It’s Monday, What Are You Reading? is hosted by Kathryn at The Book Date, and adapted by Kellee at Unleashing Readers and Jen at Teach Mentor Texts with a children’s/YA focus. The Sunday Post is hosted by The Caffeinated Book Reviewer. These weekly roundups are a great way to discover new blogs and bloggers, share some of the titles you’ve been enjoying, and add to your ever-growing to-read list.
Happy Family Day, fellow BC’ers! Hopefully you’re having a relaxing day with your family, whatever your family might look like!
Now this one’s oldie but a goodie. Poor old Rover is all alone in the backyard, without a single friend to play with. As the old adage goes, be careful what you wish for! A wild and wooly rainstorm drives various animals to squish and squeeze into Rover’s doghouse, until one particularly stinky animal (no bonus points for guessing who that might be) sends all the animals scrambling out into the fresh air.
The text has great rhythm and repetition, thought the cumulative refrain can get a bit long for my wiggly group. Here’s a tip, though – whenever a text doesn’t quite suit your audience, feel free to change things up a bit – in the case of Move Over, Rover I cut out the lengthy refrain, and get the audience to chant “Move Over, Rover!” with me at the end of each spread. Perfect!
I’m having a bit of a retro moment this week. There are so many fantastic new children’s books coming out every year, but sometimes, when you just want something you can count on, there’s nothing like a classic. This is a very sweet interpretation of the classic children’s nursery rhyme, with adorable little ducklings wandering off one by one, only to turn up at the end with a surprise for poor old Mother Duck.
Now, as an adult, I have to say I always feel bad for poor old Mother Duck. Imagine losing track of all five of your children in the same afternoon! If I was Mother Duck, I’d be sitting those little duckies down and having a serious talk about following instructions and improving listening skills….but, I digress. Fun song, cute illustrations, lots of sweet fun for toddler time.
Oh, feelings. Sometimes they’re lovely. Sometimes they’re….not so lovely. Feelings can confusing, especially if you’re experiencing them for the first time, or if you lack the vocabulary to describe and communicate them. There will always be a need for gentle, simple picture books that make feelings approachable, and help children verbalize their emotions. Some of the similes in Wild Feelings are familiar (“clumsy as an ox”, “chicken as a chicken”), while others are a bit less concrete, (the spread with the text “how about totally and completely alone?” shows a boy in a wolf suit howling at the moon), and might need a bit of explanation. Still, the overall message – that feelings are natural and that everyone has them – is a worthy one, and the sweet illustrations are a lot of fun.
I like the looks of Wild Feelings. Good picks this week!
Thank you! 🙂
There are some classic picture books that I just love. We all have our favorites! These three picture books are all new to me. Poor Mother Duck. It does sound like a fun read. Thanks for sharing!
I’m always looking for books that I can sing aloud – they work particularly well with wiggly toddler groups that just want to escape from circle time! 😉
I love the “two little ducks” rhyme, used to teach it to my first graders long ago when I taught that age. I’ll look for this book, Jane. I’ve thought of sharing some old favorites, too. There are so many that I wonder if anyone knows them? Thanks for your sharing.
Please do share your old favourites! I find that so many blogs share the same hot new books, but there are so many great classics that I still haven’t explored or discovered!
Wild Feelings looks adorable. Can see how this would make a lovely little read aloud.
Feelings books are so great – emotions can just be so overwhelming for little ones, and it can be so cathartic for them to see their emotions being validated, especially with a bit of gentle, caring humour.
Move Over, Rover reminds me of The Mitten or The Hat by Jan Brett. Very cute. Thanks for sharing.
Yes! It’s definitely got that same spirit. Both great books. 🙂
Move Over, Rover reminds me of The Mitten or The Hat by Jan Brett. Very cute. Thanks for sharing.
Move Over, Rover surprised me when I read it for the Geisel Challenge. I can see why it was selected 🙂
It’s a great example of a really simple story down really well. Sometimes, when it comes to picture books, less can really be more!
Pro tip on read alouds! 🙂
I’m always sharing that tip with caregivers and ECE workers – if the text doesn’t work, just change it! 😉
Lovely books!
Yes, they are! Thanks for stopping by!
I’ll have to look for Move Over, Rover and Wild Feelings. They both look adorable. Have a great week!
They’re both so fun, in their own way. Thanks so much for stopping by!
You always find some great kids books! Move Over Rover sounds really familiar but I don’t think I ever read it as a kid. I’m tempted too though. 🙂 Five Little Ducks looks cute too. And lol about Mother Duck… yup time to have a little talk with those chicks!
The stack of picture books that tottering on my desk right now is a bit ridiculous, but there are so many books coming out every month that it’s almost impossible to keep up!!
It’s so funny, you know you’re a grownup when you start to connect more with the parent characters in kids’ books, instead of the protagonists. 😉
Aw, cute and fun books. Have you ever read Who flung dung? by Ben Redlich? It’s hilarious. My girls and I had found that picture book years ago when they were little ones at our local bookstore in SF. That one will certainly get you giggles.
Oh, that sounds hilarious! I love authors who know and love their kid audience, and are happy to give kids what they want .. 😉
Cute post.
sherry @ fundinmental Sunday Memes
Thanks! 🙂
Wild Feelings looks great. I will watch for it. Five Little Ducks and Move Over Rover are fun. I need to pull them out again. 🙂
I love digging old favourites out of the shelf and giving them another run. Great books stand the test of time – not that these are all that old, but with all the books coming out every month, books can get old pretty quick!
Move Over, Rover looks so cute! And aww, Mother Duck looks so sad in that one picture, I’d feel bad for her too!
Such great illustrators! I have so much respect for picture book artists, their work is so important!
Awww, Move Over Rover looks like such a great book. I can imagine my son, who is a huge dog lover, would enjoy that if he were a little younger. Great post!
I’m reading WAY too many books just now. Currently I have a contemporary romance titled “Begin Again,” and a YA contemporary. Next up, I have a mystery (Dani Pettrey) and a YA historical. All promise to be great reads!
Thanks so much for visiting Finding Wonderland, Jane.
Sounds like a good variety of books! I’ve been in a bit of a reading slump myself, and I haven’t really been reading anything other than for work, but hopefully I’ll smash my way out of this slump soon!