Picture Book Preschool Books of the Week: Week 32 Clothing

Beskow, Elsa. Pelle’s New Suit. Harper & Row, 1929.

dePaola, Tomie. Charlie Needs a Cloak. Prentice-Hall, 1973.

Instead of one picture book from my curriculum booklist, Picture Book Preschool, I chose two books to compare and recommend, Pelle’s New Suit by Elsa Beskow and Charlie Needs a Cloak by one of my favorites, Tomie dePaola. Pelle’s New Suit, first published in 1929, is about a “little Swedish boy whose name was Pelle.” Pelle has his own lamb, but needs a new coat. So he shears the lams’s wool, takes it to his grandmother, and asks her to comb the wool. She agrees to do so in return for some help in the garden from Pelle. And so it goes. Each person that Pelle asks for help in making his coat asks him to do something in return. So children learn how a coat is made from raw wool, how work is exchanged for goods, and how one event follows another in a linear story. The original illustrations by Ms. Beskow are beautiful as you can see from the picture. (There’s also a Wonder Books edition with ilustrations by George Wilde, not as great.)

Charlie of Charlie Needs a Cloak makes his own cloak from the wool of his own sheep. However, the illustrations tell a parallel story of Charlie’s naughty little pet lamb who interferes with Charlie’s cloak-making at every step. Then, as the story ends, we see why Charlie needed a new cloak in the first place. Let’s just say that naughty pet lambs are hard on cloaks. The pictures are the salient feature in this book; there’s also a mouse in each picture who’s doing something a bit mischievous, too. Poor Charlie gets his red cloak after some hard work and a few tussles with the lamb, and there’s a short glossary of words in the back of the book to explain exactly what Charlie was doing when he sheared and carded and spun the wool.

Get both of these if you can and read them together. You might appreciate your winter coat a little more the next time you get it out of winter storage.

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.

Picture Book Preschool Book of the Week: #21

May21

Heilbroner, Joan. Robert the Rose Horse. Illustrated by P.D. Eastman. Random House, 1962.

Dr. Seuss’s The Cat in the Hat was published in 1957, as was Little Bear by Else Homlelund Minarik. These two are the classic easy readers, published by Random House and Harper and Row, respectively. In the late 50’s and in the 1960’s and 70’s, books for beginning readers became trendy. Lots of libraries separated the easy readers from the picture books so that beginning readers could easily find the books they could read all by themselves.

Robert the Rose Horse is another one of those old classic beginning readers, published in 1962, back when easy readers were just becoming popular with publishers and in libraries. The book tells the story of Robert, a horse who leaves his country home because he is allergic to roses. Although Robert’s allergy is the central driving plot element of the story, the words “allergy” and “allergic” are never used, of course. Robert sneezes, and the story progresses. Robert is a sort of funny, anthropomorphized, horse, too. He carries a suitcase and walks on his hind legs, except when he’s working as a cart horse. Then he needs all four feet on the ground. And he never talks to the people in the story, but he seems to be able to communicate with them quite well.

None of these oddities detracts from the delightful story of Robert, an ordinary horse with a mild disability (his allergy) who overcomes his problems with perseverance and courage. Robert the Rose Horse is one of my favorite characters. His story is not only fun for young beginning readers; it’s also fun to read aloud with preschoolers. I like making (faking) Robert’s sneezes, and my urchins enjoy reading about the bank robbery that turns Robert into a hero.

Picture Book Preschool Book of the Week: Week 20

May15

“A hill is a house for an ant, an ant.
A hive is a house for a bee.
A hole is a house for a mole or a mouse
And a house is a house for me!”

A House Is a House For Me by Mary Ann Hoberman, illustrated by Betty Fraser, goes on rollicking and rhyming from there to tell about all the possible houses for all the creatures you can imagine. Then, it moves on to expand your creativity and that of your child by telling us that “a stocking’s a house for a knee” and “cartons are houses for crackers.” The illustrations give even more examples of people, animals, and things, each inside its own cozy house or tent or container or home. And the rhyme and the rhythm keep the story going.

Mary Ann Hoberman: “I knew I was going to be a writer even before I knew how to write! I think I was about four years old when I first understood that many of the stories I loved so much had been made up by real people, with real names, rather than having always been here like the moon or the sky. I decided then that when I grew up I would write stories, too, that would be printed in books for other people to read. But meanwhile I didnï¿½t wait to grow up or even to learn how to write. I started right away to make up stories and poems and songs in my head, which I told to myself or to my little brotherï¿½”

Question: Do you have a child (or children) who tells stories to herself? I did. Eldest Daughter walked around and around in circles and told stories to herself. Z-baby just makes up her own songs.

We read this book aloud this morning, and now Z-baby and Bethy Bee are busy making houses for their dolls out of shoe boxes.

Mary Ann Hoberman’s website.
Go here for a short interview with poet Mary Ann Hoberman.
Try this webpage for a first grade level lesson plan about homes and neighborhoods.
Here’s another lesson plan in which the teacher guides children to write a story of their own about quilts in the style of A House Is a House for Me.

“And once you get started in thinking this way,
It seems that whatever you see
Is either a house or it lives in a house,
And a house is a house for me!”

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. Click on the link in the sidebar if you are interested in purchasing a copy of the preschool curriculum, Picture Book Preschool by Sherry Early.

Picture Book Preschool Book of the Week: Week 19

May7

Lindman, Maj. Snipp, Snapp, Snurr and the Red Shoes. Laidlaw Brothers, 1939.

Since Sunday is Mother’s Day, the theme for Picture Book Preschool this week is Mothers. All the books on the list for this week are classics, but my favorite, because it brings back nostalgic memories, is Snipp, Snapp, Snurr and the Red Shoes by Maj Lindman. In this story, Swedish triplets Snipp, Snapp, and Snurr find jobs to earn enough money to buy their mother a pair of red shoes for her birthday. That’s about all there is to the storyline. The illustrations are old-fashioned paintings of three Scandinavian boys in short pants and shirts, fresh-faced, ready and eager to go out and work to buy their mother the best of all possible presents.

Ms. Lindman wrote and illustrated a series of these picture books about Snipp, Snapp, and Snurr and another series about girl triplets Flicka, Ricka, and Dicka. There’s something fascinating about the setting, Sweden in the 1940’s, the characters, identical triplets, and the situations, everyday adventures, that appeals to young children. I think I had never heard of triplets before I discovered them in the Snipp, Snapp, and Snurr books, and I also probably made my first visit to Sweden in these stories.

Here’s a list someone made at amazon of all the Snip, Snapp, Snurr books and all the Flicka, Ricka, Dicka books. I think Red Shoes is the best of the lot, but your preschooler may want to read them all. I did. The bad news is that these series are only available new in paperback, and I have not been very pleased with the quality of the paperback copies that I have purchased. They’ve all fallen apart. If you find a hardcover copy of any of Maj Lindman’s books at a used book sale or thrift store, grab it. A hardcover copy of Snipp, Snapp, Snurr, and the Red Shoes in good condition looks to be worth about ten or twenty (or more) dollars. But if I found one, I’d want to keep it for myself and my own children.

Picture Book Preschool Book of the Week: Week 18

May1

Flack, Marjorie. Angus Lost. Doubleday, 1932.

Angus is a little black Scottish terrier who is tired of the same old yard and the same old house and especially the same old fence keeping him from seeing the great wide world that he is so curious to explore. Like Curious George, Angus’s curiosity is his downfall. He goes out the gate when it is left open one day, and he gets lost in that big world. He meets another bigger dog, and a stranger, and cars, and even a bird with huge dark eyes, but finally he follows a familiar face home again to the same yard and the same house where he is safe again.

Psychologically comforting, this story is also just cute and satisfying. The illustrations alternate between black and white drawings, and the same kind of drawings with a bit of color added. Angus has a big adventure, for a little black dog, and he gets home safe and sound.

Ms. Flack wrote and illustrated two more books about Angus, Angus and the Cat and Angus and the Ducks. All three are worth acquiring for you and your preschooler to read over and over again. These are simple enough to read to a two or three year old, but should also hold the interest of four and five year olds. You may, however, have to explain some things, like the milkman and the funny old-fashioned cars, since this book was written back in the 1930’s. It holds up remarkably well.

Marjorie Flack also wrote The Story About Ping and Ask Mr. Bear, as well as many other picture books for children. Her book, Boats on the River, won a Caldecott Honor award for its illustrator, Jay Hyde Barnum.

Weston Woods has a video based on Angus Lost, and here is a study guide (pdf) with teaching activities that could be used with either the book or the movie.

Picture Book Preschool Book of the Week #16

Apr17

It looked like spilt milk, but it wasn’t. What was it? Well, you must read through this book of white pictures on a blue background to find out what it really was. But the fun comes in guessing what “it” is along the way. After you read the book, here are some good follow-up activities:

1. Go outside and look at the clouds. What pictures can you find in the clouds?

2. Use white paint on blue construction paper to make your own spilt milk picture.

3. Read The Cloud Book by Tomie dePaola or Little Cloud by Eric Carle.

4. Play “I Spy.” One person says, “I spy something blue.” The other player tries to guess what is being spied.

5. Use white chalk to draw on the sidewalk.

6. Make a cloud book, drawing and naming all the clouds you see in a week’s time.

7. Use white cotton balls and glue to make another kind of cloud picture.

It Looked Like Spilt Milk is a book to enjoy reading together over and over again.

Picture Book Preschool Book of the Week #15

Apr10

Rain Makes Applesauce by Julian Scheer.

“The stars are made of lemon juice . . . and rain makes applesauce.

The wind blows backwards all night long . . . and rain makes applesauce.

Salmon slide down a hippo’s hide . . . and rain makes applesauce.”

I used to read this book to my kindergarten and first grade classes many moons ago when I was a school librarian. The children would soon join in on the chorus: “Rain makes applesauce!” It only takes a few pages for kids and grown-ups to get the idea of this ridiculously nonsensical picture book poem. Take a modicum of rhythm, maybe a rhyme or some alliteration, and add the refrain “rain makes applesauce,” and you can play this word game all day long. After you finish reading all the silly sentences in the book, you and the kids can make up your own.

(Z-baby saw me looking at this book, and she had to have me read it to her. She says, “Rain doesn’t really make applesauce; rain makes WATER!”)

The illustrations in this picture book by Marvin Bileck are delightfully busy, harlequin-like pictures of children and giants and clowns and fairies and gnomes doing all sorts of silly things. Some of the pictures look as if they’ve been washed over by the rain that makes applesauce.

And at the end we visit The Sea of Applesauce and realize that rain does make applesauce.

(Oh, you’re just talking silly talk. I know I’m talking silly talk, but RAIN MAKES APPLESAUCE!)

Picture Book Preschool Book of the Week #14

Apr4

The theme for this week in Picture Book Preschool is rain, and the character trait to be emphasized is independence. Umbrella by Taro Yashima is a good book for thinking about both of these themes. Momo, the little girl in the story, gets an umbrella and a pair of red rubber boots for her third birthday. She is so anxious to use her new umbrella that she asks her mother every day why the rain doesn’t fall. She even tries to talk her mother into letting her use the umbrella and boots to keep the sun out of her eyes, but she is admonished to wait and keep the umbrella for a rainy day. Finally the rainy day comes, and Momo has an exciting walk to and from nursery school in the rain with her new umbrella, a walk in which she grows up just a little without even realizing it.

I love this gentle story, and so do my little girls. It speaks to so many preschool concerns: growing up and acting grown-up, the difficulty of waiting for good things to happen, the excitement and joy of experiencing those long-awaited pleasures. The watercolor illustrations also by Yashima include various Japanese characters for nouns used in the story.

Possible activities to complement the reading of Umbrella:
Did you know that you can get a cheap umbrella at the dollar store? At least, out dollar store has them. What a wonderful gift for a three or four year old.

Talk about the letter “U” and how it’s shaped like an upside down umbrella.

Try to copy the Japanese characters in the book using watercolor paints and brushes.

Draw or paint rain pictures.

Talk about the weather and about the different kinds of clothing needed for each kind of weather.

Make a rain storm with your feet. Start out patting your feet softly and slowly, then faster and harder, then slow down again. Does it sound like rain?

Go walking in the rain, with an umbrella, of course.

Picture Book Preschool Book of the Week #13

Mar27

This book was first published in 1945, and it remains a classic. It’s such a deceptively simple tale. A little boy plants a carrot seed, and although everyone discourages him and tells him that it won’t come up, the boy remains faithful. He waters the seed and waits and waits and waits for it to grow. Finally, it does grow just as the boy knew it would. The boy’s faith is rewarded; the skepticism of his family is exposed as mere pretension to wisdom, worldly wisdom. The boy who knows that the seed will grow is the one who has the true wisdom.

The book’s illustrations, by Crockett Johnson, are simple, too. The boy is a little balloon-like cartoonish character, and the carrot at the end is BIG, just as it should be after taking so long to grow. Many children will want to hear this story over and over again, beginning before the age of two and continuing on as they grow older. You’ve heard of comfort food? The Carrot Seed is a comfort story.

And Jesus said unto them, “If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.” (Mat 17:20)

Read the book. Plant a seed. See if it grows.

Picture Book Preschool Book of the Week (12)

Mar20

Today is the first official day of spring here in the Northern Hemisphere. To celebrate, all the books listed in my curriculum, Picture Book Preschool, for this week have something to do with springtime. One of the best of the best is Springtime for Jeanne-Marie by Francoise Seignobosc.

Z-baby loves this story. The little French girl, Jeanne-Marie, loses her pet duck, Madalon. Jeanne-Marie also has a pet sheep, Patapon, and she and Patapon set off down the river to look for Madalon. Of course, they ask everyone they meet whether or not they have seen a little white duck, but the answer is always “no.” Eventually, Jeanne-Marie and Patapon make a new friend, Jean Pierre, who helps them in their search. And finally, when they have almost given up hope, the children and Patapon find Madalon in a most unlikely place.

The watercolor illustrations in this picture book are beautifully Old World European. There’s also some counting practice involved in reading the story, and the book is just right for three or four or even five year olds who are just beginning to appreciate a simple plot with some repetition and a little surprise at the end. The children, Jeanne-Marie and Jean Pierre, are delightfully innocent and seem to come from the French countryside of about the 1940’s or 50’s, maybe even earlier. The Jeanne-Marie books, of which there are several, were actually published in France in the 1950’s.

I couldn’t find any information on the internet or in my home reference books about Francoise Seignobosc. Does anyone else have any information about this French author/illustrator?

Semicolon

Books we must have though we lack bread.

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