By Elia Rocha, Rachel Moore, & Alexis Vazquez


Earlier in the year, we ran a post titled Books We Love, which highlighted some of our preschool classroom's favorite reads.  Here again, two of our teachers share some more favorites. 

Underground Train
By: Mary Quattlebaum

Alexis Vazquez writes: 

"This book is about a little girl and her mother on their way to visit her Nana.  They board the subway and the girl is amazed by the sights and sounds of the people and animals that she sees while riding the train.  She encounters the whoosh of the tracks beneath her, the buzz of the people, the sights of the animals and the rush of the passengers as she looks out the window."

"The children love listening to this book and talking about the things that they see while taking the bus with their parents. The book opens up a discussion about the things they see and places they go with their families while on the bus, in a car, or on train."

The Chocolate-Covered Cooke Tantrum
By Deborah Blumenthal

Rachel Moore writes:

"This book is about a girl named Sophie who sees a chocolate-covered cookie and decides that she wants one.  When her mother lets her know that she does not have a cookie for Sophie, Sophie becomes very upset and has a tantrum.  The book explores Sophie’s feelings and her physical reaction to being told 'No'. Sophie’s mother tries to give Sophie some other options, but eventually Sophie just needs to experience all of her big feelings until she calms herself down.  She then asks for her blanket, takes her mother’s hand and walks home.  After Sophie takes a nap and eats supper, her mother -surprises her with a chocolate-covered cookie!"

"This book opens the door for discussions about children’s feelings.  These discussions help foster attachment with us by giving the children a safe place to talk about their feelings."  

I Can Do It Too!
By Karen Baicker

Alexis writes:

"This book is about a little girl learning to become independent and showing her family that she can do it too.  This is a short picture book with simple sentences describing a family doing simple activities, such as pouring juice into a cup and putting on shoes. The little girl’s reply is always the same, 'I can do it too!'”.

"The book is a simple story of a young girl trying to learn to do things for herself and the children can relate to her because they too are learning to become independent in their daily activities."

Ambulances
By Carol K. Lindeen

Rachel writes: 

"This non-fiction book is filled with real pictures of ambulances, EMTs, and patients.  It clearly explains, in simple language, what the ambulance does and how EMTs help people.   This book explains to the children that ambulances and EMTs, which could seem scary, are actually meant to help hurt and sick people." 

 

The Way I Feel
By Janan Cain

Alexis writes:

"This picture book talks about experiencing different emotions, such as silly, happy, disappointed, jealous and many others.  The illustrations show the different emotions through colors and words.  The book helps our children put names to their feelings and opens up a discussion on how they feel in different situations, not just during conflict and disappointment, but in happy and exciting situations as well."

For all infants, younger and older, art is a way for them to experience their world through their senses…. sight, smell, taste and touch (in some cases, even sound). Art also allows them to explore different and inventive ways of using common objects.