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Community Corner

Three Spring Kid Must-Reads!

Lions and Ducks and Lambs, Oh My!

In like a lion and out like a lamb is how spring’s arrival is welcomed each year. 

And lions, lambs, ducklings and oodles of other animals are great subjects to read about as spring breezes in and these animals wake up, are born or eagerly await a visit at a zoo near you.

One of my son’s favorite books as a toddler was "Dear Zoo," by Rod Campbell. 

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This fun board book features a young boy who writes to the zoo asking them to send him the perfect pet.

In this lift-the-flap wonder, the boy discovers all kinds of different animals as the zoo sends crate after crate of what they believe to be just the perfect pet. The flaps and clever rhyming passages leave both parent and child not wanting the book to end; but it does with a wonderful touch-and-feel pet surprise.  

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"Dear Zoo" is a perfect book to practicing hissing like a snake or roaring like a lion and even reading as a prelude to a spring trip to the Roger Williams Zoo in nearby Providence, R.I.

"Make Way for Ducklings," by Robert McCloskey is my personal favorite spring picture book.  This book is a Caldecott Medal winner, awarded for best illustrations in a children’s picture book. 

Once you see the delightful, bold, detailed pictures it will become clear why "Make Way for Ducklings" received this honor in 1942.

Being a mother of ducklings isn’t easy, especially when you are trying to keep them out of harm's way. In this heart-warming story, two mallard duck parents set up nest on an island in the lagoon of the Boston Public Garden, a park in the center of Boston, where they plan to raise their ducklings. 

They soon find out that city life can be just as dangerous as the prey they were trying to escape in the country. After mother duck teaches her eight babies to swim and dive they take off to the city streets walking one right after the other, in a straight line behind mama duck. A friendly policeman and kind Bostonians alike take delight at the sight of the ducks as they “make their way” across the street and around town. 

Spaulding Pond at Mohegan Park in Norwich is an excellent local pond to feed bread crumbs to the numerous and quite friendly ducks. With benches nearby it is the perfect place for a duck sighting and story. 

"Make Way for Ducklings" has such history as a popular book that a statue stands in the Boston Public Garden of a mother duck with her eight baby ducklings trailing behind her.  A visit to the "Make Way for Ducklings "statue followed by Boston Duck Tour would make a just ducky family field trip!

"The Little Lam," by Judy Dunn is a sweet story of the summer a little girl named Emmy raises her baby lamb, Timothy. This book is beautifully illustrated with precious photographs of the little lamb being kissed, hugged, drinking from a bottle, eating, playing, sleeping, and being mischievous by overturning a basket of apples. 

Of course these are all things a young toddler can relate to and why children of this age are enamored with this book.  The large photographs also provide wonderful opportunities to practice vocabulary by discussing all the real-life action. 

Spring time brings a virtual nursery to almost every farm. Terra Firma Farm in North Stonington and Beaver Brook Farm in Lyme welcome visitors to see and experience a little lamb up close.  Nothing makes a connection to a book for a child more than experiencing the subject matter first hand.  A real-life touch and feel, if you will.

Whether spring comes in like a lion or goes out like a lamb you surely have plenty to roar about when you curl up with your little lamb to read these excellent spring picture book choices.   

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