Crinkleroot’s Guide to Knowing the Birds by Jim Arnosky.

Crinkleroot’s Guide to Knowing the Birds by Jim Arnosky.

We’re in bird mode here, fixing our birdhouses, making a bird “shower,”  and reading about the different species. We stumbled upon Crinkleroot’s Guide to Knowing the Birds at the library, and it is awesome! It’s written as if Crinkleroot is speaking directly to the reader, he asks questions and addresses the reader, so it’s very inviting and fun for the kids. The illustrations are what make it such a great resource. There are many pages that are illustrated like journal entries with detailed sketches of birds, their names, synopsis of a bird from egg to flight, parts of a bird, bird calls, different nests and so much! This is a great bird resource and most likely the one I’ll go back to for our bird explorations. We learned fun facts like hummingbird nests are the size of half a golf ball, and the kids keep walking around doing their favorite bird calls.

 

Boy, Were We Wrong About Dinosaurs! by Kathleen V. Kudlinski, illustrated by S.D. Schindler

Boy, Were We Wrong About Dinosaurs! by Kathleen V. Kudlinski, illustrated by S.D. Schindler

This title is very exciting and current, showing that as we find more fossils we learn more and are able to alter our hypothesis about dinosaurs. It shows that some dinosaurs had feathers, were good parents, and more, disproving earlier ideas. Not only does this book show that over time we understand more, but also teaches how it’s okay to have hypotheses that are incorrect. Oh, and of course, there is plenty of information about dinosaurs:)

 

The Nature Encyclopedia by DK Publishing

The Nature Encyclopedia by DK Publishing

This is the most wonderful reference on animals, featuring almost 300 pages of animals and plants. The beginning is a nice reference on how life was created, evolution, and prehistoric life. Then it goes into 40 pages of how living things work, like cells, respiration, movement, senses, communication and more. The next section focuses on ecology, discussing food chains, webs, and habitats for about 40 pages. After that is a section on how living things are classified and finally the rest has plants and animals. LOTS AND LOTS AND LOTS of them. This book features beautiful photographs and diagrams. I mean have you ever seen a decorator crab? They’re crazy! It has been one of the best books I have ever bought for our little guys. When my preschooler has a question, we pull it out, dig in, and almost always find the answer in here. But, the cool thing is, he’ll start to see more pages that interest him, my toddler too! We’ll sit for a while looking at “cool” animals. This is worth every penny! We use this book a few times EVERY week.

 

Montessori Geometric Inset Substitute: Stenciling Books

For a dollar at garage sales I found two tracing books that my son loves. In fact he traced fifteen buildings in one sitting, which is huge for a 4-year-old boy learning fine motor skills. This has become our geometric inset substitute. I feel it’s adequate (and my son would most likely say superior) because he already has shape recognition. Also, these were a much cheaper and mobile substitute as we travel frequently. Finally, they spur much conversation on building structures around the world and dinosaur habitats and diets respectively. Happy garage sale and flea marketing. Hope you find some your child enjoys. I’ve seen the dinosaur one on Amazon.com here.

 

The Human Body A First Discovery Book by Gallimard Jeunesse and Sylvaine Peyrols. Illustrated by Sylvaine Peyrols.

The Human Body A First Discovery Book by Gallimard Jeunesse and Sylvaine Peyrols. Illustrated by Sylvaine Peyrols.

This book features transparent pages which my two and four year old just love. They flip the skeleton and digestive system back and forth over and over again. This book is also amazingly detailed yet describes things at their level. It’s a great reference and includes body parts, growth of the body, defines mammals, shows the importance of your bones, skin, and other organs, the brain, and shows how babies are created. This is the only book you’ll need about bodies! Look below to see the little girl with the transparent page, she is eating an apple, and then she is eating an apple with the digestive system shown.

 

Katy No Pocket by Emmy Payne. Pictures by H.A. Rey.

Katy No Pocket by Emmy Payne. Pictures by H.A. Rey.

My two year old brings me this book because he likes it, but does end up flipping the pages over while I’m still reading a paragraph. It’s still just a little too long for him. Anyhow, we read what we can and my four year old easily sits for the whole thing. Katy is a kangaroo with no pocket and has a little joey that needs a ride. She is very sad about it, in fact I believe she cries on every single page, but in the end becomes the envy of all the other mother kangaroos. H.A. Rey, of Curious George fame, illustrated this book which may add to our liking for the story. This book will introduce your young child to a few animal mothers and how they carry their babies.

 

Is Your Mama A Llama? by Deborah Guarino. Illustrated by Steven Kellogg.

This book is not loved by my preschooler but my toddler thoroughly enjoys it. The rhymes and rhythm are so nice and the book cleverly sets you up to guess what animal they are alluding to. This is a nice book to introduce animal traits to toddlers.

 

The Milk Makers by Gail Gibbons.

The Milk Makers by Gail Gibbons.

My preschooler chose this one off the shelf, and was happy with it. It has very well-drawn diagrams, and explains in detail where milk starts, even starting from the grass the cow eats. We live in farm country, so cows are no stranger to my son, however this book is so well done, I think any preschooler could comprehend the general milk flow line. My preschooler especially liked the equipment the milk factory had. Reading this book is the closest thing you can get to taking your child to a milk dairy or factory, but then again, they’d miss out on the whole cow chewing part anyhow.

 

Coco’s Surprise by Karen van Holst Pellekaan. Illustrated by Vera de Backker.

Coco’s Surprise by Karen van Holst Pellekaan. Illustrated by Vera de Backker.

Coco the koala bear just wants to snug up in Mama’s pouch, but Mama won’t let her. So, Coco snugs up in a kangaroo’s pouch instead. However, the kangaroo wants to return her home and uses Coco’s descriptions of her Mama to do so. The descriptions lead the pair to a lot of interesting Australian animals. This book is very cute, my preschooler and toddler both liked it. It’s a nice introduction to animals in Australia and Coco realizes Mama isn’t so mean after all.

 

Mr. Seahorse by Eric Carle.

Mr. Seahorse by Eric Carle.

Eric Carle’s books are amazing and right up the alley of your preschooler. They incorporate learning in a magical way, as The Very Hungry Caterpillar validates. This book is no exception, my preschooler LOVES this book! It features a story about several of the sea dwelling creatures where the male carries the eggs before they hatch. Very interesting. This book also features see through pages which I’ve shown below, because GET READY your preschooler is definitely going to ask to see those AGAIN AND AGAIN! I’m not even sure you can HAVE a preschooler and not know who Eric Carle is…