Book: Wild About Books, Judy Sierra

Summary: the bookmobile ends up at the zoo by mistake, but the librarian finds just the right books for each animal and they learn how to take care of books. They end up opening a zoobrary.

Activity: Trip to the Library

Materials: none

Steps: Take your child to the local library and pick out a book(s) that are just right for him/her.

Book: Chrysanthemum, Kevin Henkes

Summary: Chrysanthemum loves her name, which is perfect, until she goes to school. She announces she is named after her grandmother, but the other children laugh and tell her she is named after a flower. The teacher handles this in an amazing way that teaches about tolerance.

Activity: Make flowers

Materials: coffee filters, water color markers, squirt water bottle, pipe cleaner

Steps: Have your child put dots of water color marker on the coffee filter Then lay the filter on a piece of paper towel and spray with the squirt bottle When the filter is dry fold in half and then in half again, Wrap a pipe cleaner around the center of the coffee filter and use as the stem. Unfold the filter to see beautiful flower. Make more and put them in a bouquet

Book: Bread and Jam for Frances, Russell Hoban

Summary: Frances decides she likes to eat only bread and jam at every meal—until to her surprise—her parents grant her wish.

Activity: Jam tasting test

Materials: 3 different kinds of jam, small plate, soda crackers or bread, plastic knife

Steps: Have your child count out 3 square soda crackers or squares of bread Put samples of each jam on a plate Your child can spread each jam on one cracker or bread square Taste and tell which one he/she liked best

Book: The Napping House, Audrey Wood

Summary: It’s rainy outside, and granny fell asleep. A sleepy boys falls asleep on top of her, then a dog, cat, mouse and then a flea. The flea is not sleepy and soon everyone is awake.

Activity: Retell the story using props

Materials: different sized cans or Styrofoam pieces that can be stacked, magazine pictures of a granny, boy, dog cat and mouse, scissors, glue,

Steps: Have your child cut out pictures from magazines of the characters in the story (or new characters from pictures he/she finds) Glue the pictures onto the cans or foam pieces starting with granny on the biggest, then the boy, dog, cat, and mouse on the smallest Stack the cans as you retell the story together

Book: The Runaway Bunny, Margaret Wise Brown

Summary: A little bunny decides to runaway, and mama lets him know that no matter where he goes, she will follow because she loves him.

Activity: Make bunny ears

Materials: heavy duty paper, scissors, stapler, crayons or markers

Steps: Have your child cut out a strip of paper 1 ½ to 2 inches wide and long enough to go around his/her head (to make a headband) Decorate the head band Draw 2 bunny ears, color, and cut out Staple the head band so it fits on your child’s head Staple the bunny ears onto each side of the head band Retell and act out the story of the runaway bunny

Book: If You Take a Mouse to School, Laura Numeroff

Summary: When you take a mouse to school, he’ll start out wanting your lunch box, then your pencil, then your notebook…will it never end?

Activity: Lunch box memory game

Materials: lunch box, items from the story (pencil, notebook, etc.) v

Steps: Put some of the items from the story into the lunch box Open the box and let your child see what is inside Then close and ask him/her to tell you what was inside This is a game…..so have fun with it…vary the number items according to the ability of your child

Book: The Very Busy Spider, Eric Carle

Summary: The farm animals try to get a busy little spider to play instead of spinning her web, but she persists and produces a thing of both beauty and usefulness. The pictures may be felt as well as seen as the web is made.

Activity: Hand print spiders

Materials: heavy duty paper, paint brush, paint, glue, and glitter

Steps: Have your child make a spider web with the glue Sprinkle with glitter and let dry Spread paint on the palm and four fingers of your child Then have your child make a print on the dry spider web Turn the paper upside down and spread paint again of his/her palm and four Fingers Make a print placing the palm on top of the already printed palm This will make a spider with 8 legs on his web When dry embellish the spider as desired

Book: Frederick, Leo Lionni

Summary: As Leo’s family of mice are busy gathering what is needed for a long winter, Frederick has trouble concentrating on the food. Instead, he gathers items that are a surprise in the long winter ahead.

Activity: Make many mice of different sizes

Materials: colored paper, markers, scissors, yarn, tape or glue

Steps: Draw half a heart shape on paper and cut out (make a variety of sizes—big—bigger—biggest) Use the markers to make faces and decorate each mouse Cut a piece of yarn for a tail and tape or glue on Re-enact the story using the various sized mice

Book: No Matter What, Debi Gliori

Summary: Will Large (fox) love Small (fox) forever, no matter what? The answer-of course-is yes, as every parent knows. But sometimes little ones like Small need to be convinced. With wonderful illustrations and very few words, the author tells the story of the love a parent has for their child.

Activity: Sort animals

Materials: variety of plastic animals or magazines with pictures of animals and scissors

Steps: Use plastic animals or cut out pictures from magazines to sort animals. Sort by size (big/small), kind (cat/dog/farm), parent/child

Book: What Happens At the Zoo?, Judith E. Rinard

Summary: This book uses photographs for a behind the scene look at the zoo.

Activity: Create your own rattlesnake. A diamondback rattlesnake has a diamond-shaped pattern on its back. When it wants to give a warning it shakes its rattle instead of hissing. Cut out a snake shape for each child, or laminate a supply to reuse. Have the children glue precut diamonds onto their snake making their own pattern. Have rattles/maracas for the children to use to give warnings from their snakes.

Materials: Colored paper, scissors, sequins, glitter, markers, and glue

Steps: You or your child can draw a snake on the paper and cut out. Then use a variety of materials to decorate the snake. When a rattlesnake wants to give a warning it shakes its rattle instead of hissing. Your child can use a baby rattle to give warnings from his/her snake.

Book: Beautiful Blackbird, Ashley Bryan

Summary: A folktale of the Ila-speaking people of Zambia, this delightful tale of the birds of Africa and how they wish they had black on them, like the beautiful blackbird. Blackbird makes up a paint and applies some to each one, but only after he tells them that beauty is on the inside, not the outside. A beautiful rhyming book.

Activity: Make a bird

Materials: Heavy duty paper (cardstock), scissors, different colored feathers, glue

Steps: You or your child draw an outline of a bird on the cardstock and cut out. Then glue the feathers onto the bird.

Book: Stone Soup – An Old Tale Retold, Marcia Brown (illustrator)

Summary: Three soldiers come to town, hungry, but no one will share any food with them. This story tells how they ‘trick’ the people in the town into a feast.

Activity: Make home made soup

Materials: Variety of vegetable, variety of herbs/spices, cooking pot, vegetable peeler, knife (parent uses)

Steps: Wash and peel, with the veggie peeler, a variety of vegetables (carrots, potatoes, onion, etc.) put in a large cooking pot, add a little salt and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until vegetables are tender. Other herbs and spices can be used (parsley, garlic, bay leaf—depending on your preference).

Book: Jump, Frog, Jump!, Robert Kalan

Summary: This is a story of a frog who keeps escaping from menaces, until he is caught. Encourage your child to get involved in the story by chiming in with jump, Frog, jump as it repeats throughout the story.

Activity: Take a walk with your child to a local nature center or other area where there is water and likely to be frogs.

Materials: Frogs and their pond

Steps: As you and walk and observe the frogs talk about what you are able see and hear around you.

Book: Miss Spider’s Tea Party, David Kirk

Summary: Little Miss Spider just wants to have a tea party, but all the guests are afraid of who will be the meal! They are glad to find out she only eats flowers! A great book about friendship and kindness.

Activity: Have a tea party

Materials: Cups, tea (or juice), and some cookies or crackers or cupcakes.

Steps: Set the table for a tea party with cups and a small plate of something to eat. Sit with your child and talk as you enjoy yourselves at the ‘tea party’. Laugh, smile and have fun together!

Book: The Magic Hat, Mem Fox

Summary: “The magic hat, the magic hat, it moved like this, it moved like that! It spun through the air….” So starts a wonderful rhyme of a hat that blows into town and makes magic wherever it lands, changing people into animals.

Activity: Visit a local zoo or animal habitat and observe the animals. Play the ‘magical hat game’.

Materials: A (magical) hat

Steps: After reading the story take your child to the zoo. Observe the animals, listen to the sounds and movements they make. Later at home play the magical hat game. Tell your child you have a ‘magical’ hat, and together you are going to play the game. Then with your child repeat the rhyme from the story, toss the hat to each other and make the sound and movements of the animals you observed at the zoo.

Book: Over in the Meadow, Olive A. Wadsworth

Summary: A variety of meadow animals going about their daily activities as they introduce the numbers one through ten.

Activity: Nature walk

Materials: Bag to collect nature items

Steps: Take a walk with your child and collect a variety of nature items along the way. Collect more than one of something, two of something else, three of another item (leaves, nuts, seeds, sticks etc.). When you get back home sort the items, by putting the same things together. Then count how many leaves you found, how many nuts, how many stones, etc.

Book: Spiders, Melvin and Gilda Berger

Summary: This book is a "Time to Discover" book from Scholastic.

Materials: None

Activity: Sing this tune to "The Farmer in the Dell" Substitute the movement word with any other movement word. (spin, hop, swim, jump)

Book: Pumpkin Pumpkin, Jeanne Titherington

Summary: A young child plants a pumpkin seed in the spring and watches it grow and grow and grow until finally he has a pumpkin to carve a jack-o’-lantern for Halloween!

Activity: Design and carve a face on a pumpkin (for fun roast pumpkin seeds)

Materials: pumpkin, washable markers, safety jack-o'-lantern carving knive

Steps: Cut the top off the pumpkin and remove all seeds from inside. Using the washable markers have your child draw a face on a pumpkin. Next use the safety jack-o’-lantern carving knife to cut out the face.

Rather than throwing the seeds away try this: Wash the seeds, dry with paper towel, place in a bowl, add a few drops of cooking oil and salt. Then stir until the seeds are lightly coated with oil and salt. Place on a cookie sheet and bake in a 300 degree oven until crisp.

Book: Flower Garden, Eve Bunting

Summary:

Activity: Make flower shaped cookies with your child.

Materials: One tube of sugar cookie dough (found in refrigerator section at grocery store), cookie shaped cutters, spatula, oven, white frosting and food coloring

Activity #3: mix up a batch of sugar cookie batter, and cut the dough into tiny flower shapes. Color white frosting different colors and using craft sticks, have the child frost the cookies. Spread a small amount of frosting on the back of each cookie and stick the cookies to a graham cracker "flower pot".