Hey there! So I just wanted to take a minute to tell you about an amazing book we stumbled upon at the Library this week. It’s called La La La by Kate DiCamillo. I’m sure you have all heard of Kate DiCamillo and her fantastic pig Mercy Watson or The Tale of Despereaux.
This gorgeous picture book, illustrated by Jaime Kim, depicts a tale of loneliness and hope all bundled together in a fabulous book with no words. Discover a little girls journey to finding a friend using only a song in La La La.
La La La Activities & Ideas
As always I try to share some concepts or activities that you can do along with these books. With this specific book I really wanted to talk about the Power of Wordless Books.
Read Aloud
While reading La La La, you may have to read through it several times. The first time, you may just read it and kind of take in the story. The next time you read it, you can ask your kiddos to describe what is happening or tell the story using “their own words”. Since this is a wordless book it allows them to use their imaginations and draw clues based on the pictures. Both of these are great skills and can be fun especially with a book like this. You can also ask questions to kind of dig deeper into the story. The more you read it, the more details your little ones will pick up on and the more your story may change!
Write a Song
This beautiful story is about hope, singing, and making a connection. Have your little ones make up a fun, silly, or serious song about someone close to them, someone they love and have a connection with. You can get crazy and have them put on a show, record it and let them see their performance, or even send it to that certain special someone.
Friendship
Discuss friendship. What does it mean to be a friend? How can we reach out to those around us? Check out these lists of picture books about being a friend by Book Nerd Mommy and Teaching With Children’s Books.
Nature
- Talk about what season you think it is in the book? Why?
- Find a pond, forest, woods, or lake similar to the one in the book that is in your area. Take a trip there. Maybe pack a lunch, have a tea party picnic or just explore for the day.
- Compare your area to the pictures in the book. Draw or describe the similarities and differences.
- Talk about what lives in ponds/lakes or trees/forests that could have heard her song. How would the story be different if (insert animal) had heard her song?
Art
For younger kiddos, have them draw a picture of a friend or what friendship means to them.
Crafts
- Learn how to make friendship bracelets.
- Play this super cute game called Monster Friends by The OT Toolbox.
- Check out this list of 10 Crafts and Activities to Celebrate Friendship by Inner Child Fun.
Kindness
You can also use this book to talk about kindness or to start-up a Random Acts of Kindness Challenge. There are so many amazing ways that we can show kindness to those around us. Come up with a few and start your own Kindness Challenge!
Well that’s about all for now! I hope you LOVE this book as much as we do. Please drop me a line and let me know what other fun activities you came up with to go with this wonderful book.
I can’t wait to hear from you!
Until next time,
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