Books We Love: April 2009
By Kay on Tue, Apr 21, 2009
Ballet of the Elephants
My review
rating: 5 of 5 stars
Winner of the 2007-2008 Texas Bluebonnet Award, this book filled with watercolor pictures of the true story of the Ballet of Elephants was captivating. When Igor Stravinsky (composer of The Nutcracker) was asked by George Balanchine (Russian Choreographer) to compose a piece of music for John Ringling North’s circus elephants to perform to, Stravinsky gladly jumped at the opportunity. My 6 year old listened to the story fascinated by the idea of elephants performing ballet, and was even more enthralled at the end when she realized this had been a TRUE story. Great book for introducing Stravinsky as a composer.
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Parts
My review
rating: 4 of 5 stars
My 2.5 year old loved this book and actually did quite well recognizing the objects’ parts before seeing the entire image on the next page. Great book for teaching parts to whole.
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Earthdance
by Joanne Ryder
My review
rating: 4 of 5 stars
Beautiful pictures and poetic text lend to a great description of Earth. Particularly moving for Earth Day, this book helps a child to relate to and almost feel like Mother Earth in order to have compassion for this planet we call home.
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The Boo Boo Book
by Joy Masoff
My review
rating: 4 of 5 stars
This interactive book about every kind of ‘boo boo’ is a great way for kids to learn about injuries and how to handle them. Written in a very upbeat kind of way so as not be scary, the sing-songy text still manages to convey important concepts. “Stitches itches as they heal. Tickling, tightening, a wee bit frightening! Stitches itches, but not for long. In a few short days, they will be gone.” My favorite part is the ending where the author reminds kids that injuries are only temporary and their ‘super-power bodies’ will heal from the inside out. Great book to take the fear out of everyday injuries.
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Written by Kay Hesketh - Visit WebsiteTags: books
April 22nd, 2009 at 10:55 am
Ok….introducing Stravinsky to a 6 year old? I didn’t get introduced til I was 18….and I still don’t know what to do with him!
April 27th, 2009 at 2:32 pm
Well, I’m not sure we’ll learn much more about Stravinsky right now, but it was fun talking about him especially in this context! 😉