Williams, Vera B. Three Days on a River in the Red Canoe. Greenwillow, 1981. A Picture Book Preschool selection.

Picture Book Preschool is a preschool/kindergarten curriculum which consists of a list of picture books to read aloud for each week of the year and a character trait, a memory verse, and activities, all tied to the theme for the week. You can purchase a downloadable version (pdf file) of Picture Book Preschool by Sherry Early at Biblioguides.

Preschoolers and water . . . what a great combination! For this week (week 40) in my curriculum book Picture Book Preschool, the theme is Boats, Rivers, and Bridges. There are so many projects that can go with this theme:
Sail paper boats in the bathtub or somewhere else.

Build a bridge out of popsicle sticks or paper or cardboard or blocks.
Go for a boat ride.
Play PoohSticks.
Make a town in the sandbox or in the dirt and flood it. (Engineer Husband used do this in his backyard repeatedly.)

And one of the books listed in the curriculum for this week is Three Days on a River in a Red Canoe by Vera B. Williams. The book tells the story of a girl, her mom, Aunt Rosie, and Cousin Sam who go together on a weekend canoeing and camping trip. The four adventurers cook outdoors (recipes included), canoe in the rain, catch fish, fall into the river, and have an all-around good time.

I got the book out for this post, and Brown Bear Daughter (14) exclaimed, “Oh, I love that book! That’s one of my favorite books!” Karate Kid (12) has been in canoeing classes for about three years now, and I would say that the book gives a fairly good picture of what a novice canoeist would encounter and enjoy. However, the creek that Karate Kid and his friends paddle in is much nastier than the one in the book. Which is one reason I read about canoeing and KK does it.

Now would be a great time to order a copy of my preschool/kindergarten curriculum: Picture Book Preschool. The book would make a great Christmas gift for your favorite mom of preschoolers, especially if you packaged it with copies of two or three of the books suggested in the curriculum.

Each week of Picture Book Preschool is built around a theme, and includes a suggested character trait to work on, a Bible verse, and seven picture books to read to your children. Here is an example of the first week, built around the theme of the new year and the changing seasons:

Week 1 (Dec/Jan) THE NEW YEAR/SEASONS
Character Trait: Patience
Bible Verse: It was you who set all the boundaries of the earth; you made both summer and winter. Psalm 74:17

Thomas, Joan Gale. If Jesus Came to My House. Lothrop Lee, 1985.
Zolotow, Charlotte. Over and Over. Harper, 1957
McPhail, David. Farm Boy’s Year. Atheneum, 1992.
Zolotow, Charlotte. Summer Is . . . Harper, 1985.
Lionni, Leo. Mouse Days. Pantheon, 1980.
Gibbons, Gail. Surrounded by Sea. Little Brown, 1991.
Tudor, Tasha. First Delights. Platt and Munk, 1988.

Picture Book Preschool is a preschool/kindergarten curriculum which consists of a list of picture books to read aloud for each week of the year and a character trait, a memory verse, and activities, all tied to the theme for the week. You can purchase a downloadable version (pdf file) of Picture Book Preschool by Sherry Early at Biblioguides.

Since it’s that time of year, getting ready for school and all that jazz, I thought it might be a good idea to feature a post with a little information on my book, Picture Book Preschool. Also, it seems to me that Picture Book Preschool would be a good resource for All of you parents of preschoolers, homeschoolers or not.

Picture Book Preschool is a preschool/kindergarten curriculum which consists of a list of picture books to read aloud for each week of the year and a character trait, a memory verse, and activities, all tied to the theme for the week. You can purchase a downloadable version (pdf file) of Picture Book Preschool by Sherry Early at Biblioguides.

Go here for an example of one week’s listing.

The book mainly consists of these lists, one for each week of the year. You should be able to find most of the picture books listed in Picture Book Preschool at your local library. If you can only find five out of the seven or six out of the seven for a given week, that should be enough to keep you busy. I have collected many of the picture books listed in Picture Book Preschool for my own children by browsing used bookstores. So when I read these books to Z-baby, I read some that we owned and some that I got from the library.

As far as comparisons go, I am familiar with the curriculum Five in a Row, and I like it very much. In Five in a Row you are encouraged to read one picture book, such as Lentil by Robert McCloskey, for five days in a row. (Children generally love to read favorite picture books over and over again.) For each day of the week this curriculum gives lesson plans related to the books of the week covering science, mathematics, history and geography, and language arts. Five in a Row is a fully developed curriculum with loads of activities to keep your homeschooled preschooler or kindergartner busy and happy.

Unfortunately (or fortunately) for my preschooler, I am homeschooling six older children. I don’t have time to do all the activities in Five in a Row, and I like the variety of picture books we read with Picture Book Preschool. Picture Book Preschool introduces your child to the best of children’s picture books, and it takes only a few minutes each day to read the book for that day, talk about it, and see where it leads you. Maybe you’ll pretend to run away from home with Frances or stack caps like the peddler in Caps for Sale or make up a poem of your own after reading The Important Book by Margaret Wise Brown. I suggest a few activities in Picture Book Preschool, but it’s left up to you and your child how far you want to go with each book and with the theme for each week.

Ursel Scheffler is a German children’s author who, according to Wikipedia in German, lives in Hamburg. I discovered her delightful picture book, A Walk in the Rain, several years ago while looking at books at a local college library with a good children’s collection. It was published in English by Putnam in 1986. Ms. Scheffler has a cute website, but it’s all in German, too. Anyway, as I recall, the book is about a grandfather and a child who go for a walk in the rain. Since I like walks in the rain and the book was beautifully illustrated, I liked the book.

Nothing To Do by Russell Hoban is a book about a father and daughter possum instead of about Frances the badger. But as much as I adore all the Frances books, Nothing To Do may be my favorite Hoban book. I say “may be” only because I can’t get my hands on a copy, and so I haven’t seen the book in twenty years. In the story, Little Charlotte is bored and can’t find anything to do until her father gives her a talisman that will always keep her busy.

Apricot ABC by Miska Miles is a beautiful classic alphabet book, published in 1969 and illustrated by Peter Parnall. Again, this is a case of an author’s having published a much more well known book (Annie and the Old One), but this delectable little book is not as familiar. It should be.

Another old book, lost to our children, is Louis Slobodkin’s One Is Good But Two Are Better. (Semicolon review here.) The simple text tells about all the activities for which it is necessary to have two or more people. The pictures, simple too, show children doing things together. Here’s a picture from the title page of my falling-apart copy:

The King at the Door by Brock Cole tells the story of a king who’s disguised as a beggar. Only one person believes that the ragged old man is really the king and treats him with the proper respect and care. It’s out of print, but worth searching for.

Also, for Christian parents interested in talking to their primary age girls about moral purity, Mrs. Rosey-Posey and the Chocolate Cherry Treat by Robin Gunn is a great book. The reading level is about second or third grade, and the tone is encouraging without being too preachy. We read it at a tea party at church a couple of years ago, and I need to find a copy of my own.

In fact, if anyone has copies of any of the books on this list that they’d be interested in selling or giving away, I’m your potential buyer.

Today’s Recommendations from Under the Radar:

Finding Wonderland: The Curved Saber: The Adventure of Khlit the Cossack by Harold Lamb
Chasing Ray: Dorothy of Oz from Illusive Arts Entertainment (the Dorothy comic you should all be reading!)
Bildungsroman: Christopher Golden’s Body of Evidence series
Interactive Reader: Christopher Golden’s Body of Evidence series as well
Not Your Mother’s Bookclub: An interview with Robert Sharenow, author of My Mother the Cheerleader
lectitans: The Angel of the Opera: Sherlock Meets the Phantom of the Opera by Sam Siciliano
Bookshelves of Doom: The God Beneathe the Sea, Black Jack & Jack Holburn all by Leon Garfield
Writing and Ruminating: An interview with Tony Mitton and a review of his book, Plum
The YA YA YAs: I Rode a Horse of Milk White Jade by Diane Lee Wilson
Chicken Spaghetti: The Illustrator’s Notebook by Mohieddin Ellabad

I almost forgot.

Rock in My Dryer Shannon has another great idea. She’s suggesting that everyone who wants to participate give something away in a drawing at their blog. The announcements would take place on Monday, July 23rd, and the drawing, from the list of commenters, would be on Friday the 27th. Oh, go over and see Shannon’s guidelines for what she’s calling the Dog Days of Summer Bloggy Giveaway.

So, I’m giving away a copy of my book Picture Book Preschool. If you want to win a copy, just leave a comment. I’ll draw one name on Friday and send the winner a copy of the book.

You can order the curriculum book through Cafe Press for $12.99. The curriculum book consists of a weekly list of seven picture books that deal with a specific theme. Go here for an example of one week’s listing.

The book mainly consists of these lists, one for each week of the year. You should be able to find most of the picture books listed in Picture Book Preschool at your local library. If you can only find five out of the seven or six out of the seven for a given week, that should be enough to keep you busy. I have collected many of the picture books listed in Picture Book Preschool for my own children by browsing used bookstores. So when I read these books to Z-baby, I read some that we own and some that I get from the library.

As far as comparisons go, I am familiar with the curriculum Five in a Row, and I like it very much. In Five in a Row you are encouraged to read one picture book, such as Lentil by Robert McCloskey, for five days in a row. (Children generally love to read favorite picture books over and over again.) For each day of the week this curriculum gives lesson plans related to the books of the week covering science, mathematics, history and geography, and language arts. Five in a Row is a fully developed curriculum with loads of activities to keep your homeschooled preschooler or kindergartner busy and happy.

Unfortunately (or fortunately) for my preschooler, I am homeschooling six older children. I don’t have time to do all the activities in Five in a Row, and I like the variety of picture books we read with Picture Book Preschool. Picture Book Preschool introduces your child to the best of children’s picture books, and it takes only a few minutes each day to read the book for that day, talk about it, and see where it leads you. Maybe you’ll pretend to run away from home with Frances or stack caps like the peddler in Caps for Sale or make up a poem of your own after reading The Important Book by Margaret Wise Brown. I suggest a few activities in Picture Book Preschool, but it’s left up to you and your child how far you want to go with each book and with the theme for each week.

If you are interested in purchasing a copy of the curriculum book, Picture Book Preschool click on the ad in the sidebar or on one of the links in this post. I think you’ll enjoy the extra guidance in picking out books for your preschooler or kindergartner and the low-pressure homeschool-friendly suggestions in the book. If you want to win a copy, just leave a comment and see if you’re the one. I’ll send the book anywhere in the world, but the picture books themselves may be more readily available in the U.S.

Not a requirement, but I just thought it would be fun if you left a comment telling us all what your favorite picture book is. What is your favorite? What is your child’s favorite (you know, the one you’ve read over and over until you have it memorized)?

Check out Shannon’s Dog Days of Summer Bloggy Giveaway for more contests and giveaways.

. . . if you don’t toot your own horn, nobody else will.

IMHO, my curriculum book, PictureBook Preschool would be a wonderful Christmas gift for any friend or relative with a preschool child. The weekly book lists are grouped by theme, and January would be a perfect time to start reading aloud daily to your preschooler if you’re not doing so already.

Click here for more information . .

Lenski, Lois. Sing a Song of People. Illustrated by Giles Laroche.

Lois Lenski was first an art student, then an illustrator, then a poet and and illlustrator, and then an author of prose stories for elementary age students. Her city poem “Sing a Song of People,” illustrated in this picture book by Giles Laroche, is a simple, much-anthologized list of the kinds of people a child might meet on a city sidewalk. Of course, the city is New York or Chicago or some other northeastern city. The people are riding on subways and walking on sidewalks in front of huge department stores or apartment buildings.

My daughter asked me just last week why hardly anyone walks anywhere in Houston. I told her it was too hot in Houston, but that’s only half the story. We Texans are too fond of our automobiles to ride subways. Even if the places we go are not that far away, we never think of walking or riding a bicycle. Psychologically, we believe in distance and open spaces, and of course, air conditioning on the way.

Anyway, in Lois Lenski’s city, people walk and ride buses and subways, and wear hats, and carry umbrellas, and pass by each other without stopping to talk. This last is not a Southern custom either; when we get out of our cars, we tend to talk to people in lines, in the aisles of the grocery store, in waiting rooms. So, Sing a Song of People is a poem about a different culture, but not an unattractive one. All the busy people hurrying along the streets make an interesting poem and a montage-like picture of city life.

The illustrations by Giles Laroche are a combination of college-like paper cutouts and drawing or painting. The pictures are appropriately childlike, a bit busy with all of the people milling about, multicultural, and colorful. If you can’t find the book (it’s out of print, but inexpensive from used book sellers at the moment), you can read the poem online, but the picture book itself is worth searching for.

Sing a Song of People by Lois Lenski at Biblioguides.

Sing a Song of People is one of the over 365 books listed in my preschool/kindergarten curriculum, Picture Book Preschool. In this read aloud curriculum list I recommend some of the best picture books available for children, and the book suggestions are grouped into themes such as last week’s theme “Farms” or this week’s “Cities.”

Picture Book Preschool is a preschool/kindergarten curriculum which consists of a list of picture books to read aloud for each week of the year and a character trait, a memory verse, and activities, all tied to the theme for the week. You can purchase a downloadable version (pdf file) of Picture Book Preschool by Sherry Early at Biblioguides.