I'm a Little Cloud

	It Looked Like Spilt Milk by Charles G. Shaw Age Level: Toddler and up
Synopsis: The white shape silhouetted against a blue background changes on every page. Is it a rabbit, a bird, or just spilt milk? Children are kept guessing until the surprise ending-and will be encouraged to improvise similar games of their own. Note: Artfelt has an It Looked Like Spilt Milk felt puppet set that works well with this book.

Song

What's the Weather?
(Tune: "Oh, My Darling Clementine")

What's the weather, What's the weather.
What's the weather, everyone?
Is it windy, is it cloudy,
Is there rain or is there sun?

	Little Cloud by Eric Carle Age Level: Toddler and up
Synopsis: Little Cloud floats through the sky, passing the time by reshaping himself into semblances of sheep, airplanes, sharks, and funny clowns, until a cluster of other clouds invites him to join in a rain-making party.

Flannel Board

Big Round Sun

The big round sun in the springtime sky
[Form large circle with arms.]
Winked at a cloud that was passing by.
[Wink eye.]
The little cloud laughed as it scattered rain,
[Flutter fingers downward.]
Then out came the big round sun again.
[Form large circle with arms.]

	Cloud Dance by Thomas Locker Age Level: Toddler and up
Synopsis: Journey across the heavens through thick cumulus clouds, wispy cirrus clouds, and wide stratus clouds as they dance through every season of the year.

Song

Fluffy Cloud

What is fluffy white and floats up high,
[Point up at the sky.]
Like a pile of cotton in the sky?
And when the wind blows hard and strong,
[Wiggle hands side to side.]
What very gently floats along?
[Wiggle fingers and hands gently back and forth.]
What brings the rain?
[Open palms up.]
What brings the snow that showers on us way down below?
When you look up in the sky,
[Look up.]
What is that thing you see floating by?
A Cloud.

Once Upon a Cloud by Rob D. Walker Age Level: Kindergarten and up

Synopsis: "What are clouds made of, and why do they float? Are skies the water and clouds the boat?" From cotton candy that melts in your mouth to comfy cushions where birds take their naps, clouds take on many shapes in our imaginations. This whimsical picture book by newcomer Robert Walker and acclaimed illustrator Matt Mahurin takes young readers on a fantastic journey through the skies, leading them eventually to sleep: "I know what they are, I've figured it out. Clouds are just dreams that wander about . . ."

Song

April Clouds

Two little clouds one April Day
[Make two fists.]
Went sailing across the sky
[Move fists side to side.]
They went so fast, they bumped their heads
[Bump fists together.]
And both began to cry.
[Rub eyes with hands.]
Out came the big round sun who said
[Make huge circle over head with arms.]
Never mind my little dears,
I'll send sunbeams down
[Wiggle fingers on both hands downward.]
To dry your fallen tears.

	Cloudland by John Burningham Age Level: Preschool and up
Synopsis: While high in the mountains with his parents, Albert falls off a cliff and ends up in Cloudland, where he enjoys playing with the cloud children, but misses his parents.

Films

	Chicken Little by Steven Kellogg Age Level: K-2 Running Time: 9 Minutes
Synopsis: When an acorn falls on her head, Chicken Little convinces herself and her bird-brained friends that the sky is falling. A hungry fox hears their cries for help and almost gets away with impersonating a police officer before his goose is cooked.

	Harold's Fairy Tale by Crockett Johnson Age Level: PreK-2
Synopsis: Unable to fall asleep one night, Harold uses his purple crayon to create his very own bedtime fairy tale.

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More Books to Read On Your Own

Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs
by Judi Barrett
Age Level: Advanced Preschool and up
Synopsis: If food dropped like rain from the sky, wouldn't it be marvelous! Or would it? It could, after all, be messy. And you'd have no choice. What if you didn't like what fell? Or what if too much came? Have you ever thought of what it might be like to be squashed flat by a pancake.

Sector Seven
by David Wiesner
Age Level: Advanced Preschool and up
Synopsis: The book begins with a school trip to the Empire State Building. There a boy makes friends with a mischievous little cloud, who whisks him away to the Cloud Dispatch Center for Sector 7 (the region that includes New York City). The clouds are bored with their everyday shapes, so the boy obligingly starts to sketch some new ones. . . . The wordless yet eloquent account of this unparalleled adventure is a funny, touching story about art, friendship, and the weather.

The Cloud Book
by Tomie dePaola
Age Level: Advanced Preschool and up
Synopsis: Introduces the ten most common types of clouds, the myths that have been inspired by their shapes, and what they can tell about coming weather changes.

Willy Whyner, Cloud Designer
by Michael Lustig
Age Level: Advanced Preschool and up
Synopsis: Third grader Willy Whyner turns his interest in clouds into a profitable business when he invents a way to create customized advertising clouds.