The Tree that Bear Climbed

This week we continue learning about Brain Boosting Books. 

The Tree that Bear Climbed
by Marianne Berkes
ISBN: 9781607185376
$ 9.95 (paperback)
$ 17.95 (hardback)


About the book:
Everyone knows about the house that Jack built, but this is The Tree That Bear Climbed. What makes this tree so fascinating to Bear? Starting with the roots that anchor the tree, this chain of events told in cumulative verse explores many different things that help a tree stand tall. It also lends itself to further discussion with fun repetition and detailed picture clues, stimulating a child's curiosity. Why does the bear climb the tree and what happens when he arrives at his goal?

My thoughts: 
(Part of this review was originally posted on my old literacy blog 'Classic Children's Books' and I have updated to share our experience now.)

Then: My kids LOVE this book. The story is very repetitive and familiar to the ear. The pictures are huge and really get the kids involved in the story. Usually when I read a story like this I hand it to the kids when I'm done and both Sierra (3) and Connor (5) will try their hand at "retelling" the story. During our reading of the story we talk about the parts & the various needs of a tree - there is soil, the sun, rain, blossoms, leaves and so on making this a great beginning science book for kids 3+.

Now: We now are sharing this book with 19 month old Gianna. She loves to be the bear (or lion depending on the book) and do the RAWWRRR of the bear. She points out the "quirrels" and the birds in the sky or the tree. It's actually pretty funny. I love how BIG the pictures are and the fact that they are a double page spread. The verbiage & text is easy to read and there are enough "big" words to help even the little little kids enhance their language and comprehension skills.

This fall I will be running several reviews on Arbordale Publishings books. All of their books are Science & Math based and include 4 pages of activities at the end of each book. Many of the activities you'll find are math, classification, matching, or refer to different information you'll find throughout the story. Not all of their books are an actual story - sometimes it is a non-fiction story that explains perhaps about a job a Vet or a Marine Biologist does, or may the person in the book is a Animal Rescuer. 

Each book also includes a link to approximately 40 pages of activities for teachers or homeschoolers to use in their curriculum. Since most of the books & activities are for kids age 4+ or grades K-3 you will need to tweak them to make them fit your preschooler or older toddler. All the books are Aligned to Standards and you can find previews of all books in English and most in Spanish as well. You will find all this information as well as the activity guide on the Home Bookpage at Arbordale. 

Click the title to find the Activity Guide & the home bookpage for this book by clicking on these links..

Disclaimer: I am reviewing this book as a service to my readers. I received a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. Regardless I only recommend products or services I have personally read or used & think my readers will enjoy. I was not required to have a positive review & no $$$ exchanged hands.

Some of our favorite books....

Over the last 4-5 years I have been closely working with a publishing company called Sylvan Dale (now called Arbordale) Publishing. They publish the nicest science & math books for kids that feature the animals & habitats of our world. Each book has a teacher's guide, are created also as a eBook in English and Spanish and you can preview them before buying. All books are aligned to standards so whether you are a teacher or a homeschooling family you can know that your children are learning what they are supposed to be learning & as a bonus Arbordale has triple checked that the information contained in the book is accurate.

In the next month or two I will be reviewing several of their newest titles and including them in Tot School for Gianna who is almost 2 years old. I know your probably wondering why I would be reading a preschool book for kids 4+ (grade level K-3) to such a little girl - let me see if I can explain:

Gianna has been reading chapter books with us this summer. She doesn't sit for the whole session but she sees me get out our latest Treehouse, climbs up in my lap and even though there aren't pictures on every page she listens. I don't think she truly understands yet but that will come through listening. Being read to has been shown to increase verbal skills, reading readiness, attention span and more and so even though she doesn't have a clue why a treehouse is spinning in a tree or why Annie & Jack are running from (or towards) a dinosaur she is listening to the inflection of my voice and seeing the other kids focused on the book and that is a beginning.

Here are some of the books Gianna will have the JOY and Privilege of reading this fall:

    

Now granted at almost two she won't be ready to read all of these books (I have a 4 year old that will take care of reading the whole book) but we can talk about the animals we see, count the number of "Quirrels" we see, roar like a lion and sneeze with Little Bear. We can get out the little Toob animals and play with them in our sensory bins and maybe make up a little book for Gianna to carry around with her (most of my books end up in the car) and I'm sure we can figure out some other fun things to do like a trip to the zoo.

So, stay tuned for my reviews probably in September. I am really getting excited about Tot School this fall and getting to introduce Gianna to my love of reading even more!

Articles of interest:

10 reasons why you should read to your kids

Reading aloud to young children benefits brain development

Why Read Aloud to Children by Jim Trelease

Disclaimer: I am reviewing this company as service to my readers. 

Regardless I only recommend products or services I have personally read or used & think my readers will enjoy.

I was not compensated for this post in any way.