Concept books or should I say, Books by Laura Vaccaro Seeger?

Most of these concept books are by Laura Vaccaro Seeger and though she is prolific, her quality remains high. Many of her books teach about concepts our youngest readers will be interested in and need to know, but they teach in such a way to be interesting as well as informative. I am constantly amazed at the creativity in her books and have enjoyed looking for the surprise as I go from page to page. If you would enjoy having one of these concept books for your very own, comment on this blog and be sure to let me know which book you would like!

Walter Was Worried by Laura Vaccaro Seeger

Weather can worry, frighten, delight and shock us. All of these emotions are portrayed not only through pictures of the actual weather event, but with faces that are decorated with the letters that make up the word being depicted. A very clever way to show a number of concepts: emotions, facial expressions, letter names. Seeger also manages to include both boys and girls and children of different races. A great addition to any library for young learners.

Black? White! Day? Night! By Laura Vaccaro Seeger

Maybe the best book of opposites I have ever seen. Each pair of opposites starts on a page with a see-through window at some place on the page. Lifting this first page shows the opposite concept, with the part that was shown on the see through window cleverly incorporated into the opposite word. One of the most clever is the page that is labeled “same” which contains several windows, all with a small diamond showing through. Lifting this page reveals a page of snowflakes, all “different” from one another, but all containing at some point, a small diamond. I love this book!

One Boy by Laura Vaccaro Seeger

Another concept book by Seeger that also uses the window in a clever way, taking a traditional counting book to a new level. One boy incorporates one into the word alone; five mice (turn the page) skate on ice. The drawings are done with sharp primary colors and the end page shows the one boy, who is now all done, walking away from a group of drawings with his paint brushes tucked in his satchel.

Lemons are Not Red by Laura Vaccaro Seeger

Again Seeger uses the cut out on the page to demonstrate color of common objects. “Lemons are not red; lemons are yellow. Apples are red.” This could become the next early reading/writing text where students work in pairs to come up with another item color combination: I’m thinking, Grapes are not orange; grapes are purple. Oranges are orange. Let’s hear your creative ideas! (It doesn’t have to be food!)

           

Shape Shift by Joyce Hesselberth

Starting with a basic array of two-dimensional shapes, a young boy and girl take the reader through a creative array of joined shapes that could be anything. A semi-circle under a triangle becomes a dancing ballerina or an elephant floating up into space being held up by a triangular array of balloons. The last page gives a variety of shape combinations and children and adults can use their imaginations to figure out what they represent!. Colorful and playful turns out to be a good way to learn shapes.

Lost. Found. By Marsha Diane Arnold, Pictures by Matthew Cordell

A book with only two words, repeated throughout as a scarf is lost and found a number of times. Each new finder in the animal world also finds a new use for the scarf. Cordell’s imaginative drawings of bears, beavers, foxes, etc. populate the page with anthropomorphized animals demonstrating their creativity along with his. The ultimate lost is when the scarf unravels into reams of thread, making it necessary for the original owner, Bear, to take up knitting. Preschoolers will love this book as they figure out what each animal is doing with the bright red scarf.

Green City by Allan Drummond

Not exactly a concept book, yet this book does deliver an interesting story around the concept of “going green.” Given that topic, and the way the book is written, it is appropriate for an older reader than our normal picture book audience. Drummond has done an excellent job of describing the problem faced by the residents of Greenburg, Kansas in 2007 and how they as a community decided to take the lemons they were given and make lemonade. For an intermediate class studying issues of energy use and green buildings, this will be an invaluable resource. For families who are trying to show their children what can be done to make a smaller energy footprint, this would make an excellent resource at home as well. A great companion book for Drummond’s Energy Island, published in 2011.

How to Pee: Potty Training for Girls by Todd Spector, Illustrated by Arree Chung

To match Potty Training for Boys published in 2015, we now have Potty Training for Girls. Told in a cute step by step progression for each “style” of getting onto the toilet, you can choose from “Princess Style,” “Fresh-Air Style,” or “Witchy Style” just to name a few. The drawings show cute, large headed girls, all but one appear to be White, going through the motions of getting to the potty and peeing. Spector gives some advice at the end making sure that parents do not take this potty training issue too seriously and ensuring they are waiting for the timing of the child.