58) Five Little Kisses by Piggy Toes Press

Bibliographic Citation: Piggy Toes Press. Five Little Kisses. Illustrated by Simone Abel. Piggy Toes Press, 2008. 10 pages. ISBN: 978-1581176834.

Format: Board Book

Author/Illustrator Sites: http://piggytoespress.com   

Age Group: Ages 3-4 Years

Annotation: Valentine’s day is explained in five ways.

Reflection: This pop-up board book teaches children about the Valentine’s Day holiday.  The book includes consecutive counting and describes various Valentine’s motifs like Cupid, chocolate, conversation hearts, doves, and kisses.  The books also asks rhetorical questions about each of the Valentine’s Day gifts and ends with “Happy Valentine’s Day!” 

Categorization Tags: Valentine’s Day, Gifts, Board Books

2) Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? By Bill Martin Jr.

Bibliographic Citation:  Martin Jr., Bill. Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?. Illustrated by Eric Carle. Henry Holt and Co., 2010. 40 pages. ISBN: 978-0805092448

Format:  Hardcover

Author/Illustrator Sites:  http://www.billmartinjr.com,
http://www.eric-carle.com 

Age Group:  Ages 2-4 Years

Annotation: A brown bear tell the reader about each animal he encounters on his adventure.

Reflection: A favorite picture book from childhood, that I would call a classic picture book would be, "Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?" by Bill Martin Jr.  This has always been a favorite read aloud and is often requested to be read over and over again.  The main parts that make this book a favorite are the repetition of the main question, "____   ___...what do you see?" and answer, "I see a ___  ___ looking at me."  The use of recognizable animals, combined with simple colors are always successful with young children.  A good indicator of a solid story is when story kits can be purchased from various sources, such as Lakeshore Learning or amazon.com, to perform a retelling of the story with props.

Categorization Tags:  Board Books, Juvenile Fiction, Colors, Animals, Stories in rhyme

1) I Kissed The Baby by Mary Murphy

Bibliographic Citation:  Murphy, Mary. I Kissed The Baby. Candlewick Press, 2004. 24 pages. ISBN: 978-0763624439

Format:  Board Book

Age Group:  Ages 0–4 Years

Annotation:  A variety of barnyard animals welcome the new baby ducking with kisses and love.

Reflection:  I Kissed the Baby!  is a wonderful adaptation of a picture book made into a board book format. Young children love the book's high contrast black and white pictures and text.  The book utilizes negative space and positive space.  For example, on the first page, the animals and text are white and the background is black, then on the following pages it switches with the animals and text in black and the background in white.  This high contrast is extremely attractive to very young children and babies and is the reason it's one of the most popular board books on the market for this age group. 

Categorization Tags:  Board Books, Juvenile Fiction, Babies, Mother and Child, Ducks, Animals