Welcome to Read.Explore.Learn.! This meme was designed to be a place for you to share the learning opportunities, crafts, field trips, and other activities you have done this week that tie-in to children’s books. I look forward to seeing ways you have learned with and explored books.

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I was so excited when a box of the Tiger Tales Books fall release books arrived a few weeks ago. I will be sharing each of them during the next few months.

The first book from the box is called A is for Apple and JDaniel loves it.

Why?

A is for Apple is more than just a alphabet book with a picture of an object that starts with that letter of the alphabet. It is also a flap book that includes another object that starts with that letter. Wait there is more! It also has the letter channeled out so that JDaniel can run his finger through the shape of the alphabet with arrows guiding him as to the direction his finger needs to travel.

My friend Bridget was just asking about ways for her three year old to start to work on letters. This book would be a perfect way for her to do just that.

JDaniel loves the interactive elements in the book. He lifts the flaps with one hand and traces with the other.

How Rocket Learned to Read by Tad Hills is the second letter book we looked at this week. Rocket is a fluffy and playful dog that just wanted to play with sticks and take naps.

Those were his favorite things until he met a little yellow bird that offered to teach him how to read. Rocket wasn’t interested at first, but after hearing the little bird share a wonderful storybook to him he decides he wants to read too.

Rocket first learns the letters of the alphabet and their sounds. Then he learned to spell words that involved what was going on in his world. He learned f-a-l-l and r-e-d as the fall changed the season and the leaves.

When the bird has to migrate for the winter, she leaves Rocket to work on building words one letter at a time.

Rocket works on wind, cold, dig, sun, melt and mud along with other words that decribe his world in the winter.

Winter turns to spring and school starts again. This time Rocket and the little bird read together.

You will love the pictures of Rocket and the little bird in this book. I love that Rocket is so excited about reading.

What did we do?

Letter Work

I had JDaniel put noodles in the letter channels and rub his finger over the letter formation to see how each letter feels. I really should have tried it with smaller noodles.

The second thing we did was use empty cardboard food boxes to make the letters. It was hard to make the curves in some of the letters.

Disclaimer: I received the book A is for Apple from Tiger Tales to review. All thoughts on the book are my own.