This Month’s Book: Listen to the Desert
Our Cover to Cover Book of the Month for April is Listen to the Desert by Pat Mora. This colorful book is perfect for promoting phonological awareness and is so much fun to read with all the desert animals and the interesting sounds they make. “Listen to the coyote call, ar-ar-aooo, ar-ar-aooo.”
Listen to the Desert provides a wonderful opportunity for Arizona children to connect to the environment in which they live. While reading, talk to your children about the different types of desert animals found in this book. Focus on the differences and similarities between the animals. “How is the frog different from the snake? How are they the same?”
The rhythmic flow of this book provides a great opportunity to turn it into a song. Sing the words to the tune of Itsy Bitsy Spider. “Listen to the desert, pon, pon,” pon.”
Learning shapes is a precursor to letter recognition. The simplicity of the illustrations in Listen to the Desert allow for children to clearly see the different shapes found throughout the book. While reading, point out the shapes to your children. “What shape is the rattle that the snake is holding in his tail?”
Take a nature walk with your child! While walking, point out all the plants and animals that are native to the Sonoran Desert, or simply focus on the ones around you. Promote vocabulary by using lots of descriptive words when talking about what you see. Encourage your child to use descriptive words by asking them to describe what they see. Make it a game! “I spy with my little eye something tall, green and spiky!”
Join the Conversation!
Share your experience with Listen to the Desert and be entered into a raffle to win next month’s C2C Book Club title! For example, you could:
- Tell us about your child’s favorite part of the story.
- Send a video of you sharing the book together.
- Send a picture of you and your child on the nature walk!
Share your photos and videos with us on Twitter and Instagram and be sure to tag Make Way for Books. For example:
@mwfbaz Look at all the different cacti we found on our nature walk! #storytime
Or email us your photo or video at info@makewayforbooks.org.
Be creative! We can’t wait to see what you loved about Listen to the Desert.