The Runaway Bunny Book and CD (Share a Story) [Abridged, Audiobook] [Audio CD]

Title: The Runaway Bunny Book and CD (Share a Story) [Abridged, Audiobook] [Audio CD]
Author: Margaret Wise Brown
Publish Date: December 26, 2006
Publisher: HarperFestival; Pap/Com edition
Pages: 34
ISBN: 0061142719

Price: $9.99
Classification: Book/Audiobook (KIT)
Genre: Picture Book
Age Range: Nursery

Annotation: A little bunny plays hide and seek and mother bunny finds him every time.

Evaluation: A book that mommies can read to their babies to reassure them of there love and steadfastness. Feeling secure is a huge part of being a child, and here the illustrations and plot are profoundly well-executed much like Wise Brown's Goodnight Moon. Furthermore, literacy is encouraged in a new form with an audio component. This is a great tool for families whose parents are learning English or to read. However, almost anyone can benefit from listening to audiobooks as a shared experience. A WONDERFUL family activity that is an alternative to television!

The Complete Book of Rhymes, Songs, Poems, Fingerplays and Chants: Over 700 Selections

Title: The Complete Book of Rhymes, Songs, Poems, Fingerplays and Chants: Over 700 Selections

Author: Jackie Silberg and Pam Pam Schiller
Publish Date: 2002
Publisher: Gryphon House
Pages: 352
ASIN: B001SRKLDU

ISBN: 0876592671

Price: $34.95
Classification: Parenting, Music and Poetry
Genre: Songs and Fingerplay
Age Range: Baby-Toddlers

Annotation: This wonderful book comes with the CD and over seven hundred selections to rhyme, sing, and play with baby with.

Evaluation:

This multimedia-resource includes both book of resources and CDs of fifty songs. With over 700 songs included in the book, the songs are listed by alphabet. This book is great for parents, teachers, and librarians, but does not include age ranges though the book itself is directed to the early years. The songs include lyrics as well as a theme connection such as “parts of the body” which is great for connecting it to a storybook or other activities.

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

Guess How Much I Love You

Title: Guess How Much I Love You
Author: Sam McBratney
Publish Date: 2008
Publisher: Candlewick
Pages: 32
ISBN: 0763641758

Price: Hardcover $16.99
Classification: Picture Book
Genre: Fiction

Annotation: During a bathtime routine, nutbrown hare and his baby bunny go back in forth about who loves who more. Daddy Nutbrown Hare shows every daddy's sentiment by coming back with more each time.

Evaluation: Something about this book is very appealing. As if the sentiment wasn't enough to make for a sweet read aloud, the illustrations are classic and modern, somehow, at the same time. This book is a reassuring delight for young one's that need their daddy's (and parents in general) soothing words of love but in a "baby play" way. In this way it's also a developmentally appropriate illustration of emotions as well as a great pre-literacy to early literacy read aloud. It also encourages conversation, predictive guessing, and physical movement while copying the Hare's Gestures.

Authors Website:

Chicken, Pig, Cow

Title: Chicken, Pig, Cow

Author: Ruth Ohi

Publish Date: August 15, 2008

Publisher: Annick Press

Pages: 32

ISBN: 1554511569

Classification: Fiction

Genre: Picture Book

Annotation: A new spin on a toy story! Chicken, cow, and pig meet the dog when their little girl is out!

Evaulation: Chicken, Pig, and Cow are toys who live is a popsicle stick barn which sadly doesn't haven't a door or a roof! The animal toys don't mind this at all-MOST OF THE TIME! But, one day when the little girl who owns them doesn't come home, instead they get a dog! without a roof his this presents a precarious situation indeed! All's well that ends well when the animals make a new friend (yup, the dog!) and even get a door on their popsicle home barn!

Kids will ABSOLUTELY love the imagination, the whimsy of ideas, and the watercolor pictures in this book! I wish I had it as a kid! Instead, I will have to bring it to my class! Not to mention it's a wonderful story about unpredictable friends and happy endings!

Website: http://www.ruthohi.com/

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/

Goodnight Moon + Toy

Title: Goodnight Moon
Author: Margaret Wise Brown
Pages: 12
Publisher: HarperFestival
Publisher Date: 2005
ISBN: 0689836732
Genre: Board Book Combo Toy
Classification: Board Book

Annotation: Favorite Bedtime read aloud, Goodnight Moon, is packaged here with a plush toy.

Evaluation: Not only is Goodnight moon a favorite early literacy read that encourages memorizing and bedtime ritual (great for sleeping issues) but it also has a toy here that can be used as in dramatic play and literacy tie ins! I love Goodnight Moon, and it was one of my favorite stories as a child. This is really a great way to add more depth and bring the story to life.

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

Baby Band

Title: Baby Band

Author: N/A
Publish Date: N/A
Publisher: N/A
Pages: N/A
Item Number: RE623 (Lakeshore Learning)

Price: $21.99
Classification: Toy
Age Range: infant - preschool / birth - 3 yrs.

Annotation: Shaped perfectly for baby hands this little set of musical toys will be a first groove inducer.

Evaluation: These tools are not only fun to play and experiment with but they will encourage vital developmental skills little ones need. Movement encourages expression and fine motor skill development while providing fun and excitement! This would be a great addition to the toy chest while really being a masked pre-literacy tool! Move over sneaky chef, we're sneaky literacy players!

Link to Product: http://www.lakeshorelearning.com/seo/ca|searchResults~~p|RE623~~.jsp

Colorpillar Sorting Mat

Title: Colorpillar Sorting Mat

Author: Lakeshore Learning

Price: $39.99

Product Number: JJ766

Age Range: Infant to age 3

Annotation: Matching colors is fun with this sorting mat shaped like a caterpillar!

Evaluation: The pieces included in this sorting mat are not only fun and colorful but they are safe for baby. Simple yet, unique, babies and parents alike will love to get down on the floor and play!

Then after play, move the pieces aside and read The Very Hungary Caterpillar! The ideas are endless, although the toy itself is kind of pricey.

Link to Product: Click Here

Giant Soft Building Blocks

Title: Giant Soft Building Blocks

Author: Lakeshore Learning

Product Number: GB619

Price: $129.00

Age Range for Toy: 9 Months-6 Years

Annotation: Building "sky high" soft mounds of fun with these super safe, giant building blocks.

Evaluation: It never fails, building blocks are always a hit with kids. But, with younger kids jumbo size blocks are better for motor skills but they are still hard and sometimes dangerous. These blocks are developmentally appropriate in more then one way. The Largest block is just over 11 inches. The only draw back is they are extremely expensive. A great reason to find a library and join their "Family Place" program. There are sure to be some soft giant blocks in that workshop!

Link to Product: Here

Find a Family Place Library: http://www.familyplacelibraries.org/

The Dinosaurs Night Before Christmas

Title: The Dinosaurs Night Before Christmas

Author: Anne Muecke

Price: $18.99

Pages: 36

Publisher: Chronicle Books

Publisher Date: 2008

ISBN: 0811863220

Classification: Holiday Picture Book/Holiday Music

Annotation: Christmas just went prehistoric with this humorous take on the traditional poem. Included are dinosaur-themed holiday songs and a read aloud of the poem!

Evaluation: I heard this poem many times as a child and was always entranced by it. I also was mesmerized by the idea of dinosaurs and remember my brother memorizing each and everyone of them. Here is the marriage of the holiday classic with an high interest twist. Get your kids reading poetry and exploring there favorite dino-characters! Sure to be a literate christmas afterall! The CD is an awesome bonus that will enhance the book and your Christmas! I highly recommend this holiday book as a Christmas read aloud or even an introduction to poetry and verse!

The Boy Who Cried Wolf

Title: The Boy Who Cried Wolf

Author: B. G. Hennessy

Pages: 40

Price: $16.99

Publisher: Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing

Publisher Date: March 7, 2006

ISBN: 0689874332

Classification: Picture Books/Fairy Tales

Annotation: The Boy who tends sheep is bored and doesn't know what to do with himself. So out on his little mountainside he makes up a new game, one that he thinks will be really funny. He cries, "WOLF!!!!!!!!!!!" And everybody in the town below comes running...but is this game really funny at all? And what happens when the wolf really comes?

Evaluation: This book takes an old folk tale and familiar saying a new, modern spin, that even the most modern children will be able to relate to. The illustrations are really at the heart of this retelling. They are vulgar (but tame enough for little eyes) and with this edge, convey the feeling of mischief the boy gets himself and the town into. If trying to teach a lesson, or just have a down right good laugh, you'll love this little book!

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

Tomie dePaola's Mother Goose

Hardcover: 128 pages

Price: $25.99
Publisher: Putnam Juvenile; First Printing edition
Publishing Date: October 2, 1985
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0399212582

Genre: Mother Goose/Nursery Rhymes

Annotation: Beloved children's writer Tomie dePaola's take on 200 classic Mother Goose Rhymes.

Evaluation: From the first year on, children delight in the rhythm and wonder of nursery rhymes. Here, Tomie dePaola gives a fresh, whimsical take on classic Mother Goose as well as a bunch of not as well known rhymes. The pictures are classic dePaola and will not only bring Nursery Rhymes into the Nursery but will likely have you heading to the library and looking for more dePaola titles. Mother Goose is wonderful for devloping early literacy skills with rhyme and play!

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

Goldilocks and the Three Bears (Flip Up Fairy Tales)

Title: Goldilocks And The Three Bears (Flip Up Fairy Tales)

Author: Estelle Corke

ISBN-13:

978-0859536080

Price: $7.99

Publisher:

Child's Play International

Pages:

24

Classification: Fairy Tale/ Lift the Flap Book

Annotation:

Goldilocks wanted to try everything in the three bears house! And so will little readers, as they delightfully try the flip-ups that appear throughout the lively retelling of this classic story.

Evaluation:

"Open" the front door and see the three bears on the other side leaving their home as they let their famous bowls of porridge cool. A surprise is on every page, just like the surprise little bear finds in his bed when he gets home! This is a fun, interactive way to experience a classic fairytale and a storytime in general!

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