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Leo Lionni was a nationally acclaimed artist, designer, sculptor, art director, and creator of children's books. He received the 1984 American Institute of Graphic Arts Gold Medal and was a four-time Caldecott Honor Book winner for his books Alexander and the Wind-Up Mouse, Frederick, Inch by Inch, and Swimmy. Leo published his first book at the age of 49 and went on to write a total of 40 children's books. Growing up in Amsterdam, he developed a love for nature and small animals, which became the inspiration for the characters in his books. As an artist first, Lionni created all of the illustrations in his books using a variety of mediums, including painting with brushes, his fingers, glass, drawing, and paper collaging.

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I would share this author with a class of 1st graders, begining with Leo Lionni’s website. His website has a wonderful video introducing Leo and his explainations on why he wrote his books, how he came up with his ideas, and how he created his illustrations. The interview in the video is child-guided, making it relatable to the class. After the video, I could ask the students if they were to illustrate a book, how might they do it.

Because Lionni's books are shorter, this author study would last about a week. These books would be great to read while the students are learning about nature and animals in their science class. Relating this lesson to Lionni's writing style, I would have the students find what inspires them outside, and write and illustrate their own book about what they found. This would be an ongoing project lasting through the author study week.

The four books we will be reading are placed in the order we will be reading them on this Padlet. Each book will be shared in a read aloud setting, and I have written a summary of each book under the corresponding picture. At the end of each summary, I have provided the learning experience that is planned for each book.

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Age Ranges: Best for Early Childhood into 2nd Grade

Genre: Animal Fantasy

Summary: Fredrick is a story about a little mouse named Frederick who lives with his family of feild mice. Winter is approaching, so the mice gather food to prepare for the cold weather ahead. However, Frederick is not gathering food like the other mice. Frederick is staring at the sun, collecting "sun rays," "colors," and "words." Once winter arives, the mice slowly run out of their food, and they become cold and dreary. They then ask Fredrick to share what he collected. He shares the warmth from the rays, the colors, and the poetry that he had gathered; this lifts everyones spirits, and they realize that what Fredrick was collecting was just as important to survive the winter as the food. The story teaches lessons about how creativity and imagination are just as important to communities as physical means.

Activity: This book would be presented as a Read Aloud. I would want one book per table group, allowing the students to pay close attention to the illustrations in the book. In this activity, we would be observing how we can look at the illustrations to give us details on key ideas in the story. At the end of the book, I would have the class reflect on special skills that they might use to help them problem solve, or to help people around them. We would discuss how sharing our talents and skills can bring new ideas, solutions and joy to others. When everyone shares their special talents, it can help build a great classroom team!

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children's picture books & activity books

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A family of field mice work day and night, gathering provisions for the coming winter. As they busily collect and store wheat, nuts and corn, they reproach Frederick for dreaming the lazy summer away. But during the long cold winter, when all their stores have been used up, Frederick proves to hi...

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LIBM 205 Lesson Plan for the Author Study

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Age Range: Early Childhood into 2nd Grade

Genre: Animal Fantasy

Summary: Inch by Inch is a story about an inchworm who runs into a hungry bird, and in order to avoid being eaten, the inchworm tells the bird that he can measure things. So, the inchworm measures the birds tail, and the bird is so impressed that he flys the inchworm to measure his friends. After measuring many birds, a nightingale asks the inchworm to meausre its song, or it was going to eat him up. The inchworm tells the nightingale to sing, and as it sings, the inchworm measures away, inch by inch, until he had escaped the nightingale. This story not only teaches lessons about problem-solving, but also could be used to teach a lesson on measurement. Relating it to the real world, Inch by Inch, can be used to teach children that everyone has a unique ability that could be useful in different situations to help others.

Activity: With this book, I would create a measuring activity. We would begin with a Read Aloud, and then discuss how the inchworm measures all of the different birds in the book. We would talk about how each inch addes up to something bigger. I would make inch strips as student handouts, letting them each customize their very own "inchworm." There would be stations set up in the classroom with different objects at each station for the students to measure with their inchworms. The students would count how many inchworms long the object is, and write down their meausrements. To close the activity, we would discuss other ways the students might use to measure things, and why measurement is important.

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Inch by Inch [Lionni, Leo] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. Inch by Inch

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Age Range: Early Childhood to 2nd Grade

Genre: Animal Fantasy

Summary: Fish is Fish is a story of a fish and his best friend, the tadpole. As the two of them grow up, the tadpole transforms into a frog, leaving the fish confused and lonely; he thought the frog was just like him, a fish. After weeks, the frog finally returns with many stories of the world outside the water. The frog tells the fish about the animals he encountered on land. The fish imagines all of these creatures to look similar to himself. The frog then has to leave, and the fish wishes he too could hop around on land. He flaps his tail and leaps out of the water onto land - only to realize he can't breathe. The frog saves his life by pushing him back into the water. The fish then has a new apreciation for the water, seeing the beauty in his home, and realizing that everyone is unique. It is a story about growth, change, and understanding. It teaches a lesson on how your imagination can shape how you see the world, and how everyone's experiences can be different, based on perspective.

Activity: With this book, we would discuss the different ways people can percieve things when they only hear something being described, versus seeing something themselves. This would relate to the frog describing to the fish the animals he saw on the land, and how the fish was picturing them looking like himself. For this activity, I would have students partner up, describe something in their life to their partner, like their pet, favorite stuffed animal/toy, object in their house, etc., and have their partner try to draw what they are describing. To close the lesson, we would discuss how just like the fish and the frog have different ideas of their world, people from different places around the world can sometimes imagine things differently. Because of this, it's important to listen to eachother and try to understand how others are experiencing the world.

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Age Range: Early Childhood into 2nd Grade

Genre: Animal Fantasy

Summary: Matthew's Dream is a story of a young mouse named Matthew who lives with his parents in an attic. Their family is poor, and his parents have dreams of Matthew becoming a doctor to save them. But after a visit to the museum with his classmates, Matthew was entranced by the paintings. Once he returns home, he dreams of Nicoletta, a mouse he met at the museum, and the beautiful art, only to wake up to his dreary attic corner. But then, Matthew's attitude changed toward the attic. He started to see beauty in the crumpled newspapers and junk heaped in the corner, alluding to the endless possibilities of creativity and imagination. He then expresses to his parents that he want's to become a painter. Matthew begins working very hard at his new career, and becomes a famous painter where mice from all over the world come to visit his artwork. This story teaches a lesson on exploring your own creativity, embracing your imagination, and showing you can do anything you put your mind to.

Activity: This book would be read as a Read Aloud to the class. After reading the book, we would discuss the importance of following our dreams and passions. We would talk about the many different jobs in the world, and why each one of them is important. I would have the students reflect on the story, and think about what they would like to be when they grow up, and why. Without sharing their passion, I would then have them go to their desks and draw a picture of thier dream job, writing what the job is below the drawing. Their drawings would be hung on the wall, creating a collage just like Mathew's attic in the book. There would be allotted time for students to share reasons for chosing their dream job. We would then wrap up the lesson concluding our weekly reads, discussing how everyone's talents are important and needed in order to make a good team. Frederick's creativity helped his family, the Inch worm's special talent of measurement helped measure the birds, and also helped him problem solve. The fish realized that he didn't need to be on land to be important, that his home was where he belonged. Matthew found his passion that made him happy, and the people who viewed his art were happy as well!

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Amazon.com: Matthew’s Dream: 9780679873181: Lionni, Leo: Books