I had a different book picked out for today, but then my daughter and I spent half of yesterday afternoon playing in mounds of foam packaging peanuts and acting out Ruth Ohi’s Chicken, Pig, Cow with a set of finger puppets. Any book we like enough to craft an entire afternoon around is worth sharing, right?
The number one reason that I like Chicken, Pig, Cow (besides the fact that we just happen to have toys and finger puppets that look suspiciously similar to the illustrations) is this: originality. It’s a book about a trio of toy animals who must face their biggest fear (the family dog) when they escape from their popsicle stick pen. If that isn’t a creative new perspective, I don’t know what is!
Also, I completely credit this book for Charlotte figuring out how to snort like a pig. I’ve been reading Chicken, Pig, Cow to her a few times a week for over a year now and she just loves to point at the pig illustrations so that I will snort and oink. Now that she knows how to oink herself, sometimes I turn around and find her crawling on all fours snorting at the cats.
It’s pretty cute.
At any rate, my point is this: fun illustrations, clever idea, animal sounds, easy to stretch the story into activities like finger puppetry, a heartwarming ending…what else could you possibly want in a book for young children?
What to do: You can enter this giveaway by leaving a comment below or sending me an e-mail answering this: when is the last time you faced a fear? All you need is an e-mail address. The giveaway ends Sunday evening at 9 P.M. Pacific Time. You can leave one entry every day, for a total of up to six entries.
To purchase this book: You can buy Chicken, Pig, Cow through Amazon.com (that link uses my affiliate code) or locate a local retailer through Indie Bound.org.
Ruth Ohi | Annick Press | Annick Press Facebook | Annick Press Twitter
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I am facing my fear of flying across the country with just me and my baby girl on Saturday.
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I am extremely scared of heights, but a few summers ago I did a canyoneering day with my sister and husband. I had to psych myself up (with help) the whole day. It was a beautiful day and I ended up having a great time. I have never been so proud of myself.
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Wow! Thanks for sharing this, Sarah. I am totally thrilled that CPC are loved by Charlotte. And yay for foam peanuts and learning how to snort!!
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Sounds like a great book! My own 17 mo old has an elephant down like a pro! She even lifts up her arm like a trunk when she tells me what an elephant says. I guess we should work on the pig sound. :)
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i used to be afraid of the dark and of sleeping in the house alone at night. burgalars, ghosts, strange noises oh my! unfortunately my husband travels like 70% of the time so i have to face my fear a lot including this week. i just sleep with lots of lights on in the house! :)
this book would be great for my 6 month old! we are training him to be a farmer :)
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Sounds like another adorable book!!! I faced my fear of being alone with the baby for a few days straight back in October and November. During that time, my husband took 3 business trips that lasted 4 days each. The baby was 3 months then. Totally wore me out having absolutely no help, but at the same time I felt so empowered when I accomplished it.
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I faced my fear of failure by moving back in with my parents to save some money. I am finally learning how to ask for help! This is something I will hopefully pass down to my children, and hopefully they can bypass the whole fear of failure thang…
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Fear was recently experienced when I made up in my head that someone was standing beside my bed. I had a freak out moment and just about killed my cat that was sleeping b/w me and my husband by almost rolling over her. Thank goodness Steve woke up and stopped me. I constantly make stuff up in my head and freak out soon after falling asleep. I hope this goes away one day. It isn’t fun!
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I have had to recently give up my fear of relying on people. Being 34 weeks pregnant I am starting to have a hard time doing physical things, meaning that for the first time ever I am having to ask other people for help. I really hate doing it but am getting used to it.
BTW I really want this book. I grew up on a dairy, raised pigs in high school, and now own six chickens so I am going to have to buy this book if I don’t win :-)
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facing a fear? hmmm. am meeting with a potential headshot photographer next week, something i’ve been putting off for years. go me!
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Looks like a great book, will have to buy if I don’t win as I grew up in Iowa around pigs and plan on teaching my little one all about farms.
Fear - being a mom, everyday I am sure I am going to mess up somehow, but I know that what makes me a better mom, learning and moving on…
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That sounds like a really cute book.
I am dealing with a huge fear right now. My 2 year old is sick and threw up for the first time. She’s having trouble breathing and all fun stuff that scares the crap out of me.
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I’ve always been a little weary of dispensing medicine. I had taken a few classes before on the dangers of children overdosing or being given the wrong Rx… I knew how to do it, but I was always on edge about giving precisely the right amount, and about keeping everything locked away from the kids—while my husband would have no problem giving our toddler any old adult medicine we had lying around—just in a smaller dose. It made me crazy!
Then, Matthew stumbled upon the medicine cabinet one day, climbed up and decided to down the entire bottle of children’s cough syrup I’d just bought the day before. Apparently, I assumed it had a childproof lid, and so I didn’t go to any great lengths to lock it up. Just put it up above the sink with the other childproof meds.
The wonderful woman on the Poison Control Hotline assured me (laughingly) that it didn’t even warrant a trip to the ER, and that he’d be just fine as I sobbed to her on the phone, sure that my poor child would need to have his stomach pumped. Anyway—it prompted me to do a little bit more of my own research, and now I’m a lot more relaxed.
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That book sounds so cute! I am pretty sure I have conquered my fear of spiders and most other freaky looking bugs. I used to just stand there crying, afraid to move. I still don’t like them but have to deal with them almost daily and I can NOT freak out. The last thing I want is for my kids to have a debilitating fear of spiders or other insects and my daughter is frightened very easily. So since she was old enough to find bugs I have been slowly teaching both of us that all bugs are nice from a distance.
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oink oink.
im a pretty nervous person alltogether. i always fear i’ll dissapoint someone, or mess up something.. -
I faced a fear of changing grade levels. I love teaching Kindergarten but was asked to move and took it as a challenge. Sometimes we get so comfortable that our fears can stop us from discovering how much we really enjoy the things we were scared of
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Facing my fears today. Oink, Oink.
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Facing a fear? Probably today. I hate singing/dancing in front of others (adults, that is. with kids I don’t mind embarrasing myself). I’m taking an art class for future teachers and today we not only learned a Jump! song, where we sang and acted, but we had to learn and sing a song in a different language. It’s a lot easier to face fears when everyone else is doing it too!
But what I like most about this book is that it seems perfect for a puppet show we have to do in my class! I’ll definitely have to find it at the library!
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my first born starting kindergarten. That was crazy because thinking back to when he was a baby I never thought we would get to it. and here we are. time goes way too fast!!
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i love hearing my son make animal noises! i will be facing a fear this june. we just found out we are having a girl. i have always been terrified of raising a girl. hello…another me? PETRIFYING!
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The book looks lovely. As for fears, I’d have to confess that I’m afraid of shots but successfully received one last week without fainting…success.
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Last time I faced a fear of the unknown was taking a leap of faith to move cross-country and leave my family behind to start a new one with my husband.
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The cuteness of you and your daughter… I love it!
Hope you are having a great day!! -
Darling picture of the two of you. The foam stuff…not good unless somehow they managed to make them NOT toxic like they were years ago. I’m wondering if they have???
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facing a fear of change right now in applying for a new job.
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My fear…my kids are getting older and I fear the time they are not around as much…
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My fear….well, the day (actually, two days) before my daughter was born and I went in to be induced.
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The last time I faced a fear was over the Thanksgiving holiday when we had to fly, which I’m terrified of.
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I seem to face so many fears everyday now that my Little Guy is officially a toddler.
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I fear that I am not doing enough…with my kids, with my husband, for my parents.
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I fear that my daughter will grow up too fast and leave me and Dada in the dust wondering why our 13 yr old doesn’t want Elmo anymore. *sigh*
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It took us 5 years to get pregnant I’m so fearful that something will go wrong!
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I faced my fear of writing fiction by taking a class through Writer’s Digest and actually submitting my deeply personal short stories for a review. Turns out they aren’t bad - at least according to my (well-paid) professor!
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Hmm…I faced my fear of public speaking this morning—but it creeps back EVERY time I’m asked to speak to people!
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The last time I faced fear? I face it every single day. My twin boys were born premature and passed away 5 months ago. I have to face my feeling every day. I fear my feelings because grief is not pretty and it hurts. It is painful. Who doesn’t fear pain? It’s been a long journey and it isn’t anywhere close to being over but I wake every morning and face my fears because I have two beautiful little girls that need me :)
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I have a fear of public speaking. I feel like as soon as I step in front of a crowd my mind goes blank. Unfortunately, for my job I have to do it sometimes. I would say the last time I crashed and burned, I mean spoke in public was last week in a group meeting.
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Actually faced a fear? I recently did Just Dance (on the Wii) in front of people. OMG, I wiggled my booty in front of people. Fear of being judged. Sad, but true.
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Lots of fears…the biggest are for my kids health.
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I’m afraid of change but I’m applying for new jobs!
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I am facing fear now. I didn’t go to college when I should have (right out of high school). I got married and had children instead. So, now, as two of my children are already in college….I am facing my fear of failure and my fear of feeling out of place…and registering to begin my college career next fall.
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My fear…my kids are getting older and I fear the time they are not around as much…
By on January 19, 2011
I would love to share this book with a special little one!