These animals sure have a lot to say in one of the most beloved board books for toddlers, Moo Baa, La La La by Sandra Boynton. Classic board books for toddlers like this one blend all of the necessary components of a successful board book together. It is short, melodic, silly, and memorable. The best board books for toddlers are the ones your child will be asking to read again and again. Most board books for toddlers are not interactive, but the unique ending of this book invites the reader right into the story, making it extra unforgettable. So go ahead and make some silly sounds with your kiddo!
This post includes four literacy activities directly related to Moo, Baa, La La La, but could also be adapted to other board books for toddlers. These simple ideas will guide you on how to explore the book in a meaningful way while building a foundation for critical literacy skills and connecting with your child, the pillars of My Book Bud.
Table of Contents
Moo, Baa, La La La!
Author and Illustrator: Sandra Boynton
Published by Little, Brown and Company, 1982
Summary: This amusing story explores different sounds that animals make using silly rhymes and playful illustrations. The story invites audience participation, making it all the more engaging for young readers.
Skills to Tackle with Board Books for Toddlers
Inference: Best for ages 3-5
An inference is not explicitly stated in the text and requires the reader to read “between the lines” using a combination of background knowledge and text evidence.
If a person walked into a coffee shop with their pajamas on and bags under their eyes, you could infer that person was tired without being explicitly told. You could infer this because you have previous background knowledge of what a tired person looks like and you combined that with the evidence in front of you.
Try this inference activity with board books for toddlers:
Using the illustrations, kids can make inferences about how the animals are feeling based on their expressions in this book.
Example Conversation:
- Parent: *Turn to the page with the cats and dogs. How do the dogs/cats feel?” “How can you tell?”
- The second question really leads to the inference. The child needs to study the face of the animal and explain that the dogs are chasing the cats and that their eyebrows are furrowed, looking angry.
- Child: The dogs look angry and the cats look scared. The dogs are chasing the cats. Maybe the cats woke them up because they do not look happy! The cats look scared because they are running away and their eyes are big and wide. Maybe they got caught doing something they shouldn’t!
- Parent: Yeah! Usually when we’re angry or scared you can tell by our faces. Can you show me your angry face? How about your scared face? Can you think of a time when you were angry or scared?
The follow up questions build background knowledge which will help your child make inferences in the future.
Use this same skill with other animals in the story. The pigs, rhino, and cow all have distinct expressions on their faces.
Most board books for toddlers have expressive illustrations and characters. This is the perfect way to practice inference with facial expressions. Being able to read facial expressions is a critical social skill to learn. Using simple board books for toddlers like Moo, Baa, La La La can help with developing that skill.
Free Printable!
Use the free printable linked below to practice the skill of inference. Cut the faces out and match the emotions together: happy, sad, surprised, tired, and angry.
Making Connections: Best for ages 2-5
Connections are important because they not only help the reader comprehend, but it also helps them relate to the text in a more meaningful way. Connections can be made to yourself (text-to-self), another book (text-to-text), or to the world/society (text-to-world).
Connection Examples:
- Text-to-self: This reminds me of the time we went on vacation and saw jellyfish on the beach!
- Text-to-text: This reminds me of the other book that has dancing animals in it!
- Text-to-world: This reminds me of how firefighters help the whole community when people need help putting out fires.
Use the animal sounds in this book to make connections.
Example conversation (text-to-self):
- Parent: Do you remember when we went to the farm (or zoo) last year? Do you remember any of the animals? Did any of them make sounds like we heard in the book?
- Child: Yeah! I remember going on the hayride! That was so much fun. We saw the cows out in the field as we drove by. They were really smelly and some of them were saying, “Moo!”
- Parent: Do you remember seeing any animals that were not in the book? What sounds did they make?
- Child: I think we saw a donkey while we were at the farm. I don’t remember hearing the donkey make a noise, but I know that they say, “Hee haw!”
Find Different Ways to Connect with Board Books for Toddlers
Cats and dogs are also depicted in this book. If your family has a pet, follow a similar conversation as the one above.
My family owns a bulldog, Chubbs, and he is constantly panting. When I ask my kids what he says, they don’t bark or woof. Instead, they pant, “huh, huh, huh.” When I read this story with my kids, I asked them how we could change it to include the sounds that Chubbs makes. It changed the rhyme, of course, but it made us giggle thinking about our dog being in the story and deepened our connection to the story and each other.
Many board books for toddlers focus on one small topic throughout the story, such as animal sounds. This creates a great format to stop, pause, and make a connection.
Word Choice: Best for ages: 3-6
Authors carefully select each word in their stories. This exercise will encourage your child to think about specific words used throughout the story and the role authors play in shaping their writing.
Boynton added the silly element of pigs saying, “La, La, La,” instead of “oink, oink.” She uses this specific word choice to make the reader laugh. Let’s explore how you and your child can discuss this word choice together.
Example Conversation:
- Parent: I really laughed when the pigs said, “La, La, La!” I think the author wrote this on purpose to make us giggle because we know that pigs say, “Oink, oink.” If you wrote this story, what would you have had the pigs say to make the audience laugh?
- Child: Boogie, Boogie, Boogie!
- Accept any answer, even something completely nonsensical, as there are not any wrong responses. This question invites your child to “become the author,” without even realizing it.
- Parent: Wow! That is super silly! If I wrote this story, I would have the pigs say, “Flippy, Flippy, Flippy!”
- Choose something off the wall and silly in the hopes it will make you and your child laugh together. Your child may even love correcting you if you say something totally outrageous, a favorite pastime in my own home.
Authors Do Everything for a Reason, Even in Board Books for Toddlers
This activity should get your child thinking about how much control authors have over their stories through a very informal conversation. Authors can choose to write absolutely anything they want, so it is important to pay attention to the words that were chosen very purposefully by them.
In this case, the author was trying to make the reader laugh. When you and your child “become the author” in this activity, you are opening the door to deepen your connection through creativity and laughter.
Even though board books for toddlers are simple in nature, authors still carefully craft their stories using specific words. This activity helps to introduce this idea to your child in a very basic way.
Expansion Activity: Best for ages: 1-5
After going through all of the animal sounds, the book ends by asking the reader, “What do you say?”
So, simply answer that question! Give an example about yourself. Think of a phrase that you say multiple times a day. This could be something as simple as “I love you.” Then invite your child into the conversation. Let them come up with a saying that is said over and over again. Extend the conversation even further and go through your whole family to come up with phrases for each family member.
I recently did this activity with my girls, Gracie and Avery. My baby, Timmy, lost all of his hair after he was born. Something I always pretend he says is, “I’m bald!” After going through each family member, we got to what Timmy “says” and everyone screamed out, “I’m bald!” We all started cracking up and of course, in typical toddler fashion, this went on for the rest of the afternoon, every time leading to a fit of giggles. This extremely simple activity helped us generate conversation and connect through laughter. The quickest way to feel close to your child is through mutual laughter. Always try to find a way to make your kids giggle. You’ll instantly feel bonded.
To Wrap Things Up
Board books for toddlers have so much more to offer than meets the eye. You’ll love watching your child giggle at all of the illustrations and words, but if you’re willing to go deeper, you’ll witness your child blossom right before your eyes. Toddlers are capable of complex thinking, so don’t be scared to moo, baa, and la la la your way through some board books for toddlers.
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