60. I Am Small by Emma Dodd

Bibliographic Citation:
Dodd, Emma. I Am Small. New York, NY: Cartwheel Books, 2011. 24 p. ISBN 978-0545353700.

Awards/Selection Lists:
None

Format Examined:
Hard cover

Annotation:
A baby penguin feels small among the great, big world around him. His size doesn't matter anymore after he is snuggled up with his mom.

Personal Reaction:
This sweet, rhyming story is told from the perspective of a baby penguin who realizes what a small part of the world he is. The baby penguin tries to keep up with other bigger penguins who are sliding and swimming, and then he notices how vast the sky is, and how truly little he is. The baby penguin finds his mother at last, and is okay being small in comparison to the world, as long as he knows that he is the biggest thing to his mother.

Age Recommendation:
I would recommend this book for children 18 months-3 years of age.

Themes/Issues:
Self-image, size, the world around us, love, feeling important, positional words

Early Literacy Skill Value:

Letter Knowledge: 
Letter knowledge is not a direct focus of this book.


Narrative Skills: 
Children are encourage to participate in the narration of this story through the repetition of the title phrase, "I am small". The illustrations also provide the opportunity for dialogic reading discussion between the reader and children listeners of the story.

Phonological Awareness: 
Phonological awareness is not a direct focus of this book.


Print Awareness:
Print awareness is fostered through descriptive words that are printed in large text on each page. 


Print Motivation: 
Young children will identify with the baby penguin in the story. The use of a cute penguin and silver, metallic accents draw the attention of young children, who will enjoy reading this book with an adult, or looking at the pictures by themselves. 

Vocabulary:
The vocabulary in this book represent descriptive words which portray the concepts of size, position, and emotions.



Author/ Illustrator Website:
http://emmadoddbooks.blogspot.com/

47. Ten Tiny Toes by Todd Tarpley

Bibliographic Citation:
Tarpley, Todd. Ten Tiny Toes. Illustrated by Marc Brown. New York, NY: Little, Brown and Company, 2012. 32 p. ISBN 978-0316129213.

Awards/Selection Lists:
None

Format Examined:
Hard cover

Annotation:
The story of the ten tiny toes of a baby that are loved, bathed, walked on, hopped on, and eventually grow into adulthood.

Personal Reaction:
This sweet book uses poetry and adorable paper-pieced illustrations to tell the story of toes that grow from baby to adulthood. This is a good read-aloud book for parents to read to young children.

Age Recommendation:
I would recommend this book for children 12 months-3 years of age.

Themes/Issues:
Babies, love of a parent, growing up

Early Literacy Skill Value:

Letter Knowledge: 
Letter knowledge is not a direct focus of this book.

Narrative Skills: 
Narrative skills are modeled through an adult reading the text of this book aloud.

Phonological Awareness: 
Phonological awareness/sounds are modeled through the text being read aloud to children.

Print Awareness:
The text of the story is printed in a simple font and placed on the page in empty space not occupied by the illustrations. This draws the eye from the illustrations to the text on each page.

Print Motivation: 
This book combines rhyming text that emphasizes the love between parent and child, with gentle collage art portraying the toes of a baby as the baby grows up. This is a good selection for parents to share with young children, and would make an enjoyable book for repeated sharing. 

Vocabulary:
The vocabulary of the book focuses around all of the things that toes can do throughout a lifetime, as well as milestones along the way.



Author/ Illustrator Website:
No official website

33. Peter's Chair by Ezra Jack Keats

Bibliographic Citation:
Keats, Ezra Jack. Peter's Chair. New York, NY: Puffin Books, 1998. 40 p. ISBN 978-0140564419. 

Awards/Selection Lists:

None

Format Examined:
Paperback

Annotation:
The main character, Peter has to learn how to come to terms with the fact that he has a new baby sister, and his parents are painting his old baby furniture pink for his sister to use.

Personal Reaction:

This classic book tells the story of Peter, a boy who has a new baby sister. He has to learn to be quiet while she sleeps, and notices that his parents are passing all of his old baby furniture to his baby sister-- and painting it all pink. Peter sees his favorite small chair, and grabs it before it can be painted pink, too. He decides to run away (just outside the house), with his baby chair and his dog, until he realizes that he has gotten too big to fit in the chair. In the end, he decides that the chair should be painted pink for his sister. This story provides a powerful message for children who have new siblings.

Age Recommendation:

I would recommend this book for children 4-7 years of age.

Themes/Issues:
New baby, sharing, growing up, siblings, family

Early Literacy Skill Value:

Letter Knowledge: 
Letter knowledge is not a direct focus of this book.

Narrative Skills: 
This book provides an opportunity for dialogic reading and modeling of narrative skills through the reading of the text aloud.

Phonological Awareness: 
Phonological awareness is not a direct focus of this book.

Print Awareness:
This book incorporates environmental print, such as the print of a newspaper on the floor as Peter's father paints.

Print Motivation: 
Children who have new siblings will identify with this story, and want to revisit this book.

Vocabulary:
Natural language is used throughout the text to describe how Peter feels and how his feelings change.



Author/ Illustrator Website:
http://www.ezra-jack-keats.org/