"Helping adults find great children's books"
Title: The Aviary Author: Kathleen O’Dell Genre: Historical Fiction (some Gothic/Fantasy elements) Age Category: 8+ Historical Fiction: The Aviary Clara Dooley leads a quiet, lonely life. A serious heart condition has kept her indoors for years, far away from other children who might excite her. Instead, she spends her days in the Glendoveer Mansion, where her [...]
Title: Seeds of Change Author: Jen Cullerton Johnson, ill. Sonia Lynn Sadler Genre: Picture book Age Category: 6-to-8-years In honor of Earth Day I reviewed Seeds of Change, by Jen Cullerton Johnson. This book is already much decorated, having garnered the Coretta Scott King/John Steptoe Award for New Talent in Illustration, and a place on [...]
Title: ZooBorns: The Newest, Cutest Animals from the World’s Zoos and Aquariums Authors: Andrew Bleiman, Chris Eastland Genre: Non-Fiction Picture Books Age Category: 6 to 9 years Non-Fiction Picture Book Summary ZooBorns is a non-fiction picture book portrait gallery of roughly 100 baby animals born in zoos and aquariums around the world. Each “zooborn” is [...]
Title: The Fantastic Undersea Life of Jacques Cousteau Author: Dan Yaccarino Genre: Picture Books for Children (Nonfiction) Age Category: 6 to 8 years Today, in honor of Nonfiction Monday, I’m reviewing Dan Yaccarino’s The Fantastic Undersea Life of Jacques Cousteau. I must say, this picture book made me nostalgic: I grew up fascinated by Cousteau’s [...]
Title: Beezus and Ramona Author: Beverly Cleary Genre: Juvenile Fiction / 3rd Grade Chapter Books Age Category: 6 to 12 years With the upcoming release of the movie “Ramona and Beezus” on July 23rd, I thought it would be fun to review Beverly Cleary’s classic chapter book Beezus and Ramona, the first in the series [...]
Title: One Child, One Planet: Inspiration for the Young Conservationist Author: Bridget McGovern Llewellyn Photographs: Carl R. Sams II and Jean Stoick Age Category: 3 to 5 years + Genre: Picture Books Children’s Books for Earth Day One Child, One Planet is an attractive children’s book for earth day that conveys the message and importance [...]
Title: Petook: An Easter Story Illustrator: Tomie dePaola Author: Caryll Houselander Age Category: 3 to 5 years + Genre: Picture Books Creating good traditional Easter stories for children is difficult for a couple of reasons. First, the traditional story is quite violent, so a graphically illustrated version of the story could be quite shocking or [...]
Title: Patrick: Patron Saint of Ireland Author: Tomie dePaola Age Category: 6 to 8 years Genre: Picture books If you are looking for a story for children about Saint Patrick to help explain the significance of St. Patrick’s Day to 6-to-8-year-olds, Patrick: Patron Saint of Ireland is a great one. This children’s book is a [...]
Title: Martin’s Big Words Author: Doreen Rappaport Age Category: 6 to 8 years Genre: Historical picture books Our Rating (out of 5): In honor of Martin Luther King Jr. Day—coming up on January 18th—we will be featuring some children’s books about Dr. King and others who have contributed to the long and continuing fight for [...]
Title: The Adventures of Captain Underpants Author: Dav Pilkey Age Category: 6 to 8 years Genre: Juvenile fiction Our Rating (out of 5): George Beard and Harold Hutchins, the main characters of The Adventures of Captain Underpants, are pranksters of the first order. In this installment of Pilkey’s Captain Underpants series, George and Harold pull [...]
