We love books so of course I said that yes we would love to pick one out to share! My then almost three year old and I checked out some of the books and agreed on Driving my Tractor by Jan Dobbins. We had a crazy week after that with her birthday, and the birthday of my younger daughter, but finally found time early this week to sit down and read this new book. At first I was concerned that it was too young for my daughter since she often chooses to have books with more text to be read to her. Once I started reading I realized there were so many different ways that I could engage her in the story and work on a variety of important skills. Yes, the child development professional in me came out, as I am sure the teacher comes out in many moms and dads when they are home with their children.
The story itself is a simple, repetitive story about a farmer and his day. Which is perfect for working on repetition which is key for language development. The illustrations in Driving My Tractor are where the wonderfulness of this book really shines. As the farmer moves through his day he encounters different animals in increasing numbers. We had so much fun trying to figure out which animal he would come across next and counting them. It was perfect for working on visual scanning, and number sequencing. The illustrations in the book also move across the seasons. My two year old loved identifying which season it was, and talking about how we knew which season it was.
Once the book was over we pulled out a CD from the back of the book and got it up and running on our computer. We were able to then listen to the book in music for as the illustrations came to live in front of us! It was such a fun way to drive home the storyline and introduce my daughter to another way to experience a book. In a world with so many different styles of learning I loved that this was included for us!
So, all in all we loved this book! It was short, simple and told a nice story. It encouraged number sequencing, visual scanning, repition and season recognition among other things, but did it in a fun way. And we loved being about to sing along after! Thank you to Melissa and Barefoot Books for providing us with this book to read and share with all of you! We can't wait to check out some other Barefoot Books!
You can find Melissa East and her collection of Barefoot Books at events across the South Shore and Cape, or at www.barefootcaravan.com. She can also be reached at (508) 681-8272, barefootonthecape@gmail.com.
Our Mission Statement
At Barefoot Books, we celebrate art and story that opens the hearts and minds of children from all walks of life, focusing on themes that encourage independence of spirit, enthusiasm for learning and respect for the world’s diversity. The welfare of our children is dependent on the welfare of the planet, so we source paper from sustainably managed forests and constantly strive to reduce our environmental impact. Playful, beautiful and created to last a lifetime, our products combine the best of the present with the best of the past to educate our children as the caretakers of tomorrow.
NOTE: I received the book Driving my Tractor from Barefoot Books for the purpose of this review. I received no monetary compensation. The opinions expressed are entirely my own.
