My First Day

Many animals give birth in the spring. As the weather gets warmer and the days get longer, spring is the perfect time to use Read-Alouds to present the idea that spring is the season for animal babies to be born. 

Steve Jenkins and Robin Page (husband and wife in real life) explore animals' first days in their book, My First Day. This book examines a wide variety of animals species and their first hours of life. Some baby animals, such as the capybara, are able to swim and hunt within a few hours of birth. Others, such as the golden snub-nosed monkey, ride along with Mom on her daily adventures to stay safe and keep from getting lost. Kids will be fascinated by the ways moms identify their babies in a pack of what looks like identical animals. Zebras, bats and the California sea lions all have unique ways of finding their young.

Because the illustrations in Jenkins' books are so large, vibrant and detailed, the text isn't too long to read from beginning to end. Or, you can take a different approach by skipping pages and dwelling on only those that interest the kids. Amazon's "look inside" shows several of the book's pages, including the last three pages that provide more information about all of the animals featured in the book. This unobtrusive style of providing information makes fun facts easily accessible to kids of all ages.

Pair this book with others by Steve Jenkins, including What Do You Do When Something Wants To Eat You?, Sisters and Brothers and What Do You Do With A Tail Like This?.  

More information about Jenkins and his books can be found at http://www.stevejenkinsbooks.com. 



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