It was Eric Carle’s birthday on Saturday and to celebrate two wonderful child development blogs posted in his honor all last week. Head over to An Amazing Child and The Imagination Tree for lots of activities, projects, and of course reading. One of my favorite posts was this one (pictured above) on how to make initial art using the beloved illustrator’s trademark tissue paper printing method. (You can see a slide show of this method at his website here.)
Finally, did you know that Mr. Carle has written and/or illustrated over 60 books? That means that along with the classics we all know and love, there are probably a few you’re missing out on.
In
Pancakes, Pancakes!
Jack wakes up jonesing for some pancakes and has to take the necessary steps to make them. I’m not talking about adding some milk to a box of Bisquick here. Oh no, Jack works
hard for his pancakes – threshing the wheat, churning the butter, and etc.
The book teaches kids about where food actually comes from and my 2 year old absolutely loves naming all the ingredients and re-enacting the steps. It’s great for all kinds of fun corresponding activities from actual cooking to dramatic play.
To tell you the truth, I’m not entirely sure what the moral is in
A Color of His Own
but I find it completely endearing none-the-less. It’s the tale of a chameleon on a quest to find a color all his own but ultimately finds a life long pal instead.
The Tiny Seed
is actually one of Eric Carle’s “heavier” books (in my opinion). It deals with themes of life, growth, and death in the context of nature and the seasons. When it was first given to us I was surprised by how long it was and I thought we’d never get through it. But it too has become a favorite in our home.
2 Comments / posted in The Book Nook
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Oh Happy Birthday Eric Carle, our favorite book of his is his poetry book: Animals, Animals… we made rockets a while back to celebrate… http://www.se7en.org.za/2008/11/18/eric-carles-radical-rockets
Love those rockets – so vivid and fun!