From Head to Toe Written and Illustrated by Eric Carle

From head to toe is a good choice for a younger audience and addresses animals, gross motor skills, and body parts. Each page is colorfully illustrated and contains a different animal asking a child is they can move a part of their body like them.

Target age: Toddler

Springboard for lessons: This book is interactive and children will want to mimic the movements contained in it. Simply reading this book is an excellent way to link literacy with movement and to allow energetic little minds an appropriate place to exert their enthusiasm.

After having read the book, teachers can ask one student at a time to act like different animals. Students would be encouraged to use their whole body, their voices, and their facial expressions to convey clues as to what animal they are. The rest of the class would guess what animal the student was trying to be.

This book would also be great to include in an Eric Carle author study for toddlers. 

On the Night You were Born Written and Illustrated by Nancy Tillman

On the Night You were Born Written and Illustrated by Nancy Tillman

 

On the Night You Were Born is a story about how the entire universe rejoiced at the birth of the reader. It is written in rhyming prose that attempts to address the young reader personally.

Target Age: Infant and Toddler

Springboard Lessons: this book is great to read in one-to-one settings with a child. It highlights each child’s uniqueness. Additionally, children can participate in the book’s reading by chanting their name as it is “carried by the wind” throughout the land.

The book uses quite a few animals and can also be used to go over animal names, sounds, and behaviors

This book might also be a good springboard for parents to tell the actual story of the night their child was born. They could also write letters to their children explaining why they chose their particular name.

Waddle! A Scanimation Picture Book Written and Illusrated by Rufus Butler Seder

Waddle! A Scanimation Picture Book Written and Illusrated by Rufus Butler Seder

 

Waddle! is an interactive book that contains “moving” illustrations of animals. It is written in short, descriptive rhyming schemes and describes the types of motions and noises each animal makes.

Target ages: Infants and toddlers

Springboards for lessons: this is a great book to introduce animals and their behaviors to young children. Children can be ask to move around like a particular animal or to make the sounds of a particular animal while reading.