57. Feathers for Lunch by Lois Ehlert

Bibliographic Citation:
Ehlert, Lois. Feathers for Lunch. San Diego, CA: Harcourt Brace, 1990. 40p. ISBN 0-15-230550-5.

Awards/Selection Lists:
The Horn Book Fanfare Best Book, 1991

Format Examined:
Hard cover

Annotation:
A cat sneaks out and attempts to catch different types of birds for lunch, until he is caught by his owner.

Personal Reaction:
Text is interwoven into the illustrations on each page in order to identify flowers and birds through the story of a cat that sneaks out and is hunting for a bird for lunch. The cat misses each time, only getting a mouth full of feathers. The story ends with the cat being caught by his owner.

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

Themes/Issues:
Cat, bird identification, types of flowers

Early Literacy Skill Value:

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

Narrative Skills: 
Narrative skills are modeled through the text of this book about a cat hunting different types of birds. Children are invited to participate in the naming of types of birds as well as flowers identified in the story.

Phonological Awareness: 
Phonological awareness is represented through the sound of the cat's bell ringing and bird calls throughout the book. Rhyming text also fosters phonological awareness. 

Print Awareness:
Birds and flowers are identified through small text printed in various colors along the edge of the corresponding illustration.

Print Motivation: 
This book identifies birds and flowers in a fun way that combines collage and text. Children will enjoy revisiting this book and exploring types of birds and flowers. 

Vocabulary:
Vocabulary connected to bird and flower names is embedded on each page through small text printed around corresponding illustrations. A brief glossary of bird names is included at the end of the book.

Author/ Illustrator Website:
No official website

               

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/

43. Dancing Feet by Lindsay Craig

Bibliographic Citation:
Craig, Lindsay. Dancing Feet!. Illustrated by Marc Brown. New York, NY: Henry Holt and Company, 2010. 40 p. ISBN 978-0375861819.

Awards/Selection Lists:
Gold Winner, National Parenting Publications Awards, 2010
Winner of the Best Books for Babies (Fred Rogers Company), 2011
Publisher's Weekly Starred Review

Format Examined:
Hard cover

Annotation:
Children are prompted to predict which animals are dancing as the text and illustrations provide  clues.  

Personal Reaction:
Rhythmic, rhyming text accompanies collage art to provide clues about animals dancing on the floor. The rhythm of the text encourages movement by listeners, while the artwork provides fun visual to each of the animals.

Age Recommendation: 
I would recommend this book for children 2-4 years of age.

Themes/Issues:
Rhythm, rhyme, dancing, clues, predicting

Early Literacy Skill Value:

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

Narrative Skills: 
The rhythmic text and lively collage artwork creates an opportunity for children to participate in the telling of the story throughout the book, as well as make predictions about what animals they think might be coming next.

Phonological Awareness: 
The sounds that different animals make while dancing are represented by silly words that represent the sounds (such as "stompity"). Rhyming text also promotes phonological awareness.

Print Awareness:
Text appears in a dark, kid-friendly, large font on each page. The text becomes part of the graphics on the page, as well.

Print Motivation: 
This book provides a fun, interactive experience that children will enjoy as a group or one-on-one.

Vocabulary:
The vocabulary in this book is connected to rhythms, beat, and animals dancing in the story.



Author/ Illustrator Website:
No official website

30. Sail Away by Donald Crews

Bibliographic Citation:

Crews, Donald. Sail Away. New York, NY: HarperTrophy, 1995. 40 p. ISBN 978-0688175177.

Awards/Selection Lists:

Booklist Editors' Choice

Format Examined:
Paperback

Annotation:

A family rows out to their sailboat, and goes sailing all day, through sun, wind, and a storm.

Personal Reaction:
Donald Crews uses illustrations and typeface together to form the story of this book about a family who sails the day away. The colors are bold and the use of large letters draws a child's eyes to the words as an important part of the story. The tone of the reader's voice is encouraged to change through the growing size of the font. Crews also uses words to symbolize the sound of the boat and the wind. 

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

Themes/Issues:
Sailing, family, storms

Early Literacy Skill Value:

Letter Knowledge: 
While letter knowledge is not a direct focus of this book, letters can be identified through the large text that is printed on several pages to symbolize the wind and sailing through a storm.

Narrative Skills: 
Narrative skills are modeled through the reading of this story, and children may be encouraged to help tell the story since the text is short and simple. Children may also be encouraged to participate in the sound effects of that are a part of the story.

Phonological Awareness: 
Phonological awareness is a part of this book through the use of words to represent the sound of a small boat engine ("putt... putt... putt...") and the sound of the wind picking up the sail ("WHOOSH!).

Print Awareness:
This book provides a rich print awareness experience through the use of text that is a direct part of the story through changes in size, color, and position in relation to the illustrations. 

Print Motivation: 
This book provides an active experience for children through the use of sounds and a growing intensity throughout the book. Children will find the illustrations interesting to look at as well, since there are many details to explore on each page.

Vocabulary:
New words pertaining to sailing are presented, as well as words that symbolize sounds. 



Author/ Illustrator Website:

No official author website

5. We're Going on a Bear Hunt by Michael Rosen

Bibliographic Citation: Rosen, Michael. We're Going on a Bear Hunt. Illustrated by Helen Oxenbury. New York, NY: Mararet K. McElderry Book, 1989. 36 p. ISBN 978-0689716539 

Awards/Selection Lists:

The Horn Book Fanfare Title, 1990
School Library Journal Best Book of the Year, 1990
Boston Globe-Horn Book Honor Award

Format Examined:

Hardcover

Annotation:

A father takes his children and their dog on a bear hunt through tall grass, a river, mud, a forest, and end up in a cave with a bear.

Personal Reaction:

This classic picture book is written more like a chant than a book, which is what makes children want to hear it read over and over again. The listener goes on an adventure with the family to look for a bear. Along the way, they encounter obstacles, such as tall, wavy grass. The reader chants, "We can't go over it. We can't go under it", to which the decision is made that the family (and all the listeners, too) will have to go through it. The text on the following page mimics the sound that tall, wavy grass would make if a family were to walk through it. After the family gets through the grass, the next adventures include wading across a river, trudging through the mud, traveling through a dark, scary forest, and at last, coming to a cave. The family tiptoes into the cave, where they find "one shiny wet nose, two big furry ears, and two big goggly eyes", which is believed to be a bear! The text takes the family back through each obstacle quickly with complete sound effects, until the family arrives safely at home and hides in bed. The illustrations alternate between pencil sketches and water colored art. Color is used to identify the sound effects as the family makes their way through an obstacle. This book enables children to go on a "scary" adventure through the safety of written words and their imagination.

Age Recommendation:

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

Themes/Issues:

Adventure, nature, sequence, sounds

Early Literacy Skill Value:

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

Narrative Skills:
Children take part in the telling of this story through chanting the words on the page, and making the sound effects for each obstacle along the characters' journey.

Phonological Awareness:
Sound effects are woven into the text of the story, giving the audience the opportunity to become a part of the story through making the sounds that match the text.

Print Awareness:
The text of the story is written in simple sentences with black and white sketches. The sound effects that are made while the characters go through various obstacles are written in three lines of text that grow larger in size on each new line. Sound effect pages are accompanied by water-colored illustrations meant to draw attention to the fact that it is time for audience participation.   

Print Motivation:
Adventure and sounds make this book come to life, as it inspires imagination, thought, and reading. 

Vocabulary:

New sound words are introduced throughout this book, as well as positional words, such as over, under, around, and through. 

Author/ Illustrator Website:
Author, Michael Rosen's website: http://www.michaelrosen.co.uk/index.html
No Illustrator's website.