Your child will be captivated by the photographs of these baby animals and intrigued by the interactive aspect of this book. The cover of the book has a wheel your child can turn to reveal a picture. Each page asks a question, and your child can turn the wheel to find the picture that is a match. Have fun starting conversations with your child about the new animal facts you learn together.
Before, During and After Reading
Oral Language
Introduce the interactive features of the book. Demonstrate how to manipulate the wheel so that pictures change in the cut out on the cover. Talk about the names of the different animals that appear when the wheel turns.
Letter Knowledge
Use the words in the title to bring attention to letter names. Gather a magnetic uppercase and lowercase letter A and letter B. Introduce each letter and see if your child can match the magnetic letter to a letter on the front cover. You might say: I see letter A. Can you find letter A? I see letter B. Can you find letter B? We found the letters in the title of our book. Our book is Baby Animals.
Oral Language
Use the interactive feature of the book. Read the question at the top of the page. Use the wheel to find the answer. The wheel feature can be difficult for some children to turn at first. Be patient and provide help as needed. Remember that it is about the experience, not that your child should answer the questions correctly. Encourage your child to talk about the animal and to ask questions.
Ask questions to check for understanding. Read a statement about an animal on one of the pages.Next ask your child to answer a simple question about what you just read. For example, after reading the page with the puppies, you might ask, What part of their body do puppies like to wag? or on the elephant page you might ask, Is an elephant’s trunk long or short? Keep the questions simple, so your child feels successful.
Phonological Awareness
Listen for beginning sounds in words. Bring to your child’s attention words that start with the same beginning /p/ sound. You might say:
I hear words that start with the same sound. Listen: puppy, paw, play. They all start with /p/. Say these words with me: /p/ /p/ puppy, /p/ /p/ paw, /p/ /p/ play.
Beginning Writing
Draw a picture about a favorite animal from the story. Ask your child to look through the book and find his favorite animal. If your child has a stuffed animal or a toy that matches an animal in the story, have him gather his “friends” to help him draw. Praise all attempts your child makes at writing or drawing, even if they do not relate to the book.
Find more beginning writing activities for children 24 to 35 months, and explore more books about animals, like Jazzy in the Jungle and Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?