Imagine if you could build the boat of your dreams. What would your boat look like? What would a perfect day on your boat be like? What might you hear and see during your journey? Would you lay back on the deck and watch the stars at night. The students in the Kindermusik Imagine That! Toys I Make, Trips I Take semester are engaging in activities which explore all these questions through songs, movements, and stories.
We're looking for a good book !
One of the books that comes with the home materials is called “In My Big Blue Boat”, in which a girl imagines what her day would be like if she sailed away in a big blue boat. Beautiful illustrations, rhyming text, and full of sound words to explore sounds and movements while adventuring through the book.
Students in Imagine That have weekly “homework” assignments to help enhance the learning that starts in class, but extends so much during the home experiences. One of our fun assignments t is to read this Kindermusik book AND another book that focuses on some sort of adventure in a boat. The object is to ask general questions that help children compare the boat, the characters, and the adventure. This type of activity is so wonderful for developing reading comprehension and analytical thinking.
So if you are LOOKING for a good book, I definitely have a few favorites that I’d like to recommend:
The Sailor Dog
Row, Row, Row Your Boat
A Scholastic book, as told and ill. by Iza Trapani.
Another fabulous author takes a classic song, and expands it into a wonderful adventure featuring a family of bears and their pet dog, as they have a wonderful day on the river. SING every verse, it is so fun!
Theodore Mouse Goes to Sea
A Little Golden Book by Muntean
A shorebound mouse has enough of just watching the sea. He pulls his bed to the shore and sets sail with his sheet. He visits exotic places and defends himself against pirate cats, and more. My daughter loves this book.
The Harbor and the Sea – by Lucille Wood (1971)
This book is out of print, and I only found ONE copy available on ebay. But there are a group of children that form a tugboat out of boxes. They tell us the story of their adventures of the day, including songs and movements that are elicited by their imaginative activities. When they pretend to pass a lighthouse, they move and sing, ”Round and Round I’m turning sending out my light, Round and Round I’m turning, guiding ships at night.” I believe the your children would love to pretend to be a lighthouse.
If you have a recommendation for a great children’s book about boats, please share it in the comments below.