Picture Book: Octopus Socktopus

This hilarious lift-the-flap book is filled to the brim with everyone's favourite ocean animal. Clever flaps and moveable parts illustrate all different kinds of octopuses. (Octopi?)

From Socktopus to Goldilocktopus to Toffee Choctopus, each hilarious image shows an octopus in disguise. This kind of silly punning is wonderful for supporting kids' language learning. Even better, it's just plain fun!

Nick Sharratt's cartoonish pictures will appeal to all ages of kids, but the more complex puns (Punk Rocktopus?) will be lost on the younger ones. Have a good laugh with your kindergarten kids; they'll love it.

Picture Book
Ages 3-6

Picture Book: Come Rhyme With Me

Hans Wilhelm has created an alphabet book with huge literacy punch. On every page, the rhyming text leads kids to a flap that covers the final word in the sentence. Kids will use the picture and rhyme clues to guess the final word, and then confirm their guess by lifting the flap.

What a fantastic way to support phonological awareness! Parents can help kids read through the sentence, and can prompt with beginning sounds for some of the more difficult rhymes. Most four and five year olds will be very ready to guess the endings, but children younger than this will need prompting.

The bright, cartoony images give lots of information to assist kids as they read the text, and everyone will laugh when Gorilla picks his _ _ _. With humour, great visuals, and lots of literacy impact, this book is a winner!

Picture Book

Ages 3-6

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Picture Book: Kitty Cat, Kitty Cat, Are You Waking Up?

The soft watercolour pastels of this picturebook provide a lovely counterpoint to the repetetive, rhyming text. Kitty cat is slow to wake up, and there are so many distractions as she gets ready in the morning! A tiny mouse adds interest, as readers will watch eagerly to see when Kitty will notice her little shadow.

Perfect for reading aloud, the story will be familiar to any young child who likes to dawdle on their way out the door. The rhyme and cumulative repetition will grab attention; I recommend this book for storytimes and readalouds.

Picture Book

Ages 2-4

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Picture Book: The Foggy, Foggy Forest

This superb picturebook is a fantastic excursion into an enchanted forest. Each spread depicts a fantasy scene, such as elves or fairies, in black and white silhouette; turn over the page, and you'll see the scene in full colour.

The very simple text invites children to guess at what lies behind the silhouette. Kids will love flipping through the tranlucent pages. The candy coloured pictures are drawn in Nick Sharratt's trademark cartoon style, and they pose a nice contrast to the pervasive greys and blacks.

This is a charming book, and it's fantasy focus is rare in books for young children. The question and visual answer format is very engaging, and kids and parents alike will enjoy this quick read.

Picture Book

Ages 3-5

Click here to check out the Port Moody Public Library's catalogue.