Tiny Treasury

Doppelganger at 50 Books has compiled a list of books for preschools that feature female characters. Thank you, Doppelganger!

* Stellaluna by Janell Cannon
* The Miss Spider series by David Kirk
* Princess Smartypants by Babette Cole
* The Frances series by Russell and Lillian Hoban
* The Paper Bag Princess, A Promise is a Promise, Angela’s Airplane, David’s Father, Millicent and the Wind, Moira’s Birthday, Murmel Murmel Murmel, Pigs!, Something Good, Stephanie’s Ponytail, and The Boy in the Drawer by Robert Munsch
* Chrysanthemum, Lily and her Purple Plastic Purse, and Julius, The Baby of the World by Kevin Henkes
* The Little House and Katy and the Big Snow by Virginia Lee Burton
* Helga’s Dowry and Adelita by Tomie DePaola
* When I’m Sleepy by by Jane R. Howard and Lynne Cherry
* The Charlie and Lola series by Lauren Child
* Big Momma Makes the World and Lucia and the Light by Phyllis Root
* The Princess Knight, plus many other titles by Cornelia Funke
* The Seven Chinese Sisters by Kathy Tucker and Grace Lin
* The Library by Sarah Stewart
* Moonstruck by Gennifer Choldenko
* Roxaboxen by Alice Mclerran and Barbara Cooney
* A Bad Case of Stripes by David Shannon
* The Balloon Tree by Phoebe Gilman
* Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle by Betty Macdonald
* Noisy Nora by Rosemary Wells
* The Little Princess series (which, trust me, is NOT all princess-y) by Tony Ross
* The Daisy series by Jane Simmons
* Blueberries for Sal by Robert McCloskey
* If You Give a Pig a Pancake by Laura Joffe Numeroff and Felicia Bond
* Miss Rumphius by Barbara Cooney
* Ugly Truckling by David Gordon
* Knuffle Bunny by Mo Willems (I can vouch for this one. The story is cute and the illustrations are fabulous.)
* Lizzy’s Lion by Dennis Lee
* Ganzy Remembers by Mary Grace Ketner
* Mrs. McTats and Her Houseful of Cats by Alyssa Satin Capucilli and Joan Rankin
* Who Said Boo? by Anne Miranda
* Attic of the Wind by Doris Herold Lun and Ati Forberg
* Baby Island by Carol Ryrie Brink
* George and Martha: One Fine Day by James Marshall
* Maggie and the Pirates by Ezra Jack Keats
* Katy No-Pocket by Emmy Payne
* Fairy Wings by Lauren Mills
* Dahlia by Barbara McClintock
* Red Riding by Jean Merrilla
* Outside, Over There by Maurice Sendak
* Peg and the Yeti by Kenneth Oppel
* Bullfrog Builds a House by Rosamond Dauer and Byron Barton
* Petronella by Jay Williams
* A Cowboy Named Ernestine by Nicole Rubel
* Cinder Edna by Ellen Jackson
* Little Red Cowboy Hat by Susan Lowell
* Eloise by Kay Thompson
* Sleepless Beauty by Frances Minters
* Christina Katerina and the Box by Patricia Lee Gauch
* The Maggie B by Irene Haas
* The Stella series by Marie-Louise Gay (Bonus: She has a little brother named Sam!)

More of what we’re reading here next week, and thanks to some of the Readergirlz for stopping in and commenting!

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.

A Charlie and Lola book that I don’t have in my house? Impossible! Yet true.

I Am Too Absolutely Small for School was published in 2004 and has been nationally recognized. It still managed to stay off my radar - perhaps because I didn’t have school aged children until now. I am rushing out to buy it before school starts… My middle daughter will *absolutely* love it!

(hat tip: Elizabeth at about.com)

Lauren Child, Charlie and Lola, back to school

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!

John, Paul, George & Ben, that is.

I saw this book last week in Barnes and Noble and almost bought it. The illustrations were fantastic and the book jacket made me laugh out loud - how often does that happen with a kid’s book?

But I didn’t.

So imagine how ecstatic I was when I found out that my friend Madeline bought it for my daughter, Katie…

It’s so brilliant.

But then what did you expect from Lane Smith, who has illustrated, among other works, James and the Giant Peach and The Stinky Cheese Man? The illustrations are just - gosh. I can’t even explain. The whole book isn’t just drawn beautifully, it’s put together in a stunning manner - from the typeface to the color palette to the drawings. Amazing.

And the text? I’m not sure that the little ones (the jacket says from age 5 on) will get the humor evident from page to page, but that’s why I love it. It works in the same way that Monsters, Inc., or Cars does - there’s humor for the kids and then a more sophisticated humor for the parents. That’s what I love in a kid’s book.

It also has perspective. It is the abbreviated, down to earth stories of John Hancock, Paul Revere, George Washington, Ben Franklin and Tom Jefferson. Historical, entertaining, smart, funny. I’m a history major - and I learned something.

The jacket says “This is the story of five little lads before they become five really big Founding Fathers.” But… I thought that only four were mentioned in the title? That’s because the fifth - Tom (as in Jefferson) - was “annoying independent and hardly ever around.”

A truly great book, destined to be a classic. Buy it.

history, John Hancock, Paul Revere, George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, Lane Smith

It dawned on me that you might be interested in what families other than mine are reading. So, I’m going to try and publish The New York Times best seller list each week.

The June 3 list for Picture Books:

1. Bad Dog, Marley! by John Grogan, illustrated by Richard Cowdrey
2. Fancy Nancy and the Posh Puppy by Jane O’Connor, illustrated by Robin Preiss Glasser
3. Thanks to You by Julie Andrews Edwards and Emma Walton Hamilton
4. Mars Needs Moms! by Berkeley Breathed
5. A Good Day by Kevin Henkes

The June 3 list for Chapter Books:

1. New Moon by Stephenie Meyer
2. Summer Ball by Mike Lupica
3. Warriors: Power of Three #1: The Sight by Erin Hunter
4. The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick
5. Marley by John Grogan

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

In the interest of fair disclosure, I expected to like this book. For the last thirteen years, I have made my home in the great city of Philadelphia. And for a number of those years, I followed a columnist in the Philadelphia Inquirer - that columnist, John Grogan, went on to write a book called Marley and Me, which my husband read and loved. So, when I found out that John Grogan had written a kids’ version of his book about his dog, Marley, I figured that it had to be good. I was right.

The story of Bad Dog, Marley! is simple: family gets dog, dog drives family crazy, family decides to part with dog, family decides that dog is really part of the family. In fact, it’s pretty much a universal story, isn’t it? Not only is Clifford the Big Red Dog playing in the background as I write this (”Clifford always makes a mess”), but my own goofy black labrador was just chased out of the family room after knocking down a Legos statue that had taken quite a bit of time to put together…

You see, dogs, especially big family dogs are absolutely trouble. They will, like Marley, make messes and bark too loudly and chew on things. But, like Marley, my dog is inextricably a part of the family. And while I yell at him from time to time for tromping through my flower beds and drinking out of the toilet, at the end of the day, he is like one of my children. He would do anything for the children.

And so, as I read Bad Dog, Marley! to my children, they pointed at the illustrations (beautifully drawn by Richard Cowdrey). Charlie giggled and Amy solemnly explained what Marley was doing wrong (a lot!). But Amy also found a connection between Marley and Lyle (our dog) which was fun to talk about. She knows that Lyle, not unlike a certain little girl, gets into a lot of trouble even when he doesn’t mean to, but we love him anyway.

Mr. Grogan successfully transitioned an adult book (Marley and Me) into a children’s book (Bad Dog, Marley!) that’s bound to be a classic. The book reminds all of us that nobody is perfect (!) and that love is universal - even for our four-legged family members. I highly recommend picking up a copy for your family today.

John Grogan, Marley and Me, Bad Dog Marley, Richard Cowdry, dogs, children