Books to Inspire, Thrill and Engage Children
Chris Van Allsburg, a talented artist and author, brings his unique eye to the younger crowd in his alphabet book The Z was Zapped. Each letter takes the stage, and something happens to it. The E slowly evaporates. The M begins to melt. The O is overgrown. And you can guess what happens to the... Continue Reading →
Author Arthur Geisert succeeded in writing an engaging picture book using just one word, and that one word is really a sound: oink. Oink is about a mama pig, her litter of piglets and their life on the farm. Geisert's near-black-&-white illustrations are beautifully delicate and detailed in telling the pigs' story. I can imagine... Continue Reading →
Poor Rabbit! He has just discovered a strange black rabbit is following him everywhere. He tries everything to get rid of that Black Rabbit, but nothing works until Rabbit runs into the forest. Ahh! Finally, Rabbit is alone. But then, Rabbit notices two eyes shining in the darkness. Is it the Black Rabbit? Author &... Continue Reading →
What should a person do when they find a beautiful pen? Write with it of course! Except when dealing with this pen. This pen only writes what it wants to write, not what the writers want to say - which make for some very funny situations. So who will be able to bring this pen... Continue Reading →
I rarely read book reviews, but I happened to read one about My Father's Arms are a Boat by Stein Erik Lunde. It describes Lunde's book as "lyrical" - and I can't think of a better way to describe it. Many things are implied in the text - the young boy's anxiety, the father's sorrow,... Continue Reading →
We have often teased our children about boxing them up and sending them to visit their grandparents via the post office. These conversations usually happen when they are missing their grandparents and we have no immediate plans to visit them. In Mailing May by Michael O. Tunnell, that is exactly what happened! Little May wanted... Continue Reading →
The small fish in This is Not My Hat by Jon Klassen is very proud of the fact he has a hat. But, as you can surmise from the title, the hat is not his. He took it from a much larger fish. This tiny fish is confident that he can outwit the larger fish,... Continue Reading →
In Dog Loves Books, author Louise Yates gives an eloquent argument in favor of real books - no e-readers or audio books here. Dog loves books so much, he decides to open a bookstore. But when no customers come, what will dog do? Read, of course! Sweet, colorful drawings illustrate this picture book, one children... Continue Reading →
Kids who love superheroes will love Question Boy Meets Little Miss Know-It-All by Peter Catalanotto. Question Boy wanders his neighborhood, asking questions of all the superheroes he meets, including Garbage Man, Wonder Waitress and Mailman. He scares all of them off with his questions, until he meets... Little Miss Know-It-All! He asks her questions, and... Continue Reading →
It's difficult to find an alphabet book that stands out from the shelves crowded with such books. Each time I find one, I'm thrilled. I remember the tedium of reading the same book over and over to a toddler, so to find a book we both enjoyed reading over and over was quite the treasure.... Continue Reading →
Cultivating Readers 