#59 - Pinkalicious by Victoria Kann

Summary: Pinkalicious just can't stop eating pink cupcakes. Her pink indulgence lands her at the doctor's office with Pinkititis, an affliction that turns her pink from head to toe. “I’m Pinkerbelle!” she shouts. Being pink all over is fun…at first. But the fun starts to fade, and Pinkalicious begins to regret eating an entire plate of rosy cupcakes. The doctor says that the only cure for Pinkititis is a hearty helping of green vegetables!

Suggested Activity:   Pink Graph

Collect ten different pink objects. Draw a graph with the number of children on one line and list the individual objects along the other line. Pass around each object and then ask the children to hold up their hand if they like that object. Have the children help you graph the results as you ask each question using pink post-its or stickers. Discuss the results after the graph is finished. Explain that a graph can show which objects are liked by more people.

Curriculum Area: Logical Thinking (classifies objects, compares/measures)

Appropriate Age Group: 4 and up

#58 - From Seed to Pumpkin by Wendy Pfeffer

Summary:  In the fall pumpkins are everywhere: in the supermarket, on doorsteps, and in scrumptious pies. From Seed to Pumpkin clearly presents how the plant develops from a tiny yellow seed to a big orange pumpkin.  
 
Suggested Activity: Sink or Float

Gather a variety of sizes of pumpkins. Have the children share their hypotheses about each pumpkin. Will it sink or float?  Why do they think that way? Are you wondering how this science experiment will turn out?  Even a 25 pound pumpkin floats!

Curriculum Area: Learning and Problem Solving (observes objects and events with curiosity, explores cause and effect)

Appropriate Age Group: 3 and up

#57 - The Little Yellow Leaf by Carin Berger

Summary: It is autumn and all the other leaves fall and swirl around the tree. But the lone little yellow
leaf holds fast to the branch of the great oak tree. "I'm not ready yet", he thinks. This is a grand story of facing the unknown and a celebration of the friends who help us let go and soar.

 

Suggested Activity:  Fall Like a Leaf

Invite students to dramatize falling leaves in different kinds of weather. Introduce the activity by looking at the weather outside. Is it a calm day? Windy? Pouring? Play appropriate music such as Vivaldi's violin concerto Autumn. Ask students to "fall" the way they think leaves would in the kind of weather.

   
Curriculum Area: Gross Motor Skills (demonstrates basic locomotor skills, shows balance while moving)

Appropriate Age Group: 3 and up   

#56 - Snow is my Favorite and my Best by Lauren Child

Summary: Lola finally gets her wish when she looks out the window and it's snowing. "It's all gone extremely white!" she says. Lola wishes for an endless season of snow. She just loves making snow angels, sledding, and building snow dogs and even a snow kennel. The next day as the snow sadly melts away, Charlie helps Lola think about all the things she couldn't do if it were snowy all the time.

Suggested Activity: Frozen Bubbles

This is an activity for a cold, cold (below freezing) day when there is no wind in the air. Start by making a strong bubble solution. Mix 1/2 cup soap powder, 1/2 cup sugar, and 3 cups hot water. (This mixture will help the bubbles last longer.) Take the bubble solution and a bubble wand outside. Blow a bubble, and catch it on the wand. Let the bubble sit resting on the wand in the cold air. In the below-freezing chill, the bubble will soon freeze into a fragile crystal ball.
 
Curriculum Area: Learning and Problem Solving (observes objects and events with curiosity, explores cause and effect)

Appropriate Age Group: 3 and up

#55 - Love, Splat by Rob Scotton

Summary: Splat likes Kitten more than fish sticks and ice cream, but he isn't the only one. Spike informs Splat that he likes her even more and has made a bigger and better  Valentine's Day card to prove it. Discouraged, Splat tosses his own tribute into the trash. Kitten smiles when she receives Spike's card but doesn't swoon as she reads, "You are so lucky that I like you." Fortunately, Kitten notices the little red envelope in the trash and surprises Splat with a pink Valentine that leaves him a very happy feline.

Suggested Activity:  Vinegar Hearts

Have the children cut or tear heart-like shapes from red tissue paper. Let the children brush white vinegar onto their white construction paper and then lay on the red hearts. As the vinegar dries, the tissue paper will fall off, leaving red heart prints.

 
Curriculum Area: Fine Motor Skills (controls small muscles in hands, coordinates eye-hand movement, uses tools for writing and drawing)

Appropriate Age Group: 3 and up

#54 - Penguins by Liz Pichon

Summary: It's an ordinary day at the zoo until a little girl drops her camera into the penguin habitat. After the zoo closes, a little penguin figures out how to operate the camera. Soon all of the penguins are taking turns hamming it up and shooting pictures. Eventually, the camera is returned to the little girl. She is certainly surprised when she develops the pictures!

Suggested Activity:  Name That Photo

This is an activity in which you or the children find ordinary items and take a close-up picture of a small part of it. Print or make a slide show of the photos everyone has taken and guess what item each photo is showing. This is a game that can be repeated over and over since the possibilities for pictures are endless.

 
Curriculum Area: Logical Thinking (classifies objects)

Appropriate Age Group: 4 and up

#53 - Stone Soup by Marcia Brown

Summary: Three soldiers trudged down a road in a strange country on their way home from the wars. Besides being tired, they were hungry. The peasants hid all they had to eat, worried that they didn't have enough food to share. The soldiers then offered to make the people a rich man's soup from three simple stones.  But of course, stone soup tastes better with a carrot or two... The curious peasants began to offer ingredients for this strange dish. Together, they did indeed make a very delicious "stone soup."    

Suggested Activity:  Soup Cracker Math

Give children a bowl filled with soup crackers in a variety of shapes: goldfish, oyster, square, and oval. Place paper plates out for each type of cracker on the table. Have children work together to sort the crackers onto each plate. Afterward, children can pass the plates around and choose crackers to eat with their soup.

Curriculum Area: Logical Thinking (classifies objects, uses one-to-one correspondence)

Appropriate Age Group: 3 and up

#52 - Pirate Jam by Jo Brown

Summary: Fredbeard and Little Jim  are kicked out of pirate school. They find shivering their timbers a bit of a bore, hold treasure maps upside down and they always get seasick. When a crate washes up on shore filled with some very un-piratey sugar and yarn they decide to change careers. Fredbeard and Little Jim hone their very unexpected talents of knitting sweaters and making jam. 

Suggested Activity:  Discovery Sand Jars

Put a big spoonful of mixed grains of sand into a large jar of water. Screw on the lid. Let a child shake up the contents. Then set the jar on the table so everyone can watch what happens. Ask: “Why do the biggest pieces of sand go to the bottom of the jar first?” (They are the heaviest, so they fall to the bottom the fastest.) “Why do some pieces of sand fl oat?” (They are probably little bits of wood or plants or sand that have little air holes.) 

Notice how as the water clears, the last sand sorts itself out by size: The heaviest sediment falls first and tinier pieces of sand—the silt—finally float down to rest on the
very top of the sand.

Curriculum Area: Learning and Problem Solving (observes objects and events with curiosity, explores cause and effect)

Appropriate Age Group: 4 and up

#51 - How I Became a Pirate by Melinda Long

Summary:  Who doesn’t want to be a pirate?  When a band of buccaneers invites Jeremy to come along on their voyage, he is thrilled. Jeremy Jacob thinks that the pirate life is for him until he realizes that also means no bedtime stories, warm beds or goodnight kisses.

Suggested Activity: Sorting Sand

Obtain some sand that has a lot of black grains in it. Spread the sand out on a big sheet of paper on a table. Let the children run a magnet back and forth through the sand. The black sand grains that stick to the magnet are a black iron oxide called magnetite.

Curriculum Area: Learning and Problem Solving (observes objects and events with curiosity, explores cause and effect)



Appropriate Age Group: 4 and up

#50 - Kitten's First Full Moon by Kevin Henkes

Summary: "It was Kitten's first full moon. When she saw it, she thought, there's a little bowl of milk in the sky. And she wanted it." She jumps at it and chases it. She climbs a tree all the way to the tippy top, but she still can't quite reach it. When she sees the moon's enticing milky reflection in a pool of water, she jumps in, but all she gets is wet. What a night!

Suggested Activity:  Invisible Milk Ink Picture

Milk makes a perfect invisible ink to use on cardboard or heavyweight papers such as cardstock or construction paper. Apply milk with a small paintbrush or cotton swab and then let it dry completely. To make the message appear, rub any type of dark powdery substance over the picture and the powder will stick to the milk residue.
Charcoal, chalk, or graphite from a pencil lead will
all work. Try making hidden pictures by letting one
student write the picture in milk and passing it to
another student to “decode.” 

Curriculum Area: Fine Motor Skills (controls small muscles in hands, coordinates eye-hand movement, uses tools for writing and drawing)

Appropriate Age Group: 3 and up

#49 - Jamberry by Bruce Degen

Summary: A boy and a jolly bear set off on an adventure looking for berries. They play in strawberry fields and nearly fall out of their canoeberry into the blueberries. The musical beat of these lighthearted rhymes make this story wonderful to hear. "Raspberry, Jazzberry, Razzamatazzberry." 

Suggested Activity:  Berry Nice Print

You will need plastic berry baskets, construction paper, tempera paint, a container large enough to dip the berry basket in, and paper.  Discuss how the lines of the berry basket cross and how they make squares.  Dip the berry basket in paint. Press the basket onto the paper. Repeat, overlapping the shapes. 

Curriculum Area: Fine Motor Skills (controls small muscles in hands, coordinates eye-hand movement, uses tools for writing and drawing)

Appropriate Age Group: 4 and up

#48 - There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Bat by Lucille Colandro

Summary: There was an old lady who swallowed a bat - imagine that! She also swallowed an owl, a black cat, a ghost, a goblin, some bones, and even a very surprised wizard! This Halloween-themed twist on the classic will delight those brave enough to read it!

Suggested Activity:  Bat Fingerplay

Five little bats hanging upside down

The 1st one didn’t make a sound

The 2nd one said, “I’ll fly far tonight.”

The 3rd one said, “I don’t like sunlight!”

The 4th one said, “I want to eat a bug!”

The 5th one said, “Let me give you a hug.”

Five little bats hanging upside down,

Sh-h-h!  It’s daytime. Don’t make a sound!

 
Curriculum Area: Listening and Speaking (hears and discriminates the sounds of language, expresses self using words and expanded language)
 
Appropriate Age Group: 4 and up

#47 - More Spaghetti, I Say! by Rita Golden Gelman

Summary: Minnie the monkey adores spaghetti. "I love it with mustard and marshmallow stuff. I eat it all day, I just can't get enough!" Her friend Freddy would like to play with her, but Minnie won't stop eating long enough to join him. This book explores the likes and dislikes of others, being a good playmate, and the perils of overindulgence

 
Suggested Activity: Pasta Fun

Put a wide assortment of uncooked pasta in a bowl. Invite your child to examine the different  sizes, shapes, and colors of the pasta.  Explore the seriation of sizes by creating a sequence or line of pastas from small to smaller to smallest. You will be teaching important skills that help your child understand how numbers increase and decrease in value in a number line. 

Curriculum Area: Logical Thinking (classifies objects, uses one-to-one correspondence)

Appropriate Age Group: 3 and up

#46 - Over in the Meadow by Ezra Keats

Summary: Welcome to a lush meadow bursting with activity, sound and music. Five bees buzz, six crows caw, seven crickets chirp, and so on to ten fireflies that shine in the night. Keats's collage-style illustrations perfectly complement this classic Appalachian counting rhyme, which is also a catchy song.

Suggested Activity: Are You Listening?

Fill eight margarine tubs (with plastic lids) with  different materials: for example, two with flour, two with buttons, two with nails, two with pins. Have children find the two that sound alike by shaking them.

Curriculum Area: Listening and Speaking (hears and discriminates the sounds of language, expresses self using words and expanded language)
 
Appropriate Age Group: 3 and up

#45 - If You Give a Moose a Muffin by Laura Jeffe Numeroff

Summary: What happens when you give a big, hungry moose a muffin? He asks for jam. And when he's finished eating every last crumb, he'll ask you to make another batch. That means a trip to the store for muffin mix. Of course the moose would like to go too, but it's cold outside and he may need to borrow a sweater; he might notice a button is loose, in which case he'll require a needle and thread...
  
Suggested Activity: Stand Up - Sit Down

Turn story time into an interactive activity by engaging students in a Stand Up - Sit Down listening game.  Begin the story with all students sitting, but tell them to stand up when they hear the commonly repeated word "moose." 

As you read the word pause so that students can stand up. When you come to the word again the students should sit down. Continue reading, with students standing up and sitting down as necessary, until you reach the end of the book.

Curriculum Area: Listening and Speaking (hears and discriminates the sounds of language, expresses self using words and expanded language)
 
Appropriate Age Group: 4 and up

#44 - It's Hard to be Five by Jamie Lee Curtis and Laura Cornell

A squirmy 5-year-old struggles as he learns "how to work [his] control panel" and do the things a 5-year-old is supposed to do. His mind tells him how he should act and what he should do, but he finds himself doing just the opposite. His world is changing, and he feels frustrated. But he also begins to realize that as he gains greater control, he becomes more independent -- and independence can be fun!

Suggested Activity: My Own Cheer (Tune: Twinkle,Twinkle, Little Star)  

(Child’s name), (Child’s name),
she’s so neat!
She loves (favorite food)
when she eats.
Her hair is (hair color)
and (hair style or length) too.
She’s my friend
and so are YOU!
(Child’s name), (Child’s name),
she’s so neat!
We always smile when we meet!

Curriculum Area: Listening and Speaking (hears and discriminates the sounds of language, expresses self using words and expanded language)
 
Appropriate Age Group: 4 and up

#43 - Come on Rain by Karen Hesse

Summary: The detailed prose poem of Come on Rain deftly captures the magic of a sudden rainstorm on a sweltering hot day in the city. Tessie and her mother are waiting impatiently for the rain and when it does come they dance with their friends and neighbors,"tromping through puddles, romping and reeling in the moisty green air." 

Suggested Activity: Rainstorm Rhythm

Sit in a circle with eyes closed. A leader begins by rubbing hand palms together. Person to the right picks it up until the whole group is participating. Then the teacher switches to hand claps and that moves around the circle. Next is thigh slaps, then foot stomps, with periodical "claps" of lightning. Reverse the order to show the storm dying out. 

Curriculum Area: Representation and Symbolic Thinking (takes on pretend roles and situations)

Appropriate Age Group: 5 and up

#42 - Pass the Celery, Ellery! by Jeff Fisher

Summary:  Pass the Celery, Ellery is more than just a book - it's a game too! Have you every tried to rhyme what you're eating with a person's name? This book inspires you to do just that. " Pass the spaghetti, Betty." "Pass the meat, Pete." This book is one part abecedary, one part dinner table diversion,  and one part eye candy.

Suggested Activity:  Celery Experiment

 

This is a fun and visual experiment that introduces children to the concept of osmosis.

1. Separate and select stalks of celery with leaves. Cut about a quarter inch off the bottom.
2. Put water into glass jar or vase.
3. Drop 3-4 drops of food coloring into jar.
4. Place stalks into the water and using stalk stir very gently until food coloring is dispersed evenly.
5. Make 2-3 observations. Check after one hour, 4 hours and 8 hours or overnight to see developments.
6. Cut the bottom of the celery and you can see where the water was transported up into the celery stem.

Curriculum Area: Learning and Problem Solving (observes objects and events with curiosity, explores cause and effect, applies knowledge or experience to a new context) 

Appropriate Age Group: 4 and up

#41 - Chopsticks by Amy Krause Rosenthyal

Summary:  One member of a pair of chopsticks suffers an accident.  Encouraged by his injured friend to get out and go, the healthy chopstick discovers his hidden strengths by joining in a game of pick-up sticks, testing cupcakes for doneness and conducting a cutlery band. When the friend recovers, the two find that being apart has made each of them even stronger. 

Suggested Activity: Chopstick Activities

Give each child a pair of chopsticks and have them practice picking up cotton balls, gummy bears, or other small objects.

Curriculum Area: Fine Motor Skills (controls small muscles in hands, coordinates eye-hand movement, uses tools for writing and drawing)

Appropriate Age Group: 4 and up