56. Red Sled by Lita Judge

Bibliographic Citation:
Judge, Lita. Red Sled. New, NY: Antheneum Books for Young Readers, 2011. 40 p. ISBN 978-1442420076.

Awards/Selection Lists:
Kirkus Reviews, Starred Review; Best Children's Book of 2011
School Library Journal, Starred Review
Publisher's Weekly, Starred Review
CCBC Choices, 2012

Format Examined:
Hard cover

Annotation:
A group of animals borrow a child's red sled and enjoy sledding down the hill together before returning the sled to the place where the child left it.

Personal Reaction:
This nearly wordless book is a delightfully fun book. The text of the story consists of sound effects, in various font sizes and colors, that support the illustrated details of the story. Illustrations bring the animals' facial expressions to life, and the reader is able to live out the joy that they feel as they sled down the hill through the night.

Age Recommendation:
I would recommend this book for children 2-5 years of age.

Themes/Issues:
Animals, winter, borrowing, joy, fun

Early Literacy Skill Value:

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


Narrative Skills: 
Narrative skills are encouraged through the mostly wordless pages of this book. Children are encouraged to participate in telling the story through the details that they see in the illustrations.



Phonological Awareness: 
Phonological awareness is addressed through the use of phonological text to represent sound effects in the story.

Print Awareness:
The text of the story is printed in areas of the illustrations to show how they connect to the sounds that would take place during the action being represented.

Print Motivation: 
This book offers an entertaining look of the joy that animals would feel if they were able to ride a sled. Children will enjoy reading this book and being a part of the nearly wordless story along with creating sound effects to support the story.

Vocabulary:
Readers and children create the vocabulary for this story through describing the events in the illustrations.

Author/ Illustrator Website:
http://www.litajudge.net/

12. The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats

Bibliographic Citation:
Keats, Ezra Jack. The Snowy Day. New York, NY: Puffin, 1962. 40p. ISBN 978-0140501827 

Awards/Selection Lists:

Caldecott Medal, 1963

Format Examined:

Paperback

Annotation:

A young boy wakes up to freshly fallen snow and spends the day having adventures outside.

Personal Reaction:
Ezra Jack Keats created a true classic with this story of a young child enjoying the day in the snow. The magic that a child feels at the wonder of snow, and all the new ways to play in it, come to life for children and adults who read this book. Keats quietly introduced the picturebook world to an African American main character for the first time in 1962 through Peter and his exploration of the snow.

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

Themes/Issues:
Winter, snow, adventure

Early Literacy Skill Value:

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

Narrative Skills:
This book would work well in a dialogic reading setting. Children would be able to help tell the story through answering open-ended questions about what they think will happen, and why certain things happened in the story (such as when Peter puts the snowball in his pocket).

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

Print Awareness:
The text is printed on each page in a simple, black font. The position of the words accentuates the illustrations, such as the words being printed on the bottom of the hill when Peter slides all the way down. The word "slowly" is written with dashes to draw the word out ("s-l-o-w-l-y") when Peter drags his feet to make tracks in the snow. These techniques draw attention to the print in connection to the illustrations to help tell the story.

Print Motivation:
This book inspires reading through a story that is easy for children to identify with.

Vocabulary:

Words pertaining to the consistency of snow are included in the text, including firm, heaping, and crunching.

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