Submitted by Ms. Melissa!
Spring! It’s time to escape the house and go exploring. Here are some books to help you break free from winter captivity. Breathe in some fresh air and enjoy.
Anybody Home? by Aileen Fisher is a classic rhyme about animals and their homes. Use this as a bed time story under the stars, or before a walk in the woods. The detailed black and white illustrations by Susan Bonners are accurate depictions of animals in their habitats. If going on a nature walk, children can search for these same animal dwellings, and make up stories about who lives in them and what season or time of day an animal would use them. See this book listed in our catalog
In My Backyard by Valarie Giogas, with illustrations by Katherine Zecca, is a book about baby animals you may find in your very own backyard. There are many interactive read along activities suggested in the back of the book. Children will learn that baby skunks are named kits, and baby raccoons are called cubs! You can count along from 1 to10, play a memory game, or seek and find the baby animals. Tips on what to do if you find an injured animal, and caring for wildlife are also mentioned. See this book listed in our catalog
Classic
Interrupting Chicken
Submitted by Ms. Catherine!
Looking back, I’d say that I was a precocious child. My parents were very patient with me as I asked: if the road sign said 35, then why did Mommy’s dashboard say 47? They were also patient as I insisted on correcting their reading of bedtime stories. There were the books that I had memorized down to the word, and then there were the books that I insisted had to end a certain way (even if the author did not agree). In Interrupting Chicken, by David Ezra Stein, we meet Little Red Chicken, who is very excited about her bedtime story. She promises her Papa that she will not interrupt the story, but when Hansel and Gretel wander up to that little old lady in her candy house, she just has to jump in and stop them! And when Little Red Riding Hood begins to talk to the Big Bad Wolf, Little Red Chicken just has to jump in and remind Red Riding Hood not to talk to strangers! Finally, tired of all the interruptions, Papa chicken insists that Little Red Chicken tell the last story. Do you think Papa might interrupt? This funny book is a great one to read aloud with your child. You can even come up with your own version of the story, and choose which classic stories you’d choose to interrupt! See this book listed in our catalog
Me and You
Submitted by Ms. Tess!
Me and You by Anthony Browne is a fascinating take on the story of “Goldilocks and the Three Bears.” The illustrations, which I felt were pleasantly evocative of Wes Anderson’s film Fantastic Mr. Fox, portray simultaneously a cheery family of bears in their lovely house and, in stark contrast, a gritty urban setting, home to a small girl with blond hair. As the family of bears take a leisurely stroll through the park (while their porridge cools), the young yellow-haired girl discovers their door ajar, after a distressing walk through a neighborhood full of graffiti, broken windows, and barbed wire. When the bears return to find their belongings obviously tampered with, they are understandably alarmed. Our Goldilocks is also understandably alarmed when she’s discovered where she doesn’t belong, and flees the scene as hastily as possible. “I wonder what happened to her?” the baby bear wonders, but we get to see the girl run into the arms of a caring mother. This is a great book to demonstrate that there is more than one side to every story. See this book listed in our catalog
Mystic Horse
Submitted by Ms. Allana!
Mystic Horse by Paul Goble. “There was a man who dearly loved his horse. But when the man died the horse was no longer cared for, and was continually passed from one person to another.” This book is written and illustrated by Paul Goble, who won the Caldecott medal for his book The Girl Who Loved Wild Horses. Goble, who grew up in England, has a special interest in the culture and history of the Plains Indians. The bond he feels is clearly portrayed in this wonderful telling of a Pawnee legend about an abandoned and unloved horse that is taken in and cared for by a poor young Pawnee boy who lives with his grandmother. One day the horse speaks to the boy, and guides him to a great victory, but because the boy did not heed a warning given by the horse, he is struck by tragedy. This book is suitable for elementary school aged children who may be beginning to learn about the culture and history of America. See this book listed in our catalog
The Boy Who Cried Fabulous
The Missing Piece and The Missing Piece Meets the Big O
Submitted by Ms. Tess!
One of my most favorite creators of art and literature for children is Shel Silverstein. And his greatest gifts to us, in my opinion, are his books The Missing Piece and The Missing Piece Meets the Big O. They both send a positive and understated message of self-acceptance and finding peace from within.
The Missing Piece begins “It was missing a piece. And it was not happy.” We then proceed to follow “it” as it looks for its missing piece. It rolls along, slowly since it’s not complete, singing, and occasionally pausing for a butterfly to land on it. It tries several pieces, until it meets one that fits. Although it is complete, it can no longer sing, and it rolls too fast for butterflies to land. It realizes that it is happy, even though it is flawed, and leaves the missing piece behind, finally at peace with itself. See this book listed in our catalog
In The Missing Piece Meets the Big O we find out what happened to the piece left behind. “The missing piece sat alone…” the book begins. The piece tries to fit in, in various situations. It tries whatever it can–being attractive, being flashy–but the piece just doesn’t fit in anywhere. One day the piece meets the Big O. The piece would like to fit in the with Big O, and roll with it, but the Big O is complete, and not missing any pieces. “Perhaps you can roll by yourself” the Big O says. The missing piece is a triangle, not really built for rolling. But it can try, and try it does, and after a while it changes shape, finding it doesn’t need to fit with anyone to roll. The piece had what it takes to move on its own all along. See this book listed in our catalog
The Missing Piece and The Missing Piece Meets the Big O are books your child can enjoy now, that will have whole new meanings to them when re-read years later.