Classics, Nonfiction, and Children's Literature
A girl raised by squirrels: Why not? The new early chapter book The Girl in the Tree by by Ellen Potter (illustrated by Sara Cristofori; Margaret McElderry Books, June 2023) takes this ridiculous concept and makes a creative story about a girl in Central Park who has only known her adoptive squirrel father since she
Remember the last dream you had that seemed to be completely random? One minute it makes sense: the next minute it doesn’t. Fortunately, the Milk by Neil Gaiman is a strange, dream-like story. It is a story told by a father to his children as an explanation of why he took too long to go to
George’s Marvelous Medicine by Roald Dahl (originally published in 1981) is a book I never got to enjoy as a child, but since I have always loved Roald Dahl ridiculousness, I knew this would be a fun one. In fact, my son was the one who originally checked it out (fresh off of a reread
It’s so much fun to read picture books with my toddler. She simply loves reading, and although here books of choice often revolve around The Berenstain Bears and Clifford or Dora (none of which I enjoy all that much), sometimes I can get in some great books that I love too. Help! We Need a
When I saw The Thirteen Clocks by James Thurber (originally published 1950; republished New York Review of Books) had an introduction by Neil Gaiman and was a part of The New York Review Children’s Collection, I was intrigued. The Thirteen Clocks is a short and bizarre fairy tale. Or fantasy story. Neil Gaiman describes it as
My son is a part of a small co-op group that occasionally reads a book and does activities related to it. Our most recent read was The Perfect Hamburger and Other Stories by Alexander McCall-Smith. Alexander McCall-Smith has always been a favorite author of mine. This particular collection of middle-grade stories are all related to
Tom Lichtenheld is on a role with the letters and numbers books this year! Zero the Hero by Joan Holub and Tom Lichtenheld (Henry Holt, 2012) is another story of writing coming to life: this time, it is the numerals that have personalities! Zero feels left out from the counting games that numbers 1, 2,
E-Mergency! by Tom Lichtenheld and Ezra Fields-Meyer (Chronicle Books, 2011) plays with letters by giving each letter a personality. When the letter E is hurt, the letters rally together to help him heal by convincing the world to stop using the letter E. The result is very amusing, and the twist at the end is
Railroad Hank by Lisa Moser and illustrated by Benji Davies (Random House, 2012) is a story of a train engineer who wants to help his granny feel better. Hank is rather slow, however: when Missy May suggests making a yummy plate of scramble eggs, Hank takes the chickens with him, and so forth. By the
I read a number of Cybils nominees again this week, but today I bring you just one. It is unlike any other picture book I’ve read this year! In a bizarre twist of storytelling, Creepy Carrots by Aaron Reynolds and illustrated by Peter Brown (Simon and Schuster 2012) is a ridiculous story about carrots who
Stuck by Oliver Jeffers (Philomel Books, 2011) is one silly book. A boy gets his kite stuck in a tree and so he throws his shoe up to knock it loose … which also gets stuck. He tries to think of other things to throw into the tree to get the shoe out, and then of
I have been looking forward to introducing my son to the favorite books of my childhood, and I’m delighted to find he is finally old enough to appreciate them! Sideways Stories from Wayside School by Louis Sachar (originally published 1978) is a perfect chapter book for young readers. The chapters are less than five pages,
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