Early Birdy Gets The Worm

I like poetry.

I always have. I like to read it. I like to write it (not very well) and I LOVE sharing it with my students. Bruce Lansky's poetry was introduced to me early in my career. I received New Rhymes for Bedtime and New Rhymes for Mealtime from another teacher when she retired. What a gift indeed! Later, I met what quickly became a favorite in my classroom, Mary Had a Little Jam. This is another Bruce Lansky work illustrated by Stephen Carpenter. The tunes are familiar and the rhymes are quite clever. I'm a fan.

@Amazon

When asked to review Lansky's latest book, Early Birdy Gets the Worm, I jumped at the chance! In this wordless story, the reader reads the pictures and tells the story. T loves it. I mean, he LOVED reading this book to me. My preschooler first said, "Where are the words?" Keeping in mind that we've read many a wordless book, I told him to figure out the story without words. 

@Amazon

He did and it was beautiful. Beautiful. He then did it again. He went back and added what each bird was saying. It was hilarious. In fact, he keeps going back to this book. The ending makes him laugh, though he predicted it from the start! 

This is what early reading should be....about story, paying attention to the pictures, making inferences, understanding loosely the beginning, middle, and end. I'm growing a reader and this book is now a favorite! 

Don't be fooled by the wordless part. Don't think this book is just for the toddler crowd. It's not!! It would be perfect for K-2 classrooms! Developed readers could write the words to go with the story while early readers can read the story to a friend. 

Celebrate the story that is Early Birdy Gets The Worm!