Toddlers enjoy humor and generally like to use a loud voice to say “No more monkeys jumping on the bed!” Supporting an opportunity for a toddler to use a loud voice for one phrase and then shift to a normal talking voice is good practice in self-regulation. You may wish to demonstrate using a louder and then a normal voice for key phrases. Join the toddler in laughing about the humor in the book!

If the toddler stands and starts to jump, it may be his/her way of showing you an understanding of the word jump. Simply say “I see you are jumping like the monkeys. You know what it means to jump. Please sit next to me so you can talk about the pictures in our book.”

Talk about pictures the toddler points to. Example: A toddler may be interested in the picture that shows two monkeys crying. You could ask “What’s happening in this picture?” The toddler may say “sad” or “he is crying.”

Some toddlers are familiar with number words, but they are not expected to count the monkeys in the book.

You may see a toddler return to the book on his/her own, look at the pictures, and say some of the words.

Extra support

• If a toddler finds it challenging to maintain focus during the entire book, skip several pages in the middle.
• If a toddler is not ready to or interested in managing the pages, hold the book and encourage him/her to help turn pages.

Enrichment

• If time and toddler interest permit, review parts of the story that are of particular interest to the toddler.
• At the conclusion of the book, draw attention to two pictures that show all of the monkeys in one bed at the beginning and end of the book.

Toddlers enjoy retelling favorite book stories. This activity promotes expressive language skills while also helping toddlers strengthen their understanding of how book text and pictures work together to tell a story.

If a toddler volunteers the well-known repetitive phrase in this book (“No more monkeys jumping on the bed!”) without any prompting, build on the toddler’s familiarity with the text by pointing to the corresponding words. The intent is to help the toddler become aware of text that says what he/she said, and not to learn specific words or how to read.

If a toddler seems uncomfortable with the retelling process, use Extra Support tips suggested below and enthusiastically support a toddler’s brief, general descriptions of a picture. Asking a toddler to describe specific images in a picture may be too challenging. The toddler may offer more description of a picture as you move through the book’s pages/pictures or in a later book sharing.

Extra support

• If the toddler seems uncertain about how to tell what is happening in a picture, demonstrate how to tell about a picture by offering a general description, such as “This picture shows monkeys jumping on a bed!” Then point to and describe 1–2 specific images in the picture.
• A toddler may benefit from a follow-up prompt to your invitation to describe a picture, such as “What are the monkeys doing in this picture?”

Enrichment

• Invite the toddler to say the repetitive phrase (“No more monkeys jumping on the bed!”) with you or alone.
• Open the book to any page that includes text. Encourage the toddler to point to the words.

Materials Needed: books with repeated phrases, such as Little Red Hen; basket; monkey finger puppets

Place several familiar books with repetitive phrases in a basket on a rug with cushions. Encourage toddlers to look at the books during play periods. Emphasize the repetitive phrase of a story.

Offer the monkey finger puppets and remind toddlers of the phrase, “No more monkeys jumping on the bed.” Encourage toddlers to use the puppets to show monkeys jumping and then stopping the jumping actions when saying the repetitive phrase. This supports self-regulation.

Materials Needed: several songs and books, such as Are You My Mother? by P.D. Eastman, Chicka Chicka Boom Boom by Bill Martin Jr., Pete the Cat and His Four Groovy Buttons by James Dean

In addition to offering Options 1 or 2, toddlers will enjoy the book Are You My Mother? by P.D. Eastman because of the bird’s search for his mother and the repeated refrain. Encourage toddlers to say some of the book’s words with you.

Toddlers, preschool-age children, and older children will enjoy hearing and remembering the words to the book Chicka Chicka Boom Boom by Bill Martin Jr.

Preschool-age children will enjoy learning the words to Pete the Cat and His Four Groovy Buttons by James Dean. Emphasize repeated phrases, such as “Did Pete cry?” “Goodness, no!” and “Buttons come and buttons go.”

Infants will enjoy listening to you sing the same song each day. Even though an infant is not singing with you, he/she is beginning to remember the tune and the words. Identify several songs and books to review often with infants. Singing to an infant can be more effective for language development than recorded music.