Happy Monday morning!
It’s bitter cold outside. The little kids are engrossed in Sesame Street, the coffee is hot, so its time to share a book I’ve been meaning to since Christmas!
You all may remember my post about our summer family circle time (colorfully illustrated with photos taken by a 5 year-old). I told you all about My Truck Is Stuck!
It has remained a daily (sometimes times 10) favorite of circus boy #3. The rhythm and repetition have been fantastic for his developing speech. (In fact his speech therapist has used it with him several times, because he loves to try to repeat the recurring phrases, “Help! Please help! Does anyone know how to make my stuck truck go?)
Well, Santa brought a new favorite. Chugga-Chugga Choo-Choo
While there isn’t quite as much repetition as in My Truck is Stuck, Chugga-Chugga has a wonderful, rolling rhythm and easy flowing rhyme. The traditional train sounds “chugga-chugga choo-choo” and “Whooooo whoooo!” repeat throughout the story, while staying in the story’s captivating rhythm. Its short and sweet, but the thing I really love is the depth of the story that occurs in the illustrations. If you’re going to use a book to get a child talking, you’ve got to ask questions (in fact, if you want any child to engage with any piece of literature, you should ask questions!), and these illustrations offer so many things to talk about. The train in the story is carrying all kinds of animals and toys as it winds through brightly colored, toy constructed towns and scenery. There are so many objects to find and name in these pictures. Its been another great one to get our slow talker making some attempts at new words (and oh have we heard some new words lately! YAY!!).
Hope you get a chance to take a look at this one and enjoy!
Underneath the Big Top 