Classics, Nonfiction, and Children's Literature
Letters from Rifka by Karen Hesse (1991) is a coming-of-age story, this time dealing with a 12-year-old Russian immigrant traveling alone. But Rifka is not an ordinary traveler. She expects to do “everything” once she reaches America, but first, she has to get there. When sickness keeps her behind, she learns to survive on her
In The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate (HarperCollins, 2012), a mall circus gorilla, Ivan, comes to view his life in captivity differently when a baby elephant, recently kidnapped from her home in Africa, joins the mall circus. With a poignant and distinct voice, The One and Only Ivan was a book that touched
When I was young, I wanted to write. I wish I’d found a book like Poetry Matters: Writing a Poem from the Inside Out by Ralph Fletcher (HarperCollins, 2002). In this book, Fletcher writes for kids, directly focusing on what poetry is and what young writers can do to learn to write it. I loved
Who Was Here?: Discovering Animal Tracks by Mia Posada (Millbrook Press, October 2014) has rich illustrations of animal footprints, coupled with delightful rhymes. Each of these animal track pages ends with the question: “Who Was Here?” The answer is only told on the next page, which also has a paragraph about the tracked animal. To
Big or Little? Board Book by Kathy Stinson (art by Jennifer Bell) (Annick Press, February 2014) is a sweet board book that my two-year-old deeply related to. (Even as I write this, she is sitting on my lap saying “Again! Again!”) Â This book features a child (short, wavy hair means this can be a boy
There’s a Mouse Hiding in This Book! by Benjamin Bird (Capstone, September 2014) gives a new twist to the interactive book. In the same tradition as Press Here! and There’s a Monster at the End of This Book, readers are encouraged to turn the pages carefully, quietly, while blowing on the page, and while shaking
How Do Dinosaurs Say I’m Mad? by Jane Yolen  and Mark Teague (Blue Sky Press, 2013) is another winner from the “dinosaurs” series.  My toddler (age 2) loves pretending to be mad. I don’t know why. But she watched an episode from Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood about counting to four when you are mad; now
In The Railway Children, E. Nesbit provides an intriguing series of vignettes about three middle-class London children at the turn of the century learning to adjust to life as poorer rural children when their father is inexplicably taken away. The railway become the central part of their daily lives. Bobbie (Roberta), Peter, and Phil (Phyllis)
Last summer, my son really enjoyed reading the Daisy books. Even with my limited blogging over the past year, we still managed to write about them both! To his complete delight, there is now another book in the series! In Daisy’s Big Night, Daisy is looking for something to contribute to her last day of school
My six-year-old loves to read! It’s time he shares his thoughts on what he’s reading. I am always pleased when he wants to write about his reading: a budding reviewer in his own right! Rooting for You: A Moving Up Story by Susan Hood and illustrated by Matthew Cordell. This book is about a seed
My six-year-old loves to read! It’s time he shares his thoughts on what he’s reading. I am always pleased when he wants to write about his reading: a budding reviewer in his own right! Hooray for Bread by Allan Ahlberg and Bruce Ingman. This is a picture book. It is fiction. It is written in
My six-year-old loves to read! It’s time he shares his thoughts on what he’s reading. I am always pleased when he wants to write about his reading: a budding reviewer in his own right! Bad Bye, Good Bye by Deborah Underwood, illustrated by Jonathan Bean, is about a boy moving. In the story, the boy
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