Chinese and English Nursery Rhymes: Share and Sing in Two Languages by Faye-Lynn Wu is an amazing book that we stumbled on in our local library. It is a perfect poetry pick for preschoolers. And while National Poetry Month is nearly over, a child's love of nursery rhymes can last a lifetime! This book is a great investment.The book is divided into 5 poetry sections: outside, inside, party, play, and night. Within those sections, an English nursery rhyme is paired with a Chinese rhyme based on the same theme. For example, the Mother Goose Rhyme, "Ladybug, ladybug fly away home..." is paired with a Chinese rhyme, "Little Bugs". The pages are bright and colorful and often there is a did you know box that provides facts about the Chinese culture. There are also challenges for the reader to find items in the pictures on each page.
The Chinese poems are written in simplified Chinese characters and the phonetic system called pinyin is provided so English speakers can try to decode the Chinese text.
The book also came with an audio CD which was really well done. The songs are simple and and sung with the accompaniment of an acoustic guitar. Most of the songs have children singing along with an adult female.
On of the reasons this book stood out to me at the library, was because we have a new family member arriving from China soon! My little niece will probably only be 2 1/2 but she may be speaking some Chinese when she comes home... hopefully she will get to come home SOON! She has two older brothers who also were born in China. They both spoke Chinese when they were adopted, but at that time my boys were not yet born or were babies. I loved that we could listen to the audio version of this book and hear the Chinese sounds. We talked a lot about our new cousin. We were able to talk about how some people sound differently than other people and that makes all people special and unique. We talked about our cousin would be learning to speak English and how we would need to be very patient with her as she learns to talk!
One thing that this book says is that it was written to "show that the things that kids love are the same, no matter where they live in the world."
This is a great book for any family or classroom that wants to experience the beauty of two languages having fun with singable rhymes and poems.
Here's Where I am Sharing:
The Learning Laboratory Book Sharing Monday Kids Co-op, What My Child is Reading,
Sometimes the best way to teach a math concept is through a story, sometimes it's through a connection to everyday life. Double the Ducks by Stuart J. Murphy is a fantastic book for introducing the concept of doubles in a very simple and fun way. In the story, a cowboy has 5 ducks. The ducks are a lot of work. They require three bags of seed and four bundles of hay. When the 5 little ducks each bring home a friend, the boy has double the ducks and double the work! The boy wishes he had double the hands to take care of his ducks. (I wished the same thing when I doubled the number of kids I had!) For the lucky duck in this story, a friend joins in to help, providing double the hands.
Earth Day Hooray by Stuart J. Murphy is a lesson not only in saving the Earth but also a lesson in place value. Earth Day Hooray is a part of the Math Start series of books written by Stuart J. Murphy. This is a level 3 math start book, which means the math is probably on a 1-2 grade level, but the story can be enjoyed by all. In this story, a group of kids decide to improve on their city park. They raise money for the improvements by collecting and recycling aluminum cans. They set a goal for their can collection. At first, they face some difficulty as their recycling is mistaken as trash. In the end, they are able collect, sort, and count enough cans for the money to buy flowers.
The Earth Book by Todd Parr describes simple things kids can do like using both sides of paper or turning off water when they brush, along with a description of how those things can save the Earth-- or in this case the animals habitats and the fish's water. Very simple text and bright illustrations are great for preschoolers.
The Lorax by Dr. Seuss A local pollution problem presented in poetic text. 
Jeremy Jacob in How I Became a Pirate has come face to face with real pirates and lives to tell the story. You can continue the adventure but know your little pirate will still want to come home to you and bedtime stories and goodnight kisses. If the cover illustrations look familiar to you, the illustrator is a preschool favorite, David Shannon (No, David!)
For an educational look at pirates, try this pirate alphabet book. Shiver Me Letters: A Pirate ABC is a rhyming alphabet book. The pirates set off to look for every letter of the alphabet (because "r" is not enough). If they fail their mission, they will walk the plank! Thanks to Reading Confetti for suggesting this book. Stop by her blog to see a great
Think most pirates are BOYS? You'll think differently after reading Night Pirates by Peter Harris. The pirates in this story are little GIRLS who invite a boy along on their nighttime adventure! This book is completely singable which means your girl pirate or boy pirate may have it memorized in no time at all!
For the beginning independent reader, Pirates Past Noon part of the Magic Tree House chapter book series, is a great Pirate story.
Earth Day Crafts by Carol Gnojewski is more than just a craft book. This nonfiction text provides a brief introduction of the history of Earth day. The books showcases 10 crafts about Earth day. There are also instructions for Earth day games your child can play using the crafts he made. There are additional resource pages listing books about Earth Day and internet sites about Earth Day. This book is also a great way to introduce your child to nonfiction text features such as a table of contents and an index.
