A Fun New Book

Press Here
By Herve Tullet

This book would be great for sharing to a small group or one on one.  The cover is made of heavy board and the pages are sturdier than your typical picture book, but I wouldn't call this a board book.  The end pages are full of colorful dots to push.  Each page of the book gives the reader directions, such as "Press here and turn the page"  or "Rub the dot on the left gently"  and  "Five quick taps on the yellow".  After pushing, rubbing, and tapping the dots for several pages, the reader then gets to shake the book in various ways and sees what happens to the dots.  Then we try pushing real hard on the dots to see what will happen.  At the end we try clapping to see what will happen to the dots.  Children can practice the following skills with this book:  Following simple one step and two step directions, left/right, colors, action words, predicting, and much more!  I think toddlers through young school age (and even some adults!) will love performing the directions in this book!


Be sure to check out the author's website.  It has a lot of neat features to explore.


And he is a book trailer video:

Author/Illustrator Highlight: Lois Ehlert

 What is your favorite illustration style?  Mine has to be the use of collage.  My favorite collage illustrator is Lois Ehlert.  Her latest book is:



RRRALPH
by Lois Ehlert

This story features a dog that can talk.  He answers his owner's questions with the following words:  Ralph, Roof, Bark, Rough, Wolf and Yep.  It is a cute story that young children are sure to enjoy.  Besides the illustrations, I loved the text usage.  When Ralph is speaking the text is dark black and large.  I also love the use of everyday items in the collage illustrations.  What is Ralph's nose made out of?  A pop can tab!  His eyes appear to be buttons and his teeth are a zipper.




Here are some other books by Ehlert that show her fascinating illustration style:













 














And here are some of her other great books:

 






































Many of Ehlert's books are also available in Spanish versions.

Here are some websites to check out to learn more:

A video interview with Lois Ehlert from Reading Rockets

A Brief Biography and Review of her books

A great Lois Ehlert Author Study

There is also this great book full of wonderful activities related to her books: