Classic
Jack’s Garden
Submitted by Ms. Jill!
Jack’s Garden by Henry Cole is one of my all-time favorite books to read in the springtime, and it always inspires me to get outside and plant something! The cumulative text builds up, page by page, like the traditional story of “The House that Jack Built.” And page by page, beautiful drawings show the progress of a young boy’s garden throughout the growing season. Beginning with the title page, on which Jack and his father are shown laying out the garden beds, richly detailed drawings depict each stage in the garden’s growth. We see the soil that makes up the garden, the seeds, the rain, and the first tiny seedlings. The seedlings grow into plants, which sprout buds, which blossom into glorious flowers. Insects come to sip nectar, in turn attracting birds and other wildlife. By the end of the book, a simple plot of dirt is transformed into an extravagant garden and backyard habitat. Young readers will especially enjoy the details in the borders of the illustrations: garden tools, insects, birds, and bird eggs are all carefully drawn and labeled. (Fun fact: Ms. Jill got to meet the author in person, and he signed her copy of this book! He’s a very nice man.) See this book listed in our catalog
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The Goat-Faced Girl
Submitted by Ms. Catherine!
Princess stories have been around forever, and there is hardly a little girl out there who doesn’t appreciate a good one. But what about a story in which a young girl works hard, and is able to give the “bird brained” prince his just desserts? In The Goat-Faced Girl, an Italian folktale retold by Leah Marinsky Sharpe, and illustrated by Jane Marinsky, the young heroine, as lovely and intelligent as she might be, is as lazy as a bed bug. Her dear sorceress mother fears for her daughter’s future as a lazy lump. With a bit of magic, some cookbooks, and some hard work, our heroine learns that perhaps spending your life being waited on by servants with a boring lazy prince is not the best option. Maybe hard work and a brain will win out over beauty after all! See this book listed in our catalog
The Grouchy Ladybug
Submitted by Jill from Leonardtown!
The Grouchy Ladybug by Eric Carle. The grouchy ladybug does not want to share his yummy aphids! What’s more, he’s out to pick a fight. But when another ladybug stands up to him, the grouchy ladybug declares, “you’re not big enough to fight!” He flies off in a huff to find somebody bigger to pick on. We follow the grouchy bug hour by hour through the day as he challenges bigger and bigger creatures, until at last an enormous blue whale causes the ladybug to reconsider his rude behavior. Will the grouchy ladybug ever learn to share? Along with its great story, The Grouchy Ladybug is beautifully designed. Eric Carle’s signature painting style is bright and bold. Smaller flaps and partial pages gradually increase in size as they reveal larger and larger animals, and the size of the print grows too. A small drawing of a clock face in each illustration lets advanced readers practice telling time as the ladybug’s day progresses. The Grouchy Ladybug is a fun read-aloud to share again and again. See this book listed in our catalog
The Steel Pan Man of Harlem
Submitted by Catherine from Charlotte Hall!
“The Pied Piper of Hamlin” is a story that is familiar to most. The gloomy tale teaches a lesson of honesty and the importance of keeping one’s word. However, its dark theme and plot makes it one that many children will find scary. The Steel Pan Man of Harlem by Colin Bootman teaches the same lessons with a much lighter touch. Set in Harlem, rather than the German countryside, the mysterious man, gifted with the ability to drive away the rats, hails from the Caribbean, and it’s a steel drum rather than a pipe that makes the magical music. With beautiful water color illustrations that are as much a part of the story as the text, Bootman updates this tale with a new twist: the ending, so dark and frightening in the original, is made funny instead. Rather than every child in town being led to their doom, only the cruel mayor is made to dance away from the town. If you are looking for a lesson on honesty, or simply an updated version of this classic tale, The Steel Pan Man of Harlem will be a great choice. See this book listed in our catalog