#83 - The Apple Pie Tree by Zoe Hall

Summary:  Two young sisters describe the changes that occur in their backyard apple tree throughout the seasons of a year. The tree is bare and brown in winter, but spring brings two robins that build a nest and raise a family amid the apple blossoms. In summer, the robins fly off, the girls enjoy playing in the tree's shade, and the apples grow bigger and redder. Finally, in autumn, they pick apples and bake a delicious apple pie.

Suggested Activity: Apple Tree Fingerplay

Way up high in the apple tree (reach up high)

Two little apples smiled at me (trace outline of your smile)

I shook that tree as hard as I could (pretend to shake the trunk of the tree)

Down came the apples (let your fingers rain down apples to the ground)
 

Yum! They were good. (pick one up take a bite and rub your tummy)

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

#82 - How to Build a House by Gail Gibbons

Summary: Building a house is a complex project which requires the cooperative efforts of many people. How to Build a House makes this process easy to understand for young readers. Beginning with the architect who draws the plans, readers meet the surveyors, equipment operators, carpenters, plumbers, and other people who produce a building. The book concludes with a family moving in, ready to make the house a home.

Suggested Activity:   Tool Prints

Place a small amount of thick, colored tempera paint in a flat pan. Also, provide the children with miniature tools such as wrenches and screwdrivers. Let the children place the tools in the paint, remove them, and then print with them on paper.
 
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

#81 - Oliver's Vegetables by Vivian French

Summary: Oliver just loves french fries. When he goes to spend a week at his grandparents' house they promise him his favorite, but only if he can find the potatoes in the garden. Whatever else he pulls up during the search he must eat each night for dinner.  Oliver discovers carrots, spinach, rhubarb, cabbage, beets, and peas. He tries and unexpectedly likes eating all of these new vegetables.  

Suggested Activity: Carrot Top

Cut off the top of a carrot and place it in a shallow dish of water. Observe what happens day to day. Given time, the top of the carrot should sprout. 

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

Appropriate Age Group: 4 and up

#80 - Pete the Cat Saves Christmas by Eric Litwin

Summary: 'Twas the day before Christmas and Santa was ill. In the cold winter wind he had caught a bad chill. Will Christmas be canceled? Will it come to that? "Never!" cried Santa. "Let's call Pete the Cat!"

"I'll do it, said Pete, and although I am small, at Christmas we give, so I'll give it my all." The minibus flew just like in a movie. Pete the Cat cried, "This is totally groovy!"

Suggested Activity:  What Time is it Santa Claus?

One player is chosen to be Santa Claus. Santa Claus stands at the opposite end of the playing field from the other players, facing away from them. A call-and-response then takes place: all players except for Santa Claus chant in unison "What's the time, Santa Claus?", and Santa Claus will answer in one of the two ways: 1) Santa Claus may call a clock time (e.g., "3 o'clock"). The other players will then take that many steps out loud as they go ("One, two, three"). Then they ask the question again. 

2) Santa Claus may call "Christmas!" Then Santa Claus will turn and chase the other players back to their starting point. If Santa Claus successfully tags a player, that player becomes the new Santa Claus for the next round.
 
Curriculum Area: Gross Motor Skills (demonstrates basic locomotor skills, shows balance while moving)

Appropriate Age Group: 4 and up

#79 - Pete the Cat - I Love My White Shoes by Eric Litwin

Summary:  Pete the Cat shimmies down the street singing, I love my white shoes... His shoes turn red when he steps into a large pile of strawberries. Did Pete cry? Goodness, no! He keeps walking along singing his song. I love my red shoes.... He then steps into a large pile of blueberries and then a mud puddle, each incident changing his sneakers to a new hue.  Pete takes it all in stride. After stepping into a  bucket of water, Pete notices that his sneakers are not only white again, but also wet. 

Suggested Activity:  Copycats

Have a child be the cat and clap a rhythm for the group. The other children listen and then act as copycats. They clap the same rhythm as the cat did. Another child then becomes the cat and creates a rhythm for the copycats to imitate.

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

Appropriate Age Group: 4 and up   

#78 - Bread is for Eating by David Gershator

Summary: Everybody loves hot, delicious home-made bread and every culture makes it. Mamita explains how bread is created, from seed to supermarket, in a song sung in both English and Spanish. This book explores the love and warmth that goes into making every loaf of bread.

Suggested Activity:  Rainbow Bread

  
Slices of white bread, milk, food coloring in four different colors, a toaster, paintbrushes (used only for
food), and plastic cups are needed. Put a small amount of milk in each cup and add a few drops of food coloring to the milk. Have students paint the bread with their milk
colors in any kind of design they wish. Paint only one side of the bread. The bread should not be soaked with milk.) when the painting is finished, put the bread in the toaster on a “light” setting to “dry.”  

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

#77 - Leaf Man by Lois Ehlert

Summary: With a body made of fallen leaves and acorns for eyes, Leaf Man takes off from a backyard and flutters away on the breeze. He meandering past animals, over fields of fall vegetables, above waterways, and across prairie meadows. Young readers are encouraged to listen for a rustle in the leaves and maybe find a Leaf Man of their own to take home.  The various leaves and seeds are also identified on the endpapers.
 
Suggested Activity: Fall Wear

Set out warm clothes such as scarves, mittens, sweaters, coats, hats, and blankets to indicate the cold weather coming. The children can use the clothing for dressing up.

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

Appropriate Age Group: 3 and up

#76 - Cousin Ruth's Tooth by Amy MacDonald

Summary:  Cousin Ruth's tooth is missing, and no one can find it. The Fister family searches high and low - and in the most ridiculous places. “Check the hatbox! Check the cat box! Look inside the VCR!”  Finally, after days of searching, Cousin Ruth announces that she has found her tooth. A new one is growing in!

Suggested Activity: Flossing Teeth

Use empty egg cartons to represent teeth. Cut pieces of yarn for the children to practicing flossing teeth. Discuss the importance of flossing teeth daily.

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

#75 - How Many Teeth by Paul Showers

Summary: When you were a baby, you didn't have any teeth at all. Then as you grew, your teeth started to come in. First one, then two - and finally, twenty teeth in all!
But you won't keep these teeth forever. First one, then two, will wiggle loose. Maybe you've lost some of your first teeth already. When the little teeth come out and the big teeth come in, everyone can see - you're growing up.

Suggested Activity: Pass the Toothpaste

Play music and pass a tube of toothpaste around the circle. When the music stops, the person who is holding the toothpaste stands up and claps his or her hands three times (or some similar action.)
 Curriculum Area: Gross Motor Skills (demonstrates basic locomotor skills, shows balance while moving)

Appropriate Age Group: 4 and up

#74 - Cats Sleep Anywhere by Eleanor Farjeon

Summary: Cats sleep anywhere, any table, any chair.
Top of piano, window-ledge, in the middle, on the edge.
Open drawer, empty shoe, anybody’s lap will do.
Fitted in a cardboard box, in the cupboard with your frocks. Anywhere! They don’t care! Cats sleep anywhere.

Suggested Activity:  Yarn Ball

Set up baskets at varying distances from a masking tape line on the floor. Toss yarn balls into the baskets.

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

Appropriate Age Group: 4 and up

#73 - The Little Black Truck by Libba Moore Grey

Summary:  The Little Black Truck chronicles the seasonal activities of a '40s-style truck: rolling past the schoolhouse; carrying a load of ripe pumpkins; bringing a Christmas tree home to be decorated. After years of use, The Little Black Truck finally wears out and is towed away. As it deteriorates, birds use string from its seats to build nests and rabbits live under it. Many years later, a young man finds it and, thinking that it looks like his grandfather's pickup, rebuilds and refurbishes it.  
 
Suggested Activity: Transportation Feely Box

Put transportation toys in a feely box. Include cars, trucks, and busus. Individually, let the children feel inside the box and identify the type of toy.

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

Appropriate Age Group: 3 and up

#72 - Bubble Trouble by Margaret Mahy

Summary: The trouble begins when Mabel blows a bubble that enfolds her baby brother and carries him up, up, and up. The baby in the bubble bibble-bobbles overhead. He floats over mother and sister, past the neighbors, and through the busy streets as bystanders join the chase.  Eventually, the rescuers form a human ladder to reach him.   

Suggested Activity: Bubbling Raisins

Place two or three raisins in a small bottle of sparking mineral water. Secure the cap and watch the bubbles form as the raisins sink and float. 

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

Appropriate Age Group: 3 and up

#71 - Little Cloud by Eric Carle

Summary: The clouds drift slowly across the brilliant blue sky. Little Cloud trails behind. He is busy changing into a fluffy sheep, a shark,  a zooming airplane, and even a clown with a funny hat. The other clouds call for Little Cloud to come back.Then all of the clouds change into one big cloud and rain!

Suggested Activity: Blue Windows

Place blue-colored cellophane or acetate sheets over some of the windows in the classroom. It is fun to look out the window and see the blue world. 


Curriculum Area: Learning and Problem Solving (observes objects and events with curiosity, explores cause and effect)
Appropriate Age Group: 3 and up

#70 - Verdi by Janell Cannon

Summary:  Verdi, a python hatchling, is bright yellow with bold stripes that zig-zag down his back. His mother tells him to, "grow up big and green - as green as the trees' leaves." But Verdi certainly doesn't want to do that. His jungle-green elders seem boring and lazy to Verdi, who loves launching himself from the treetops.

Verdi vows to jump, climb, and move so fast that he stays green forever. Finally, Verdi learns that even though he can't stop the aging process, green skin won't keep him from being a fun-loving, figure-eight-forming snake.

Suggested Activity:  Swallowed by a Boa Constrictor

Poem: Shel Silverstein  
Sung by: Johnny Cash

I’m being swallowed by a boa constrictor;

I’m being swallowed by a boa constrictor.

Oh no, he’s swallowed my toes.

Oh no, he’s swallowed my toes.

Oh gee, he is up to my knees.

Oh gee, he is up to my knees.

Oh fiddle; he swallowed my middle.

Oh fiddle; he swallowed my middle.

Oh heck, he is up to my neck.

Oh heck, he is up to my neck.

Oh dread; he swallowed my head!

Oh dread; he swallowed my…gulp!

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

#69 - Jingle Dancer by Cynthia Leitich Smith

Summary:  After watching a videotape of Grandma Wolfe performing a jingle dance, Jenna is determined to dance at an upcoming powwow. But she lacks the cone-shaped, tin jingles that are sewn on to dancers' dresses as part of the regalia. Jenna sets out to visit her great-aunt, a neighbor, a cousin and Grandma Wolfe, all of whom lend her jingles for her dress. Jenna is careful to borrow only a limited number of jingles, "not wanting to take so many that [another's] dress would lose its voice." 

Suggested Activity: Jingle Jewelry

For bracelets and anklets, thread jingle bells on pipe cleaners. Add one bell or several. For a more advanced project, thread brightly colored beads onto the pipe cleaners, alternating several beads at a time with jingle bells.  

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

#68 - The Talking Vegetables by Won-Ldy Paye

Summary: This traditional folk tale hails from the Dan people of Liberia.  A very lazy spider refuses to help his neighbors clear the land for the village farm, plant seeds, or pull weeds. Later on, when the spider decides to pick some ripe produce to eat with his plain rice, the tomatoes, cucumbers, and pumpkins tell him what's what and turn him away. 

Suggested Activity: Painting With Carrots

This activity is a beguiling blend of science and art. Set out carrots that still have their tops and paint. Let the children use the tops like paint brushes to paint designs on 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: 4 and up

#67 - A Chair for my Mother by Vera B. Williams

Summary:  After a fire turned their home and possessions into charcoal and ash, Rosa, her mother, and grandmother save and save until they can afford to buy a wonderful, beautiful, fat, soft armchair. Into a glass jar, goes all Mama's change from tips and the money Grandma saves whenever she gets a bargain at the market. Then the jar is full; the coins are rolled in paper wrappers, and exchanged for bills; and "Mama and Grandma and I go shopping for the chair!"

Suggested Activity: Musical Friends

This is a terrific getting-to-know-you activity. Play a round of musical chairs that will help students learn one another’s names and interests. Place a photo of each child on the front of a chair back. (There’s no need to have one less chair in this noncompetitive version of the game.) Invite children to stand in a circle around the chair and start the music. When the music stops, children sit down on the nearest chair. Ask each child to identify whose photo is on his or her chair.  

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

Appropriate Age Group: 3 and up   

#66 - The Milk Makers by Gail Gibbons

Summary: You probably drink milk at almost every meal. But have you ever wondered where it comes from?Cows eat special feed to make good milk. But after the cow is milked, there are still many steps the milk must go through before it reaches you. This book describes them all. And you'll be surprised to find how many other things you eat and drink come from milk, too. 

Suggested Activity: Making Butter

Fill baby jars half-full with whipping cream and replace lids. The children can take turns shaking the jars until the cream separates. (The mixture will first look like whipping cream, then like overwhipped cream, and finally it will be obvious that separation has occurred.) Pour off the remaining liquid. Rinse the butter in cold water several times and drain. Add salt to taste. Let the children spread the butter on crackers or bread.

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

Appropriate Age: 4 and up

#65 - Beautiful Oops by Barney Salzberg

Summary: Hooray for mistakes! A spill doesn’t ruin a drawing—not when it becomes the shape of a goofy animal. And an accidental tear in your paper? Don’t be upset about it when you can turn it into the roaring mouth of an alligator. Beautiful Oops is an interactive book that shows   readers how every mistake is an opportunity to make something spectacular.
 
Suggested Activity: Ooops 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

#64 - Banjo Granny by Sarah Martin Busse

Summary: Granny’s heart is set on seeing her new grandbaby Owen who is wiggly, jiggly, and all-around giggly for bluegrass music just like she is. Granny packs up her banjo in its trusty old case with the taped handle. She puts on her thousand mile shoes and starts out to cross one river, one mountain, and one desert towards Owen's house. When she gets there she strums and sings her Owen-song from the first round note to the last little trill.   

Suggested Activity: Rubber-Band Banjo

Use the bottom half of a shoe box, an empty box of tissues, or other available box or container. Stretch four or five rubber bands of different widths over the opening of the box. Pluck and listen. Using both hands, see how many different notes you can make on one rubber band? What is the highest note you can make on the Rubber-Band Banjo? What is the lowest?

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

#63 - Allie the Allergic Elephant by Nicole Smith

Summary: Allie the Allergic Elephant helps children learn about food allergies and how to be a good friend when you can't share snacks. Allie explains peanut allergies in a way that parents, teachers and children themselves can talk about allergies and understand them better.
 
Suggested Activity:  A Peanut Sat on the Railroad Track

A peanut sat on the railroad track,
His heart was all a-flutter,
Round the bend came number ten.
Toot! Toot! Peanut butter!
Squish!

Curriculum Area: Listening and Speaking (expresses self using words and expanded sentences)
 
Appropriate Age Group: 4 and up