Classics, Nonfiction, and Children's Literature
The first quarter of 2012 has been spare on the blogging front, but it’s been busy and delightful on the home front from my perspective! My daughter is now five weeks old, and my son (age 4) and I are starting to settle into a routine again of reading picture books. I’m reading my baby
Fleas, Flies, and Friars: Children’s Poetry from the Middle Ages by Nicholas Orme (to be published March 2012, Cornell University Press) is something completely different from my normal reading, but I enjoyed it very much. It is part anthology of poetry that children learned and recited from 1200-1500 CE (translated from Middle English or Latin)
Frozen Secrets: Antarctica Revealed by Sally M. Walker (Carolrhoda Books, 2010) is an in-depth look at some of the historical details, scientific research, and geological facts about the coldest and most uninhabited continent on earth. Interspersed among the thorough text are bright photographs, illustrations, and maps to further inform about the continent. Although the book
The first I want to mention is one I requested on netgalley: Henry Helps with the Baby by Beth Bracken and illustrated by Ailie Busby (published 2012, Picture Window Books). As the title suggests, Henry has a little sister that needs lots of help. “Henry is good at helping!” When the baby needs a diaper,
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
The Case of the Vanishing Golden Frogs: A Scientific Mystery by Sandra Markle (Millbrook Press, 2011) is about a very specific subject: the golden frogs are dying in the rainforests of Panama. In an engaging way, Ms. Markle manages to bring us into the mystery so that we care about these little frogs and hope for a
Can We Save the Tiger? by Martin Jenkins, illustrated by Vicky White (Candlewick, 2011), tells the story of a number of extinct, nearly extinct, or once nearly extinct animals in a conversational yet imperative tone. Mr. Jenkins’s tone makes the book both approachable and a cry for action, and Ms. White’s detailed illustrations are jaw-dropping realistic, thus
Thunder Birds: Nature’s Flying Predators by Jim Arnosky (Sterling, 2011) is simply a masterpiece of a picture book for the older child. With gorgeous fold-out illustrations done in acrylic paints, pencil, and chalk, Arnosky brings to life the majestic predatory birds of America, from Bald Eagles and vultures to pelicans and herons. His text also does justice
Bring On the Birds by Susan Stockdale (Peachtree, 2011) is a sparsely worded picture book for the youngest of readers, this time showing a variety of birds in their natural habitats. A distinctive characteristic is noted for each bird, from the “swooping” owls to the “birds with tails held high” (the Indian peafowl or peacock, which was
As the title and the cartoonish digitally rendered illustrations may suggest, I Feel Better with a Frog in My Throat: History’s Strangest Cures by Carlyn Beccia (Houghton Mifflin, 2010) is a rather silly book. By providing quizzes along the lines of “which remedy will help you feel better?” Ms. Beccia manages to surprise the reader
Planting the Wild Garden by Karen O. Galbraith, illustrated by Wendy Anderson Halperin (Peachtree, 2011), captures the mystery of how plants get into the wild. The first pages show two gardeners planting a garden; the rest of the book depicts the seeds spreading by nature. As the wind blows and birds move from place to
The Lighthouse Santa by Sara Hoagland Hunter (illustrated by Julia Miner; New Horizons Partners, 2011) is based on the true story of the man who brought Christmas presents to the distant lighthouses along the New England coast each year. It tells of a fictionalized family in a remote location, where one Christmas a snow storm meant
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