When I was a kid, Calvin and Hobbes was the highlight of the comics page. When this big box set came out in paperback a bit over two years ago, I pounced. Last year, I started reading it to my oldest before bed. Now he is devouring it without me (but he loves to show me the strips he thinks are the funniest, like the one above).
Author: Bill Watterson
Illustrator: Bill Watterson
Comments Off on The Complete Calvin and Hobbes
Posted in Picture Books
Tagged Animals, bedtime, Bill Watterson, I read this as a kid, school, science fiction, series, The Complete Calvin and Hobbes, toys
In this charming tale, a tiny goose with a gift for friendship and an overbearing rhinoceros with an interest in riddles slowly form an unexpected bond. This is a particular favorite of my youngest, who loves riddles and animals and is very interested in how friendships work.
Author: Sheila White Samton
Illustrator: Sheila White Samton
Comments Off on Tilly and the Rhinoceros
Posted in Picture Books
Tagged Animals, out of print, Sheila White Samton, songs, Tilly and the Rhinoceros, Valentine's Day
Elliot is a tiny, pastel-spotted, New-York-City-dwelling elephant. He generally works around his size limitations, but often goes unnoticed and is nearly overcome by loneliness (and cupcake cravings) until he finds “someone even littler than himself, who had an even bigger problem.” In helping this someone (an adorable white mouse), Elliot’s problems are solved. This deeply cute book manages to stop short of being saccharine and is very popular.
Author: Mike Curato
Illustrator: Mike Curato
Comments Off on Little Elliot, Big City
Posted in Picture Books
Tagged Animals, bedtime, city, Diverse Books, Ezra Jack Keats Illustrator Honor, food, Little Elliot Big City, Mike Curato, USA
Several fairy tale archetypes originate with the Greek myth Cupid and Psyche (including, especially, Beauty and the Beast). This beautiful version by a mother-daughter team (don’t judge this book by its cover; it is much more compelling inside) draws from the best parts of several ancient variants and retains the darkness and interest of the myth. The boys are fascinated with it.
Author: Charlotte Craft/Thomas Bulfinch/Lucius Apuleius
Illustrator: Kinuko Y. Craft
Comments Off on Cupid and Psyche
Posted in Picture Books
Tagged Beauty and the Beast, Charlotte Craft, Cinderella, Cupid and Psyche, fairy tale, Kinuko Y. Craft, Lucius Apuleius, Mythology, Thomas Bulfinch, translated, Valentine's Day
The last time I wrote about Frog and Toad, this series didn’t interest the boys much. But recently they developed a strong interest in A Year with Frog and Toad, a musical based on the books (and a wonderful show, if you ever get a chance to see it in person), and now really enjoy the books.
Like Mo Willems’ Elephant and Piggy series, the two best friends in this series have very different personalities. The Frog and Toad series is less laugh-out-loud funny than Mr. Willems’, but is still humorous and often tender. Some of our favorite stories are “Shivers,” from Days with Frog and Toad; “Spring” and “A Lost Button,” from Frog and Toad are Friends; “Cookies,” from Frog and Toad Together; and “Down the Hill” and “Ice Cream,” from Frog and Toad All Year.
Author: Arnold Lobel
Illustrator: Arnold Lobel
Comments Off on Frog and Toad series
Posted in Chapter Books, Early Readers
Tagged A Year with Frog and Toad (Original Cast Recording), Animals, Arnold Lobel, Caldecott Honor, Christmas, Days with Frog and Toad, Elephant & Piggie, food, Frog and Toad, Frog and Toad All Year, Frog and Toad are Friends, Frog and Toad Together, garden, I read this as a kid, Mo Willems, Musical, Newbery Honor Book, Robert and Willie Reale, series, songs
This series, about a slightly-diabolical genius whose science skills far outpace her social skills, has been making the boys HOWL with laughter. In a very happy coincidence, the poem generator above was part of tonight’s bedtime reading. Happy Valentine’s Day!
Author: Jim Benton
Illustrator: Jim Benton
Comments Off on Franny K. Stein: Mad Scientist series
Posted in Chapter Books
Tagged Animals, bedtime, Diverse Books, food, Franny K. Stein: Mad Scientist, Jim Benton, Machines, school, science, science fiction, series, toys, Valentine's Day
Old Man Fookwire has only one pleasure in life: painting birds. But some clever squirrels have invaded his beautiful birdfeeders. What happens next is not what you would expect.
This very funny book is a great read aloud. We first read it at a local library and ordered a copy as soon as we came home.
Author: Adam Rubin
Illustrator: Daniel Salmieri
Comments Off on Those Darn Squirrels!
Posted in Picture Books
Tagged Adam Rubin, Animals, Daniel Salmieri, food, Machines, mystery reader books, series, Those Darn Squirrels!
The Iron Giant came to the top of the cliff.
How far had he walked? Nobody knows. Where had he come
from? Nobody knows. How was he made? Nobody knows.
Taller than a house, the Iron Giant stood at the top of the
cliff, on the very brink, in the darkness.
The wind sang through his iron fingers. His great iron head,
shaped like a dustbin but as big as a bedroom, slowly turned
to the right, slowly turned to the left. His iron ears turned, this
way, that way. He was hearing the sea.
His eyes, like headlamps, glowed white, then red, then
infra-red, searching the sea. Never before had the Iron Giant
seen the sea.
He swayed in the strong wind that pressed against his back.
He swayed forward, on the brink of the high cliff.
And his right foot, his enormous iron right foot, lifted – up,
out, into space, and the Iron Giant stepped forward, off the
cliff, into nothingness.
CRRRAAAASSSSSSH!
Down the cliff
the Iron Giant
came toppling,
head over heels.
CRASH!
CRASH!
CRASH!
I’m not sure how I missed this book for so long. It came out over forty years ago, but I had never heard of it before the (quite good, very different from the book) movie came out in 1999 and never read it until this week. This is one of the first times I’ve read a book with my oldest that I was really reading along with him–a book that I had never read before. Luckily, we’re in complete agreement–it is great–especially for reading aloud.
Perhaps it is a good thing I waited so long; the 2010 design and illustrations by Laura Carlin are captivating. I’m not particularly found of her illustrations of people, but they are completely overshadowed (in a good way) by her thoughtful spacing of the text, her portrayal of the Iron Giant, and her introduction of the space-bat-angel-dragon.
This book has been called both a tall tale and a fairy tale. Although neither label is wrong, they are a bit surprising; I would call The Iron Giant an excellent introduction to science fiction.
Author: Ted Hughes
Illustrator: Laura Carlin
Comments Off on The Iron Giant
Posted in Chapter Books
Tagged Australia, fairy tale, Laura Carlin, Machines, movie, out of print, science fiction, Tall Tale, Ted Hughes, The Iron Giant
This variant on Jack and the Beanstalk is a pleasure to see and read. Although we found it after Jack and the Fire Dragon, it is the first tale in the series. My youngest loves it even more than Fire Dragon; my oldest loves them both “to infinity.”
Author: Gail E. Haley
Illustrator: Gail E. Haley
Comments Off on Jack and the Bean Tree
Posted in Picture Books
Tagged Animals, fairy tale, farm, food, Gail E. Haley, Jack and the Bean Tree, Jack and the Fire Dragon, out of print, series, USA
Old Fire Dragaman is about the wickedest
and biggest giant that ever roamed these hills. Some
people believe he dug right up from the center of the
earth bringing fire and brimstone with him. Nothin’
or nobody could stop him, and no one would live in
the places where he hung out. He was famous for
takin’ people’s money and daughters.
Now wouldn’t ye know Jack–that reckless
feller–would run across him?
This book is full of gorgeous pictures, magic, swords, and dragons. Unsurprisingly, it is a huge hit. (Don’t worry about the dialect. It rolls off the tongue quite well, regardless of whether you’ve spent much time in the American South.)
Author: Gail E. Haley
Illustrator: Gail E. Haley
Comments Off on Jack and the Fire Dragon
Posted in Picture Books
Tagged Animals, fairy tale, farm, Gail E. Haley, Jack and the Fire Dragon, out of print, series, USA