Goodnight Moon - Predictable Book

Goodnight Moon, written by Margaret Wise Brown and illustrated by Clement Hurt is a great example of a predictable book. With a title like, Goodnight Moon, it is pretty obvious that the book is about saying goodnight before going to bed. What makes a book predictable is that is has repeated language, story patterns and other familiar sequencing. The book, Goodnight Moon, repeatedly uses the phrase of "Goodnight .... " the children know that the beginning of every sentence will be saying Goodnight to someone or something. Rhyming also plays a major role in predictable books. I think rhyming makes predictable books easier and more interesting to read. These books are also great for beginner readers because they are easy and fun to read.

There is no main character in this book, but there is a baby bunny and an old lady bunny. The baby bunny is most likely the narrator of the story. He is saying goodnight to everything including the moon, his great green room, his red balloon, his picture of a cow jumping over the moon, his kittens and mittens, his little toy house and a young mouse and so on. After he is finished saying goodnight to everyone and everything it is finally time to go to sleep. 

This is a great book to read to a child before going to sleep but it can also be read at school before nap time. As parents you can have your child say goodnight to the things in their room. As a teacher, you can have your students either have a discussion about the things they would say goodnight to or if they can write, have them make a list. After they make a list they can share with the rest of the class what things the wrote down that they would say goodnight too.

Goodnight Moon slowly became a bestseller. Annual sales grew from about 1,500 copies in 1953 to 20,000 in 1970; and by 1990, the total number of copies sold was more than 4 million

Brown, Margaret Wise. Goodnight Moon. Printed in USA: Harper and Row Publishers Inc., 1947 

Link to 2 1/2 year old reading Goodnight Moon on youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LTMjrnkxKg8 

Carl's Sleepy Afternoon - Wordless Book

Carl's Sleepy Afternoon, is a wordless book written by Alexandra Day. Even though the book does has some text, the majority of the pages are solely illustrations. To get the complete story, the reader must look at each illustration to see all the different events that are happening. 

The book starts out with a mother and her daughter, Madeline saying goodbye to their dog, Carl. They tell Carl they are going out shopping to find Madeline a new dress and that Carl should enjoy a nice long nap while they are out. Once Mother and Madeline are gone, Carl leaves the house to help out everyone in town. He first helps the delivery man make delivers, then he goes to the bakery where he sees Mother and Madeline but they don't see him. Next, Carl goes to the vet to drop off the delivery from this morning and helps the nurse give another dog a shot. Then he plays with a little boy and his grandfather in the park and he gives an old lady some flowers. After that, Carl helps put out a fire and rescue a dog and her puppies. Carl then sees Mother and Madeline at the dress shop and Madeline sees him but Mother doesn't. He knows they are almost finished so he runs as fast as he can back home and makes it just in time. Mother and Madeline walk in, greet Carl and ask him if he had a nice sleepy afternoon.

I think this book teaches a great lesson in how to be a nice, helpful person (or dog). Everyone in town really enjoyed Carl's company and were happy whenever he came around.  He was always there to help someone in need and you could tell people counted on him. This book lets children use their imaginations. Since many pages do not have any text at all, children can be creative and come up with their own reasons for what Carl is doing. For instance in one picture Carl is sitting in front of a book store where there is a picture of Carl promoting his new book on a big poster displayed the window. The poster says, "Carl's Back! With a New Adventure".  Students can come up with their own reasons for why Carl has his own book and what other adventures he might have had. 

Overall I think this book was a great example of how Wordless books let children be creative and use their imaginations while reading and looking at the pictures. The first thing young children like to do when they read a book is to look at the pictures. And now with wordless books, they have the opportunity to take the book in any direction they want! 

Day , Alexandra. Carl's Sleepy Afternoon. Canada: Green Tiger Press , 2005.

Where's Waldo? - Participation Book

Where's Waldo, written by Martin Handford is a great example of a participation book. What makes a participation book beneficial to children is that it physically involves them in the story. It can either have them pulling on things to reveal hidden things or finding hidden objects in the illustrations. These types of books not only provide children with good stories, they also make them use their brains and be physically involved with the book. 

Where's Waldo takes the reader on a journey through all of Waldo's adventures during his worldwide hike. The only text that is written is in the form of post cards written by Waldo to his followers. The first postcard introduces Waldo and all the places he's been. Waldo tells the reader to find him, a few of his friends and other objects in each picture. Waldo sends a post card from all the places he went including the beach, skiing, trains stations, airports, the zoo and so on. At the end of the book, Waldo says he lost something during each trip and needs the reader to go back and look for it. He also provides a checklist on the last page so the reader can check off everything they have found on each page. 

This book requires a lot of participation on the part of the reader. This would be a good lesson to teach children about writing post cards as well as working on their concentration and memory skills. After they have read the book once, you can have them read it again maybe on a different day and see if they can remember where Waldo was in each picture. 

What makes this book special is the incredible detailed illustrations. It took Martin Handford a total of two years to complete these illustrations. Where's Waldo? also spent more than 93 weeks in the number one spot on the New York Times Best Sellers List and won the Best Kids Book award in 2003. 

Where's Waldo Official Website: http://www.findwaldo.com/

Handford, Martin. Where's Waldo?. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data, 1987, 1997 

Madeline - Picture Story Book

The book, Madeline, written by Ludwig Bemelmans is a great example of a picture story book. What makes a picture story book is the connection between the story and the illustrations. They work together on each page to tell a story. One could not exist without the other or the whole story would not truly be told. 

The book Madeline tells the story of a young girl who lives in Paris with twelve other little girls and Miss Clavel. Madeline is not afraid of anything and likes to play tricks. One night however, she becomes ill and has to go to the hospital to get her appendix out. She stays in the hospital for ten days and then the other eleven girls come to visit. They see that Madeline is fine and they are glad she is feeling better. They are amazed with all the toys and candy Madeline has and she shows off her scar that she got from the surgery. Once the girls leave and go back to the house, they all pretend that their stomachs hurt and they want their appendix out too! Miss Clavel tells them to be thankful that they are well and to go to sleep. "And that is all there is - there isn't anymore". 

This book shows the importance of the connection between text and illustrations. There is very little text written on each page. The majority of each page is made up of the illustrations. The text is only seen at the very bottom of the page. Without the illustrations the reader would fully understand the story. The text does not specify that the girls live in a girls home with a Nun, only from the illustrations do you see this information. Without the illustrations one might think that the other eleven girls were her sisters and they would not have any idea who Miss Clavel was. 

This book, Madeline has been very popular ever since it came out in 1939. In 1952 Madeline was made into a short film shown in cinemas. Then again in 1998 it was made into a feature film. It was also made into a TV series for HBO in 1989. The book was award the Caldecott Honor Award by the American Library Association. 

Bemelmans, Ludwig. Madeline. 1. New York, New York: The Viking Press, 1939. 

I Want a Dog - Contemporary Realistic Fiction

The book, I Want a Dog, written by Helga Bansch is a Contemporary Realistic Fiction book about animals. In the story, a young girl named Lisa loves dogs so much and wants on of her own. She begs her parents to get her a dog, but they always tell her no, because their apartment is too small. Lisa first tries being really good and when that doesn't work she tries being really bad. When both of these strategies fail, Lisa decides she is going to post up an ad in the park. The ad says, "WANTED: Dog to Borrow...Walking, Brushing, Petting, Playing. Your Pet Needs A Pal! See Lisa - Dog's Best Friend 77 Oak Street apt 3". An elderly man  named Mr. Lewis answered Lisa's ad. He brought his dog, Rollo over to Lisa's apartment and asked if she would help walk and play with Rollo because he is getting too old to keep up with him! Lisa's parents think this is a great idea because Lisa gets to experience the fun of having a dog without it actually living in their apartment! Lisa was now very happy because she finally had a dog to play with! 

This book is a great example of a Contemporary Realistic Fiction book because the story of a little girl wanting a dog is something that could really happen. Even though there is not actually a little girl named Lisa who lived in a small apartment and wanted a dog, this story could be true. Also, young children can relate to Lisa. Young kids always want a pet of their own so they can relate to the feelings Lisa is going through when she tries to get her parents to say yes to a dog. 

I think this book teaches a lesson in compromise. Since Lisa couldn't get a dog of her own, she thought up a new idea of taking care of someone else's dog. This way, she got to have the fun of playing with a dog without actually having it live in her small apartment. She is also helping out Mr. Lewis by taking care of Rollo since he cannot. 

Overall I really enjoyed reading this book. I think it teaches a great lesson and is also a great example of a Contemporary Realistic Fiction book about animals!

Bansch, Helga. I Want a Dog. New York : North South Books Inc., 2009. 

Author: Helga Bansch is a published illustrator of children's books. Published credits of Helga Bansch include Chocolata/ Chocolata and Leo's Dream.

Chick Chicka 1.2.3. - Counting Book

Chick Chick 1.2.3. is a picture book and a counting book. It was written by Bill Martin Jr., Michael Sampson and Lois Ehlert. Counting books really do help children learn the concept of counting. A good counting book allows for personal discovery and are beautifully illustrated. This book does allow for personal discovery because the children learn that no matter how small they are they can always find a place where the fit in. 

Chicka Chicla 1 2 3 takes the reader through the numbers 1-20 then goes by 10's up to 100. All of the numbers want to get into the tree but there is no place for the number 0 because he is too little. Two buzzing bees fly into the tree and scare the rest of the numbers out and they tumble to the ground. Zero sees 10 at the top of the tree and joins him to make 100. He finally found the perfect place for him and all the rest of the numbers go back into the tree to join him.
This book is great for teaching children about numbers and counting. Also it teacher kids about multiples of 10. After the number 20, it goes up by 10's to 30, 40 50 etc..all the way to 99. Finally at the end when zero joins 10 the book get to number 100. This book also rhymes and has a rhythmic tone while you read it. Those kind of book are always interesting to read and keep the reader and listener interested. It is also an easy read so older children can read it by themselves or with others. By reading this book multiple times a child can learn their numbers very well.

Overall I really enjoyed this book and if I ever have to teach a lesson on numbers and counting in my classroom I will definitely use the book Chicka Chicka 1.2.3 to teach the lesson!

Martin, Bill Jr. and Sampson, Michael. Illustrations by Ehlert, Lois. Chicka Chicka 1.2.3.. New York, New York: Simon and Schuster Children's Publishing Division, 2004. This book was a New York Times Best Seller. The book has won numerous awards from a variety of publications, libraries, and parenting groups, including Best Book of 2004 by Parenting Magazine