The Secret Birthday Message Board Book
A message in code starts a little boy off on an exciting treasure hunt through a dark cave, an underground tunnel, and more--until at the end he finds a happy surprise.
This classic picture book from the beloved Eric Carle can be shared as an enjoyable story. Preschoolers will be intrigued by the adventures and pleased by the puppy at the conclusion.
The Secret Birthday Message can also be used as a fun spring board for teaching some basic concepts. As Publishers Weekly notes: The book introduces "pattern recognition, matching shapes, map-reading, and directional relationships in full-color pages that allow preschoolers to participate fully in the enticing adventure."
The nonprofit MathThroughStories organization recommends reading the book and then having "children hide a 'treasure' somewhere in the classroom and create their own map with directions for how to find the hidden treasure. Encourage the children to use geometric shapes to represent objects and furniture in the classroom. When the maps are finished, children give the map to another treasure hunter."
Other favorite classic books from Eric Carle include The Very Hungry Caterpillar, The Grouchy Ladybug, From Head to Toe, and many others.
Earn by promoting books
Earn money by sharing your favorite books through our Affiliate program.
Become an affiliate
Eric Carle (1929-2021) was one of America's leading children's book illustrators and authors. Author of more than seventy books, his picture book career started when Bill Martin Jr invited him to create the illustrations for Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? That book that went on to sell millions of copies worldwide and Eric soon began writing and illustrating his own books, eventually creating the bestselling classic The Very Hungry Caterpillar. Born in the United States, Eric also spent many of his early years in Germany where he studied typography and graphic art at the Academy of Applied Art in Stuttgart.
Carle was the recipient of many honors including the American Library Association's Children's Literature Legacy Award and the Original Art Lifetime Achievement Award from the Society of Illustrators. In addition to writing and illustrating books of his own, he also collaborated on several others, including Bill Martin Jr's Polar Bear, Polar Bear, What Do You Hear?, Isaac Bashevis Singer's Why Noah Chose the Dove, and the Eric Carle and Friends' What's Your Favorite picture book series. The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art, which Carle and his wife Bobbie founded, opened in Amherst, Massachusetts in 2002.
