Picture Books Plus

Nespeca, Sue McCLeaf and Joan B. Reeve. 2003. Picture Books Plus: 100 Extension Activities in art, Drama, Music, Math, and Science. Chicago: American Library Association. Picture Books Plus is an excellent resource that provides curriculum extensions to picture books. It is a must-have book for teachers, librarians, and adults who work with preschool children. The books and extensions selected are appropriate for children in preschool through grade 3. The book adeptly covers five major curriculum areas - art, drama, music, math, and science - and provides extensions to 100 quality picture books. The authors, Nespeca and Reeve, state that "extensions provide a natural tie-in to various areas of the curriculum...most importantly, extensions motivate children to read and, thus, promote the love and joy of sharing books."(pg. xi). The first chapter provides an in-depth coverage on the importance of sharing picture books with children and how adults can appropriately share picture books with children. Since illustrations are an important aspect of picture books, the authors provide a detailed explanation of the various visual elements, formats, and different types of media used in generating illustrations for picture books. This information is helpful in choosing good quality picture books for reading to children. Each chapter is very well organized and structured. The authors provide a concise and informative background on the key elements of each curriculum area. Information is provided in bullet format rather than narrative so that they main points stand out to the reader. Each chapter includes twenty picture book selections with a short annotation followed by the extension. Each extension is explained meticulously with step by step procedures. The authors also provide variations and alternative techniques of creating the same extension. The authors also note the possible risks or mess any extension might create to prepare the adults before conducting the extension. Each chapter also provides recommendations, bibliography, and any additional videos or music recordings that could be used as extensions. Each curriculum area has been given careful consideration and the extensions provided are very innovative. The content is very thorough and pretested for the convenience of educators who use this book. There are numerous possibilities in this book, covering all the vital curriculum areas that teachers and librarians can find in one place. Although, the drawing of the extension pieces or final product is clear and detailed, providing actual and colorful pictures would have made the content more appealing and attractive. Overall, the book is an invaluable resource to the teachers, librarians, and other educators who are constantly looking for ways to connect reading and meaningful activities that will reinforce the joy of reading in children. By Akhila Bhat.