Read Aloud Thursday

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Read Aloud Thursday

Posted on June 11, 2009 by Amy @ Hope Is the Word

We have really been enjoying the hot humid sultry beautiful weather in our little part of the world–how about you? To go along with sunny days, I have a couple of read alouds to share that we have enjoyed lately.

Anita Lobel‘s Hello, Day! is a beautifully illustrated picture book that is actually more appropriate for children younger than mine, but I couldn’t resist the bright cover and the cheerful illustrations. 🙂 Seriously, this book is beautiful! The best comparison I can make is to say that Lobel‘s illustrations remind me of Eric Carle’s, only with more detail. The story line is the simplest of simple: various animals greet the new day in their own unique voices, and then an owl greets the night. Not only is this story simple, but the font used for the text is huge, so this would make a great book for a beginning reader. I give this one an enthusiastic “highly recommended!” and I only wish I could purchase some of these illustrations to hang in my home. 🙂

Another sunshiney book we enjoyed is To Be Like the Sun by Susan Marie Swanson. In this book, a little girl addresses first a sunflower seed, and later the sunflower it becomes, and asks them questions. This is actually much too proasic, though, for the exchange that occurs. For example, here are the opening words of this story:

Hello, little seed,

striped gray seed.

Do you really know everything

about sunflowers?

Isn’t that lovely? Really, the whole story elevates a simple sunflower into something living (which it is, but you know what I mean). This is a story that takes something common, a sunflower, and helps the reader to realize how amazing it really is. Margaret Chodos-Irvine’s illustrations are bold and colorful, a perfect complement to this story. My girls liked this one a lot, and it was made even more special to us since we are raising our first crop of sunflowers this year.

What read-alouds are you enjoying together as a family? Please share with us in the comments or provide a link to your blog entry.

Have a sunshiney Read Aloud Thursday!

Filed under: Education, Nature Study, Picture Books, Read Aloud Thursday |

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I accept a limited number of books for review. If you have a book you would like to have considered for review here at Hope Is the Word, please contact me at hopeistheword (at) gmail (dot) com. However, I accept such review books on the condition that I will only complete it and review it if I like it. :-) I review for TOS HomeschoolCrew, so some books and other educational products are sent to me free of charge through this position. Most of the book images linked here are linked through my Amazon Associates account. I receive a small compensation for purchases made through my blog. However, may I suggest checking with your local library first? Supporting libraries is always my recommendation. :-)

Janet, on June 11, 2009 at 5:54 am said:

I’ve wanted to participate for awhile and finally did:

http://www.acrossthepage.net/2009/06/11/read-aloud-thursday/

That sunflower book looks absolutely lovely. I’m putting it on my list for our next library trip. We have some sunflowers planted in the garden, and maybe a little dialogue will help them to thrive!

Carrie, on June 11, 2009 at 9:18 am said:

I love the cover art on (well, both books) but particularly the sunflower one!

Mine is up and ready to go:

http://www.readingtoknow.com/2009/06/read-aloud-thursday-ocean-life.html

Saturday Review of Books: June 13, 2009 at Semicolon, on June 19, 2009 at 9:51 pm said:

[…] Hope Is the Word (In Search of Mockingbird)6. Amy @ Hope Is the Word (The Chosen by Chaim Potok)7. Amy @ Hope Is the Word (Read Aloud Thursday)8. Moomin Light (Neverwhere)9. SuziQregon (Miss Julia Paints the Town)10. SuziQoregon (Haunted […]

Sunflower Books and Resources « Hope Is the Word, on August 26, 2009 at 5:04 am said:

[…] saved my favorite, which I’ve written about before, for last. To Be Like the Sun by Susan Marie Swanson is by far the most abstract and poetic of […]