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
We all enjoy this book about manners. I appreciate the socialization it offers. The boys appreciate… the farting otter. (Hey, at least he says excuse me–in five languages!)
Author: Laurie Keller
Illustrator: Laurie Keller
Comments Off on Do Unto Otters: A Book About Manners
Posted in Picture Books
Tagged Animals, Do Unto Otters: A Book About Manners, Laurie Keller, Manners
This collection of short stories and poems is one of my very favorite books. I loved it when I was a kid and now I love reading one or two of the stories to the boys each night before bed during the lead up to Christmas. The stories are absolutely charming and the pictures are beautiful and I wish this version (from 1969) wasn’t out of print (the version currently in print cut out a few of my favorite stories–I have no idea why). Don’t let the missing stories stop you from picking up a copy of the new edition, if you don’t have one already. This book is contains so much holiday joy; it really shouldn’t be missed.
Author: Kathryn Jackson
Illustrator: Richard Scarry
Comments Off on The Animals’ Merry Christmas
Posted in Chapter Books
Tagged Animals, bedtime, Christmas, food, I read this as a kid, out of print, Richard Scarry, The Animals' Merry Christmas, toys
Mr. Willowby’s Christmas tree is a touch too big for his space. So the top is lopped off and given to his upstairs maid. But it is a touch too big for her space, so the top is lopped off and discovered by the gardener. But it is a touch too big for his space, so… Well, you get the idea. One big tree brings a lot of happiness to a lot of people (and animals too).
Author: Robert Barry
Illustrator: Robert Barry
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Posted in Picture Books
Tagged Animals, Christmas, Mr. Willowby's Christmas Tree, Robert Barry
Leaving cookies (chocolate chip!) and milk for Santa, plus carrots for his reindeer, is an old and happy tradition. Little did we know who else might be hitching a ride on the sleigh…
Suffice it to say that wombats still love carrots (and we still love wombats). So, this year, we will include some extra carrots on the plate.
Author: Jackie French
Illustrator: Bruce Whatley
Comments Off on Christmas Wombat
Posted in Picture Books
Tagged Animals, Australia, Bruce Whatley, Christmas, Christmas Wombat, Diary of a Wombat, food, Jackie French, series, tradition
Each double-page spread in this intriguing book highlights one of the twelve sets of gifts listed in the title song. The twist is that each of these (gorgeous!) spreads has all of the previous gifts lurking within it (so, for example, a partridge in a pear tree and two turtledoves are hidden somewhere in the spread highlighting the three French hens). Some of the previous gifts are easy to find, some of them we still haven’t found yet. But it is a true pleasure to try.
Author: unknown
Illustrator: Laurel Long
Comments Off on The Twelve Days of Christmas
Posted in Picture Books
Tagged Animals, Christmas, Laurel Long, songs, The Twelve Days of Christmas
Over the last thirty years, Dutch author Toon Tellegen has written over 300 stories about a group of anthropomorphized animals. This book is contains nine of these stories that all, in one way or another, relate to parties. The stories are whimsical, delicate, and quiet. The characters glory in lists, details, and internal discourses. The book itself is beautifully and thoughtfully produced (down to a bright ribbon bookmark). It is charming, bittersweet, and perfect for bedtime.
Author: Toon Tellegen
Illustrator: Jessica Ahlberg
Comments Off on The Squirrel’s Birthday and Other Parties
Posted in Chapter Books
Tagged Animals, bedtime, birthday, food, Jessica Ahlberg, series, The Squirrel's Birthday and Other Parties, Toon Tellegen, translated
Making an apple pie is really very easy.
First, get all the ingredients at the market.
Mix them well, bake, and serve.
Unless, of course,
the market is closed.
In that case, go home and pack a suitcase.
The pie-craving protagonist travels to Italy (for wheat), Frances (for a chicken that lays “elegant eggs”), Sri Lanka (for kurundu bark), England (for a cow to provide milk), Jamaica (for seawater and sugar cane), and Vermont (for apples). Once the traveling is through, all she will have to do is:
mill the wheat into flour,
grind the kurundu
bark into cinnamon,
evaporate the seawater
from the salt,
boil the sugar cane,
persuade the chicken
to lay an egg…
Well, you get the idea. This book is thoughtful, colorful, and quietly funny. Perhaps it was inspired by the famous Carl Sagan quote: “If you wish to make an apple pie from scratch, you must first invent the universe.” (My youngest swears by the apple pie recipe on the last page.)
Author: Marjorie Priceman
Illustrator: Marjorie Priceman
Comments Off on How to Make an Apple Pie and See the World
Posted in Picture Books
Tagged A Reading Rainbow Selection, Animals, Carl Sagan, Diverse Books, England, food, France, How to Make an Apple Pie and See the World, Italy, Jamacia, Machines, Marjorie Priceman, series, Sri Lanka, USA
Farmer Brown has some problems.
It was bad enough the cows had
found the old typewriter in the
barn, now they wanted electric
blankets! “No way,” said Farmer
Brown. “No electric blankets.”
So the cows went on strike.
They left a note on the barn door.
Sorry.
We’re closed.
No milk
today.
Soon the hens join the work stoppage. And what are those seemingly-neutral ducks up to?
If workers’ rights are civil rights, as the slogan goes, we have a mini theme going this week. (When the boys stage a sit-in protest of my menu choices, I’ll have only myself to blame.) This book is very funny and I can’t read it aloud without hearing (and slightly mimicking) the Scholastic video version narrated by Randy Travis.
Author: Doreen Cronin
Illustrator: Betsy Lewin
Comments Off on Click, Clack, Moo: Cows that Type
Posted in Picture Books
Tagged Animals, Betsy Lewin, Caldecott Honor, Civil Rights, Click Clack Moo: Cows that Type, Doreen Cronin, farm, food, Machines, Randy Travis, Scholastic video, series, spoonfuls of stories