59. The House in the Night by Susan Marie Swanson

Bibliographic Citation:
Swanson, Susan Marie. The House in the Night. Illustrated by Beth Krommes. New York, NY: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2008. 40 p. ISBN 978-0618862443.

Awards/Selection Lists:
Caldecott Medal, 2009
Booklist Starred Review
School Library Journal Starred Review
Kirkus Reviews Starred Review
Publishers Weekly Starred Review

Format Examined:
Hard cover

Annotation:
Simple text combines with black, white, and gold illustrations that tell the story of a cozy house from sundown to bedtime.

Personal Reaction:
The use of black and white scratchboard art is combined with golden accents to portray a house as night comes. The text is simple and builds upon itself in a circular fashion. From a golden key, the reader enters the house with a child and her parents, and begins the nightly ritual of preparing for bed. The beauty of the night sky outside the house is shown through the illustrations, as well. The moon and the stars provide light inside the house as the child sleeps, and different aspects of life are highlighted in gold to symbolize the different things within the house that provide "light" to life.

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

Themes/Issues:
Nighttime, light, home, bedtime, sleeping

Early Literacy Skill Value:

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


Narrative Skills: 
Children are invited to participate in the narration of this story through simple text that builds upon itself in a circular pattern.


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


Print Awareness:
The text is represented in simple, black font which appears in the white spaces on each page. This simple method draws the eye to the printed text.
   

Print Motivation: 
The beauty of this book invites children to look for details on each page, and encourages children to revisit the book. This is a book that children will enjoy reading together with parents as part of their own bedtime routine.

Vocabulary:
The vocabulary in this book represents bedtime rituals and the beauty of nighttime.



Author/ Illustrator Website:
Author website: http://www.childrensliteraturenetwork.org/aifolder/aipages/ai_s/swanson.html
Illustrator website: http://www.bethkrommes.com/

37. Jump Frog, Jump! by Robert Kalan

Bibliographic Citation:

Kalan, Robert. Jump Frog, Jump!. Illustrated by Byron Barton. New York, NY: Greenwillow Books, 1989. ISBN 978-0688092412. 

Awards/Selection Lists:

None

Format Examined:
Paperback

Annotation:

A frog in a pond finds himself in danger numerous times, and the only escape is to jump away, until he is caught by children under a basket, and needs help to get away.

Personal Reaction:
The circular text of this book calls for help from the audience to make sure a frog gets away from danger. The title phrase of this book, "Jump, frog, jump!" is repeated as the frog is almost caught by a fish, a turtle, and a snake, which all eat each other. Finally, a group of children catch him under a basket, but one of the children comes and lifts the basket, and the frog jumps away.

Age Recommendation:

I would recommend this book for children 3-5 years of age. 

Themes/Issues:

Circular story, frog, food chain, pond animals, repetition

Early Literacy Skill Value:

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

Narrative Skills: 
Narrative skills are emphasized through repeated lines this circular story.

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

Print Awareness:
The colorful illustrations of this book are more prominent than most lines of the story, except for the words, "Jump, frog, jump!", which appear on the pages in yellow in order to promote audience involvement.

Print Motivation: 
The circular story of each of the pond animals eating the next, along with the repeated title line makes this fun book one that children will enjoy revisiting many times.

Vocabulary:
Words that are introduced pertain to pond animals and positional directions.

Author/ Illustrator Website:
No official website

18. If You Give a Mouse a Cookie by Laura Numeroff

Bibliographic Citation:
Numeroff, Laura. If You Give a Mouse a Cookie. Illustrated by Felicia Bond. New York, NY: HarperCollins, 1997. 32p. ISBN 978-0064434096

Awards/Selection Lists:
California Young Reader Medal
Colorado Children's Book Award
Buckeye Children's Book Award
Nevada Young Readers' Award
Georgia Children's Book Award

Format Examined:
Paperback

Annotation:
A boy shares a cookie with a mouse. The mouse asks for a glass of milk, which sets off a circular chain of events leading back to another cookie.

Personal Reaction:
This is a circular story which represents cause and effect relationships through the tale of a boy who gives a mouse a cookie, followed by a glass of milk, a straw, a napkin... all the way back around to another cookie. The author uses if/then statements to lead the reader through each step of the story. The format of the book encourages participation through a dialogic reading experience. The illustrations use soft colors and shading, almost like that of a coloring page, to support the text with details in the pictures on each page. 

Age Recommendation:
I would recommend this book for children 3-5 years of age.

Themes/Issues:
Sharing, cause and effect, circular story

Early Literacy Skill Value:

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

Narrative Skills:
The circular story invites the listener to become part of telling the story through guessing what the mouse will need next to go with each thing that the boy in the story provides. Trough the process, children learn to make connections between items in the story.

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

Print Awareness:
The illustrations support the text on each page. Sentences are divided into sections on the page to correspond with matching illustrations, which work together to show that printed words have meaning.


Print Motivation:
The circular story invites children to become involved in guessing what will happen next. This fosters interest in the story, making this book an enjoyable experience that children will want to be involved in again.


Vocabulary:
Children are exposed to words that are related to the cause and effect relationship between items in the story. 

Author/ Illustrator Website:
Author website: http://lauranumeroff.com/ ; http://www.mousecookiebooks.com/
Illustrator website: http://www.mousecookiebooks.com/