The Grouchy Ladybug

Speaking of telling time, Eric Carle thoroughly won me over with this sweet, colorful tale! I've always been a fan of ladybugs, and now I know why : ) Eric Carle does a marvelous job of weaving colors, numbers, clock-reading, animals, phonemic awareness, opposites, and character formation into a cohesive fable. I love it! My four year old reading pal did too. So we decided to make our own ladybug mosaic from old magazines. Of course, we discussed the story in between pieces of print, drops of glue, and declarations from the little one: "This is fun. I like this!" When you find a good story, the possibilities are endless.


560L

Papa, Please Get the Moon For Me

This is the quintessential Daddy-daughter bed time story. What father wouldn't climb a ladder to the moon and bring it home for his little girl? Monica's daddy doesn't play. I especially appreciate the extended page illustrating just how high her father climbed to capture the moon. They say the sky's the limit, but clearly "they" have not read Eric Carle. 

The Greedy Python

Talk about greedy! Eric Carle's imaginative illustrations tell it all. Tracking the gluttonous python's insatiable appetite is a great way to engage readers in making predictions and using context clues. So far, all of my learners have predicted the cannibalistic twist at the end. They can't wait to turn the page though, and see the scene unfold for themselves! 
p.s. 
I accidentally typed "the hungry python" into Google images. And nearly lost my lunch. Fascinating creatures, those pythons...

Today is Monday

Today is Tuesday, to be completely honest. That means spaghetti - woohoo! Monday means stringbeans, a.k.a. "yuck" according to my 4 yr. old charge. Don't let that stop you from making it to the ice cream on...Sunday (of course)! Eric Carle works are true modern classics. The illustrations lend themselves particularly to emerging readers and ELLs.