Sarah Jones (4)

I've read many, many boardbooks over the years. And while there are many books I've borrowed from the library, the ones that have made it to my own home shelves are the ones that are multipurpose. Not just entertaining, but which give me something to teach and share with my children.

BUNNIES NEAR AND FAR is a book that would make the cut. It's a great little boardbook with artwork that's in muted, calming tones --and it was cute enough that even my tween son was forced to smile.

Here's a show more sample of the text.

1 bunny near
2 bunnies far
3 bunnies take a walk
4 in a car

As you can see it makes for a good read-aloud.

Fun aside, what I LOVE about this book is that author/artist Sarah Jones gives adults so many things to do with the book --besides just read it.

BUNNIES NEAR AND FAR can be read to older babies so they can hear the rhyme and cadence. You can also point out and name things like eyes, car, building, and teeter-totter.

But there's even more to do with Toddlers. You can use this book for number practice; both counting the cute bunnies, and identifying the numeric symbols. And if you want to take it a step further, you can have your child trace the large numbers with their index finger --a practice used by some teachers to prepare children to write.

Finally, there are Contrasts in every set of pages. Some like near-and-far, walk-and-ride, and up-and-down may be familiar. But there are also those that are less common, like country-and-town, and sing (a song) and play (an instrument).
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I would definitely say that if you're in the market for a boardbook that will be good for more than a month, that you consider BUNNIES NEAR AND FAR. It should be able to take you from older baby to toddler (and perhaps preschooler depending on your child).

Thanks to BLUE MANATEE for a review copy of this and Sarah Jones other book ORANGE TRIANGLE FOX. I think she's amazing.

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if you'd like to see sample pages: http://www.booksforkids-reviews.com/2014/03/review-bunnies-near-and-far.html show less

The first thing I noticed was the quality of the paper. This book is fun to touch. The story is about a llama and an alpaca who like different things, but then find they have some things in common. As the story is told, the letters of their likes are differently colored to help tell the story and also learn those letters.

ORANGE TRIANGLE FOX is a really cute boardbook that is really intelligently done. It features simple drawings of animals in shapes --like a frog sitting in a position that makes him look like a star or a little hedgehog on his back looking like a circle.

And despite the simplistic appearance this boardbook offers a lot for adults to share with little ones. You can name the animals, colors and shapes, making this a good book for the home shelves.

--Animals covered are: hedgehog, owl, fox, frog, show more turtle, bird (Bluejay), bug.

--Colors featured are: brown, red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple.

--Shapes are: circle, square, triangle, star, semicircle, rectangle, heart.

This would be a good book for older babies and toddlers. Very imaginative and clever.

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(received as review copies)
sample pages here: http://www.booksforkids-reviews.com/2014/03/review-orange-triangle-fox.html show less

Summary: this book is about a little owl that lives on a farm. When it becomes night time he wakes up and he goes around to all his barn yard friends and says good night. His book also has a kind of rhyme.

Personal reaction: I love animals and I've grown up on farm, which makes this book more adorable to me. I love poetry and with the book having a little rhyme to it, it makes me love it more.

Classroom extensions: 1. Have the students draw a farm animal or just their favorite animal.
2. Have show more the students say hello and goodbye to each other because it is really nice to know someone that we have friends.
3. Have the students tell you what they do before bed on a peice of paper. show less