Harry Hungry by Steven Salerno (2009)   

    Toddler Harry is feeling hungry, and a small snack is not working for him.  He nibbles on flowers, mailboxes, highways, mountains and is after the moon when he gets tired and goes to sleep.

    I used this with preschoolers, thinking they'd get the exaggerated humor, and they seemed to enjoy it, but when I used it with the toddlers, they were enthralled - no, seriously!  They identified many of the images Harry was eating and found his menu hilarious! 

    The book was good for Narrative Skills with both age groups, as the kids told much of the story, figuring out what Harry was eating next from looking at the pictures, and talking about things they have eaten or would like to eat - bridges seemed very popular.  There was also some Vocabulary in the form of fun action words (howled, devoured, screeched, bellowed, wobbled) and fun nouns (in a blink, garden hose, bridge, chunk).  There is even Print Awareness, with text on every page that is bold, enlarged, angled or otherwise distinctive, and Letter Knowledge by identifying distinctive letter combinations , such as the tummy grumbling GRRRRRGRRRRRGRRRRR or short words in enlarged text words such as PLOP, CRUNCH and MORE.  Fun for toddlers and for preschoolers.

- Natasha Forrester