If you don't know the tune to the folk song “Over in the Meadow" find a way to listen to it online. (Try youtube.) The music will help you sing the book or give your reading the nice rhythm the song provides. While you are thinking of singing, you might think about moving as well! Each animal action is one you can do with your child. Let her hop, pounce, and spin along with the animals. [Great suggestion!] Look to the final pages to revisit all the animals and the number they represent in the book. Count these animals with your child. She does not need to learn to count with this book, but when she copies you counting on the page and the order of the numbers, she is well on her way to counting. You can also talk about what animals live near you, which ones you like best, etc. After many readings, you might look for clues in the picture to what the next animal will be. The next animal is somewhere on the page! Explore the map in the beginning of the book and see if you can remember where the animals were in the neighborhood. For example, "Can you find the iron gate where the crows were? The orange house where the baby lives? The blue slide where the ladybugs were?" Look for the "Beyond Reading Aloud" section in a Raising Readers edition of this book for other read aloud ideas.
