Classics, Nonfiction, and Children's Literature
Jerry Pinkney’s illustrations are always sure to be a winning set, and those in Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star (Little, Brown, 2011) are no exception. Pinkney weaves the words of Jane Taylor’s familiar children’s rhyme in with the creative imaginative adventures of a sleepy chipmunk. As the chipmunk climbs the foliage, he soars through the sky on a
Naamah and the Ark at Night by Susan Campbell Bartoletti (illustrated by Holly Meade; Candlewick, 2011) captures the tradition of Noah and the flood by focusing on Noah’s wife in the evening calming the animals. Tradition suggests her name may have been “Naamah,” which means “great singer,” and Susan Campbell Bartoletti builds on that tradition by
The Big Snuggle-Up by Brian Patten (illustrated by Nicola Bayley; Kane Miller, 2011) is a story of a young child inviting a scarecrow in from the cold on a snowy evening. After the scarecrow comes in, the other animals outside want to come in and get warm too. As the evening settles, a crowd of animals,
Stars by Mary Lyn Ray (illustrated by Marla Frazee; Beach Lane Books, 2011) is somewhat about stars. Not real stars, but the “magic” that comes from a star: wear a star to become a sheriff or tape one on a stick to create a magic wand. Marla Frazee’s illustrations are stunning and make the book
Mitchell’s License by Hallie Durrand and illustrated by Tony Fucille (Candlewick, April 2011) is a fun father-son bedtime book. Mitchell does not want to go to bed, so Dad lets him have a driver’s license, Dad being the “car” as Mitchell perches on his shoulders. This is a true-to-form picture book, meaning the pictures are
From the moment he awakens in the morning, my four-year-old son’s best friends are by his side. They live in Busytown, which is sometimes directly above our house and other times underground, where it snows in April. Goldbug is his best friend (sometimes he is my son’s brother), with Huckle, Sally, and Hilda Hippo frequently
I knew my son (age 3) would love this book as soon as I skimmed through it. Interrupting Chicken by David Ezra Stein (Candlewick, 2010) tells of a father rooster who is trying to tell his daughter chicken some traditional fairy tales, but she keeps interrupting to save the character from the wicked witch, the mean old wolf,
Did you realize that there is a consistency error in Goodnight Moon? If this were a movie on IMDB, there’d be a special note of it. Consider this an official note; it was discovered by my one-year-old. How many other one-year-olds have been disturbed by this? It would have been so easy for Clement Hurd
This year’s winner of the Caldecott Medal is The House in the Night by Susan Marie Swanson, illustrated by Beth Krommes. When I asked the librarian to help me locate it (it was misshelved), she told me she didn’t like it; its illustrations were too dark. I wasn’t sure, then, what I’d think of The
I first read about Wynken, Blynken, and Nod by Eugene W. Field, illustrated by Giselle Potter (Schwartz & Wade, 2008), at The Well-Read Child. So when I saw it on the new books shelf in the children’s section of the library, I was very excited to check it out. I’ve read the Eugene Field poem before, but
Time for Bed by Mem Fox and illustrated by Jane Dyer, is a relaxing bedtime book. The go-to-bed phrases have a wonderful rhythm just right for rocking a child to sleep. It’s time for bed, little mouse, little mouse,Darkness is falling all over the house. The richly realistic paintings of animal mothers and babies evoke
Bedtime books are the best. One of my favorites is Sandra Boynton’s Going to Bed Book. It’s a silly goodnight book because after taking a bath and getting jammies on, the animal kids all exercise for a few minutes before they head to bed. Boynton’s illustrations are as whimsical as always. The animals are acting
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