And Here's To You!

Over the holiday weekend, my family traveled to our hometown where we stopped in Ollie's Bargain Outlet.  It has the biggest children's selection of books in the entire town.  Sometimes it can be hit or miss, but I hit jackpot that weekend.  And Here's To You! by David Elliot

I love this book because it celebrates the uniqueness of all creatures in a catchy verse form.  As I read it aloud tonight, I found myself speaking in an announcer's voice:  "Here's to the frogs! The Singing People! Frogs!  Oh, I loooooove the frogs!" After every creature's uniqueness, the voice would repeat that same phrase. David Elliot and Randy Cecil did an nice job of combining verse with brilliant illustrations.  I didn't think Austin was listening until before baths he said, "And Here's To Austin" in the same voice I read!

As I'm thinking about building my community next year, and tapping into their uniqueness, I can imagine my class creating their own "And Here's To You!" poem about themselves.  Each one writing a page, perhaps using keynote to create a class digital book.  Oh, I looooove picture books!