This children's story reminds us that children may understand things instinctively that we adults have to be taught. A very old cat struggles to stay This children's story reminds us that children may understand things instinctively that we adults have to be taught. A very old cat struggles to stay cognizant in a world in which reality is slipping away. The book has a very slow and simple storyline that is both poignant and funny-sad.
Sometimes when the old cat sleeps, it makes noises or moves its legs in something like protest. It can't walk or jump as it did when it was younger; sometimes it seeks the house's warm spots and moves little. But it remembers what it can no longer see. It remembers what it means to be a cat.
There may just the moment for such a book in a child's repertoire. It allows them to grasp the world is much bigger than their nuclear family. Nothing to be frightened of, especially, but sometimes animals and people grow old and their memories are more vivid than reality....more
This inspirational child's storybook for ages 5-9 features the beauty of the natural world plus animals and big earth-moving equipment! Even parents aThis inspirational child's storybook for ages 5-9 features the beauty of the natural world plus animals and big earth-moving equipment! Even parents are guaranteed to enjoy this one. The story is true, of a scientist who had heard the land upon which he lived once had a creek but had been bulldozed flat to make larger corn fields. The mind boggles at the necessity for this travesty.
He found photographs of the land in the time before and when an old man told him he'd fished the stream for brook trout, the scientist decided to try to find the creek. If it had been there since time immemorial, perhaps it was just waiting to be found.
The gorgeous full-color woodcuts by Claudia McGehee add immeasurably to the exciting story of discovery created by Caldecott winner Jacqueline Briggs Martin. The scientist dug the field, found the creek, built a bed, planted the sides, repopulated the waters that flowed from the head of the spring.
The actual events in this story take place in northeast Iowa. Thanks to the University of Minnesota Press for putting so much effort into making this the most beautiful and inspirational storybook published in 2017, surely. Brilliant job, everyone!...more
This is just a kids' book...a happy nappy kids book...that expresses joy for black hair. This is the way I think about black hair. bell hooks wrote thThis is just a kids' book...a happy nappy kids book...that expresses joy for black hair. This is the way I think about black hair. bell hooks wrote the words here and she was unambiguous: This can be a joy. Happy to be nappy.
The paintings within are really great: blobs of color and streaks of hair that represent styles. "These short tight naps, or plaited strands all...let girls go running free. Happy with hair all short and strong...Happy with locks that twist and curl...Just all girl happy!"
The New York Review of Books has republished the Palmer Brown books that many people say they have never forgotten, having read them in childhood,The New York Review of Books has republished the Palmer Brown books that many people say they have never forgotten, having read them in childhood, 45 long years ago. The reprints are child-sized, about 4" x 6" and have lovely reproductions of the artwork that makes this collection so special.
In this story, a baby mouse wonders aloud over what she should get for Christmas for someone special (her mother) who seems to have everything. All kinds of things are considered until the mother helps her decide that to give one's love is the most precious gift of all. ...more
A family living in an apartment with a puppy looks for a new house out of the city and discovers the neighbors at their new place has a bigger dog than their own.
It is a wonderful little story that has tension and release, tension and release, with everyone getting what they want in the end. Best of all, it is the perfect length for a bedtime story--"one short one before bed"--and although my category is ages 4-6, I think ages 3-5 is most appropriate.
Definitely consider this one for Christmas this year. It's a gem from days gone by, but actually not so distant in terms of how we live now....more
This tiny little story is just long enough to get the young ones imagining the secret lives of kitties, ferrets, rabbits, foxes, and a whole host of nThis tiny little story is just long enough to get the young ones imagining the secret lives of kitties, ferrets, rabbits, foxes, and a whole host of neighborhood animals who are abroad in the fields at night. For those that have the series of Beatrix Potter you will recognize many now-famous characters of the blue-coated Peter Rabbit and the terrifying Mr. Tod the Fox, among others. You don’t want to miss this one. For those that dimly remember Potter's characters, this story has wonders made evident by the exquisitely expressive voice of Helen Mirren who shows us the very best way to read a bedtime story. Listening to this story will set you down in an England seemingly long gone, but completely alive nonetheless. It is a gem and well worth seeking out.
A short extract of Helen Mirren reading this story is posted on my blog....more
We’ve all been there: we have one or more (sometimes many more) kids to look after or entertain for an afternoon and don’t want to be remembered as thWe’ve all been there: we have one or more (sometimes many more) kids to look after or entertain for an afternoon and don’t want to be remembered as the “boring” one. But maybe we’ve used up all our ideas or can’t use a couple so are sort of desperate for some help. Donna Bozzo is a media personality with three daughters and lots of energy. She has come up with 427 Simple Ways to Have Fantastic Family Fun, and has written them down. That’s one step beyond what most of us do and is ve-e-e-ry helpful when we feel braindead after a busy week.
Looking through this book I could see many time-tried favorites, like mud pies and singing in the rain, but she came up with a few new good ones that seemed doable and something I wouldn’t have come up with on my own. One I thought had potential was Nighttime Driveway Bowling with glow sticks in water-filled plastic bottles and a glow-in-the-dark- painted ball. Not sure your husband would agree to have us paint his basketball, but a ball of that size and weight might work well. Donna suggests an old medicine ball. (WTF?!) That sounds so Californian, but no…she lives in Illinois.
One suggestion that doesn’t require painting anything is making a map on the walk to school. Seems like it could be a useful and fun, and maybe even a multi-day project, depending on the attention span, if the child is youngish.
The book has a few pictures which helps to get some idea of what she means when she describes making a robot, for instance, out of soup cans. But one photograph showed a woman in a beekeeper’s suit holding a hive frame covered with bees. The woman is smiling through her mask, and the activity suggests you bring your kids to see the bees work. Bozzo adds “trust me” and I guess we’d have to…though unless you can come up with some hazmat suits in a small size, I might put this one off until the kids are old enough to give consent.
When I read that you can have the kids report the weather like the folks on TV, using a green screen and some downloaded video footage, at first I thought, “oh come on!” But then I started to get kind of excited about the idea…mainly because I have a green cloth already that could be used for the screening. The cool thing is that everybody learns something with this multi-day project. The kids have to realize how they can speak about weather they can’t see—at least not in back of them. We’d have a little exercise in video-making, and once the kids realize how it all works, they can use real weather outside the window to report…somehow I can see a three-year-old saying dolefully “It’s raining” in front of footage of heavy rain in the yard, or a twelve-year-old pretty quickly learning to film her friends doing real reporting in front of their own footage. This multi-day project has some real potential for fun and learning for all.
So, when you are too frazzled to think much of anything, you might want to turn to a book like this to quickly pull something together for a party or something quieter for after school. You’ll see things you’ve done before, but you’ll also see how a busy, high-energy mother of three makes it work for her family. P.S. I notice there are only 427 suggested projects in the book now, though initially the title had 439 or more projects. Wonder if some of them weren't a little...like the bee hive visit. ...more
Penguin Young Readers has selected several storybooks from their G+D Vintage archives for reprint in time for Easter this spring, in advance of furthePenguin Young Readers has selected several storybooks from their G+D Vintage archives for reprint in time for Easter this spring, in advance of further titles coming along in early summer. Long out of print, these books are selected for their retro-chic appeal and classic illustrations.
This particular story features a little bunny who should be dazzled by the long lists of fun hats and delightful candies he discovers in the abandoned factory where he makes his home. It is only when he comes upon the field of carrots lying outside the factory doors that he finds true excitement. I love it when children turn up their noses at candies and go for the fruit—or vegetables--so this one is high on my list for big punch lines.
One senses the societal change in the fifty or sixty years since the book’s original publication when the list of jobs attached to the hats the bunnies find seem as distant as Shakespeare.
My family has long experience with rabbits, both the domestic variety and with the ones that nibble tender greens in my city garden. There is still something about bunnies that remind us of spring, so bring a little of the past into the present and share with your kids, grandkids, and great grandkids the truth about bunnies.
On sale Jan 26, 2016, ISBN: 978944844495, 32 pages, Ages 3-5, $9.99, G+D Vintage
More titles this Spring:
• Bunny Hopwell's First Spring by Jean Fritz, Illustrated by Rachel Dixon;
• The Noisy Clock by Jean Horton Berg, Illustrated by Art Seiden;
• My ABC Book by Art Seiden;
• The Too Little Fire Engine by Jane Flory.
Upcoming in June 2016: • The Animal's Vacation by Shel Haber;
• The Bingity-Bangity School Bus by Fleur Conkling;
• Mr. Wishing Went Fishing by Irma Wilde, Illustrated by George Wilde....more
It is one thing to be creative sitting in your room with a blank piece of paper, and it is another to be stimulated to thought by the beginnings of doIt is one thing to be creative sitting in your room with a blank piece of paper, and it is another to be stimulated to thought by the beginnings of doodles given one by Taro Gomi. I simply adore the spur to creative thought that Taro Gomi gives us. It was the first doodling book I came across, and it remains the best I've seen. There are a slew of other doodling books out there now, but this remains the classic. Not so fine as to stump a "naive" artist, and not so complete as to stymie a creative graphic artist on the rise. Bravo! ...more
I read this when it came out, before the world discovered it, and before the awards. I was as charmed as the rest of the world, and think this is one I read this when it came out, before the world discovered it, and before the awards. I was as charmed as the rest of the world, and think this is one book I would keep in any collection as the best of the best. A friend, however, has written a better review, and I urge you to read what he has written....more
This is a glorious book to savor and read again and again just for the chance to revel in the beauty of words. It's not just a kids book, though it isThis is a glorious book to savor and read again and again just for the chance to revel in the beauty of words. It's not just a kids book, though it is sold in that department and though kids would love to have it read to them. The words speak for themselves, are arranged as artfully as poetry on a page, and are accompanied by the most beautiful and skillful illustrations by Ben Shahn. What a collaboration! I recommend it for everyone, and hope, even if you don't add it to your library, that you take the opportunity to look for it, and in it....more
A gorgeously-produced book with an evocative text. In his own words, a young boy tells how he manages the terror that comes with Baghdad under siege. A gorgeously-produced book with an evocative text. In his own words, a young boy tells how he manages the terror that comes with Baghdad under siege. We can smell the heat and taste the dust as he talks of playing soccer in the streets with friends, and can hear the clamour of the city. We can especially enjoy the beauty of his written language as he writes some words for us to savor. The beauty of his calligraphy is so exquisite, one's heart breaks a little. This is a book we should all have in our libraries.
A beautifully illustrated and lovingly crafted story about a brave woman who saved the Basra library books from destruction during the bombing in IraqA beautifully illustrated and lovingly crafted story about a brave woman who saved the Basra library books from destruction during the bombing in Iraq. In simple sentences, complex emotions are expressed. This would be especially good for sensitive children whose parents are in some way connected with reconstruction in Iraq....more
Roald Dahl has always intrigued me. An early precursor of the Shrek phenomenon, he writes for children as though they were little adults, or writes foRoald Dahl has always intrigued me. An early precursor of the Shrek phenomenon, he writes for children as though they were little adults, or writes for adults that admit to an inner child. I admired him for that, and thought him terribly risqué. Fantastic Mr Fox is typical Dahl: witty, clever, and amusing. Oh, what dinner partner he would have made! ...more
I was reading this story book because I learned of the biography of the author, Dare Wright, by Jean Nathan. The biography suggests that the story booI was reading this story book because I learned of the biography of the author, Dare Wright, by Jean Nathan. The biography suggests that the story book series reflects a sinister, sexual tone because in nearly every photo frame one can see the doll's underwear, and because in one scene the doll is being spanked.
I read the book for the first time now, as an adult, with the biographer's idea lodged in my brain, but I have to admit I do not see any sinister, sexual overtones that would be apparent to a child. I think a child would understand and enjoy the book and come away unscathed or permanently damaged by seeing the doll's underwear. It is much more painful for me to think of Dare Wright, the author of the series, spending the time to get the underwear display just right. Children won't be damaged, but Dare may have been. ...more
This book is not just for kids. I bought it for a gentleman friend. This gives a wonderful entry into an ancient and useful Japanese concept, wabi sabThis book is not just for kids. I bought it for a gentleman friend. This gives a wonderful entry into an ancient and useful Japanese concept, wabi sabi, that I happen to cherish. It is a concept difficult to define, and therefore this gorgeous children's book is useful guide. A special treat are the Basho and Shiki haiku (in Japanese and English) at the back. Very classy....more
Another math/story riddle book by Greg Tang. [Easy:] math exercises are incorporated into a picture book for kids getting ready for preschool/ kindegaAnother math/story riddle book by Greg Tang. [Easy:] math exercises are incorporated into a picture book for kids getting ready for preschool/ kindegarten kids getting ready for first grade. At least I think they'd be able to do them, perhaps with a couple run-throughs. ...more
Loved the way adding and subtracting exercises are incorporated into this story. For a kid that likes to participate when he/she is being read to, thiLoved the way adding and subtracting exercises are incorporated into this story. For a kid that likes to participate when he/she is being read to, this is a good mind-teaser. Not so hard it would make a child lose confidence, though perhaps they would need a couple times through before they get them all easily. ...more
Loading...
