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.