Here are some recommended books, activities, and resources.
Guess How Much I Love You by Sam McBratney, illustrated by Anita Jeram
Description: Right before Little Nutbrown Hare goes to bed, he asks Big Nutbrown Hare the question “Guess how much I love you?”. Little Nutbrown Hare says he loves Big Nutbrown Hare as much as his arms stretch out wide. Big Nutbrown Hare, who is much bigger and taller than Little Nutbrown Hare, then stretches his arms (which are much bigger than Little Nutbrown Hare’s arms) out wide to show Little Nutbrown Hare how much he loves him. Throughout the story, the two use larger and larger measures to quantify how much they love each other. At the end of the story, Little Nutbrown Hare tells Big Nutbrown Hare that he loves Big Nutbrown Hare right up to the moon. When Little Nutbrown Hare falls asleep, Big Nutbrown Hare whispers to Little Nutbrown Hare that he loves him right up to the moon – and back.
Guess How Much I Love You by Sam McBratney, illustrated by Anita Jeram
Description: Right before Little Nutbrown Hare goes to bed, he asks Big Nutbrown Hare the question “Guess how much I love you?”. Little Nutbrown Hare says he loves Big Nutbrown Hare as much as his arms stretch out wide. Big Nutbrown Hare, who is much bigger and taller than Little Nutbrown Hare, then stretches his arms (which are much bigger than Little Nutbrown Hare’s arms) out wide to show Little Nutbrown Hare how much he loves him. Throughout the story, the two use larger and larger measures to quantify how much they love each other. At the end of the story, Little Nutbrown Hare tells Big Nutbrown Hare that he loves Big Nutbrown Hare right up to the moon. When Little Nutbrown Hare falls asleep, Big Nutbrown Hare whispers to Little Nutbrown Hare that he loves him right up to the moon – and back.
Activities:
- Use the book to teach your child how to practically show love to others. Make a sheet of coupons that say things like “I will plan a special time with you”, “I will give you a hug today”, or “I will help you around the house.” Then give them to your child so that they can color and cut the coupons out and give them to someone they love (a family member, a teacher, or a friend at school).
- After reading the book with your child, take a look at the pictures in the book together. Afterward, have a discussion and ask your child, “With each thing that the rabbits discuss, which is bigger or more?”
Technology resource: there's a UK cast that performs "Guess How Much I Love You" live on stage. Here's a trailer of their performance:
They have the performance on DVD. Their website has more information on how to purchase the DVD and their future tour dates.
Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown, illustrated by Clement Hurd
Activities:
Description: The story takes places in a little bunny’s green bedroom. A little bunny is tucked in his bed, and various objects are in the little bunny’s green room: a red balloon, paintings/pictures, toys, cats, a mouse, and a quiet old lady (bunny). The little bunny, from his bed, says goodnight to the various items in the room, and even says goodnight to the moon, stars, air, and noises. In the last scene, the room is dark and the little bunny finally goes to sleep.
Activities:
- Use this book to help your child pick out detail in storybook pictures. Many objects and things change throughout the story. Follow one or two different objects with your children. For example, the mouse and the kittens move to different places in the bedroom throughout the story. The time on the blue clock (on top of the fireplace mantle) changes in every scene. The moon in the window changes positions. The lighting of the room changes. Encourage your child to look for other things in the story that change or move.
- Use this book to teach your child about words that rhyme. Look for pairs of words that rhyme throughout the story. Whenever you arrive at a pair of words that rhyme, repeat the words to the children to emphasize that the words rhyme. An alternative to this activity is to read the book aloud to your child, and have him or her point out the words that rhyme.
Technology resource: there's a version of the book that comes with a CD that includes a reading of the story and the story sung as a lullaby. The book and CD can be purchased from Amazon here.
I Am a Bunny by Ole Risom, illustrated by Richard Scarry
Description: In the opening scene of this story, we meet a little bunny named Nicholas. Nicholas tells about what kind of day-to-day activities he likes to do throughout the four seasons. In the spring, he likes to pick flowers and chase butterflies. In the summer, he likes to watch the birds and the frogs. In the fall, he watches the leaves fall from the trees and the animals get ready for the winter. In the winter, he watches the snowfall. The story ends with Nicholas in the winter season, when Nicholas goes to his tree and dreams about the next spring.
Activities:
- Use the book to teach your child about the four seasons. Whenever a new season arrives, hang decorations from the ceiling and the walls that match with the new season. If it is spring, hang flower decorations. If it is summer, have bird, sun, and dandelion decorations. If it is fall, hang fall leaves. If it is winter, have snowflake and pine cones decorations. On the first day of each season, put these decorations up and tell your child about the new season that has arrived.
- Use items from nature to make art. Have your child find or bring in leaves of different shapes. Then have your child dip them in different colors of paint and stamp them on a large sheet of poster paper. Hang up the poster so your child see what he or she made.
Technology resource: here's a short animation of the book. The animation was created by junior high school students as part of the 2D in 2Days workshop presented by the Women's Film Festival in October 2007 and mentored by award-winning filmmaker Mary Lewis.
D.W. The Picky Eater by Marc Brown
Description: D.W. is extremely picky about her food and will not eat anything with eyes, pickles, tomatoes, mushrooms, eggplant, pineapple, and most of all, spinach. Because of her picky eating habits, she can no longer go to the fun dinners with her family and instead, stays at home with her babysitter to eat her meals. When it’s time for her grandma’s birthday dinner, she tells her family that she’s willing to order something from the menu so that she can go. At the birthday dinner, she orders “Little Bo Beep Pot Pie”, which she finds delicious and even asks her mom to cook it for her. D.W.’s mother asks the waiter for the recipe, and the waiter tells them that the pie is filled with spinach. D.W. is shocked that she just enjoyed eating something she thought she didn’t like!
Activities:
- Have your child draw a picture of the food that D.W. was not willing to eat but ended up unknowingly eating and liking. Then have your child draw a picture of a food they do not like to eat but are willing to try.
- Use the book to teach your child that seeing isn’t the same as tasting. Show your child different types of uncut fruit and vegetables. Then blindfold your child and have him or her try sample pieces of all the different types of food items. Afterward, have your child guess what he or she tasted.
Technology resource: here's an interactive and electronic version of the book. The software contains educational games that can be a vehicle for teaching early reading skills and also act as a discussion starter on healthy eating. It can be purchased from Amazon here.
Titch by Pat Hutchins
Description: Titch is the youngest of his siblings. He watches his older brother Pete and sister Mary experience new things that Titch can’t have or experience because he is too young or small. While Pete and Mary ride a bicycle up a hill, Titch falls behind them on his tiny tricycle. While Pete and Mary fly a kite above the houses, Titch has a pinwheel in his hand. In every scene up until the last, Titch has a frown on his face from watching his sister and brother having fun because they are older and bigger than him. The last scene shows Pete with a big spade, Mary with a flowerpot, and Titch with a seed. Titch’s seed grows, and continues to grow taller than both Pete and Mary. Pete and Mary are surprised and amazed at how the small seed that Titch planted could grow so large in size.
- Use the book to teach your child that something small, like a seed, can have a lot of potential. Have your child plant seeds to make a garden. Have your child take turns to water the plants daily. Take pictures of the garden daily. Develop the pictures and laminate them. Then put the pictures on a wall so your child can see the garden’s growth.
- Use the book to teach your child about size. In the book, Pete and the object he is using are always larger than Mary’s, and Mary’s is always larger than Titch’s. As you go through the book with your child, have him or her point out which person and their object is smallest/smaller or larger/largest.
