67. Animal Baths by Bob Barner

Bibliographic Citation:
Barner, Bob. Animal Baths. San Francisco, CA: Chronicle Books, 2011. 32 p. ISBN 978-1452100562.

Awards/Selection Lists:
None

Format Examined:
Hard cover

Annotation:
This simple book identifies animals and body parts through rhyming text and collage artwork.

Personal Reaction:
Bathing animals are identified through rhyming text and adorable paper collage artwork. The simplicity of the story encourages young children to participate in the identification of animals, and participate in pretend bathing. The end of the book includes each action taken by the animals in the book for children to repeat after the reading of the book.

Age Recommendation:
I would recommend this book for children 12 months-4 years of age.

Themes/Issues:
Bath time, cleanliness, animals

Early Literacy Skill Value:

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


Narrative Skills: 
Narrative skills are fostered through simple, colorful illustrations that encourage children to identify animals as they clean themselves. Body parts are also identified as areas that need to be cleaned during bathing.


Phonological Awareness: 
The rhyming text of this book fosters phonological awareness.


Print Awareness:
The text appears in a large font in spaces that compliment the illustrations. The color of the font changes to show against the changing background colors.


Print Motivation: 
This book is enjoyable for young children. The animals in the illustrations are very childlike, inviting children to identify them, even as they look at the book on their own. The size of the book is large, making it a nice size for children to hold in their laps.


Vocabulary:
The vocabulary of this book deals with animal identification, naming body parts, and the importance of self-help/cleanliness.



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

29. I Love You As Much... by Laura Krauss Melmed

Bibliographic Citation:

Krauss Melmed, Laura. I Love You As Much.... Illustrated by Henri Sorensen. New York, NY: Tupelo Books, 1993. 22 p. ISBN 978-0688159788.

Awards/Selection Lists:

None

Format Examined:
Board book

Annotation:

A mother expresses her love for her baby through rhyming text that compares her love to the love that different animal mothers have for their children. 

Personal Reaction:

Beautiful painted illustrations accompany a lullaby-type story that a mother shares with her baby as the baby drifts off to sleep. The text is written in rhyme that is poetry-like, and is accompanied by soft, painted illustrations that look like mini portraits on each page. This book makes a nice bedtime book for a parent to read to their child.

Age Recommendation:

I would recommend this book for children 12 months to 4 years of age.

Themes/Issues:

Bedtime, parent-child love, animals, motherhood

Early Literacy Skill Value:

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

Narrative Skills: 
Older children will be able to take part in naming the types of animals, and after hearing the story many times, should be able to help recite the rhyming text.

Phonological Awareness: 
The rhythm of the rhyming text supports phonological awareness.

Print Awareness:
The text is printed in spaces that do not take away from the illustrations; however, the font is also small, light, and ornate, making it more difficult for children to connect to the words of the story as they are read to them. 

Print Motivation: 
This book, with its sweet text and beautiful illustrations would be a book that children might choose over and over at bedtime. 

Vocabulary:
Vocabulary includes animal names, and words that each animal uses to describe their love. Young children may learn new words associated with each animal's description. 



Author/ Illustrator Website:
Author website: http://www.laurakraussmelmed.com/
No official illustrator website

10. I'm as Quick as a Cricket by Audrey Wood

Bibliographic Citation:

Wood, Audrey. Quick as a Cricket. Swindol, England: Child's Play (International), 1998. 24p. ISBN 0-85953-664-5

Awards/Selection Lists:

N/A

Format Examined:

Board book

Annotation:

A young boy compares all the things he can do best to different animals in the wild.

Personal Reaction:
The boy in this book shows young children that they have many different qualities that make up who they are. Through describing himself in ways such as "quick as a cricket" and "slow as a snail", as well as "loud as a lion" and "gentle as a lamb", the character in this story also teaches the concept of opposites. The illustrations are vivid and the rhyming text is fun, making children want to join in on the reading of the book.

Age Recommendation:

I would recommend this book for children 12 months-4 years of age.

Themes/Issues:

Self-esteem, personality, opposites

Early Literacy Skill Value:

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

Narrative Skills:
The rhyming text, detailed illustrations, and use of opposite concepts on side by side pages encourages children to get involved in the telling of the story.

Phonological Awareness:
The text emphasizes the sounds of words through rhyming text.

Print Awareness:
Simple, one-line sentences are printed on the bottom of each page, under the illustrations, and blocked off by a white strip. This highlights the printed text, encouraging children to take note of the words that match the illustrations above.

Print Motivation:
This is a happy book that connects to children because it is about them. The text is simple and fun to read together.

Vocabulary:

The text uses rhyming text to teach opposite concept words throughout the book.

Author/ Illustrator Website:
Author website: http://www.audreywood.com/ 
Illustrator website: http://www.audreywood.com/audrey-wood,-don-wood,-and-bruce-wood/childrens-book-illustrator-don-woods-biography