Classics, Nonfiction, and Children's Literature
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
My favorite nonfiction books to read are the ones that I see help my two-year-old son to better understand himself. Hands Can by Cheryl Hudson is full of pictures of real children, and it illustrates some of things he can do. Sometimes when he does something with his hands, like clapping or carrying or climbing, he notices
In The Snow Day by Komako Sakai a little bunny and his mommy are stranded at home and daddy’s airplane can’t come home because of snow. The bunny watches it snow, he plays in the snow, and finally Daddy’s plane comes home. How perfect is that parallel? The beautiful illustrations and well-spaced text perfectly captured the feeling
After reading Siesta by Ginger Guy and illustrated by Rene King Moreno (An ALA Notable Book), I decided to try this. In the book, two kids and their teddy bear, gather together a few things, such as a yellow book and a blue backpack and then a brightly multi-colored blanket and then go outside for their “siesta.”
As a devoted reader of original classics, I’m not keen on the idea of “rewriting” them or retelling them. Why wouldn’t I read the original? Nonetheless, I decided to give Charles Darwin’s On the Origin of Species: A Graphic Adaptation by Michael Keller and illustrated by Nicole Rager Fuller (Rodale Books, 2009) a try, and I
In his narrative of life in slavery and what led him to escape, Frederick Douglass captured the chief dilemmas that slaves dealt with, including slavery of the mind. Douglass’s slavery in Baltimore and surrounding areas was horrendous, and yet it was, as he admitted, quite tame compared to those experiences that slaves on plantations in
Yesterday began Black History Month in the USA! The Harlem Renaissance-themed Classics Circuit began yesterday as well, and I hope you follow along as bloggers unite in reading classic works by African-Americans. Although this post is not for the Circuit, in preparing for that Classics Circuit, I did a lot of preliminary reading about the
I created the 1000 Books Project for myself when I reviewed an inspiring book about infant and toddler literacy, and I picked that book up because I felt bored with the picture books I’d been reading and rereading and rereading with my son. There, I said it: I was getting bored reading with my son.
In the Robinson Crusoe tradition, Johann David Wyss created a story of a Swiss family that was shipwrecked on a desert island. Much as Robinson Crusoe, the family must learn to use the land to meet their needs. As with Crusoe, there is a religious element of learning to thank God for their blessings, but
Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson transferred me to a world of pirates and sea-life, but best of all the boy protagonist drove the action. Because he was in the right place at the right time and made great choices, he was able to “save the day.” I think it’s perfect for a child to
Welcome to What Are Your Children Reading?, a weekly meme started by The Well-Read Child. I have the privilege of hosting it this week. If you participate on your blog, leave a link to your post in the comments. For those who may not know, I have a son who turned two this month. Most
I reread three E.B. White favorites from my childhood this week, and as I’ve realized with other childhood favorites, these aren’t so favorite anymore. I reread Charlotte’s Web, The Trumpet of the Swan, and Stuart Little. I enjoyed them, but they are each a little odd. I realized when I went to write up my
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