Classics, Nonfiction, and Children's Literature
Together, my son (age 5) and I read A Lion to Guard Us by Clyde Robert Bulla. In this middle-elementary reader, a young girl in England struggles to keep her brother and sister together after her mother passes away. Because her father was a part of the advance group that traveled to Jamestown, she determines to get
For my personal history education, I enjoyed the longer children’s nonfiction book (almost middle grade nonfiction) and detailed The Lost Colony of Roanoke by Jean Fritz. Fritz has a way of making history come alive. Her writing is geared for upper elementary school students or middle school students, and her book subsequently provides an increasing amount of
My son (age 5) and I read about the mystery of Roanoke in Jane Yolen’s Roanoke, The Lost Colony: A Mystery from History. Told from the perspective of a fictionalized child with a detective father, Yolen’s picture book had just enough information about the colony of Roanoke to interest my son, but without too many
I read a number of Cybils nominees again this week, but today I bring you just one. It is unlike any other picture book I’ve read this year! In a bizarre twist of storytelling, Creepy Carrots by Aaron Reynolds and illustrated by Peter Brown (Simon and Schuster 2012) is a ridiculous story about carrots who
Raisin Reads is a column with thoughts on children’s literature straight from the mind of a kid! About the author: Raisin is five years old. He likes to read, and he wants to be a construction worker when he grows up. I like Mercy Watson to the Rescue because when the fire department comes, Mr.
Olive and the Big Secret by Tor Freeman (Templar Books, 2012) tells of one girl’s challenge to keep a secret her best friend told her! I’m sure many kids can relate to knowing a tantalizing secret that just dares to be told. The mixed media illustrations of a group of animals friends give it a
Two friends see events in strikingly different ways in Good News Bad News by Jeff Mack (Chronicle Books, 2012). Using those two phrases, Mack tells the story of a rabbit who wants to picnic with his friend mouse. However, every time Rabbit sees something that he calls “good news,” Mouse has to find something wrong.
Squid and Octopus: Friends for Always by Tao Nyeu (Dial Books, 2012) is almost a Frog and Toad friendship for the aquatic world. Squid and Octopus are almost indistinguishable (something I also thought about Frog and Toad when I was a kid) and they are best friends. In four brief chapters, they have a silly
A Home for Bird by Philip C. Stead (Roaring Brook Press, 2012) is one of those picture books that requires the illustrations to get the full story. Vernon the frog is a very determined friend, who wants to help Bird find a home, even though Bird is shy and does not respond to any of
I’m Bored by Michael Ian Black and illustrated by Debbie Ridpath Ohi (Simon and Schuster, 2012) is simply fantastic in every way. I’m Bored kind of defies all description. In this book, a bored little girl begins a conversation with a potato, in which she finds she must convince the potato that no, kids are
Pilgrim Cat by Carole Antoinette Peacock and illustrated by Doris Ettinger (Albert Whitman 2004) is a historical fiction picture book written in prose. It does not read as well as Tattered Sails (reviewed here), but it does provide a different perspective on Thanksgiving. It tells a story of traveling on the Mayflower, settling in Plymouth, working,
Which leads us to No Bears by Meg McKinlay and illustrated by Leila Rudge (Candlewick Press, 2011), a book about a girl named Ella who wants to tell a wonderful fairy story for kids that has no bears in it. I liked how the story showed her story inside of the story, on spiral pages,
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