Phonological Awareness
Expose your child to the assortment of speech sounds and rhythmical verses that are featured throughout the book. Try using different tones of voice to make clear distinctions between the characters, like the bunny announcer and the bunny choral singers.
Engage your child in sound play as you’re reading and singing the text. After reading the pages that have the words “ten terrific rabbits,” bring your child’s attention to the /t/ sound at the beginning of ten and terrific.
For example, you might ask:
"How many rabbits do you see? Let’s count them!"
Invite your child to count each rabbit along with you as you point to each rabbit.
Then you might say:
"Ten! There are /t/ /t/ ten /t/ /t/ terrific rabbits!"
Encourage your child to say "/t/ /t/ ten" along with you! You might even continue by saying:
"Now, let’s look for some bunny /t/ /t/ tails!"
Oral Language
Sharing this book with your child will expose her to many new vocabulary words, which is important for the development of oral language.
As you read the story, introduce your child to the word audience. Try to give her a child-friendly definition of the word, using the pictures in the book to help her understand the concept. For example, while pointing to the back of the red chairs pictured in the book, you might say:
"The audience is everyone who is watching the bunny rabbit show."
You might also introduce the concept words front and back to your child. Pointing to the picture of the bunnies facing you, you might say:
"This is the front of the bunnies. We can see their eyes and their noses! "
Next, pointing to the back of the red audience chairs pictured, you might say:
"I wonder who is sitting in the red chairs in the audience. We can only see the backs of their heads!"
Encourage your child to guess the animals that are watching the Bunny Rabbit Show by looking at the back of their heads. Then, turn the page and have fun naming all of the animals in the audience!
On the final page of the story, bring your child’s attention to the word "applause" that is printed at the top of the page. Talk about the meaning of the word applause and demonstrate how we create applause when we like something by clapping our hands. For example, you could say:
"When we really, really like something, we make applause by clapping our hands like this" (clap your hands, demonstrating applause).
Encourage your child to applaud or clap for the fanfare of animals at the end of the storybook.
