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What rhythms do we hear when we are walking down the street? What beats to we move to? What sounds are around us that brings together a symphony?

“I’ve Got The Rhythm” by  Connie Schofield-Morrison takes the reader on a journey of sounds and beats that surround us every day. In the story, a little girl is out for a walk with her caretaker. As she explores different areas of her city, she notices different sounds and associates these sounds with her senses and movements. As she does, she explains to the reader the different ways “I’ve Got The Rhythm” based on those sounds. She hears a beat; she smells an aroma; she sings to a song; Even while she is thinking and seeing, there is a rhythm in her mind and her eyes. The girl summarizes her rhythms at the end of the book by explaining, “I clapped and snapped. I tipped and tapped. I popped and locked. I hipped and hopped. I’ve got rhythm, and you can, too.”

“I’ve Got The Rhythm” is a story that can be introduced to the emerging reader, and then retold in class. A teacher or caretaker can introduce the child to the different sounds in the book and then imitate those different sounds. It is also a story that invites the reader to jump up and involve movement while listening. Students hear the words clap, tap, and snap and learn that not only do these movement words rhyme, they have a connection as they end with the “-ap” sound. Another way to involve the retelling strategy is to have students create their own movements and rhythm instruments with classroom. The teacher can either include music for students to work with or have students think of a tune in their heads and create movements based on the words in the book - clap, snap, hop, tap - and introduce other movement concepts - jump, walk, skip.

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Terry Border’s Peanut Butter & Cupcake! is a children’s book about a lonely slice of bread named Peanut Butter who is looking for someone to play with. This book is engaging for kids as it provides fun illustrations of food and has song-like diction. Each page of the book begins with Peanut Butter saying “Hello I’m new here, and I’d like to play. Maybe now, maybe later- or even all day. I’ll make you chuckle deep down in your belly. And we’ll go together like Peanut Butter and…” This book is comical for students because they anticipate Peanut Butter to meet Jelly, but instead they are met with several other food friends first. Throughout the book, Peanut Butter meets Hamburger, Cupcake, Egg, Meatball, French Fries, Soup, and finally Jelly. The different names of the foods fill in the end of the sentence noted above and students find it funny when the sentences do not rhyme. Teachers can use this to introduce rhyme by saying things like “Does belly rhyme with Hamburger?”

Aside from rhyme, this book enhances language development because the students are able to hear Peanut Butter’s conversations with the different foods. This book shows students how to ask someone to play, as well as how to politely tell someone you do not want to play. An example of this was when Hamburger could not play and said, “thanks for asking though.” This book is relatable for students because many children can understand the feeling of loneliness at recess. Furthermore, Peanut Butter demonstrates how to act when things don't go our way and shows that we should never give up. In the end, the reader is relieved when Peanut Butter finally finds a friend to play with - and her name is Jelly!

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I Was So Mad written by Mercer Mayer is a story that expresses multiple reasons why Little Critter is mad and how this feeling does not last forever. The book appealed to me because the feeling of anger can be an everyday occurrence for children, especially when they do not get something they want. This book shows children that this feeling of anger may build up but eventually something better will happen and the feeling will disappear. The book was written in first person because Little Critter explains her own experiences. Throughout the story, Little Critter explains the experiences that made her mad. An. Example of this is when he says “I wanted to play with my little sister’s dollhouse, but Dad wouldn’t let me. I was so mad.” Eventually Little Critter’s emotions changed when his friends asked him to play. 

  The book not only supports emotional development but also supports emergent readers and writers. By using repetition, Mayer allows the readers to repeat and review the same words throughout the story. Examples of repeated phrases are “No, you can’t” and “I was so mad”. The author also introduces some more complex and new words for the children to read. These words are highlighted in blue throughout the story and examples include walked and bathtub. The illustrations are engaging because the facial expressions truly express how each character is feeling. When the adults say no, they are pointing, and their facial expressions show they are upset and mad. Little Critter’s face shows how he is upset and angry. Lastly the main point of the story expresses how one small action can change a person’s mood entirely. 

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Before working at my current teaching position, I was not familiar with the ‘Pete the Cat’ series. However, I was thoroughly introduced because my student’s constantly asked to listen to the audio versions during story time. As such, I became more familiar with the books/versions, particularly 'Pete the Cat: I love My White Shoes’. The most appealing factor about this book was the targeted audience. I’ve read this book to both my infant and toddler classrooms and the engagement in both rooms were great! Both age groups responded favorably to the storyline, imagery, and message. We tend to play the audiobook while doing read-alouds and both classrooms really enjoyed the visual-audio connections made throughout. Repetition is a strategy in which students can learn word ordering, letter sounds, and pattern recognition. This book does just this. Much of the story uses repeated phrases so towards the middle to end of the book, the students can more easily follow along or even anticipate what the author will say. In this book, a small chorus is repeated throughout the story. It is both catchy and simple enough for the students to remember. So, towards the end of the book they are now singing along.  The power of repetition is important in several ways; 1) increase fluency 2) improve vocabulary 3) builds reading comprehension. Through repetition and practice, students learn to enhance these skills because the text becomes more familiar, thus strengthening literacy skills. 

Pete the Cat: I love My White Shoes is all about colors. One of the themes found within this book is colors and that is exemplified through the imagery displayed. Much of the story is based on the colors that Pete encounters when he steps into different piles. Each of the piles, whether of blueberries or of mud, the colors and images depict the his white shoes transforming into the new color. The perspective or the narration is taken from Pete, the main character, but it’s so relatable that all children in all ages can identify with Pete. The story is written in a way that it is relatable in both a general and individual sense. Although the readers may have direct experience with stepping into piles of fruits or mud, the theme behind this analogy can be understood from different perspectives. This proves true as the following quote exemplifies this.“The moral of the story is: no matter what you step in, keep walking along and singing your song, because it’s all good.” This quote coalesces into the symbolic ups and downs of life. This is a rather large theme that may not be easily understood by children, but the last line neatly sums up the true meaning which was broken down into a child-friendly topic. 

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The story, “The Rough Patch”, written and illustrated by Brian Lies tells a story about a fox named Evan who had a dog, a companion who was always by his side.  The beginning of this story touches on how both individuals did everything together, from planting a garden to “sharing a variety of different adventures” (Lies, 2018, 4), until one day Evan found his precious dog at rest in his dog bed.  Throughout the rest of this story, it discusses how Evan copes with the loss of his sweet friend, refurnishes his garden to start a new chapter in his life, and that choosing a sweet friend has more importance than any materialistic object or item.   

What appealed to me the most about this book, is that it not only builds on student’s literacy, sentence structure, and oral language development, but it also enhances their schema on real life situations.  Specifically speaking, it teaches students life lessons on how to be empathetic towards one another, to cope with the loss of a dear friend or companion they have had throughout their life, and how having friendship is important over having a materialistic item or object.  Throughout the text itself, I notice how there is a pattern in some of the pages depicted in different ways.  Some of the pages include multiple illustrations, having one or more sentences written below.  Other pages have illustrations that cover the whole page and either have one sentence or multiple sentences on the side of them or below them.  For example, “Evan and his dog did everything together (illustration covers both the first and second page).  They played games and enjoyed sweet treats (illustrations are in two different places on this page and depicted as bubbles).  They shared music and adventure (illustrations are in two different places on this page and depicted as bubbles)” (Lies, 2018, 3-4).  This will help emergent readers understand the distinction of reading styles they might come across during independent reading and read alouds.  Teacher moves this would be supporting is applying schema of what students already know of how to respect another person’s feelings and intuitively interpreting why the main character is upset, which is linked to “applying this schema” (Fantozzi, 2020, slide 2).  Illustrations throughout the book support and engage readers in their development of literacy and language, because both main characters (Evan and his dog) symbolize meaning.  Meaning of real people going through a real-life scenario.    

As I read towards the end of this story, I come across this meaningful passage that I feel truly exemplifies the message and main idea of this book that students can truly take away and learn from.  “But as he claimed his prize, he heard a scrabbling sound inside the box and thought it wouldn’t hurt to just… look” (Lies, 2018, 39-40).  Inside of the box was a puppy, and in the end the children learn that instead of choosing the ten-dollar prize, Evan decided to choose what was important to him the most… a puppy and “replace the one that he had lost” (Isbecceslibrary, 2020).  Another teacher move this would be supporting is “guiding children into helping them build a strong sense of meanings (cues)” (Fantozzi, 2020, slide 1) because students are learning the true significant meaning of what this sentence is symbolizing in the story.

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“Something Beautiful” written by Sharon Dennis Wyeth is a story about a little girl who finds things that are not very pretty outside her window, in the halls of her building, nor in some parts of her neighborhood. She learns the word “beautiful” in school, and sets out to find what beautiful means. As she interviews her neighbors and friends, she learns that there are beautiful things all around her. She also learns that her actions can be beautiful. In the end, she learns that she herself is beautiful. The book is vividly illustrated, the story, poignant.

The book has many words that you can dig deep into, such as: self-esteem, citizenship, caring. There can be a wonderful journey into the definition of these words, and self-reflection regarding how these words “look” in one’s daily life. This creates an open and continuing dialogue, which causes the student not to just understand what a word means but the feelings that they invoke. The word beautiful is used throughout the story. A discussion about what readers consider to be beautiful and how would they describe it is a great exercise in expressive language. Students can be asked to predict what will happen to the young lady or how she will feel after reading the first few pages. Then they can point out where and how her feelings change throughout the text. Their attention can be drawn to the illustrations to understand the tone of the story and when the young girl’s feelings change as well.

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The Napping House, written by Don and Audrey Wood, is a cumulative story that uses repetitive text and colorful illustrations to make the silly and classic story come alive. One rainy afternoon, a Granny is snoring on the bed in a cozy room.  A child crawls on top of her and starts dreaming.  Gradually, the pile begins to grow with other characters, such as a dozing dog, a snoozing cat, a slumbering mouse, and a wakeful flea. The wakeful flea ultimately bites the mouse and sets off a chain of events, as each of the characters are disrupted from their sleep. The sequel to this book, The Full Moon at the Napping House, is a similar tale with the exact opposite plot. The same familiar characters from the first story, are now “wide-awake” and then gradually lulled to sleep stating with a lovely a cricket’s song.

Both of these wonderful story books can been useful when introducing new vocabulary to young children. The first book introduces a variety of synonyms one could use to describe a character sleeping. The second book then introduces a variety of antonyms to the words introduced in the first book. In the Full Moon at the Napping House, the story introduces many different words that one could use to describe someone who cannot sleep. The repetition, the gradual cumulation of the story and the beautiful Illustrations not only support the children’s ability to acquire and understand new vocabulary, but they also support children’s ability to comprehend the text and sequence events of the story.

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The Very Hungry Caterpillar is a book that encourages young readers to develop new vocabulary while reading a friendly children's picture book. This book is about a very small caterpillar who is hungry and looking for food. Each page has a picture of food and he eats more and more as he eats through the food. At the end the beautiful caterpillar changes into a beautiful butterfly! This book allows children to learn numbers, how a caterpillar becomes a butterfly, and also learn days of the week. One thing that I absolutely love about this book is that it allows young readers to connect with the food item the caterpillar eats. Whenever I read this book to a group of students they always have great reactions to the caterpillar eating a piece of cake because caterpillars don't eat cake! Children find this book to be very silly and full of color which helps encourage the reader to keep reading and find out what happens next. The author did a very good job engaging young readers into the book and allowing room for questions by teachers and answers from the children. 

The Author Eric Carle uses a lot of repetitive talk such as the statement “ but he's still hungry” and he did this on purpose. It allows the young reader to focus on the new words such as the days of the week and counting. With this technique, it allows the reader to grow more and broaden their reading capabilities! My favorite quote from Eric Carle is “The very hungry caterpillar is about hope. You, like the little caterpillar, will grow up, unfold your wings and fly off into the future.”

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   The book “Bedtime Bonnet” is a children’s picture book written by Nancy Redd and illustrated by Nneka Myers. The book is through a first-person point of view of a little girl who describes the bedtime routine she has with her family. She illustrates each family members different routine, including hers and stumbles upon a problem, her not being able to find her bonnet. She searches endlessly, and lastly finds it in her grandfather’s head. The book continues with each family members morning hair routine and the importance it brings to their family. With illustrations conveying joyous family gatherings, the readings celebrate diversity, unity within a multi-generational family while also highlighting Black nighttime hair traditions. The illustrations also help students get a better grasp of the different emotions the main character is feeling from beginning to end and can help readers identify themselves from having passed through the same experience. 

   This book caught my attention once I saw its sweet mother and daughter moment in the cover page. I was appealed to it because it really emphasizes family unity, it promotes different hair types, textures and care, and it is a perfect reading for little girls learning about bonnets or/and haven gone through the experience of losing a bonnet. A quote from the reading that really appealed to me was when the little girl said, “Wearing my bonnet at night is as important as brushing my teeth!” because it shows readers the importance of the tradition which is often mocked and questioned. This reading could be used in a kindergarten classroom to promote the welcoming and acceptance of different traditions through read aloud, and discussion and can support emergent readers through its simplistic sentences, and clear view of emotions. The illustrations support this and through its simplistic sentences, readers can connect reading to image which will enhance their reading and writing

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“The Boy with Big, Big Feelings written by Britney Winn Lee and illustrated by Jacob Souva is a children’s book that talks about a boy who has many different feelings that he experiences but he is afraid to show them in fear of being made fun of or because he thinks he is different.  I love this book and think it is a very helpful book to read in an early childhood classroom because it introduces to the children that they all experience emotions such as happy, sad, mad, afraid, etc., and it is okay for others to see your emotions.  It teaches children that you should never hide your feelings deep inside you and it is okay to feel in front of our friends.  The illustrations in this book are very powerful and capture the feelings on each page.  When the boy was sad the illustrations were a yellow color to represent gloom, when the boy was afraid the illustrations were mostly black, and other illustrations coordinated with other feelings as well.  This helps the children to really feel what the little boy is talking about and feel his emotions through the pages.  The perspective of the entire book is the little boy and other voices that are included is some of his friends in the end when he realizes that other kids feel emotions too.  At this young age, children are not yet aware of what emotions and feelings mean and it is important to teach them about it and how we all have emotions and feel different ways when we see or hear something.  One meaningful passage that I think really sends a message to the children listening is when the author writes, “And soon, they noticed there were other big hearts in the classroom, the playground, the bus, and they smiled as they learned that is wasn’t just them. Big emotions affect ALL of us!” This tells children clearly that every single person has a big heart and everyone has emotions that they can show no matter what.  

This book would be a great read-aloud book for a classroom so that students are all together listening when they hear that emotions affect everyone and it is ok to show their feelings in front of their friends.  As a teacher, I would use this book to teach a lesson to the children about feelings and what they feel like when they experience certain emotions.  They could do a project on their feelings and connect their learning from the book to themselves.  This is teaching them socioemotional issues of what they will be continuing to notice for the rest of their lives.  This book adds for language development by encouraging interactive conversations between myself and the children and the children with each other. 

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I love this book for children because this book has magic, science, math, and it also has lots of words that rhyme. This book is about 10 flowers who ask a fairy to help them become butterflies. I love the overall message in this book it teaches kids that the grass might look green on the other side however it’s better to be yourself. Throughout the night in the book the flowers one by one turn in to butterflies. Even though they have fun for a while the butterflies realize why they’re so special by just being themselves. All the nectar  and how they help the environment, and even how they are used in perfume. As the flowers one by one turned in to butterflies this teaches the kids about subtraction. At the end talking about the benefits that flowers bring to the environments teaches the students about science. 

The rhyming helps the students learn how to rime also it helps with retelling as the way the book is made the students can recite the familiar parts of the book. Learning about flowers and butterflies can help the students build schema. The teacher can talk about the benefits of flowers and the benefit of butterflies and what both of those bring to our world. The teacher can also have students pretend to be butterflies and flowers. One other part that this book can help students with is vocabulary words like nectar, deny, metaphor, rhyme, flower, perfume, dew, surprise, bossy, lawn, magic, and tadpoles. All these words can be used for children so they can know what the words mean in the story.

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Freeda the Cheetah is a wonderful children’s picture book that features Freeda, a very fast cheetah that lives in the Savanna of Mozambique. Freeda engages in a fun game of hide-and-go-seek with her animal friends that goes on well into the night. The illustrations give a vibrant sense of the scene of the game in the Savanna. The rich color and vivid description of the animals gives the reader visual and sensory clues about what they are seeing and hearing. The rhyming text gives the book a sing-song voice, which lends to the fluidity of the story. I loved that the book shows all different kinds of animals playing together that normally would not. That is a great point to highlight to students about acceptance. This is a delightful book to do a picture walk, make predictions, and then read-aloud to find out who wins the game and all that happens in between. 

Rhyme and rhythm help young students hear the sounds and syllables in words, which help kids learn to read (Reading Rockets, 2007). Rhyme promotes phonological awareness in young readers. Frequent use of rhyme (i.e. nursery rhymes) can increase a young student's reading skills. The use of simile in the text helps a student understand more practically what running very fast means, for example, because of what the is being compared to. The book has a map at the end so you can add a developmentally appropriate geography lesson to it. I really like this book because it is comprehensive in terms of all you can get out of it to share and teach young students.

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Panda Bear Panda Bear, What Do You See? is a children's book written Bill Martin, Jr. and illustrated by Eric Carle. It is the third book of a trilogy, premiered by Brown Bear Brown Bear, What Do You See. I was initially appealed to this book due to the genuine interest my students presented when we read the premier book. The children would frequently ask for this book to be read aloud. During story time, the children would take turns "reading" the book, no matter how many times they've read it before. As a teacher, I was pleased with their attraction to this book, so I was more inclined to choose a book from the same author/series. 

The text is rather short and simple. It is also repetitive with only differing animals changing the end of the sentence structure. As such, it can be easier for students to follow along because of the patterned wording. The illustrations present vivid imagery of beautiful animals. While the animals are depicted in their natural coloring, the illustrator used artistic expression to color the backgrounds in varying shades for each animal. By doing this, it presented a colorful experience. Visually and kinesthetically, the book has an appealing feature. As mentioned, the words are patterned and for the most part don't change, however, there is a "peek-a-boo element within each page of the book. It is a nice surprise for children who are anticipating what is on the next page. This peek-a-boo feature is detailed with a "slide and find" so that the reader can see a glimpse of what's to come. This is certainly an engaging element. 

This book shares the perspective of 10 endangered animals. From the panda bear to the black panther, the author highlights animals who are currently part of the endangered species list. This is certainly appropriate and important to discuss with students who are typically interested in animals. I also appreciated that the animals weren't your typical dog, cat, or mouse etc., but were animals that were generally uncommon. For example, the macaroni penguin or spider monkey are not relatively common animals. However, by introducing the students to such creatures, it widen their scope of knowledge introducing them to less widely known animals.

I enjoyed the quote on the last page of the book. It says: "I see a panda bear, a bald eagle, a water buffalo, a spider monkey, a green sea turtle, a macaroni penguin, a sea lion, a red wolf, a whooping crane, and a black panther...all wild and free--that's what I see! (Bill Martin Jr.)  This is the concluding sentence which symbolizes the book's significance. It also ties together the theme of endangered species, concluding with a positive message in which animals who are endangered, have the hope of one day being free. 

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  Chrysanthemum by author Kevin Henkes is a children’s book about a young mouse named Chrysanthemum whose name is “absolutely perfect.” This book is important for young learners because it teaches important lessons such as bullying, self-love and confidence, while also encouraging language development through its array of vocabulary words. Chrysanthemum adores her name until she goes to school for the first time. In school the other children make fun of her name for being long and different. The other students mocked, “It scarcely fits on your name tag” and “Chrysanthemum’s name was spelled with thirteen letters.” Teachers can use this dialogue to introduce a counting activity in which students count the number of letters in their own names. This will demonstrate to children that all words are made up of a number of letters. After Chrysanthemum went home feeling upset with her name, her parents comforted her by saying that her name was beautiful “and precious and priceless and fascinating and winsome.” This dialogue encourages language development as children gain exposure to new descriptive words. The end of the book takes a turn when the children are introduced to the pregnant music teacher named Mrs. Twinkle. The children adored Mrs. Twinkle’s voice and wanted to make a good impression on her. When Mrs. Twinkle noticed that the students in the class were making fun of Chrysanthemum’s name, Mrs. Twinkle revealed that she too had a long name, was named after a flower, and her name scarcely fit on a name-tag. The teachers full name was “Delphinium Twinkle” and she said that if her baby was a girl, she would consider naming her Chrysanthemum. This transformed the way that the other students in the class thought and it made them wish that they too were named after a flower. This also made Chrysanthemum confident that her name was perfect all along, despite what others said.

  To support language development while reading this book, teachers can have children practice saying the names “Chrysanthemum” and “Delphinium.” Students can also talk about how many letters are in each of the names, as well as their syllables and vowels. This book can also be used to talk about the characters feelings and how it is not nice to make fun of others. What I enjoy most about this book is that it can be used to discuss what makes each of us special and something that we all they love about ourselves. The images in this book help boost reader comprehension through the different facial expressions on Chrysanthemum’s face. The illustrations also show Chrysanthemum’s name spelled out in different formats. Throughout the illustrations, Chrysanthemums name is written in ink on a letter, written in frosting on a birthday cake and written on paper in an orange crayon. In this way, students can physically see the different components in Chrysanthemum’s name and gain an understanding that letters make up words.

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“Lola Goes to School” written by Anna McQuinn and illustrated by Rosalind Beardshow is a children’s book that introduces children to school and what they show do to prepare for school every day. It also teaches them what to expect, and how school is a fun place where you make new friends and learn new things.  Lola is very excited for her first day of school and McQuinn writes what Lola does step by step.  The fun and detailed illustrations give the readers a sense of what school will look like and help to connect with what Lola is talking about. They can use their own in-person classrooms to connect to Lola’s.  Lola describes what she does the night before she goes to school to get ready, then the morning of getting ready, what she does at school, and then ends when her school day is over.  I think this is a great picture book for Pre-K classes in the beginning of the year because it tells them that it is okay to be nervous or excited for school and also an idea that since Lola can go to school, so can I.  I think this book relates to them and what they could be thinking and not saying out loud. I like the lines in the book where McQuinn writes, “Julia is reading. Lola decides to read, too. The story gives Lola an idea.” This shows students that they can make friends and read and play with their friends.  It also teaches them that books can give ideas that they can do in their lives.  This is what Lola and Julia do in the story.  When children are able to make a connection between the character in the book and themselves, they are more likely to be intrigued and interested. The illustrations engage the readers because I feel they would be connected to Lola and see that her classroom, teacher, and friends are all similar to them in their school.  These pictures engage the students to listen and follow along.  The story shares the perspective of Lola and this is also something that provides similarity to children because they connect that she is a child too just like them.  There is also diversity shown in this book because the illustrations show all different cultures of people and children can relate to this by seeing that their own class has people that all look different but all are welcome in the classroom. 

This book can be used as a read aloud in a Pre-K classroom and I chose this book because I think it is a great book for Pre-K students to listen to in the beginning of the school year. Reading this book as a read aloud could allow for further discussion to ask questions about how they get ready for school or what they do in the mornings before school.  Asking children questions about scenes they can describe from memories allow for good discussions and also is practicing their language development.  The students can connect with the teacher and also their other peers about similar or different things that they do compared to Lola when getting ready for school or during their school day.  This book can add to a great interactive conversation with children and allows them to get to know each other more and this one of the reasons I like this book and choose to write about it.  

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Be Kind By Pat Zietlow Miller is a story that teaches kids how to be kind. Some things the book talks about is the questions that someone might face when they’re not sure how to be kind. Simply saying someones name, doing the dishes, recycling, or teaching someone something you know. Sometime just using manners and saying please, thank you, and bless you. The book also talks about sometimes its hard to be kind, but it’s important to try your best because those little actions can turn in to big actions and spread through out the world. I think this book is great for students because it teaches them ways to be kind. It also teaches them that it’s also right to not know how to help someone and cheer them up.

The children could use what they learned in this book, and relate it to themselves. How they can help out in the classroom by cleaning up after their class pet? How they can say please and thank you to those around them. How they can do the dishes to help out their parents? Even how one small little action can have a big reaction and spread all around the world. most importantly that it’s important to stand up for someone when people are being mean.

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The story “The Rabbit Listened” written and illustrated by Cori Doerrfeld is a story about how a young child named Taylor had a bright imagination of building something big then ever imaginable, until birds swooped down and destroyed it.  Since that tragic incident, all this child wanted was a friend to express their emotions and feelings to.  Throughout Taylor’s quest to find that companionship with a friend, this character found that out all the animals included in this story, the rabbit was the only one who took the time to listen.  

What appealed to me about this book is that it gives children a broadened schema of real life lessons they can learn from and take with them through every milestone in their life.  For example, students may be in situations where there with their friends, and one of them is feeling down about something that has occurred in their life and they learn how to be that companion and “shoulder to cry on”.  Throughout the text, I notice how there is a continuing pattern of each animal coming in to try and help Taylor express emotions and why this main character was feeling so upset.  Each animal communicates a variety of different perspectives in which to try and help Taylor.  “The chicken was the first to notice.  Cluck, cluck! What a shame! I’m so sorry, sorry, sorry this happened!  Let’s talk, talk, talk about it! Cluck, cluck!  But Taylor didn’t feel like talking. So the chicken left.  Next came the bear.  Grarr Rarr! How horrible! I bet you feel so angry! Let’s shout about it! Garrr! RARRR! GRAAAAR! But Taylor didn’t feel like shouting. So the bear left” (Doerrfeld, 2018, 10-16).  Students will learn as they read along to the story, that each of the animals, weren’t the “listeners” and didn’t allow or give Taylor the opportunity to talk about what just happened at the beginning of the story.  

As I’m analyzing each page in the text, I notice how the author writes simplistic sentences or statements, ways in which students can understand, as well as illustrates pictures that corresponds to the description.  This will help students understand what the visual illustrations symbolize, which will enhance emergent reading and writing.  Teacher moves this would be supporting is “guiding students into helping them build a strong sense of understanding meaning” (Fantozzi, 2020, slide 2).  Teachers are also “supporting a child’s schema by adding their own language and experiences” (Fantozzi, 2020, slide 5).  They can also invite students to express their stories and add language about when they were ever that “rabbit” for a friend, whether it was for something exciting that happened to them or something they are having a hard time with.  The author illustrates each picture in the book distinctively, meaning that there is only one main character (Taylor) in the story and one protagonist (the rabbit).  This will help and support emergent readers, because students are learning step-by-step the main elements that make up a story (a main character, protagonist, and antagonist), as well as what each of them symbolize in the story, through the quality of what they’re saying.  

As I read through towards the end of this story, I come across this meaningful passage that I feel exemplifies the meaning and message of this book that students can really take away with them.  “In the quiet, Taylor didn’t even notice the rabbit. But it moved closer, and closer.  Until Taylor could feel it’s warm body.  Together they sat in silence until Taylor said, “Please stay with me”.  The rabbit listened.  The rabbit listened as Taylor talked. The rabbit listened as Taylor shouted.   The rabbit listened as Taylor remembered… and laughed.  The rabbit listened to Taylor’s plans to hide… to throw everything away… to ruin things for someone else.  Through it all, the rabbit never left.  And when the time was right, the rabbit listened to Taylor’s plan to build again.  “I can’t wait,” Taylor said.  “It’s going to be amazing”” (Doerrfeld, 2018, 23-32).