The Very Hungry Caterpillar (Board Book with CD)

• Title: The Very Hungry Caterpillar
• (Board Book with CD)
• Author: Eric Carle
• Price: $15.99
• Pages: 24
• Publisher: Philomel
• Publishing Date: April 19, 2007
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0399247459
• Genre: Nursery
• Annotation: A very hungry little caterpillar goes out in search of fullness. He eats and eats, every day, more and more, until one day as fat as he could get, he cocoons himself and ends up a beautiful surprise!
• Evaluation: The Very Hungry Caterpillar is one of my favorite read-alouds. Period. The reason? It's a combination of bright, happy artwork that is simply exquisite, and the multitude of education experiences that are hidden in between a relatable developmentally appropriate book for babies, toddlers and up. This particular edition has a CD/multimedia component in it and makes for a deeper, early literacy learning experience that allows children to listen to the book anytime, on their own and mimic the story teller's reading. It's an awesome combo.

Author Website: http://www.eric-carle.com/home.html

One Watermelon Seed

Title: One Watermelon Seed

Author: Celia Barker Lottridge

Illustrator: Pat Katkau

Publish Date: 1st edition (Mar 12 2008)

(First published in 1986)

Publisher: Fitzhenry & Whiteside

Pages: 32 Hardcover

ISBN: 1554550343

Classification: Picture Books

Genre: Realistic Fiction, Concept Books

Age: Early Education, Ages 2-7

Annotation: Count along as Max and Josephine tend to their garden!

Evaluation: This adorable watermelon counting book is presented in a bright new version with new cover art and illustrations. Max and Josephine plant and take care of their garden while counting along in this book while young readers and teachers and librarians follow along! Then you can count in sets of tens as the garden comes to fruitation and at the same time you can search for pictures of little garden creatures hiding in the pages. I love color when reading to and with children! You'll love hidden educational opportunities! Celia Barker Lottridge's language is lyrical and fun!

Cool Notes about this Title: On the Toronto Public Library's 10 best books of 2008 list for Children up to 5 years of age

Website: Pat Katkau http://www.patkauillustration.com/picturebooks10.html

Dogabet

Title: Dogabet

Author: Dianna Bonder

Publish Date: August 15, 2008

Publisher: Walrus Books

Pages: 32

Price: $16.95

ISBN: 1552859401

Genre: Picture Books

Subjects: Alphabet Books, Picture Books

Annotation: An A to Z party of Dogs! Everybody loves dogs! If your a cat lover, you will also be a dog lover by the time you get to Z! So Dianna Bonder uses her trademark artistic style to bring about her own whimsical version of an alphabet book. Dogs and many different dog breeds, along with things that begin with that letter, hidden letters, even a hidden cat!

Evaluation: I love Dianna Bonder's illustrations and written work so much! This is inherently happy and evokes the actual feeling you get when cuddling up with a cute little pup who loves you! Talk about a great way to learn to love the alphabet! Great jumpstarter for play throughout the day. With all the dogs baby/toddler and parent can identify dogs and letters all day!

Dianna Bonder's Website: http://www.diannabonder.com/pages/about/about.php

Super-Safe Color Viewers

Title: Super-Safe Color Viewers
Author: N/A
Publish Date: N/A
Publisher: N/A
Pages: N/A
Item Number: DD657 (Lakeshore Learning)

Price: $19.95
Classification: Toy
Age Range: infant - kindergarten / 6 mos. - 5 yrs.

Annotation: This exploratory fun toy that is safe and durable allows baby to grip and view the world in a variety of colors.

Evaluation: Super easy to hold, shatterproof and safe, this toy is a wonderful tool for education, developmentally appropriate play and exploration for baby and parent!

Link to Product: http://www.lakeshorelearning.com/seo/ca|searchResults~~p|DD657~~.jsp

Planting A Rainbow (Lap Sized Board Book)

Title: Planting a Rainbow
Author: Lois Elhert
Publish Date: March 1, 2008
Publisher: HMH Books
Pages: 32
ISBN: 0152063048

Price: $11.99
Classification: Board Book
Genre: Nursery/Picture Book

Annotation: Enter a rainbow of color as you learn to plant a garden and watch how it grows.

Evaluation: This book is a wonderful (dare I say instant classic...), introduction to non-fiction and concepts stylized in a way that is bright and vivid and developmentally appropriate. It encourages both a relationship and awareness of nature, as well as, a family bond. This is also a wonderful book to tie in with exploratory art and color play!

A Pacific Alphabet

Title: A Pacific Alphabet

Author: Margriet Ruurs

Illustrator: Dianna Bonder

Publish Date: June 4, 2004

Publisher: Walrus Books

Pages: 32

ISBN: 1416968024

Classification: Fiction

Genre: Alphabet Books, Picture Books

Annotation: Every page in A Pacific Alphabet has a painting and a letter and corresponds to a rhyme as it travels through the west coast from Alaska to Mexico.

Evaluation: Though this book sounds dry, but it really is created for young readers! Each of the 26 letters of the alphabet has a cute and whimiscal rhymes to support it. This book travels on our West Coast from Alaska to Mexico. Furthermore the developmentally appropriate picture book hides letters to find so children will love searching for them! Some of the things work best if parents and educators scaffold with them helping them identify the larger words and objects. But the fact that there are higher levels of exploration show that it can be a book you can grow into as well as fun for parents!! Dianna Bonder creates amazing illustrations! I love that it creates a sense of place through the entire West Coast (although the its pretty obvious the authors are pacific northwest natives).

Website: http://www.margrietruurs.com/books/a_pacific_alphabet.html

Olivia Counts

Title: Olivia Counts

Author: Ian Falconer
Pages: 12
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Children's; Board Book edition
Publisher Date: 2002
ISBN: 0689836732
Genre: Counting/Concept Books
Classification: Board Book

Annotation: Join your favorite picture book pig as she counts her way through all her familiar antics!

Evaluation: I would follow Olivia into almost any concept. Falconer's illustrations and memories of the original picture book make this little board book (great for little hands) both a wonderful size for young readers and a wonderful addition to concept books in general. It's hard not to feel the fun with Olivia, even when learning concepts!

Author Website: http://www.oliviathepiglet.com/

My First Spanish Animal Board Book

Title: My First Spanish Animal Board Book

Author: DK Publishing

Pages: 36

Price: $6.99

Publisher: DK Preschool; 1st edition

Publisher Date: July 1, 2002

ISBN: 0789485907

Classification: Word Book/Bilingual/Board Book

Annotation: A word book that shows animals with there English and Spanish names.

Evaluation: You can't go wrong with this word book. For English speaking children this may be a fun way to enrich a second language (especially for fans of Dora the Explorer). For Spanish children this gives the little ones a chance to cross over to English before school begins. (Especially in families where parents only speak English.) This book is part of a series and has three more titles in the same vain.

DK Children's Website: http://us.dk.com/static/cs/us/11/childrens/intro.html

Touch and Feel Animals Box Set

Title: Touch and Feel Animals Box Set

Author: DK

Publisher: DK Preschool

Publishing Date: 2003

Features: Box Set

ISBN: 0789488779

Pages: 36

Price: $19.99

Classification: Board Book

Genre: Preschool Touch & Feel

Annotation: Touch and feel your favorite Animal friends! Complete with photos of real life animals, this box set includes three titles of books about farm, wild animals, and baby animals board books.

Evaluation: This is children’s title that can be directly shared with children. These books are unique because they are “touch and feel” titles that have patches of textures for different animals. This is a world book that encourages little ones to feel textile differences and explore picture-language connections. This book does a lot with a little. It is also in the sturdy board book (mouth proof) format that is small enough for little hands and fun for family playtime.

Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See + CD

Title: Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See + CD

Author: Bill Martin and Eric Carle

Price: $9.99

Publisher: Macmillan Young Listeners; Pap/Com edition

Publisher Date: August 4, 2009

ISBN: 1427207267

Classification: Picture Book and AudioBook

Annotation: Brown Bear...what do you see? A book full of colors and rhythm and animals...see?

Evaluation: Enthusiastically colored pictures side by side with children's favorite animals make this story about looking and learning colors also a calming pulse of rhythm that will soothe as well as entertain. Sure to be a favorite. And with the CD to listen too, children will be able to get lost in the colors!

Author Website: http://www.eric-carle.com/home.html

Fancy Nancy's Fancy Words

Title: Fancy Nancy's Fancy Words

Author: Jane O'Connor

Pages: 32

Price: $12.99

Publisher: HarperCollins

Publisher Date: April 22, 2008

ISBN: 0061549231

Classification: Concept Book/Picture Book

Annotation: An "fancy" A-Z word book in resplendent Fancy Nancy ways!

Evaluation: Fancy Nancy gives a word and a sentence for each letter of the alphabet side by side with the every amazing illustrations Fancy Nancy Books always have!

Fancy Nancy Website: http://www.fancynancyworld.com/

Rainbow Fish Opposites

Title: Rainbow Fish Opposites

Author: Marcus Pfister

Pages: 24

Price: $4.99

Publisher: North-South Books

Publisher Date: March 1, 2005

ISBN: 0735819823

Classification: Board Book

Annotation: Concepts like: Big and Little, In and Out, Up and Down, introduce themselves to the little ones here with favorite children's literary character Rainbow Fish.

Evaluation: The great thing about this little concept board book is that not only introduces developmentally appropriate concepts (and is a little board book perfect for little hands), but it's length is shorter then the main Rainbow Fish story. The first story, a hugely popular one that was turned into a television show, is very lengthy and though lengthier stories may be nice at times, this book brings back a favorite character, making new concepts higher interest for children who love Rainbow Fish and more appropriate in length for the much younger child. And in the tradition of Rainbow Fish who learns to share his rainbow scales in the first book, this tale of opposites ends in Give and Take!

Author Website: http://www.marcuspfister.ch/index.htm

Good Morning Maisy - DVD

Title: Good Morning Maisy

• Price: $14.98
• Format: Color, DVD, NTSC
• Language: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only)
• Number of discs: 1
• • Rated: NR (Not Rated)
    
    
• Studio: Universal Studios
• DVD Release Date: February 10, 2004
• Run Time: 153 minutes
• ASIN: B0000WN0OG

Annotation: Explore ABCs, Colors, Shapes, and other comcepts with Maisy and her best friends in this collection of some of Maisy's TV shows, put together here, on this DVD.

Evaluation: There's something about Mary. Scratch that. Maisy. There's something about Maisy! We love her and her friends. Her simple shapes and colors in illustrations come to life here in this concept rich collection. A great collection for a great price! Shows included on DVD:

- Count with Maisy
- Maisy’s ABC
- Maisy’s Colors and Shapes
- Maisy’s Farm

Maisy's Fun Club Webpage: http://www.maisyfunclub.com/

Maisy Goes to the Library: A Maisy First Experience Book

• Title: Maisy Goes to the Library
• A Maisy First Experience Book
• Author: Lucy Cousins
• Price: $6.99
• Paperback: 32 pages
• Publisher: Candlewick (March 10, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0763643718

Annotation: Maisy goes to the library and experiences all the things the library has to offer! From Story hour to xerox copies to a quite place to read, join Maisy in this first experience book!

Evaluation: This is also one of my favorite titles, especially of Maisy's collection. The way Maisy is illustrated so simply and in mostly primary and bright colors, really appeals to the early development of babies and toddlers. Furthermore, her "first experience" collection (which this book is a part of) is always wonderful things that help parents introduce complex places that often have wonderful programs for children (like the museum and the library). It helps make these places less scary and more fun and definitely dispels the mystery!!

Maisy Website: http://www.maisyfunclub.com/

Dora the Explorer - Big Sister Dora - DVD

• Title: Dora the Explorer - Big Sister Dora
• Format: Animated, Color, DVD, Full Screen, NTSC
• Language: English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo)
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: Unrated
• Studio: Nickelodeon
• DVD Release Date: March 22, 2005
• Run Time: 30 minutes
• ASIN: B0007989HU
• 
  
• Annotation: Dora can't wait to share her excitement and all that goes along with the new baby (she'll be a big sister!!) in her house!
• 
  
• Evaluation: A great way to add support and deal with the new baby on the way! Especially helpful with such a beloved and fun favrite character such as dora. Dora is alway fun to read and watch! This could be the biggest adventure yet!
• 
  
• Dora Webpage: http://www.nickjr.com/dora-the-explorer/