69. A Book of Sleep by Il Sung Na

Bibliographic Citation:

Na, Il Sung. A Book of Sleep. New York, NY: Knopf Books for Young Readers, 2009. 24 p. ISBN 978-0375862236.

Awards/Selection Lists:
Starred Review, Booklist
Starred Review, Publishers Weekly
Starred Review, School Library Journal

Format Examined:
Hard cover

Annotation:
An owl watches as the other animals around him go to sleep for the night.

Personal Reaction:
Beautiful illustrations and gentle text shows the perspective that an owl, who is nocturnal, has of the other animals as they sleep through the night. The owl observes the places and ways that the other animals sleep. He notices that some animals sleep standing up and that fish even sleep with their eyes open and continue moving as they sleep. The use of texture and almost chalk-like hues creates a dreamy state, which encourages sleep.

Age Recommendation:
I would recommend this book for children 3-6 years of age.

Themes/Issues:

Sleeping, nocturnal animals

Early Literacy Skill Value:

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


Narrative Skills: 
Children are invited to participate in identifying animals and can be encouraged by the reader to answer questions about the ways in which animals sleep.


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


Print Awareness:
The text of this book appears in small, white print against the dark background of the night sky.


Print Motivation: 
The combination of the soft illustrations and gentle text make this a good book for a bedtime reading, which children will enjoy.


Vocabulary:
The vocabulary in this book is based on the identification of animals and the places and ways in which they sleep.



Author/ Illustrator Website:
http://www.ilsungna.com/home.htm

64. Go, Go, Grapes: A Fruit Chant by April Pulley Sayre

Bibliographic Citation:
Sayre, April Pulley. Go, Go, Grapes!: A Fruit Chant. New York, NY: Beach Lane Books, 2012. 32 p. ISBN 978-1442433908.

Awards/Selection Lists:
None

Format Examined:
Hard cover

Annotation:
This book showcases different types of fruits through photographs taken at farmer's markets, small grocery stores, and fruit stands. 

Personal Reaction:
Rhyming text is presented alongside photographs to identify different types of fruit. The rhythmic text describes the attributes of the various fruits in the pictures, including color, taste, and texture.

Age Recommendation:
I would recommend this book for children 3-7 years of age.

Themes/Issues:
Fruits, colors, textures, taste, nonfiction

Early Literacy Skill Value:

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


Narrative Skills: 
The narrative, rhythmic text invites children to participate in reading the story. Dialogic reading would also offer children the opportunity to identify fruit in the accompanying photographs.

Phonological Awareness: 
Phonological awareness is presented through rhyming text and alliteration.

Print Awareness:
Text appears in white font against colorful backgrounds, which draws attention to the printed words of the book.


Print Motivation: 
Children will enjoy the colorful pages and photographs included in this book. The rhyming text is presented in fun, rhythmic way that will have children jumping in as the story is read.


Vocabulary:
Vocabulary presented in this book is focused around different types of fruit and the way they look, feel, and taste. Children will be presented with the identification of new types of fruit.



Author/ Illustrator Website:
http://www.aprilsayre.com/

15. My Bunny and Me by Lindsay Barrett George

Bibliographic Citation:

George, Lindsay Barrett. My Bunny and Me. New York, NY: Greenwillow Books, 2001. 32p. ISBN 0-688-16074-3

Awards/Selection Lists:

None

Format Examined:

Hard cover

Annotation:

A boy draws a picture of a bunny and imagines all the things they could do together if the bunny were real. 

Personal Reaction:

The beautiful illustrations in this book bring the story of the imaginary bunny, and the boy who drew him, to life. The illustrations include realistic details and textures through dark lines. This sentimental story identifies with how many young children feel on days where they have no one to play with. At the end, when the boy thinks about what he would do if the bunny were actually real, he decides that he would probably let him him go. Instead, the boy puts the picture of the bunny in his back pocket and kicks the soccer ball around the yard with a smile on his face.    

Age Recommendation:

I would recommend this book for children 3-7 years of age.

Themes/Issues:

Loneliness, imagination, drawing, rabbits

Early Literacy Skill Value:

Letter Knowledge:

Letter knowledge is not a direct focus of this book

Narrative Skills:

The text of this book is simple, encouraging children to retell the story on their own.

Phonological Awareness:

Phonological awareness is not a direct focus of this book.

Print Awareness:

The simple text is printed in large black text and white text, calling attention to the words on each page.

Print Motivation:

The beautiful illustrations support the text in a way that draws attention to the words on the page and encourages children to look at the book / read the book on their own. 

Vocabulary:

The text of the story introduces words that pertain to real rabbits, such as burrow, as well as other words that my be new for young children, such as reflection.

Author/ Illustrator Website:

http://www.lindsaybarrettgeorge.com/