Classics, Nonfiction, and Children's Literature
The first line of All the Water in the World by George Ella Lyon and Katherine Tillotson (Atheneum for Young Readers, 2011) is so classic I find myself thinking about it, long after I finish reading this early introduction to the water cycle: “All the water in the world is all the water in the
How do various animals get to sleep at night? In Animal Lullabies, Lila Prap gives us the lullabies the mothers sing to them. Each is perfectly suited for the particular animal. The animals featured include owls, chicks, kittens (who receive a song of yarn), baby mice (who dream of cheese to nibble), and more. What
The Enchanted Castle by E. Nesbit (published 1907) is a tale of modern magical enchantments. Three children, Gerald (Jerry), Jimmy, and Kathleen (Cathy), stumble upon a large estate that reminds them of a castle; in their play-acting, they stumble upon a sleeping girl they decide must be a princess. Despite her later declaration that she
Five Children and It by E. Nesbit is an Edwardian children’s adventure originally published in 1902. There are no parents or guardians to stop the fun, and the children know where to find fun! In this adventure, four children and their baby brother come across a sand-fairy, who is able to grant them wishes that
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl is a book and a movie (Gene Wilder) that I have found memories of when I was a child. Charlie is about a child who has nothing and wins everything. He first gets the coveted golden ticket. He gets a lifetime supply of chocolate and a tour
Given the two feet of snow that fell on my community yesterday, I feel it’s appropriate to focus on some of the snowy day books my son and I have enjoyed lately. Raisin loves snow and especially snowmen, so I searched out some potential favorites even before this week’s storm hit. In addition to those
It was last November that my son, Raisin, then aged 2 years and 1 month, started showing an interest in being toilet trained. At a few times in the past year he has had days of “underwear only” with moderate success. Well, just before his third birthday, which was last week, Raisin went from the
This summer, my son and I conquered a major accomplishment in his reading. We successfully read three full-length classic chapter books together: The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis; Winnie-the-Pooh by A.A. Milne; and Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie. For the first book, I read as he played. Then, for the others,
In honor of Children’s Book Week, I thought I’d mention a favorite author my son and I have discovered through our project of reading 1000 picture books together: Jez Alborough. Alborough has fun, quality picture books. Some rhyme. Some have a precious little gorilla that reminds me of my own little monkey boy. Most are
I own an adult poetry anthology, with accompanying CDs of the poets reading their work, called Poetry Speaks. While I haven’t read it cover to cover, I have listened to some of the poets and flipped through the book. I have enjoyed it. When I saw Poetry Speaks to Children on the juvenile nonfiction shelf
Today I’ll share about a “growing up” book that I really enjoy. Little Gorilla by Ruth Bornstein shows a little gorilla and all the family and jungle animals that love him. Then, he begins to grow, and soon he is big. It ends with the simple sentence, “And everyone still loved him.” I began inserting
When my son was a young infant in the middle of 2008, and I purchased Professor Seth Lerer’s Children’s Literature: A Reader’s History and spent months reading and rereading chapters, hoping to gain a better understanding of where children’s literature fits in the world history. Although I’ve since finished the book, I still plan on
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