Classics, Nonfiction, and Children's Literature
I think that We Just Had a Baby by Stephen Krensky, illustrated by Amelie Graux, is an appropriate book to kick off the new year since I did just have a baby. Actually, my baby was born a few weeks early, in early October of 2015, and she is now already 3 months old. Time
How to Talk So Kills Will Listen and Listen So Kids Will Talk by Adele Faber and Elaine Mazlish (originally published in 1980) is a classic parenting book for resolving conflicts between parents and children. The authors encourage parents to give children a scaffold with which to approach the world about them. Although it is a
Way back in August and September, Jenny from Reading the End suggested I read Sophie Blackall’s illustrated book based on the personal “missed connections” posts found on Craig’s List. I love her illustration style, as I mentioned when I reviewed her picture book. Missed Connections captures the personal ads just perfectly with Ms Blackall’s style.
Sam’s Pet Temper by Sangeeta Bhadra and Marion Arbona (Kids Can Press; September 1, 2014) is a picture book for kids who lose their tempers and need some help learning to control it. In this amusing picture book, Sam tends to lose his temper, first on the playground, and later elsewhere. His temper becomes a “pet”
How Do Dinosaurs Say I’m Mad? by Jane Yolen  and Mark Teague (Blue Sky Press, 2013) is another winner from the “dinosaurs” series.  My toddler (age 2) loves pretending to be mad. I don’t know why. But she watched an episode from Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood about counting to four when you are mad; now
Penguin and Pinecone: A Friendship Story by Salina Yoon (Walker and Company, 2012) is a sweet story about a friendship between a penguin and a pinecone. In the story, Penguin befriends a pinecone (an anthropomorphic pinecone that returns feelings of affection). Although the two friends live far apart, Penguin knits scarves for his pinecone friend
It has been more than a month since I finished reading Raising an Emotionally Intelligent Child by John Gottman (published 1998). By waiting to write my thoughts, I may not have as many specific examples and quotes to share with my readers. However, by letting the book percolate in my mind as I went about
I had mixed feelings when I first read Meena by Sine van Mol and illustrated by Carianne Wijffels (Eerdman’s, 2011, originally published 210 in Belgium) because it so frankly depicts neighborhood bullying; my son, being four, seems far from that issue and I made sure to keep it away from him. Obviously, this is a book for older children to
I sometimes think poetry is at it’s best when it’s written and illustrated for children. Red Sings from Treetops: A Year in Colors by Joyce Sidman and Pamela Zagarinski is one such example. The illustrations capture the metaphors of a world changing with the seasons, and the poem is simply beautiful. In the poem, Joyce
Whenever I read a novel with stunning writing, I am always reminded why I seek novels with great writing to begin with. For Whom the Bell Tolls by Ernest Hemingway (first published 1940) is one such novel. It is deceptively simple in its plot, dialog, and sentence structure. I felt I was there. For Whom
It’s been a long time since I’ve written about my son’s books. Since I’m reading longer novels myself this month, I’ll use this opportunity to jump in and say something about what we’ve been reading together. I’ve been skimming over The ABCs of Literacy (reviewed here; that book inspired my 1000 Books Project) for ideas
In The Masterpiece, Zola captures the pain of creation, as he claimed himself: I want to depict the artists’ struggle with reality, the sheer effort of creation which goes into every work of art, the blood and tears involved in giving one’s flesh, in trying to make something that lives. (Introduction to Oxford World Classics
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