Recommended Picture Book: A Rock is Lively by Dianna Hutts Aston

Title: A Rock is Lively

Author: Dianna Hutts Aston

Illustrator: Sylvia Long

Publisher: Chronicle Books, Aug 17, 2012

Topic: Science: Geology, Rocks, Soil, Minerals

Age: 5-8

Opening: A rock is lively.....bubbling like a pot of soup deep beneath the earth's crust...

Summary: A rock is many things. It is lively, mixed up, surprising, helpful, creative, inventive and so much more. Here is a simple introduction to the science of rocks and minerals.

Resources:
Chronicle books provide a compiled lesson plan with activities for Dianna Aston's three books, An Egg is Quiet, A Butterfly is Patient, A Seed is Sleepy, A Nest is Loud, and A Rock is Lively.

A to Z kids stuff has various activities that explores rocks.

Review:
A beautifully illustrated book paired with poetic prose gives way to a stunning lesson on rocks, soil and minerals. Perfect for the classroom, flowing and lyrical text gives way to informative data on different kinds of rocks and minerals. Children are introduced to the life cycle of rocks, chemical makeup and diversity of rocks. This book brought back a lot of good memories of my childhood which was spent digging around in dirt and finding rock treasures. I loved cracking open rocks to see what beauty they held inside. How I wish I had this book growing up. This is a classroom must have!

Recommended Picture Book: Voices Are Not For Yelling by Elizabeth Verdick

Title: Voices Are Not For Yelling

Author: Elizabeth Verdick

Illustrator: Marieka Heinlen

Publisher: Free Spirit, March 24, 2015

Age: 4 - 7

Topic: Best behavior, Voice, Yelling

Opening: What do you use your voice for?

Book Summary: Voices Are Not For Yelling introduces and reinforces where and when to use an “indoor voice” or an “outdoor voice.” Yelling comes natural to children. It is how they make themselves ‘heard.’ This book helps children differentiate between their loud and quiet voices and why it is important to do so.

Resources:

The book includes many activities for classroom use. Some activities include, 

Inside/Outside Voices: Demonstrating outdoor, indoor, quiet, and whisper voices. 

Quiet Time Gestures: teach children various gestures that tell them it’s time to be quiet.

Why I Like This Book:

This is definitely a ‘teaching’ book. I would personally recommend it be read to small groups instead of whole class circle time. That way, teacher or parent can allow the child(ren) to interact with the book and answer the many questions throughout it.

I like that it is written with simple text that is easy for children to understand and follow along. It asks questions throughout the book giving children an opportunity to think, question and participate.

It comes in two versions, a board book (Yay me!) and one for 4 – 7 year olds. Each is appropriately tailored to that particular age group.  

Recommended Picture Book: Snow School by Sandra Markle

Title: Snow School

Author: Sandra Markle

Illustrator: Alan Marks

Publisher: Charlesbridge, Feburary 1, 2013

Age: 4 -8 years

Topic: Snow Leopards, survival and hunting skills, how snow leopards learn

Opening: It’s May – springtime in Pakistan’s Hindu Kush Mountains. But high up on gravel-strewn slopes, where only the hardiest plants grow, snowflakes still dance in the icy wind.

Book Summary: Twin snow leopard siblings survive their first year of life in Pakistan's Hindu Kush Mountains by learning critical skills from their mother, including how to hunt, where to find shelter, and to stay away from humans.

Resources:                  

Author’s note offers link to learn more about snow leopards in their natural habitat and how to protect them

Includes amazing facts about snow leopards

Reading is Fundamental website has an excellent guide to that helps extend learning opportunities. Most of the activities are geared for children between the ages of 5-12

Why I Like This Book:

Snow leopards are such beautiful creatures. As such, they are endangered as people hunt them and taking over their natural habitat. In this story, we see up close and personal just how these animals survive their harsh environment and how these lessons are passed down from mother to cubs. Informative and very well written in a story format which makes it very appealing to follow these cubs adventure and learning. The illustrations are beautiful and done in watercolor and pencil.