I know. It's very sad that this is the last Perfect Picture Book Friday until September 7. I'm going to miss it, too, but I think we will all find the break refreshing (and hopefully it will give me time to catch up and improve!)
And to make you feel a little better, I made this delicious summer strawberry shortcake just for you
(and yes you can have as many slices as you like!) In addition, I'm sharing a lovely summery book (well, it can be any season, really, but it looks so green and summery that I'm sticking with summery :))
Written By: Laura Purdie Salas
Illustrated By: Violetta Dabija
Millbrook Press, February 2012, Fiction based on fact
Suitable For: ages 3-8
Themes/Topics: nature, seasons, poetry
Opening: "A leaf is a leaf
It bursts out each spring
when sunny days linger
and orioles sing.
A leaf can be a...
soft cradle
water ladle
Sun taker
Food maker..."
Brief Synopsis: a simple rhyming story that shows all the many things a leaf can be.
Links To Resources: the back of the book has lots of facts about leaves, showing how they can be all the things mentioned in the book. There is also a small glossary. Take a walk and see how many different kinds of leaves you can find. What could your leaves be used for? Leaf Activities. What else can you look at in different ways?
Why I Like This Book: The quietness of this book encourages children to really think about all the different things leaves can be and in turn encourages children to stretch their imaginations about how other everyday objects might be used in different ways. The poetry is gentle with pretty images. The information in the back adds a lot to the learning potential of the book. And the art in this book is absolutely luminous. It just glows. It is the perfect art for the text making for an altogether magical reading experience.
For the complete list of books with resources, please visit Perfect Picture Books.
For the next 2 Fridays before Summer Short & Sweets begins, we will be having a miniseries (and when I say mini I mean mini because 2 is about as mini as you can go and still call it a series :)) on self-publishing. Self-pubishing is becoming a more viable and more attractive option, so I thought you might find it interesting to hear from a couple folks who have chosen it. I find what they have to say very enlightening and I hope you will too!
Now, I know you're probably going to fall off your chairs, and I'm probably forgetting something and I'll have to amend this hastily, but I don't have anything else to add today. Just goes to show that sometimes even the long-winded can be... well... short-winded, I guess :)
PPB bloggers, please add your post-specific links below, and I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend. Happy Father's Day to the dads in our group! And tune in Monday for a special treat - a guest post from the one and only Joanna Marple all about the process of working with uTales!!!
