Children

A wonderful rhyming tale about a poor mother who has to prepare food that meets the specific, picky tastes of each of her seven children. Like any great children’s story, this one has beautiful illustrations and a lot of heart, besides all the laughs. I enjoyed the book when it first came out nearly ten years ago, and I can relate to the poor mother even more now that I have my own children. This one will please parents just as much as children when they read it together before bedtime.

With lovely watercolor illustrations by Evi Shelvia, this touching story will teach you how to appreciate the precious little time all of us spend on this Earth. If you can read this without crying, you’re tougher than me.

This beautifully illustrated book is a perfect read aloud for those of us who love Maurice Sendak, as it blends the innocence of Little Bear and the adventure of Where the Wild Things Are in a wonderful tale of taking responsibility for one’s actions.

I meant to recommend Rylant’s wonderful book The Relatives Came when I realized I had never mentioned a Cynthia Rylant book on any of my previous lists. I guess sometimes I overlook the best authors when formulating my monthly lists of picks. This Caldecott Honor book is probably one of my favorite pieces of poetry of all time, as Rylant writes with such love and affection for her childhood in the Appalachians that I think it would affect anyone prone to reflect on his/her own childhood. Cynthia Rylant is simply a brilliant author with extraordinary ability.

I know we are not supposed to teach students music or art anymore, but I like music and art and always try to find books that will attract my students to the forbidden subject of art. Your kids will get a kick out of this flip book that has lots of funny flips that bring art alive to students. Beware, though: this will be handled so much, it probably has a limited shelf life.

A beautifully illustrated biography of the dancer José Limon, this book has proven to be quite timely in light of recent events surrounding immigration. It chronicles how young José fled Mexico for America and endured ridicule in elementary school for his poor English. Regardless, José’s determination to succeed prevailed, and his story always receives cheers when I read it to various elementary classes.

I absolutely love this book and cannot recommend it highly enough for all ages, as it tells the amusing tale of a caterpillar and tadpole who fall in love and promise one another to never change. The caterpillar becomes annoyed when her beloved tadpole develops into a frog, but she goes through some changes of her own. One of the most gratifying endings of any children’s book I’ve read recently, and a useful book for those of us who still try to incorporate a little science into school. A MUST READ!

Great word-play fun for the beginning of the school year with little ones. Brought to life with wonderful illustrations by Joe Mathieu, this is a popular read aloud in preschool and kindergarten classrooms.

Even if most schools stopped teaching art, there are still a variety of wonderful books to get kids excited about art. I really enjoyed this book, filled with paintings by Frida Kahlo. Bernier-Grand’s wonderful accompanying poems inspire students to use language in a variety of ways to describe their personal experiences.

Anything by Shel Silverstein is fantastic.Kids and adults alike love his silly poems. That’s why his books are the most frequently stolen from libraries and bookstores.

It’s not easy being young. I love the message in this book that as long as you try your best you should be proud. Beautiful and fun illustrations by Megan Wellman. A great read aloud for parents with kindergartners.

I have to confess that the illustrations enticed me to grab this book, as well as the illustrator’s last name (Derek Brazell…close enough to Brassell). A nice story about a boy who feels out of place at his new school until his teacher discovers his special skill: using chopsticks. A lovely book for showing students that each of us has special talents to share with the world.

For anyone who loves The Far Side or is looking for a way to get students interested in science, this is a wonderful book.

Terrific read aloud about a monster scared by the boy under his bed. The illustrations by Alexis Deacon are superior, as this book always gets a lot of kudos from the little ones (not too little, though, as it can be a bit scary).

I recently read this to my wife, and we both fell in love with this six year old who lives at The Plaza, constantly orders room service and, of course, charges everything.