Tag Archives: Animals

And to Think that I Saw it on Mulberry Street

Posted on October 13, 2025 | Comments Off on And to Think that I Saw it on Mulberry Street

This book is such fun. The words nearly sing as you read them aloud. The illustrations leap off the page. It’s hard to believe that this was Dr. Seuss’ first book–he really had his voice fully in place from the beginning. And I wish that was all I had to say, but this one has a serious caveat.

As mentioned, this book was Seuss’ first. That means it is close to 100 years old. And it shows–it is dated to the point where Seuss edited it in 1978 and his estate took it out of print altogether in 2021 (long after my boys’ picture book days were past). The copy that we have is an edited one, as was the copy I read as a child. I’ve looked up the original version now and… yikes. And knowing Dr. Seuss’ background creating political cartoons during World War II targeting Japanese Americans does not help matters at all. I’m honestly not sure I would read it to a child today. Read this one to yourself first before sharing it.

Author: Dr. Seuss

Illustrator: Dr. Seuss

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The Last Unicorn

Posted on October 11, 2025 | Comments Off on The Last Unicorn

I have very little to say about this book because it speaks for itself so beautifully. It is my absolute favorite book and has been since I stumbled on it in a used bookstore as a young teen. (The snippets of the movie I had somehow seen pieces of terrified and confused me as a young child, but I got over that with time. Beagle himself wrote the screenplay, and the studio who made it later later split and became Studio Ghibli, all of which is very cool.) I loved reading it to the boys and they each have a signed first edition that the absolutely lovely Peter Beagle inscribed to them (for more on that encounter, see my entry on The Sneetches and Other Stories).

I’m not alone in loving this book; over and over again I’ve seen authors pay tribute to it. For example, Ursula Vernon (aka T. Kingfisher), another especial favorite of mine (and of the boys), notes:

It is made of spun glass and fairytales and iron knives and there are individual lines that I would give my lungs to have written.

She’s right. I mean, my goodness, just look at the first page below.

Author: Peter S. Beagle

Illustrator: N/A

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Here Comes Santa Cat

Posted on October 10, 2025 | Comments Off on Here Comes Santa Cat

Cat is concerned that he isn’t going to be getting a present from Santa this year (see the image below to understand why). But he has a plan–he can be Santa. And then he can give himself a present! Much like Mo Willems’ Pigeon, Cat is not one to let logic or plausibility stand in the path of a self-serving plan. Unlike that series, Cat doesn’t have a “voice” of his own–the reader (or audience) has to create a dialogue based on visual cues and signs. My youngest especially loved this one–it still gets read at Christmas time. (I understand that this book is part of a series, but we never picked up the other books.)

Author: Deborah Underwood

Illustrator: Claudia Rueda

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James and the Giant Peach

Posted on October 10, 2025 | Comments Off on James and the Giant Peach

In my opinion, this not a top-tier work of Dahl’s (Charlie and Matilda are my favorites of his, and I’m very found of Danny, the Champion of the World, although I didn’t read that one to the boys). But, as I realized when I started reading his books aloud, even his second-tier work sets a high bar. This book is odd and fun and surprising–how many authors would dare, have the hero’s parents, on the first page of the book, “suddenly . . . eaten up (in full daylight, mind you, and on a crowded street) by an enormous angry rhinoceros which had escaped the London Zoo”? Or have the hero’s companions be giant insects? (For obvious reasons, like other Dahl books, this would not be the best book for a particularly sensitive or anxious child. Things are truly terrible for James before they get much better. )

Like Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, I far prefer the original illustrations to those by Quentin Blake (who is now the default Dahl illustrator). Burkert’s pictures are very weird and atmospheric (James looks positively haunted, which makes perfect sense in the context of the book) and I love the subtle light peach color throughout the illustrations. I didn’t find its stop-motion movie very interesting and didn’t show it to the boys.

Author: Roald Dahl

Illustrator: Nancy Ekholm Burkert

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The Voyage of the Dawn Treader

Posted on October 9, 2025 | Comments Off on The Voyage of the Dawn Treader

Gracious, Prince Caspian (the second published Narnia book) is boring. I didn’t miss a thing not reading that one as a kid. So, I skipped reading it to the boys, going from Wardrobe straight to The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (the third published Narnia book).  And then, well, I skipped reading them the rest of the series too (because they were dull as Caspian, even more preachy and dated than this book, and the boys never asked about them) and showing them the live-action movies.  So, as far as our family is concerned, I guess this series is a duology.  And a good one!  While Lewis is so very preachy (which I supposes makes sense in the Christian allegory context that he was working within–see my discussion of Wardrobe for more on this) and the pictures are generally awkward (as with Wardrobe), it is full of adventure and a nice change to have an antihero as a main character, someone needs a lot of personal growth rather than starting off perfect.  But the real draw in Dawn Treader, as far as I’m concerned, will always be the glorious Reepicheep.  Well, and the opening line:  “There once was a boy called Eustace Clarence Scrubb and he almost deserved it.”

Author:  C.S. Lewis

Illustrator:  Pauline Baynes   

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A Little Princess

Posted on October 9, 2025 | Comments Off on A Little Princess

Like Matilda, this book focuses on a child escaping from awful circumstances by the power of her mind and creativity. I read it over and over as a child–Sara’s times of luxury and deprivation, love and misery, were enthralling (as was the glimpse into British boarding schools of the nineteenth century). And the sumptuous pictures! I read The Secret Garden by the same author around the same time. It never spoke to me in the same way (perhaps it would have if I’d had a copy of the edition Tasha Tudor illustrated), but it did make a a musical I hugely enjoyed as a young teen. (Avoid the movie of A Little Princess with Shirley Temple at all costs.)

Caveat: Keep in mind that both A Little Princess and The Secret Garden are about 120 years old and aspects of them have not aged well at all–read them alone first, there are a lot of things you’ll want to be ready to discuss if you read it to a child.

Author: Frances Hodgson Burnett

Illustrator: Tasha Tudor

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Matilda

Posted on October 9, 2025 | Comments Off on Matilda

Oh, was there ever a better story for a book lover who doesn’t quite fit in? I knew from my childhood what a wonderful book this was to read alone, but this is another one where reading it aloud unlocks a whole new level of enjoyment. (That it has so many pranks and tricks did not hurt at all in keeping the boys attention.) That it has now been adapted into a musical is a fun bonus (although none of us loved the movie and we never have seen the non-musical live action movie).

Caveat: Like all Dahl books, this would not be the best book for a particularly sensitive or anxious child. Things are truly terrible for Matilda at home and at school for most of the book. But they do get much better!

Author: Roald Dahl

Illustrator: Quentin Blake

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How the Grinch Stole Christmas!

Posted on October 9, 2025 | Comments Off on How the Grinch Stole Christmas!

Here’s the tart palate cleanser for all those (truly beloved!) sweet and cozy Christmas books. Who among us doesn’t sometimes feel a bit out of step, contrary, grinch-ish? And while I’m no Boris Karloff (the 1966 Grinch television special he narrated may be the best Christmas special ever–the live action version is a travesty), Dr. Seuss books are a pure pleasure to read aloud.

Author: Dr. Seuss

Illustrator: Dr. Seuss

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D’Aulaires’ Book of Greek Myths

Posted on October 9, 2025 | Comments Off on D’Aulaires’ Book of Greek Myths

This book is irresistible. Stunning, unforgettable illustrations, utterly bizarre and intriguing stories. I loved reading it over and over in my school’s library as a child and couldn’t wait to grab a copy of our own for the boys. Even better, there is also an unabridged audio version (read by Paul Newman, Sidney Poitier, Kathleen Turner, and Matthew Broderick), which means the boys know how to pronounce all the names correctly. These stories are foundational texts for Western culture, and you couldn’t ask for a better introduction. And then they discovered Percy Jackson, which they deeply loved, but I never read it to them, so I’m not sure I’ll be talking abut that here.

Authors: Ingri and Edgar Parin D’Aulaire

Illustrators: Ingri and Edgar Parin D’Aulaire

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Hamster Princess: Harriet the Invincible

Posted on October 8, 2025 | Comments Off on Hamster Princess: Harriet the Invincible

[I wrote almost all of this entry (gulp) 10 years ago.]

I never, ever expected a princess book to be this popular. I picked it up because I enjoyed Ursula Vernon’s graphic novel for adults, Digger, and was curious about her writing for kids. Once I started reading it to the boys, they were completely hooked.
Roars of uproarious laughter kind of hooked.
They thought they knew where the story was going. It turns out that they didn’t. And they loved that.

Ursula Vernon is also T. Kingfisher and I’d happily recommend anything she’s written under either name (an entry on Summer in Orcus is long overdue).  Just keep in mind many of her books are decidedly not for children.  Of this series, this first entry was definitely our favorite, although we did enjoy the others that followed.

Author: Ursula Vernon
Illustrator: Ursula Vernon

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