Sunday, June 25, 2006

Eric Carle

Zerlynde loves her Eric Carle books. I started her off with The Hungry Caterpillar and Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? when she was hardly even one. She learned the names of the various animals from the latter; bear, bird, duck, horse, frog, cat, dog, sheep and fish. Then, we progressed to Polar Bear, Polar Bear, What Do You Hear? where she picked up the animal names lion, zebra, snake, elephant and peacock. Lately, she seems to be enjoying The Hungry Caterpillar a lot, I think mainly because she's learned to identify her favourite food in the book; lollilop, ice-cream, cake and muffin, also the various fruits mentioned; apple, orange, pear and strawberry. She loves the word strawberry and repeatedly utter the word whenever she sees its pictures.

Oh! And she's so very intrique with the The Very Quiet Cricket which contains a computer chip on the last page which produces a very realistic chirping sound whenever we turn to that page. We teases her a lot by frequently turning to that page and she'll react by pretending to be really scared.

Lately, I'm starting her on the picture book Do You Want To Be My Friend. This book is a bit more complex in my opinion but she seems to like looking at the illustration of the long long snake and will go "Eeek, snake" everytime I turn to the relevant pages.

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The Very Hungry Caterpillar, 1969
This all-time favorite not only follows the very hungry caterpillar as it grows from egg to cocoon to beautiful butterfly, but also teaches the days of the week, counting, good nutrition and more. Striking pictures and cleverly die-cut pages offer interactive fun.
With its lovely, humorous illustrations and wonderful narrative about a hungry caterpillar growing up to be a beautiful butterfly, Eric Carle's story touches anyone who still has some growing to do. Along with reassuring repetition--"He was still hungry ..."--the book includes some wonderful interactive moments: what youngster can resist sticking a finger through that hole in the page as his ravenous friend makes his way through various delicacies?


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Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? written by Bill Martin Jr, 1967
Appealing animals in bold colors are seen and named in a rhyming question-and-response text that delights as it invites young readers and listeners to participate actively.
The gentle rhyming and gorgeous, tissue-paper collage illustrations in this classic picture book make it a dog-eared favorite on many children's bookshelves. On each page, we meet a new animal who nudges us onward to discover which creature will show up next: "Blue Horse, Blue Horse, What do you see? I see a green frog looking at me." This pattern is repeated over and over, until the pre-reader can chime in with the reader, easily predicting the next rhyme. One thing readers might not predict, however, is just what kinds of funny characters will make an appearance at the denouement! Children on the verge of reading learn best with plenty of identifiable images and rhythmic repetition.

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Polar Bear, Polar Bear, What Do You Hear? written by Bill Martin Jr, 1991
Easy, repetitive question-and-response text draws children into joyful interaction as they imitate the sounds of a variety of zoo animals for the zookeeper. Big, bold animal illustrations and lots of noisy fun.
It's been 25 years since these two talented men put their heads together, but the fruit of their latest collaboration is well worth the wait. Continuing in the spirit of Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? , their new book incorporates the same clean design and crisp text, but this time the action takes place at the zoo, where elephants, hippos, lions and such are asked what they hear--each answer leads to the animal on the next page, and culminates with a zookeeper who "hears" a pageful of multiracial children disguised as their favorite animals. Carle's characteristically inventive, jewel-toned artwork forms a seamless succession of images that fairly leap off the pages, and educator Martin, ever tuned in to what children like best, has assembled a thoroughly rowdy menagerie--including a fluting flamingo, bellowing walrus and hissing boa constrictor, to name a few--imitations of whose sounds will doubtless soon be echoing in many homes and classrooms. A visually and aurally splashy work, this is a splendid successor to Brown Bear , one that no fan of that popular bruin will want to be without. Ages 2-4.

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The Very Quiet Cricket, 1990
The surprise ending of this enormously popular book features a chip that perfectly reproduces the real sound of a cricket’s song. In the story, a young cricket longs to make a sound by rubbing his wings together as many other crickets do. How he finally gets his wish is a romantic tale as well as a first look at natural history for the very young.
A cricket is born who cannot talk! A bigger cricket welcomes him to the world, then a locust, a cicada, and many other insects, but each time the tiny cricket rubs his wings together in vain: no sound emerges. In the end, however, he meets another quiet cricket, and manages to find his "voice." Children will love the repetitive text as they meet a steady parade of new creatures (including a "spittlebug, slurping in a sea of froth"); and of course they'll delight in the happy ending. This is one of a series of large (11.5 by 8.5 inches) format Eric Carle books with a mechanical twist: in this case, the quiet cricket bursts into (surprisingly authentic) electronic song as you turn the last page. (The battery is replaceable.) An amusement for the ears, but most of all--as ever, with Carle--a feast for the eyes. The colorful cut-paper illustrations are simply gorgeous, drawing you in even on the hundredth reading.

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Do You Want to Be My Friend?, 1971
In few words but expressive pictures, a little mouse looks for a friend - and happily finds one just in time to save himself from a predator who has been hiding there all the time - unseen, but in plain sight! A simple story on the universal theme of friendship.
Do you want to be my friend? asks the little mouse, and hopefully follows a tail, finding at the end of it a rather unfriendly horse. But there's another tail, and another, and a strange, long, green one, too, that follows the mouse on his quest for a friend.Each page of this ingenious picture book contains a surprise. Its only text is on the first page, but the exciting pursuit of a friend for the little mouse lends itself to improvisation by both the reader and the young child

Click HERE to go to The Official Eric Carle Web Site and HERE to go to The Eric Carle Musuem of Picture Book Art

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