PPBF: Have You Seen My Trumpet?

Author: Michael Escoffier
Illustrator: Kris Di Giacomo
Publisher: Enchanted Lion Books, 2016
Age: 3-6
Themes: vocabulary, wordplay, animals
Opening: Who is playing frisbee?

Summary: (from my library catalog) Presents a young girl looking for her trumpet, with her questions containing hidden words for animals that can be seen in the illustrations..

Why I like this book: I love playing with words and think it’s important to encourage children to do so as well, especially while having to cope within an environment overrun by standardized testing. (Thanks for allowing me a 2-second soapbox moment!) The artwork invites play on an entirely different level, using a warm and welcoming palette. Enjoy, my playful friends!

Resources/Activities: Play! With words, both written and spoken and with visuals: what new beasts can you create from common complex words? What new words can you invent for common (and/or complex!) creatures?

For more Perfect Picture Book picks with teacher/parent resources, check out the list on Susanna Hill’s blog HERE.

PPBF: Sometimes It’s Storks + a winner!

Author: L.J.R. Kelly
Illustrator: The Brothers Hilts
Publisher: G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 2017
Age: 2-5
Themes: infants, animals
Opening: “Babies arrive by different means, on rickshaws, beasts or submarines, and some, indeed, do come by wing – a bundle of baby, blanket and string – “

Summary: (from my library catalog) Relates where some babies come from as a parent tells a child of the long and strange journey that began with a careless stork and ended with the baby finally reaching home.

Why I like this book: Stunning compositions with stimulating use of contrast – great for young eyes – and tired ones too! The text gets high marks for top-notch readaloudability and humor too. Great gift for new parents!

Resources/Activities: read it again, savor it a third time, and after the fifth reading buy a copy for a friend!

For more Perfect Picture Book picks with teacher/parent resources, check out the list on Susanna Hill’s blog HERE.

And the WINNER of the 5th BLOGIVERSARY giveaway picture book is:

JOANNA MARPLE!

Thanks to each and every one of you for participating!!!

PPBF: Mom, There’s a Bear at the Door! + my 5th blogiversary!

To celebrate 5 years of blogging I’d like to send one lucky reader a gift: a picture book of their choice! Please leave the title of the book you’d like in the comment section by March 23, 2017/6amMDT, and if I can get a hold of a new copy I’d be honored to send it to you. Please understand that if the winner is from outside the US, the offer applies in softcover/paperback form. Looking forward to reading your wish titles in the comment section below! And happy St. Patrick’s Day to my fellow (lucky) Irish folks!

Author: Sabine Lipan
Illustrator: Manuela Olten
Publisher: Eerdmans, 2016; orig. in German: Mama, da steht ein Bär vor der Tür!
Age: 2-5
Themes: bears, mother-and-child, humorous stories
Opening: Mom, there’s a bear at the door! A Bear? A bear. But we live on the eleventh floor! That’s why he’s here.

Summary: (from my library catalog) I love the faith tenacity of this main character, and the expression-laden character designs. So much fun!!! Can’t wait to try this out on my storytime kids!

Why I like this book: A mother has several questions when her son tells her there’s a bear standing outside the front door of their eleventh-floor apartment.

Resources/Activities: this is a great ‘what if?’ prompt for young writers!

For more Perfect Picture Book picks with teacher/parent resources, check out the list on Susanna Hill’s blog HERE.

PPBF: Old MacDonald Had a Truck

Author: Steve Goetz
Illustrator: Eda Kaban
Publisher: Chronicle, 2016
Age: 2-5
Themes: farmers, trucks, stories based on songs
Opening: Old MacDonald had a farm E-I-E-I-O. And on that farm he had an…EXCAVATOR!

Summary: (from my library catalog) An update of the classic folk song, Old MacDonald, featuring farm vehicles like excavator, dump truck, and bulldozer.

Why I like this book: My local library’s children’s librarian handed this one to me, and I am grateful – such a great read-aloud that will surely delight truck-loving singers and my storytime crowd at the bookstore.

Resources/Activities: read this along with Little Blue Truck, by Alice Shertle and Jill McElmurry and The Happy Man and His Dump Truck, by Miryam and Tibor Gergely; Play animal charades: have children pick an image of farm animal out of a bag/basket and act out the sounds or movements of the animal for others to guess.

For more Perfect Picture Book picks with teacher/parent resources, check out the list on Susanna Hill’s blog HERE.