What You Will Need

The Book - What Do You Do With a Tail Like This?

What To Do

Ask your preschooler a question from the book, such as "What can you do with a nose like this?" Then act out one of the animals with a featured nose, such as an elephant. Have your preschooler guess which animal you are acting out. And then ask him if he can remember what the elephant's nose can do.

Ask your preschooler other questions, such as:

*Do you know any other animals that do this? (The animal may be unique in his action. There really aren't any other animals that give themselves baths with their noses.)

*What does this remind you of? (Maybe a shower.)

*Do you wish you could do that?

If your child is interested, tell him some of these interesting facts about the animal after he makes a guess. For example, an elephant weighs more than 14,000 pounds, which is about as much as seven cars. An elephant's trunk can be more than 6 feet long, which is as tall as dad!

Your preschooler will most likely want a turn to act like an animal too, so you should definitely take turns. Preschool boys will be extra excited to try to squirt blood out of their eyes like a horned lizard can do!

After the Activity

During the week, try using some of the animal's special characteristics just for fun. The sillier, the better. So, if your preschooler wants to whisper something to you, tell him not to whisper in your ears. Pat your knees and say, "Today I'm a cricket. Whisper here."

Hi! I'm Molly Christensen, the Preschool Books writer at PreschoolRock.com. I have five wonderful children, ranging in age from 1 to 12. We own hundreds and hundreds of books and we all read a lot! I love playing games and reading with preschoolers and I often teach preschool classes. If you have a good book you'd like to recommend or just want to share your ideas and suggestions, please contact me.

Helpful Tips for Parents

• Audiobooks count as reading. Children who listen to audiobooks develop the same comprehension, vocabulary, and story-structure understanding as children read to by adults.

• Children's picture books are not dumbed-down literature — the best ones (Where the Wild Things Are, Charlotte's Web, Goodnight Moon) reward re-reading across decades.

• Read nonfiction books alongside fiction. Nonfiction expands vocabulary with domain-specific words that fiction rarely delivers, and builds informational reading habits.

• Wordless picture books (The Snowman, Tuesday, Flotsam) develop narrative comprehension, story structure understanding, and visual literacy — without any words at all.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I get my preschooler interested in books if they're not naturally drawn to them?

Start with books about the child's existing interests — if they love trucks, find every truck book in the library. Read with physical engagement: let them turn pages, point to objects, make sound effects. Short books work better than long ones for reluctant readers. Reading in highly comfortable, cozy circumstances (snuggled together, with a special reading snack) creates positive association with books. Never force prolonged reading against clear resistance — a 2-minute positive experience beats a 10-minute battle. Most children become enthusiastic book-lovers given sustained positive exposure over months.

My preschooler wants the same book read over and over. Should I allow this?

Absolutely — repeated reading of favorite books is both normal and highly beneficial. With each reading, children understand more: they catch details they missed, connect the story to new experiences, and increasingly delight in predicting what happens next. The request to re-read is a sign of deep engagement, not a cognitive limitation. Never replace a requested re-read with a book you've chosen — follow the child's reading lead. Boredom with a book you've read 30 times doesn't mean the child is bored.

Related reading: See also our picture books for empathy and our nonfiction books guide for more ideas on this topic.

🎓 Skills Your Child Will Develop

• 🎭 Dramatic Expression — Hearing books read aloud with expression — character voices, varied pacing, dramatic pauses — models the prosody and emotional range of language that children internalize and bring to their own reading and speaking.
• 🔢 Story Structure Understanding — Following a story's arc — beginning, problem, resolution, ending — builds the narrative schema that makes complex texts comprehensible and supports children's own storytelling and writing development.
• 😊 Love of Reading — Every positive reading experience — a funny book, an exciting story, a perfectly timed cuddle — builds the reading identity and intrinsic motivation that sustains literacy development through the independent reading years.
• 🖼️ Visual Literacy — Reading pictures — interpreting what they show, what details they add, how they relate to the words — develops visual literacy: the ability to extract meaning from images that underlies comprehension of graphs, diagrams, and media.

What Do You Do With a Tail Like This?

By Steve Jenkins & Robin Page

What Do You Do With a Tail Like This is a wonderful book for learning some very unique characteristics that different animals have. It's a quick read, and very interesting for both preschoolers and adults. Play this imagination game to help your preschoolers remember the things they learned.