Laura Numeroff is best known for her adorable and often alliterative stories such as If You Give a Mouse a Cookie and If You Give a Moose a Muffin. Numeroff is an excellent author to study for young children in kindergarten or 1st grade. As a school librarian, Laura Numeroff is one of my favorite author studies to conduct with young students.
About the Author. Laura Numeroff grew up on Brooklyn, NY. Her father worked on the art staff of a New York newspaper and her mother was a junior high home economics teacher. She was a girl scout and her library card was one of her most prized possessions as a child. Numeroff originally attended Pratt College, hoping to become a fashion designer. During a college class Laura Numeroff was given the assignment to write and illustrate a children’s book and she never looked back! Today, Laura Numeroff continues to write and loves spending time with her two sisters and her nieces and nephews.
Best Books. Although Laura Numeroff has authored dozens of books, a few specific ones, illustrated by Felicia Bond, are her best. If You Give a Mouse a Cookie, If You Give a Moose a Muffin, If You Give a Pig a Pancake, If You Give a Pig a Party, If You Take a Mouse to the Movies, If You Take a Mouse to School, and If you Give a Cat a Cupcake all follow the same “circle story” format. The books are humorous for young children and are great for teaching sequencing and beginning, middle, and end in books.
Learning Activities. There are plenty of great learning activities that go along with a Laura Numeroff author study. Having children write their own alliterative titles for a Numeroff book is a great activity. Students may come up with If You Give a Snake a Sock, If You Give a Cow a Cucumber, or If You Give a Dinosaur a Donut. Have the students illustrate their ideas for a new Numeroff title as well. Also,
Students can also create their own circle stories. Working in groups or as an entire class, start a story with an opening line such as the titles above. Then ask the next student to add to the story. The story may sound something like this: “If you give a dinosaur a donut, he will ask for a glass of milk to go with it. When you go to the refrigerator to get the milk the dinosaur will see eggs and will ask to scramble them. When you get out a frying pan, the circle shape will remind him of the sun and he will ask to go outside.” The story will continue until you reach the last student. At that time the story will need to circle back around to the dinosaur asking for a donut.
Another fun learning activity for a Laura Numeroff author study is to decorate cupcakes after reading If You Give a Cat a Cupcake. If you are really ambitious you could decorate real cupcakes, but if you prefer less mess, visit Laura Numeroff’s website where you will find a cupcake template that can be printed off and decorated.
Laura Numeroff and her adorable stories makes for a wonderful author study! Use these book title suggestions and learning activities to do your own Laura Numeroff author study.
Source: www.lauranumeroff.com
