My Very First Book of Colors

My Very First Book of Colors
written and illustrated by Eric Carle. 2005. board book (unpaged). New York: Penguin Young Readers.

Author/Illustrator Website: http://www.eric-carle.com/home.html

Media: paper collage

Awards and Honors: none

Audience: 1 to 3 years

Annotation: A concept/toy book that teaches colors to young children.

Personal Reaction:
You can't go wrong with Eric Carle's beautiful books, particularly for very young children. My Very First Book of Colors is one of a set of books that teaches simple concepts to young children. Other titles introduce numbers, shapes, animal noises and food.

Sturdy half-sized pages display colors and their names on the top, and various objects on the bottom. Children can flip the pages back and forth to match the colors with the objects (i.e., a blue bird, green trees, purple grapes). Not only do children learn to recognize the colors, but they are also being exposed to color names in print, as well. For very young children, this book is best shared with an adult, but the toddler and pre-k set will delight in matching up the illustrations.

Eric Carle's "My Very First Book" set is also available as an interactive app for the iPhone and iPad. Three levels of game play are available: Easy (ages 1-3), Medium (ages 2 and up) and Hard (ages 3 and up). The app allows children to match up colors and images just like the book, and also includes a memory game for ages 3 and up.

The app is available on the iTunes website: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/eric-carles-my-very-first-app/id392077095?mt=8

Moo, Baa, La La La!

Moo, Baa, La La La! written and illustrated by Sandra Boynton. 1995. New York: Little Simon. Unpaged. (067144901X)

Author/Illustrator Website: www.sandraboynton.com/

Media: pen and watercolor

Awards and Honors: National Cartoonists Society's "Milton Caniff Lifetime Achievement Award"

Audience: babies through kindergarteners (or as Sandra Boynton puts it, "discerning children and peculiar adults")

Annotation:
A humorous exploration of barnyard animals and the noises they each make.

Personal Reaction:
With her wry sense of humor and illustrations that are cute without being cutesy, Sandra Boynton is one of those children's authors whose books seem to be just as popular with parents as they are with kids.

Moo, Baa, La La La! is a book for young children about barnyard animals and the noises they each make- a topic of endless fascination with little ones. Kids are encouraged to participate by helping to make the noises along with the animals, and they even get a chance to demonstrate their own sounds on the last page. In typical Boynton style, she throws in some laughs along the way- the singing pigs in a chorus line are sure to elicit chuckles from kids and caregivers alike, and the facial expressions of the animals (angry rhinos, bored pigs, and goofy sheep) are simply silly.