I visited a nursery school for the 2nd time in 2 weeks.  There were only a few children who were there when I visited before, but I didn’t want them listening to the same books, especially since one of them had a surprise ending, I decided to choose all new books.  (These children ranged in age between 2.5 and 3.5 years old.)

   I read Firefighters’ Thanksgiving after assuring the children that firefighters in Chelmsford do not get more than one call a day to put out a fire.  That may happen in a big city.  There are a lot of fires in this book on Thanksgiving.

I use it because the book shows them not just fighting fires but also shopping for food and cooking a Thanksgiving meal at the station.  It also shows the appreciation of the community.

After we finished the story, we sang Hurry, Hurry Drive the Fire Truck.

On my last visit to this nursery school I read Tap the Magic Tree.  This time I chose Press Here by Hervé Tullet.  Dots multiply, change colors and move depending on the actions of the reader.

It is a simple book that teaches colors, numbers and size while having children perform “magic” acts.

The cats in this book talk directly to the reader and the listener.
“Hello.  Who are YOU?”
“Are you NICE?  You LOOK nice.”

The cats depend on us to turn the pages and get them out of trouble.
“Will you come and play with us again soon?”

Certainly you can play again by checking this out of the library.  🙂

Terrorist attacks in France happened between my two visits.  I wanted to read a very simple book about peace.  Perhaps parents and/or teachers were looking for some suggestions.  I did not make it all the way through this book.

“Peace is making new friends.”  “Peace is listening to different kinds of music.”  “Peace is saying you’re sorry when you hurt someone.”  “Peace is helping your neighbor.”  “Peace is being free.” and many other things, including “Peace is watching it snow.”  I told the adults to remember that.

Everyone loves the pigeon, right?  These children and teachers do.  They were really great at making sure the pigeon did not stay up late!

The teachers love Pete the Cat also.  Pete has such a positive message that grownups love him as much as children do.

Next time I would choose Pete the Cat and His Four Groovy Buttons instead. I think it’s more age appropriate for very young children.

“Did Pete get upset?  Goodness, no.  Buttons come and buttons go.”

~Maureen