U is for Great Day for Up: Library Notes


This morning I heard this book sung to guitar music and it was so much fun! The book itself is positive and 'up'lifting but the music added to it by making you want to go and sing to everyone to get up and enjoy doing things! Now I think the tune will be stuck in my head!

Why did I choose this book? 'UP" is a common early word so reading a book with this word used so frequently will allow a young child many opportunities to join in and fill in the word. It gives them a lot of practice in speaking as well as multiple opportunities to participate in 'reading' the book with you. It adds to what each of you can do as you go through the book together. For early readers, the text is simple overall but even if you cannot read all the words, having a simple word like this one coming up frequently helps you keep going without getting discouraged.  The rhyming pattern also helps improve the flow of the reading so every word doesn't become a challenge to decode and say. This helps to build up self-esteem and confidence in their ability to read.  It is important for early readers to feel successful.

I also chose this book because I am on the letter U. When you want to focus on a specific letter because it is the sound you are working on in speech, the letter you are working on in the alphabet or the one you are learning to decode in reading, you need good material relating to that letter and this book is a great choice. There are funny books about underwear and Unicorns in Uniforms, a Sri Lankan tale called The Umbrella Thief, educational books about sea urchins, underground animals, Uranus and underwater life and other classics like The Ugly Duckling and Jan Brett's The Umbrella if you need more material. 

A third reason for this book is that it contains so much material for discussion. We want to SHARE books with our children and do more than just read the words. We want to explore the story and its application to us or to the world around us. The message of this book is that it is a great day for up. It is a great day to wake up and go explore the world. It is a great day to look up and see all there is to see in this beautiful world. What kinds of things can you see? For animal lovers, this book includes a bunny, worms, frogs, butterflies, whales, snails, roosters, hens, alligators, giraffes, seals, a pig and a pup. But it includes many other things to see and name. Labelling items helps children to build their vocabulary. They will learn words like men, women, boy and girl, baseballs, footballs and kites, flags, balloons, bikes, trees, buttercups, ladders, stairs and more. The drawings are colourful and often silly to make the whole book upbeat and cheerful. It even ends with a surprise conclusion sure to make you laugh.

I hope you enjoy this book with the child(ren) in your life! Have a great day!
 

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