Read to Me Picture Book Reading Challenge

I have decided to participate in the Read to Me Picture Book Challenge.  I know I am starting kind of late, but with school starting up in a couple of weeks I think I can do it.  I try to read at least one book or chapter of a book to each of my classes each week, so I think the "Watering" level is a good place to start. The goal is to read 36 books with a child by the end of the year. I think this is doable for me.  It should be really fun too with all the great picture books that have come out this year.  Nothing gives me a bigger thrill than to see a child enjoying a book, especially when it's a book that I enjoyed also.  Since school hasn't started yet, my first book is one that I shared with my nephew. I don't want to share his real name so I will simply call him Action Boy (he is a very active child.)

Do You Know Which Ones Will Grow?
by Susan A. Shea, illustrated by Tom Slaughter
Blue Apple Books, 2011.
Grades K-1
Reviewed from personal copy.

Blurb:

A duckling grows and becomes a duck, so can a car grow into a truck? This beguiling book about growth will sparks kids' imaginations, as gate folds playfully transform a watch into a clock and a shovel into a plow. The interactive format of question and answer will entrance young readers as living things that grow are compared to inanimate objects that don't. Ingenious! (www.goodreads.com)

The minute I read about this book, I knew it was one I wanted to get.  The younger children that I work with really enjoy interactive books.  The concept is a fun one (checking the reader's knowledge of what things change shape or size over time and which things don't) and the flaps are pretty cool too.  I had fun reading the book and even laughed at the end.  I decided to try this book out on my almost four-year-old nephew, Action Boy.  I had to catch him between 'adventures.'  Sure enough, he liked the book.  He even wanted me to read it again.  The first time through, he answered no at all the right spots.  He said it in kind of a laughing, 'what a silly idea' kind of way.  The second time through he did what I expect a lot of children do, he deliberately started saying yes, even though he knew the answer was no.  He got a kick out of being contrary, I guess, but it was funny.  The second time through he also started helping me flip the flaps (he knew what was coming this time).  Overall, I'd say the book was a success and I plan on using it with my kindergarteners later this year.  Highly recommended.