children’s books

All posts in the children’s books category

Tippy-Toe Chick, Go!, by George Shannon

Published May 4, 2014 by Dagmar

This is one of my favorite books to read to my Pre-k – Kindergarten students.  People constantly underestimate young children’s abilities, and in this case?  Big chickens underestimate chicks, until they fiTippyToend out just how smart a little chick can be.

Every morning, Hen takes her three chicks, Big Chick, Middle Chick and Little Chick to go eat sweet itty-bitty beans and potato bugs.  Until one day, when a dog, tied up near the garden, barks at them as they head to the garden.  Hen decides they better go back home and eat chicken feed, but the chicks don’t want chicken feed. Big Chick tries to reason with the big dog.  The dog barks, and Big Chick runs under his mother’s wing.  The same happens with Middle Chick.  Then, Little Chick, the hero of our story, realizes that if he makes the dog run around the tree, the dog will tie himself up.  So, Little Chick runs, tippy-toe, tippy-toe, around the tree with the big dog chasing him until the dog ties himself up.  Little Chick leads his family past the dog to the garden for sweet itty-bitty beans and potato bugs.

A great, fun  read for all your small, clever chicks.

 

Don’t Let the Pigeon Stay Up Late, by Mo Willems

Published April 29, 2014 by Dagmar

Pigeon lateFor those of you who have never met Mo Willem’s pigeon, you’re in for a treat.

For those of you who know Mo Willem’s very naughty pigeon, it won’t surprise you that now he wants to stay up late.  In fact, he’ll say anything to be able to stay up late.  It’s up to you (and your students) to say “NO!”.

The book begins with a man who asks you to please do him a favor while he brushes his teeth.  “Please do NOT let the pigeon stay up late.”  Pigeon has other ideas.  This is your chance to live your dream of becoming a (very) naughty pigeon.  Kids love the role reversal of getting to tell you “No!” as you (the pigeon) give all the excuses they themselves would give to try to get you to let them stay up late.

This one had my students laughing out loud.  They loved it.  I hope you do too!

The Frog Prince continued, by Jon Scieszka

Published April 28, 2014 by Dagmar

frog princeThe beautiful princess kisses the frog.  The frog becomes a prince, and the prince and princess live happily ever after.  Right?  Well, unfortunately, in Jon Scieszka’s fractured fairy tale, the marriage is not one made in heaven.

The Princess is annoyed that the Prince keeps sticking out his tongue and hopping on the furniture. She wishes the Prince would just go out and slay a dragon.  The Prince, upset that the Princess won’t hang out at the pond with him, is miserable.

They need a change.  When the Princess says she wishes the Prince would just turn back into a frog, the Prince has an idea.  He leaves the castle in search of a witch who can turn him back into a frog.  He finds plenty of witches in the woods.  The first wants to cast a nasty spell on him so he won’t wake up Sleeping Beauty, the second wants to feed him a poison apple so he won’t bother Snow White, one invites him into her gingerbread house, the fourth turns him into a carriage.  He escapes from all four witches and sits, lonely, in the dark woods. The Prince realizes that he really belongs at home with the Princess who took a chance and kissed him when he was a frog.  So, the Prince goes home to his worried Princess and kisses her.  They both turn into frogs and live happily ever after.

This is a fun read aloud for older students who will love recognizing familiar fairy tales, Steve Johnson’s creative illustrations and Jon Scieszka’s funny re-imaginining of the Frog Prince.

 

Stuck, by Oliver Jeffers

Published April 10, 2014 by Dagmar

stuckThe easiest books to read to a group of students are funny books.  Oliver Jeffers has written a great book that was a real favorite with my students.

“It all began when Floyd got his kite stuck in a tree…”  Poor Floyd.  When his kite became stuck in a tree, he threw a shoe to loosen the kite.  Sadly, his shoe became stuck, too.  Floyd threw his other shoe and then his cat at the tree to loosen his kite.  Both became stuck.  When Floyd got his ladder, all my students expected that Floyd would climb the ladder to get his kite, shoes and cat.  To their amazement, Floyd threw his ladder into the tree as well. 🙂  It, a bucket of paint, a bicycle, the kitchen sink…an orangutan, a BIG Boat, even the firemen who were sent to help all became stuck in the tree.  The tree was completely full.  So, Floyd got a saw.  As you might expect, Floyd threw the saw into the tree as well; and, finally(!), Floyd’s kite fell out of the tree.  Floyd, happy, walked away with his kite in hand. In bed that night, Floyd wondered if there was anything he forgot to do.  The firemen realizing they might be in the tree for a while, began strategizing about how they might get themselves and everyone else “unstuck”.

This funny and absurd book is a gem.  Don’t miss it!

Journey, by Aaron Becker

Published March 4, 2014 by Dagmar

Journey Journey is beautifully illustrated wordless book and uses color very effectively to tell a story of a good deed and its reward.

As I paged through the book for my classes, I could hear my students whispering the story to themselves.  Their spontaneous applause when I finished the book matched my feelings exactly.  I love this book so much that I’ve shown it to countless adults since first reading it.

A lonely girl takes her red crayon and draws a door in her bedroom wall.  The door leads her into a beautiful forest filled with lanterns and lights.  There she finds a small stream.  She draws herself a boat and follows the stream to a beautiful city.  The city could be from medieval times with its stone walls and golden domes.  She floats through a city canal.  When she comes to the end of the canal, the girl draws herself a hot air balloon.  She flies away and sees a purple bird flying away from city soldiers.  When the soldiers catch the bird and place it in a cage, the girl steals the bird’s cage and frees the bird.  Caught by the soldiers herself, the girl is suspended in her own cage.  The grateful bird brings her a crayon so that she can draw herself a magic carpet.  The girl follows the bird until she finds a door.  When she opens the door…well, you’ll have to read Journey and find out what happens.

This is a book you won’t want to miss and that you and the children you read to are bound to read over and over again.

Snowmen at Night, by Caralyn Buehner

Published February 1, 2014 by Dagmar

snowmen at nightWhen I moved from New York State to California 30 years ago, I knew that I would give up the seasons and wouldn’t see snow day to day in winter.  Honestly, the latter didn’t bother so much after years of slipping on ice and digging out driveways.

Many of my students rarely, if ever, have the chance to see and play in the snow.  They know that it’s cold in winter, that some trees lose their leaves, that bears hibernate and that children make snowmen and snow angels in the snow.  I love to share winter memories from my childhood in upstate New York, building snow forts with my big brother, making snowmen and throwing snowballs.

Whether your children or students live in a climate where they know winter well, or whether they only can wonder what it’s like, Snowmen at Night is a great book for a winter read aloud.  The rhyming text is easy to read and the pictures by Mark Buehner are so engaging.

What do snowmen do at night? Apparently quite a lot.  “One wintry day I made a snowman, very round and tall.  The next day when I saw him, he was not the same at all!  His hat had slipped, his arms drooped down, he really looked a fright  — it made me start to wonder: What do snowmen do at night?”

This is a fun book about the secret life of snowmen that delighted my kindergartners.  I hope you have fun with it, too.

Rosie’s Walk by Pat Hutchins

Published January 20, 2014 by Dagmar

Rosie's WalkI do so love an oldie but goodie.  Rosie’s Walk was published in 1968.  Rosie, a hen, is going for a walk.  Little does she realize that there is a hungry fox following her everywhere.  As Rosie walks, fox steps on a rake, falls into a pond, falls into a haystack, has a bag of flour emptied on him and then falls into a wheelbarrow which rolls into bee hives. Rosie completely misses all of the action behind her.  She finally ends up at her chicken coop, just in time for dinner.  Every time I turned the pages, my students would shriek with laughter when they saw what happened to the poor fox.  They were very cute.

I read this to my TK (Transkinder) class, with students who just missed the cutoff for kindergarten.  They absolutely loved this book.  I then tried it with my preschoolers and found that they had a harder time following this book.  I’d recommend it for TK through 1st grade audiences.

So if you’re looking for a quick, funny read for your young students, here it is.

One Fine Day, by Nonny Hogrogian

Published December 7, 2013 by Dagmar

onefinedayThis 1971 winner of the Caldecott Medal worked really well with my kindergarten students.  One day, a fox, traveling through a forest, notices a pail of milk.  He quickly laps up all the milk but is caught by the old lady who owns the pail.  Angry that the fox drank all her milk, the old lady cuts of his tail.  He asks her to please sew it back on so his friends won’t tease him.  She tells him that she’ll sew it back on if he brings her more milk.  So begins fox’s journey to find milk.

The fox meets a cow who won’t give him milk unless the fox gives her some grass.  He goes to the meadow, but the meadow won’t give him grass until she gets water and so on.  Finally, after six different people ask him for something the miller takes pity on the poor fox, giving him some grain to give to the hen so he can have an egg to give to the peddler and so on until he has enough milk to pay back the old woman.  The old woman does finally sew back on the fox’s tail.  My guess is that our fox won’t be stealing milk again. 🙂

Enjoy!

Nelson Mandela, by Kadir Nelson

Published December 6, 2013 by Dagmar

mandelaYesterday, Nelson Mandela passed away.  He fought for freedom and won it for his people.  He was a tremendous man.  He lived 95 years and is a symbol of the power of protest for so many around the world.  President Obama said, “Let us pause and give thanks for the fact that Nelson Mandela lived–a man who took history in his hands and bent the arc of the moral universe toward justice.”

How lucky for us that we have Kadir Nelson’s beautiful picture book about Nelson Mandela to help children understand the life and work of Nelson Mandela.  The book, written in verse, leads the reader through Nelson Mandela’s life from the time he was a child through the end of apartheid and his election as South Africa’s first black president.  The illustrations are full-page and incredible in the way that they capture the emotion of each scene.

On the back cover of the book, the author says, “My work is all about healing and giving people a sense of hope and nobility.  I want to show the strength and integrity of the human being and the human spirit.”  He certainly succeeded in this book.

Highly recommended.  Best for third grade and up, but could work for younger students as well.  Thank you to Junior Library Guild for introducing me to this book.

Chu’s Day, by Neil Gaiman

Published November 21, 2013 by Dagmar

Chu's DayHere’s a fun one for the pre-k-kindergarten set.  Neil Gaiman, Newbery award-winning author of The Graveyard Book, is back with a very cute picture book about a little panda that has to sneeze.  What really makes this book, though, are the incredibly colorful and rich illustrations by Adam Rex, reminiscent to me of Pete & Pickles, a real favorite of mine and with older students in my library.

When Chu sneezes, bad things happen.  Chu visits the library with his mom and looks like he needs to sneeze.   When he visits the diner with his dad, he looks like he needs to sneeze.  My students appreciated my theatrical “almost sneezes” and then laughed when adorable Chu said “No,” he didn’t have to sneeze.  Then, Chu and his parents visit the circus – you know – then one with the really big tent?  Chu tries and tries to tell his folks, who are enthralled by the circus, that he needs to sneeze.  No one listens.  Oops.  That sneeze not only knocks down the circus tent, but also everything in the library and diner too, much to the delight of my students.

If you’re looking for a hit with your younger students, you’ll enjoy Chu’s Day.