Feed Me Books Friday: Faith and Fine Motor
Thursday, December 16, 2010
An Early Present
I am adamant that B and T learn that not every outing or shopping trip means a treat for them. I avoid promising toys or special purchases in exchange for good behavior. Usually. But books are my weakness! This week while looking for a couple of gifts at the bookstore, I told B that if he was a helpful and patient shopper he could pick out a new Christmas book. I was almost as excited as he was when it came time to peruse the titles and pick out his reward.
B loved handling all the new books and considering his choices, but as soon as I mentioned that one book included “39 pieces to build your own nativity scene,” he was sold. We brought home Snappy Builder Nativity
. The story of the nativity is told in kid-friendly text that uses simple language in engaging rhymes. At the back of the book, 3 cardboard panels fold out to reveal the brightly colored pieces used to assemble the scene. Several pieces are used to complete the manger, which is flanked by a palm tree as well as a star and angel overhead. The rest of the pieces are the animals and people and their accompanying stands. The sturdiness and size of the pieces was just right for B’s dexterity; younger children would need considerably more help to avoid damaging the pieces. Once all the assembly was complete, B could enact the story with his figures as we read, which not only kept his fingers occupied, but deepened his understanding of the story as well. This is one impulse-buy I have no regrets about. Appropriate for: preschoolers, primary grades.
Do you have any special books you enjoy with your children in preparation for the holidays? Hope you’ll share in the comments or link-up!
Read more...
, by Nancy J Skarmeas (and part of a “Story of…” collection we enjoy). This board book introduces the quest for religious freedom, the challenges of the journey, adjustments to the new land, relations with Native Americans, traditional Thanksgiving foods, and the concept of giving thanks for the things we have been blessed with. After reading, we made a 
, by W. Nikola-Lisa. The narrative tells the story of some turkey art in progress. The narrator explains how to make a turkey with a paint handprint, and then decorates it with toothpick legs, and some sparkles and decorations. Next he creates a backdrop for his turkeys with a pen, some woods, and some clouds in the sky. Unfortunately, a fox appears and frightens the turkeys (and the narrator). His efforts to protect the turkeys are fruitless, and as a last resort he takes down the pen and releases his turkeys to escape to safety. The thwarted fox retreats, but the narrator misses his turkeys, so he lures them back by adding some dry corn kernels to the pen for them to enjoy! The illustrations are done in oils and collage elements that your child is sure to want to emulate. Discussion of the story is an opportunity for cognitive practice in problem solving, and your child will enjoy some fine motor development if you get out the paints. 
, by Judy Cox, at our library, I expected it to be a silly Thanksgiving giggle like the story above, but it turned out to have a lovely lesson. The story begins when Thanksgiving dinner is over, the family members are occupied in other areas of the house, and a mouse notices one “luscious” pea all by itself under a plate. The mouse decides to creep up to the table and take the pea back to his mouse hole, “because one is a feast for a mouse.” But, before he leaves the table, he notices some cranberries (he takes just one) and some olives (again just one) and just one carrot stick, and his pile of goodies grows. He adds just a bit of mashed potatoes, a little gravy, the meat left behind on a turkey drumstick, and some bites of unfinished pumpkin pie. What he doesn’t notice as his loot grows is the cat coming to investigate. You can imagine the meeting of the mouse and the cat is not a pleasant one, and the accompanying clatter and mess alert the family. The mouse is relieved to escape to his hidey-hole, even without his goodies, until he notices that one “toothsome” pea which had rolled across the floor to a corner. He retrieves it and enjoys it with great relish, uttering, “Give Thanks! One is a Feast for Me!” There’s plenty of humor in the mouse’s attempts to balance all his goodies and his encounter with the cat, but the mouse’s lesson on the dangers of greed is not to be missed!
, by Teresa Imperato. I’m quite sure he is most attracted by the squishy little pigs embedded in the pages and the little oval holes they peek through as they count down. He also loves to interact with the book and mimic my actions. After I read a page, I’ll count the piggies and point to each one. He now imitates the counting every time we open the book by pointing and tapping each of the pigs. Is he really counting? Of course not, but he is developing the cognitive concept of one-to-one correspondence and the fine-motor skills to single out each piggy. The text is rhythmic and written in rhyme which is a treat for even the littlest ears. What I realized when B sat down to read with us and do some fill-in-the-blank rhyming is that each page places the pigs into a different fairy tale or nursery rhyme which proves very useful for a preschooler!
, by Sandra Boynton.
: This one was actually B’s early favorite. Could have had to do with the fact that I usually read it with him on my lap and bounced along with the cadence of text and performed along with the motions of the dance with his little arms and legs. It is a great vocabulary development opportunity as well as a chance to work on fine motor skills. You can also read my 
: This one is a series of couplets, each of which is punctuated by the line: “But not the hippopotamus.” Plenty of laughs in the actions and illustrations, and pre-readers will be chiming right in. Extra twist at the end for a giggle!
