"Happy" for PPBF AND Blog Design Giveaway

I'm joining Susanna Hill again for another fun Perfect Picture Book Friday.

Title: Happy
Author/Illustrator: Mies Van Hout
Publishing: Lemniscaat, NY, 2011
Intended Audience: 3 to 7 years old
Theme/Topic: Emotions

Opening Line: Curious

Brief Summary: This book puts a name and face to a variety of emotions. Each page has a vibrant pastel drawing of a fish expressing a different feeling. The images are simple, bright, brilliant and packed full of personality.

Why I Like This Book: In BC we're mandated to teach the CARE Kit (a program about personal safety) to our Grade 1 students. Part of this program is teaching the kids how to name and identify their feelings. I think Happy is the perfect book to lead into this. I love the simplicity and the vivid colours. I know my students are going to love this book, too.

Resources:

1. There is an excellent lesson plan here for drawing emotions with young children.

2. After the children have made their drawings, I'd have them choose a favourite to reproduce on black paper with oil pastels and print the emotion word underneath (just like in Happy).

This gorgeous pastel drawing and the lesson can be found

at The Art Room.

3. Drama Tableau: I'm going to give small groups of children a card with an emotion word. They'll create a still image with their bodies expressing that emotion. The rest of the class will try and guess their feeling.  I made you a 6-page file of emotion word cards you can use with this activity. Click the image below to grab.

Guess what?

I'm having a blog design giveaway!! If you're in the mood for a new design, please check it out by clicking the image below.



Have a great weekend!