PPBF: Fox Eyes

Author: Margaret Wise Brown
Illustrator: Garth Williams
Publisher: Pantheon Books, 1951; illustrations: 1977
Age: 3-7
Themes: foxes, animals, animal habits
Opening: (image below)

Summary: (from my library’s catalog) A fox causes consternation among the animals whose secrets he discovers. Little do they realize that because of the fox’s secret, they have no cause for worry.

I like this book because: I was intrigued by an image that Jama Kim Rattigan posted from the book and was so glad I could get it through my local library system. And that cover!!! Wow! What a surprise! But my favorite part of the book has become the sound of the fox’s cough – Whiskerchew!

Resources/Activities: great companion book when discussing animal habits, habitats, and their sleeping and hunting rhythms, together with Night Animals from Gianna Marino, or Owl Moon from Jane Yolen.

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

PPBF: The Fox Went Out on a Chilly Night

Author/Illustrator: Peter Spier
Publisher: Doubleday Books for Young readers, 1961, 2014
Ages: 3-7yrs
Themes: fox, folk song, New England
Opening: The fox went out on a chilly night, and he prayed to the moon to give him light,for he’d many miles to go that night before he reached the town-o, town-o, town-o…
Summary: (from my library catalog) The countryside of New England is depicted in the pictures accompanying this folk song in which a fox travels many miles to get dinner for his wife and ten cubs. Includes musical notation.

I like this book because: my sister used to lead us in song on long car rides while we were growing up, and one of our favorite drives was to go leaf peeping in New England, specifically into Connecticut, every Columbus Day. Though never out-of-print, this reissue is now full-color, as the illustrator was asked to add to the black and white spreads of the original book – over fifty years later! I enjoy both versions.

Resources/activities: learn to sing the song – music in the back of the book; discuss how a folk song might be different than a pop song, and list songs a family might enjoy singing on a car ride (just as the author and his wife sang this one!), as well as other activities we engage in to pass the time.

For more PPBF selections including resources and activities, go to Susanna Hill’s blog: HERE

SOCHI?

What’s Sochi? Yep, that happens when you don’t have TV reception, don’t get the local paper (the writing could be better), and listen to public radio – obviously with beans in my ears!But Catherine asked to tandem another post (check hers out – HERE), so I googled ‘Sochi’ for inspiration, and found some! Here‘s the article. And how is it pronounced – by Russians? The -o in Sochi is somewhere in between the English “law” vowel and the English ‘lot’ vowel (so somewhere between SAW-chi and SOTCH-i).

borrowed from ftw.usatoday.com (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)

FYI: Who came up with ‘curling’? According to wikipedia (source of all knowledge when you haven’t got a clue!), ‘the verbal noun curling is formed from the Scottish (and English) verb curl, which describes the motion of the stone.’ Got that? But wait – it’s also known as ‘the roaring game’, because of the sound the stones make while traveling over the pebble (droplets of water applied to the playing surface). Uhhh, okay.  Anyway – now for a poem, because that’s what you’re here for, the word crafting and the pictures. Right? (pssst – now is a good time to agree!)

This is what the Curling Fox says:

Høyer, høyer, pants on fire!
Crowds are trilling like a choir!
They cheer and cry – I don’t know why
Norway’s stones fall cruelly shy

Thanks for popping in!