Gravett, E. (2007). Orange pear apple bear. New York, NY: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers. ISBN: 978-1-4169-3999-3
Interest Level: Ages 3 and under
Genre: Picture Book
Subjects/Themes: Bears, Play on Words, Colors, Shapes, Foods,
Plot: Using only five words (apple, pear, orange, bear, and there), children explore the concept of connecting different words to describe things in different ways. For example the phrase "orange bear" is used with a picture of an orange fruit and a bear as well as with an orange colored bear.
Personal Thoughts: A great sight word learning tool. The repetitiveness of the words is anything but boring when paired with the different illustrations. The water color illustrations pop against the white background. The bear juggles and eats the different fruit. The bear is described using fruit colors and shapes.
Awards/Recognition:
ALA Notable Children's Books - Young Readers Category (2009)
Oprah's Kids' Reading Lists - New Releases: 3-to-5 Years
School Library Journal Best Books (2007)
Author's Website: Emily Gravett's Website
Other Books by the Author: Dogs (2009); The Odd Egg (2009); Monkey and Me (2008); Wolves (2006);
Showing posts with label Colors. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Colors. Show all posts
Monday, November 29, 2010
Caterpillar Dance (Book)
Grace, W. (2004). Caterpillar dance. New York, NY: Scholastic. ISBN: 0-439-59879-6
Interest Level: Ages 3 and under
Genre: Board Book
Subjects/Themes: Stories in Rhyme, Caterpillar, Butterfly, Colors, Counting
Plot: Follow five different colored caterpillars in a leaf bed as one by one they become beautiful butterflies. The caterpillar's fuzzy bodies are raised from the page that encourage textile exploration. Each butterfly has a holographic foil wings for an extra illustrated enjoyment.
Personal Thoughts: A simple board book. The repeating phrases are perfect for the intended age level. The caterpillar bodies and foil butterfly wings are a special touch. The rest of the illustrations are brightly drawn using simple lines and colors. Children are introduced to color names and the number five. Nothing special about the book but nothing terrible either. I like that its a board book in a bigger format which provides easier handling.
Other Books by the Author: The three little fish and the big bad shark (2007); Mike's Christmas (2002); Red train (2003); Who do you see: My first taggies book (2009)
Author Website
Interest Level: Ages 3 and under
Genre: Board Book
Subjects/Themes: Stories in Rhyme, Caterpillar, Butterfly, Colors, Counting
Plot: Follow five different colored caterpillars in a leaf bed as one by one they become beautiful butterflies. The caterpillar's fuzzy bodies are raised from the page that encourage textile exploration. Each butterfly has a holographic foil wings for an extra illustrated enjoyment.
Personal Thoughts: A simple board book. The repeating phrases are perfect for the intended age level. The caterpillar bodies and foil butterfly wings are a special touch. The rest of the illustrations are brightly drawn using simple lines and colors. Children are introduced to color names and the number five. Nothing special about the book but nothing terrible either. I like that its a board book in a bigger format which provides easier handling.
Other Books by the Author: The three little fish and the big bad shark (2007); Mike's Christmas (2002); Red train (2003); Who do you see: My first taggies book (2009)
Author Website
Saturday, November 27, 2010
Go Away, Big Green Monster! (Book)
Emberley, E. (1992). Go away, big green monster!. Boston, MA: Little Brown Books for Young Readers. ISBN: 978-0-316-23653-9
Interest Level: Ages 5 and under
Genre: Picture Book
Subjects/Themes: Die-cut pages, Monsters, Fear,
Plot: Meet the big green monster. This story introduces the reader to the big green monster one feature at a time. Purple scraggly purple hair, big yellow eyes, and sharp white teeth are only a few of the scary features that make up the big green monster. After the whole monster is slowly revealed to the reader, the reader responds "Go Away!" to each feature until the whole monster is gone and isn't allowed to come back until the reader says so.
Personal Thoughts: A wonderfully made book. The use of die-cuts to slowly reveal the monster and make him disappear again are ingeniously constructed. I made a felt board version of this book a few years ago for a preschool story time which also included the words for hair, eyes, mouth, nose, and teeth. I had the children help me match the words to the features which encouraged word recognition. The children especially love saying "Go Away.." with me as I'm reading the book. This book is great for bedtime, monsters, or talking about fears themed storytimes.
Awards/Recognition:
Black-Eyed Susan Book Awards (Maryland) (1995)
Author's Website: Ed Emberley's Website
Other Books by the Author: Glad monster, sad monster: a book about feelings (1997); Bye-bye, big bad bullybug! (2007);
Interest Level: Ages 5 and under
Genre: Picture Book
Subjects/Themes: Die-cut pages, Monsters, Fear,
Plot: Meet the big green monster. This story introduces the reader to the big green monster one feature at a time. Purple scraggly purple hair, big yellow eyes, and sharp white teeth are only a few of the scary features that make up the big green monster. After the whole monster is slowly revealed to the reader, the reader responds "Go Away!" to each feature until the whole monster is gone and isn't allowed to come back until the reader says so.
Personal Thoughts: A wonderfully made book. The use of die-cuts to slowly reveal the monster and make him disappear again are ingeniously constructed. I made a felt board version of this book a few years ago for a preschool story time which also included the words for hair, eyes, mouth, nose, and teeth. I had the children help me match the words to the features which encouraged word recognition. The children especially love saying "Go Away.." with me as I'm reading the book. This book is great for bedtime, monsters, or talking about fears themed storytimes.
Awards/Recognition:
Black-Eyed Susan Book Awards (Maryland) (1995)
Author's Website: Ed Emberley's Website
Other Books by the Author: Glad monster, sad monster: a book about feelings (1997); Bye-bye, big bad bullybug! (2007);
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
Hooray for Fish! (Book)
Cousins, L. (2005). Hooray for fish!. Cambridge, MA: Candlewick Press. ISBN: 978-0-7636-2741-6
Interest Level: Ages 5 and under
Genre: Picture Book
Subjects/Themes: Fish, Rhyming Stories, Mother and Child, Descriptive Words
Plot: Little fish invites the reader to meet all of his different fishy friends. Little fish says hello to fish that are stripped, spotted, thin, small, hairy, scary, and shy. Some of the fish are very imaginative such as the "eye fish" which is a fish that looks like an eye ball complete with eye lashes. Then little fish goes looking for the one fish he loves the best, his Mom!
Personal Thoughts: The illustrations in this book feature brightly colored fish against different blue backgrounds that represent the water. The fish are everything from small to large, stripped to spotted. There are a couple imaginary fish such as the eye-fish and the ele-fish, a fish with an elephant head. The fish are mostly happy looking creatures. The simple text uses a variety of descriptive words to name the fish. The rhyming is very basic but mostly works. There are only a few words per page which is good for younger children but makes for slow reading aloud. Most of the reader's interest will probably be in the illustrations rather then the story. A good fish themed book for 3 and under storytimes or 5 to 3 year olds looking to read on their own.
Other Books by the Author: Maisy the Mouse Series [Website]; I'm the Best (2010); Yummy: eight favorite fairy tales (2009); Za-Za's baby brother (1995);
Interest Level: Ages 5 and under
Genre: Picture Book
Subjects/Themes: Fish, Rhyming Stories, Mother and Child, Descriptive Words
Plot: Little fish invites the reader to meet all of his different fishy friends. Little fish says hello to fish that are stripped, spotted, thin, small, hairy, scary, and shy. Some of the fish are very imaginative such as the "eye fish" which is a fish that looks like an eye ball complete with eye lashes. Then little fish goes looking for the one fish he loves the best, his Mom!
Personal Thoughts: The illustrations in this book feature brightly colored fish against different blue backgrounds that represent the water. The fish are everything from small to large, stripped to spotted. There are a couple imaginary fish such as the eye-fish and the ele-fish, a fish with an elephant head. The fish are mostly happy looking creatures. The simple text uses a variety of descriptive words to name the fish. The rhyming is very basic but mostly works. There are only a few words per page which is good for younger children but makes for slow reading aloud. Most of the reader's interest will probably be in the illustrations rather then the story. A good fish themed book for 3 and under storytimes or 5 to 3 year olds looking to read on their own.
Other Books by the Author: Maisy the Mouse Series [Website]; I'm the Best (2010); Yummy: eight favorite fairy tales (2009); Za-Za's baby brother (1995);
Friday, October 29, 2010
JumpStart Baby (CD-ROM)
JumpStart Baby (Version 1.0) [CD-ROM]. (1998). Glendale , CA
Interest Level: 3 & under
Subjects/Themes: Colors, Animals, Music, Shapes, Clothing, Phonics,
Price: $10 to $25
Game Contents: A cuddly teddy bear sings and explains the different concepts that children explore in the game. The 8 games introduce developmentally appropriate concepts such as colors, shapes, animals, music, and clothing. Tips and hints are provided throughout the game on how parents can expand on these games at home. During game play, children simply click repeatedly on the mouse or keyboard to interact with the game. No real computer skills are needed to play the games which will continuously repeat until the child exits.
Personal Thoughts: Check out your local library for a copy of this DVD because at $25 for only eight games it isn't really the best buy. The games are developmentally appropriate and easy for children to use. The teddy bear and his songs are cute and informational. The hints on how to take the game's concepts off of the computer are practically, such as instructions on how to make your own connect-the-dots handouts. The JumpStart brand name makes a lot of good computer software for children of older ages, so while a good early learning resource, you might want to wait until your child is older before you start buying these computer games for them. Instead check out some of the free websites such as Knee Bouncers that offer similar materials and format.
Series Awards:
The Toy Man Award of Excellence (2008)
National Parenting Seal of Approval Winner (2007 & 2008)
iParenting Media Awards - Outstanding Product (2007 & 2008)
Great Interactive Software for Kids Award (2008)
Mom’s Choice Awards Silver Recipient (2008)
Teacher’s Choice Award for the Family (2007)
Parent to Parent Adding Wisdom Award (2007)
Company Website: JumpStart Website
Interest Level: 3 & under
Subjects/Themes: Colors, Animals, Music, Shapes, Clothing, Phonics,
Price: $10 to $25
Game Contents: A cuddly teddy bear sings and explains the different concepts that children explore in the game. The 8 games introduce developmentally appropriate concepts such as colors, shapes, animals, music, and clothing. Tips and hints are provided throughout the game on how parents can expand on these games at home. During game play, children simply click repeatedly on the mouse or keyboard to interact with the game. No real computer skills are needed to play the games which will continuously repeat until the child exits.
Personal Thoughts: Check out your local library for a copy of this DVD because at $25 for only eight games it isn't really the best buy. The games are developmentally appropriate and easy for children to use. The teddy bear and his songs are cute and informational. The hints on how to take the game's concepts off of the computer are practically, such as instructions on how to make your own connect-the-dots handouts. The JumpStart brand name makes a lot of good computer software for children of older ages, so while a good early learning resource, you might want to wait until your child is older before you start buying these computer games for them. Instead check out some of the free websites such as Knee Bouncers that offer similar materials and format.
Series Awards:
The Toy Man Award of Excellence (2008)
National Parenting Seal of Approval Winner (2007 & 2008)
iParenting Media Awards - Outstanding Product (2007 & 2008)
Great Interactive Software for Kids Award (2008)
Mom’s Choice Awards Silver Recipient (2008)
Teacher’s Choice Award for the Family (2007)
Parent to Parent Adding Wisdom Award (2007)
Company Website: JumpStart Website
Knee Bouncers (Website)
Website: http://www.kneebouncers.com/index.php
Interest Level: Ages 3 & under
Subjects/Themes: Phonics Learning Website, ABCs, Counting, Letter Sounds, Interactive Games, Shapes,
About the Website: The Knee Bouncers Website was founded in 2002 to introduce computer games to the youngest of children. It is meant for use by children who have yet to develop the fine motor skills needed for most normal computer use. Children can interact with games through the use of any of the keys on the keyboard or through the random clicking of the mouse button. A variety of interactive games introduce different basic concepts, such as colors, shapes, and numbers. Some of the games are available as applications for the iPhone or Facebook accounts.
Personal Thoughts: This is a great program for children to use on their own without the help of a parent. The games on the site will keep repeating until the child or parent chooses to exit. The games are centered around developmentally appropriate concepts such as colors and counting. The graphics on the site are bright and colorful with happy animal characters throughout. A great reccomendation for children who want to try out the computer but only know how to smash at the keys.
Baby Road Trip Series (DVD)
Blue Mountain Arts. (2006). Baby road trip: Circus [DVD]. New York, NY: Baby Road Trip.
Interest Level: 3 & under
Subjects/Themes: Word Recognition, Shapes, Colors, Circus,
Running Time: 30 minutes
Price: $8 to $15
Plot: Children join Scout the Dog and Road Trip Ryan as they learn about the circus. Children are introduced to the different people, animals, and things that children would see at the circus. Shapes, with the names written on the screen, are introduced to with circues animals. The images are composed of a stream of graphics, clay animation, and live videos that all relate to the circus theme. A portion of the profits from DVD sales are donated to the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.
Personal Thoughts: I borrowed this DVD from my local library (always a good resource for learning DVDs). The strength of this DVD is the live video representations of the circus concepts, such as acrobats and trapeze artists, which can be hard for children to understand using picture books. A good alternative to taking a child to the circus or in preparation to go to one. The weakness of this DVD is the lack of audio pronunciation accompanying the shapes names which would go a long way to helping children with word recognition. There is a bonus feature that shows a picture of each concept with its name written and spoken which almost serves as a better learning device then the movie itself. Not one of my favorite learning DVDs but still useful as a circus learning tool.
Awards:
Parenting Magazine's Pick of the Month (July 2004)
Dr. Toy Award
NAPPA Award
iParenting Media Award
Creative Child Award
Interest Level: 3 & under
Subjects/Themes: Word Recognition, Shapes, Colors, Circus,
Running Time: 30 minutes
Price: $8 to $15
Plot: Children join Scout the Dog and Road Trip Ryan as they learn about the circus. Children are introduced to the different people, animals, and things that children would see at the circus. Shapes, with the names written on the screen, are introduced to with circues animals. The images are composed of a stream of graphics, clay animation, and live videos that all relate to the circus theme. A portion of the profits from DVD sales are donated to the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.
Personal Thoughts: I borrowed this DVD from my local library (always a good resource for learning DVDs). The strength of this DVD is the live video representations of the circus concepts, such as acrobats and trapeze artists, which can be hard for children to understand using picture books. A good alternative to taking a child to the circus or in preparation to go to one. The weakness of this DVD is the lack of audio pronunciation accompanying the shapes names which would go a long way to helping children with word recognition. There is a bonus feature that shows a picture of each concept with its name written and spoken which almost serves as a better learning device then the movie itself. Not one of my favorite learning DVDs but still useful as a circus learning tool.
Awards:
Parenting Magazine's Pick of the Month (July 2004)
Dr. Toy Award
NAPPA Award
iParenting Media Award
Creative Child Award
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
Wow! Said the Owl (Book)
Hopgood, T. (2009). Wow! said the owl. New York, NY: Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
Interest Level: Ages 5 & under
Genre: Picture Book, Fiction
Subjects/Themes: Colors, Owls, Night, Day
Genre: Picture Book, Fiction
Subjects/Themes: Colors, Owls, Night, Day
Plot: A little owl stays up when she should be sleeping because she is curious of what there is to see during the day. Throughout the day she sees all the beautiful different colors but in the end she thinks the stars at night are still the most beautiful thing of all.
Personal Thoughts: The illustrations in the book brightly depict each of the amazing colors owl sees. The owl says “Wow!” upon seeing each color, from the yellow of the sun to the red butterflies. Colors she would never had normally seen since she usually sleeps through the day. The book does a nice job explaining why owls aren’t normally awake during the day, how they can see in the dark, and that this little owl took a nap in order to stay awake longer. The text is simple to read with the line “Wow! Said the owl” at the start of most pages making it a good addition to group storytimes. Color names are depicted in bold text to help children recognize them easier. The last page has a color wheel and encourages the reader to go back and find all the different colors in the story.
Personal Thoughts: The illustrations in the book brightly depict each of the amazing colors owl sees. The owl says “Wow!” upon seeing each color, from the yellow of the sun to the red butterflies. Colors she would never had normally seen since she usually sleeps through the day. The book does a nice job explaining why owls aren’t normally awake during the day, how they can see in the dark, and that this little owl took a nap in order to stay awake longer. The text is simple to read with the line “Wow! Said the owl” at the start of most pages making it a good addition to group storytimes. Color names are depicted in bold text to help children recognize them easier. The last page has a color wheel and encourages the reader to go back and find all the different colors in the story.
Author Website: http://www.timhopgood.com/
Similar Books: Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What do you see? (1967) By Bill Martin and Eric Carle
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