Little Letter Learning - P

 

Number 5 on the list - the letter P. This is one of Bean's favorites. "P, P, P, PEE!!!" Plus, it stands for Papa, which is pretty thrilling since Papa is one of everyone's favorite people. It is a pretty exciting letter in general - all the potty words start with it, Papa (obviously), it is a win in the letter department.

Shape: pentagon, parallelogram (might be a little advanced for a 3 year old since she doesn't know what parallel means), plus sign

Actions: prance, oink like a pig, pretend to play piano

Books:

• Poppleton - Cynthia Rylant
• This is an entire series and I promise you want to read all of these. There is nothing of Cynthia Rylant's I have not liked yet. Poppleton is a pig who is good friends with his neighbors, they do all sorts of activities together, overall, just a super sweet story. We love Poppleton. Bonus - lots of p's in his name AND it is adorable to hear a 3 year old say it.
• Tacky the Penguin - Helen Lester
• Hands down my favorite P book. Tacky is not like the other penguins, he is very different. At the end of the book they establish he is a great bird to have around. This one made me laugh out loud the first time I read it. Both my husband and I enjoyed it.
• Pigs Love Potatoes - Anika Denise
• Not my favorite book, but it includes some counting! The more pigs show up the more potatoes Mama needs to make for the crew. Also a good teamwork and hospitality book.
• Perfectly Percy - Paul Schimd
• I love Percy. Not much I can give you about this book without "giving away" the ending. Percy does some problem solving, asks a lot of people for help and ends up figuring out the perfect solution for his problem in time.
• The Three Little Pigs - James Marshall
• Obviously a classic story, James Marshall tells it very well. It is an extended version where the pig wins in the end. I thought it was a good telling, if you have a favorite, I would love to hear it.
• Piggies - Audrey Wood
• Mom got this for Boogie on Christmas - I love it. It is written from the child's point of view where he talks about his "piggies" (fingers). They all have names and can be many different moods. It is very sweet, we have all enjoyed it a lot. It's a short little bedtime book, certainly worth owning.
• If You Give A Pig a Pancake and If You Give A Pig A Party - Laura Numeroff
• Laura Numeroff - enough said. Pancake is not one of my favorites, but Party totally is since there is a hidden picture included in there! Very well done, actually was hard for me to find everyone the first time I read it! Great practice for kiddos.
• One Potato, Two Potato - Cynthia DeFelice
• Okay, this one is odd, but I enjoyed it anyway? It is about a husband and wife who are very poor, they share one potato a day, but they are running out. Only one potato left. They end up with a magic pot - if you put one item in, you pull two identical items out...have to read the book to see what all they duplicate!
• Thank You, Pooh
• Of course this one is a Disney book. While I am sure there is an author, they obviously do not get any credit. My love for Disney books is very shallow - I actually do not enjoy them much at all. This one is cute, it was a gift to Bean for one of her birthdays and, while I do not love Disney, I do love Winnie the Pooh. It is a great book about being thankful and I am always for a chance to encourage manners!
• Seven Little Postmen - Margaret Wise Brown
• Another little classic. If it is a Little Golden Book it is probably worth purchasing. Additionally, my dad is a mailman, so this book is extra fun for us as the seven little postmen help make sure the mail gets delivered! Great to look at the process of getting the mail where it needs to go. 

Honestly - P has probably been my favorite letter so far when it comes to books. We very much enjoyed these ones. I will say, Poppleton is a little longer than the other ones, we kind of just incorporated it in with our bedtime reading, which is perfect because letters matter outside of the morning school time anyway! It is great to get to let her know and see how what she is learning applies to all day every day. 

- Mama