Moon and Stars in Beautiful Picture Book to Introduce Young Children to Our Celestial Universe

Karen Jameson's Moon Babies is a beautiful picture book for young children that makes a great choice for bedtime reading. Our country is celebrating the 50th anniversary of the moon landing and Moon Babies is also a great choice for introducing young children to all of the fascinating objects that can be seen in the sky. Amy Hevron contributes her talent as an illustrator with her incredible large and beautifullly colored illustrations that fill the pages with celestial delights.

Delightful moon babies are awaking in their nursery and ready to begin their day. They are eager to do some moonwalking. How about playing on some swings in the universal sky? They find some intriguing moonstones to build a castle. The Little Dipper can be used to eat their porridge. Moon Babies are ready to snuggle down for bed after their busy day. A nursery rhyme book with rhymes of familiar nursery rhyme characters is a great bedtime story for falling asleep.

Karen Jameson writes in rhymes for a fun language experience with this read- aloud book. The front and back of the inside cover are illustrated with star pictures. All of the star formations in the illustrations can be used to introduce little ones to the star formations in the sky.

Moon Babies was published by G. P. Putnam's Sons, a division of Penguin/Random House. It is recommended for ages 3-6 and has an ISBN of 978-0-525-51481-7.

Picture books were my favorite tool to use in my early childhood classrooms and even in the toddler classroom. Karen Jameson's Moon Babies is a great choice for the preschool and toddler classroom to introduce young children to our celestial wonders. Many early childhood teachers/ caregivers read to children during rest or naptime and Moon Babies provides a great story to read during this time. Our country is celebrating the 50th anniversary of the moon landing and early childhood teachers will want to add this picture book to the bookshelf for young children to explore as they hear about the achievements that our astronauts have made in exploring space.

*Read Moon Babies in your storytime group reading session. Call attention to the star formations on the inside of the front and back cover.

*Explore each page of illustrations as the enchanting moon babies explore the sky.

*The text is written in rhymes and offers the perfect time for a language experience. Engage the children in a listening game as you read and clap when rhyming words occur. Children will soon learn to hear the rhymes after a few times of hearing the story.

*Prepare a display of objects that astronauts take with them when they make a trip out into space. Call attention to the small astronaut in the illustration. An example of astronaut food that is dried is always intriguing to children.

*Place objects that astornauts in the dramatic play center and provide and opportunity for children to be astronauts.

*Art activities are a fun extension for adding to the interest in reading Moon Babies. Provide star stickers for children to make their own star pictures on a dark background of art paper.

*A favorite activity that my young students always enjoyed each year when we studied the moon involved making a large full moon and gluing sand onto the surface of the paper moon to represent the actual surface of the moon. Craters were formed by molding paper strips into a circle and gluing onto the surface of the large paper moon.

*Learn about the phases of the moon as an extended learning activty. Provide drawing paper and pencils to illustrate the phases of the moon. Begin with a full moon drawing and provide children the opportunity to shade in the moon phases.

*Ask parents to take their child outside for a month to observe the phases of the moon. Have children record the phases that they observe each night.