Children

If you are a grandparent, this is the perfect book to read aloud with a grandchild. Grandpa Raisin shares a day at the park with his grandson Grape. Simple story with intriguing illustrations by Andy Snair.

Don’t forget mom on May 11th, and bring a tissue when you read this one.

Who couldn’t love this endearing story about a boy – and his moose. Lots of laughs, and terrific illustrations. A favorite for read alouds.

How could you NOT pick up a book with this title? With great illustrations by Daniel Salmieri, this book makes for a very fun read aloud you and your kids will enjoy.

The perfect graduation gift, and a wonderful pick-me-up after reading the tear-jerker Love You Forever. A positive attitude will take you far.

I love Turnage’s quirky characters and Southern humor, and I look forward to reading a lot more great books from her. She has set the bar high for herself, and all ages will breeze through this lovely tale.

This book makes a great writers’ prompt. Such a clever idea, as the two authors (Scieszka is probably my favorite living children’s author) tell the story of a boy who picks up a sappy book called The Birthday Bunny and decides to turn it into a story that he’d actually like to read. Brilliant concept, with fun illustrations by Matthew Myers.

This magical story – with mesmerizing illustrations by Alison Jay – reminds me to pity those adults who do not regularly indulge in good childern’s books. If you’re only reading books written at “your age level,” you are ignorant of many of the world’s literary treasures. Catchpool has written a simple, beautiful story – the reason we read.

I have seen kids sit and stare at this book for hours, giggling at the funny photos of squirrels. Definitely a book you need in your library.

A couple of teachers pointed out that I have neglected to include a Jane Yolen book on any of my lists, which shocked me since I recommend about ten of her books in one of my poetry seminars. Jane Yolen is a MUST for any classroom or home library, as I would rate her up with Jack Prelutsky and Cynthia Rylant as one of my favorite poets for children. She has also teamed with a couple of incredible illustrators, like David Shannon and Mark Teague (who illustrated this hilarious third installment in their dinosaur series). Buy Jane Yolen’s books and your kids (and you) will enjoy reading, I promise.

 I think I am going to start sharing this book with my corporate audiences, as it shows how to embrace life’s messes. Better than half of the self-help books I’ve read in the past three months. Oh – and a very engaging read aloud for kids, too.

Idioms are one of the most difficult concepts for young children and English language learners to comprehend, and this book does a great job of presenting expressions (e.g. “it’s raining cats and dogs”) in short rhymes with illustrations and brief explanations of where the terms come from. I hate to admit it, but I always wind up learning a thing or two when I read a kid’s book like this.

Are you recycling? Read this children’s classic, and hopefully you’ll think about environmental preservation a bit.

From the illustrator of the wonderful Lemony Snicket series comes a tale of a lousy pirate who saves the day. Since every other kid I know has been acting like a certain pirate from the Caribbean lately, I thought this book would be a fitting story to delight any young audience.

Part of the Fact Finders series, my students get a kick out of the information about the Internet, cell phones and Wikis. Heck, I learned a lot reading this book. Since most of the text students face on standardized tests is nonfiction, I try to expose students to as much interesting nonfiction as possible. This book is especially popular with boys.