Book Review: Ten Little Fingers Ten Little Toes

Ten Little Fingers and Ten Little Toes.

By Mem Fox. Illus. by Helen Oxenbury.
2008. 34p. Harcourt, $16.99 (9780547366203)

Age Group: Baby to Toddler
Genre: Fiction

Awards:New York Times bestseller lists for 18 weeks in 2008/2009

 September 2009 it was on the top of Oprah’s list of best books for children aged 0-2. 
Subjects/Themes: Babies, Toes, Fingers

ELS promoted: Print motivation, phonological awareness
Format: Picture book

Annotation: 
Rhyming text compares babies born in different places and in different circumstances, but they all share the commonality of ten little fingers and ten little toes.
 

Reactions/Observations:
This book uses rhyming text to share a poem about babies from around the world and the families that love them. Fox repeats the phrase that each baby has ten little fingers and ten little toes.  The repeated stanza creates a rhythm for the book. Oxenbury's illustrations are warm and friendly. Each of the stanzas introduces new babies but incorporates the babies from the previous stanzas. Readers are able to deduce their international backgrounds from the clothes they are wearing. 

This book is great for babies and toddlers alike.  Parents are able to interact with their child and the book by pointing out their fingers and toes to the child. The pictures and the actions in the poem keep the focus of the book on the child. I highly recommend this book as a must have for any nursery.  

Book Review: Dear Zoo

Book #60

Book Image:

Bibliographic Citation:

Dear Zoo.
By Rod Campbell. Illus. by author.
1982. 16p. Little Simon, $12.95. (9780689877513)

Age Group:
Baby to Preschool
 

Genre:
Fiction
 

Awards:
None listed.
 

Topics/Issues: 
Zoo, Pets

ELS promoted: 
Narrative skills, print awareness, print motivation, vocabulary
 

Format: 
Lift Flap Book
 

Author/Illustrator sites:
 http://www.rodcampbell.co.uk/

Categorization Tags:
E Campbell
 

Annotation: 
The reader writes the zoo for a pet, but every animal that arrives isn't a good fit for its prospective owner until the very last animal.  Movable flaps reveal the animals in each package. 

Reactions/Observations:
In Dear Zoo by Rod Campbell (1982), the reader writes to the zoo for a pet only to receive a variety of animals that are not a good match.  Each time a package is received, the reader repeats the action introducing a rhythmic word to explain the reason why the animal is sent back. Dear Zoo is a great example for narrative skills because it develops prediction skills with the patterns in dialogue as well as introduces new vocabulary with each animal. Prediction, or knowing what happens next, helps develop narrative skills.  By allowing a child to guess what is going to happen next, you are developing the skill to retell stories or events.  In story time, children will often join in and say “I sent him back!” with me as if they were reading the story with me.  Their enthusiasm and willingness to participate are important factors to become successful readers in the future. I have read this for different storytimes.  All groups enjoy it, but the ideal age group would be toddler or preschool.

Book Review: Higher higher!

Book #58

Book Image:

Bibliographic Citation:

Higher! Higher!

By Leslie Partricelli. Illus. by author.
2009. 32pp. Candlewick, $15.99. (9780763632410)

Age Group: 
Baby to Toddler

Genre:
Fiction
 

Awards:

Chicago Public Library Best of the Best Books
NCTE (National Council of Teachers of English) Notable Children's Book
School Library Journal Best Books of the Year
Horn Book Fanfare, The
Booklist Editors' Choice
Kirkus Reviews - Best Children's Books of the Year
Parents Magazine 20 Best Children's Books
ALSC Notables - Nominee
Boston Globe - Horn Book Awards - Honor Book
Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association (PNBA) Book Award - Nominee
Horn Book Summer Reading List

Topics/Issues: 
 Imagination, swings

ELS promoted: 
Print awareness, print motivation, vocabulary
 

Format:

Author/Illustrator sites:
http://www.lesliepatricelli.com/
 

Categorization Tags:
E Patricelli
 

Annotation: 
A father pushes  his daughter higher and higher on a swing where she encounters the heights of her imagination.

Reactions/Observations:
A father pushes his daughter higher and higher on a swing. The imaginative toddler swings so high she sees a giraffe, flies over tall buildings, meets a mountain climber, waves at an airplane, gazes down at Earth, greets a space monkey, and high fives an alien.  Children will enjoy seeing where her imagination takes her.  This book is great for introducing new vocabulary even if it's 90% of the dialogue in the book. 
 
Although Kirkus reviews suggested this book for ages 3 to 7, I disagree.  The text is simple, so simple that it may not attract the interest of preschool and higher. This book is ideal for babies and toddlers.  Babies and toddlers may not fully understand the concept of "higher", but sharing it with great illustrations like those in Higher higher! are a great way to promote early literacy.

Book Review: Big Fat Hen

Book #56

Book Image:

Bibliographic Citation: 
Big Fat Hen.
By Keith Baker. Illus. by author.
1994. 32pp. Harcourt, $16.99(9780152928698 )
 

Age Group:
Baby to Preschool
 

Genre:
Fiction
 

Awards:
 None listed.

Topics/Issues: 
Counting, Nursery Rhymes

ELS promoted: 
Print awareness, print motivation, phonological awareness

Format: 
Hardcover

Author/Illustrator sites:

http://www.keithbakerbooks.com

Categorization Tags:
E Baker

Annotation: 
 Big Fat Hen counts to ten with her friends and all their chicks.

Reactions/Observations:

This is a rendition of the well-known counting rhyme, 1”one, two, buckle my shoe”. This book is filled with high contrast colors and patterned designs that easily attract the attention of babies. The illustrations are bold and beautiful, allowing for easy counting.  I have read this book in baby storytime.  They enjoy the rhythm of the rhyme along with the large images of farm animals. This book is ideal for babies and toddlers, but preschoolers will benefit too. Preschoolers will also enjoy pre reading this book with their parents and also by themselves.

Media Review: Baby Einstein

Book #53

Book Image:

Bibliographic Citation: 
Baby Einstein. (2007) Baby Einstein: Discovering Shapes. United States: Walt Disney Video.

Age Group:
Baby to Toddler
 

Genre:
Fiction
 

Awards:
Here is a link to a full awards list: Baby Einstein Awards

Topics/Issues: 
 Early Development, Shapes

ELS promoted: 
Letter Knowledge, phonological awareness, vocabulary
 

Format: 
DVD

Author/Illustrator sites:
 http://www.babyeinstein.com/home/

Categorization Tags:
E Baby Einstein
 

Annotation: 
Baby Einstein introduces a variety of shapes paired with words and music.

Reactions/Observations:

Baby Einstein is a line of early development products by Disney. The line includes DVDs, music CDs, and board books. I evaluated part of their DVD collection. The DVD is primarily a slideshow of images based on a theme with classical music composed to appeal to the baby ear. The sample DVD I previewed was about shapes. An upbeat rhino hand puppet draws different shapes. Each drawing is followed by real life images of items that are the same shape. Dialogue is few and far between, but the imagery continues to change providing the child with a wide variety of shapes.

Parents often bring Baby Einstein to the desk inquiring about its usefulness. If used as intended, meaning the program was watched by both parent and child together, Baby Einstein has the potential to be a great learning tool. The program serves as an enjoyable way to share time together with music and visual stimuli. By allowing for the parent to name the images shared throughout the program and listening to the music, parents are able to promote vocabulary and phonological awareness.

By far, Baby Einstein was the least favorite of the media sources reviewed. Although the DVD boasts promotion of parent child interaction and exposure to the world around the child, there was little inspiration for interaction throughout the program. The lack of dialogue was disappointing. Children could benefit from labeling the collection of images, but the program misses this opportunity to build vocabulary too. It leaves the task of object identification and vocabulary building to the parent. Also, this series was the only early literacy source that required purchase. Unfortunately the program was not worth the money spent. Research (Arnold, 2007) further supports this observation by demonstrating that Baby Einstein is no better than its competitors. If used as intended, Baby Einstein still serves as a great resource.This series is ideal for 0-24 months. After 2 years, the content may be too simple to retain the child's interest.

Book Review: Orange Pear Apple Bear

Book #50

Book Image:

Bibliographic Citation: 
Orange Pear Apple Bear.
By Emily Gravett. Illus. by author. 
2006.22p. Simon & Schuster, $7. (9781442420038)
 

Age Group:
Baby to Toddler
 

Genre:
Fiction
 

Awards:
None listed.
 

Topics/Issues: 
Bears, Plays on words
 

ELS promoted: 
Print motivation, print awareness,  vocabulary
 

Format: 
Board book
 

Author/Illustrator sites:
http://www.emilygravett.com/
 

Categorization Tags:
E Gravett
 

Annotation: 

Explores concepts of color, shape, and food using only five simple words, as a bear juggles and plays.

Reactions/Observations:
By simply changing the order of four simple words, Gravett creates a playful tale about a bear and his fruit. At first the fruits and bear appear alone. Then they are combined to show how the bear seems to match its fruity friends. The apple, pear, and orange are presented in stacks and with the bear holding them. 
 
Originally published as a picture book, I found this version of the book in our board book collection. The original version has 32 pages, but the board book version has been shortened to a total of 22 pages. I wish I was able to compare the two versions, but I wasn't able to get my hands on both a picture book and board book version in time.  The watercolor illustrations are light and playful much like the book itself. In the board book version, it ends with the bear gobbling up the fruit.  The comparison of fruit shapes to bear are lively and lighthearted. Babies and tolddlers will enjoy the board book edition since they will be able to handle it themselves with less risk of being damaged. Parents can introduce new vocabulary by pointing out each of the objects and identifying it with their children.Orange Pear Apple Bear is easy to love!

Book Review: Color-By-Penguins

Book #49

Book Image:

Bibliographic Citation: 
Color-By-Penguins.
By Ed Heck. Illus. by author.
2011.14pp. Scholastic, $6.99. (9780843198881)
 

Age Group:
Baby to Toddler
 

Genre:
Fiction
 

Awards:
None listed.
 

Topics/Issues:
Colors, Opposites

ELS promoted: 
Print motivation, print awareness, vocabulary

Format: 
Board Book
 

Author/Illustrator sites:
http://www.edheck.com
 

Categorization Tags:
E Heck
 

Annotation: 
Two very different penguins paint a wall in a rainbow of colors.
 

Reactions/Observations:
Two penguins paint a wall, but the story isn't that simple. As each color of paint is introduced, the penguins act in opposite ways.  While one paints neatly, the other penguin is not.  While one paints in straight lines, the other penguin does not.  They continue to paint in this way until they finish a rainbow!


The penguin characters are quirky and enjoyable. Babies will enjoy the bright color palette and movements from page to page. Toddlers will enjoy identifying the colors and the opposites between the two penguins.  Although I discovered this book among our board books, I think this book would also be good in picture book format. This book is simple enough to share with younger audiences, but interesting enough to have new readers book talk this back to their loved ones.

Book Review: You Are My Cupcake

Book #48

Book Image:

Bibliographic Citation: 
You Are My Cupcake.
By Joyce Wan. Illus. by author.
2011. 14pp. Scholastic, $6.99 . (9780545307413)
 

Age Group:
Baby to Preschool
 

Genre:
Fiction
 

Awards:
None listed
 

Topics/Issues: 
Food, love
 

ELS promoted: 
Print motivation, print awareness
 

Format: 
Board book
 

Author/Illustrator sites:
http://www.wanart.com
 

Categorization Tags:
E Wan
 

Annotation: 

Illustrations and brief text explore some of the food names that people use as terms of endearment.

Reactions/Observations:
In You Are My Cupcake, Wan uses food names and cute illustrations of food to depic terms of endearment people often use.After reading We Belong Together, I had to find the other book by Joyce Wan.  The illustrations are just as charming as the first (or really the second) book. The text is simple and complements the illustrations well. The text is not presented in a traditional manner, but in different fonts and compositions, creating a dynamic layout of the each page spread. This book would be ideal for the younger end of our age range.  Babies and toddlers will enjoy the color images. Parents will have fun reading this to their little ones and having a more durable way to share early literacy skills.

Book Review: We Belong Together

Book #47

Book Image:

Bibliographic Citation: 
We Belong Together.
By Joyce Wan. Illus. by author.
 2011. 14p. Scholastic, $6.99 (9780545307413)

 

Age Group:
Baby to Preschool

 

Genre:
Fiction
 

Awards:
None listed.
 

Topics/Issues: 
Parent and child

ELS promoted: 
 Print motivation, print awareness

Format: 
board book
 

Author/Illustrator sites:
http://www.wanart.com
 

Categorization Tags:
E Wan
 

Annotation: 
An ode to all pairs that belong together perfectly.

Reactions/Observations:

This book is adorable! The illustrations are cute and trendy.  Each image is boldly outlined and personified with a pair of big round eyes. Wan uses her playful imagery  and bright palette to show the special bond between a parent and child.  We Belong Together  is the second book in the series by Joyce Wan.

The text and imagery are simple enough for young audiences to enjoy, but also witty enough to charm older audiences.  I plan to use this book alongside a flannel for toddler story time.  Children and parents alike will coo at the cute comparisons and sweet artwork. The durable nature also allows for younger readers to page through without assistance allowing for better print awareness and print motivation practice.

Book Review: I Kissed the Baby

Book #46

Book Image:

Bibliographic Citation: 
I Kissed The Baby!
By Mary Murphy. Illus. by author.
2003. 24pp. Candlewick, $14.99. (9781406329964)
 

Age Group:
Baby-Kindergarten

Genre:
Fiction

Awards:
None listed.

Topics/Issues: 
Mother and child, animals, babies
 

ELS promoted: 
Print awareness, print motivation

Format: 
Hardcover.
 

Author/Illustrator sites:
None listed. 

Categorization Tags:
E Murphy

Annotation: 

 Various animals tell how they saw, fed, sang to, tickled, and kissed the new duckling.

Reactions/Observations:
A baby is coming! Different animals share how they saw, fed, sang to, tickled, and kissed the new duckling. The illustrations are high contrast with dashes of color that attract babies’ attention. The text has a sing-song rhythm which makes it a good choice for very young readers.


I read this book in baby storytime.The book seemed too simple. I worried that my audience would be bored, but that was far from the truth. Parents enjoyed acting out the actions in the book with their child. When I read "kiss", each mom leaned down to kiss their baby.  It was sweet and something unexpected. The simplicity of the story and the inspiration to interact make this a great book for storytime and at home reading.

Book Review: Where is Baby's Belly Button?

Book #35

Book Image:

Bibliographic Citation:

We’ve all got bellybuttons!

By David Martin. Illustrated by Randy Cecil.

2005. 25p. Candlewick Press, $15.99. (9780763617752)

Age Group:

Toddler-PreS

Genre:

Fiction

Awards:

None listed.

Topics/Issues:

Anatomy, navel, animals

ELS promoted:

Print motivation, print awareness, phonological awareness, and vocabulary

Format:

Hardcover

Author/Illustrator sites:

http://www.davidzmartin.com/

Categorization Tags:

E Martin

Annotation:

Various animals invite the reader to experience what their different body parts can do, including their tickly belly buttons.

Reactions/Observations:

 A variety of animals and their young explore the different ways their bodies can move and invite their audience to play along. Each page features a family of animals with an upbeat rhyme about a particular body part and motion.  The animals share all the amazing things they can do with their ears, hands, necks, and feet. The animals join together to inspect their belly buttons only to instigate a big tickle fest at the end. Children will enjoy following along with the animal’s gestures. 

The illustrations are cartoon like and playful, perfect for toddlers! The book is an easy way to engage young audience with its rhyming verse and bright colors. I recently used this book in baby storytime and in toddler storytime. Both audiences enjoyed this book very much. This book will especially delight parents reading to their children.The mention of body parts invite parents to point them out on their child as they read.

Book Review: Shoe Baby

Book #33

Book Image:

Bibliographic Citation:

Shoe Baby.

By Joyce Dunbar. Illus. by Polly Dunbar.

2005. 32p. CAndlewick Press, $15.99. (9780763627799)

Age Group:

Baby to Preschool

Genre:

Fiction

Awards:

None listed.

Topics/Issues:

Babies, Shoes, Travels

ELS promoted:

Print motivation, print awareness, phonological awareness

Format:

Hardcover

Author/Illustrator sites:

http://www.joycedunbar.com/  / http://www.pollydunbar.com

Categorization Tags:

E Dunbar

Annotation:

A baby takes a journey in a shoe and after visiting the zoo, flying, and inviting the Queen to tea, he falls asleep and awakens to two very big surprises.

Reactions/Observations:

In rhyming text, baby greets us and share his travels through the ocean, around town, at the zoo, through the air, at high tea, and cozily sleeping all in the shoe. As he sleeps in his shoe, a giant wearing one shoe searches for its lost partner and a crying mother searches for her baby.  Baby reveals his hiding spot to greet his family.

I think babies and toddlers would be the best audience for this simple but sweet story. The illustrations are colorful and interesting, easy to attract the eyes of very young readers. The use of mixed media gives the pictures a texture that is unique to this book. The text is used as part of the illustrations, depicting movement with the composition of the images alongside the text. Parents will enjoy reading this book with their children while children will enjoy imagining themselves in this baby's "shoe". This is a baby story time favorite for me. The sing song rhythm of the text make for a soothing and enjoyable read.

Book Review: Little Chicken's Big Day

Book #32

Book Image:

Bibliographic Citation:

Little Chicken's Big Day.

By Katie Davis and Jerry Davis. Illus. by authors.

2011. 30p. Margaret K. McElderry Books, $14.99. (9781442414013)

Age Group:

Baby to Preschool

Genre:

Fiction

Awards:

2012 Trailee Award

Topics/Issues:

Mother and child, chickens

ELS promoted:

Print motivation, print awareness, narrative skills

Format:

Hardcover

Author/Illustrator sites:

http://www.katiedavis.com

Categorization Tags:

E Davis

Annotation:

Little Chicken is tired of being told what to do by Big Chicken but when they become separated he misses all of the clucking.

Reactions/Observations:

Big Chicken is rushing Little Chicken to get ready for his big day out, but on the way...he gets lost! Throughout the day, Little Chicken says "I hear you cluckin', Big Chicken" in reply to mama's requests. At one point, Little Chicken gets distracted and loses track of Mama.  His little facial expressions go through every emotion until he hears Mama calling him back. This is book is sweet! Babies and toddlers will enjoy this book most.  The language is simple yet expressive, making it easy to communicate the wide range of emotions that Little Chicken feels. The illustrations are bold and easy to interpret. Children will enjoy retelling this story, about that one time the baby chicken lost its mama. 

I have read this book for Baby storytime and in Toddler storytime.  Although it would also be appropriate for preschool, I think they may not find the story as exciting or relatable. 

Book Review: Animal Spots and Stripes

Book #24

Book Image:

Bibliographic Citation:

Animal spots and stripes.

By Britta Techkentrup. Illus. by author.

2012. 18p. Chronicle, $12.99. (9781452109947)

 Age Group:

Baby –Toddler

 Genre:

Fiction

 Awards:

None listed.

Topics/Issues:

Animals

ELS promoted:

Vocabulary, Print motivation, Print awareness

 Format:

Lift flap book.

Author/Illustrator sites:

www.brittateckentrup.com/

Categorization Tags:

E Teckentrup

 Annotation:

Illustrates the spots and stripes of different animals, including tigers, dogs, frogs, and lemurs.

Reactions/Observations:

The illustrations easily attract the attention of babies with their bold and playful colors. Each two page spread features various striped and spotted animals with a flap to lift to reveal another animal with the opposite pattern. All different kinds of animals are depicted including tigers, fish, dogs, caterpillars, frogs, turtles, zebras, bugs, lemurs, and finally the chameleon. The chameleon breaks the pattern because it's both spotted and striped. Babies and Toddlers will enjoy the interactive nature of the flaps as well as the simple yet colorful images. I especially liked the different die cut shapes of the flaps. It gave the book a peek a boo aspect which children will like. I think children will enjoy identifying the animals as much as lifting the flaps.