Classics, Nonfiction, and Children's Literature
Young Alice Atherton has been despondent ever since her mother died. Now, the dreariness of her days in New York in the spring of 1927 are bringing her to the edge of boredom too. In Alice Atherton’s Grand Tour by Lesley M. M. Blume (Knopf Books for Young Readers, October 2023), Alice’s father decides to
Happy Pi Day to You! All About Measuring Circles (Cat in the Hat’s Learning Library) by Bonnie Worth, illustrated by Aristides Ruiz and Joe Mathieu. Happy Pi Day to You features The Cat and the Hat who helps introduce circles and pi to a few children using rhymes (which follow the ABAB pattern). A few of the rhymes are forced,
Thirty Million Words by Dana Suskind is about the literacy project of the same name that focuses on improving children’s access to language from day one. In the first three years of life, children should hear 30 million words to improve their chances for learning and growth for their entire life! I enjoyed reading the research
I really loved reading the juvenile nonfiction book Ten Rivers that Shaped the World when I reviewed it earlier this year. It seemed to be a history of the world as captured through the rivers of the world! So I was excited to see Ten Ships that Rocked the World by Gillian Richardson, illustrated by Kim Rosen
The Death of Caesar: The Story of History’s Most Famous Assassination by Barry Strauss (Simon & Schuster, March 2015) examines the traditions of the assassination of Julius Caesar, clearing up the myths (such as Shakespeare’s play) from reality. Analyzing such a historic event from 44 B.C. is not easy since eyewitness accounts are few and far
The Book Whisperer: Awakening the Inner Reader in Every Child by Donalyn Miller is a helpful book for educators and parents to gain ideas on how to help children embrace and love free reading time. The emphasis is on letting children choose their books while providing guidance as experts in children’s literature. Our goal is
The Mormon Tabernacle Choir by Michael Hicks (University of Illinois Press, March 2015) is a biography of the choir itself. As a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, I’ve grown up with the choir: songs during the biannual general conferences, recordings in my home. Because of my background, I was interested
School Days Around the World by Margriet Ruur and illustrated by Alice Feagan (Kids Can Press, 2015) captures Malala’s vision in the epigram at the beginning: “I don’t mind if I have to sit on the floor at school. All I want is education.” In the cut-paper collage illustrations, the stories of real children around the
I read How We Learn by Benedict Carey (Random House, September 2014) at much the same time as I read Born Reading, so I found the correlation between the two quite interesting. Both books were written for very different and unique reasons and for different audiences. But, since I’m a homeschooling mom, I found that
Born Reading by Jason Boog (Touchstone, September 2014) is the best go-to book for figuring out how to teach your child to love reading. I’ve read books before about encouraging your child’s literacy, and they have been great. But what Born Reading does is address the issue for the now generation: the generation of ipads
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
I am a mother that is not comfortable with mess. I don’t like noise or chaos either. And yet, I’m learning to adapt. In fact, when I read Recipes for Play by Rachel Sumner and Ruth Mitchener (The Experiment, September 2014), I started actually getting excited about trying out some of the activities and crafts mentioned.
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