A to Z challenge 2012: Z is for Zoo

The final post in the April A to Z blogging challenge. I've really enjoyed it this year and my theme of "sharing books with children" has turned out to be a lot of fun and a great learning experience.

Z is for Zoo. 

"What kind of pet would you like from the zoo? An elephant, a lion, a snake, or something smaller? Lift the flaps and see what has been sent - it's bound to be a surprise!" 

Dear Zoo by Rod Campbell is the first lift-the-flap book I have included in this April challenge. Lift-the-flap books are great for encouraging children to look after books. On the first sharing, children love to try and guess what animals are hiding behind the flaps. For repeated readings, they enjoy calling out the animals before they are revealed. A great test of memory! One way I have really enjoyed sharing books such as this one is to help with taking turns. With a small group, children need to wait patiently for their turn, which can be a challenge at times! 

I found a great, simple activity based on this book. Children can make their own lift-the-flap surprise postcard. Instructions here. Or if you have more time, why not make a lift-the-flap book of your own. Children can draw their own pictures or for outlines based on the book go here.  

A to Z challenge 2012: Y is for Yertle

It's getting close to the end of the challenge! I've really enjoyed it this year and my theme of "sharing books with children" has turned out to be a lot of fun and a great learning experience. I have been reflecting on my favourite children's books, how I have enjoyed sharing books in the past and how I will continue to share books in the future. I have  learnt a lot along the way, remembered many of my favourite books and explored new ideas for sharing books. I have enjoyed all of the comments and sharing an enjoyment of picture books. I have 'met' lots of great bloggers and visited many interesting blogs. I'm really glad I decided to participate in the challenge again this year. 

Y is for Yertle. 

Yet another Dr. Suess book as the feature of one of my A to Z post. I'm starting to think that next year I may just concentrate on Dr. Suess books and characters. Yertle was one of my favourite characters as a child and I enjoyed sharing this story with my eldest daughter when she was little. In this book, Yertle the Turtle and other stories by Dr. Suess, the story of Yertle who lets power go to his head until he is toppled by Mack, a plain little turtle who has had enough can be enjoyed along with the stories of Gertrude McFuzz and The Big Brag. 

A to Z challenge 2012: X is in Axel

It's getting close to the end of the challenge! I've really enjoyed it this year and my theme of "sharing books with children" has turned out to be a lot of fun and a great learning experience. I have been reflecting on my favourite children's books, how I have enjoyed sharing books in the past and how I will continue to share books in the future. I have  learnt a lot along the way, remembered many of my favourite books and explored new ideas for sharing books. I have enjoyed all of the comments and sharing an enjoyment of picture books. I have 'met' lots of great bloggers and visited many interesting blogs. I'm really glad I decided to participate in the challenge again this year. 

X is in Axel. 

A little bit of cheating for the x post. There is a book I love which I haven't included yet in the A to Z challenge. Truth be known, there are many books I love which haven't been included. The one I am writing about in this post though is illustrated by Axel Scheffler. 

The book is Monkey Puzzle by Julia Donaldson. This one will get them giggling. Monkey has lost his mum and butterfly helps him to find her. The text rhymes making it a lot of fun to read aloud. Each clue monkey gives about his mum leads butterfly to different animals. 

"She coils round trees? Then she's very near. Quick, little monkey! She's over here." And then butterfly leads monkey to snake to which monkey replies "No, no, no! That's a snake. Mum doesn't slither about and hiss. She doesn't slither about and hiss. She doesn't curl round a nest of eggs. And anyway, my mum's got more legs." 

Finally, monkey tells butterfly his mum looks like him (which butterfly hadn't considered - her babies don't look like her!) and after a slight twist they find monkey's mum and there is a happy reunion. 

A very cute story by Julia Donaldson and illustrated by Axel Scheffler. This one was first published in 2000. 

A to Z challenge 2012: W is for Wonky

It's getting close to the end of the challenge! I've really enjoyed it this year and my theme of "sharing books with children" has turned out to be a lot of fun and a great learning experience. I have been reflecting on my favourite children's books, how I have enjoyed sharing books in the past and how I will continue to share books in the future. I have  learnt a lot along the way, remembered many of my favourite books and explored new ideas for sharing books. I have enjoyed all of the comments and sharing an enjoyment of picture books. I have 'met' lots of great bloggers and visited many interesting blogs. I'm really glad I decided to participate in the challenge again this year. 

W is for Wonky.

This is a newer book than many I have featured this month. The Wonky Donkey was first published in 2009. It is written by Craig Smith and illustrated by Katz Cowley. Be warned that this one is very difficult to read aloud. Luckily it comes with a CD with the words as a song. I have played this while showing the pages of the book. Children who usually found it quite difficult to sit still were absolutely captivated. 

The funny illustrations by Katz Cowley are a great accompaniment to the words and sound effects on the CD. Overall - a very amusing, fun read! 

Some of the words: 

"I was walking down the road

and I saw a donkey,

Hee Haw!

He only had three legs, 

one eye, 

he liked to listen to country music, 

he was quite tall and slim, 

he smelt really, really bad,

that morning he'd got up early 

and hadn't had any coffee, 

he was always getting up to mischief ...

but he was quite good looking!" 

A to Z challenge 2012: V is for Very

My theme for this year is "sharing books with children". This involves lots of reflecting on my favourite children's books, how I have enjoyed sharing books in the past and how I will continue to share books in the future. I have been learning a lot along the way, remembering lots of my favourite books and exploring new ideas for sharing books. I hope these posts will be interactive ones. Feel free to share your comments and ideas!

V is for Very. 

I have a few favourite children's books with very in the title. As part of the A to Z challenge I have already written about two books by Nick Bland - The Very Cranky Bear and The Very Itchy Bear. Another favourite of mine is The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle. It was one of my favourites when I had just learnt to read. 

Did you know that this book started off being about a worm and was titled A week with Willi Worm? Who better to read and talk about this book than the author himself. You can watch a great short video of Eric Carle reading his book here and talking about The Very Hungry Caterpillar here. As I mentioned in a previous post about another of Eric Carle's book, the Official Eric Carle website is well worth exploring! 

My personal favourite activity based on this book is a simple early graphing activity. Either print out simple pictures of fruit or draw their own on small pieces of paper and then as a group make a simple graph using the pictures. Lots of counting practice and discussions about what type of fruit was eaten the most/least. I have also done this over a week, making a graph for each day and adding a simple story based on the text of the book - e.g. "On Monday we ate through six apples, four bananas, three oranges, two kiwi fruit and one serve of grapes." Of course this fabulous book can form the basis for many other activities - craft, healthy eating, counting etc. A quick google search will reveal a multitude of possibilities! Another great activity is using sequencing cards. You can find some for this book here. 

A to Z challenge 2012: U is for Up

My theme for this year is "sharing books with children". This involves lots of reflecting on my favourite children's books, how I have enjoyed sharing books in the past and how I will continue to share books in the future. I have been learning a lot along the way, remembering lots of my favourite books and exploring new ideas for sharing books. I hope these posts will be interactive ones. Feel free to share your comments and ideas!

U is for Up.

Up was one of my eldest daughter's first words. She loved to climb a small step ladder which we labelled 'The Up Machine'. When she wanted to be picked up, her arms would go up and she would repeat, 'Up, up, up'. I don't think I had a copy of Dr. Suess' Great Day for Up when she was little but I'm sure she would of loved it. 

I learnt a fascinating fact while preparing this post. I noticed on the cover that it said 'Pictures by Quentin Blake'. I was a little confused as I thought that Dr. Suess illustrated his own books. Then on the inside back cover there was an explanation. Until he wrote Great Day for Up, Dr. Suess had always drawn the pictures for his books but asked Quentin Blake to illustrate Great Day for Up. And what wonderfully cheerful illustrations they are!

A to Z challenge 2012: T is for Toe

My theme for this year is "sharing books with children". This involves lots of reflecting on my favourite children's books, how I have enjoyed sharing books in the past and how I will continue to share books in the future. I have been learning a lot along the way, remembering lots of my favourite books and exploring new ideas for sharing books. I hope these posts will be interactive ones. Feel free to share your comments and ideas!

T is for Toe. 

Get those toes wriggling with the help of Eric Carle's book From Head to Toe. 

"Can you wave your arms like a monkey, 

clap your hands like a seal or stomp like an elephant? 

Yes, you can! 

Are you ready? Here we go! 

Move yourself from head to toe." 

Young children often don't sit still for very long. Reading doesn't have to be about sitting still. Why not combine a love of movement with a love of reading? This is the ideal book to do so. It follows a repetitive pattern which appeals to young children. Each page has an animal doing something with a body part. 


For example, on the first page - I am a penguin and I turn my head. 


That is then followed by the question, Can you do it? and then the answer I can do it? 
Children can literally move through the book and can join in with the 'I can do it". I have done this with a number of groups of children, aged from 2 to 6 and all have enjoyed it immensely. The most fun seems to be the donkey kicking their legs. Don't forget the warning to check that there is no-one too close before they kick!

Take some time too to enjoy Eric Carle's gorgeous classic illustrations which are made using a paper collage technique. Find some instructions for making tissue paper collages of your own here. These instructions came from the official Eric Carle website which has an abundance of information about his books and ideas for sharing them. I will be going back to visit again! There is a section for teachers to submit ideas for using his books in the classroom. So many different ideas! 

While I was preparing this post I was also pleased to discover Eric Carle has a blog! http://www.ericcarleblog.blogspot.com.au/. I'll be visiting there again too! 

A to Z challenge 2012: S is for Song

My theme for this year is "sharing books with children". This involves lots of reflecting on my favourite children's books, how I have enjoyed sharing books in the past and how I will continue to share books in the future. I have been learning a lot along the way, remembering lots of my favourite books and exploring new ideas for sharing books. I hope these posts will be interactive ones. Feel free to share your comments and ideas!

S is for Song. 

There are many great children's books that are based on songs. One of my favourites, of which there are numerous versions, is The Wheels on the Bus. Children just love to 'read' along. Singing along with a book can increase the pleasure in reading and allow children to 'read' the book themselves too. 

The book I am sharing in this post is not based on a song. Rather, it is a gorgeous story about finding your own voice. My favourite line is when a wise Manatee speaks to the little whale, "No one else can teach you your sound - you must listen to your own voice. Why don't you try and make a sound all of your own?" 

The book is Little Whale's Song by Fran Evans. A great book in particular for those children who may be a bit more timid. 

"Little Whale was busy playing with the fish on the ocean floor. So he didn't see his family swimming away without him. 

When Little Whale tries to make a singing-call to his family, no sound comes out. He has forgotten how to sing! Little Whale is frightened and seeks help from the other sea creatures. He asks a dolphin, a lobster, an octopus, a turtle, a seal...but their sounds are different from his and no one can help him call his family. 

But then he comes across a wise old manatee..."

A to Z challenge 2012: R is for Reynolds

My theme for this year is "sharing books with children". This involves lots of reflecting on my favourite children's books, how I have enjoyed sharing books in the past and how I will continue to share books in the future. I have been learning a lot along the way, remembering lots of my favourite books and exploring new ideas for sharing books. I hope these posts will be interactive ones. Feel free to share your comments and ideas!

R is for Reynolds. 

For the I post I wrote about the book, ish by Peter Reynolds. I love his books so much and couldn't only write about one of his books during the a to z challenge so this post is about a couple of other books by Peter H. Reynolds. 

Peter H. Reynolds is the author and illustrator of ish which was first published in 2004. The paperback edition I have was published by Walker Books in 2005. Before Ish was published, Peter H. Reynolds wrote and illustrated another book called the dot, first published in 2003.

" 'Just make a mark

and see where it takes you.' 

Vashti says she can't draw.

Her teacher thinks she can. 

She knows that there's a 

creative spirit in everyone, 

and where there's a dot, 

there's a way... "

Something I strongly believe is that everyone is creative. I love that message in this book. We are all so different. Some children will draw without very much encouragement at all whereas others are reluctant or cannot start just like Vashti. This book is ideal to share with all but particularly with those who might think they can't draw. I have seen a number of times how praise and encouragement at the right time can do wonders and kickstart children taking risks in their learning. All in all, a gorgeous book that celebrates the creative process! Another thing I love about the dot as well as ish is that Peter H. Reynolds handlettered the text and it is quite an artwork in itself. 

One of my favourite pages in the dot

I own another of Peter H. Reynold's books called Rose's garden. This one celebrates the spirit of community and the power of nature, beauty and faith. 

"After travelling the world in her fantastic teapot, Rose is ready to 

put down roots. She sets about planting flowers in a neglected corner 

of a bustling city. And then she waits - through rain, cold and snow - 

never doubting that her garden will one day come to be." 

A great book for talking about patience and persistence as well as community. The gradual addition of colour in the illustrations as the book progresses is great to talk about with children too.  

A to Z challenge 2012: Q is for Quangle

My theme for this year is "sharing books with children". This involves lots of reflecting on my favourite children's books, how I have enjoyed sharing books in the past and how I will continue to share books in the future. I have been learning a lot along the way, remembering lots of my favourite books and exploring new ideas for sharing books. I hope these posts will be interactive ones. Feel free to share your comments and ideas!

Q is for Quangle 

The dreaded letter Q! It took quite a while to work out what word to choose for this post. At first I tried finding a book with a queen in it. Then I thought maybe I could write about quiet. Actually, I have always been rather fond of the letter Q. It has such a great sound and I really like the fact that it almost always has a companion letter. Here it leads in Quangle with its trusty companion u following closely behind. 

I remember one of my favourite books when I was about 5 - The Quangle Wangle's Hat. Quangle Wangle - what a great name! I was a very competent early reader and I remember the house I lived in when I read this book a lot. I was only 5 but remember reading this book to myself. The text of the book I loved was the poem, The Quangle Wangle's Hat by Edward Lear and the illustrations were by Helen Oxenbury. The book was first published in 1969.  

"On the top of the Crumpetty Tree

      The Quangle Wangle sat,

But his face you could not see,

      On account of his Beaver Hat.

For his Hat was a hundred and two feet wide,

With ribbons and bibbons on every side..."

You can read the rest of this amazing poem at http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/173870. 

I am breaking my self-imposed rules for the challenge by including this book. All of the other books I have written about I own copies of and I was going to stick to writing about books I own. I really want to include this one though and now that I have reminded myself of it, I am going to keep my eyes out for a copy! I think there are a few children around that would love to share this book with me. Through my recent investigations I have discovered there are a number of different editions of this book. The one I remember had a black cover with the glorious Quangle Wangle on it. I had a paperback edition. With all this remembering I really want a copy again now!  

A to Z challenge 2012: P is for Potter

My theme for this year is "sharing books with children". This involves lots of reflecting on my favourite children's books, how I have enjoyed sharing books in the past and how I will continue to share books in the future. I have been learning a lot along the way, remembering lots of my favourite books and exploring new ideas for sharing books. I hope 

these posts will be interactive ones. Feel free to share your comments and ideas!

P is for Potter. 

Peter Rabbit, Benjamin Bunny, Tom Kitten, Jemima Puddleduck, Jeremy Fisher, Pigling Bland and of course, Mr McGregor. The characters developed by Beatrix Potter captured my imagination as a child. There was something rather appealing about the small size of the books too. I had quite a collection and enjoyed reading them often. My younger brother also endured many of my readings of these books to him. 

I have shared the characters with my own children. Not so much through the books but from various merchandise and computer games. I just discovered there is an iphone/ipad application too. That's one I might consider buying. 


For some fun games and lots of great information about Beatrix Potter, why not visit www.peterrabbit.com/en. 


I was lucky to find a copy of a gorgeous little book about the life of Beatrix Potter at a sale at the local library. I find it very interesting to read about the lives of authors and illustrators of my favourite books. I really enjoyed the movie Miss Potter a few years ago too. 

A to Z challenge 2012: O is for Oh

My theme for this year is "sharing books with children". This involves lots of reflecting on my favourite children's books, how I have enjoyed sharing books in the past and how I will continue to share books in the future. I have been learning a lot along the way, remembering lots of my favourite books and exploring new ideas for sharing books. I hope these posts will be interactive ones. Feel free to share your comments and ideas!

O is for Oh 

Reading doesn't always have to be a serious business. Children's books don't always have a serious message. How about some fun? A great book for this is Oh say can you say? by Dr Suess. Great fun for reading aloud. Read it all or just a page or two at a time. Exercise those tongue and vocal muscles! Here's one of the tongue twisters (West Beast East Beast) to whet your appetite. 

"Upon an island hard to reach, 

the East Beast sits upon his beach. 

Upon the west beach sits the West Beast. 

Each beach beast thinks he's the best beast. 

Which beast is best?... Well, I thought at first

that the East was best and the West was worst. 

Then I looked again from the west to the east 

and I liked the beast on the east beach least."

And if you are after another fun book (slightly more serious) why not try another one by Dr Suess and also starting with Oh - Oh the thinks you can think.