Anthropomorphism lightens this harrowing tale. Written in a nursery tale style, the story of Dr. De Soto’s escape from the wiley fox feels like a modern Little Red Riding Hood or Goldilocks and the Three Bears. The husband and wife dentistry team...
Read MoreSlobodkina’s use of an adult protagonist empowers children one cap at a time. As he tries to reclaim his caps from the mischievous monkeys, the child-reader is one step ahead, seeing the solution to his problem before he does. The author highlights this through simple illustrations that make use of the same or similar scenes...
Read MoreStunning illustrations. And lovely poems. I’m not sure they capture essence as well as Zolotow. I’m perhaps looking for an Annie Dillard of children’s poetry, but maybe Sidman is more accessible to a child than Zolotow (who is more Dillardy).
Read MoreConcept book in disguise!
A little caterpillar eats too much, gets a tummy ache, then rights his eating habits and turns into a butterfly. The story itself is engaging, but it also teaches the days of the week, counting, one-to-one correspondence...
Read MoreThe moving story of Danish resistance to Hitler’s reign of terror. Levine finds the human stories in the history and weaves them together deftly, putting a face on events that would otherwise be abstract and distant from contemporary youth. Some thoughts...
Read MoreI read this book for a children’s lit course way back in college (1997 or so). While I appreciate the family story and love the skilled watercolors, I’m not now and wasn’t then overly enthusiastic about this book.
Artistically, the pictures are very posed (stiff) and though lovely, do not...
Read MoreAm I the only parent who uses the "abridged" bedtime story? What I mean is, I skip parts of longer books. Even shorter books. Like Cat in the Hat - he only spends one page standing on the ball in my version. I just can't take more "cake on the ball on the rake, etc." I abridge quite a bit of Mike Mulligan, too, despite the clever and rhythmic text. But for my purpose here...
Read MoreOne I read in college and several times since, plus heard the author reading at graduation this past July. This is the story of Kenny and his wacky family who, on a trip from their home in Flint, MI, are in Birmingham, AL at the time of a racially motivated church bombing.
The voice is funny, prone to hyperbole, which one might think...
Read MoreFirst person narration and vibrant illustrations combine to build a believable story that is charmingly told. It’s the story of an urban family of Mother, Grandmother and daughter whose home is destroyed by fire. As they work to rebuild their home, their family bonds both with...
Read MoreSuch a sweet story!
Harry the dog doesn’t like baths so he runs off and gets dirtier and dirtier until he’s no longer a white dog with black spots, but a black dog with white spots. His own family doesn’t even recognize him until he races inside, up the stairs and jumps into, of all places...
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