If I Built a Car by: Chris Van Dusen

This was a very entertaining read and I really enjoyed it. The first thing you'll notice when reading this one is that it rhymes. I think this makes it very fun for children to read and also teaches them about rhyming and flow and syllable counts. The book is about a child's fantasy of building his own car and how outrageous it would be. I think it would spark imagination in children and would make a good bridge to an activity of designing their own car. This type of book can really give a child lots of ideas and things they would want to create themselves. The pictures in the book are absolutely awesome, very close attention to detail and imaginative. It really makes a good portrait of what the child is seeing as he is talking about building his own car. This too could lead to an activity of having the children write about a car and then draw a picture of it. A great read and I would definitely recommend it, especially if you were going to start a unit on poetry or just emphasize rhyme and the effect it can have on a story.