonderful gift for a three or four year old.

Talk about the letter “U” and how it’s shaped like an upside down umbrella.

Try to copy the Japanese characters in the book using watercolor paints and brushes.

Draw or paint rain pictures.

Talk about the weather and about the different kinds of clothing needed for each kind of weather.

Make a rain storm with your feet. Start out patting your feet softly and slowly, then faster and harder, then slow down again. Does it sound like rain?

Go walking in the rain, with an umbrella, of course.

Picture Book Preschool is a preschool/kindergarten curriculum which consists of a list of picture books to read aloud for each week of the year and a character trait, a memory verse, and activities, all tied to the theme for the week. You can purchase a downloadable version (pdf file) of Picture Book Preschool by Sherry Early at Biblioguides.

Picture Book Preschool Book of the Week #13

Mar27

This book was first published in 1945, and it remains a classic. It’s such a deceptively simple tale. A little boy plants a carrot seed, and although everyone discourages him and tells him that it won’t come up, the boy remains faithful. He waters the seed and waits and waits and waits for it to grow. Finally, it does grow just as the boy knew it would. The boy’s faith is rewarded; the skepticism of his family is exposed as mere pretension to wisdom, worldly wisdom. The boy who knows that the seed will grow is the one who has the true wisdom.

The book’s illustrations, by Crockett Johnson, are simple, too. The boy is a little balloon-like cartoonish character, and the carrot at the end is BIG, just as it should be after taking so long to grow. Many children will want to hear this story over and over again, beginning before the age of two and continuing on as they grow older. You’ve heard of comfort food? The Carrot Seed is a comfort story.

And Jesus said unto them, “If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.” (Mat 17:20)

Read the book. Plant a seed. See if it grows.

Picture Book Preschool is a preschool/kindergarten curriculum which consists of a list of picture books to read aloud for each week of the year and a character trait, a memory verse, and activities, all tied to the theme for the week. You can purchase a downloadable version (pdf file) of Picture Book Preschool by Sherry Early at Biblioguides.

Picture Book Preschool Book of the Week (12)

Mar20


Today is the first official day of spring here in the Northern Hemisphere. To celebrate, all the books listed in my curriculum, Picture Book Preschool, for this week have something to do with springtime. One of the best of the best is Springtime for Jeanne-Marie by Francoise Seignobosc.

Z-baby loves this story. The little French girl, Jeanne-Marie, loses her pet duck, Madalon. Jeanne-Marie also has a pet sheep, Patapon, and she and Patapon set off down the river to look for Madalon. Of course, they ask everyone they meet whether or not they have seen a little white duck, but the answer is always “no.” Eventually, Jeanne-Marie and Patapon make a new friend, Jean Pierre, who helps them in their search. And finally, when they have almost given up hope, the children and Patapon find Madalon in a most unlikely place.

The watercolor illustrations in this picture book are beautifully Old World European. There’s also some counting practice involved in reading the story, and the book is just right for three or four or even five year olds who are just beginning to appreciate a simple plot with some repetition and a little surprise at the end. The children, Jeanne-Marie and Jean Pierre, are delightfully innocent and seem to come from the French countryside of about the 1940’s or 50’s, maybe even earlier. The Jeanne-Marie books, of which there are several, were actually published in France in the 1950’s.

I couldn’t find any information on the internet or in my home reference books about Francoise Seignobosc. Does anyone else have any information about this French author/illustrator?

Picture Book Preschool is a preschool/kindergarten curriculum which consists of a list of picture books to read aloud for each week of the year and a character trait, a memory verse, and activities, all tied to the theme for the week. You can purchase a downloadable version (pdf file) of Picture Book Preschool by Sherry Early at Biblioguides.

Picture Book Preschool, Explained (I Hope)

Mar16

I received two requests for information today on my book, Picture Book Preschool. One person wanted more information about the books included in my “kit”. And the other person asked how Picture Book Preschool compares to other preschool curricula that use picture books such as Five in a Row and Science Through Children’s Literature.

First of all, the kit of 52 used picture books plus the curriculum book is not currently available. I ran out of picture books, and I am waiting on a new supply. When I get a new supply of used picture books, I will make the package deal available at the Picture Book Preschool webpage.

Picture Book Preschool is a preschool/kindergarten curriculum which consists of a list of picture books to read aloud for each week of the year and a character trait, a memory verse, and activities, all tied to the theme for the week. You can purchase a downloadable version (pdf file) of Picture Book Preschool by Sherry Early at Biblioguides.

The book mainly consists of these lists, one for each week of the year. You should be able to find most of the picture books listed in Picture Book Preschool at your local library. If you can only find five out of the seven or six out of the seven for a given week, that should be enough to keep you busy. I have collected many of the picture books listed in Picture Book Preschool for my own children by browsing used bookstores. So when I read these books to Z-baby, I read some that we own and some that I get from the library.

As far as comparisons go, I am familiar with the curriculum Five in a Row, and I like it very much. In Five in a Row you are encouraged to read one picture book, such as Lentil by Robert McCloskey, for five days in a row. (Children generally love to read favorite picture books over and over again.) For each day of the week this curriculum gives lesson plans related to the books of the week covering science, mathematics, history and geography, and language arts. Five in a Row is a fully developed curriculum with loads of activities to keep your homeschooled preschooler or kindergartner busy and happy.

The Science Through Children’s Literature books that I found using google looked as if they were geared toward elementary and middle school aged children and also looked very much as if they were written for school teachers. I am working on a follow-up book to Picture Book Preschool, called Picture Book Science that will be formatted in much the same way as the first book: a list of science books on certain theme to read each week with your child, ages 4-8, and maybe one simple experiment or demonstration to do together.

Unfortunately (or fortunately) for my preschooler, I am homeschooling six older children. I don’t have time to do all the activities in Five in a Row, and I like the variety of picture books we read with Picture Book Preschool. Picture Book Preschool introduces your child to the best of children’s picture books, and it takes only a few minutes each day to read the book for that day, talk about it, and see where it leads you. Maybe you’ll pretend to run away from home with Frances or stack caps like the peddler in Caps for Sale or make up a poem of your own after reading The Important Book by Margaret Wise Brown. I suggest a few activities in Picture Book Preschool, but it’s left up to you and your child how far you want to go with each book and with the theme for each week.

Picture Book Preschool Book of the Week (9)

Feb26

Madame Bodot, who lives in a little French town, has a rather unusual pet, sent to her by her son from Africa in an O-shaped box. She names her pet Crictor which of course rhymes with ____________. Crictor is a very friendly and helpful snake, and Madame Bodot does all sorts of kind things to make Crictor happy in her home in France. However, the climax of the story is when Crictor frees Madame Bodot from the clutches of an evil robber!

Crictor joins Curious George and Carl the Dog as a pet who is more than just a pet; he’s a helper, a companion and a friend. French-Alsatian author and illustrator Tomi Ungerer tells Crictor’s story simply with cartoon-like illustration that remind me somewhat of James Thurber’s drawings.

Susan Hirschman, the founder and former publisher of Greenwillow Books, once said: “Crictor by Tomi Ungerer is perfect, in my opinion, because of what it leaves out of the words and puts into the pictures. You have to read the book several times before you see all the details that could so easily have been in the text but are not-because they are in the pictures.”

Biography of Tomi Ungerer.
A tribute to Tomie Ungerer by Peter Sis.

Picture Book Preschool is a preschool/kindergarten curriculum which consists of a list of picture books to read aloud for each week of the year and a character trait, a memory verse, and activities, all tied to the theme for the week. You can purchase a downloadable version (pdf file) of Picture Book Preschool by Sherry Early at Biblioguides.

Picture Book Preschool Book of the Week (8)

Feb20


In The Lady and the Spider by Faith McNulty, illustrated by Bob Marstall, a spider makes a home for himself among the leaves of a lettuce plant. When the garden’s owner, the lady of the title, comes to the garden to pick one of the lettuces for lunch, she of course chooses the one with the spider. What will happen to the little green spider? Will the lady wash him down the drain? Or will she save the spider?

The Lady and the Spider is a quiet story with only a preschool dosage of suspense and excitement. But you and your child will never eat another lettuce without looking very carefully to see who might be hiding among the curly leaves.

Picture Book Preschool is a preschool/kindergarten curriculum which consists of a list of picture books to read aloud for each week of the year and a character trait, a memory verse, and activities, all tied to the theme for the week. You can purchase a downloadable version (pdf file) of Picture Book Preschool by Sherry Early at Biblioguides.

Picture Book Preschool Book of the Week (7)

Feb12

The featured book for this week is an out of print title, One Is Good But Two Are Better by Louis Slobodkin. You might be able to find this older picture book, published in 1956, in your public library–if you have a discerning librarian. The text is a rhyming poem about the many situations in which it’s better to have a friend–or two. Example: “One may hide, or one may peek, but you need two for hide-and-seek.” The illustrations are simple line drawings with splashes of watercolor. The book ends with a whole group of friends, singing and playing and having a wonderful day together.

The theme in Picture Book Preschool for this week is friendship, so this book fits right in, especially as many of us think about Valentines Day and giving thanks for our friends and the many things they do for us and with us. One Is Good But Two Are Better, if you can find a used copy in good condition, would be a great gift for a big friend who appreciates picture books or for a little friend who enjoys snuggling up for a good read.

Louis Slobodkin, by the way, has a birthday this week. He was born February 19, 1903. He was originally a sculptor who became an illustrator. He illustrated books for other people as well as his own. He did the illustrations for many of Eleanor Estes’ books, including one of my favorites, The Hundred Dresses. He also won the Caldecott Medal for his illustrations of James Thurber’s Many Moons.

Picture Book Preschool is a preschool/kindergarten curriculum which consists of a list of picture books to read aloud for each week of the year and a character trait, a memory verse, and activities, all tied to the theme for the week. You can purchase a downloadable version (pdf file) of Picture Book Preschool by Sherry Early at Biblioguides.

Picture Book Preschool Book of the Week (6)

Feb6


Obadiah Starbuck is one of my very favorite characters in all of children’s literature. Who could resist a Quaker boy from Nantucket Island whose ambition in life is to become a pirate? Not just any pirate, of course, but rather Obadiah the Bold, Terror of the Seven Seas! However, when Obadiah experiences, in play, some of the more unpleasant aspects of piracy, he decides that maybe it would be braver and better to be an explorer of the seas like his grandfather.

There are so many things to like about this picture book. Obadiah is all boy; he reminds me of Karate Kid in his desire for adventure. Obadiah has a large and loving family. Obadiah is the fourth child of five and the youngest boy in the family. His father is kind and understanding and has time to talk with Obadiah and explain things to him. Obadiah’s family attends Quaker meeting each Lord’s Day. Their faith is taken for granted. The illustrations are exciting and colorful–just like the story.

This story of a typical boy in a normal loving family is set into a culture that is foreign to most of us, that of Quakers on Nantucket Island in the 1700’s. Children learn about cultural differences and about how children everywhere and in every time are much the same. Brinton Turkle wrote three more books about Obadiah and his family: Thy Friend, Obadiah, Obadiah and Rachel, and The Adventures of Obadiah. All four are worth collecting.

Picture Book Preschool is a preschool/kindergarten curriculum which consists of a list of picture books to read aloud for each week of the year and a character trait, a memory verse, and activities, all tied to the theme for the week. You can purchase a downloadable version (pdf file) of Picture Book Preschool by Sherry Early at Biblioguides.

It’s About a Monkey

Feb3

But the challenges of adapting Curious George are in fact a bit more complex. Earnest literary types have interpreted the first book as a barely disguised slave narrative. Have you considered that the man’s weird outfit could be a send-up of a colonial officer’s uniform? Or that George is brown and lacks a tail? (Lots of monkeys are brown and most species have visible tails.) Or that he is abducted against his will from Africa and brought across the sea to a foreign land where he engages in high jinks when the master is away?

This interpretation–surely the subject of many half-baked teacher-college lectures–was not on the mind of the Reys as they fled from the Nazis. Perhaps it is helpful to remember something that Margret once said of her books: “I don’t like messages. . . . These are just stories.” Curious George Goes to Hollywood by John J. Miller

OK, that’s it. I am declaring a moratorium on listening to any adults who presume to read adult meanings and prejudices into picture books. The Little House by Virginia Lee Burton is NOT an agrarian tract. Drummer Hoff by Barbara Emberly does NOT teach children to glorify war. And Curious George is a book about a curious monkey and his friend, not about a slave and his master. George is a monkey, and the theme of the books, if there is one, is curiosity and how too much of it sometimes leads to trouble. If you see subversive plot elements or themes in this or other commonly enjoyed picture books, you probably brought them with you. And the children won’t pick up on any of these “half-baked teacher college” ideas, or if they do, if ill intent or preaching outweighs the fun of the story, the children will quit listening. Good, popular picture books have good pictures (Duh!) and tell good stories.

Keep your re-interpreting hands off my picture books.

HT: Camille at Book Moot

Picture Book Preschool Book of the Week (5)

Jan30


Robert McCloskey is probably best known for his Caldecott Award winning book, Make Way for Ducklings (Does anyone else remember Captain Kangaroo reading Make Way for Ducklings from the Treasure House?) However, my favorite McCloskey book is not the one about the ducklings who made it safely to the Public Garden, as delightful as that journey is, but rather the one about the boy who saved the day because he couldn’t whistle but could play the harmonica, Lentil. Lentil has a hero, Lentil the boy who wanted to make music and so learned to play the harmonica. It has a villain, Old Sneep, who “didn’t like much of anything or anybody.” There’s a big event: Colonel Carter, Alto’s most important citizen, is coming home. And there’s a crisis: the band is sabotaged by Old Sneep and can’t play a note to welcome Colonel Carter home. Lentil, our hero, saves the day, and there’s even a moral to the story: “You never can tell what will happen when you learn to play the harmonica.”

The illustrations are cartoon-ish pencil drawings. The characters have exaggerated and humorous expressions. And everybody lives happily ever after. I’m sure that this picture book will be a favorite at your house if it isn’t already. In fact, I had to stop in the middle of writing this post to read it, once again, to Betsy Bee and Z-baby. Now they’re busy trying to practice their harmonica skills and become experts like Lentil.

Picture Book Preschool is a preschool/kindergarten curriculum which consists of a list of picture books to read aloud for each week of the year and a character trait, a memory verse, and activities, all tied to the theme for the week. You can purchase a downloadable version (pdf file) of Picture Book Preschool by Sherry Early at Biblioguides.