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
One girl goes on a very unique trip to Grandma’s house in The Bus Ride by Marianne Dubac (Kids Can Press, 2015). At first, as she boards a bus with her mother’s watchful eye, the reader may believe she is just any kid traveling to Grandmother’s house. To the reader’s surprise, this girl enters a
Animachines by Debora Pearson, illustrated by Nora Hilb (Annick Press, 2003) is a creative comparison book for very young children. On each page, there is an animal doing something as well as a vehicle of some sort acting in very much the same way. Each two-page spread features a large single verb: fly, stretch, dig,
Backseat A-B-See by Maria Van Lieshout (Chronicle Books, 2012) is a perfect book for the child obsessed with vehicles and travel! I know my son would have loved it when he was two years old. As it is, he still enjoyed it and I did too. Maria Van Lieshout finds the alphabet in the street
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
Train Man by Andrea Zimmerman and David Clemesha (Henry Holt, 2012) is a part of a series of books that also includes Fire Engine Man and Digger Man. In Train Man, a young boy tells his younger brother about trains and how he cannot wait to grow up so he can work on a train.
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
Dinosaur Dig by Penny Dale (Candlewick/Nosy Crow, 2011) combines two things my little boy loves: construction trucks and dinosaurs! In a typical counting book style, on each page, a number of dinosaurs (from one to ten) dig, shovel, dump, mix, and so forth as they build themselves a pool to relax in. The inside front cover lists
Along a Long Road by Frank Viva (Little Brown, 2011) is a simply illustrated story about a man riding a bike down a long road. The illustrations are somewhat subdued graphic designs. The book uses only a few colors and a few words on each two-page spread to create a world, road, and people to
Mitchell’s License by Hallie Durrand and illustrated by Tony Fucille (Candlewick, April 2011) is a fun father-son bedtime book. Mitchell does not want to go to bed, so Dad lets him have a driver’s license, Dad being the “car” as Mitchell perches on his shoulders. This is a true-to-form picture book, meaning the pictures are
From the moment he awakens in the morning, my four-year-old son’s best friends are by his side. They live in Busytown, which is sometimes directly above our house and other times underground, where it snows in April. Goldbug is his best friend (sometimes he is my son’s brother), with Huckle, Sally, and Hilda Hippo frequently
Subway by Christoph Niemann (Greenwillow, 2010), was on a new bookshelf recently; it caught my eye because my son (age 3) loves trains and has never yet been exposed to what a subway is. He loves this book! The illustrations are on a black background, with white-painted rounded-edged figures of a parent and two kids, taking
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