In trying to find a book that Joey may find engaging, I grabbed It’s Not Easy Being a Bunny by Marilyn Sadler. This is one of those books I’d never classify as quality children’s literature, but it has all the right elements to be an engaging read aloud for the four through six year old crowd.
- It has a relatable storyline – someone who doesn’t quite fit into his family, or someone who just wants to see what life is like being someone else
- It has repetitive, predictable text, where the reader lists all the animals P.J. Funny Bunny does not want to be. This makes it easy for children to join into the read aloud experience, either verbally or non-verbally
- It is four and five year old sense of humor funny. A bunny trying to be a possum? Too silly. But the humor does not involve needing to make inferences or understand that characters have two different ideas.
- It involves bad body odor (from a skunk, or course)
- Its characters are common storybook animals
- It has simple, bright pictures without too much detail
Joey had such a communicative fall. He made statements and jokes he’d never made before, and truly dove into the new vocabulary words added to his device. We saw so much of him come shining through with how he was accessing his device. In October he averaged 
The last time I worked with Joey he was fairly quiet, and not as engaged as he usually is. He had just worked hard during his in home occupational therapy, and he just seemed tired. I was wondering if he was with me when he scanned the room and then gave me a disapproving look. 
Every time I see Joey these days he seems to have more words on his device. His vocabulary is exploding, and he spends most of his time exploring these new words. During these times it is always hard for me to track his meaning and determine if he is exploring where his words are, trying to communicate a message, or if he is unintentionally hitting the new words while seeking out the old ones. I’ve learned to sit back and listen to him and give meaning to his words when I can.
Halloween is long over, so you can file this post away from next year. My own children love the book, Room on the Broom, but when I read it with my “Is this for Joey?” eyes I realized just what a great book it is.
