"Brown Bear, Brown Bear What Do You See?" is a classic children's book written by Eric Carle. This book uses repetition to introduce animals and colors. Each page begins with "*color - animal name* what do you see?" followed by "I see a *color - animal name* looking at me." Children pick up quickly on the pattern and begin to "read" the story for themselves. This book can be used to teach colors, animals, patterns and rhyming words.
Another popular circle time book, written by Eric Carle, is "The Very Hungry Caterpillar." In this 1969 book, children watch the progress of the caterpillar as it grows from egg to cocoon to butterfly. The illustrations are colorful and the pages are die-cut in a nontraditional way for even more fun. Skills that can be taught using this book include days of the week, counting, metamorphosis and good nutrition.
"The Snowy Day" was written by Ezra Jack Keates. In 1963, it won the Caldecott Medal for its amazing illustrations in which Keats uses watercolors, cut-outs and collages. In the book, a little boy takes a journey through his snow-covered city. He makes footprints, knocks snow from the trees, creates snow angels and tries to save a snowball for another day of fun. This wordless book will allow kids to use their imaginations to tell the story. "The Snowy Day" makes a great book for a winter theme.
A book on many shelves throughout schools and homes is "The Cat in the Hat." This classic book, written and illustrated by Dr. Seuss, follows the adventures of Sally and her brothers who are stuck inside on a rainy day while their mother is out. When the Cat in the Hat enters the story, everything changes. Before they can tell him to leave, the Cat is playing games, making a mess and inviting his friends over for fun. The party continues until mother returns and Sally's brother tells everyone to leave. The Cat packs up his things and leaves, returning again with his cleaning machine to clean up his mess. Children will love this story and be captivated by the crazy cat's antics. This book makes a great choice to celebrate Dr. Seuss' birthday in March.