One Fine Day, by Nonny Hogrogian

Published December 7, 2013 by Dagmar

This 1971 winner of the Caldecott Medal worked really well with my kindergarten students. One day, a fox, traveling through a forest, notices a pail of milk. He quickly laps up all the milk but is caught by the old lady who owns the pail. Angry that the fox drank all her milk, the old lady cuts of his tail. He asks her to please sew it back on so his friends won’t tease him. She tells him that she’ll sew it back on if he brings her more milk. So begins fox’s journey to find milk.

The fox meets a cow who won’t give him milk unless the fox gives her some grass. He goes to the meadow, but the meadow won’t give him grass until she gets water and so on. Finally, after six different people ask him for something the miller takes pity on the poor fox, giving him some grain to give to the hen so he can have an egg to give to the peddler and so on until he has enough milk to pay back the old woman. The old woman does finally sew back on the fox’s tail. My guess is that our fox won’t be stealing milk again. 🙂

Enjoy!

Chu’s Day, by Neil Gaiman

Published November 21, 2013 by Dagmar

Here’s a fun one for the pre-k-kindergarten set. Neil Gaiman, Newbery award-winning author of The Graveyard Book, is back with a very cute picture book about a little panda that has to sneeze. What really makes this book, though, are the incredibly colorful and rich illustrations by Adam Rex, reminiscent to me of Pete & Pickles, a real favorite of mine and with older students in my library.

When Chu sneezes, bad things happen. Chu visits the library with his mom and looks like he needs to sneeze. When he visits the diner with his dad, he looks like he needs to sneeze. My students appreciated my theatrical “almost sneezes” and then laughed when adorable Chu said “No,” he didn’t have to sneeze. Then, Chu and his parents visit the circus – you know – then one with the really big tent? Chu tries and tries to tell his folks, who are enthralled by the circus, that he needs to sneeze. No one listens. Oops. That sneeze not only knocks down the circus tent, but also everything in the library and diner too, much to the delight of my students.

If you’re looking for a hit with your younger students, you’ll enjoy Chu’s Day.

Little Gorilla, Ruth Bornstein

Published October 13, 2013 by Dagmar

It’s always nice to find a real winner for the pre-k set. Little Gorilla is one of those affirming books that makes everyone, listener and reader feel good.

Little Gorilla is loved from the day he is born. His mom and dad love him, his aunts and uncles love him, all the animals in the forest love him and help him. Until one day…Little Gorilla grows. My students all wonder what will happen when Little Gorilla grows. They wait expectantly until I start singing “Happy Birthday”. They all smile in relief and join in. The last page says, “And everyone still loved him.”

Classes begin next week – or today?

Published September 18, 2013 by Dagmar

I had the best surprise today. As I was finishing up last minute administrative projects and preparing plans for my library classes, our transkinder (TK) class showed up, a week early, for their library class. They were so well-behaved. They sat down on the rug with their hands folded on their laps. Wow. Not bad for September! One of my favorite things to do with pre-k/TK classes is to sing. By a stroke of luck, I picked a “singing book” that I love called Five Little Ducks. It’s a book by Raffi, the famous singer of children’s songs. This happens to have been the book their teacher had been singing with them. So, together, we sang and made the hand motions that go with the book. It was a great start to their “trial run” library class. For those of you who don’t know the tune to Five Little Ducks, the music is in the back of the book. It’s simple and sweet. A great addition to any home library or pre-k/TK classroom.

We moved on to one of my favorite preschool books, Ask Mr. Bear. Ask Mr. Bear is an old book, but kept them absolutely riveted as little Danny looks for a present for his mother’s birthday. The repetition, opportunity to practice animal sounds (much to the delight of my students who loved the goat’s “meh, meh” sound the best) and just the right amount of suspense. What a fun and satisfying read aloud.

I was sorry to see them line up to go, but got such a nice feeling that this will be a great school year of classes.

I haven’t written recently, because I’m waiting to make my recommendations to all my students based on my summer reading. I want to see which of my picks they really like, so stay tuned! I’m also very lucky to have a huge stack of new picture books to share with my students – so more news awaits as I read them to my classes. Hopefully we’ll find some books that I love, and they love too.

I hope the beginning of the school year started as nicely for all of you.

Ask Mr. Bear, by Marjorie Flack

Published July 12, 2013 by Dagmar

Here is an old fashioned but very sweet book that is always a hit with my preschoolers. Although the illustrations are dated, there is good preschool-level suspense when Danny goes into the woods to talk to a bear.

Danny wants to buy a gift for his mother for her birthday. He asks a hen, goose, goat, sheep, cow and then finally a bear what to give his mother. The bear gives the best answer, a hug.

Baby Beluga, by Raffi

Published July 7, 2013 by Dagmar

This book was the book that made my kindergarten class sing last year. Baby Beluga is a great song song by children’s musician, Raffi. The book is part of the Raffi Songs to Read series. I love to sing, and singing Baby Beluga with a crowd of kindergartners is absolutely the best. We created hand movements and sang this book at every class time. The kids brought tears to my eyes when they performed Baby Beluga with their teacher at an assembly. I love “singing” this book to any young child.

This book follows the song exactly as it is sung. Check out Raffi singing the song on YouTube to hear how the song goes. The illustrations by Ashley Wolff are sweet. Best yet, this inspired an interest in whales in my library! Off we were to discover more about Beluga whales, blue whales, gray whales and more! If you like to sing, Baby Beluga may just be the book for you.

Seven Blind Mice, by Ed Young

Published July 2, 2013 by Dagmar

This Caldecott Honor book is a favorite with my young readers. I usually read it to pre-k through 1st grade. The colors are brilliant, set on a black background.

Seven mice, red, green, yellow, purple, orange, blue and white, try to understand the large object in front of them. Each one feels a different part of the whole and makes a guess as to what the object must be. It isn’t until the seventh mouse runs “up one side, down another and across the Something from end to end” that he discovers that the “Something” is an elephant. The others, then do the same and agree with the white mouse. The moral? “Knowing in part may make a fine tale, but wisdom comes from seeing the whole.”

Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus, by Mo Willems

Published June 26, 2013 by Dagmar

Whatever you do, DON’T let the pigeon drive the bus. Mo Willems has a great sense of humor, and this book is simply hilarious. There is not one class, pre-k through 5, that doesn’t laugh hysterically when I read this book.

Pigeon really wants to drive the bus. But, the only thing the bus driver as asked you to do is NOT let pigeon drive the bus. Sounds easy, right? Well, pigeon really, really wants to drive this bus. He’ll tell you just about anything to get to drive the bus. Any adult that’s been around a child will recognize Pigeon’s ploys as he tries to cajole you into letting him drive the bus.

Enjoy! You may just be laughing as loud as the children around you.

This book won a Caldecott Honor in 2004.

Corduroy, by Don Freeman

Published June 10, 2013 by Dagmar

I think I read this book to my son about a million times – no, two milion times. It’s a book I remember loving from my own childhood. This book doesn’t seem to age. The best thing, though, is to see the looks on the faces of my preschoolers and kindergartners when I read them this book.

Corduroy is a about a little teddy bear sitting on the shelf of a department store who is missing a button on his overalls. A little girl named Lisa wants to buy Corduroy, but her mother won’t let her, because he doesn’t look new. A button is missing on Corduroy’s overalls. That night, after the store closes, Corduroy searches the department store for a button to fix his overalls. Lisa, determined to bring Corduroy home, returns the next day with all her savings so that she can buy Corduroy, despite his missing button. In a very sweet ending scene, as Lisa sews on a new button to Corduroy’s overalls, both Corduroy and Lisa realize that they’ve each found a friend.

Little Blue and Little Yellow, by Leo Lionni

Published May 19, 2013 by Dagmar

I’m a big fan of Leo Lionni’s books. They are timeless. This is a wonderful pre-k book that never fails with my preschool and kindergarten students. In this book, Leo Leonni blends colors to create a story of friendship and family. His ripped paper art is creative and appealing to young audiences.

Little blue has lots of friends, but little yellow is his best friend. One day, little blue goes out looking for little yellow. When they finally find each other, they hug and become one green dot. They go on all sorts of adventures together but when they go home to their families, their families don’t recognize them. It isn’t until they both cry that their tears turn them back into blue and yellow. The families recognize their children and everyone hugs, going from blue and yellow to green.

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