In my ongoing search for picture books about plays, I can’t believe I forgot an old favorite, Amazing Grace by Mary Hoffman and Caroline Binch. Grace is a young girl who loves to act out stories. The illustrations of her pretending to be all sorts of characters are beautiful and inventive, and you can see [...]
Archive for the 'Books' Category
It’s not hard to guide your students through a dramatic process, but it’s also not easy and can be very intimidating.
My colleague and I take this learning process for you, the teacher, very seriously. PictureBook Plays isn’t just about creating an important opportunity for a child, it’s about helping you gain the confidence and the [...]
Amandina is a little dog with golden eyes. She is shy and has no friends. She is also very talented at many things. She decides to make friends by putting on a performance. What follows is lovely tale and a perfect introduction to simple theatrical vocabulary.
One of my favorite parts is towards the end. Amandina [...]
Ever on the hunt for picture books about theatre, I discovered a dandy last week!
George Hogglesberry is an alien. The book is not about terror of aliens, or riding in space crafts, it’s about finding your place in a new home. And fitting in. The first sentance of the book makes that clear: “Before George [...]
Presumably written as a resource for absolute beginners, Take a Bow!, by Nina Czitron, is a series of 25 stories proceeded by five basic warm-ups.
If you’re looking for easy stories to turn into plays and for some reason have never heard of such classics as The Three Little Pigs and Goldilocks then this is the [...]
Should you wish to use drama as an aid to exploring emotional discovery and empathy for 4-6 year olds, The Dramatic Difference, by Victoria Brown and Sarah Pleydell, is a great book for you. Should you wish to explore simple theatrical or language-based activities that have a big impact, stay far far away. [...]
I stumbled upon this delightfully funny book, Stuck in the Mud, just published in February of this year.
One morning, a mother hen discovers one of her chicks is missing and stuck in the mud. She jumps in to rescue her but gets stuck as well. One by one, the farm animals jump in [...]
I excitedly ordered the hard-to-find children’s book, Sam Pig at the Theatre, part of a British series. Alas, that’s the last time I trust Amazon’s claim of age range. It is not for children 2-4. In fact, I’d likely read it to a five or six year old. It does, however, [...]
I have begun what seems like a futile quest: quality picture books about acting. There are plenty about dance and music, but very few about the theatre. I will be hunting them all down (out-of-print ones too!) to determine the best ones to use with your students.
We begin with, Beverly Billingsly Takes a [...]
I stumbled across The Happy Egg a couple of years ago. It was written by Ruth Krauss and illustrated by my old favorite Crockett Johnson (creator of Harold and the Purple Crayon).
The pictures are deceptively simple. I say deceptively because I, at first, thought it would only be appropriate to use for two [...]