50. Tell Me About Your Day Today by Mem Fox

Bibliographic Citation:
Fox, Mem. Tell Me About Your Day Today. Illustrated by Lauren Stringer. New York, NY: Beach Lane Books, 2012. 40 p. ISBN 978-1416990062. 

Awards/Selection Lists:
Publisher's Weekly Starred Review

Format Examined:
Hard cover

Annotation:
A boy and his stuffed animals enjoy a bedtime ritual which includes the recounting of the events of the day. 

Personal Reaction:
Mem Fox uses traditional language, paired with soft illustrations, to tell the story of a young boy who loves the rituals of bedtime. The boy and his stuffed animals take turns telling about their day, until they share a hug, and drift off to sleep.

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

Themes/Issues:
Retelling the events of the day, bedtime rituals, turn-taking 

Early Literacy Skill Value:

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

Narrative Skills: 
Narrative skills are modeled by the main character in this book as he takes turns recounting the events of the day with each of his stuffed animals. The format for retelling the events of the day remains the same for each of the stuffed animals, as well as for the little boy, in a repeated series of lines each time. 

Phonological Awareness: 
Phonological awareness is modeled through repeated rhyming text.

Print Awareness:
Each line of text is printed in white, on a dark blue background, in position around each of the illustrations in order to draw attention to the connection between the illustrations and the printed text on each page.

Print Motivation: 
The soft illustrations and gentle bedtime story make this a book that children will enjoy embedding into their own bedtime ritual each night.

Vocabulary:
The vocabulary in this book is connected to the repeated line spoken to each of the animals and the boy recounting the events of the day ("the who, the what, the why, and the way").



Author/ Illustrator Website:
Author website: http://www.memfox.net/welcome.html
Illustrator website: http://www.laurenstringer.com/Home.html

36. David Gets in Trouble by David Shannon

Bibliographic Citation:

Shannon, David. David Gets in Trouble. New York, NY: Scholastic, Inc., 2002. 32 p. ISBN 978-0439050227.

Awards/Selection Lists:

None

Format Examined:
Paperback

Annotation:

David gets into trouble over and over, but always has an excuse, until he goes to bed, and realizes that he should apologize for the things he has done.

Personal Reaction:

This book provides a good lesson for young children about taking responsibility for their mistakes. David repeatedly denies any wrong doing as he gets into trouble over and over throughout the day. He makes the realization at the end that he should apologize, and is able to go to sleep at the end with a clear conscious.  

Age Recommendation:

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

Themes/Issues:

Personal responsibility, apologizing, telling the trouble

Early Literacy Skill Value:

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

Narrative Skills: 
Narrative skills are modeled through the reading of the simple text on the page. As children become more familiar with the book, they may be able to become involved in the telling of the story.


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

Print Awareness:
The text of the story is in font that is hand-drawn and large, which calls attention to the print on each page.

Print Motivation: 
This book is fun to read, as some of the things that David does are funny. David is a likable character, and teaches a lesson at the end. The artwork and hand-drawn words make this an enjoyable book for preschoolers.

Vocabulary:
Vocabulary can be supported through the dialogic reading of this book. Words concerning personal responsibility can be highlighted.



Author/ Illustrator Website:
No official author 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/

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/