A TRIP TO THE ZOO

This is a fun book and inspired a trip to our local zoo! We have been reading about the new snow leopards at the Central Park Zoo. Today we got to see them!

PSSST! by Adam Rex

Harcourt Children's Books 2007

Ages 3 - 8

Pssst! by Adam Rex is a book that adults will enjoy as much as kids. It reads like a comic with text in cartoon bubbles and wonderful illustrations. What starts out as a girl's visit to the zoo, becomes an escapade for the animals. Each animal calls the girl over with the noise Pssst! My girls quickly caught on to this repeated text and enjoyed saying Pssst! with each new animal. The story builds up at perfect pace for a suprise ending that leaves everyone smiling.

A MISSED CLASSIC: FOUND

How could I have missed this book? I suppose it is because the year it was published I was graduating from high school and my head was not in the year's best picture books. Thanks to my youngest daughter for pulling it off of the shelf at the library. I immediately recognized the name Miss Rumphius from a kidlit blog I enjoy. I was anxious to discover the book with my children.

Miss Rumphius by Barbara Cooney

The Viking Press 1982

Ages 3 +

This book is a gift to read aloud to children. My two girls, ages 3 and 6, sat intently and listened to this story about an eccentric women who realizes her purpose and follows the instruction given by her artist grandfather during her youth. "You must do something to make the world more beautiful." Miss Rumphius carries an important message and is really a green book. It sends the message that we all should do something to make the world a better place. It opened this discussion in our family and is a book we will visit again and again.

The illustrations by the author are rich in detail and delightfully transport us to the world of Miss Rumphius.

OUR SUMMER PET

Summer is here in our house. The end of the school year brought home a week old baby frog from the science lab.

Tadpole Rex by Kurt Cyrus
Harcourt Children's Books June 2008
Ages 3-9

This is a wonderful, humorous, rhyming book with bold playful illustrations. We observe a tadpole finding his voice amongst the dinosaurs. My nine year old son commented that every age would like it because it is "like a poem." It creatively combines fiction, science and rhythm, making a great read aloud. I loved it!