Our Little House in the Country

I mentioned yesterday that Doodles (4 ½) loves fact based books.  I f it a detailed filled book about how something works or experiments to try or picture books of the solar system then that’s what you’ll find him reading.  So, his book of choice this week is a lift and flap book called “The Great Recycling Adventure”, written by Jan McHarry and illustrated by Edmond Davis and Piers Sanford.

Last Tuesday we visited our local public library.  We have hundreds of books but I think that it’s a really good habit to get children interested in books and libraries.  They both love our visits to the library.  They browse through all the shelves in the Junior section, pick about 10 each, make themselves comfy in one of the big squishy chairs and flick through their choices. They have also become pros at scanning their books in and out at the self-service kiosks!  This book – “The Great Recycling Adventure!” was one of the books Doodles borrowed this week.

Detailed, colourful illustrations

This is a quirky little book.  Each page is jam-packed with detailed drawings of old-fashioned machines recycling modern products.  It explains the recycling process for paper, plastic, glass, metal and textiles.   Each page has a number of flaps to lift and find some hidden fun facts.  Other features include pull-down tabs and rotating discs with hidden information.  D has spent hours this week pouring over the illustrations and he loves that the drawings are numbered and labelled so that he can follow the order of the process as he can’t read the text just yet!  The text is quite accessible – bullet pointed with simple, clear explanations of the various recycling processes.  Some of the language is a little difficult but great for developing vocabulary and encouraging discussion of the text as I have to explain the meanings of the words to him. Discussing what is being read is just as important as reading the text – developing comprehension skills, inferring, predicting, connecting etc. as well as a great opportunity to spend meaningful one to one time with a child.

A lift and flap book

When I asked Doodles for his opinion on the book this is what he told me.  “I love all the tiny, little drawings and the guys doing all the jobs.  Every time I read this book I find something new on the pages.  The pull out tabs are really cool, here look at this one!”  This book definitely gets the thumbs up from this 4 year old.

So what makes this a good choice for a 4 year old?

1. Mmm well, it’s not really or should I say that I wouldn’t have chosen it but…
2. Fact packed and attention grabbing for a child who loves books about the world around him
3. Brilliant illustrations, something new to be found each time a page is explored.
4. Minimal text, bullet points, explains the process without too much detail.
5. Challenging language – great for vocabulary development.
6. Encourages discussion and comprehension skill development
7. Developes procedural thinking – great for helping children to develop ordering and instructional skills needed for procedural or instructional writing in the future.
8. Fun, short, colourful, informative!
   

   Fact packed, fun, informative

Tip for choosing books for 4 year olds: Choose books that are attention grabbing with great illustrations and not too much text, but just enough to encourage language development!