Little Cloud

I enjoyed rereading Little Cloud by Eric Carle, not only for the nostalgia of one of my favorite childhood authors and illustrators, but now with my education in early development, I see the benefits of perusing this book. Little Cloud’s theme is to showcase imagination; that our minds can seek inspiration in everything, from natural landscapes to clouds in the sky.
In the beginning of the story, Little Cloud drifts away from the other mass of clouds, fostering the idea of individuality and free thought. Like the work of artists and authors, Little Cloud creates from what he knows. He takes inspiration from everyday things that he has seen on his travels and forms himself to replicate them.
Eric Carle’s bold and textured brush show more strokes invite readers to almost reach out and touch the lines on the page. The hurried white squiggles that work to create the shape of a sheep, airplane, shark, against the rich blue of the sky.
In the end, Little Cloud rejoins the other clouds after they call him back. Once forming together, the sky opens and rains down on the once sunny scape.
I think young readers resonate with this story because it inspires further thought and investigation. Whenever looking up at the clouds, children will wonder what shapes they can find, what stories can they create in the sky? show less

A minor addition to Carle's lengthy list of child-captivating titles, this lean tale introduces a cloud that changes itself into a handful of shapes. Calling upon memories of objects it has seen, Little Cloud becomes a plane, a shark, trees, a rabbit and a clown before rejoining its peers. At this point they do what clouds are apt to do when they get together: "Then all the clouds changed into one big cloud and rained!" Popping out from a textured background of rich turquoise, Carle's luminous collage art features broad, swirling strokes reminiscent of fingerpainting. As minimalist as the text, these images may well inspire kids to cast more creative glances at the sky. Although the conceit is imaginative, the execution lacks the show more inventiveness and extra sparkle of such Carle classics as the "Very" quartet. Ages 2-6. show less

Love, love, love this sweet book! I forgot about this one too, unfortunately. This book is about Little Cloud, who changes shape into lots of different things like a plane, a sheep, and a rabbit. He floats back up to the other clouds who call out for Little Cloud, and then they all come together to form one big cloud. The story is not at all complex, but it truly is adorable. It teaches young kids a little bit about clouds and shows them how to look for shapes they can imagine in the clouds. It uses minimal words and simple phrases, relying a lot of the illustrations. This is another great pick for early readers.

A little cloud has fun changing shapes into a sheep, trees, a rabbit and more things. Then it dies.

Somehow, according to my old book database, my 4-year-old daughter enjoyed this when I read it to her a couple decades back. I did not, then or now. It was never a book we bothered to re-read.

This is a dreamy book about a little cloud who separates away from the other clouds high in the stratosphere to hang out closer to the skyline and turn in to different shapes, like a sheep, a clown, and so forth. It's a short and gentle tale that would make for a nice lazy summer day reading (complete with lying outside to see what shape clouds are around you!) or for a calming bedtime story. Carle's characteristic illustrations are bright and cheery as usual.

I enjoyed this book, as I do most Eric Carle books. What I enjoyed about it is the illustrations. The illustrations highly contribute to the story , enhancing it. For example, little cloud always wants to be something else. It is a cowboy, a sheep and even an airplane at one point in the story. This emulates a realistic principle of people looking at clouds and stating what they look like. This is relatable and enjoyable for the reader to read about. Another reason I liked the book was for the point of view. Instead of being in the point of view of a person, it is in the view of little cloud himself. This adds perspective and depth when we picture little cloud becoming all of these things. The main message of the book is describing what show more we see when we look at clouds in the sky. show less

This is a very enjoyable book. I liked the illustrations which made it more engaging. The pictures seemed to be sponge painted which made it look like they had texture. This brought the picture to life. I also liked the descriptive language the author used. For example, "Clouds pushed upwards, little cloud pushed downwards." The words "upward" and "downward" are great descriptive words for children to be learning. Lastly, I enjoyed the plot. It was very entertaining to try and guess what little cloud would turn into next. For example after little cloud turned into an airplane it was exciting to see how he turned into a silly clown. Since the plot was simple it was easy to enjoy. The main message of the book is to show children that they show more can be anything they want just like little cloud. show less