Favorite books of late

I just read a New York Times article about languishing sales of picture books and it filled me with dismay, mainly because the chief reason seems to be that parents are pushing their kids to read chapter books (without pictures) because they equate "picture book" with "easy book". I have myriad arguments to counter that notion, but none of those parents is ever going to read this blog, and I suspect they are also not reading to their kids much if they don't know there are approximately one MILLION picture books available that will challenge their kids in cognitive ways that no chapter book can. There is a wonderful resource book titled Honey for a Child's Heart by Gladys Hunt that has been invaluable to me. It's basically an annotated bibliography of children's literature, arranged by age and genre. I've discovered books I never would have found just by rifling through the stacks at the library. I do still occasionally pick a book randomly from the shelf, which is how I discovered a delightful nature series by Marianne Berkes:

1. Over in the Ocean: In a Coral Reef
2. Over in the Arctic: Where the Cold Winds Blow
3. Over in the Jungle: A Rainforest Rhyme

All of these books can be sung to tune of the old children's song "Over in the Meadow," which we happen to have on a cd. Just in case you don't know the tune, the author kindly includes a few bars of it in the back of the book, along with a load of additional information about all of the types of animals in the story, and lots of other animals which are indigenous to each region. Also, the artwork is inventive and engaging, and each book includes a description of how the artists created the storyboards. Here is Harper, using clay to replicate the polymer sea animals in Over in the Ocean:


The kids have also enjoyed a series written and illustrated by Isaac Millman about a deaf boy named Moses:

4. Moses Goes to School
5. Moses Goes to the Circus
6. Moses Goes to a Concert (Hudson loves this one because it's about a percussionist who happens to be deaf)
7. Moses Sees a Play

I don't love the way these are written, but I like the pictures of Moses signing certain words from the story, even though I find the arrows showing me how to replicate the signs to be a little confusing.


These next two are very silly, but are still well-written:

8. Too Many Frogs, and
9. Here Comes Gosling by Sandy Asher, ill. Keith Graves

A solitary yet kindly rabbit, and his pronoun-eschewing froggy friend. Both kids giggle all the way through. There is, unfortunately, a song (sung by Froggie) in Here Comes Gosling that does not provide a tune, which tends to vex me.


Our favorite protagonists are almost always animals, in case you haven't noticed. Here are two that go together nicely:

10. Katy No-Pocket by Emmy Payne, ill. H.A. Rey
11. Babies on the Go by Linda Ashman, ill. Jane Dyer


The kids requested this sweet bed-time story every night for a week:

12. May We Sleep Here Tonight? by Tan Koide, ill. Yasuko Koide


Harper loves the folk art compositions in this one:

13. Market Day by Lois Ehlert

She was especially delighted to see the hacky-sack (or, 'khaki sack' as she and Hudson insist on calling it) she just bought with her allowance money at Whole Earth Provision Company, featured prominently in the story. Made in Guatemala.


And, finally, the Minerva Louise series by Janet Morgan Stoeke. The illustrations and text are so simple, but the kids think they are hilarious, and I love how Minerva Louise sees the entire world through a chicken lens.

A hug to begin, and a hug to end.