ReedALOUD: Let's Play!

"The familiar yellow dot returns to take readers on a spectacular journey of color, motion, shape, and imagination, filled with the artistry and delight typical of the other two in the series. But this time, a new dimension is added to the mix: emotion. Connecting to both the mind and the heart, this dot expresses an extraordinary sense of humor, fear, joy, and more as it pushes, lurches, wiggles, and slides its way through—and even off—the pages of this picture book." ~Chronicle Books

That's right! 

The third book 

in the series by Herve Tullet 

hits bookstores on March 29, 2016!  

Let's Play is another interactive reading tour de force. My students LOVE both Press Here and Mix It up and were thrilled to see Let's Play! It is reassuring to have third graders so excited to press, taps, blow, trace, and generally interact with the book. With each page turn, their bodies were inching closer and closer to the book and each other. Those whose pages did not have them physically touching the book were disappointed, I reassured them that we would have many copies of the book and there would be opportunities to read and play often, but in the moment, it showed me how much they get lost in the interactions. 

Along with the other aspects of the book, The students enjoyed the opportunity to utter words and phrases like "za-za-za-zoommm." 

After the students played with the book, I turned back to this page:

I explained to the students that they were to answer this question, "Now what do you think we should do?" and that their answers would be the next page in the book. 

I showed how the papers I had fit right into the book. After brainstorming and sharing ideas, the students and I reviewed what we noticed about the writing and art in the book and what we thought needed to be on each page. 

My library was almost silent for the first ten minutes as students created their pages, and then a slow murmur built into a hum as they approached each other to share their ideas and try them out. 

Here's a look at the students' work.  I plan to laminate the pages and mount them into a book which I will give to the classroom for the rest of this year and then keep in the library after that.

"Now what do you think we should do?"

Class One

Class Two

Class Three

How will you play 

with Herve Tullet's latest 
dotty adventure?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

In this article from Entertainment Weekly,  Herve explains how Let's Play came about: “After Press Here and Mix it Up!, I wanted to find another way to explore the dialogue between the book and the reader,” Tullet tells EW. “In Let’s Play!, the dot becomes a character with feelings and emotions. In the text, I use words that encourage the reader to play, gesture, and have fun with the child they are reading with. The book is really a tool for interaction between the reader and child that needs a reader’s voice in order to work.”