Fay Robinson (1)

Using the classic British nursery rhyme and cumulative tale, This Is the House That Jack Built as a model, author Fay Robinson tells the back story of the pumpkin that Kim carved in this seasonal early reader. "This is the pumpkin that Kim carved," the narrative begins, continuing "This is the store that sold the pumpkin that Kim carved," and so on, all the way back to the seed from which the pumpkin came. The story concludes with Kim and her carved pumpkin, AKA jack-o-lantern...

Part of show more Houghton Mifflin's Invitation to Literacy book collection, "an integrated K–8 reading and language arts program," The Pumpkin That Kim Carved is a yellow level Little Reader, for newly fluent early readers. As mentioned, it uses a well-known story type, one that many young children will find familiar, and pairs it with impressionistic illustrations from artist Judy Pedersen. Although I can't say I found this one particularly impressive from a storytelling perspective, I did appreciate the autumnal colors and themes here, and I don't doubt it would work as an early reader. show less

This book about Chinese New Year celebrations has a very lively layout, with color photographs, sidebars, labels inside the photo frames, drop caps, frames, photographs entering the text field, objects clipped out of larger photographs independent on the page, subheadings, chapters, maps. The text is also appealingly written, and the material is presented in a way that is easy to understand even for young children. It does not get bogged down in Chinese terms for things, which are mostly show more important for children from Chinese families, or children who are learning Chinese. Instead, it talks about the steps of the festival, the meaning behind the different parts, and what to expect.

It can be a good way to discuss different holidays and why we have them. What other new year celebrations do they know about? What are the typical events, food, and images of that new year? What is the meaning behind them? If the reader were to create his own new year's celebration, what would he want it to be like? What is his favorite holiday? Why? What are the meanings of the images, food, and events of that holiday? What is the last holiday that the child can remember? show less

I thought this was a great book to tell about frogs. It didn't only tell about the life cycle it also gave information about what different frogs look like and do. It was a written in a rhyme, which I enjoyed. I really enjoyed the pictures too. They weren't real photographs, but they were very realistic the way the illustrator drew them and painted them. I can't wait to share this with my kids.

A beautifully illustrated book of poems for younger readers and younger listeners. The poems in this book include works by Spike Milligan, Edward Lear, Gertrude Stein,Sylvia Plath and some traditional works. Most of these poems are short enough (4-5 lines) that little people will soon be reciting them from memory.