Classics, Nonfiction, and Children's Literature
How You Were Born by Joanna Cole (Harper Collins, 1994) is unlike the other books I’ve read by Joanna Cole. This book is illustrated with photographs of babies in utero, newborn babies, and happy families, as well as with a few illustrations and diagrams. It’s also written for slightly older children. Although the words are quite
Since I was sick for a while this summer, for a time, my son’s only understanding of Mommy’s having a baby has been “Mommy is sick a lot.” But now that I’m feeling better and we’ve seen the little Monkey on an ultrasound and all that, my son is getting quite excited. I’m currently 17
Red Wagon by Renata Lewski (2011, Philomel) has soft illustrations of a child-like fox (Lucy) with a new red wagon. Before playtime begins, however, Lucy must run an errand for her mother. As Lucy and her friends head to the market with the red wagon, they have a number of imaginative adventures, all shown through the
Greg Foley’s simple animal world in the Thank You Bear series has been a favorite as well. With plenty of white space and limited text, Thank You, Bear (2007, Viking Juvenile) shows a bear who has a gift he thinks is wonderful for his friend Mouse, but his other friends discourage him. In Good Luck, Bear and Don’t Worry, Bear,
Another Greg Foley written and illustrated winner is Purple Little Bird (2011, Balzer + Bray). In this story, Purple Little Bird loves everything purple. One day, he feels he’s missing something and he goes on an adventure looking for what it could be. No other place he finds feels like home, but he finds what he was
My 4-year-old son and I discovered Jan Thomas’s illustrated picture books this summer. Two that we read were Can You Make a Scary Face? (2009, Beach Lane Books) and What Will Fat Cat Sit On? (2007, Harcourt Children’s Books). My son was able to read many of the words in these books, and he loved the silliness of both
Do You Know Which Ones Will Grow? by Susan Shea (2011, Blue Apple Books) is simple, delightfully fun picture book for the discerning child. Using windowed lift-the-flap pages, Shea asks which things around us grow, using familiar growing progression as a comparison. For example, my favorite one was this, “if a kit grows and becomes
I often enjoy the experience of reading a comic novel, and the two I read in the past month were refreshing, original, and fun. Anya’s Ghost by Vera Brosgol Anya tries hard to avoid sticking out at her private high school, but that’s hard to do when she’s awful in gym class and stuck with
I don’t often have the urge to seek out a young adult novel, but this month has been one of them. I’m pleased to say that I really enjoyed the two I chose. After deals with a teenage mother, and An Abundance of Katherines deals with a genius teenager dealing with yet another break up.
Neftalí is a dreamer, always looking for objects to treasure. When special things happen to him, his imagination takes him away on a wave or a cloud. But his father constantly berates him, calling him an absent-minded idiot. As Neftalí grows, he finds that the poetry he sees in the world around him must escape
In honor of yesterday’s American Independence Day holiday, I bring you a light-hearted collection of anecdotes and facts about the United States Presidents. At just over 100 pages and geared toward young readers, Lives of the Presidents by Kathleen Krull and Kathryn Hewitt (published by Harcourt Children’s Books, updated 2011) is just the right length
Footprints on the Moon by Mark Haddon (illustrated by Christian Birmingham; Candlewick Press, 1996). I have not read many memoir picture books, but this one worked wonderfully. Best-selling author Mark Haddon writes of his own childhood studying the solar system and dreaming about the moon, then shows him tuned in the television, watching the first humans
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