After guessing the identity of each animal before turning the page, the reader pretends to be a porcupine, bear, crocodile, and bumblebee, but the sweet ending--and attached mirror--remind little ones that the very best thing they can be is exactly who they are
Understanding that words are read from left to right and pages are read from top to bottom
Starting to notice words that rhyme and enjoys participating in rhyming games
Retelling stories
Recognizing some of the letters of the alphabet
Starting to match letter sounds to letters (like knowing b makes a /b/ sound)
May start to recognize their name in print and other often-seen words, like those on signs
Beginning to understand that print carries a message
Your child has been hearing and studying the sounds of words for quite a while now. One of the tasks of emergent literacy is to be able to hear individual sounds, to make sounds, and to put sounds together to make words. When we start to play with the letters of our language, we can help our children learn that each letter represents a unique sound or sounds and when we put letters together, they can make different sounds. This is necessary for learning to read. Playing with the sounds of words by singing, reading rhyming books and playing word games can help your child master these letter-sound connections and put them on a path to reading success!
Click here to see a full list of milestones for your 3-year-old as well as tips and activities for you and your child!
Why did we select this book?
A child's imagination can run wild with this book. After selecting so many books about animals and their behaviors, we were excited to select a book that allows a child to pretend to be an animal. We also selected the book because the illustrations offer so many wonderful details for you to explore with your child and for your child to explore on their own.
Related Activities
What do you see? The book’s illustrator puts some clever hidden things in his pictures. After you read this book, consider going back with your child and looking at a pair of pictures, like the child before and after he imagines himself as an animal. Many of the things in the before picture show up in the after picture, but are changed by the power of the illustrator’s imagination. For example, look at the crocodile page. On the before page, the boy is reading a book. On the after page, the dog is reading. See what other changes you and your child can see. Try pointing out some changes and let your child find the others.
What Do You Think? We ask our children questions all day, such as, “where are your shoes?” or “did you wash your hands?” These important questions get us through our daily routines. Think about using different questions that inspire your child to think or imagine. For example, in this book, children are imagining what it would be like to be an animal. You can play the same imagination game with your child. Ask your child what it might be like to be an elephant, a giraffe, or the dog down the street. When you ask a child to imagine, you are showing them that you are interested in what they think and imagine. When they see you interested in what they imagine, they will imagine more often, making the learning sections of the brain strong and healthy!
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