Johnny was a huge fan of Nancy Tafuri’s Five Little Chicks. He liked the idea of the chicks learning what food was good for them to eat, but mostly he was a fan of the illustrations, counting the chicks and deciding which one was the “Johnny chick” on each page. I found the text slightly clunky, but enjoyed the illustrations.
All of us thoroughly enjoyed Eric Carle’s Slowly, Slowly, Slowly Said The Sloth. The book features a preface by Jane Goodall with more information about sloths. I loved the diversity of words the sloth uses to describe himself, and could see this book as the perfect way to illustrate to children the value of synonyms. My kids are too young to know what half the words mean, but they still enjoyed the flow of the language and the colorful illustrations. The back cover of the book has labeled illustrations of all the different animals you can find in the book, making for a fun “I Spy” game.
Chris Van Allsburg’s Two Bad Ants is a book I loved as a child. And, when I mentioned to a couple of my sisters that we were reading it, they remembered the same thing I did: childhood admiration of the illustrations, particularly of the sugar crystals. The sugar crystals seem less wondrous as an adult, but I still enjoyed both the pictures and the text, and Emma LOVED this book. I usually avoid books that describe people or animals as “bad” (I prefer to talk about actions as being bad), but made an exception for this book because I had such fond memories of it and the two ants redeem themselves at the end of the book by making a good choice. And, I have to admit that “Two Bad Ants” is a much catchier title than “Two Ants Who Made a Bad Choice and Then Made a Good Choice”.
We borrowed Daniel Kirk’s Bigger from the library after reading about it in this post, and I’m glad we did. Both Emma and Johnny have enjoyed reading this story of a little boy (Johnny, according to them) growing up. I think it’s helping them embrace growing up, with all the opportunities and possibilities getting “bigger” brings.
Check out what other children are reading over at Mouse Grows, Mouse Learns!
MaryAnne is a craft loving educator, musician, photographer, and writer who lives in Silicon Valley with her husband Mike and their four children.
a great list of books
.-= beverly´s last blog ..Boot Camp day 9 – drizzle =-.
Thank you so much for this list. I was running low on reading inspiration.
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Two Bad Ants sounds great – and yes I agree, the original title is much better, than the mommy modified version :)
.-= Almost Unschoolers´s last blog ..A Taste of Sunshine (Cookies) =-.
great books… Slowly Slowly is one of my faves!
We LOVE Slowly, Slowly Said the Sloth–for all the reasons you mentioned! These others are new to me; I’ll have to look them up.
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I am glad you enjoyed Bigger. Now I am off to see if our library has Two Bad Ants :) Thanks for the recommendations!
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Two bad ants was a childhood favorite for me too. I saw it somewhere recently–maybe at your house?– and was just as charmed by it as an adult.
I love how Johnny managed to star in most of these books! :) I’ll be on the lookout for the Johnny chick now, too.
.-= Elisa | blissfulE´s last blog ..do not be anxious =-.
Thanks for the book tips! We’re participating in some summer reading programs and this helps to get some ideas on what to read!
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I’ve never heard of these. They look cute. Is Daniel Kirk David Kirk’s brother?
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I think you’re the only other person besides me I’ve read about who has liked Slowly, Slowly Slowly said the Sloth. I love it, and Two Bad Ants. I need to see if I can find my copy of it anywhere……
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