Mother Goose Matters

The Lucy Cousins' Nursery Rhymes Collection (2011) is a boxed set of four 3 1/2 inch by 3 1/2 inch board books titled Little Miss Muffet, Humpty Dumpty, Wee Willie Winkie, and Jack and Jill. Each book holds about ten poems. From what I gather, the books are down-sized versions of stand-alones published between 1996 and 1997.

The new collection is just right for toddlers. Pictures carry animal chatter for 1-year-olds and line-ups of countable items for 2- and 3-year-olds . . . two dicky birds, three fiddlers, five fish. How many blackbirds are baked in a pie? If you've forgotten, check out Humpty Who? by Jennifer Griffin.

Mother Goose matters. Sing-song rhythms accent words for learning. The mouse ran up the clock. Action rhymes produce off-the-page play: "This Little Piggy" and "Patty Cake." Rhyming words prime young ears for language sounds awareness, a correlate of reading skills development.

HONK if your baby likes Mother Goose!

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What Is a Concept Book?

The short (or long or tall) of it: A concept book is a picture book that teaches a broad concept to young readers. Examples? Alphabet books, number books, books about c o l o r s , opposites, feelings and emotions. A concept is an idea, an abstract notion. Here's the rub. Very young readers are concrete thinkers, very "here and now." Luckily concept books do not have to teach the alphabetic principle, or algebra, or color theory. They teach what toddlers and young preschoolers can see, hear, touch, and feel - the upper and lowercase, quiet and loud, and happy and sad face of things. Three concept books by DENISE FLEMING: LUNCH (1998) from Henry Holt and Co. Concept: Colors. A toothsome mouse called Mouse eats his way through the primary and secondary colors and then some. The pictures are deliciously big. Bon appetit! The emergent literacy bent: The text is sparse and the letters large, fostering print awareness. Point out a few words as you read. Clever...

No Time Like the Present

Give yourself and your baby a present. Time together, apart-from-others time. No ring tones. No sass tones. No Ho! Ho! Ho! Quiet, one-on-one book time, one-on-one look time. Sleepy head, head on shoulder time. Quiet LOUD (2003) by Leslie Patricelli .

New Year's Day Book Giveaway

Out with the old , i n with the new ! To make room for 2013 review books , this year's stack must go . I need your help to find these wonderful new old books a home . Please nominate a group or agency in need of baby books in the comments section below--your child's day care center or a nursery school or a local literacy organization, for example . I'll choose a winner at random then po st two packages--one to you as a thank you , packed with the 5 books pictured in my December 22 blog post, and on e to your nominee , packe d with the books below : All Gone! , I Went Walking , Kiki's Blanket , No More Blanket for Lambkin! , What Can I Hear? , Giddy Up, Li'l Buckaroos! and Ahoy, Li'l Buccaneers! , four Noodle books , Peek-a-boo! , Pat the Bunny , Peek-a Who? , Baby Play , I Kissed the Baby! , Kiss Good Night , Chicky Chicky Chook Chook , Chicka Chicka Boom Boom , Meeow and the Pots and Pans , Mother Goose , One Moose, Twenty Mice , Th e Apple Pie T...

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