In the Tall, Tall Grass

If you were a fuzzy caterpillar crawling through the tall, tall grass on a sunny afternoon, what would you see?

To find out, just follow the tiny tour guide as he inches his way through the pages of this book. You'll see ants and bees and birds--hip-hopping bunnies too. You'll even hear the sounds some of them make.

Crunch, munch,
caterpillars lunch...
Crack, snap, wings flap...

Beginning as the sun is high in the sky and ending as fireflies blink and the moon rises above, this backyard tour is one no child will want to miss.

Simple, rhyming, onomatopoeic text explores different animals one might find while exploring the tall grass. A caterpillar is a through line, featured first and then appearing secondary on each other page, fostering a seek-and-find feel. The illustrations also show the day turning from morning to night, which may not be immediately obvious, encouraging multiple readings.

"In the Tall, Tall Grass" is a story that tells the reader about creatures that live in the grass around us. I really liked reading this book. One reason I enjoyed his book is because it rhymed on each page. For example on the first page the book says "crunch, munch, caterpillars lunch." And the next page says "dart, dip, hummingbirds sip." These rhymes made the book really fun and easy to read. A second reason I liked this book is because as I was reading the book I noticed that there was a caterpillar on each page so it was like the caterpillar was walking through the grass. I think this unified the book. Another reason I liked this book is because the illustrations really portrayed the words on the page. For example on one of the show more pages the book says, "crack, snap, wings flap" and there is an illustration of a bird flying. My last reason for liking this book is the descriptive words used in the text allows the reader to visualize the sounds in their head. For example when the text says, "slip, slide, snakes glide" I can really visualize the snakes slipping and sliding through the grass.
The main idea of this book was to tell readers about the creatures that lurk in the tall grass. It could be beneficial for learning about animals and where they live for various readers. show less

This is a fun read-aloud for a toddler (the story is not complex, and the words are fun to say outloud). It is also a great book for an early reader. Many good picture books are nearly impossible for a new reader to tackle. This one has a large proportion of words that can be sounded out phonetically, rhymes that help decoding more, and pictures that make reading big words like hummingbirds easy.

This is a classroom classic for a good reason. In part, because the illustrations work better at a bit of a distance, and not quite so well as a lap-sit choice. But it is indeed just as imaginative and rich at this reading as when I read it for teacher-college.

I thought this was a nice book for young children. It has rhyming patterns and uses a lot of descriptive sensory words to describe what is happening in the grass. It is a simple plot line, but would be appropriate for a read-aloud to very young children.

A beautifully illustrated depiction of a fuzzy caterpillar's sights as it crawls through the tall, tall grass.