Leading to Reading Web Site, by Reading is Fundamental, Inc.

Reading is Fundamental, Inc. (n.d.). Leading to Reading [Web site]. http://www.rif.org/kids/leadingtoreading/

AGE LEVEL
0 through 4 year-olds

GENRE
Web site

REVIEW
RIF’s Leading to Reading Web site is quite comprehensive, containing content appropriate for 0-2 year olds and 3-5 year olds in two distinctly labeled areas. The “Babies and Toddlers” area contains numerous stories which a narrator reads aloud while each word is highlighted in turn and background music is included.  It also contains lullabies sung with musical background, well-designed interactive games, clear demonstrations of fingerplays, and nursery rhymes read aloud. The “Preschoolers” section contains more stories, animated songs, interactive games, a drawing area, and short videos and facts about various animals. All links on the site are clearly labeled with pictures and sound to help young children navigate to the various activities. The narrators of the stories exhibit an excitement about reading, and the performers of the fingerplays are animated. Even the voices which announce the links when one mouses over them are upbeat. The Web site also includes a section where parents can learn about how to read to their children and related topics. This exemplary site is very highly recommended.

LIBRARY PROGRAMMING IDEAS
This site could be included on a library pathfinder of reading readiness resources.

PBS Kids Online Games, by PBS

PBS.org. (2010). Games: PBS Kids. http://pbskids.org/games/index.html

AGE LEVEL
3 and 4 year-olds

GENRE
Web site

REVIEW
PBS.org offers numerous online games, several of which encourage reading readiness. The “Elmo’s Rhymes” game, for example, is a good choice to help develop phonological awareness and build vocabulary. Each segment of the game begins with Elmo naming and showing an object, and children must click on an object which rhymes with the named object.   The game “Dog’s Letter Pit,” should assist with the development of letter knowledge and vocabulary. Children first click the image of the dog, causing him to jump into a pile of letters. A few letters then pop up on the screen, and as a voice sounds them out, children must choose the letters that match each particular sound. A third game is “Caillou’s Match the Leaves”, in which children must choose which of a group of small leaves has the same shape as a big leaf. This would be a good lead-in to the development of letter knowledge as children gain practice in deciding which objects are alike and different.  All three games are fun, images are clear, and most scenes are uncluttered.  The games are fairly easy to play, yet even for an adult, figuring out how to manipulate certain objects on the screen may take some trial-and-error clicking. Parents should practice these games before introducing young children to them.

LIBRARY PROGRAMMING IDEAS
This Web site could be included on a library pathfinder of suggested reading readiness resources.

Storyline Online, by the Screen Actors Guild Foundation

Screen Actors Guild Foundation. (n.d.). Storyline Online [Web site]. http://www.storylineonline.net/

AGE LEVEL
3 and 4 year-olds

GENRE
Web Site

REVIEW
Storyline Online is a Web site hosted by the Screen Actors Guild on which well-known performers of all ages such as Betty White, James Earl Jones, Amanda Bynes, Elijah Woods, and several others read picture books aloud. A sampling of the books read include: Brave Irene, by William Steig; The Polar Express, by Chris Van Allsburg; Romeow and Drooliet, by Nina Laden; among twenty others.  Several of the picture books are appropriate for very young children, and the fact that most of the performers read the works with excitement, inflection, and at a comfortably easy pace accentuates this. The backdrops behind the readers are living room scenes familiar to most young children. Each story video possesses a good balance between shots of the book itself and of the reader. This site will be fun for children and also a good model for parents of read-aloud techniques in action. Each story also includes links to related activities and an activity guide. One drawback of the site is the difficulty of navigating back to the homepage after each story is finished. Parents will definitely need to assist their children throughout their use of this site.  Yet, this does not take away from the fact that this is a valuable resource.

LIBRARY PROGRAMMING IDEAS
This site could be included on a library pathfinder of electronic resources for young children.

Maisy's Fun Club, by Candlewick.com

Candlewick Press. (n.d.). Maisy’s Fun Club [Web site]. http://www.maisyfunclub.com/default.htm

AGE LEVEL
3 and 4 year-olds

GENRE
Web Site

REVIEW
This is a Web site based on the characters in Lucy Cousins’ Maisy books. Maisy is a mouse-like creature with human hands and feet. The Web site, like the books, introduces concepts such as sorting, colors, and numbers. The site includes interactive games as well as printable games and activity sheets. Children can color pictures online and view and listen to Maisy stories as an adult reads them aloud. A nice feature of this site is that every link is accompanied by an image, helping pre-readers to navigate around. Another great feature is that certain items, such as the games, are offered in various levels of difficulty. Children and parents alike will enjoy the inclusion of a very natural video of Lucy Cousins demonstrating in detail how she draws and paints, while talking about her art training, how she came to draw Maisy, and what Maisy is like. This will certainly encourage children that they too are capable of creating art. There are no commercial intrusions on the site other than a small icon which leads to an area where books can be purchased. Downsides to the site include the facts that the “A to Z” letter links on the gallery page don’t lead anywhere and some of the illustrations are very small. Other than this, however, it is an exemplary interactive site for preschoolers.

LIBRARY PROGRAMMING IDEAS
This Web site could be included on a library pathfinder of electronic resources for young children

The New Adventures of Madeline, by Vivendi Entertainment

Vivendi Entertainment. (1995). The New Adventures of Madeline [television series]. 30 minutes/episode. http://www.hulu.com/madeline?c=Family

AGE LEVEL
3 and 4 year olds

GENRE
Television show

REVIEW
Based on the characters created by Ludwig Bemelmans in his Caldecott Award-winning Madeline picture book, The New Adventures of Madeline television show is appropriate for preschoolers. The rhyming text in the picture book is preserved in these shows in the occasional narration of Christopher Plummer. The majority of each show, however, consists of action, dialogue, and song. The simple nature of the stories, their repetition of key points, and their focus on themes which apply to many children’s lives -- especially that of being part of a group -- make these shows a good match for three and four year-olds. Madeline’s energy and courage are positive models for young children. Madeline's prescient and ever-helpful boarding school teacher, Miss Clavel, serves as a comforting reminder that there are indeed reliable people in life.  The inclusion of some French words and phrases is a bonus.  One weakness of the shows' content is the fact that almost all the main characters are Caucasian, and one disadvantage of watching the shows online is that commercial advertising interrupts each epiosode a couple times.

LIBRARY PROGRAMMING IDEAS
An episode could be screened to start off a family movie night at the library.

A Day in the Life of Murphy, by Alice Provensen

Provensen, Alice. A Day in the Life of Murphy. Simon and Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2003. 32 pages. $16.95, ISBN 0-689-84884-6

AGE LEVEL
3 and 4 year-olds

GENRE
Picture book

REVIEW
Somehow Provensen has managed to channel the thoughts and motivations of a terrier in this laugh-out-loud funny book.  "Murphy-Stop-That is my name," opens the story, and we set off with Murphy the farm dog on his day.  Murphy is high-energy and on alert all the time, as this excerpt from his amusing interior monologue shows: "Don't waste any time.  You have to be first!  The first one in the kitchen in the morning.  Where's the pan?  The pan first.  Leftovers.  Scraps.  Forget the lettuce.  Where's the bowl?"  Illustrations painted in oils reflect Murphy's liveliness, and he is cast as quick black lines over a brown-gray background, with darting eyes rounding out the portrait.  In the course of the day Murphy assists the other animals in a raid of the pet food cupboard, looks for mice, is taken to the vet, and investigates nighttime noises.  This story is very engaging, Murphy is one of the most likeable picture book characters I've ever met, and the book's closing scene imparts a positive message about valuing one's friends and blessings in life.  The only minor drawbacks to the book are the sometimes uninteresting background scenes -- although I realize they are probably meant to fade a little bit in order to let Murphy stand out -- and a slightly clinical all-caps font.  But these are small details and should definitely not stop anyone from reading this story to their 3 or 4 year-old again and again.

LIBRARY PROGRAMMING IDEAS
After reading this book aloud at preschool storytime, children could make terrier puppets using brown paper bags, pre-cut construction paper ears, crayons, pre-cut lengths of black yarn, plastic googly eyes, and glue sticks.

Black Cat, by Christopher A. Myers

Myers, Christopher A. Black Cat. Scholastic Press, 1999. 36 pages. $16.95, ISBN 0-590-03375-1

AGE LEVEL
3 and 4 year-olds

GENRE
Poetry

REVIEW
In this Caldecott honoree, Myers’ richly imagistic and metaphor-filled text combine with his collaged illustrations to do what I think all poetry and visual art should aspire to: reveal the extraordinary in the ordinary. We come upon a “black cat, black cat / cousin to the concrete” and follow her throughout her rounds in an urban landscape, exploring the subway station, scaling walls, and running across basketball courts and storefront roofs. Myers' words are strikingly descriptive, calling our attention to the physical features of the cat such as her “eyes like the green of empty glass bottles”, and also to her adventures, “scraping paint from fire escapes” and “hearing the quiet language of invisible trains”. Almost every sentence and phrase is accompanied by a mixed media image, including photographs which Myers took in Harlem and his own Brooklyn neighborhood. This match between words and images, along with the repetition of the refrain “…we want to know / where’s your home, where do you go?” increases the work's accessibility to young children. Through the cat's freedom to roam where she wants in the city, Myers draws attention to the way in which humans have divided up public spaces with walls and fences. Young children will not understand the meanings of all the words in this poem, but will be transfixed by the beauty and rhythm of language in a way that is equally and vitally important.

LIBRARY PROGRAMMING IDEAS
This poem could be read aloud at a preschool storytime along with other poems, picture books, and nonfiction about city life and/or cats. 

The Going to Bed Book, by Sandra Boynton

Boynton, Sandra. The Going to Bed Book. Little Simon, 1995. 14 pages. $5.99, ISBN 0-671-44902-8

AGE LEVEL
1 and 2 year-olds

GENRE
Board Book

REVIEW
This is one of those books that is so completely delightful that one could never fully distill its magic into a review, but I will nonetheless try, in hopes that my words will encourage others to get Boynton's brief literary gem into the hands of their toddlers.  As the story starts, we meet up with a hippo, a moose, a cat, and assorted other animal friends sailing along the ocean in their little ship.  It's bedtime on board, and we join the animals in their nightly routine, including a group bubble bath, comical teeth brushing, and moonlit exercise.  As the story ends, Boynton closes with these last few cozy lines: "The day is done.  They say goodnight, and somebody turns off the light.  The moon is high. The sea is deep.  They rock and rock and rock to sleep."  The rhyming text and repetition of verbs combine to impart a musical quality when reading this story aloud.  Rounded cartoon drawings add an infectious humor to the tale, be they of an elephant with a determined gaze as he jumps rope, or of a dog with a joyful little smile as he slides down a bannister.  A highly recommended book which toddlers will want you to read aloud again and again.

LIBRARY PROGRAMMING IDEAS
During toddler storytime, a picture book version of this book could be read aloud and paired with the following rhyme.  This was a childhood favorite of mine which I made my dad sing to me at least twice each bedtime -- the book's last scene immediately called to mind the second stanza:

          GOOD NIGHT, LADIES

          (change "ladies" to "gentlemen", "kiddos", etc. as appropriate)
           
          Good night, ladies.
          Good night, ladies.
          Good night, ladies.
          We have to leave you now.

          Merrily we roll along, 
          roll along, 
          roll along.
          Merrily we roll along, 
          o'er the deep blue sea.

The Lonely Moose, by John Segal

Segal, John. The Lonely Moose. Hyperion Books for Children, 2007. 40 pages. $15.99, ISBN 978-1-4231-0173-4

AGE LEVEL
3 and 4 year-olds

GENRE
Picture book

REVIEW
"Deep in the woods, at the foot of a mountain, lived a moose.  He had no family, few friends, and rarely entertained visitors".  These opening lines and an illustration of a contented moose strolling alone in his rural idyll at once tell us something about the preferences of our protagonist.  But life as Moose knows it abruptly turns upside down when change literally falls out of the sky in the form of a small bird.  Moose rescues Bird from drowning, and reluctantly decides to spend some time with him while he learns how to fly.  By the end of the summer, the two have become close friends.  When a forest fire suddenly separates them, Moose realizes how important Bird is to him. Children will enjoy discovering whether the two are reunited.  This is truly an exemplary book which excels both in its engaging, thoughtful story and soft black-outlined watercolor illustrations which are gorgeous in themselves and also work well with the text to convey additional detail, especially about characters' emotions.  Truly humorous moments are woven throughout the story, such as Moose's first taste of bird cuisine: "They walked to the meadow to dig for worms. 'Try one,' said Bird.  'They're delicious.'  Moose tried one.  Revolting, he thought." A very highly recommended book for three and four year-olds.

LIBRARY PROGRAMMING IDEAS
This book and other titles on friendship and/or fires could be read aloud during a special preschool storytime which would include a visit from a firefighter and a brief talk/drill about fire safety.

Kittens, by Fiona Watt

Watt, Fiona. Kittens (Usborne Touchy Feely Books). Illustrated by Rachel Wells. Usborne, 2002. 12 pages. $10.95, ISBN 0-7945-0099-4

AGE LEVEL
0-12 months

GENRE
Board Book

REVIEW 
Babies will love touching the fur of the kittens on this book's thick, infant-friendly pages.  Beyond the textures, however, there is actually also a subtle message about the uniqueness of each individual.  Each two-page spread starts off with a statement on the left panel about something that "most" kittens like to do, such as "Most kittens like to play" or "Most kittens like to pounce".  The illustrations on this panel show kittens engaged in the mentioned activity.  The right side of each panel, however, always includes one kitten who is not engaged in the activity, or who has tried the activity with somewhat unsuccessful results.  The text on this right panel always notes "...but not this one".  The repetitive structure of the book will be enjoyable to babies.  The only major drawback to the book is that the textures of objects such as kitten's ears, tongues, noses, and other items are not very realistic.  This will likely not detract from babies' enjoyment, however.

LIBRARY PROGRAMMING IDEAS
As this is a larger board book, it could be read aloud during infant storytime and then passed around for each baby to enjoy individually during the post-storytime free exploration period.  A great hand rhyme to pair with this book is:

          SOFT KITTY

           (This is a good rhyme for modeling to babies how to touch gently. 
           Parents/caretakers should stroke their baby's hand as if stroking a cat.)

          Soft kitty, warm kitty,
          Little ball of fur;  
          Lazy kitty, pretty kitty,
          Purr, purr, purr.

Faces, by Shelley Rotner & Ken Kreisler

Rotner, Shelley and Kreisler, Ken. Faces. Illustrated by Rotner, Shelley. MacMillan, 1994. 32 pages. $14.95, ISBN 0-02-777887-8

AGE LEVEL
0-12 months

GENRE
Nonfiction (Face Perception)

REVIEW
Babies, and toddlers as well, will enjoy poring over the many children's faces in this book.  Young children of various ages, races, and ethnicities, as well as of both genders, are shown in full-color photographs which fill most of each page.  In roughly the first half of the book are photos of the complete faces of one or two children each, accompanied by minimal text describing their faces or explaining what these faces are doing: "friendly faces", "funny faces", "faces talking", and "faces sleeping", for example.  In the second half of the book, there are more photos of complete faces, but there are also photos of parts of faces, such as mouths, eyes,ears, and noses.  This progression from complete faces to their components is very appropriate for the book's young audience, and should reinforce their understanding of the relationship between a whole and its parts. Another positive aspect of the book is the authors' statement that faces (and by implication, people), are "All different, each special in its own way".  A great book for the youngest children to enjoy, and learn from along the way. 

LIBRARY PROGRAMMING IDEAS
During infant storytime, this book could be paired with the following face rhyme.

          TWO LITTLE EYES

          (Instruct parents/caretakers to touch their baby's facial features as they say 
          the rhyme.)

          Two little eyes to look around.
          Two little ears to hear each sound.
          One little nose to smell what's sweet.
          And one little mouth that likes to eat.

Little Eight John, by Jan Wahl

Wahl, Jan. Little Eight John. Illustrated by Wil Clay. Lodestar Books, 1992. 30 pages. $14.99, ISBN 0-525-67367-9

AGE LEVEL
3 and 4 year-olds


GENRE
Traditional Literature (Folktale)

REVIEW  
In memorable opening lines, Wahl establishes exactly the kind of little boy we are about to meet: "Once there was a fine-looking boy named Little Eight John. He looked fine. But he didn't act fine. He was as mean as mean there was."  Little Eight John is a boy who just can't resist doing what he is not supposed to do, and who laughs at the bad fortune of others. If his mother advises him that climbing trees in his nicest outfit will bring grief to the family, up the nearest trunk he goes. When the family's potatoes won't grow as a result, John giggles. But as the conclusion of the story shows, no one can escape the consequences of meanness forever.  Although there isn't a large amount of text in this book, a few pages may contain a bit more than is appropriate for 0-4 year olds. However, the repetitive nature of the story, with its sequence of several instances in which John deliberately disobeys his mother's wishes, compensates for these few longer pages. The tone is enjoyably conversational and the text includes direct address of the reader such as "Well sir, right then he had to go count his teeth."  The illustrations, which appear to be drawn in colored pencil, fill each page with life and movement. The expressions on characters' faces are well detailed, reflecting a range of emotions. This Coretta Scott King award winner would make a fun read-aloud for preschoolers, and for many toddlers as well.

LIBRARY PROGRAMMING IDEAS
This story could be shared at a special periodic folktale storytime.  Such folktale storytimes may help to make more patrons aware of the fact that there are many works of fiction in the portion of the library organized by Deewy Decimal numbers.

Our Grandparents: A Global Album

 Ajmera, Maya; Kinkade, Sheila; Pon, Cynthia; and the Global Fund for Children. Our Grandparents: A Global Album. Charlesbridge, 2010. 32 pages. $16.95, ISBN 9781570914584   

AGE LEVEL
1 and 2 year olds

GENRE
Nonfiction (Grandparent and Child)

REVIEW
This book is an excellent reminder of the important role that grandparents can and do play in their grandchildren's lives.  The most striking feature of the book is the wonderfully intimate and natural photographs of grandparents and their grandchildren in countries around the world.  The photos are clear and large, making them easily accessible to young children. Grandparents are shown as active and engaged in a variety of physically and mentally challenging activities, including teaching, pushing a sled, planting a tree, etc., as well as enjoying quiet moments. The book's text is appropriate for one and two year-olds, as the same sentence structure is repeated throughout: “Grandparents” - [verb] - [rest of sentence]. For example: “Grandparents explore the world with us” and “Grandparents teach us what they know”.  Children will receive reinforcement of the idea that people around the world are similar in their enjoyment of a feeling of connectedness with their family. The only drawback of the book is that there are more photos of grandparents and grandchildren from the U.S. than from other countries.  However, the variety of photos of U.S. families does demonstrate the ethnic, racial, and cultural diversity within the U.S. well.

LIBRARY PROGRAMMING IDEAS
This would be a wonderful book to share during a grandparents-grandchildren or family storytime, along with other books on the same theme, such as Shelly Rotner's nonfiction Lots of Grandparents, and picture books such as Gale Byrne's Sometimes it's Grandmas and Grandpas, not Mommies and Daddies and Marla Frazee's A Couple of Boys Have the Best Week Ever.

Hush!: A Thai Lullaby, by Minfong Ho

Ho, Minfong. Hush!: a Thai Lullaby. Orchard Books, 1996. 32 pages. $6.99, ISBN 0-531-09500-2

AGE LEVEL
1 and 2 year-olds

GENRE
Poetry

REVIEW
In this superb 1997 Caldecott Honor Book, Ho draws on her own childhood experience growing up in Thailand to tell the story of a mother who seeks to quiet a series of animals so that they don’t wake her supposedly sleeping baby. The text is perfect for toddlers, with its many rhymes involving long “e” and “i” sounds and its repeated refrain. For example, when the mother finds that a sound coming from the pond outside is a duck, she requests: “White duck, white duck / don’t come beeping / Can’t you see that / Baby’s sleeping? / White duck, white duck / don’t you cry / My baby’s sleeping / right nearby.”  Children will enjoy making animal sounds as they are expressed in Thai: a monkey screeches “Jiak-jiak!” and an elephant bellows “Hoom-praaa!”.  There is also a subtle humor in the book arising from the way in which the mother earnestly addresses the animals, and the fact that unbeknownst to her, her baby is not actually sleeping, but climbing out of his bed.  Holly Meade’s painted illustrations are supremely captivating in their harmonious greens, oranges, and browns, exhibiting collage and wood-cut print qualities in many instances. This book is a great pick for one and two year-olds due to the repetitive nature of its text, and demonstrates to young children the commonalities of all cultures through the example that mothers in Thailand love and worry about their children just as much as mothers everywhere.

LIBRARY PROGRAMMING IDEAS
This book could be read at a toddler storytime with other lullaby-based books.

Two Little Sounds: Fun with Phonics and Numbers, by Hap Palmer

Palmer, Hap. Two Little Sounds: Fun with Phonics and Numbers. Hap-Pal Music Inc., 2003. 1 sound disc, 72 minutes. $14.99

AGE LEVEL
3 and 4 year-olds

GENRE
Music

REVIEW
A great mix of jazz with trumpets aplenty, cajun, rock, and country fills this collection of humorous songs about the antics and adventures of various people and animals. Reading readines skills such as phonological awareness and the learning of new vocabulary are amply facilitated by these tunes. Rhymes, consonant sounds, and blends are addressed.  In the standout song “My Ramblin’ Cat,” for example, after each word ending in the letters “at,” Palmer states that he is going to drop the first letter and replace it with a different letter, allowing children to predict and sound out the next word.  “The One That Doesn’t Rhyme” is another notable song, and asks listeners to decide which in a group of four words does not rhyme. The language activities involved in most songs are easy for listeners to understand.  The activity involved in the titular song, “Two Little Sounds”, however, is not immediately apparent and will probably require adult explanation. The CD insert contains full lyrics, notes on the language skills addressed in each song, suggested lead-in activities, and key vocabulary. A good CD for three and four year-olds.

LIBRARY PROGRAMMING IDEAS
This would be a good CD to include in a storytime-to-go kit for families to check out for home use.  The kit could include books like Andy: That's My Name, by Tomie De Paola; Is Your Mama a Llama?, by Deborah Guarino; and others which use rhyme to tell stories and give children experience with phonics concepts.

The Letters Are Lost!, by Lisa Campbell Ernst

Ernst, Lisa Campbell. The Letters are Lost! Viking, 1996. 32 pages. $5.99. ISBN 0-670-86336-X

AGE LEVEL
3 and 4 year-olds

GENRE
Picture book

REVIEW
“Long ago the letters were all together, neat and tidy. But time passed. First one block disappeared, then the next….The letters are lost! Come, let’s find them, one by one.” So begins this energetic ABC book. From A to Z, each page consists of a colorful illustration of one block letter engaged in adventure: “F took a swim with the Fish,” “P dove into the Popcorn,” and “R rolled away on a Roller Skate,” etc. The scenes involve household items and common neighborhood locations with which most children will be familiar. The text below each illustration is one short sentence, appropriate in length for three and four year-old audiences. Each sentence begins with an image of the letter in the same block form as in the illustration, which may help children to connect illustration with text. The only real critique I have is that the letters “X” and “Y”, instead of being depicted on separate pages, are only described together: “X/Y played the XYlophone.” Apart from this, however, this book is great fun and will definitely spur interest in the ABCs and reading for 3 and 4 year-olds.

LIBRARY PROGRAMMING IDEAS
During storytime, this book could be paired with the classic ABC song or an alternative such as:

          The Alphabet Letter/Sound/Word Song
          (to the tune of Twinkle,Twinkle, Little Star)

          Say the letter, then make the letter's sound, then say the word.

          A /a/ apple
          B /b/ ball
          C /c/ cat
          D /d/ doll
          E /e/ edge
          F /f/ fan
          G /g/ goat
          H /h/ hand
          I /i/ ice cream
          J /j/ jam
          K /k/ kite
          L /l/ lamb
          M /m/ mouse
          N /n/ nickel
          O /o/ octopus
          P /p/ pickle
          Q /q/ queen
          R /r/ rail
          S /s/ sun
          T /t/ tail
          U /u/ umbrella
          V /v/ van
          W /w/ watch
          X /x/ x-ray man
          Y /y/ yo-yo
          Z /z/ zoo

PEEP and the Big Wide World video shorts, WGBH Educational Foundation

WGBH Educational Foundation. PEEP and the Big Wide World video shorts. WGBH, 2010. 10 minutes each. http://www.peepandthebigwideworld.com/videos

AGE LEVEL
3 and 4 year olds

GENRE
Film

REVIEW
These video shorts, available on the PEEP and the Big Wide World Web site, present science concepts through the day-to-day adventures of a small yellow bird named Peep, and his friends Chirp and Quack. In the short “The Real Decoy”, for example, Quack and Peep find something which they think is a living duck which is simply not moving. Their belief about the "duck" can be considered a hypothesis, which they go about testing by trying to get the duck to eat, drink, paddle on water, etc. Through use of their observational skills, they gradually accumulate information about this duck that begins to suggest that it is inanimate. Much of the success of the PEEP shorts results from the facts that they are not didactic in tone at all and are also often laugh-out-loud funny due to Quack's huge ego.  Additional strengths include their focus on friendship, helpfulness, kindness, and of course, determination in the pursuit of answers to questions. The shorts do not always clearly explain all science concepts, but they are only meant to be an introduction after all. With their uncomplicated plot lines and clear and bold animation, the PEEP shorts are appropriate for preschoolers.

LIBRARY PROGRAMMING IDEAS
Full screen versions of the shorts could be shown as part of a science day at the library.  Stations where children could test some of the science concepts shown in the shorts could be set up.

Superheroes (The Adventures of Max and Pinky), by Maxwell Eaton III

Eaton III, Maxwell. Superheroes (The Adventures of Max and Pinky) Alfred A. Knopf, 2007. 32 pages. $12.99, ISBN 978-0-375-83806-7

AGE LEVEL
3 and 4 year-olds

GENRE
Picture book

REVIEW
All starts off well for friends Max and the porcine Pinky, as they prepare to play superheroes by practicing their moves and choosing outfits.  But once the costumes are on, "Mighty Max" develops an equally mighty ego, leaving the less desirable superhero tasks to Pinky, his "stubby sidekick".  Pinky finally speaks up to voice his protest, leading to a rift between the two.  However, Max soon finds himself in a difficult situation in which he could sure use Pinky's help.  Eaton's line-drawn and brightly-colored illustrations capture the book's energy and humor well, although some facial expressions could be a bit more revealing.  Comic-style speech bubbles often belie the statements in the text, adding to the story's humor.  A good message about treating others as one's equal, embedded in a delightful story whose nuances make it most appropriate for three and four year olds.  A bit of adult explanation about the story's comic tension will be very helpful to young children.

LIBRARY PROGRAMMING IDEAS
A read-aloud of this and books such as Caralyn Buehner's Superdog: The Heart of a Hero and Udo Weigelt's Super Guinea Pig to the Rescue could be combined with a superhero dress-up activity.

Boo Hoo Bird, by Jeremy Tankard

Tankard, Jeremy. Boo Hoo Bird Scholastic Press, 2009. 32 pages. $14.99, ISBN 978-0-545-06570-2

AGE LEVEL
3 and 4 year-olds

GENRE
Picture book

REVIEW
It all starts innocently enough, with a friendly game of catch, but soon Bird is accidentally hit on the head. We realize right away that he will not be bouncing back quickly when he pronounces, "That hurt. A lot." One by one, his friends do their best to alleviate Bird's trauma with kisses, hugs, and cookies, but all to no avail. It is only when Bird sees that he has made his friends cry in their worry about him that he stops complaining. This pivotal moment of realization, depicted in one wordless page, demonstrates the skill with which Tankard conveys emotion in his seemingly simple cartoon-style drawings. Earlier he conveys Bird's worsening mood in increasingly darker orange-brown backgrounds. The repetitive pattern of the story will make it fun for children to predict Bird's reaction to each attempt to help him, and the amount of text makes this story most appropriate for three and four year-olds. With humor, this story demonstrates the results of overdoing it on self-pity.

LIBRARY PROGRAMMING IDEAS
This story could be read aloud in conjunction with a visit from a local safety/health professional such as an ambulance driver or nurse.  Discuss with children what they should do if they or someone around them is injured.

What's on My Head?, by Margaret Miller

Miller, Margaret. What's on My Head? Little Simon, 1998. 14 pages. $4.99, ISBN 978-1416989950

AGE LEVEL
0-12 months

GENRE
Board Book

REVIEW
In its clear and interesting images and age-appropriate sparse text, Margaret Miller's What’s on My Head? shows once again why she is considered a master of the board book format.  The book's twelve pages are composed of two-page spreads consisting of a baby with a hat or other item on his or her head on the right panel and a description of this item on the left panel, e.g., “fancy hat”, “fire hat”, “pretty bow”, etc. The placement of items such as stuffed animals and a rubber ducky on some of the children’s heads adds humor. The close-up images show detail, but not so much that they will overwhelm infants’ eyes.  The large-font text and repetitive pattern would make this book a good choice for older children who are beginning to read as well.

LIBRARY PROGRAMMING IDEAS
A picture book version of this book could be used successfully in lapsit or toddler storytime.

The Everything Book, by Denise Fleming

Fleming, Denise. The Everything Book. Henry Holt and Company, 2000. 26 pages. $25.99, ISBN 978-0805088694

AGE LEVEL
1 and 2 year-olds

GENRE
Board Book

REVIEW
In this board book, Fleming really does cover a little bit of everything, including introductions to the alphabet, numbers, body parts, facial expressions, colors, shapes, and seasons.  Notably, the sections on shapes and faces will help pre-readers prepare to develop letter knowledge.  The two-page spread on shapes shows not only triangles, circles, and squares in isolation on the left panel, but also includes a cheery scene of houses and mountains on the right panel which places the shapes in a real-world context. The two-page spread of eight babies' and childrens’ faces exhibits diversity in ethnicities/races, genders, and facial expressions depicted.   Although due to the large variety of concepts it contains, this book verges on the disjointed in a few instances, the striking multi-colored dyed-pulp illustrations effectively mitigate this issue.  Their richness makes one stop and savor each depicted concept separately.  This book is a good choice for babies and toddlers alike.

LIBRARY PROGRAMMING IDEAS
Although this board book version would be most appropriate for one-on-one parent-child sharing, a picture book version would be an excellent choice for infant storytime.