Feed Me Books Friday: Up Close and Personal

Most children’s books would be incomplete if not useless without their illustrations. Yet most books I review catch my attention for their story line or moral, and the pictures are secondary.  Recently we borrowed A Closer Look, by Mary McCarthy, from the library and the pictures as well as the concept have me wanting to go explore the world in a new way. The paper collage illustrations look at several objects from a series of perspectives: ultra-close-up, close, and complete object. Children are challenged to guess what they are looking at before the complete object is revealed. Likely to incite some creative discussion as well as some giggles. For a more realistic approach, check out any of Tana Hoban’s Look books, or Shelly Rotner’s Close, Closer, Closest. We’ve enjoyed more that one of Hoban’s adventures in the zoom lens thanks to our library – they make me want to explore some creative photography of my own. We have not read Rotner’s book, but found it associated with my other choices on Amazon and I’ll now be on the look-out for it!

Appropriate for toddlers, preschool, primary grades.

Any of these titles could be inspiration for some artwork – collage or photographic – of your own.  B enjoys the mystery pictures and guessing their identity, I’m not confident he has the cognitive development to generate multiple perspectives on the same picture without a model. I’m thinking we could go on a photography adventure together, then use photographs at various stages of zoom to replicate in another medium. Artistic and crafty readers: help me flesh out this idea! Photography buffs: ever attempted something like this?

Looking for good reads for Halloween? You can check out my Halloween suggestions from last year for now, and I’ll be adding my favorites for this year next week. I invite you to share your Halloween choices next week too, though of course any book links are always welcome!

eye photo courtesy Look Into My Eyes on flickr

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Feed Me Books Friday: Getting Creative in the Snow

Just Enough to Enjoy

Snow is a rarity in these parts – we usually see just a dusting or two each winter on our lawn. So, when it arrives we make the most of it. During our recent snow-play we made a snow family in the yard. It included snow-mom, snow-dad, snow-b, snow-t, snow-grandma, and snow-papa. We even added a snow-dog (not ours, grandma’s). By the time we completed all the snow-bodies, there was a lot of grass peeking through in the yard. Thanks to the scarcity of snow, there was still an abundance of natural plant material with which to create faces and features for our family. Eyes were made from leaves, rocks, and seed pods. Noses were apple slices. Smiles were various shaped sticks. We even found a couple larger leaves for the dog’s ears.

Inspiration and Cool Collages
We were inspired by – but didn’t come close to the coolness of – Snowballs, by Lois Ehlert. We’ve had this book out from the library since December and we’ve enjoyed it in a variety of ways. The illustrations are the beautiful part of the book, collage style layering of flat and three-dimensional materials. The simple story is the creation and subsequent melting of a snow family, but the enjoyment and cognitive challenges come from closely examining each snow-person. The accessories are a combination of natural objects, household items, and multicultural tidbits. A photo spread at the end identifies each of them and also allows for seek-and-find style reading. Ehlert also includes a few facts about snow in final pages, as well as some photos of real snowmen. Enjoy the attractive illustrations, challenges little ones to find certain objects or identify where they might come from, or let Ehlert be your muse and make a snowman in your backyard or as a collage. The inspiration is endless!


Appropriate for toddlers, preschoolers, primary grades.


What’s your favorite creative item for decorating snowmen (real or on paper)?

 
My apologies to those who were looking to link up last night – this house is still pretty germy and routines are disrupted. It can’t linger too much longer, can it?

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Feed Me Books Friday: Exploring Art

Look What I Found!

The book I want to share this week is one of those lucky library finds that found its way off the shelf and into our favorite books pile. It’s no secret that hiding games and seek and find books are popular around here. I feel like the winner after finding this treasure on the library shelf.


Lots to Discover

Both B and I are enjoying I Spy a Lion: Animals in Art, by Lucy Micklethwait. As you might guess from the title, readers are challenged to find animals in the illustrations of the book. What you might not guess is that the art in question is composed of full-color reproductions of famous works ranging from classical to modern and including artists from Titian to Peter Blume. On the facing page of each reproduction, the reader is challenged in the classic game style, “I spy with my little eye…” Some of the animals are prominent features, even the subjects, of the artwork; others are more challenging and obscure details.


More than Fun and Games

Besides being thoroughly entertaining, I Spy a Lion, along with others in Micklethwait’s series, exposes children to great works of art and engages them in viewing it in a critical way. The art is not presented as spectacular in any way other than disguising the subjects of the game. But the act of searching for each animal and discussing the content of each work exposes children to not only viewing but experiencing these masterpieces. Once we found the animals identified in the text, we scanned the art for other objects to “Spy” and continued the game. Other books in the series include Shapes in Art, Colors in Art, Numbers in Art, An Alphabet in Art, and Transportation in Art. Sharing these books with your child is a cognitive double-dip: exposure to fantastic art and practice with developmentally appropriate themes and vocabulary. We’ll be requesting the rest of the series from our library for sure, and likely picking them up to add to our personal collection as well.
Appropriate for toddlers, preschoolers, primary grades, everyone!


Are masterpieces lost on the toddler set, or are they worth the effort to share? Don’t forget to link up your own recommendations below!


 

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Play with Logic and Spatial Skills

You’re Getting Warmer…
Hide and Seek and Peek-a-boo are timeless games around any home with children, and here is no exception. The warmer/colder game is a fun twist on hiding play. Sometimes B (or more often Mommy or Daddy) gets tired of hiding under the stifling blanket and waiting to be found (especially in the heat of summer)! We take turns with B hiding objects inside and out:

On the bookshelf...

In the couch cushions...

On the bed...

Even in the bathtub!

...and in the garden.

Then we give clues to find them: “You’re getting warmer, warmer, now colder, warmer, hot!” Sometimes we also practice spatial cues, including higher, lower, left, right, near, and far, for an extra cognitive challenge. B loves to be the clue giver as much as the hunter, and I love that he’s practicing academic vocabulary while he’s having a good time. Sometimes we hide several objects at once, sort of like an easter egg hunt, and it becomes a memory challenge as well. Occasionally B gets so caught up in finding good hiding spots, that the object disappears for a day or two until we come across it again in another game!

Backseat Hide and Seek
I’ve capitalized on this interest in searching for hidden objects to make car rides and waiting at the doctor or restaurant more fun as well. There are several great books that introduce kids to the concept of searching for hidden pictures without being quite as complex or challenging as the famous Where’s Waldo? We enjoy the Little First Look and Find series for independent play/reading because they’re sturdy board books and each page has a picture bank of items to find, so word recognition is not required. Some of the I Spy series has this feature as well, and B enjoys the more challenging I Spy Books when he has a grown-up to help with the reading. We recently purchased Hide and Seek in Colors, which has a magnifying glass on a ribbon that tucks in the front cover; and while it isn’t really necessary, it makes the seeking more fun, and having a physical object to seek with allows us to practice our warmer/colder game.

Appropriate for toddlers, preschoolers, primary grades (depending on complexity and independence)


Come Play at the We Play link up at Childhood 101


Stop by Friday and share a book or two at Feed Me Books Friday!

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