READ ALOUD

Title The Very Hungry Caterpillar Bibliographic Information By: Eric Carle Published: 2004 Mantra Publishing Summary This wonderful children's story is about a hungry caterpillar that eats various types of foods on each day of the week.  For each day, the caterpillar gets larger with increasing amounts of food.  Eventually, the caterpillar gets extremely fat and forms a cacoon to become a beautiful butterfly. Recommendation for Parents This book is great for teaching children the days of the week, while simultaneously teaching numbers.  It also lets children know a little about how caterpillars turn into butterflies after being in a cacoon for a period of time.  The illustrations are very captivating with bright colors and children can engage in the reading. Recommendation for Teachers The Very Hungry Caterpillar can easily be turned into a fun activity.  The students can help act out the plot with props or students can make their own version of the book. Personal Note I love this book because there are several lessons that can be taught from this book.  The children get a sense of numbers, days of the week, and caterpillars turning into butterflies.  I also like the set-up of the book; each page that has larger numbers is also visually represented in the pages.  For example, one apple has a smaller page than the five oranges' page.  It's enjoyable and the kids can easily remember the story and participate.

Title Tikki Tikki Tembo Bibliographic Information Retold By: Arlene Mosel Illustrated By: Blair Lent Published: 2007 Henry Holt and Company Summary This fable tells about why Chinese children have short names.  It starts with a child whose name is Tikki tikki tembo-no sa rembo-chari bari ruchi-pip peri pembo who is the first born of the family.  After disobeying his mother, he falls into a well and his brother has much difficulty trying to get him help because his name is so long. Recommendation for Parents This story gives light into a different culture through, not only the language used, as well as the informative illustrations.  It is a fun, engaging book for children. Recommendation for Teachers Tikki Tikki Tembo is a great book to support English Learners.  The name is much like a song that can be used to engage all the readers.  Taking away the vulnerability of English Learners and setting many of the students at the same level with each other using a less common language. Personal Note This book is very informative on how a different culture speaks and act on a daily basis.  It also quickly glosses over a large Chinese festival and overall is just fun and engaging.  It is a great way to open up discussion about the many cultures across the world.