Touring Picture Book: In the swamp by the light of the moon by Frann Preston Gannon.

Welcome to the latest touring picture book. Three fellow book bloggers and I come together to review a hand picked picture book and complete an activity alongside our book pick. The last touring picture book post was all about the brilliant diverse read, All Are Welcome.

Our chosen picture book this month is an enchanting read based on animals, published by Templar Books and written and illustrated by the talented creative, Frann Preston-Gannon. Her work includes The Journey Home and  I Am the Seed That Grew the Tree which was illustrated by Frann Preston-Gannon. Her latest release is In the Swamp by the light of the Moon which was published earlier this month.

In the Swamp by the Light of the Moon is a beautifully illustrated book that captures a rather magical swamp. Frog, who is pictured on the front cover is rather fond of music. Playing his guitar and signing quietly he feels that singing alone is not much fun at all. He is proactive and goes on a search for other animals to join him in his music fun.

On his search he finds different animals who agree to join him. A crocodile, mice, fish and birds are all included in this party of musicians, each contributing something different. It’s interesting to witness all these animals getting along, some which are often portrayed as not particularly friendly in many picture books. Aside from an invitation, no other questions are asked. Each animal is treated the same regardless of how large or small.

However, there is one little bug, who you may well spot on each page, that is watching this group of music players. She is shy and reluctant to join in and believes that her singing voice will not do justice to this now largely formed musical group. Frog changes this. He appreciates that everyone is unique and explains…

“My friend,” said frog, “your song’s unique

and important like all of the rest.

Even small voices count, so lets hear yours –

only you can sing your song best.”

After such warm words, bug is infused with confidence and her little voice does her proud. The song spreads far all through the swamp and what first began as a solo has formed into a whole animal community singing and playing instruments together.

This is a heartwarming, lyrical picture book. It is a rather fun book to read aloud as Frann Preston-Gannon includes different sounds that the animals sing, “OH,” “LA!” Beautifully presented and echoes an important message that regardless of how loud or quiet your voice is, your voice is an important one.

We reused some plastic bottles and filled them with different materials, natural and otherwise to create a soundtastic, sensory bottle. This is something that I did with my youngest daughter who is 2 years old.

We first looked carefully at the illustrations and I discussed the different colours seen within each page. As my youngest is still learning about colours, I made a point of incorporating some of the colours spotted in the illustrations within our activity.

 The activity not only encouraged a discussion around colour but also on texture, shape, quantity and sound.

My daughter absolutely loved completing this activity and with the story in mind we’ve been playing our sensory bottles quietly and loudly!

To see what the other book bloggers got up to and to read about their take on the book, do head over to the websites:

Acorn Books – Drawing with Frann Preston Gannon

Bookbairn – Origami frog

Along Came Poppy – Experimenting with sounds

Until next time, happy reading!

 

 

 

Disclaimer: I received this book from the publishers as part of Touring Picture Book. All words and opinions are entirely my own. This post contains affiliate links.