Each week I review books we have read with Squirm
The Flood by Nigel Gray
We first meet Mrs Farmer, in her red coat and boots, as the rain keeps falling down. As parts of the farm fill up with water, Mrs Farmer moves the animals to the house. They might take over a range of rooms inside, and make quite a mess, but Mrs Farmer finds their company reassuring. So when the waters recede and the animals return to their normal places, how will Mrs Farmer feel?
This is a lovely quiet book, with a surprising counting twist (at least until you get to the hens). The illustrations are simple and engaging and there’s quite a few little things to point out in them. There’s a few other books out their about floods, including the awesome Jackie French one about the Brisbane Floods – this one would accompany other books very well.
Dance With Me by Charles R Smith Jnr
This was a lovely simple book which encouraged the reader to dance along. It used simple but rhythmical language which was really lovely to read aloud. But, there was much more to the story when you ‘read’ the pictures as well as the words. In the pictures you realised that you are following a pair of children as they dance around their neighbourhood. We watch them go from one store to another, and as we reach the end, we realise that they’re collecting items for their brother’s birthday party.
I really liked the way the book was put together and I found the realisation they were getting ready for a birthday really pleasing 
You could use the book to talk about how pictures make such a difference to stories and try to draw new pictures for the text. You could also have a dancing party with this book.
Pouch by David Ezra Stein
The baby kangaroo comes out of his mother’s pouch and confidently goes exploring. Confident, that is, until he comes across something strange. Then ‘Pouch!’ and the kangaroo skitters back to the comfort of his mother. This repeats until the kangaroo comes across something strangely familiar.
This is a relatively short book, but packs a lot of humour into just a few words. The illustrations feel really lush and I think the whole thing would be fun to read over and over again. You could spend some time talking and learning about the different animals in the book, but I think this is a book that would make a great little play for a Prep or Grade One class
I’ll be sure to check these out next time we are at the library – hopefully Monday, sick children willing!