Are You Sleeping, Little One? by Hans-Christian Schmidt and Cynthia Vance (Abbeville Press, August 2012) shows various illustrated animals in various stages of getting ready for sleep with a soft and gentle rhyme. The repeated words “Are you sleeping?” on each page provided a sense of continuity that my daughter simply loved. I appreciated the fact that
Chitchat by Jude Isabella (Kids Can Press, September 2013) is a delightful exploration of language for a young adult reader. It explores so many aspects of language that I felt like I was a little bit in heaven since I appreciate and love languages and words so much. At 48 pages, it obviously only skimmed
It’s always fun when picture books play on words to get your attention. When my son (age 5) first started reading Pig and Small by Alex Latimer (Peachtree, August 2014), he commented, “The author should have called this book Big and Small because Pig is big and the bug is small! They are opposites.” He
A History of the World in 12 Maps by Jerry Brotton (Viking, November 2013)Â is not truly a world history story. It is, however, a look at how maps and history are intricately related. Each map throughout history tells what is important to the learned in the era in which it has been created. Likewise, each
Sometimes a clever and intriguing storyline makes a novel great. Sometimes, it is the interaction of a number of interesting characters. And other times, a novel is great because of the carefully developed setting that gives life to the situations and characters. In One Came Home (January 2013, Knopf Books for Young Readers), Amy Timberlake
What is better than a fun story about hundreds of little animals (like 999 Tadpoles)? What is better than a Where’s Waldo search? Try 100 Hungry Monkeys by Masayuki Sebe (Kids Can Press, 2014)! In this story, 100 hungry monkeys need something to eat, so they start looking for it and they end up having an adventure.
The Great Gilly Hopkins is not an easy book to read. Gilly is a child in a difficult situation. She is a child without a family, moved through the foster care system. She does not make it easy for her foster parents, because she believes that her mother loves her and needs her. She dreams
One delightful aspect of children’s picture books is that the impossibilities become possible. In If You Happen to Have a Dinosaur by Linda Bailey and illustrated by Colin Jack (Tundra Books, May 2014), the illustrator and author create a number of what-ifs out of the impossibility of actually having a dinosaur as a pet. It is
I never used to use parenting books as a go-to when I struggled with an issue with my kids, but I’m finding that reading parenting books gives me nice reminders that I need. Mindful Discipline:A Loving Approach to Setting Limits and Raising an Emotionally Intelligent Child by Shauna Shapiro and Chris White (New Harbinger Publications, June 2014)
The Enchanted Castle by E. Nesbit (published 1907) is a tale of modern magical enchantments. Three children, Gerald (Jerry), Jimmy, and Kathleen (Cathy), stumble upon a large estate that reminds them of a castle; in their play-acting, they stumble upon a sleeping girl they decide must be a princess. Despite her later declaration that she
The Simples Love a Picnic by J.C. Phillips (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, May 2014) is so much fun! It is a story of a family going on a picnic in the park. But of course, parks have lots of undesirables…squirrels, ants, and too many people playing sports. This was a picnic trip that I could relate to:
50 Body Questions by Tanya Lloyd Kyi and illustrated by Ross Kinniard (Annick Press, February 2014) is a visually appealing book about the human body. As the title indicates, 50 questions take readers on a journey through the body, covering concepts about the digestive system, blood, muscles and bones, germs, the brain, and the nervous
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