Books to Inspire, Thrill and Engage Children
The mosquito is causing problems in the jungle - no surprise, right? But this mosquito is not causing problems for people. Not quite yet. This mosquito is causing problems between the animals. In Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People's Ears by Verna Aardema, readers learn the mosquito buzzed in the ear of an iguana, telling a... Continue Reading →
The little ghost Georgie takes great comfort in his evening routine. He makes the stair creak, the parlor door squeak, and the inhabitants of his house know what they need to do next. It's the same routine every evening. Until Mr. Whittaker decides to fix the creak in the stair, and oil the parlor door's... Continue Reading →
Every day in winter, Babushka would prepare for the Easter Festival in Moskva by painting an egg shell from her basket. Until one day, when the goose she rescued was startled and broke all of Babushka's eggs. Babushka was so sad - she would not be going to the Easter Festival that year. But her... Continue Reading →
Many mothers would be overwhelmed with seven children, but not the mother in Heckedy Peg by Audrey Wood. On one market day, she rewards her seven children, named after the days of the week, for their hard work. She says she’ll bring home whatever they want from the market. The children make their requests, and... Continue Reading →
Author John Winter remembers his father's stories of growing up during the Great Depression in Born and Bred in the Great Depression. He recounts how his father grew up in a small house outside a small town in Texas. He describes the hardships, and the joys, of being a child during those difficult years. The... Continue Reading →
Not surprisingly, animals are the focus of Lois Ehlert’s book Oodles of Animals. Each page features one, or several, animals portrayed in Ehlert’s colorful collage artwork, accompanied by short, rhyming poems describing each animal. Ehlert features a wide variety of animals, from mammals like bears and foxes, to reptiles like crocodiles and snakes, to birds... Continue Reading →
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 →
I have read this book to my children over and over and over - and we enjoyed it every time. Now my children are enjoying reading it themselves, even though they are elementary school age, and a bit past the information in it. Things People Do is an oversize hardcover book from Usborne Publishing Company. ... Continue Reading →
There are some authors that no matter what book you pick up, you will be sure to enjoy it. Virginia Lee Burton is one of those authors. Virginia Lee Burton (1909 - 1968) wrote and illustrated several classic picture books - including The Little House, Katy and the Big Snow, Maybelle the Cable Car, Mike... Continue Reading →
A Child's Book of Art is an over-sized, hardback book for children. In it, Lucy Micklethwait has selected words and works of art which describe those words. For example, one two-page spread is titled "The Seasons." To illustrate spring, Micklethwait chose Spring by Claude Monet. For summer, she chose Wheatfield with Reaper by Vincent van... Continue Reading →
Cultivating Readers 