Classics, Nonfiction, and Children's Literature
Bing! Bang! Chugga! Beep! by Bill Martin Jr. and Michael Sampson (illustrated by Nathalie Beauvois; Brown Books Kids, 2023) is a bright and noisy car picture book with a bouncing rhyme scheme following the “This Old Man” tune. The common refrain of “Bing! Bang! Chugga! Beep!” adds to the simple couplets to make it simply
The Nice Dream Truck by Beth Ferry and illustrated by Bridget Barrager (HarperCollins March 2021) is a fictional picture with the fun symbol of an ice cream truck as the deliverer of wonderful dreams. With a natural rhyme and rhythm, the book reads well as a bedtime story or a read aloud and everything in
One book I love for rocking-chair reading is The Little Engine that Could by Watty Piper, re-illustrated by Loren Long. My kids also love this one for rocking-chair reading. In fact, when we took the rocking chair out of my oldest son’s room to put into his baby sister’s room, he said, with serious concern,
I Love You, Blankie! by Sheryl Haft and illustrated by Jane Massey (Little, Brown and Company, April 2015) is an adorable board book about a child imagining with a comfort blanket. I never used a comfort blanket myself, but my daughter loves to have a special blankie to snuggle (although she chooses from among a
Are You Sleeping, Little One? by Hans-Christian Schmidt and Cynthia Vance (Abbeville Press, August 2012) shows various illustrated animals in various stages of getting ready for sleep with a soft and gentle rhyme. The repeated words “Are you sleeping?” on each page provided a sense of continuity that my daughter simply loved. I appreciated the fact that
All Kinds of Kisses by Nancy Tafuri (Little, Brown and Company 2011) is a sweet and simple farm animal bedtime book emphasizing the fact that “Little ones love kisses.” Each two-page spread tells the kinds of kisses the little animal loves, and it ends, of course, with the little child being kissed goodnight as well.
Night Knight by Owen Davey (Templar Books, 2011) begins and ends with a boy with a colander as a hat, holding a play horse, but the rest of the illustrations show a different story: a knight coming to the end of his day. The illustrations are playful and fun as the “knight” bathes with the
The Kiss that Missed by David Melling (Barron’s, 2001) is a clever story about a busy father (a king) that didn’t take the time to slow down: and the bedtime kiss he blew to his young son missed, going out into the wild wood where it met with amusing results for the knight he went
Goodnight, Goodnight, Construction Site by Sherri Duskey Rinker and illustrated by Tom Lichtenheld (Chronicle, 2011) is a typical “goodnight goodnight” book in format, but spectacular in illustration. The text reminded me of many other goodnight books, such as Goodnight Moon, but it has its own unique setting. Each construction truck is introduced with its daily tasks, and then
Little Owl’s Night by Divya Srinivasan (Viking, 2011) has a basic storyline, that of Little Owl enjoying the evening, watching his forest friends, and wondering why anyone would want to sleep through the beautiful night. He wants to see the sunrise so he can see if that’s any good too, but as his mother describes it to
Light Up the Night by Jean Reidy (and illustrated by Margaret Chodos-Irvine; Disney Hyperion, 2011) is the story of a young child recognizing his place in the universe. The boy imagines he flies in a rocket to see the night stars in his universe. He introduces us the planets of his universe, then the earth, then
The Twin’s Blanket by Hyewon Yum (Frances Foster Books, 2011) captures the pains of growing up for two look-alike twins that have always shared a bed and a blanket. Now that they are big, they need their own blankets, which leads to new difficulties and quarrels. The childish tone of the two girls’ narration gives
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