I wish we could do what they do in Katroo.
They sure know how to say “Happy Birthday to You!”
In Katroo, every year, on the day you were born
They start the day right in the bright early morn
When the Birthday Honk-Honker hikes high up Mt. Zorn
And lets loose a big blast on the big Birthday Horn.
And the voice of the horn calls out loud as it plays:
“Wake Up! For today is your Day of all Days!”
The perfect book for a birthday tradition.
Author: Dr. Seuss
Illustrator: Dr. Seuss
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Posted in Picture Books
Tagged Animals, birthday, Dr. Seuss, food, garden, Happy Birthday to You!, I read this as a kid, Machines, tradition
George’s mother said:
“Bark, George.”
George went: “Meow.”
George’s unusual speech patterns have a very unusual cause. This book is quick and funny, which makes it a good choice for before bed.
Author: Jules Feiffer
Illustrator: Jules Feiffer
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Posted in Picture Books
Tagged Animals, Bark George, bedtime, Jules Feiffer
“Sometimes we all have to do things we
don’t want to do,” she told him gently. “Even
if they seem strange and scary at first. But you
will love school once you start.”
“You’ll make new friends. And play with new toys.”
“Read new books. And swing on new swings. Besides,” she
added. “I know a wonderful secret that will make your nights
at school seem as warm and cozy as your days at home.”
If you have a kid starting kindergarten or preschool, you need this book. My oldest’s (wonderful) kindergarten teacher read this on the first day of school and it made a HUGE impression.
Author: Audrey Penn
Illustrator: Ruth E. Harper and Nancy M. Leak
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Posted in Picture Books
Tagged Animals, Audrey Penn, Nancy M. Leak, Ruth E. Harper, school, The Kissing Hand
Visualizing a million, billion, or trillion (or other concepts like compound interest and the metric system) isn’t easy, unless you read this fun series of books.
For example, a tank big enough to hold a million goldfish would be big enough to hold a whale. A tank big enough to hold a billion goldfish would be as big as a stadium. And a tank big enough to hold a trillion goldfish would be as big as a city harbor. (Keeping in mind a tank should hold one gallon of water for every one inch goldfish!)
Steven Kellogg’s cheerful illustrations keep things light, bright, and engaging. How Much is a Million? is our favorite of the series.
Author: David M. Schwartz
Illustrator: Steven Kellogg
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Posted in Non-fiction, Picture Books
Tagged A Reading Rainbow Selection, Animals, David M. Schwartz, Diverse Books, How Much is a Million?, I read this as a kid, If You Made a Million, Millions to Measure, science, series, Steven Kellogg
Once upon a time
there was a Little House
way out in the country.
She was a pretty Little House
and she was strong and well built.
The man who built her so well said,
“This Little House shall never be sold
for gold or silver and she will live to see
our great-great-grandchildren’s
great-great-grandchildren living in her.”
This is a seemingly simple story of one Little House, but there is a lot going on. The sun, moon, and stars go by. Seasons change. Children grow up. A city moves in. A house moves out. Curiosity is satisfied and a happy ending is finally reached.
The pictures are so beautiful and so very peaceful. I remember looking through it as a kid over and over again and am happy the boys really like it too.
Author: Virginia Lee Burton
Illustrator: Virginia Lee Burton
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Posted in Picture Books
Tagged Caldecott Medal, city, I read this as a kid, Machines, The Little House, Virginia Lee Burton
As we’ve discussed before, David Wisener’s work is nearly wordless and always carefully-plotted, mixing the familiar with the very strange. (Although it is very different, it reminds me of Shaun Tan’s excellent, wordless, graphic novel, The Arrival–which I look forward to introducing the boys to when they are bit older.)
Flotsam is the tale of an underwater camera that washes up on a beach with some very unusual pictures waiting to be developed. Among its other virtues, it is the perfect bedtime book for when you’ve lost your voice to a summer cold (assuming you’ve already explained the concept of “film” that needs to be developed during previous readings).
Author: David Wiesner
Illustrator: David Wiesner
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Posted in Picture Books
Tagged aliens, Animals, beach, bedtime, Caldecott Medal, David Wiesner, Flotsam, Machines, New York Times Best Illustrated Book, science fiction, Shaun Tan, The Arrival, Tuesday
Something adults take for granted is having a feelings vocabulary–knowing what to call your emotions. This book helps kids express their feelings before they have all the right words in place (and, as a bonus, it helps them learn the right words too). The concept is simple: each double-page spread has a highly expressive fish and a single word next to it describing its state of mind (for example: curious, nervous, brave, astonished, bored, and delighted). We don’t really read this book straight through; we flip through it to find the fish(es) that looks like we feel. This is one of my oldest’s very favorite books; he says he will never get rid of it.
Author: Mies Van Hout
Illustrator: Mies Van Hout
All the birds inside this book
Are very strange and rare.
And if you travel to the zoo
You will not find them there.
Don’t look for them in nature books,
In parks or pet shop cages.
The Drippet, Piffle and the rest
Live only on these pages.
The names and descriptions of these “rare birds” are mildly amusing; their portraits are playful and beautiful. This is an especially wonderful book for pre-readers.
Author: Arnold Lobel
Illustrator: Arnold Lobel
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Posted in Picture Books
Tagged Animals, Arnold Lobel, out of print, The Ice-Cream Cone Coot and Other Rare Birds
“Mom,” said David, “when will it snow?”
“I think soon,” said Mom. “Why don’t you help make
cookies while you wait.”
Everything that David does makes him think of snow. Is it coming yet? And when it does come, will it be Big Snow?
We wait and watch with David as his day progresses and the storm rolls in. We see the skyline of his overcast neighborhood slowly disappear into ever growing clouds and snow (the boys really like this part), we watch the roads get covered and uncovered. We watch the light outside disappearing and homes’ lights appear (including his neighbor’s menorah). We watch (the very capable, if somewhat distractible) David help his Mom with an impressive number of getting-ready-for-holiday-guests chores. When naptime comes, we watch David’s dream of Big Snow come a bit too true (I’m amused by how his mom keeps right cleaning throughout) and the book ends as he wakes up to play with outside with his family.
The further away from snow we get, the more popular this book becomes.
Author: Jonathan Bean
Illustrator: Jonathan Bean
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Posted in Picture Books
Tagged Big Snow, Christmas, Diverse Books, food, Hanukkah, Jonathan Bean
One dark, dark night in Burrow Down,
a rabbit named Eliza Brown
found a book and settled down…
when a Snatchabook
flew into town.
In this cozy mystery story, books begin to disappear from the town of Burrow Down. As the title foreshadows, the culprit is a Snatchabook (a small, cute critter who is desperate to hear a story). This is a quick, rhyming read with a happy ending. It is perfect for bedtime and is very frequently requested. (As a bonus, there is a great discussion of how the illustrations were created here.)
Author: Helen Docherty
Illustrator: Thomas Docherty
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Posted in Picture Books
Tagged Animals, bedtime, Helen Docherty, mystery, The Snatchabook, Thomas Docherty