Classics, Nonfiction, and Children's Literature
I love retellings of traditional stories because I can often recognize familiar characters and storylines, but sometimes these stereotypes from our childhood are drastically turned on their heads. This is the case in Red: The (Fairly) True Tale of Red Riding Hood, by Liesl Shurtliff (Yearling, 2017). While we think we know the story of
My daughter studied Medieval and early modern history recently, and then last year my kindergartner and I studied places around the world. I so enjoy finding amazing picture books about the things we’re learning about, so I really enjoyed finding the historical fiction picture book Therese Makes a Tapestry by Alexandra S.D. Hinrichs, illustrated by
I love the unique style of Tomie dePaola, and I was so sad to hear that this iconic children’s illustrator passed away this year. I read Patrick: Patron Saint of Ireland by Tomie dePaola (Holiday House, 1992) two years when my daughter and I were learning Medieval history. In this biographic picture book, dePaola writes
This Raindrop Has a Billion Stories to Tell by Linda Ragsdale, illustrated by Srimalie Bassani (Flowerpot Press, 2020). As the title indicates, This Raindrop covers the maybes of a raindrop’s history. The text and illustrations capture just a part of this raindrop’s range, including the fur of a mammoth to the end of a paddle.
The Snowflake: A Water Cycle Story by Neil Waldman (Millbrook Press, 2003). Over the course of a year, a single snowflake embarks on a unique journey, and Waldman’s book gives its story month-by-month. Through the journey, readers learn about water sinking into the Earth, water emerging in a mountain spring, water used for irrigation pipes,
When Cloud Became a Cloud by Rob Hodgson (Rise X Penguin Workshop, 2021). With very short chapters and simple-to-read text, Hodgson’s masterpiece about the water cycle manages to teach as well as entertain. It reads like a simple story, and even the illustrations seem friendly and childlike. Yet in his sparse text and deceptively simple
In Let’s Investigate with Nate: The Water Cycle by Nate Bell, illustrated by Wes Hargis (HarperCollins, 2017), the science museum doesn’t open until 10, but four lucky children get to come early and explore with the scientist Nate. Told through word bubbles, typed science journal pages, explanatory text, and miscellaneous labels on illustrations, the story
Follow the Water from Brook to Ocean by Arthur Dorros (Let’s-Read-and-Find-Out, Stage 2, HarperCollins Children’s Books, 1991) emphasizes the collection and movement of water. It names and explains underground water systems, springs, brooks, rivers, and water’s power to carve through rocks to create canyons. Water’s interaction with Earth creates waterfalls, causes floods, and is dammed
With an emphasis on the impact of the ocean in every aspect of our lives, The Ocean in Your Bathtub by Seth Fishman, illustrated by Isabel Greenberg (Greenwillow Books, 2020), introduces the water cycle by showing how the ocean’s water not only cycles through various stages, but also sustains life that feeds the world, provides
The Three Water Drop Brothers by Lee Eun-Hee and Yun Mi-Sook (English edition, Enchanted Lion Books, 2021) is an unusual picture book that introduces the water cycle from the very beginning of time (from the vapor from the first volcanoes) and then transitions into a folktale-like story about 3 different routes water drops take on
One book I love for rocking-chair reading is The Little Engine that Could by Watty Piper, re-illustrated by Loren Long. My kids also love this one for rocking-chair reading. In fact, when we took the rocking chair out of my oldest son’s room to put into his baby sister’s room, he said, with serious concern,
In the book Prairie Lotus by Linda Sue Park (Clarion Books, March 2020), Hanna loved her mom. She had taught Hanna to sew. But when her mom dies, Hanna and her father move to a different town. Hanna really wanted to go to school but when she went to school people teased her because she
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