Young, E. (1992). Seven Blind Mice . New York: Putnam Juvenile.
Young uses bright colors against a black background to make this concept book about color and the days of the week come to life. The illustrations of the elephant show the mice in scale to the size of the elephant. This creates a visually stimulating image.
Questions: Why are the mice so surprised by what they find by the pond?
-Why did they think the elephants legs were?
-What will they think the elephants tail is?
Activities: Show the students zoomed in pictures of other objects and have them guess what the whole picture is.
Wong, J. S. (2002). Buzz. Ill. Chodos-Irvine, M. London: Voyager Books.
Wong, J. S. (2002). Buzz. London: Voyager Books.
Margaret uses printmaking techniques in these bleeding illustrations to create the early morning events in Buzz. The bold black letters of “Buzz” catch the eye as different objects make this familiar sound.
Questions: -What makes the buzz sound?
-What do you think is making the buzz sound in this picture?
-What other objects do you think go buzz?
Activity: Have children think about what other sounds they hear in the morning. Record them as a shared writing.
Hesse, K. (1999). Come On, Rain. Muth, J. J. New York: Scholastic Press.
This picture book captures the fantastic moment when it begins to suddenly rain on a really hot day. The yellow orange sky gives the feeling of a steamy day, when the sky turns dark the reader gets the feeling of relief along with the main character.
Questions: -How can you tell when it is about to rain?
-Do you like the rain? Do you ever like it went it rains?
-What does downpour mean?
Activity: Shared writing? I am glad it is raining because…
Jenkins, S. (1995). Biggest, Strongest, Fastest. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.
Steve Jenkins uses bold cut color paper collages to illustrate this books for young readers that is chock full of interesting facts about animals that are the “est”! These bleeding double page spreads are interesting to look at not only because of their bright colors but also because of their textured look. The back matter gives additional facts for teachers and parents to share with children.
Questions: What animal do you think is the biggest in the world?
What does strongest mean?
Is this book narrative or expository? (explain what these mean).
Activity: Find out with children is your class are tallest/shortest/fastest/quietist/strongest etc and make a class book.
Additional Titles
Jenkins, S. (2004). Actual Size . Boston: Houghton Mifflin.
Knight, B. T. (1997). From Cow to Ice Cream (Changes). New York: Children's Press.
R., C., Stoick, J., & Sams, I. (2000). Stranger in the Woods: A Photographic Fantasy. Friesens of Altona, Manitoba, Canada: Edco Publishing.
Morris, A. (1998). Shoes, Shoes, Shoes (Mulberry Books). New York: HarperTrophy.
Tarpley, N. A. (2001). I Love My Hair!. New York: Little, Brown Young Readers.
