Picture books are perfect literacy showcases. A solid story matched with illustrations that are gifts in themselves, and the best part: the experience of reading them aloud to kids. There is so much wrapped up in a picture book that I just can't stop thinking about them.
Honestly, I could spend hours with a picture book. (This is what I did as a baby when I could first sit up. I would sit on the linoleum floor and turn the pages of a Sears Catalog for hours on end -- talking to myself and "reading". I'd like to think I was preparing myself for my work as a librarian.)
And, in particular, I am always on the lookout for good picture books to share with my kindergarten readers. They love funny, and lively, and delightful books. It has to be just the right book for them! I want books that do NOT talk down to them. I want well-crafted stories that model good writing because they ARE writers! And I want something that will inspire thinking and creativity! So when I find one that fits the bill, I know I have to read it aloud!
Recently I read from:
Petty, Dev. I don't want to be a frog. Illus. by Mike Boldt. New York: Random House, 2015. Print.
I'd only read the title aloud when I began, and each class let out a collective laugh. That was my first sign that this book would be well-received by this crowd! (In the opening pages, as the frog declares his wish to be a cat, he is reading a book called Cats, which when I thought about it, is itself promoting the reading of nonfiction! Awesome!) The word CAT is in bright red/orange print, and many kinders can read this word so they all said the word with me as I pointed to it, and I noticed the smiles of pride! (It's as if they are saying to me, "Mrs. Alaniz, we can read!")
The page where the frog is asking "Why not?" features only the frog. White space, a bright yellow speech bubble, astonished eyes all convey the lonely feelings we experience when we want to do something and we are told we cannot. When Frog tells his father WHY he doesn't want to be a frog, he's already been led to the pond. This is brilliant! It's as if his father is saying: "Look, I think I know what you're not liking about being a frog, but I think you need to think about it."
And then when he tells his father that he wants to be a rabbit, some very fun-loving, high-jumping rabbits leap into the picture. But father frog has prepared his response: "Sure but where are your long ears?" Frog has his response, too ("It's too slimy"), and as if to "rub it in", spreads slime all over his father's glasses.
With the rest of the book (a pig and an owl enter the story), as Frog explains his reasoning, his father has thought it all out. Frog's father brings out an illustrated chart and pointer. (As I read the items on the chart, the kinders were nodding their heads in agreement.)
With the reasons WHY frog did not want to be a frog, his father shows him why these things are not so bad, and are even great. But the best surprise is at the end, when another animal (I don't want to give anything away) comes in to add to the conversation. This animal's input helps out the father frog, and puts things in perspective. (I think father frog had this planned all along!)
The three reasons why frog does not want to be a frog become a great list that the kids can repeat and read with you. The last couple of pages have their own humorous surprise.
The message you might find in a picture book is always such a personal response, but for me, it was this: being yourself is the best thing you can be and we should all enjoy who WE are!
The endpapers show the transformation in the frog's thinking. The beginning endpapers show Frog on the ground looking at Pig, Cat, Owl, and Rabbit in admiration, as if to say: "I want to be you!" The back endpapers show Frog jumping right along with them, with a face of joy: "I am okay with who I am and I even love it!"
And as I finish reading this one aloud to classes, they do indeed walk away with faces of joy!
