Bark, George

Bark George
Written and illustrated by Jules Feiffer
Ages: up to 4 years old

This is a cute story that young children will love. George is a puppy who is asked by his Mom to bark. Each time he opens his mouth, a different animal noise comes out. Maybe it's because I'm an adult, but I immediately jumped to the conclusion that George was being a young, obstinate pup. But this was not the case. When George's Mom took him to the vet and George meowed, the vet reached down into George mouth and pulled out a cat! And when George went "quack-quack", the vet pulled a duck out of George. This process continues until the vet has to put on his extra-long latex globe and pull out a cow! Finally, with this last animal removed, George can bark again.

The illustrations are simple and entertaining.

Sidenote: The vet looks like the villain from Frosty the Snowman, Professor Hinkle.

Questions to ask:

1. Go over the sounds that the animals make.
2. "Do you know what a vet does?"
3. "How big is a duck?"
   
4. "How big is a pig?"
5. "How big is a cow?"

Programming ideas:
CRAFT #1 - print out an outline of a dog (click here for example) and have the kids draw in some animals that they think might live inside the dog. Have them talk about their choices.

Anansi and the Moss-Covered Rock

Anansi and the Moss-Covered Rock
Retold by Eric A. Kimmel
Illustrated by Janet Stevens

Ages 5-9

You are in for a treat with this story. Eric Kimmel has taken a story that originated in West Africa and brought it to audiences in a funny, thoughtful and energetic way. The story begins when Anansi, a spider, comes upon a moss-covered rock in the forest. He has never seen anything like it before. When he says, "Isn't this a strange moss-covered rock!" he immediately faints and wakes up an hour later. When Anansi learns that this rock has the power to cause fainting, Anansi devises a deceitful plan to use it on the other animals so that Anansi can steal their food supplies. He lures each of the animals into the forest, guides them to the rock, waits for them to say, "Isn't this a strange moss-covered rock!" and then runs back to their food supplies and steals it all. See, Anansi is too lazy to collect the food himself, so he comes up with a plan to use half the effort to generate double the reward. It isn't until the shy, quiet Little Bush Deer, comes up with a plan to play the same trick on Anansi does he get taught a lesson and all the animals reclaim their food.

This story has the opportunity to use different voices for each of the many characters.

A quick note for anyone looking for this book in your local, public library: you are likely to find it with fairy tales in the non-fiction section than with the other picture books (please consult your librarian for assistance).

Questions to discuss with the readers:
-What are some of the animals that Anansi plays a trick on? What area of the world might Anansi and these animals live in?
-What should they do with that magic moss-covered rock? Hide it? Move it to another forest?
-What do you do when someone steals your food or something that belongs to you?

Programming ideas:
IDEA #1: Game idea -- Place some sheets of coloured construction paper in a circle on the ground (with one sheet of white paper mixed in with the colours). Hand out one card to each child; these cards have different pictures of fruit or animals that were discussed in the book though some cards have a picture of a moss-coloured rock. Have the children walk on the pieces of paper to some music. When the music stops, the child on the piece of white paper has to explain what the picture is on their card. It may be a giraffe or a coconut. If it's a picture of the moss-covered rock, then the children should exclaim, "Isn't this a strange moss-covered rock!" and all the children fall down.

IDEA#2: Craft idea -- Make a replica of the animal's house in the forest out of popsicle sticks.

Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day

Title: Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day
Author: Judith Viorst
Illustrated: Ray Cruz

Age appropriate: 5-9

I'm sure this book sounds familiar to many -- it's definitely a classic that I can remember reading. This story is written in the first person by Alexander, a boy of about six years of age, who awakens one day adamant that today is going to be a "terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day". This attitude follows him through many bad events he encounters during the day: not finding a toy in his cereal box when each of his two brothers do, not getting a window seat on the ride to school when all the other kids in the car do, not receiving a compliment from the teacher when the other kids do, etc. Many of the examples of Alexander's bad luck comes from him observing what the other kids have and him feeling inadequate. There are also incidents that involve him causing his own bad luck: running amok in his father's office or losing his marble down the bathtub drain. Either way, Alexander only reports what is not going his way. He considers moving to Australia to escape it all.

In the end, his Mom tells him that some days are just "terrible, horrible, no good, very bad days".

Topics to discuss with the reader about this book:
-What are some of the things that make Alexander upset?
-Would the things that made Alexander upset make you upset?
-What are some of the things that Alexander should have been grateful for?
(i.e. he gets 3 good meals a day, someone drives him to school, he got new shoes, he got to watch TV)
-What are some things that make you upset?
-What makes you feel happy again when you are upset?
-Where is Australia?
-Why does Alexander want to go to Australia?

Programming idea #1:
Give each child a piece of blank paper and ask them to draw a line down the page vertically. On the left side of the page ask the children to write or draw some things that they don't like (foods, games, toys, weather, clothes). On the right side, ask the children to write or draw some things they really like. Bring them back together and ask if anyone wants to share their answers. See if they can articulate why they like or dislike something.

Programming idea #2:
Develop a game board on a sheet of bristol board that is large enough to be seen by a group of 10 children (have the children gather around the board which can be placed on the ground or a table). There is only one player to move along the squares of the board. The piece representing the player could look like Alexander. Divide the board into the parts of Alexander's day (I've suggested 11 examples):
1) wake up
2) eat breakfast
3) ride in the car to school
4) school
4) play at recess
5) eat lunch
6) go to the dentist
7) go to shoe store
8) go to Dad's office
9) eat dinner
10) watch tv
11) take a bath
12) go to sleep

Roll the die and move the player through the game. Each square in the game will be a post-in with either a smiley face or a sad face on it. If the player lands on a post-it with a smiley face, the post-it will say something positive (i.e. in the school category: "Mrs. Dickens liked Paul's picture of the sailboat better than my picture of the invisible castle. I tell Paul that I like his picture too and that he's a good artist. Win 1 ice cream cone". The idea is that the more positive things that are said, the more ice cream cone cards are accumulated. When Alexander lands on a negative box and says something mean (i.e. using the same example with Paul's picture: "I tell Paul that I think his art is yucky and hurt his feelings. Lose 1 ice cream cone."

Why You Should Read This Blog

Thanks for stopping by my blog. On this blog you'll find my review of the "100 Picture Books Everyone Should Know" -- a list generated and updated by the New York Public Library. I am working off the list available as of today (March 24, 2010). If you are looking for a great picture book then you are in the right place. I'll be tagging key words to help make the site searchable. If you have any suggestions for how the site could be more useful, please send them along!

On a personal note, my motivation for developing this blog is to increase my knowledge of children's literature because I am an aspiring children's librarian. I'll be using this blog as an experiment lab for ideas I have for programming, as well.

I hope you enjoy.