Picture Book: Love Waves

Love Waves 

Rosemary Wells 

Candlewick Press: 2011 

ISBN: 978-0-7636-4989-0

I have decided to do another book by Rosemary Wells because I feel she is a good author for young children. Her pictures are always graphic and her stories warm the hearts of a mother/father and child. In the picture book Love Waves, Mother is running off to work. What does she think about during the day? Then, father has to go to work the next day. What do they do about Max? How will the separation from each other unfold? Read Love Waves for an awe-inspiring story 

I would give this book a 9 out of ten. All of my stories I read this week are on the Danielle must read list! Just like my story Good Night Max by Rosemary Wells, this is another story to read to a child before bedtime. Even the pictures and colors are appealing to a child. Do you see the blue wave in the picture above? In the book, it is a metallic blue wave on almost every page in the story. The story rhymes and has a beautiful message for the child. I would consider Love Waves a predictable book because it repeats the story from mother's view and then the father's view. Since the book rhymes as well, it is easy for a child to memorize the story. It is a story about love that can be heart warming for the parent and relaxing to a child. Please find more books Rosemary Wells and add this book to your library! 

Picture Books: Owl Moon

Owl Moon

By: Jane Yolen

Illistrauted by: John Schoenherr 

Philomel Books: 1987

ISBN: 0-399-21457-7

I decided to do two Caldecott winning picture books this week to see what qualities these two books share that make a picture book really unique. This picture book, Owl Moon, was a beautiful story about a little girl going out "owling"with her father. The little girl and her father go out in the middle of the night to find an owl. They need to walk quietly to avoid scaring the owl. Will they find one? Find out by reading this breath taking story of Owl Moon. 

I would give this book an 8 out of 10. It is a beautiful story that could really attract a kid's attention, but the content  and imagery seems to be potentially difficult for a child to understand.For example, the little girl says, " The moon made his face into a silver mask". A statement like this challenges a child's comprehension. The pictures are beautiful and all of them have highlights of deep blue. The picture of the owl is very appealing and I could see this book having a nostalgic feel for parents. You could make this book interactive by taking your child out "owling". You never know what you might find on a beautiful snowy night. There are a lot of words on a page and the story has a melodic feel to it when you read the story out loud. It is written as if you are reading a poem. This book is a classic and is a good read for your child. Find Owl Moon near you! 

Picture Books: No, David!

No, David! 

David Shannon 

The Blue Sky Press: 1998

ISBN: 0-590-93002-8

There is no question as to why No, David! won the Caldecott Honor in 1998. This was a book that I remember reading as a kid and it is a book that I would like to read to my child someday. Even the student at the library who checked in my books remembered it! It is a must read for Danielle.In No, Daivd!, David is running around the house having a good day! He is doing anything he wants to, but what does his Mommy think of this? Please read No, David! to find out what happens! 

I would personally give this book a 10 out of 10. It teaches a valuable lesson to children and the pictures are funny on every page. I was sitting there even laughing at all of the silly things that David does. The words are big on every page and the pictures are very graphic. As you can see from the picture above, Shannon uses a lot of bright oranges and blues in his illustrations to grab a child's attention. The book is very appealing to children because David is doing silly things that all kids have done at some point in their young lives.The picture book is also short enough to keep the attention of young ones, while sending a message to children that they can remember. This book also has a melodic nature when you read it. It has dialogue from the mother that mothers can act out for their children. 

David is a Must read for Danielle and you can find it at your local library near you! Find more books by Shannon on his website:

David Shannon Website

Decodable Text: Can you See?

Can you See? 

Bill Dinardo 

Illustrations: Maria Voris 

This was my favorite DeCodeable book that I found this week. It is a challenging book, but it helps children read about different animals from the sea. It has the same format as the other Decodable book in my blog Here and Three in that the picture is on top of the associated word. It uses repetition in which it says "Can you see..." before every animal name. Repetition is one of the best tools in helping children to learn how to read. I will give this book a 7 out of 10 this week because the concept of the book is appealing to children and the colors are vibrant enough to keep a child interested. 

Another good quality that www.readingsa.z.com provides is that it tells you exactly what the child should learn when reading the book. Here is what readingsa.z.com says should be the child's learning outcomes for this specific book: 

High-Frequency Words

you, all, of

Review Words

can, see, the

Story Words

whales, dolphins, turtles, sea horses, stingrays, sharks, lobsters, crabs

Find this Decodable Book here! 

Can you See?

Decodable book Here are Three

Here are Three 

By: Bill Denardo

Illustrations: Signe Nordin 

www.readinga.z.com 

This Decodable Book is a book that focuses on high frequency words such as "here" and "by". It has cute pictures of cats such as the ones above. It is only two pages; It has another page of a group of dogs at the dinner table. I would give this book a 6 out of ten. What I like about the book is that is it small so you can constantly read this book to your child without them loosing attention so fast. Repetition is key for a child when it comes to reading Decodable books. The interesting aspect of this Decodable Book is that it shows a picture of the item on top of the word. For example, it would have a picture of a door on top of the word "door". This would allow an easy read for the child because the book makes it clear what word goes with what picture. 

I would suggest reading this to your child and finding the book here: 

Here and There

Decodable Book Must Reads for Children: Show Some Love

Show Some Love 

Bev Osborn 

reading a-z.com

If you have never heard of a Decodable Text before, do not be afraid! They are a good way for children to learn how to read books by themselves. I chose this book, Show Some Love, because it helps children read books by association. This book does not have a story line, but it does help children associate pictures with words. This book shows a child how to say words like "hug" or "smile". It is a great book to use during Valentine's Day.  The pictures are nice in the book. They are all photographs of children and parents,  but they are not very colorful. I would give this book a four  out of ten because there is not much appeal for a child. The colors do not pop off the page like some that are my reading list. Some of the words are hard for a child to say at their age so it might be a book you would have to be used later. This book is a really great way to use the PEER method to help your child understand more about reading. 

On a positive note, my choices this week are are online! Go to this website for more details on Show Some Love:

Show Some Love

Wordless Picture Book: Sea of Dreams Dennis Nolan

Sea of Dreams 

By: Dennis Nolan 

Roaring Brook Press: 2011 

ISBN:978-7-59643-470-7

If you are to get anything out of this blog post, it is that Sea of Dreams by Dennis Nolan is a ten out of ten Wordless Picture book and it is a beautiful story for children to read. Discover how a sand castle transforms in the middle of the night at the beach. What rocky adventures are to occur at the shoreline? Check out this Danielle must read and see what happens to sand castles from dusk to dawn. 

The colors in this picture book range from beautiful autumn oranges to baby blues. As you can see by the picture above, the colors are vibrant and are whimsical to a child. The story line is easy for a child to understand and can excite a child's imagination. The concept is appealing to a child and the illustrations pop off the page.Take your child on a journey by reading them Sea of Dreams! Find this story at a local library near you!

Free Fall David Wiesner

Free Fall 

David Wiesner

 Harper Collins Publishers: 1998

ISBN Number: 0-668-10990-X

This is a Danielle MUST read for children this week. Free Fall, by David Wiesner, is a Wordless Picture book that is all about peaking a child's interest through abstract art.  Join the little boy as he flies through his dreams. Watch him as he rides story pages into lands of fantasy. Can he make it out of his dream alive? Find out by reading Free Fall for a suspenseful bedtime story. 

I would give this book an eight out of ten this week because it is appealing to children. The pictures are complicated, but a child could stare at them in awe and find a new clue each time they read the story. The content is appropriate for a child and is a story that will want them to get right to bed. I would say this is a good book for children who have trouble sleeping at night. I was even excited to read this story. It is not only exciting for the child, but for the parent as well! The colors on each page are vibrant and keep the child interested. While the book is not as sturdy as a typical board book, the pictures are very big so the child has no trouble seeing the pictures. 

David Wiesner has written other picture books such as Mr. Wuffles! and Flotsam. If your child is interested in Wordless Picture books, I would suggest getting other books by this author. You can get more details about Wiesner at his webiste:

David Wiesner's Website

Time Flies Eric Rohmann

Time Flies 

Eric Rohmann 

Crown Publisher Inc.:1994

ISBN: 0-606-12827-1

This week, I will be discussing Wordless Picture books. While there are no words in these books, they are a great book for children because they can look at these pictures to entice their imagination. 

Wonder what happens when you are in a museum at night? Read this wordless picture book with your child as they are flying on a magical journey with a bird in the land of the dinosaurs. Curious if this bird makes it out alive? Read Time Flies by Eric Rohmann to be taken on a trip with the dinosaurs.

This was not my favorite Wordless Picture Book of the week. I would rate this book as a four out of ten. To some people, this book might be considered a classic. For me, this book did not have vibrant colors which would excite a kid to read. Since the book is mostly in deep reds and grey, the pictures are hard to see. The beginning of the book was scary for me. I could see a little child getting nightmares from the skeleton dinosaurs. Time Flies starts with deep red colors, but then the colors get brighter as the book continues.  I would say the illustrations are beautifully drawn and the book is durable, but the pictures are hard for a child to see. 

Find this book at a local library near you!