#27 - The Snowy Day My Ezra Jack Keats

Summary: The Snowy Day is the simple tale of a boy waking up to discover that snow has fallen during the night.

The little boy celebrates the snow-draped city with a day of humble adventures--experimenting with footprints, knocking snow from a tree, creating snow angels, and trying to save a snowball for the next day.

Suggested Activity: Defrosting Animals

Place your ice-encased critters into a large tub. Provide children with condiment squeeze bottles filled with warm water and small hammers. Let the children melt and bang away at the ice until they have freed their animals.

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: 3 and up   

#26 - Little Blue and Little Yellow by Leo Lioni

Summary: Little Blue and Little Yellow are best friends, but one day they can’t find each other. When they finally do, they give each other such a big hug that they turn green!   This sweet and abstract tale of friendship also offers a playful introduction to color concepts.
 
Suggested Activity:  Marble Painting with Little Blue and Little Yellow

• Step 1: Cut paper to fit the bottom of your box or tray. Tape the paper to the bottom of the box.
• Step 2: Dip a marble in poster paint.
• Step 3: Place the marble on the paper. Now tilt, wiggle, and twirl the box around to make designs -- the marble is your paintbrush.

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

#25 - The Art Lesson by Tomie dePaola

Summary: Young Tommy could hardly wait for his very first art lesson. But when the day finally arrives, he is horrified when his art teacher asks the entire class to copy her drawings."Copy, COPY? Tommy knew that real artists didn't copy."  In this autobiography, lively Tommy ends up teaching the adults what art is all about.

Suggested Activity:  Splotch Painting

The child "spills" some paint onto his or her paper. Watch as the puddle of paint forms an organic or free form shape. Children can tilt the paper in different directions to spread the spill if they like. Allow the organic shape to dry. The child can use his or her imagination to turn the shape into a picture or design.

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

#24 -Rain School James Rumford

Summary: It is the first day of school in Chad, Africa. Children are filling the road."Will they give us a notebook?" Thomas asks. "Will they give us a pencil?” "Will I learn to read?" But when he and the other children arrive at the schoolyard, they find no classroom, no desks. Just a teacher. "We will build our school," she says. "This is our first lesson."

Suggested Activity:   Tasting Water

Collect tap water, soda water, mineral water, and distilled water. Pour the different types of water into paper cups and let the children taste them. Discuss the differences.

Curriculum Area:  Learning and Problem Solving (observes objects and events with curiosity)

Appropriate Age Group: 4 and up

#23 - My Friend the Monster by Eleanor Taylor

Summary:  Louis the fox moves into a new house filled with big empty rooms to play in. On Louis’ first night, he finds a furry one-eyed monster cowering under his bed. The monster moans,"I'm cold and I'm scared, and I suppose that's why I'm under your bed." Louis kindly lets the monster crawl into bed with him and share his cozy blankets. The next day Louis takes the monster to the park where they both practice being brave, smiling, and talking to new kids. Making new friends isn't so hard after all!

Suggested Activity:  Dancing Monsters

  

REM singing Furry Happy Monsters? Pure genius. This song will help your child enhance their emotional vocabulary.  Children must learn to label their feelings so that they are better equipped to communicate them. Furry Happy Monsters explores the words cheerful, glad, sighing, crying, and tearful. Plus it's fun to dance to!

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

Appropriate Age Group: 3 and up

#22 - Sally and the Purple Socks by Lisze Bechtold

Summary:  Sally the duck is smitten with her new purple socks. She wears them constantly until they oddly grow to big. She uses them as warm scarf. But they keep growing. She uses them as lovely curtains. But they keep growing. Finally, the purple socks grow so large that Sally pitches a circus tent with them and invites her neighbors to the grand show.

Suggested Activity: I Like

Sally likes purple socks. What do you like? You will need a tape recorder. Individually ask children to name anything they like or are interested in. Record these statements and create a pause on the tape. After the short pause, ask each child to say his or her name and record it. During group meeting time, play the tape for the children, asking them to identify the child after each child of interest. The children can check their guesses when they hear the name of the child recorded on the tape. 

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

#21 - The Artist Who Painted a Blue Horse

 

Summary:  The Artist Who Painted a Blue Horse shows young readers that in art, there is no wrong color. There's a green lion , an orange elephant, a red crocodile  and a polka-dotted donkey. More than anything, there's abundant imagination. 

Suggested Activity: Musical Imaginations

Ask children to think of a small animal and a large animal. Divide the class into two groups. Have one group be the small animals and the other the large animals. When you play music with high notes, have the small animals move and dance. When you play low notes, have the large animals move and dance.

Curriculum Area: Representative and Symbolic Thinking (takes on pretend roles and situations, makes and interprets representations)
 
Appropriate Age Group: 3 and up

#20 - Wait Till the Moon is Full by Margaret Wise Brown

Summary: There was once a little raccoon who wanted to go out in the night -- to know an owl, to see if the moon is a rabbit, and to find out how dark is the dark. But his mother said, "Wait. Wait till the moon is full." 

So the little raccoon waited and wondered, while the moon got bigger and bigger and bigger. Until at last, on a very special evening, the moon was full.

Suggested Activity: Observing the Moon

Read this story aloud on the first day of a new moon. Explain what time between new moons marks the time it takes the moon to make one revolution around the earth. Have students make a calender grid on a large chart paper and mark the current date with "New Moon."

Tell the children that each day one person will take the moon calender home in a poster tube. The child whose turn it is to take the calender home should go outside with an adult and observe the moon and then make a drawing on the calender of how the moon looks.

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: 5 and up   

#19 - Harry the Dirty Dog by Gene Zion

Summary: Harry was a white dog with black spots who liked everything, except....taking a bath. This book follows the very messy adventures of a spunky dog and his transformation into a black dog with white spots.

Harry's family doesn't recognize him on his return from sliding down coal chutes at the railroad. Harry begs for a soapy bath with lots of scrubbing. As soon as the children started to scrub they began shouting, "Mummy! It's Harry! It's Harry!"

Suggested Activity: Harry's Spots

For this activity you will need:

• Dot-dabbers (learn how to make them here)
• Paper or coffee filters
• A die  

Roll the die (my son calls it a live) and create dots according to the number rolled. Math coupled with art is a beautiful thing.

Curriculum Area:  Logical Thinking (uses numbers and counting, uses one-to-one correspondence) 

Appropriate Age Group: 3 and up              

#18 - Moon Rope by Lois Ehlert

Summary: Moon Rope is a Peruvian tale which explains why Mole avoids other creatures, preferring his solitary tunnel.  Fox persuades poor Mole to climb up to the moon with him. "There are big worms up there," said Fox. "Huge. How could Mole not listen to his growling stomach? He'd go. Mole and Fox braid a long rope out of grass. 

With the help of the birds, they hitch the rope to the tip of a crescent moon. Fox climbs up quickly, paw over paw. Mole nervously keeps glancing back to the earth. When his claws slip he falls with a resounding ploomph! The animals jeer and taunt him. Upset and embarrassed, Mole runs away and digs a deep tunnel. 

Suggested Activity:  Wiggle Worm Relay 

1. Form relay lines. 
2. Everyone in each line puts their left hand between their legs and the person behind grabs that hand with their right hand.
3. Then they run at a given signal to the other end of the playing area and back. 
4. The first team to return 'intact' wins!

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

Appropriate Age Group: 4 and up

#17 - Madelines's Rescue by Ludwig Bememans

Summary:  One day on a walk through Paris (a "twelve little girls in two straight lines" kind of walk), Madeline slips and falls off a bridge right into the Seine. Everyone feared she would be dead, "But for a dog / That kept its head," saving her from a "watery grave." What choice do Madeline and the girls have but to take the heroic pooch home, feed her biscuits, milk, and beef, and name her Genevieve? 

Suggested Activity:  Play - Doh Dog Food 

Madeline's pooch is hungry! Ask the children to form small play-doh balls. Fill the bowl up with "pet food." This fine motor activity can encourage and improve the strength of pencil holding muscles-  the thumb and index fingers in particular.

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

#16 - Horton Hatches the Egg by Dr. Seuss

Summary: Horton is duped by Mayzie the lazy bird to sit on her egg, taunted and then abandoned by his friends, kidnapped by hunters, sold to a circus, and mocked by the crowds. But through it all, he remains kindly and generous. And ultimately, his gentle way wins people over and gains him the respect he deserves. "I meant what I said and I said what I meant... An elephant's faithful one hundred per cent!"

Suggested Activity: Egg-cellent Brushing

You will need two hard-boiled eggs and dark cola. To show the children how easily teeth can stain, place one egg in a jar of water and one egg in a jar of cola. The next day remove the eggs and compare their colors. Then use a toothbrush and toothpaste to brush away the stain from the cola-tinted eggs.

Curriculum Area: Responsibility for Self and Others (takes responsibility for own well-being)

Appropriate Age Group: 4 and up

#15 - Jake Stays Awake by Michael Wright

Summary: This book was written for all of the children who would rather not sleep in their own bed, and their tired  parents. This rollicking, rhyming book chronicles the restless nights of Mom, Dad, and Jake as they try out new spots for catching some ZZZZZ's. The roof, stairs, bathtub, kitchen counters, car, and trash cans, all prove not to be as comfortable as Jake had hoped. In the end, Jake decides that sleeping in his own bed doesn't sound like such a bad idea after all.   
 
Suggested Activity: Squishy Sensory Bag

Help Jake catch some ZZZZZ's by drawing the letter Z into this squishy sensory gel bag. This project is a cinch to make. All you'll need is a Ziplock bag, hair gel (I get mine at the Dollar Store), glitter, and food coloring. This is a great activity for practicing pre-writing skills such as "down", "over", "around", etc., shapes, and even more advanced writing skills - like letters or words. In addition, it offers a great therapeutic/calming effect for many children.

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

Appropriate Age Group: 2 and up

#14 - I'm Gonna Like Me by Jamie Lee Curtis and Laura Cornell

Summary: "I'm gonna like me when I don't run so fast. Then they pick teams and I'm chosen last," announces the bespectacled boy. "I'm gonna like me when I eat something new, even if Grandma makes octopus stew," says the little girl.... nervously. This upbeat book shows  children how to feel good in their own skins. The spunky protagonists shake off embarrassment and are proud of all that they CAN do. "I'm gonna like me because I'm loved and I know it, and liking myself is the best way to show it."  

Suggested Activity: I Like Me Box

Ask children to think about who they are on the inside. What do they do, like, or feel that other people can't tell by looking at them? Have the children make a collection of items, drawings, or words to put in a box that represent who they are. After everyone is finished, organize a time for partners to share their insides with each other. Then have each child introduce who his or her partner is on the inside to the rest of the class.

Curriculum Area: Listening and Speaking (expresses self using words and expanded sentences, understands and follows oral directions, answers questions, asks questions, actively participates in conversations)

Appropriate Age Group: 5 and up

#13 - The Boy Who Painted Dragons by Demi

Summary:  A boy named Ping paints fire-breathing dragons everywhere: on the walls, columns, doors, windows, tables, and chairs, and all over the ceilings and floors of his home.  Ping professes that he loves dragons but he is secretly terrified of them. The Heavenly Dragon wants to help Ping conquer his fears and presents him with three pearls of wisdom. Ping triumphantly seeks the truth, finds the truth, and dares to be true.

Suggested Activity: Bubble Wrap Printing

Lay a piece of bubble wrap on a table so that the bubbles are facing up. Have the child cover the bubbles with tempera paint. Then place a piece of construction paper on top of the bubbles. Press down on the paper so that all of the bubbles are able to make a print. Lift up the construction paper to see the design. See what happens when some of the bubbles pop when pressing down on the construction paper.

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

Appropriate Age Group: 6 and up 

#12 - The Other Dog by Madeleine L'Engle

Summary:  Touché the family poodle is dismayed when her mistress brings an odd sort of dog home to live with them. The new pooch is of an inferior breed called "baby." Jo-dog has neither fur nor a tail! Touché notices a great number of mysterious and horrifying things. "When I am taken out to get some fresh air I always have to walk even when it rains. The Jo is taken out in a carriage, and when it rains she doesn't have to go out at all!" Touché, in spite of everything, becomes very fond of the other dog. She admits, at the end of this charming tale (tail), that in every home there should be at least two dogs!

Suggested Activity: Pet the Puppy

"Pet the Puppy" helps preschoolers learn to pet a dog safely. The only material needed for this activity is a cute and squishy stuffed animal. How does one correctly pet a dog? Firstly, ask the owner's permission. If given the green light, approach the dog slowly. Hold your hand out, palm down, and let the dog sniff you. Let the dog decide how close he wants to get. Many dogs love attention, but the first few moments of every new meeting is critical. A correct approach will likely have the new dog sidling in closer for hugs and kisses. 

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

Appropriate Age Group: 3 and up 

#11 - Ish by Peter H. Reynolds

Summary: Ramon loved to draw. Anytime. Anything. Anywhere.  But that all changed when his older brother laughed at one of his drawings and asked "WHAT IS THAT?"  Ramon's free and easy sketching sessions turned into a struggle to make each picture "just right." Ramon crumpled up many a sheet of paper in an attempt to do just that. His little sister rescued his discarded drawings and created a crumpled gallery in her room. She loved the "ish" qualities of what he drew... and taught him to love them again too.

Suggested Activity: Rainbow Painting

Have children use white crayons to draw simple pictures or designs on white paper. Then make a rainbow of lines over the picture, using different colors of watercolor paints. Watch as the drawings magically appear through the rainbow.

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

Appropriate Age Group: 5 and up   

#10 - Diary of a Worm by Doreen Cronin

Summary: Diary of a Worm follows the daily doings of a small worm in a gigantic world. Three great things about being a worm include: never having to go to the dentist, never getting in trouble for tracking mud into the house, and never having to take a bath. This book introduces science concepts in an uproariously funny manner!

Suggested Activity: Make an Earthworm Observatory

Make a wormery with a large glass jar (a large peanut butter jar works well), worms, garden soil, and black construction paper. 

Place a layer of small rocks or sand in the bottom of the jar so that water will drain. Place two inches of moist soil and sand in the jar. Have children place the worms in the jar. Cover them with more soil. Keep the soil moist. Seal, using a lid with holes punched in it.

Wrap black construction paper around the jar. After 24 hours, remove the paper. The children should be able to see the worms tunneling through the soil. 

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: 5 and up