Measuring me by Nicola Kent

This book is such a delight. It will help a child make sense of themselves through a series of easy to understand comparisons. This book should be added to all preschool and Kindergarten classrooms. Every child will also potentially see themselves in these pages too:

The children depicted are diverse: one uses a walking aid, for example, and the girl on the cover has a tracheostomy to aid her breathing. Kent has a tracheostomy herself, and knows how vital it is for children with physical differences to find themselves represented incidentally ‘as part of the rainbow of humanity’ in books and other media. It’s particularly welcome to see a book about the wonders of the human body quietly taking this approach. Books for Keeps

• I'm as tall as ten tin cans.
• My nose can detect 50,000 different scent and my tongue has thousands of taste buds.
• The biggest bone is my thigh bone. It's about the height of a cat.
• When I'm standing still my body gives off enough energy to power a light bulb.

Written from the perspective of a child and featuring bright, adorable illustrations of different children, the book captures the sense of curiosity and wonder that children have for the world around them. It introduces the concept of measuring in a personal and relatable way, making it easier for young learners to grasp – and to have fun with!  Book Trust

This book would make a wonderful gift for a young child aged 3-6. If you are reading this book to your class Kane Miller the US publisher have a set of discussion questions. 

A brilliant bonus at the back of the book is an equally ingenious, sturdy, height chart. This has the usual measuring tape along one side, but tins in the middle and animals beside them so you can compare them to your own height and to each other. Emperor penguins are much larger than I imagined! You are encouraged to find other things to measure yourself against too and I can see this provoking lots of excited activity. Love Reading 4Kids

You can see lots of other books by Nicola Kent here. They sure do look appealing.

Animals brag about their Bottoms by Maki Saito translated by Brian Bergstrom

"My bottom is a round bottom - and so cute, don't you think?"

"Our bottoms are fluffy bottoms ...Our bottoms are spiky bottoms. They're amazing too, don't you think?"

Animals inside this book include: rabbit, hippopotamus, tiger, zebra, giraffe, polar bear, panda, tapir, mandrill, sheep, porcupine, armadillo and more.

We needed this book last year to read with the CBCA theme/slogan "Curious Creatures, Wild Minds."  I am sure this book will fly off your shelves - the title is so enticing.  This is Maki Saito's first book in English. I recommend you add this book to your library - it is a beautiful hardcover edition which is not too expensive.

Blurb: All bottoms are wonderful! Don't you agree? Each animal in this adorable book has a different reason for loving their behind-from cute and round to fashionable and striped! Talented illustrator Maki Saito makes kids laugh out loud with playful illustrations of the backsides of hippos, zebras, pandas, mandrills, and more of our favorite animals. Her traditional Japanese art techniques add a sophisticated, beautiful feel to a book about ... animal butts! Kids will love readling along to this wonderfully silly and unusually empowering book.

This humorous title delivers just what it promises ... Kirkus

The animals are proud of their behinds, often calling it cute, stylish, and simply amazing. Animals don’t really compare their bottom to other animals, which may be different or the same in shape or color. They take their body form in stride, with lots of self-awareness, and without any self-consciousness. Kids Lit Review

If you need a more serious book about animal anatomy look for this:

Or you could look for this one to read alongside Animals brag about their Bottoms:

Take a look at my post about Squiggle, Diddle Plop! for other ideas (hint these are books about poo).

How to Make a Bird by Meg McKinlay illustrated by Matt Ottley

"To make a bird ... "

Birds are such wonderful and wondrous creatures. The act of flying seems so impossible, almost miraculous. How do birds make fight look so effortless and natural when we humans cannot jump into the sky without the assistance of huge contraptions such as aeroplanes?

Meg McKinlay explains how birds have hollow bones "so light ... you will hardly feel them." Matt Ottely shows what happens if you gather the bones and some feathers to build a bird. Meg explains you bird will need a heart "that beats faster than any human heart ... a sure, steady heart to carry it across oceans ... " Your bird will also need eyes, a beak, strong claws and one more thing:

"a song to sing."

Now your bird needs to fly so "gather it into your hands and cast it gently upon the air."

Just look at that word placement - gather, cast, gently, upon.

Setting your beautiful, newly created bird free is both a moment of sadness and yet also happiness. Looking in to the wide blue sky painted by Matt Ottley I felt both of those emotions and also an exhilaration as the bird disappears setting off to explore the world.

This book is thrilling on so many levels. I love the care Meg McKinlay has taken with each and every word. The expert craft of artist Matt Ottley shines through every page. This book has been designed beautifully. The cover is tactile, the end papers somehow manage to show the lightness of a feather and the title page looks like it came from the notebook of Leonardo da Vinci. How to Make a Bird also shows how powerful stories can be conveyed through images. We are not told anything about the little girl who is making her bird but careful readers will see there is a whole back story to be discovered from the shadowy room where she sleeps with its makeshift bed, to the precarious solitary tower where she lives.

I hope Walker Books have plans to send this book, like the little bird, out into the world. How to Make a Bird should be seen around the world as a shining example of the best picture books crafted here in Australia.

Here is the publisher blurb:

From award-winning author Meg McKinlay and celebrated artist Matt Ottley comes a moving and visually stunning picture book that celebrates the transformative power of the creative process from inception through recognition to celebration and releasing into the world. We shadow the protagonist as she contemplates the blue print of an idea, collects the things that inspire from the natural world to shape a bird. And breathes life into it before letting it fly free. It shows how small things, combined with a little imagination and a steady heart, can transform into works of magic. A must-have book for collectors of exceptional picture books. Walker Books

Here are a set of very comprehensive and extremely useful teachers notes. These show how this book could easily be read to younger children and then explored with a older group as a discussion starter for deeper meanings.