Book Review
by Kathy Porter
This gentle read was written by Anne Rockwell and Illustrated by Holly Keller. It’s perfect for springtime rainy days. Cuddle up at home or bring your class to the reading circle, as the rain provides background noise for this story of growing.
Each page is illustrated with the lovely greens, blues, and yellows of springtime. They describe the part that spring plays in new plants, and newly born animals and show what they will become fully grown. Children will enjoy predicting the name of each grown-up thing.
I especially like the ending when we discover that a young boy is telling this story to his baby brother and predicts he will grow to be a big boy too. Holly has captured their brotherly bond in in her simple drawing of their ‘happy face’ expressions and the light touch of the baby’s hand on his brother’s arm. The combination of Anne’s words with Holly’s pictures provides a sweet finale.
You can find this book in your local library on the Picture Book R shelf. It can be bought used on Amazon, here, or can be found for lower prices on ebay.
Activity
Objective: I can match the young plant or animal with its grown-up picture.
Supplies:
Free activity page, scissors, and optional crayons or markers.
Directions:
- Color all the pictures (optional). Cut out each square.
- With the pictures face down, stack the young plants or animals in a separate pile from the grown-up stack (two stacks). The child picks one top picture from both stacks.
- Ask: Do they match? If not, then place the pictures face down away from the stacks.The child can pick another set and ask the same question.
- If the match is in the third pile, they can choose it. Continue the game until all the pictures have been matched.
Different Variations:
- An older child can create one more set of cards by drawing their own young thing and a grown-up plant or animal on the two blank squares and add it to the pile.