Tag: Perfect Picture Book Friday

Perfect Picture Book Friday – Counting Sheep

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Hi Everyone!  Welcome back to Perfect Picture Book Fridays!

I know we took a bit of a break between the Holiday Contest preempting regular posts and then the holidays preempting everything 🙂 , so if you have posted Perfect Picture Books over the last few weeks you are welcome to add them all to today’s list!

As you all know, I am partial to books about counting sheep 🙂

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So I am thrilled to share a new one with you!  And, not only will I share the book with you on PPBF today, the author, Pippa Chorley, has generously offered to give away 2 copies in celebration of her launch to the US market this week!  If you’re interested in winning a copy, she asks that you like and comment on post, and share this post on social media tagging her on Twitter:@PippaChorley and/or Instagram: @pippachorley!   And if you’d like to learn a little more about her journey to publication with this book, please check out Tuesday Debut – Presenting Pippa Chorley!

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Title: Counting Sheep

Written By: Pippa Chorley

Illustrated By: Danny Deeptown

Marshall Cavendish, January 20 2020, fiction

Suitable For Ages: 3-6

Themes/Topics: bedtime, ingenuity/problem solving

Opening: “One dark stormy night, when Sam couldn’t sleep,
Her mum suggested, “Try counting some sheep.”
Sam closed her eyes and pictured a flock,
But the white, woolly sheep were running…AMOK!
‘Please stop, please stop! Slow down, slow down!
I cannot sleep with you clowning around.‘”

Brief Synopsis: When Sam can’t sleep, her mother suggests counting sheep, but bedtime becomes bedlam as the sheep pile up and can’t be counted because Little Shep is unable to clear the fence.  One outrageous solution after another fails to do the trick until Sam comes up with just the right answer.

Links To Resources: If it was your job to get Little Shep over the fence, how would you do it? Draw a picture!; Counting Sheep Song (YouTube Video); 10 Sheep Crafts For Kids; Sheep Cupcakes (recipe); 16 Counting Activities for Preschoolers

Why I Like This Book: this story is cute, energetic and entertaining.  When Little Shep is unable to get over the fence, holding up the line and making it impossible for Sam to count herself to sleep, the sheep come up with one ridiculous proposition after another to solve the problem.  Of course they don’t think their ideas are ridiculous! and their suggestions are believably kid-like (I speak from experience having come up with similar schemes myself 🙂 ), seeming perfectly plausible to them and making for a humorous story and illustrations.  Ultimately Sam is the one who comes up with a sensible solution – the perfect answer to the problem – showing that sometimes a little careful thought is better than a lot of wild ideas. Young readers will enjoy watching the story unfold and wondering how will Little Shep get over that fence???!!!  The illustrations are light-hearted and fun, including such entertaining details as the “spring plan” 🙂

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text copyright Pippa Chorley 2020, illustration copyright Danny Deeptown 2020 – Marshall Cavendish

I hope you enjoy it as much as I do 🙂

For the complete list of books with resources, please visit Perfect Picture Books.

PPBF folks, please add your titles and post-specific links (and any other info you feel like filling out 🙂 ) to the form below so we can all come see what fabulous picture books you’ve chosen to share this week!

Have a wonderful weekend, everyone!!! 🙂  And don’t forget!  You could win a copy of this delightful book by liking and commenting on this post and sharing this post on Twitter and/or Instagram and tagging Pippa (Twitter:@PippaChorley and/or Instagram: @pippachorley!)

Perfect Picture Book Friday – The Gifts Of The Animals: A Christmas Tale

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Hi Everyone!

I know.

It’s been way too long since we had a Perfect Picture Book Friday!

Between Halloweensie, being away, Thanksgiving, etc, there either wasn’t time in the blog schedule or I didn’t have time.  I apologize to the faithful who have posted every week and invite you to add all of your recent titles to this week’s list to make up for my absence from the front lines!

Since the Holiday Contest opens Monday and will preempt all regular posts, and then it will be the holidays, I will likely not have another PPBF post here until January, so anyone who continues to post may add their books for the next couple weeks to this list as well (or add them to the first post in January – whichever you prefer!)

I can’t wait to show you the book I’ve chosen for today.  It is so lovely!  I think even folks who don’t celebrate Christmas will find it very appealing.

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Title: The Gifts Of The Animals: A Christmas Tale

Written By: Carole Gerber

Illustrated By: Yumi Shimokawara

Familius, October 2019, fiction

Suitable For Ages: 3-8

Themes/Topics: holidays (Christmas), birth of Jesus

Opening: “The gentle beasts of sky and earth
prepare their stable for Christ’s birth.

The ox that stands in the drafty shed
drops straw into a manger bed.”

Brief Synopsis: The Gift of the Animals shares the miraculous offerings the humble animals in the stable gave to the baby Jesus.

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text copyright Carole Gerber 2019, illustration copyright Yumi Shimokawara 2019

Links To Resources: The Friendly Beasts music video; make Christmas (or other holiday) cards for your friends and family to show them how much they mean to you; practice wrapping skills with boxes and paper from the recycling bin and make them into a pretty windowsill display.

Why I Like This Book: I am personally extra drawn to the story because when I was in kindergarten we sang The Friendly Beasts for the Christmas concert and I have always loved it.  This sweet and lovely story is beautifully written and illustrated – a real Christmas treasure.  There is something so appealing about each of the animals bringing something to make the baby’s arrival more warm and comfortable.  All of them find something perfect to contribute, even though they are just humble creatures.  Kids will love seeing all the animals and what each one has to offer, and the story’s message is one of love and giving.  One of my favorite pages (since I am a mother and have done this 🙂 ) is the page where “Mary counts His tiny toes and wraps the Child in swaddling clothes.”  I feel sure that even if the bible doesn’t specifically tell us so, Mary marveled over His perfection and couldn’t get enough of looking at Him the same way we all do with our babies.

I hope you enjoy this beautiful book as much as I do 🙂

For the complete list of books with resources, please visit Perfect Picture Books.

PPBF folks, please add your titles and post-specific links (and any other info you feel like filling out 🙂 ) to the form below so we can all come see what fabulous picture books you’ve chosen to share this week!

Have a wonderful weekend, everyone!!! 🙂

 

Perfect Picture Book Friday – Fry Bread: A Native American Family Story

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Happy Perfect Picture Book Friday, Everyone!

If you can relate it to a holiday at all (which is a bit of a stretch 🙂 ) the book I’ve chosen to share today is a little more Thanksgiving-y than Halloween-y.  But even though Halloween comes first and is less than a week away, this book is too good not to share now 🙂

Fry Bread

Title: Fry Bread: A Native American Family Story

Written By: Kevin Noble Maillard

Illustrated By: Juana Martinez-Neal

Roaring Brook Press, October 22 2019, nonfiction

Suitable For Ages: 3-6 (but older kids and adults will find the back matter very interesting!)

Themes/Topics: heritage, tradition, family, community

Opening: “FRY BREAD IS FOOD
Flour, salt, water
Cornmeal, baking powder
Perhaps milk, maybe sugar
All mixed together in a big bowl”

 

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text copyright Kevin Noble Maillard 2019, illustration copyright Juana Martinez-Neal 2019 Roaring Brook Press

 

Brief Synopsis: A celebration of how this no-single-recipe-fits-all community food draws families and friends together and provides continuity from generation to generation.

 

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text copyright Kevin Noble Maillard 2019, illustration copyright Juana Martinez-Neal 2019 Roaring Brook Press

 

Links To Resources: the back of the book contains extensive additional information that teachers and parents can use to round out the use of the book at home and in the classroom and that older readers will enjoy.  Topics include a recipe for the author’s own unique version of Fry Bread as well as information on Indigenous people, geography, history, and more.

Why I Like This Book: the text is simple, powerful, and accessible to readers of all ages, telling the story of how Fry Bread brings families and communities together and encourages tradition.  The back matter adds another layer with a great deal of very interesting information about a wide range of connected topics.  The art is warm and appealing, adding its own element to the story with illustrations of Native bowls and baskets, a wide array of physical appearances that can all be Native American, and a map that lacks the usual delineations in order to show how Indigenous people are in every population.  Beautifully done, and a wonderful addition to any library!

 

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text copyright Kevin Noble Maillard 2019, illustration copyright Juana Martinez-Neal 2019 Roaring Brook Press

 

I hope you enjoy it as much as I do 🙂

For the complete list of books with resources, please visit Perfect Picture Books.

PPBF folks, please add your titles and post-specific links (and any other info you feel like filling out 🙂 ) to the form below so we can all come see what fabulous picture books you’ve chosen to share this week!

Have a wonderful weekend, everyone!!! 🙂

And get those Halloweensie entries finished up!  The contest opens Monday!!!  WOOHOO!!! 🙂

Perfect Picture Book Friday – Asleep At The Switch

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Darlings!

What a week!

All good things, but SO. BUSY!!!  Just back from a New Jersey Booksellers Conference and let me tell you there’s nothing like driving through a Nor’easter made of rain, where your GPS starts by telling you you’ll arrive at 5:54 PM. . . and you actually arrive at 8PM. . . while she gleefully reports from time to time that, “Traffic is getting worse! You will now arrive at 6:24!”  “There is a 27 minute slow down.  You are still on the fastest route.”  “Traffic is getting worse!  You will now arrive at 7:43!”  etc 🙂

I believe traveling by upside down umbrella would have been faster 🙂

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Now I’m off to Sheep & Wool for the whole weekend with CAN’T SLEEP and LLAMA, those wooly upholders of fiber arts (as well as MOON and DEAR SANTA just because 🙂 ) where we will do our wooly hair up fancy and admire all the hand-knitted and crocheted sweaters and scarves and mittens and hats and even dresses parading past our little table while the tantalizing scent of apple crisp floats over from the building next door!

I’m putting up this post with the list for all of you to add your books to, but I am literally falling asleep on the keyboard, so I’m going to have to add my book in tomorrow if I have time.

If I don’t that will just be more time for you to read each other’s books! 🙂

For the complete list of books with resources, please visit Perfect Picture Books.

PPBF folks, please add your titles and post-specific links (and any other info you feel like filling out 🙂 ) to the form below so we can all come see what fabulous picture books you’ve chosen to share this week!

Have a wonderful wild and wooly weekend, everyone!!! 🙂

 

Perfect Picture Book Friday – 1-2-3 My Feelings And Me

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It’s Perfect Picture Book Friday, and now that we’re about a month into school, today seems like a good time to talk about feelings.

While many kids will have adjusted smoothly to their new classrooms, classmates, teachers, and daily routines, others will not have had such an easy time.  And all children – those who take most things in stride and those who struggle a bit more – have a wide range of emotions they need to learn to manage.

The book I’ve chosen today should be helpful in that process!

1 2 3 My Feelings And Me

Title: 1-2-3 My Feelings And Me

Written By: Goldie Millar and Lisa A. Berger

Illustrated By: Priscilla Burris

Free Spirit Publishing, November 12 2019, nonfiction

Suitable For Ages: 3-8

Themes/Topics: identifying and coping with emotions

Opening: “Everyone everywhere has all kinds of feelings – just like me.
And me!
What about you?
There are many different feelings and many things to know about them.
Let’s count our way through the 1-2-3’s of feelings together!”

Brief Synopsis: This nonfiction look at feelings helps children learn to identify and cope with a wide range of emotions while reassuring them that while some feelings are more pleasant than others, all feelings are okay, and everyone has them.

Links To Resources: the whole book is a resource, from the explanations provided within the text to the “Letter To Caring Adults” at the beginning to the extensive back matter which includes a lengthy guide to Talking About Feelings And What To Do With Them with discussion topics and activities.

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text copyright Goldie Millar & Lisa A. Berger 2019, illustration copyright Priscilla Burris 2019  Free Spirit Publishing

Why I Like This Book: Emotions can be difficult for children.  (Let’s be honest – they can be difficult for adults! 🙂 )  This straightforward approach to describing feelings both in terms of how they make our minds feel as well as the affect they can have on the body (making you feel hot or shaky etc.) along with the reassurance that everything a child feels is normal and experienced by everyone will be very useful in helping children learn to understand and manage their emotions.  With it’s warm, friendly art and cast of diverse characters, every child will find it relatable.  Although it’s not a story, it’s a book that will come in very handy for lots and lots of children, especially those who may struggle with emotional equilibrium.

I hope you enjoy it as much as I do 🙂

For the complete list of books with resources, please visit Perfect Picture Books.

PPBF folks, please add your titles and post-specific links (and any other info you feel like filling out 🙂 ) to the form below so we can all come see what fabulous picture books you’ve chosen to share this week!

Have a wonderful weekend, everyone – hopefully a HAPPY one!!! 🙂

Perfect Picture Book Friday – Goodbye, Friend! Hello, Friend!

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It’s Perfect Picture Book Friday, once again, and I have such a lovely book to share today.

It comes from Cori Doerrfeld, the talented author/illustrator who brought us The Rabbit Listened (which you all know I totally loved and raved over in a PPBF post a while back!)  It’s perfect for the beginning of a new school year as well as for many other occasions.

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Title: Goodbye, Friend! Hello, Friend!

Written & Illustrated By: Cori Doerrfeld

Dial Books For Young Readers, July 2019, fiction

Suitable For Ages: 3-7

Themes/Topics: friendship, balance of life, coping with change

Opening: “Bye, Mom.
Every goodbye…
…leads to a hello.
Hi, I’m Charlie!
Goodbye to sitting alone…
…is hello to sitting together.”

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text and illustration copyright Cori Doerrfeld 2019 Dial Books For Young Readers

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text and illustration copyright Cori Doerrfeld 2019 Dial Books For Young Readers

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text and illustration copyright Cori Doerrfeld 2019 Dial Books For Young Readers

Brief Synopsis:  Transitions are hard, but two best friends help each other through changes big and small.  When one experience ends, it opens the door for another to begin.

Links To Resources: draw a picture of someone or something that was hard to say goodbye to; write a letter to someone you love; tell a story about a time it was hard when something ended or a time when you were excited about something beginning; grow butterflies at home or in the classroom so children can see how saying goodbye to a caterpillar allows you to say hello to a butterfly; butterfly life cycle coloring page; bake cookies so you can say goodbye to dough and hello to cookies 🙂

Why I Like This Book: this is a sweet story about coping with change which helps young readers to see that letting go of one thing, though it may be difficult, can give us the opportunity for something new and also wonderful. It covers the ground from the matter-of-fact (the snowmen of winter giving way to the puddles of spring, the sun giving way to the stars) to the harder changes of having to say goodbye to someone we love.  The book will help children to view change with positivity and optimism.  The text is gentle, sweet, and poignant.  Cori is a master of getting to the heart of things with exquisite simplicity.  And the art is warm, engaging, and appealing.  A great choice for every child.

I hope you enjoy it as much as I do 🙂

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text and illustration copyright Cori Doerrfeld 2019 Dial Books For Young Readers

For the complete list of books with resources, please visit Perfect Picture Books.

PPBF folks, please add your titles and post-specific links (and any other info you feel like filling out 🙂 ) to the form below so we can all come see what fabulous picture books you’ve chosen to share this week!

Have a wonderful weekend, everyone!!! 🙂

Perfect Picture Book Friday – Snack, Snooze, Skedaddle: How Animals Get Ready For Winter

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Howdy, folks, and welcome to Perfect Picture Book Friday!

According to the Farmer’s Almanac, the first day of autumn 2019 is Monday September 23…which is in a couple days.  I am not in ANY way trying to hurry the onset of winter with today’s selection!  I love autumn.  And autumn is the time when animals prepare for winter.  So even though today’s book has a wintry-looking cover, think of it as a celebration of autumn rather than a harbinger of cold and snow! 🙂

Snack Snooze Skedaddle

Title: Snack, Snooze, Skedaddle: How Animals Get Ready For Winter

Written By: Laura Purdie Salas

Illustrated By: Claudine Gevry

Millbrook Press, September 3, 2019, nonfiction

Suitable For Ages: 5-9 (I think younger kids will enjoy it too!)

Themes/Topics: nature, animals, preparing for winter

Opening: “Soak up the sun, breathe in the breeze,
Munch crunchy apples that fall from the trees.
Enjoy every morsel you feast on today:
the banquet of autumn will soon fade away.

So plump up or burrow or journey before
frosty winds rattle and batter your door.
Snowstorms and dark nights are next to arrive.
Here comes winter!
PREPARE.
SURVIVE!”

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text copyright Laura Purdie Salas 2019, illustration copyright Claudine Gevry 2019          Millbrook Press

Brief Synopsis: From the publisher: “There is more than one way for animals to prepare for winter. Some, such as mice, foxes, and moose, simply tolerate the cold. Of course black bears hibernate, but chipmunks, wood frogs, and garter snakes do too. And then there are the creatures that migrate, including hummingbirds, blue whales, and even earthworms! This rhyming nonfiction picture book by Laura Purdie Salas tells you all about how animals survive chilly weather.”

Links To Resources: the book itself is a resource, full of facts about toleration, hibernation, and migration.  There are several pages of back matter about survival strategies, survivors, and a glossary.  Hibernation activities; Hibernation Migration activities

Why I Like This Book: the rhyming text is engaging and fun to read aloud and provides a lyrical aspect to the nonfiction content. It is accompanied by simply stated facts that children will find accessible.  And the text is beautifully complemented by the colorful art which is both eye-catching and warm and appealing.  The whole book is a gem that you and your little animal enthusiasts will love!

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text copyright Laura Purdie Salas 2019, illustration copyright Claudine Gevry 2019          Millbrook Press

I hope you enjoy it as much as I do 🙂

For the complete list of books with resources, please visit Perfect Picture Books.

PPBF folks, please add your titles and post-specific links (and any other info you feel like filling out 🙂 ) to the form below so we can all come see what fabulous picture books you’ve chosen to share this week!

Have a wonderful weekend, everyone!!! 🙂

Perfect Picture Book Friday Returns! – Two Tough Trucks

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Welcome back to Perfect Picture Book Friday, everyone!

A week later than I intended, but, you know, stuff happens… and better late than never 🙂

You all know I like rhyming truck books, having written a couple myself and shared more than one of Little Blue Truck’s adventures here.  Today I’m thrilled to be sharing one written by two of my very talented friends.  I hope you’ll enjoy it!

Two Tough Trucks

Title: Two Tough Trucks

Written By: Corey Rosen Schwartz and Rebecca Gomez

Illustrated By: Hilary Leung

Orchard Books, September 17 2019, fiction

Suitable For Ages: 3-5

Themes/Topics: cooperation, compromise, working together, friendship

Opening: “One Mack, revved up and ready to go.
One Rig, a wreck, unsteady and slow.
Two trucks off to school for their first day of class.
One riding the brakes.  One hitting the gas.
VROOM! ZOOM!
A beep-beep goodbye.
A Rig holding back, a Mack saying “Hi!””

Brief Synopsis: (from the jacket) “Mack and Rig couldn’t be more different.
One loves the fast lane. The other, the off-ramp. But when they’re forced to pair up on their first day of school, can Mack and Rig figure out a way to get along and learn what it really means to be a tough truck?”

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text copyright Corey Rosen Schwartz & Rebecca Gomez 2019, illustration copyright Hilary Leung 2019

Links To Resources: Transportation Same & Different Cards; Monster Truck Car Wash Song (video); Truck Coloring Pages; make truck-shaped snacks (truck shape made of pancake or cut out of waffle with banana round wheels; sandwich cut in shapes that can be assembled to look like a truck with cucumber round wheels)

Why I Like This Book: this delightful book brings the concept of learning to get along into the world of trucks.  What could be more fun? 🙂 Mack and Rig are as different in their skills and personalities as they can be, and at first it seems there’s no hope for them to accomplish anything together.  But they learn what we all need to learn: that our differences complement each other and working together is always better than going it alone.  The story is engaging with fun to read-aloud rhyme, and the art is warm, bright and appealing.  A great choice for little truck-lovers and for kids who need a little encouragement to give potential friends a chance.

I hope you enjoy it as much as I do 🙂

For the complete list of books with resources, please visit Perfect Picture Books.

PPBF folks, please add your titles and post-specific links (and any other info you feel like filling out 🙂 ) to the form below so we can all come see what fabulous picture books you’ve chosen to share this week!

Have a wonderful weekend, everyone!!! 🙂

Perfect Picture Book Friday – Mowing

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How awesome is it that it’s Friday?! 😊

Before I share my perfect picture book for today, I’d like to take this opportunity to announce that this will be the last official Perfect Picture Book Friday until September.  As you all know, I put PPBF on hiatus for the summer.  Between my own unpredictable schedule and the fact that many of you spend less time online in the summer, it just seems to make sense to take a break.  But for those of you who are dedicated (and there is a core group of you – you are wonderful!) I look forward to seeing what you’ll share. You are welcome to add your summer books to today’s link list or to the first one I put up in September.

Would You Read It Wednesday will continue through June and July (I usually take a complete blogging break in August because really… how much of me do you all really want to have to pay attention to?! 😊 … but this year we have a couple of Tuesday Debuts on July 30 and August 6), and you never know what other high jinx I might get up to if I get a hair brained scheme out of the blue…

Anyway, onto today’s choice!  Maybe my favorite summer book 😊

Mowing 1

Mowing
Written By:  Jessie Haas
Illustrated By:  Jos. A. Smith
Greenwillow Books, 1994, Fiction
Suitable For: ages 4-8

Themes/Topics: farms, grandparents, generations, modernization, respect for wildlife, vehicles

 

Opening:  “Early in the morning Gramp and Nora go to the field to mow.  They hear the cry of the bobolink, the swish of the tall grass, the thud of the horses’ hooves.
At the edge of the field Gramp lowers the cutter bar.
“Hop off, Nora,” he says.  “You’ll be safer on the ground.”  Gramp speaks softly to the horses.  “Giddap!”  They walk, and the mowing machine begins to clatter.”

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Brief Synopsis:  Just as morning is peeking over the horizon, Gramp and Nora head out to mow the hay.  Gramp drives an old-fashioned sickle bar mower with Nora in his lap holding the reins.  When they reach the field, it’s Nora’s job to hop down and keep an eye out for any little animal that might be injured by the horses or the cutter blades.  What does she see?  (I’m betting you can guess one thing she sees! :))  When the mowing is done, two tall islands of grass still stand.  Gramp says some would call that a bad job of mowing, but he and Nora know better.  They know they have taken care to leave the animals safe and protected.

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Links To Resources: Fawn Coloring Page 1, Fawn Coloring Page 2, Fawn Facts, National Geographic Groundhog Facts, National Geographic Killdeer Facts.  Talk about the difference in the way hay is mowed today.  Talk about other situations where you might want to be respectful of wildlife.

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Why I Like This Book:  This is the kind of sweet, quiet book that I absolutely love.  My kids loved it too, and we read it over and over and over.  The language is gentle, the story is simple with that nostalgic feel of hearkening back to a different time, and the message of caring for all the creatures who share our world is lovely.  On top of that, the art is just beautiful, particularly the way the artist captured the changing light, from dawn through late afternoon, and the different perspectives he uses.  It’s a wonderful book for nap time, bedtime, or anytime kids need to unwind.

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I hope you enjoy it as much as I do 🙂

For the complete list of books with resources, please visit Perfect Picture Books.

PPBF folks, please add your titles and post-specific links (and any other info you feel like filling out 🙂 ) to the form below so we can all come see what fabulous picture books you’ve chosen to share this week!

Have a wonderful weekend, everyone!!! 🙂

Perfect Picture Book Friday – You Are Home: An Ode To National Parks

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Hey, everyone!  Sorry I’m late with the post this morning!

I want to take this moment to say that next Friday (June 14) will be the last official Perfect Picture Book Friday until September, but I know many of you carry on throughout the summer.  Please feel free to continue adding your books to next week’s PPBF list (June 14), or add them in September to the first list that goes up then!

Meanwhile, I hope you enjoy today’s breathtaking selection!

You Are Home

Title: You Are Home: An Ode To National Parks

Written & Illustrated By: Evan Turk

Atheneum Books For Young Readers, June 4, 2019, nonfiction

Suitable For Ages: 4-8 (though anyone can enjoy the gorgeous illustrations and language!)

Themes/Topics: nature, respect and appreciation of the land and all that inhabit it

Opening: “To the chipmunk in her burrow, sleeping beneath the leaves to keep warm; to the resilient bison in the steaming oases of an endless winter: you are home. to the wildflowers painting the warming hillsides; to the pronghorn chewing the grass of her first spring: you are home.”

Brief Synopsis: (From the jacket): “From the rugged coast of Maine to the fiery volcanoes of Hawai’i, Evan Turk’s stirring ode to nature and the nation reminds us that every animal, plant and person is an integral part of what makes this land a brilliant, beautiful sanctuary of life.

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Links To Resources: the book itself is a resource, picturing approximately 27 National Parks and the flora, fauna, geographic formations, and people that exist (or have existed) there; the back of the book includes A Note From The Author which gives a lot of information about the National Parks and the author’s connection to them and purpose in making the book; the back of the book also includes a map of the United States showing the locations of all the National Parks (not just the ones pictured in this book) and additional information about the parks and animals in the book.  If you have the opportunity to visit one or more National Parks, take advantage of it! 😊

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Why I Like This Book: the book is a celebration of the United States, a gorgeous tour in pictures and language of this amazing and beautiful country.  The art is full of light and dappled shadow and velvet darkness, rocky crags, lush forest, grassy plains, the animals that inhabit the parks and the people who visit – it brings to life the concept of “America the beautiful from sea to shining sea.”  And the language matches the art:

“Beneath the soaring doorways of stone,
and peaks that pierce the ceiling of clouds,
from every river, star, and stone
comes the eternal refrain:
you are home.”

I hope you enjoy it as much as I do 🙂

For the complete list of books with resources, please visit Perfect Picture Books.

PPBF folks, please add your titles and post-specific links (and any other info you feel like filling out 🙂 ) to the form below so we can all come see what fabulous picture books you’ve chosen to share this week!

Have a wonderful weekend, everyone!!! 🙂