Classics, Nonfiction, and Children's Literature
Just a few weeks before my second child, a daughter, was born, I stopped at a bookstore with my son and we bought her a book. It was Pride and Prejudice: A Babylit Counting Primer by Jennifer Adams and Alison Oliver. In just 10 pages, we visited the story of Pride and Prejudice by learning
Ten Tiny Toes by Todd Tarpley and illustrated by Marc Brown (Little, Brown 2012) begins with the ten tiny toes coming in to the world “a hundred times sweeter than one could suppose.” The text is sweetly rhyming: not annoying at all and full of baby-friendly metaphors and rhythm that makes it a delight to read aloud. The
One Special Day by Lola Schaefer and illustrated by Jessica Meserve (Disney Hyperion, 2012) is full of metaphors to show just what Spencer is: strong as a bear, tall as a giraffe, loud as an elephant. The animals are not named but illustrated in bright and colorful paintings as Spencer plays outside and enjoys his freedom.
Backseat A-B-See by Maria Van Lieshout (Chronicle Books, 2012) is a perfect book for the child obsessed with vehicles and travel! I know my son would have loved it when he was two years old. As it is, he still enjoyed it and I did too. Maria Van Lieshout finds the alphabet in the street
Train Man by Andrea Zimmerman and David Clemesha (Henry Holt, 2012) is a part of a series of books that also includes Fire Engine Man and Digger Man. In Train Man, a young boy tells his younger brother about trains and how he cannot wait to grow up so he can work on a train.
Since my daughter is quite little (7 months) but happens to sit in on our reading times, I was delighted to see a picture book that is somewhat related to rainforests at her level. Our current learn-at-home subject for my four-year-old is rainforests, especially the Amazon. Good Morning, Toucan (Dwell Studios, Blue Apple Books 2011)
Someday by Alison McGhee and Peter H. Reynolds (published 2007, Atheneum Books) is a mother-daughter book, and a book for a mother to treasure. My friend received it when she was pregnant with her daughter, and she thought of me when she found that I was also having a girl. The book begins with a
When I first picked up Press Here by Herve Tullet (Handprint Books, March 2011), I was unimpressed. It is a book with dots on every page. What’s so creative about that? I scratched my head, wondering why this picture book got such raving reviews. Then I introduced it to my four-year-old. He loved it, and
It was last November that my son, Raisin, then aged 2 years and 1 month, started showing an interest in being toilet trained. At a few times in the past year he has had days of “underwear only” with moderate success. Well, just before his third birthday, which was last week, Raisin went from the
Today I’ll share about a “growing up” book that I really enjoy. Little Gorilla by Ruth Bornstein shows a little gorilla and all the family and jungle animals that love him. Then, he begins to grow, and soon he is big. It ends with the simple sentence, “And everyone still loved him.” I began inserting
I know I’ve mentioned it before, but the David books by David Shannon are funny child-friendly books with child-like illustrations. These are books my two-year-old son relates to completely. My favorite is still the original (No, David) but the baby David board books (called “Diaper David”) are also well done. Two that I have found
I’ve found that fiction can help my son relate to himself as he deals with his current awkward “am I a baby or a big boy?” stage. (It comes with a lot of tears and frustration on his part.) Baby Happy, Baby Sad by Leslie Patricelli is one fictional picture book that he enjoys. He can
Page [tcb_pagination_current_page] of [tcb_pagination_total_pages]
