In Wilfrid Gordon McDonald Partridge by Mem Fox, Wilfrid lives next to an old people’s home, and he knows everyone who lives there. He overhears his parents discussing his favorite person, Miss Nancy Alison Delacourt Cooper. They say she’s lost her memory. Wilfrid doesn’t know what a memory is, so he asks all his friends... Continue Reading →
We’re Going on a Bear Hunt
I was digging through my bookshelves recently, looking for books I could donate, when I came across one of my children's favorites. I read We're Going on a Bear Hunt by Michael Rosen and Helen Oxenbury so many times I think I can still almost recite it from memory. As it sat on my desk... Continue Reading →
What Do You Do, Dear?
Children need help learning manners, and Sesyle Joslin has created the perfect manner book for children. Maurice Sendak (of Where the Wild Things Are fame) drew the pictures for What Do You Do, Dear?, which makes this book extra fun. Joslin helps children understand what to do in the most interesting situations. What do you... Continue Reading →
The Story of a Boy Named Will,
Children will enjoy this picture book, featuring a boy named Will on his sled. It contains rhyme and rhythm and repeating - loved by all children - plus a surprise ending. Adults will enjoy all of the above, and the interesting illustrations. Vladimir Radunsky illustrated The Story of a Boy Named Will by Daniil Kharms,... Continue Reading →
The Fourth Wise Man
Most know the Biblical Christmas story about Mary and Joseph, the shepherds and the wise men (unnumbered in the Bible, but traditionally three) who traveled from the East. Many years ago, Henry Van Dyke created a story about a fourth wise man, who had planned to travel to visit the newborn King of the Jews. ... Continue Reading →
The Real Santa Claus
Whether or not you celebrate Santa in your house, once your children are old enough to wonder, they will probably have questions about him. My children asked plenty. "Was he a real person? How did he get to be Santa Claus? Why does everyone talk about him?" If you're not sure of the answers, The... Continue Reading →
How Santa Got His Job
Perhaps you, and the children in your life, are wondering exactly how Santa got his job. Apparently Stephen Krensky wondered too, and so he wrote about Santa's job history in How Santa Got His Job. This creative picture book is fun to read aloud, and may illicit some giggles from your crowd, depending upon how... Continue Reading →
It Could Always Be Worse
Complaining? Bad attitude? Frustration? Whatever is causing the above in your house will be put into perspective after reading It Could Always Be Worse by Margot Zemach. Zemach retells a Yiddish folktale about a family of eight crammed into a one-room house. The father can no longer take the chaos, so he goes to the... Continue Reading →
Chicken Soup with Rice
Chicken Soup with Rice by Maurice Sendak sounds like a book about food. But really, it's a book about months of the year. As it says on the front flap: Each month is gay, Each season nice, when eating chicken soup with rice. Sendak takes readers through each month of the year, espousing the wonders... Continue Reading →
Alligators All Around
You can find alphabet books galore at your local library or bookstore. Every popular cartoon character has one, every cultural icon for the under-five crowd. But hidden behind or between those books are gems worth reading again and again. Alligators All Around by Maurice Sendak is one of those jewels. Sendak works his way through... Continue Reading →
Cultivating Readers 