Playground Day!

by Jennifer J. Merz

Intricate and charming collage illustrations crafted from torn and cut paper and found materials shine in this exuberant celebration of imagination and play. When a young girl packs her stuffed animals into her wagon and heads off to the park, she is inspired by both her toys and the playground equipment, and soon she is hiding like a squirrel, climbing like a monkey, sliding like a penguin, and so on--all relayed in catchy rhymed couplets. Each page offers clues to a friendly preschool guessing game and captures the unique pleasures of a day spent at the playground.

Genres: Picture Books, Storytime, Animals, Plays, Childrens

29 pages, Hardcover

First published September 17, 2007

Reviews

[Kelly · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was okay. I think it's meant to be a book that helps to get the wiggles out, but I didn't really like it for that.

[Elena Maddox · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good for toddlers or pre-K.

[Heather · Rating 2 out of 5]

This fell totally flat for me with the preschoolers. I just don't think the story is substantial enough, and there's not quite enough interaction for them. Sad because good illustrations.

[Sally · Rating 4 out of 5]

Summary
A little girl goes to the playground with her mom and imitates many different animals. The illustrations are collages which are engaging and there is an element of “guessing game” as you can guess which animal the girl is imitating. A sweet book!


Recommended for
This is a good book for the pre-school child, to introduce them to different animals and there is also an element of a guessing game that you can play with your child to guess which animal the little girl is pretending to be.

[Robin · Rating 4 out of 5]

A little girl takes a wagon full of stuffed animal friends with her to the playground. She climbs like a monkey, slides like a penguin, hops like a frog, hides like a squirrel through her day at the playground.

Bright, colorful appealing torn paper & collage illustrations have a very textured quality, especially nice for the animals.

Rhyming text.

Used in Stories & Signs on play and preschool visits, Nov. 2012

[Asho · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wasn't particularly impressed by the story in this book--nothing wrong with it, it just isn't particularly memorable--but I do think the fun built-in activity of being able to find the stuffed animal on each page and figure out what animal the young girl will be mimicking on the next page was pretty neat.
Plus it has torn-paper collage art. In case it isn't evident by now, I'm a sucker for that style.

[Jessica Buck · Rating 5 out of 5]

A cute short story of a girl and her day at the playground. Join her on her magical experience running, jumping, climbing and sliding through the park.
I’d recommend this book for a K-1st grader as a read aloud and for the 1st graders a independent read. Can be used in discussions about animals, imagination, and in older groups the importance of play.

[The Library Lady · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kids and animals in action all but jump out of the colorful illustrations. Text cascades beautifully. Could be used as a guessing game, an action game or just as a fun book to read together. Nice work!

[Beth · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pleasant story with adorable cut-and-torn-paper art.

Compares a girl's activities to those of various animals--good for kids to guess which animal she's like.

Educational and fun; storytime possibility.

[Vianey · Rating 5 out of 5]

this book is easy has rhythm and shows many movements that the specific animal. this book shows children the ways an animal moves. the book has great illustrations.

learning extension
have a song with animal movements and have the whole group follow along.

[Colorado Buck · Rating 5 out of 5]

wow. great book. rhyming, play and animals, guessing what animal makes that action they try to mimic on the playground, with clues on the page before. would be great for storytime. toddler or preschool. bunny, squirrel, monkey, bird, horse, penguin, elephant, frog, beaver, mouse,

[Stephanie Denison · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a cute book, but it was too young for Boop. I didn't look through it before I checked it out.

[Tricia · Rating 3 out of 5]

used for outreach. fun with the 4s but beneath the 3s understanding. cute pictures and story about a girl's day at the playground with her stuffed animals.

[Suzanne · Rating 5 out of 5]

My daughter really liked guessing which animals the little girl in the book was pretending to be. Good fun.

[Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

This adorable book has terrific collage illustrations and this would be a great pick for story time as children could participate in the actions of the story.

[Jen · Rating 3 out of 5]

this book was ok. The child pretends to be different creatures which the reader can guess on the next page. Cute collage style pictures.

[Paula · Rating 3 out of 5]

Children play on the playground, imitating animals from bunnies and squirrels to elephants and penguins.

[Alice · Rating 4 out of 5]

An all around good book. With an easy to read story for beginners and one you can act out too! The pictures are great in the collage, textures fashion I like.. Fun read!

[Casandria · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great story time participant books

[Olivia Eaton]

Tales for Two's - Summer Storytime