A Slice of Sky

“If Anything Ever Goes Wrong at the Zoo” by May Jean Hendrick, illustrated by Jane Dyer, 1993. Harcourt Brace & Company. Picture Book. Hardcover. Ages 5-8.

We went to the Singapore Zoo early this year and couldn’t get enough of it. AS were munching tuna sandwiches in the taxi on the way back, Grace asked, “Let’s take the animals home.” Joy and I looked at each other. Grace waited, mouth stuffed with bread.
I proceeded by telling Grace that we couldn’t take the animals back because we wouldn’t have enough room to house them all. Besides, I said, we were there on holiday, our house was miles away.

“Swimming pool.” Grace squealed in delight.
“What?”
“Mom, I think she wants to put the animals in the swimming pool.” I have wondered at Joy’s ability to decipher coded toddler messages ; this one topped it all.
“You can’t , darling, people swim there.”
“ Good to share,” she quipped.
“ But…”
“ Look at mommy, Grace, she’s too tired to explain,” said Joy, rolling her eyes.
“ No, no, no!” Squish went the sandwich. Mayonnaise and bits of veg oozed out.
I knew the discussion would deteriorate into a bawling session. And that’s just me!

Anyway, months later, when I came across this book in the library, I had too take it home. I had to read it to Grace.

Leslie and her mother are avid fans of the local zoo. They visit the animals every Saturday. Over a stretch of several Saturdays in a row, Leslie asks the keepers of the various animals there if she could take the creatures home. ( Is this a common thing we’re talking about ?) Of course, they tell her that she can’t because well. Monkeys need their swings to climb on, elephants need their space, zebras need fenced yards and, never mind the lions. Undaunted, Leslie tells them that her house is available if “anything ever goes wrong at the zoo.”

One Saturday, it rains like mad till the streets become rivers. Leslie’s house is safe as it is perched on a hill. Just as Leslie and her mother are about to turn in for the night, the doorbell rings. One after the other, the animal keepers bring their animals to Leslie’s house for refuge from the floods. Leslie’s house is big enough after all.

You might wonder why I would risk this book. Well, for one thing, the zoo is miles away from we are, and Grace has moved on to other equally pressing issues, like ‘why can’t we stay up all night’. I’m waiting to Joy to rescue me once again.

I’ll be posting a downloadable activity sheet soon to accompany the reading of this book. Say, I would really welcome comments, suggestions and criticisms of the worksheets .If there’s anything that you think should be added to the activities in the worksheets this far, do tell.

“A Flea in the Ear” by Stephen Wyllie and Ken Brown, 2003 . Andersen Press. Picture Book. Ages 4 –7.

In this story you have the proverbial cunning fox and the daft ol’ faithful dog. The dog’s primary job here is to keep the chickens on the farm safe from the likes of the fox. He does his job well, but is plagued by fleas. The itching and scratching annoys him to bits but he refuses to parley with the fox, who offers him flea-busting advice in exchange for five chickens. The faithful dog does get taken in eventually by the sly fox , and loses the chickens. “Oh no,” howled the dog. “I’ll lose my job, I’ll be homeless.” The dog determines that the fox shall not have the last laugh. With this in mind, he sets out to recover his stolen goods and to teach the fox not to underestimate his canine abilities.

A good laugh with delightfully humourous illustrations.

“Going to Sleep on the Farm” by Wendy Cheyette Lewison, Illustration by Juan Wijngaard, 1992. Dial Book. Picture Book. Ages 3-6.

Before going to bed, a son asks his father how various animals on their farm go to sleep. Written in simple lilting rhyme, this is a wonderful bedtime book to rpepare your little ones for bed. They’ll also find out some interesting fatcs about how horses, ducks, pigs, cows and chickens sleep.

The pictures are breathtaking in their depiction of the farm animals. Feast on details such as late evening sun light falling gently on the forms of the farm animals.

“Chameleons are Cool” by Martin Jenkins, illustrated by Sue Shields, 1997 . Scholastic. Picture Book. Non-fiction. Ages 5-8.

This book contains lots of fascinating facts about chameleons. Find out why :
- why chameleons look so down in the dumps most of the time
- why chameleons change colour ( it’s not for camoflage!)
- when chameleons fight
- how chameleons can see everywhere at the same time
- how they eat their food

A good introduction to this amazing reptile. Do the ”chameleon eye” activity posted under ”Exploring Science” . You could also

experiment with drawing the different types of chameleons presented in this book. Use swirls,

spirals, dots, spikes and so forth.  The combination of shapes, textures and colours for drawing

a collage of these fellas are endless!

o “Sheila Rae, the Brave” by Kevin Henkes, Picture Puffins. Picture Book. Ages 4-7.

Sheila Rae is bold and fearless and she knows it. She is not afraid of the dark, lightning, spiders, the school principal and cracks in the pavement. “Yea! Yea! Sheila Rae!”yell her friends when she rides her bicycle no-handed. “You’re too brave for me,” her little sister, Louise says of her. But one day, Sheila Ray gets lost when trying a new route home. And it is her little sister, unassuming and timid, who leads Sheila Ray home. Along the journey, Louise finds her ‘voice’ and Sheila Rae finds respect for her little sister.

I read this to my little one. Like Louise in the story, Grace is in awe of the many things her sister can do – laughing through thunderstorms, eyeballing spiders, speeding down hillcocks . The first time I read it, Grace let out a little laugh as if she recognized herself in the story.

“Miss Mary Mack” adapted by Mary Ann Hoberman, Illustrated by Nadine Bernard Westcott, 1999. Scholastic. Picture Book. Ages 4-7.

This book offers the full story behind the classic children’s chant. It comes replete with music notes and actions that the kids could do as they sing the book.

Let your child use music instruments to drum to the chant as you read. Use sticks, tins, castanets, tambourines, etc. Then, when you’re more familiar with the chant, do the hand actions together.

I did this with my 2 ½ year old. She’s not ready to do the actions suggested in the book. What we do is that I read the line and then she echoes the last word of each line. For example;

“Miss Mary Mack, Mack, Mack,
All dressed in black, black, black,
With silver buttons buttons, buttons,
All down her back, back, back.”

It’s a fun hands-on book!

This is an activity that enables you and your child to observe the life-cycle of fruitflies.

Put some fruit in a bowl and simply, wait for fruit flies to land on ’em !

While the flies are feasting on the fruit, discuss what the flies may have done. “What are they doing?” ”What kind of changes do you see on the fruit?”

Whip out your magnifying glass and look at the fruit. Do you see any eggs there?

Cover the platter of fruit with a cloth and fasten it with a band. You could lift the cloth off

at various intervals in the day and look for changes in the fruit. In the span of a week, you

and your child can view the changes as the eggs hatch into larvae, the larvae grow into

pupae and watch as the the pupae emerge as adult flies.