When you have a book that can make a whole group of five and six year olds belly laugh, you know you have a gem.
That was our literacy block today when we were reading “The Incredible Book Eating Boy” and “Stuck”. The second story got even more laughs because of how outrageous it is. You can watch Oliver Jeffers read this story on YouTube. It resonates even more if you read it and then listen to him read it in his Irish accent.
We all know how wonderful Dr. Seuss, Eric Carle, and Jan Brett are….but I really was needing a little more this year. Not that I didn’t read all of these stories to my kinders this year. I knew I needed a little more depth, richer vocabulary, and various illustrating styles to show my kids. I was feeling a little robotic.
Not only can you watch this story on YouTube if you do not own it, but you can watch Oliver Jeffers discuss how he writes his book. My favorite part of this is that he holds up a pencil and a notebook and shows them that all of his ideas start right there. I could have kissed him. Except that he looks like the man from “Caps for Sale”…
Regardless, perfect way to launch this author study.
I found Oliver Jeffers while wandering through different bookstores last summer in London. I know that some of his books have made it over to the states, but they haven’t reached the popularity level that they have in Europe. His books need to be in the hands of young readers.
Today, we started with two of my favorites that I mentioned before. Tomorrow, we are going to be reading about The Hueys. {Fun side note, the book I got in London is titles “The New Jumper” and if you buy it here you will get “The New Sweater”}There are so many ways to incorporate so many beneficial language skills and deep thinking, I can’t even begin to list the ways. Here are all the yummy books we are reading this week.
Here are some pictures from our response activity today after we read “Stuck”.
You can do this activity with your students even if you don’t have the book. You have the link to watch the story and now you have an activity to do with it.
Then, you will probably turn in to an Oliver Jeffers fanatic and go on an Amazon and buy an obsene amount of books.
Ahem, I don’t know anyone who has done that…
I feel like a new breath of literacy life has been blown in to my classroom this week. I know we only have one full week left, but I am not counting down the days right now. I am squeezing in as many good stories as I can.
Really, the perfect way to end the year.
If you turn in to an Amazon Oliver Jeffers shopping machine and need more activites, you can find it in my Oliver Jeffers Author Study Unit. 
