[Franzilla Posts: 997 Status: Offline Gah!]

Today I read to my daughter's kindergarten class and it was great fun when they could participate. For example, counting out loud for TEN LITTLE CATERPILLARS and saying, 'NO!'  When I went through the animals who weren't the monkey's mum in MONKEY PUZZLE.

Thing is, all the kids except my daughter only have very basic English because they're Chilean ( we live in Chile). They can count, know colours, shapes but they may not understand a full sentence if there are unfamiliar words in it. For eg, with MONKEY PUZZLE, I simplified it down to, Is this his mum? No! Took away the magic of the rhyme and description but it was essential to hold their interest. They loved it!
 So I'm after simply worded books.

They also LOVED my Strega Nona pop-up book so I'd love more recommendations like that - where the books DO things too.

Thanks!

[dinalapomy101 Posts: 1,875 Status: Offline Happy writing to all!]

PRESS HERE by Herve Tullet
ONE RED DOT by David Carter

And of course I can't think of others from home by the Children's Librarians at my work would be able to give me more!

[Larissa Posts: 668 Status: Offline Larissa]

Mo Willem's Pigeon books. (Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus, et al)

[Franzilla Posts: 997 Status: Offline Gah!]

Larissa, do you think they'd get the humour, considering they don't speak English? They know quite a few words but I think humour in words would be difficult? Or do you think the pictures would say enough? I have all the pigeon books already so maybe I'll just try it out on them!

PRESS HERE and ONE RED DOT are great ideas. Salina has several books I plan to use too.

[Franzilla Posts: 997 Status: Offline Gah!]

Actually, just looking at ONE RED DOT I'm not sure that'd work - there are no words? I could describe what they see but it looks more like a one-on-one book? Or am I missing something?

[DianaM Posts: 971 Status: Offline Writer, rhymer, runner, punner.]

PETE THE CAT: I LOVE MY WHITE SHOES

Very simple and fun! Should be perfect.

(The color of his shoes change and kids get to participate by calling out the color on page turn.)

[Larissa Posts: 668 Status: Offline Larissa]

I think they'd get it. Especially if you read expressively.

[Erin Bylund Posts: 6 Status: Offline I love books]

My kids always loved "Is your mama a llama".  The kids get to yell out the animal when the page is turned.  Also, Dear Zoo is a fun one.  You could teach the kids the names of the animals and then they could yell them out when you open each flap.

[Erin Bylund Posts: 6 Status: Offline I love books]

Also repetitive books such as "Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What do you see?" are great.  After a few readings the kids will start saying all the words and 'reading' the book with you.  It also would teach them colors and animals.  And I just remembered another of my favorites - "Blue Hat, Green Hat" by Sandra Boynton.  The kids love yelling "Oops!" and laughing at the silly turkey who puts his clothes on in silly ways. 

[Franzilla Posts: 997 Status: Offline Gah!]

Well, I just got more feedback from the reading... apparently none of the kids understood GUESS HOW MUCH I LOVE YOU? which I also read to them. When the hare stretches his arms out and says 'this much' they thought I was trying to get them to do exercises! So says my daughter. Hilarious. I didn't even read the actual text, I simplified it right down. I didn't even say 'hare' as I knew they wouldn't know that word... my daughter says they didn't even understand the 'I love you' part.

So, I think BROWN BEAR would be a good one? Pigeon is out, I'm afraid. Sounds like IS YOUR MAMA A LLAMA would be ideal - especially because we actually have llamas here in Chile! PETE THE CAT sounds good too. They know colours, so that's great. I was thinking A COW SAYS MOO by Sandra Boynton might be cool too - especially as cows say moo here too. Dogs don't woof, though. Still, I think that'd be a good one.

It's tricky!!

[olmue Posts: 3,560 Status: Offline]

My 5YO likes Can You Make a Scary Face? by Jan Thomas. But I don't know if they have enough English to do that one. It's a pretty simple book, though, and very interactive.

[LeslieG Posts: 174 Status: Offline]

Just seconding the PETE THE CAT recommendation for read-alouds. There are a lot in that series that would be great. PETE THE CAT AND HIS FOUR GROOVY BUTTONS, for instance, is adorable, and throws in some very basic math, to boot (spoiler alert: although now that I think of it, success with that one in particular might depend on how you say "belly button" in Spanish :0) If you look online, you can find video of the author and illustrator in classes singing the refrains (they're great performers), and I think you can find the music for them on the publishers website.

Have fun! Sounds like a gas :0)

[Rebecca Kraft Rector Posts: 75 Status: Offline SQUISH SQUASH SQUISHED, Nancy Paulsen Bks]

Goodnight Gorilla can be a great participation book. It's almost wordless, Goodnight is about it. You can ask questions and act things out. The key and the lock are the same color and you can ask what color they are. You can ask them to find the mouse. You can ask them to tell you what's happening. I also love Dear Zoo and Where's Spot. Go Away Big Green Monster is a good one for this time of year. They can shout Go Away, and there are colors and body parts. Ha, just re-read that. I don't mean like gruesome body parts. Watanabe's What a Good Lunch and How do I get dressed are fun but maybe too young. Enjoy your reading!

[Rebecca Kraft Rector Posts: 75 Status: Offline SQUISH SQUASH SQUISHED, Nancy Paulsen Bks]

Sorry, Watanabe's title should be How Do I Put It On? (not How do I get dressed)

Jump, Frog, Jump! is another good one. They can tell the frog to jump and they can always jump themselves.

[Franzilla Posts: 997 Status: Offline Gah!]

Wordless might just be ideal... because then I can use words they're more likely to know! As some of the kids are five and some are six it'd be great to use books with a story as I think they'll find that more engaging. GOODNIGHT, GORILLA definitely works in that regard. I'll try it!

I just got JOURNEY too which is wordless but I don't think all the kids will be able to see what's going on. That's the other stumbling block I've got - the books need to be clear enough that they can all see what's going on in the pictures.

Triandstar, does HOW DO I GET DRESSED? have the option to say 'no' as a participation? It sounds like it might and that's just what the kids loved saying in response to the questions in MONKEY PUZZLE.

[Rebecca Kraft Rector Posts: 75 Status: Offline SQUISH SQUASH SQUISHED, Nancy Paulsen Bks]

Yes, that's the best part about How Do I Put It On and What a Good Lunch. The bear does everything wrong--in a funny way. They get to say NOOO! You can say words like Do I put the shoes on my ears? or You can just point at the picture and ask if that's right.

I used to use Big Book versions of these books in storytime but I don't know if they're still available.