Alien Al is from the Funny Faces line of children’s books, with interactive features. Each of the pages have tactile elements, and introduce us to a new alien friend. Izzy is an interplanetary explorer with googly eyes and a furry green mouth! Zak and Jak visit the White House for fun and take a picture of their rough pink polka dots! Gaz is visiting a cousin on Mars in his shiny spaceship, and Beelo is having a birthday party on his parents’ moon base! The last page is the best! At the alien dance, Deejay “shakes and moves, to spacey sounds and future beats, and cosmic disco grooves” which you can hear for yourself when you turn the page!
Rhyming
Best Friend on Wheels
Best Friend on Wheels by Debra Shirley, illustrated by Judy Stead, is a great way to teach your child that people with disabilities are still people. Our narrator is a second grader who’s teacher asks her to show “the new girl” around. She is surprised to see that “the new girl,” Sarah, was in a wheelchair. At first she didn’t know what to do, but once she got to know Sarah, she discovered they had a lot in common! They became best friends and now do all their favorite things together: painting, reading, having sleepovers, scrapbooking, and hot air balooning! They even go dancing–Sarah loves ballet–“Shes spins on her wheels and twirls every which way.” Some people only see a wheelchair when they look at Sarah, but our narrator only sees her best friend.
Where’s My Teddy?
It’s a case of mistaken identity in the forest with Where’s My Teddy by Jez Alborough. A little boy, Eddie, is searching for his lost teddy bear, Freddie, in the woods. The trees are dark and scary, and Eddie really just wants to curl up in bed with his favorite toy. But what does he find? An enormous teddy bear! “How did you get to be this size?” he wonders, until he hears a voice crying outside the clearing. Suddenly, a giant bear is stomping toward him, carrying Freddie, and bewailing his smallness. “My ted!” rejoices the bear, and then “A boy!” he screams in fright! The two exchange teddies and dash is opposite directions. The story ends happily with both Eddie and the bear in their own snuggly beds, with their own cuddly teds.
Vulture View
Vultures are truly fascinating creatures. Teach your child about these interesting birds via Vulture View by April Pulley Sayre with illustrations by Steve Jenkins. Chances are you’ll learn a lot too. For instance, did you know that vultures glide on pillars of hot air called thermals? Or that their heads have very few feathers because picking from dead animal carcasses is universally messy? You may find these carrion eaters disgusting, but they serve an important role, as nature’s clean up crew! This book is especially good for boys who might think eating garbage sounds funny or cool. You could also take your child bird-watching after reading (I know our library parking lot is a perfect place to see some vultures)!
Yertle the Turtle and Other Stories
Yertle the Turtle and Other Stories is a collection of three great stories by Dr. Seuss, each with a lesson to teach us (as Seuss so often has). “Yertle the Turtle” is supposedly an allegory for Hitler-era fascism (and Horton Hears a Who is supposedly an allegory for Japanese internment camps. Who knew Seuss was so political). Yertle is the king of all he sees, which is a bunch of turtles in a pond. But he realizes if he commands all the turtles to stand in a stack with him on top, he could rule so much more! His plan seems to go swimmingly until Mack, the poor base turtle, does something very impolite… In “Gertrude McFuzz” (one of my childhood favorites) we meet a bird with a bit to learn about envy and vanity, and then there’s “The Big Brag” in which a rabbit, a bear, and a worm argue over who has the best senses. All classics!
Fartiste
Fartiste by wife and husband authors Kathleen Krull and Paul Brewer, and illustrator Boris Kulikov, relates the true and intriguing tale of French artist, Joseph Pujol, who, at the height of his popularity, performed at the Moulin Rouge, to audiences of royal stature, pulling in tens of thousands of francs a night. And what was his talent, you might ask? Well, at age eight Joe discovered he had the ability to pass gas on command with no smell! He grew up to be a baker, but to help support his wife and ten children he began farting on street corners, then filling concert halls, eventually becoming the toast of gay Paris, and the rest is history!