Raisin loves being the littlest cow in the herd. All the other cows dote on her, and life is grand. But one day, Raisin’s mother has a new little cow... one who is even smaller than Raisin. And suddenly everything changes. Raisin has never liked change, and this one is the worst. Now no one pays attention to her, the new baby smells funny, and even the weather won’t cooperate. But then, when absolutely everything is going wrong, Raisin discovers a change in herself—one that delights the entire herd. Even (and especially!) the new baby
Understanding that words are read from left to right and pages are read from top to bottom
Recognizing their name in print and other often-seen words, like those on signs name beginning letters or sounds of words
Matching some letters to their sounds
Developing awareness of syllables
May use familiar letters to try writing words
Retelling stories that have been read to them
Your child already knows how to read some words! Familiar favorite words like their own name, friends’ names, the name of their favorite restaurant, or other places you frequent, are part of your child’s sight word vocabulary. They aren’t quite decoding the words as they will later but they recognize the shape of the word when written out. Some logos like McDonalds or Subway also have color cues that your child can use to figure out the word. More and more, your child is paying attention to the visual clues of words. They are also continuing to make connections between the sounds and the letters that represent them. They may be telling stories by drawing pictures and sometimes adding letters or even a whole word to their drawings. This is a busy time in emergent literacy as your child is standing right on the edge of being able to read and write themselves!
Click here to see a full list of milestones for your 4-year-old as well as tips and activities for you and your child!
Why did we select this book?
Raising Readers knows that this is a common time for children to have trouble sharing a family's love with a sibling, allowing a family member to go to work, or sharing a friend with another at childcare. Raisin reflects those frustrations and opens up opportunities to talk to your child about loving her even when you cannot always be with her. Like Raisin, your child will start developing strategies to "boost" herself up.
Related Activities
Download the Book Activity: 10 Ways to Explore this Book!
10 Ways to Explore Raisin the Littlest Cow: Click to download our suggestions for simple (and fun!) activities for this favorite Raising Readers book.
Reviews
Good sibling book
April 13, 2022
While this hasn’t gotten a ton of reads by our youngest (who received it this year), it is a cute story and would be a great addition to a stack of books to help a big sibling prepare for the arrival of a new family member.
