BIG CAT, Little Kitty

A lesson in cats for young cat lovers, expands children's knowledge beyond just domestic cats that they are probably most familiar with!

Cohn, Scotti.
BIG CAT, Little Kitty.
March 2011.
Sylvan Dell Publishing.
Review copy provided courtesy of publisher.

While exploring for a week, children will learn about different "cats" - both wild and domestic. Each day of the week has children learning about one domestic cat's habitat and one "big cat's" habitat. Throughout the course of the story, as days of the week are reiterated, children learn about cheetahs in the jungle, tigers in the savannahs, lions and their desert/forest/savannah habitats, the snow leopard's snowy mountain habitat, the cougars (mountain lions, panthers, pumas) in their many habitats, the jaguar's rainforest habitat, and the bobcat's wide range of habitats.

The informative nature of the book is sure to pique the interest of children who are cat lovers, while introducing children to different habitats around the world and the different types of cat they may or may not previously have been familiar with. The text is simple and the illustrations provide a great deal of additional detail that will easily engage children in discussion throughout the reading.

Learning/Reading Activities:

• Sylvan Dell has provided teachers with a variety of materials on their website to use in collaboration with the book. Teaching Activities and For Creative Minds activities (also found at the back of the book) can be downloaded by clicking on the colored text.
• For their summer journal, have children answer one of the Thinking It Through & Writing Prompts, as found on page 5 of the Teaching Activities. My personal favorite is: If you were a cat, which kind would you want to be? Why?
• On a rainy day, have your child spend time at the library or online researching wild and domestic dogs... see if they can come up with a list of different types of both!
  

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Anita Lobel's Birthday was Yesterday, June 3

I'm getting really slopping in my posting methods... the nice weather snuck up on me and I'm finding less time for posting... I need a weekend free of activities, but that's not to be the case this weekend... Firemen's Field Days Parade is Friday night, followed by a family cookout and bonfire with two little step-cousins. Saturday evening, I'm heading out to the Syracuse Stage to see one of the seasons last two performances of Crowns - it should be fun... a night on the town usually is... especially at the stage.

Hopefully soon, things will settle down a bit or maybe I'll just take the books and laptop out to the new Adirondack chairs...

Lobel, Anita.
Alison's Zinnia.
1990.
Greenwillow Books.

This is the alphabet book of flowers and girls names, A to Z... and it's really pretty cool!

I don't think boys would find it too interesting, but girls who are interested in flowers or gardening will get a kick out of it! I'm going to share just a brief sample of it with you!

Alison acquired an Amaryllis for Beryl.
Beryl bought a Begonia for Crystal.
Crystal cut a Chrysanthemum for Dawn.
Dawn dug a Daffodil for Emily.
Emily earned an Easter lily for Florence.

The story continues on in such fashion until we finally see the alphabet ending and starting again as

Zena zeroed in on a Zinnia for Alison.

Lobel, Anita.
One Lighthouse, One Moon.
2000.
Greenwillow Books.

Divided into three sections, this book would be perfect for a preschool or kindergarten... possibly even a 1st grade classroom!

The first topic? Days of the week. Meshed in with days of the week are colors - perfect for reinforcing two concepts at the same time while allowing children to see the connections being made! This section of the book is also perfect for beginning readers because of it's predictability and repetition.

Black shoes on MONDAY.
Red shoes on TUESDAY.
Blue shoes on WEDNESDAY.
Yellow shoes on THURSDAY.
Green shoes on FRIDAY.
Pink shoes on SATURDAY.
White shoes on SUNDAY.

As you can see from the text alone, it is very predictable, and even if children aren't able to read color words, the illustrations show the colors on a pair of shoes! The only thing I didn't particularly care for in this first of the three parts, was that Lobel started out the week on Monday... I'm just used to considering Sunday the start of a new week...

Topic two is the months of the year... and tied alongside that are the seasons (if you live in a place where you get to experience all four season)! Again, it's perfect for young children (preschool, Kindergarten, maybe 1st graders), although the reading level is a bit more advanced!

In JANUARY Nini caught snowflakes on her nose.
In FEBRUARY Nini avoided kisses on Valentine's Day.
In MARCH Nini listened to winds howling.
In APRIL Nini watched crocuses poke through the ground.
In MAY Nini chased kites in the sky.
In JUNE Nini smelled roses growing on a bush.
In JULY Nini napped under a flag.
In AUGUST Nini dreamed of crayfish.
In SEPTEMBER Nini played in the autumn leaves.
In OCTOBER Nini posed on a pumpkin.
In NOVEMBER Nini smelled turkey.
In DECEMBER Nini waited for good things.
And they came.

Apparently, somewhere in there, Nini had some fun :) , as her "good things" that come turn out to be a new litter of kittens! However, this is perfect for teaching or even just reinforcing months of the year, seasons and, in some cases, the holidays that go along with those months and seasons! Again, the illustrations provide many context clues for perhaps, early readers who are getting used to different methods for recognizing words in a text!

The third and final topic in this book is counting... 1-10. Of course, the illustrations represent objects to show the one-to-one correspondences!

ONE lighthouse stood on a rock in the sea.
TWO boats sailed by.
THREE sailors waved to
FOUR girls dancing on the shore.
FIVE whales blew spouts of water in the air.
SIX pelicans dozed.
SEVEN seagulls bobbed on the waves.
EIGHT geese flew south to avoid early snow.
NINE fisherfolk walked home with their catch.
TEN trees bent in the wind.
And ONE HUNDRED stars and ONE moon lit up the sky.

This might be perfect to get children started with counting and then prompting them to continue counting on to one-hundred to practice for school! I do believe this book will be finding its way into my classroom library!

If you're interested in finding out more information about any of the books reviewed or if you'd like to purchase the books, click the cover image for a link to Amazon.com.