{"id":1539,"date":"2009-08-30T21:16:38","date_gmt":"2009-08-31T02:16:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/openwidelookinside\/archives\/1539"},"modified":"2009-08-30T21:16:38","modified_gmt":"2009-08-31T02:16:38","slug":"teaching-process-skills-with-childrens-literature-big-and-small-room-for-all","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/openwidelookinside\/2009\/08\/30\/teaching-process-skills-with-childrens-literature-big-and-small-room-for-all\/","title":{"rendered":"Teaching Process Skills with Children’s Literature: Big and Small, Room for All"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"big_and_small1.jpg\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Big and Small, Room for All<\/a>, written by Jo Ellen Bogart,\u00a0is a\u00a0wonderfully illustrated new book that introduces young children\u00a0to the concept of size and how\u00a0they fit in the world. Using simple language and eye-catching watercolor paintings, this book successfully explains to children their place on earth. Each page illustrates in picture and words, the size difference of two objects.\u00a0\u00a0 The text “Big Mountain, Small tree” is surrounded by a beautiful scene of mountains with trees much smaller in size. The next page states\u00a0“Big tree, Small man” with\u00a0a man looking up at the enormous trees.\u00a0 This constant connection to the next\u00a0page\u00a0grabs the attention of\u00a0readers, eager to see what the next comparison will be.<\/p>\n

The\u00a0illustrations in this book are actual watercolor paintings by\u00a0artist Gillian Newland<\/a>\u00a0and they really make this book. My 5 year old was intrigued by the huge detailed picture of a flea on the page “Big flea, big flea, What is smaller than a flea?”\u00a0 The\u00a0painting of the solar system left her with the desire to learn the\u00a0names of the planets depicted in the book.<\/p>\n

Whereas this book’s language and reading level are that of a Kindergartener, I believe that older children will enjoy the book, too. One of the last pages of the book reads, “What is smaller than a flea? A world of things too small to see.” The picture of microorganisms will make older children excited to learn about all the things that we can’t see. This is a really fun and unique book\u00a0that could open the door to numerous discussions.\u00a0<\/p>\n

I really like how children of various ages will be drawn to different aspects of Big and Small, Room for All<\/em>. I think it is a great book to introduce the concept of size and sorting\u00a0to\u00a0Kindergarteners (VA SOL K.1d).\u00a0 The short phrases make this book a good one for\u00a0beginning readers. Teachers could also use this book to differentiate between big and small for Kindergarten (VA SOL K.1e).\u00a0 Thanks to the beautiful watercolor paintings, this book also describes objects as big or small in both words and pictures (VA SOL K.1c).\u00a0<\/p>\n

Additional Resources:<\/p>\n