For children reading Lionni's "Alexander and the Wind-Up Mouse," consider projects about living verses inanimate objects. This story revolves around the friendship between a mechanical wind-up mouse and a living mouse. Have your kids make a list of their favorite things, or go for a walk outside and have them list the things they see. Then have them separate the list into living and non-living things, and discuss characteristics that show whether things are alive or not.
When reading Lionni's story "Fish is Fish," have your children make a drawing of where a fish would live, and then a drawing of where the children live with their family. This story follows a fish who wishes he lived outside of the water, but finds out with the help of a frog friend that water is the best place for him to be. Discuss with the children why the things in the picture they have drawn of their own environment are important for living.
"The Biggest House in the World" follows the story of a young snail who wants the biggest and most extravagant house in the world. Through the story, the snail learns from stories told by his father that a small and more modest house is better. For an activity to accompany reading this book, have your children make their own houses to decorate, using graham crackers and frosting. For younger children, you can build the house for them and allow each child to decorate their own with a mixture of different candies or fruits, similar to how the young snail wanted to decorate and build his house. Use only candies or fruits that won't present a choking hazard for young children.
The story "An Extraordinary Egg" follows two friends who find what they think is a chicken egg. Once the egg hatches, they are both surprised by what's inside. To accompany this book, have your children make paper mache eggs. Blow up one small balloon for each child. Have the children soak strips of newspaper in a non-toxic paper mache mixture and wrap them around the balloons. Allow the mixture to dry fully and then pop the balloon. Your children can then decorate their eggs with supplies like paint or stickers.