Picture Books before 1970

Picture Books before 1970

Very Hungry Caterpillar

Picture books before 1970

Published in 1969, The Very Hungry Caterpillar tells the story of a caterpillar from egg hatching to transformation into a beautiful butterfly. We see as this small caterpillar works his way through eating a variety of food before settling down to create a cocoon to become a butterfly. This is a classic story that I recall reading in elementary school, I loved this story and I am sure my students will too. Not only is the story delightful but the illustrations are wonderful.

Lesson Idea: Discussion of the life cycle of caterpillars to butterflies, perform a graphing exercise based on likes and dislikes of what the caterpillar ate, and counting activity based on what the caterpillar ate.

Author Information: http://www.eric-carle.com/home.html  @ericcarle

Read Aloud: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vkYmvxP0AJI

Goodnight Moon

 Picture book before 1970

Published in 1947, Goodnight Moon is a classic bedtime story as we read about a bunny saying goodnight to just about everything. When I was a little girl I loved this story and I loved the pictures in this story. I hope my students will enjoy this book too.

Lesson Ideas: Sequence activities on getting ready for bed (first, take a shower, second, put on pjs, next, brush teeth, then, say goodnight to all, finally, turn off the light and lay in bed), discussion of the phases on the moon with Oreos, and discussion of time since the clock changes thru the story, we can take a look at time.

Author Information: http://margaretwisebrown.com/

Read Aloud: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9yu_g5x3ZoQ

Madeline

Picture book before 1970

In 1939, a story about twelve girls leaving in a boarding house in Paris with one girl, Madeline, being the star. Madeline tells the story of the youngest girl who is care free and daring. She wakes up in the middle of the night and has to have her appendix removed. Once her appendix is removed, all the other girls want theirs removed too. Madeline, since created, has sparked a franchise of books, television shows, and dolls. Growing up, Madeline was my favorite story and I even had a Madeline doll. I hope that the young readers in my class will love it too.

Lesson Ideas: Discussion of different cultures (American vs French) and learn about France.

Read Aloud: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9cNH25ArNWo

Harold and the Purple Crayon

Children’s picture book before 1970

Harold just wants to go for a walk but there’s no sidewalk, so he draws one with his purple crayon. He wants to see the moon but there is not one so he draws one with his purple crayon. Published in 1955, this story provides children with the best lesson possible that if you dream it you can do it.

Lesson Idea: Give all the students a purple crayon and empower them by telling them with this crayon they are to draw the one thing they want most. This teaches a lesson to never stop trying to achieve what you want.

Read Aloud: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZVaOOgWyvJM