Kid Konnection: Fall 2019 Dawn Publications Picture Books

Every Saturday, I host a feature called Kid Konnection -- a regular weekend feature about anything related to children's books. This week I'm going to share with you two fun and educational picture books from Dawn Publications.

Summary: “If you were an animal—wild or tame, would you know your daddy’s name?” Every page answers this question with a different animal. Meet a joey riding piggy-back whose daddy is a sugar glider, a calf whose daddy is a towering giraffe, and a tiny fry floating next to its seahorse daddy. Children will be delightfully surprised by the animal in the middle of the book, and dads will especially appreciate the scene on the last page. Rhyming verses describe animal characteristics, and watercolor illustrations capture the feeling of all the different habitats, making every page a teachable moment. Additional animal information and matching game in the back of the book extends the learning. -- Dawn Publications

HE'S YOUR DADDY! DUCKLINGS, JOEYS, KITS, AND MORE by Charline Profiri and illustrated by Andrea Gabriel is a beautiful book that teaches young ones about baby animals and their daddies. Each page spread introduces a different baby/father pair including cygnets and swans, kits and beavers, and fawns and stags.

I think HE'S YOUR DADDY! is a great way to learn the names of baby animals and their "daddies." I will admit that I even learned a thing or two. The illustrations are gorgeous and provide kids with a lot to look at. There are even some special pages at the back of the book that take this book to the next level. There is a matching game as well as additional details about the various animals. Also included are additional names for daddy animals, some of the responsibilities of daddy animals and science and math fun!

HE'S YOUR DADDY! is a fantastic way to teach children about the names of animals. Highly recommended for school and home libraries.

Click here for a fun matching game!

Summary: Deserts are full of surprises! An amazing array of animals calls this driest place on Earth their home. Through rhythm and rhyme, children meet a new animal on every page. They won’t be able to resist getting in on all the action as animal parents teach their babies how to live in this unusual place—camels kneel, armadillos dig, dingoes sniff, and jerboas jump. Cut paper collages capture the subtle beauty of the desert and also “hide” more animals for young eyes to find. Additional information, a world map, and tips from the author give parents and teachers all they need to make learning fun. One part song, one part story, and one part sheer delight! -- Dawn Publications 

OVER ON A DESERT: SOMEWHERE IN THE WORLD by Marianne Berkes and illustrated by Jill Dubin is another fun, yet educational, picture book for youngsters. This one teaches kids about the various animals that live in the desert including dingos, armadillos, and roadrunners. Like HE'S YOUR DADDY, this book shows baby animals learning from their parents how to survive in the desert.

OVER ON A DESERT has a catchy rhyming cadence so it's perfect for read-aloud story times. In addition to introducing a variety of unusual animals, this book also reinforces counting with more and more animals appearing on each page. The pages in the back of the book are full of even more information about animals in deserts. There is a map showing the various desert areas around the world as well as clues/details about the "hidden" animals in the book. That's right! Kids can go back through the book and find the hidden animals.

I'd be remiss if I didn't mention the fun illustrations in this book. The pictures are cut paper collages add a really cool vibe to the story. If you want even more about desert animals, click here for activities based on the book including hidden animal pages, bookmarks, and a matching game.

Parents and kids alike will enjoy reading OVER ON A DESERT. Highly recommended!

Thanks to the publisher for providing review copies of these books.

If you'd like to participate in Kid Konnection and share a post about anything related to children's books (picture, middle grade, or young adult) from the past week, please leave a comment as well as a link below with your name/blog name and the title of the book! Feel free to grab the little button too!