Children

Let’s put it this way: if you are a teacher or parent of young children, I suggest you feed your kids, clothe them and buy them books by Steve Jenkins. He is one of the greatest children’s authors out there, as his books inspire kids to ask all sorts of questions, and his illustrations are simply beautiful. I’ll add this book to my growing list of essentials by Jenkins: Actual Size, I See a Kookaburra, etc.

I had to give you at least one great Mother’s Day gift idea. In this delightful role reversal, a little girl tries to get her Mommy to go to bed, despite Mommy’s protests to stay up later. Any parent will be tickled, and kids get a kick out of the story and LeUyen Pham’s illustrations.

For the life of me, I have no idea how Seder illustrates these books, but they are perhaps the most interesting books I have ever come across. Mesmerizing is an understatement. Your kids and you will be dazzled as these images from The Wizard of Oz come to life, literally, before your very eyes. Everything Seder creates belongs in a museum (or a laboratory).

It may be ironic that I am including a book that was inspired by an Academy Award-winning short film, but that does not change the fact that this is a wonderful story that your children will cling to (and, by the way, the film is a gem, too).

Jasper Rabbit fears his favorite treats are out to get him in this marvelously illustrated Caldecott Honor book by illustrator Peter Brown. Fun, timely reading for the fam.

I just met Jarrett at the marvelous Shenandoah University Children’s Literature Conference in lovely Winchester, Virginia, and Jarrett’s speech prompted me to read everything he has written. Besides his beautiful, funny and endearing picture books, he is also the author of the popular Lunch Lady series. I’ll just flat-out recommend everything he has written, as I know you won’t be disappointed with the stories, and certainly not the artwork.

While everyone knows that monsters are scary, they may not know other interesting facts about monsters in this engaging bedtime read aloud.

If angels exist, Shel Silverstein is one of them. I imagine this man has single-handedly made people of all ages smile. Like the producer realizes in the 1941 film Sullivan’s Travels, that’s a mighty powerful thing.

I love using poetry as a way to motivate people to read, as poems tend to be shorter and less intimidating than stories to many students. One of my favorite poets is Jack Prelutsky, as his poems always bring a smile to my face. Every child loves Prelutsky, but boys especially adore him. Get anything he has ever written and you will have a happy, literate and enlightened child.

Three bad monsters learn the power of gratitude from an even bigger and badder monster in this wonderfully illustrated picture book.

What a great lesson this book teaches, and with pictures by Eric Carle, this is a crowd pleaser. There’s nothing like a short, funny book that rhymes. Johnny Cash (RIP) could have made a great song version of this book.

Illustrated by the wonderful David Shannon, this book always delights kids, as it tells the funny tale of a little boy who agrees to become a pirate as long as he can be back in time for his soccer practice. I thought of this book while watching a wonderful recent guest appearance by Tina Fey as a pirate on Sesame Street.

I saved the best for last.  This is just a sweet, inspirational story. I have no idea why there is not a major motion picture about this incredible human being.  Read this book if you are tired of events on the nightly news.

February is Black History Month, and I love this book because it shows a lighter side to the Civil Rights leader. One of my mentors, Jim Trelease (author of the only book every teacher and parent needs to buy, The Read-Aloud Handbook) introduced me to this book at one of his presentations. Kids will love to see how such an important person was such an ordinary kid, with all the same flaws.

Anita Jeram’s illustrations are as lovely as this story about a young rabbit who wants to know how much his papa loves him, only to learn that his father’s love is infinite. Okay, I confess – this one touched me as a proud daddy.