Tiny Treasury

Five books my son is currently obsessed with

1. Johnny Tractor’s Fun Farm Day
This tractor shaped John Deere book features a color on each two page spread and is chock full of pictures for little ones to label. There are “burds” and “ap-pulls” and cows who say “mmmmmmm,” there are “booberries” (just wait until he has the cereal!) and pigs and corn and a number of animals, food items, and farm sights my son has has yet to verbalize. I imagine this on won’t get old for a while.

2. From Head to Toe
Eric Carle’s animal book (published in 1997 so it was new to me) invites kids to copy the movements of the animals and say, “I can do it.” From Head to Toe introduces both animals and body parts. Sam loves to thump his chest like a gorilla.

3. The Fast Rolling Little Engine That Could
Not the best retelling of the classic tale, but it has wheels and a clasp that snaps it shut when you’re finished reading. My mechanical little guy loves opening the book, making me read it to him, snapping it shut, and wheeling it around. Repeatedly.

4. The Going to Bed Book
This was our good night story for months until he started crying and slamming it shut when we brought it out. Now he prefers to read it during the day. Sandra Boynton’s fun and familiar animal cast gets ready for bed. Sam loves the page when they all crowd together to brush their teeth. My favorite page is when they exercise before bed.

5. Counting Kisses
Karen Katz’s kiss and book was another bedtime favorite banished to daytime readings. The tired little baby in the book is kissed and hugged and loved by mama, dada, grandma, sister, cat and dog until she’s peacefully asleep. Sam likes to kiss the baby and name the family members. He’s not yet into getting kissed repeatedly while we read the story, but I imagine that’s yet to come.

I’m one of those parents who doesn’t like to buy character merchandising from movies or television. You won’t see me buying anything with an Elmo, Dora, or Diego on it. But I’m not too uptight to accept and use gifts that are character related, so Sam does have some Thomas plates and bowls, and some other character items. The good news is that Sam doesn’t recognize Elmo when we pass the creepy photography studio that uses him to lure people in and he doesn’t actually know that Dora is everywhere- on cups, sneakers, blankets, pencils, T-shirts, etc. He doesn’t watch enough TV to know he’s supposed to WANT these things yet.

Want aside, now that the weather is most decidedly fall like here on the east coast, Sam’s fallen in love all over again with the book A Day at the Beach, a Dora the Explorer book. With colorful pages, a few Spanish words for good measure, and lots of items to find and label, Sam loves the book. He likes pointing to and naming the birds and balls on each page and as his vocabulary increases he’s discovered the turtle and fish. Dora and her (creepy, though I’ve never really watched the show so maybe he’s not quite as creepy on TV?) friend boots put on sunscreen, buy lemonade, and throw out their trash. I didn’t want to like it, but A Day at the Beach is a great picture book for the toddler set. It’s brightly colored, interactive, and Sam finds new things to talk about each time we read it. I imagine that kids who watch the show will love it even more.

We took a bunch of books out of the library last week, and to my husband’s dismay “My Book of Trucks” was not Sam’s immediate favorite. Instead he went straight for “I Can, Can You?” and hasn’t yet picked up any of the others.

“I Can, Can You?” is a board book featuring full color photographs of children with Down Syndrome going about their day. Each page shows a different child engaged in a different activity like eating, drawing, and going down a slide. Sam’s particularly interested in the baby building with blocks. Each time he picks up the book he turns right to that page, points and says, “Baby! bock.”

The children featured are mostly white, though two Asian children and one African-American child are also shown. The text is repetitive, engaging and subtly encouraging. It’s perfect for a toddler or a preschooler with or without Down Syndrome, though I’d imagine it would be most reassuring for a child with Down Syndrome, who probably doesn’t get to see to many books with pictures of kids like them.

I’ve been looking for books about the Jewish High Holidays appropriate for toddlers. A board book would be ideal with short sentences and bright, interesting pictures. According to Amazon no such book exists. All I could find were books appropriate for ages 4-8. But a closer look showed several books that seem to be toddler appropriate.
Sammy Spider’s First Rosh Hashanah doesn’t have an age range listed, but using the search inside feature it looks like it would be on target for ages 3-6.

Apples and Honey: A Rosh Hashanah Lift-the- Flap as a lift-the-flap book is probably geared towards pre-schoolers based on the excerpt on amazon, but with the lift-the-flap feature I’d think they were aiming for younger children as well. Unfortunately the lone reviewer says the pages are flimsy. Flimsy doesn’t last with my toddler. Even sturdy doesn’t last when he’s teething.

If your child is older you’ve got several books to choose from. Here are a few fiction books about the High Holidays
On Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur
Reading level: ages 4-8
40 pages

The World’s Birthday: A Rosh Hashanah Story
Reading level: ages 4-8

And a few non-fiction

Apples and Pomegranates: A Family Seder For Rosh Hashanah
Reading level: ages 4-8

Celebrate Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur: With Honey, Prayers, and the Shofar
ages 4-8

Do any readers have any suggestions for books I haven’t linked? Board books I may not have found?

Happy New Year!

Click, Clack, Moo by Doreen Cronin is just wildly amusing, one of my favorite kids’ books. And it’s also one of my kids’ favorites because they can read along - the text is very simple (and witty!).

I was really glad to see this video clip on YouTube of the book being read aloud - with sign language.

You can download versions here from PBS - or order videos.

Those are just some of the questions that Sam, one of the main characters of Stella, Star of the Sea asks his big sister, Stella, in one of the most delightful children’s books in my home.

I didn’t buy this one, I’ll confess. My friend, Kristin, bought it for my daughter; my daughter’s middle name is Estella and Sam is Kristin’s son. The two are the best of friends and Kristin thought the book concept - of older girl Stella leading around young Sam - was fitting. It quickly became a favorite in the house, not just because of the names of the characters but also because of the poetic nature of the book. And by poetic, I’m not just referring to the imagery in the words and the cadence of the text, which is really lovely to read. I’m also referring to the illustrations which are absolutely beautiful - the illustrations are so soft and yet still stunning - that it takes your breath away. Really. And on each page, there’s a little story within the story. Your children will have fun exploring it.

The book is the first in a series by award-winning Montreal artist Marie-Louise Gay of Canada. Gay clearly captures the spirit of young children with her words and her illustrations. And you can’t find a more perfect example of that spirit than when Stella explains to Sam that starfish were once shooting stars “who fell in love with the sea.” Trust me when I say that you and your children will fall in love with this book.

Marie-Louise Gay, Stella

Like you didn’t think the first place I’d pick would be Philadelphia…

I’m kicking my reviews of books this week that reference specific places - not just generally “in the city” or “on Generic Street, USA” - whether in title, text or setting. And the first book on my list is Good Night Philadelphia.

Good Night Philadelphia, authored by Adam Gamble and illustrated by Cooper Kelly, is part of the Good Night Our World series. Other books in the series include Good Night San Francisco, Good Night Atlanta and Good Night New York City. The premise of the series is, as you could imagine, “to celebrate special places in a way that young children… can easily relate to and enjoy with their families.”

And if Good Night Philadelphia is typical, the series more or less hits the mark. The book introduces the reader to places that are familiar to Philadelphians, though I’m not sure if those who haven’t spent a considerable amount of time in Philadelphia would quite understand or appreciate all of the spots chosen to “visit”.

The opening page missed the boat, I thought. Literally. There is a stretch of Philadelphia along the Schuylkill River (which no one outside of Philadelphia can pronounce) referred to as “Boathouse Row.” If you’ve been to Philly, you know Boathouse Row. And yet, the illustrations of Boathouse Row aren’t accompanied by any reference to it. Instead, the author says “Good morning, Schuylkill River” which is both difficult to pronounce if you aren’t familiar with it, and nearly impossible for new readers. Boathouse Row is simple - and the more common name for the stretch. I’m not sure whether this is a flaw because Gamble doesn’t know the area or if it was purposeful. But I didn’t think it a terribly good start.

After the opening pages, however, the book hits all of the right notes. The author makes stops along Philly’s notable tourist sites such as the Art Museum and Fairmount Water Works - and even stops to wonder what Rodin’s Thinker is thinking. There’s the obligatory mention of cheesesteaks (and thankfully not at Pat’s or Geno’s) as well as the Betsy Ross House and the Liberty Bell. The book is nicely illustrated - I thought the colors popped nicely and worked well with the board book format. I especially liked the crowd scenes, such as in Reading Terminal. It adds considerable interest to the book and encourages lots of finger pointing and question asking of the “Who’s that?” variety.

It’s short and sweet, as picture books - especially board books - should be. It’s a nice introduction to the City, and really does hit most of the main tourist attractions (what, no mention of our infamous sports teams?). I would definitely be inclined to pick up another in the series for my kids for the next time that we travel to New York City, Maine or any of the other places featured in the series. I agree that it’s a nice way to remember a trip without cheesy commercial references and at $9.95, it’s not priced badly either.

Philadelphia, Good Night Our World

I’m on vacation this week (hence, the fewer posts). And nothing challenges you as a parent more than being trapped in a car for hours on end with restless children…

Enter the “I Spy” game.

You don’t need a book to play this game – remember it from when you were little? But with really small children, a book really helps. My three year old, for example, finds it difficult to look out of the window. And her “I Spy” options inside the car aren’t terribly noteworthy – they get old after a few minutes. But “I Spy” in a book? It’s brilliant.

My kids have “I Spy” from Disney’s Cars movie. Both kids are crazy about the movie – talking cars? Who knew? And the book is great. It is literally page after page of crazy illustrations that challenge the kids to find certain tires, oil cans and more. The best part? The kids aren’t finished after 5 minutes. They can play for hours – and find different things each time.

Next time that you’re planning a car trip, consider throwing one of these books in the car. Trust me, you’ll thank me later.

It’s summer. And in theory, summer is a wonderful time to merely relax.

But children don’t relax. If you have kids, you know what I’m talking about.

They fidget. They squirm. They can’t find anything to do.

And thus kicks off Marc Rosenthal’s wonderfully amusing Phooey! A child kicks an old can, proclaiming emphatically, “Nothing ever happens around here!”

But that can? It hits a cat, knocking it out of a tree - right in front of a dog who is pretty excited to see the cat. The dog proceeds to chase the cat into the street and the zoo… And, well you get the picture. A series of events are put into motion that upend the idea that “nothing ever happens around here”

It’s a silly picture book filled with funny noises, brightly illustrated havoc and fantastic adventures. A fun read for summer - or any time!

Just in time for Memorial Day, the Smithsonian Institute has published Sarah Thompson’s My Flag Book.

First, the positives:

- I love board books. My kids love board books. They are indestructible. So, thumbs up on the choice to go board book.

- The pricing. After shelling out far too much lately on new books, it was a pleasant surprise to see that the book sells for $5.99. Totally reasonable.

- It’s interactive. Each page asks a learning question - exactly the kind of thing that you’d expect from the Smithsonian Institute.

Now, the not so positives:

- The promotional materials claim that the book is for “up to age 5.” I don’t know many five year olds who would be captivated by the limited text. I think the book is really geared more for ages 1-3. My one year old liked flipping the pages and my three year old liked answering the questions. My five year old had zero interest.

- The book is a little on the, um, American pride side. Now, I mean no disrespect. I’m as patriotic as the next girl. But the “Do we love our flag?” bit at the end is really difficult to describe to a small child. It’s hard to explain why we *love* the flag to a toddler - and that being the “why?” stage, you can expect it to come up. I think, in the series of questions, it’s the most out of place.

I appreciate the difficulty in translating some material for the toddler crowd. And the book does a fairly decent job of getting there.

Memorial Day, patriotism, flag

A couple of years ago, someone gave us No David by David Shannon. Katie loved it. She wasn’t the only one who enjoyed it as it earned a nod as a Caldecott Honor Book in 1999.

It’s really interesting to see the feedback on the book. On some of the European sites, it garners near perfect reviews. In the US, the feedback is more mixed: people either loved it or hated it. Those that hated it tend to focus on the perception that the book is “too negative.” As you can probably surmise from the title, the book largely revolves around David not behaving as he should. My humble opinion? Those parents are reading waaay too much into it. Katie loves it because she, too, has a wild streak. She breaks things. She doesn’t always sit still when she should. She gets herself into trouble a lot because, well, that’s what four year olds do. And I think she can relate to David. She giggles at his behavior and tells me solemnly what he should be doing. And in the end, she knows, like David, that misbehaving doesn’t mean that you’re not loved. So when David’s mom tells him, “Yes, David, I love you” - no matter how badly he’s acting - Katie understands that, similarly, while I may not always love her behavior, I love her. I don’t see the negativity in that at all.

I know that there are a lot of parents who have difficulty telling their children “no” because it’s somehow perceived as bad parenting. I happen to think that those parents are wrong. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with setting boundaries and creating ground rules (and if you knew how wildly liberal my own parents think I am in this respect, you’d be amazed) for children. And that’s the reason why this book is a hit with me, too. As a parent, it gives me a great springboard for discussion with my girls about David’s behavior - such as why he shouldn’t play with the bat and the ball inside the house - that they can relate to and talk about.

So say “yes” to No, David. I think you’ll be glad that you did.

David Shannon, Caldecott

I confessed to my book spree on yesterday. There was absolutely no getting round that we were going to have to get the newest Jane O’Connor Fancy Nancy book. My daughters are solidly Fancy Nancy fans.

The idea behind the Fancy Nancy books is that Nancy is the only posh person in her family (posh is a fancy word for fancy). She looks for the fancy things in life - whether clothes, food or, as in this latest book, a dog. Nancy’s parents have decided that she can have a dog. She wants a papillon. Her family isn’t so sure.

In the end, Nancy gets her fancy dog. And it’s the perfect dog for her. As to whether it’s the papillon - hey, I have to leave you something, right?

The story is great. I’ve been forced to read it no fewer than ten times in 24 hours and I don’t hate it yet. If you’re a parent, you absolutely know what I mean. Bad children’s books grate on your nerves immediately.

Fancy Nancy and the Posh Puppy is beautifully illustrated. Just like its namesake, the book is fancy. Lots of pinks and purples to keep it appealing to the toddler set without being overly girly. Nancy’s family is not fancy so there’s not too much fancy going on…

The story flows with no insipid rhymes or goofy dialogue. Nancy’s conversations are a bit posh, but the other folks in the story talk as though you’d expect them to. O’Connor’s asides to explain the fancy language are the highlight of the book.

Fancy Nancy is a hardback which means I had to shell out $17 for a toddler book. That’s expensive (expensive is a fancy word for costs a lot). But my girls love it. It’s worth it.

Penguin Group’s Young Readers has announced the upcoming release of the latest in the Mr. Men and Little Miss series, Little Miss Splendid and the Princess. The popular series was penned and illustrated by Roger Hargreaves until his death in 1988. His son, Adam, continued the series for a bit until selling the rights to Chorion Publishing.

And speaking of princesses, don’t forget to enter our Princess for a Day contest!

princess, Roger Hargreaves, Mr. Men and Little Miss

It’s been a difficult couple of weeks at my house. My father-in-law was admitted into hospital about a week and a half ago and required two emergency surgeries; he was subsequently admitted to ICU. He is, thankfully, officially now “out of the woods” - whatever that means.

My husband handled it very well. This is my father in law’s second serious health scare within the last five or so years (the last was a quintuple bypass) and this one was resolved much more quickly. It did not help my husband, however, that right now my kids are really into Josephine Nobisso’s book, Grandpa Loved.

The book is really lovely. The illustrations by Maureen Hyde are soft water colors which lends a nice tone to the book overall. The theme of the book is grief and how a child might reconcile their own grief. You don’t so much pick up on the theme early on in the book. The story focuses on the relationship between the narrator (a grandson) and his grandfather. Throughout the story, the child tells of the wonderful things that he learned from his grandfather. At the end of the story, however, the child reveals that his grandfather is deceased.

This is such a difficult concept, this idea of death, to convey to children. I know, I’ve tried to do it before. I like the idea of introducing the concept of death gently, as in this book. There’s no point in dancing around it, especially when it involves people that we know and love. But there’s no need to be in your face or overly explanatory either. It’s a delicate balance. I think that Ms. Nobisso “gets it” - and I’m not the only one who thinks so. Parents magazine has previously selected it as one of the “Best Children’s Books of the Year.”

I hope you’ll check it out.

grief, death, grandparents, Josephine Nobisso, Parents magazine

Okay, Madeline was never really in Peoria, so far as we know. But following the success of the first Madeline book, there were a number of sequels by author Ludwig Bemelmans, including Madeline in London.

The character of Madeline may have inherited some of her own rebellious/mischievous spirit from author Bemelmans himself. He was no angel, for sure, and moved to the United States at his parent’s urging after he was involved in a shooting in his uncle’s hotel in Austria. While in the US, his career as a waiter did not take off as his parents hoped (good for us) and he subsequently joined the Army. Eventually, he returned to civilian life and opened a restaurant. He never forgot his first love, though: as the son of an artist, Bemelmans loved to draw and paint and continued to work on his artist’s skills.

At the age of 36, Bemelmans published his first children’s book, Hansi.Five years later, Bemelsman introduced Madeline,a children’s book named after his wife, Madeleine Freund. It was rejected by a number of publishing houses who did not feel it was kid-friendly enough. Finally, Simon and Schuster gave Bemelsman the green light and Madeline was published.

Bemelmans went on to publish a number of Madeline stories, as well as a host of children’s stories. In total there were seven Madeline stories published by Bemelmans. Five of the stories were published as books during Bemelmans’ lifetime: Madeline, Madeline’s Rescue, Madeline and the Bad Hat, Madeline and the Gypsies, and Madeline in London. Madeline’s Christmas was published as a book in the mid-80s; it was originally published as a magazine story in McCall’s. Finally, Madeline in America and Other Holiday Tales, was published less than a decade ago after being discovered years after Bemelmans’ death.

Bemelmans received the Caldecott Award in 1954 for Madeline’s Rescue,just as he did for the original Madeline.

The original Madeline was perhaps such a hit because of her personality. While most little girls in children’s books of that era were all sweetness and light, Madeline had spunk. The smallest of the girls at her boarding school (not an orphanage!), she was fearless - walking on stone bridges and smiling at tigers in the zoo. Adults found her precocious and charming; children found her irresistible and maybe a little inspirational.

The spark that made Madeline so special in her stories was missing in Madeline in London, the least interesting of the five books. London is such a great destination and Bemelmans, as a world traveler, surely could have crafted a first class story. The book is, as always, beautifully illustrated - one of the more colorful of the series. But the story falls flat.

The storyline revolves around Madeline’s friend, Pepito (the son of the Spanish ambassador), who has moved to London. He misses his friends and his birthday is fast approaching. His mother, sensing his sadness, invites Madeline, Miss Clavell and the entire boarding school to London for a visit. The girls secure a horse for Pepito for his birthday, and hijinks ensue. Only, the hijinks are not only not believable, they are not particularly entertaining either.

I guess I find the story most disappointing because the other Madeline storylines were so well-crafted. In this story, however, the plot feels ill-conceived and there’s no real interplay between the characters. I happen to enjoy the relationship between Madeline and Miss Clavell; Madeline constantly challenges Miss Clavell but they remain, in an adult-child manner, friends. There are not nearly enough stories where adults are central figures and not the “bad guy” - however, you always have the feeling that no matter what kind of trouble Madeline gets into, Miss Clavell will forgive her.

That’s what makes the series - and the characters - so endearing. If you haven’t already read this children’s classic, give Madeline a chance. I highly recommend the original as well as Madeline’s Rescue. If you’re on a limited budget, you may want to skip over Madeline in London. It’s the one bad hat in the bunch.

“And that’s all there is — there isn’t any more.”

Madeline, Madeline in London, Bemelmans