My favorite Children's book is The Mixed-Up Chameleon By Eric Carle. I love this book because it tells the story of a little chameleon who hates the fact that he changes color to match his surroundings. From what I've learned in the short amount of time that I've been interacting with children, other than my son, they do not like when they are first introduced to a different environment. I've learned that they often tend to mimic each other, just to get along.
From the first page, there are already new concepts to grasp, such as seeing the chameleon turn "brownish" after it moved onto a "brown" tree, "reddish" on a "red" flower, and "yellowish" on the "yellow" sand. Subsequently, my son would then read out loud, how "I wish I could be HANDSOME like a flamingo,"..."smart like a fox",..."funny like a seal" at which point he'll go "hahahahaha". The story has a moral to it too, about how the chameleon, after wishing to be all the things it wasn't, ended up so mixed-up that it finally wished "I could be myself." Which is what I teach all of the children I come in counter with to be...THEMSELVES!! I believe each one of them has a great gift inside of them and unless they are themselves the world will never know the real person they are!
The Mixed-Up Chameleon By Eric Carle is a great book. I love the concepts that it introduces as well. I also use the book to help my shy students understand that it is okay to let our feelings about something change like the chemeleon changed colors.
ReplyDeleteHi Kaysha--
ReplyDeleteI love Eric Carle's books, but I do not know this one well. Your description is so appealing that it makes me want to go out and buy a copy right now!
The way you discuss the book reminds me of my blog post for this week. I wrote about "Chester's Way" by Kevin Henkes. I would not have thought of the book's similarity before reading your post, because they are quite different, but your points about copying others to fit in and changing to adapt to your environment are definitely in my book too.
Tory (Group 2)
While working with preschoolers, we have the opportunity to help them figure out who they are and the capacities they may have. Sometimes, out of school, they don't have the exposure they need to new situations and challenges that would help them find their capacities. I love this book!
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