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Who's
in
the
Garden?
illustrated by Jill
McDonald
Barefoot Books, 2010
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* Booktrust
Early
Years Award 2020:
Shortlisted for Best
Book for babies under
one year old
*
Smithsonian's
2010
Notable Books for
Children
*
Recommended
for
summer reading 2011:
Seattle's Mockingbird
Books and Cafe
* Paperback
edition
* French board
book edition
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| From
the
book jacket: |
Who's coming
to see
how my garden grows?
Peek
through
the
holes
to
see
what creatures are busy in the
garden.
There are moles dig-dig-digging,
rabbits hop-hop-hopping and
frogs leap-leap-leaping in every
corner.
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| A
little
about the book: |
This is my first peek-a-boo book. I
didn't plan it that way, but I do
love
peek-a-boo books! The surprise is
always a thrill, and
looking for the surprise is a great
visual exercise.
Speaking of visual "literacy," one
of the
many wonderful things about a
picture book is that you can return
to an
image at
will. It won't vanish from view at
the speed of film. How nice to take
your time, explore, savor, repeat
the experience over and over, AND
discover more and more as you keep
looking. The artist of Whos in the
Garden,
Jill
McDonald,
created
a
zillion fun things to stop and look
at in her
garden
wonderland.
The idea for this book actually
began with an activity song David
and I
wrote (I'll post the tune here once
I figure out how!).
Meanwhile, the words:
Who’s
coming to see
how my garden grows
my
garden grows, my
garden grows?
Who’s
coming to see
how my garden grows?
Rabbits
hop-hop-hopping
between the rows!
Children could keep the song going,
adding more garden animals "between
the rows," the ones in the
book--plus. Examples:
Inchworms inch-inch-inching between
the rows.
Grasshoppers jump-jump-jumping
between the rows.
Lizards dart-dart-darting between
the rows.
Fireflies flit-flit-flitting between
the rows.
Activities for getting up and moving
around:
Children form two lines, facing each
other. The child at the head of
each line takes the part of the
animal named, and hops, skips, jumps
down the middle with his/her
partner, then take his/her place at
the
end of each line.
OR sitting
in one
place for storytime: hand motions
could
describe the action: creeping,
digging, flying.
In a choral performance, part of the
group could sing the questions,
and
the rest of the group could sing the
response.
As a possible playlet, there are
plenty of parts for gardeners,
hoppers,
leapers, crawlers.... Creating the
props would be fun too. Jill's use
of patchwork and collage offer some
good clues on how to make a
memorable environment for the
action.
The fun doesn't stop with Who's in the
Garden?
Check out Who's in the
Forest?
too.
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