Five Books We Love - Eric Carle
The Very Lonely Firefly
The Very Lonely Firefly is about a firefly who continually sees a light and looks to see where the light is coming from in hopes that it is another firefly. He finally finds a group of fireflies and is no longer lonely.
This book is super thick. Like, ridiculously thick, but not because it had a lot of pages. At the end of the book I realized why; when the lonely firefly found the group of fireflies, the other fireflies had real lights in their bootys and they twinkled. Rea thought this was absolutely magical and she pressed her face about two inches from the book so that she could get a good look.
The Grouchy Ladybug
The Grouchy Ladybug is about a ladybug who is in a bad mood because he has to share his breakfast and instead tries to fight many much bigger animals. It is a die cut book and if you look at the pictures, you can see the sun rising and setting. This book also incorporates the concept of time. While our Lil’s do not need to understand the concept of time just yet, there is no harm in introducing the vocabulary. Plus if you have older siblings, this is a great option.
To be completely honest, this is not one of my personal faves. It just doesn’t resonate with me. However, Rea has asked for it to be read on repeat for the last 3 weeks so I have to include it on the list because really these books are for the kids, right?
The Secret Birthday Message
In The Secret Birthday Message, a little boy receives a birthday message with a code on it. He follows the message instructions and deciphers the code to find his gift.
This is one of Eric Carle’s cut out book masterpieces. The pages are cut into shapes that match the codes on the message which makes this a great pre-reader book because Lil’s can “decode” the shapes meaning. I loved this book and wished I had found it sooner.
Does a Kangaroo Have a Mother, too?
Does a Kangaroo Have a Mother Too is a sweet and simple book about various animals and whether or not they have mothers (spoiler alert, they all have mothers!) This is one of the first books we read to Rea when she really began to enjoy books. It is bright and simple enough for our youngest Lil’ Explorers to understand. It is also repetitive text that allows your Lil’ comprehend more because they use the same vocabulary over and over so that your Lil’ will begin to comprehend the vocabulary.
Papa, please get the moon for me
Papa, Please Get the Moon for Me is a heartwarming story about a little girl who asks her father for the moon, so of course he grabs his ladder and gets it for her. However, the moon keeps getting smaller and smaller until it disappears.
In addition to being a sweet and beautiful book with many special pictures that extend and fold, it is also a wonderful book to introduce or reinforce the concept of moon phases. You do not have to get into the specifics, but you can start a conversation about the different shapes we have seen the moon take.
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