Russell The Sheep (Rob Scotton)

 

This is super cute! It is the same other that writes the hilarious Splat the Cat. There were some gut-busting laughs right from the first few pages with this one. I love the style of illustrations. Every page seemed to have something amusing to look at. My students thought Russell's body looks like a pillow - which makes sense.

I noticed my library has two more Russell the Sheep books. I'm in! 

Goodreads says:

There must be a way to get a sheep to sleep! All the sheep are falling asleep—except Russell. What's a sheep to do? Count stars… Count feet… Perfect for naptime or bedtime, this New York Times bestselling picture book is from Splat the Cat author-artist Rob Scotton. Your sheep will giggle, and you will agree with the New York Times Book Review : “A hilarious woolly insomniac. Adorably funny. A runaway hit.” And don't miss the other funny picture books about

Zero (Kathryn Otoshi)

You know when you've found something really clever. My class sat and listened to this without a single wiggle....all of them! They loved the play on words and commented on how there was more than one meaning for some of them. This book has a great character message too. Everyone matters! And everyone is just right, just the way they are.

Goodreads says:

Zero is a big round number. When she looks at herself, she just sees a hole right in her center. Every day she watches the other numbers line up to count: "1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 . . . !" "Those numbers have value. That's why they count," she thinks. But how could a number worth nothing become something? Zero feels empty inside. She watches One having fun with the other numbers. One has bold strokes and squared corners. Zero is big and round with no corners at all. "If I were like One, then I can count too," she thinks. So she pushes and pulls, stretches and straightens, forces and flattens herself, but in the end she realizes that she can only be Zero. As budding young readers learn about numbers and counting, they are also introduced to accepting different body types, developing social skills and character, and learning what it means to find value in yourself and in others.

Count the Monkeys (Mac Barnett)

This book is so fun! I thought it might be too young for my class, but they loved it. They zig zagged and yelled and whispered as they were encouraged to in the text.

Mac Barnett nails it again.

Goodreads summary:

Kids will giggle as they count all the animals that have frightened the monkeys off the pages. Full of fun reader interactions and keeps readers guessing until the very last page! Matching Mac Barnett's brilliant wit are Kevin Cornell's luminous illustrations, which will have young readers begging to count the monkeys all over again.

One Hungry Heron (Carolyn Beck)

Interest in the author led me to this book. One of my colleagues told me about her controversial book, The Waiting Dog. I guess it's controversial enough that our public library decided to not buy it. They have a number of her other books though! We're going to go on a Carolyn Beck binge.

This one has great words. We especially loved the words as the storm started and all the animals took cover.

We figured it would be a great one to read with Reading Buddies. We also had a lot of great comments about experiences we have had with snakes, frogs, beavers and snails.

Goodreads summary:

"1 
One hungry heron, 
tall and still, 
crooks her leg 
and tips her bill. 
2 
Two drowsy catfish, 
way down deep, 
snuffle through the muck, 
then go to sleep. 
3 
Three darting dragonflies
hover and dip.
Whiz! Pause! Whiz!
Zoom! Zoom! Zip!"The scene starts out quietly enough, but soon the lone heron is joined by two lazy catfish and three darting dragonflies. Before you can say ten tiny turtles, the pond is alive with a great array of wetland wildlife.

Told in clever rhyme, this is a counting book with a difference. Numbers are spelled out in bold text, decorated numerals adorn each page, and amounts are depicted by groupings of swimming, flapping, paddling, darting pond creatures. Up to ten and down again, the count goes forwards and backwards, as thunder rumbles in the background. Plip, plop, the rain begins and lightning flashes. Everything dives for shelter and stays hidden -- until the sun comes out. Then life returns to the pond providing a delightful search and count last page.

Rarely is so much delivered in one spectacular counting book.