Showing posts with label lAURIE kREBS. Show all posts
Showing posts with label lAURIE kREBS. Show all posts

Tuesday, December 2, 2008

We're Sailing to Galapagos: A Week in the Pacific





Laurie Krebs - author

Product Details
Reading level: Ages 4-8
Hardcover: 32 pages
Publisher: Barefoot Books (February 28, 2005)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1841489026
ISBN-13: 978-1841489025
Product Dimensions: 10 x 9.8 x 0.5 inches

Editorial Reviews
From School Library Journal (PreSchool-Grade 3)
A colorfully garbed couple take readers on a jaunty journey to the Galapagos Islands. For each day of the week, the rhymed text introduces one of the islands' unique animals. The repetition of the chorus "We're sailing to Galapagos. I wonder who we'll see" encourages audience participation. The bright collages create striking vistas that will also enhance group sharing. The youngest listeners will enjoy the visit to giant tortoises, black iguanas, and blue-footed boobies before they sail home. Older readers can learn more about the animals and Charles Darwin's famous exploration by perusing the informative entries following the rhyming section. Krebs offers an excellent introduction to a unique set of islands and some of its rare inhabitants. For a complementary choice that considers a single species, consider Francine Jacobs's Lonesome George, the Giant Tortoise (Walker, 2003).–Kathy Piehl, Minnesota State University, Mankato Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Product Description
Tour the Galapagos Islands in a red-sailed boat and encounter many exotic land and sea animals, like giant tortoises, albatrosses, iguanas, lava crabs and booby birds! This rhyming story, which also teaches the days of the week, also includes fascinating facts on Charles Darwin, the Islands and the animals that live there.
About the Author
Laurie Krebs is a seasoned traveller and former teacher from Connecticut, USA. A mother of four grown children, she seeks to expose young people to a variety of different cultures and environments through her writing. Laurie's previous title with Barefoot books was the very successful We All Went on Safari, which was selected as one of Scholastic's "Best Books" for 2003, and was a Practical Pre-School Gold Award Winner (2003). Grazia Restelli was born in the province of Milan, and studied at the Academy of Fine Art in Brera. She graduated in sceneography, and in 1992 took a course in illustration at the Academy of Communication Studies in Milan. Her works have been shown in exhibitions all over Italy, and she has illustrated several books for Italian publishers. We're Sailing to Galapagos is her first title for Barefoot Books.

Lesson Plan ideas
1. Using a map or globe, show children where these islands are located and how they were formed. Some students can hold photographs of real animals that live on the islands. A verse between stanzas allows all the children to sing along as you read the book.
2. I purchased some museum quality Galapagos animal figurines from Safari Ltd. http://www.safariltd.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc? and used them with the book. We discussed each animal as they appear in the book. It allows for the child to be actively involved.
3. It introduces Galapagos animal vocabulary. You can play a game to practice this vocabulary. Find real images of the animals online and print them out into cards. Play what's missing with child by covering all cards with a towel or large non-transparent paper/card after child has looked at them for awhile. Then remove one card and ask "What's missing?". This encourages child to name the missing animal. Do the same with the remaining cards till you're done. You can do the same with the animal figurines in (2).
4. This book also introduces the days of the week. You could ask questions like, "What day do you think comes next?", etc.

Friday, November 28, 2008

We All Went on Safari: A Counting Journey through Tanzania


Jambo! (means hello in Swahili, the most widely spoken language in sub-Saharan Africa).
As I go through books with my Big Little E, I will blog about the individual books here so we can all share in the benefit of them!

Here are some useful information on We All Went on Safari:

NOTE: "We All Went on Safari" has been printed in 16 foreign countries
and has won the following awards:

Oppenheim Toy Portfolio Gold Award
Kirkus Book Review Stars
Child Magazine's Best Children's Books of 2003
Family Fun's Best Books of 2003
Capitol Choices 2004
The Children's Literature Choice List 2004
ForeWord Magazine's Silver Award for Picture Books
Bill Martin, Jr. Picture Book Award Nominee, 2005
Great Lakes Great Book Award Nominee 2005
Teacher's Choice Award of 2004


Editorial Reviews

Review
"In this charming tale, your child follows a group of Maasai people as they travel across Tanzania, encountering big cats, ostriches, warthogs, monkeys, elephants, and other fascinating wildlife. There is also a glossary of Maasai names and a review of Swahili numbers from one to 10." --Your Big Backyard"

"The text's easy, natural rhythm makes reading aloud a pleasure:
'We all went on safari
Where the treetops intertwine.
We met mischievous monkeys,
So Doto counted nine'.

Each sharply detailed scene glows with jewel-like color, set off by the traditionally dressed human figures' heads and limbs. Further information about the Maasai, Tanzania, the ten children's Swahili names, and the equal number of wild creatures met along the way close this brilliant, horizon-expanding outing." --Kirkus Review (starred review)

"Youngsters will learn numbers from one to ten in English and Swahili as Mosi, Tumpe, Arusha, and other friends count African wildlife. Attractive borders frame vibrant watercolor spreads of different types of animals, including giraffes, elephants, zebras, and lions. The rhyming singsong verse, beginning with the refrain "We all went on a safari," lends itself to a fun read-aloud." --School Library Journal"

Product Description
Join Arusha, Mosi, Tumpe and their Maasai friends as they set out on a counting journey through the grasslands of Tanzania. Along the way, the children encounter all sorts of animals including elephants, lions and monkeys, while counting from one to ten in both English and Swahili. The lively, rhyming text is accompanied by an illustrated guide to counting in Swahili, a map, notes about each of the animals, and interesting facts about Tanzania and the Maasai people.

Lesson Plan Ideas
'It is important that children from the earliest stages are helped to recognise that there are many ways of seeing and understanding the world.'

Global citizenship activities in the early years provide opportunities for young children to:

  • make connections between their lives and the lives of other children and families across the globe
  • develop respect for other cultures, religions, languages and lifestyles
  • understand that areas of their lives, such as the food we eat and how it is produced and transported, mean that we rely on the skills and resources of others.

Global issues are part of children and young people’s lives in ways unfamiliar to previous generations due to advances in technology such as the internet. We know far more about how children live across the world and can share information about our families and lifestyles. This provides an opportunity to encourage children to develop positive attitudes, to promote equal opportunities and to challenge discrimination.

Activities for under-5s
Download Global Citizenship: Activities for under 5s, activity ideas from the extensive Oxfam site on developing ideas about diversity and interdependence.

For a start, you can introduce your child to a foreign language - Swahili - with this precious, beautifully illustrated book. Your child will learn to count in Swahili:-
moja - one
mbili - two
tatu - three
nne - four
tano - five
sita - six
saba - seven
nane - eight
tisa - nine
kumi - ten
It's also in the style of Barefoot Books to include reference pages in the back of the book and in this book, you'll find the Swahili names for the animals found in Tanzania. For more Swahili for beginners go to http://mwanasimba.online.fr/E_index.html and then go to http://languagestudy.suite101.com/article.cfm/foreign_language_number_games to play foreign language number games and finally listen to Swahili songs here http://mwanasimba.online.fr/E_songs.htm