I realize that January is coming rapidly to a close, but I wanted to start this new feature at Global Mama and I couldn’t wait for February! So, beginning now, each month I will be selecting a basketful of wonderful children’s books to share with you. Whenever I can, I will embed the whole book so you can flip through it right here, cover-to-cover (this service is courtesy of LookyBook). Just click on the photo of the book to turn the pages. If it’s too small, you can also click on the orange googly eyes and it will take you to a larger version of the book at the Lookybook site.
I will always offer my thoughts on the book, provide guidelines as to age-appropriateness, and provide a link at the end of the post to a special section in the Global Mama Shop where you can scoop up your favorite Book Basket picks. So, without further ado, here are my picks for the January Book Basket:
1. Rain Makes Applesauce (ages 2-6), written by Julian Scheer, is a wonderfully silly story with fantastical illustrations by Marvin Bileck. This is an oldie but goodie – first published in 1965, it is all about the rhythm, rhyme, and repetition of words and the vivid images they evoke. Take this for instance: “Monkeys mumble in a jellybean jungle and rain makes applesauce“. The publisher claims it is a book for 4-8 year olds, but I’m sure two and three year old children will love the repetition of “…and rain makes applesauce“, four year olds will love the humor, five and six year olds will appreciate the intricacy of the illustrations, and most seven and eight year olds will be over it.
2. Little Pea (ages 3 and up), by Amy Krouse Rosenthal (read more about Amy’s other projects here), is the story of a happy-go-lucky little pea who detests just one thing: Candy. Little pea tells us “That’s what you have to eat for dinner every night when you’re a pea. Candy. Candy. Candy.” Only after little pea eats all of his candy can he have dessert…and guess what’s for dessert? Spinach! The illustrations by Jen Corace are completely charming, and the cadence of the language is perfect for reading aloud. This is exactly the sort of book where, if you were to read it to a roomful of 3 or 4 year olds, you would get a volcanic eruption of laughter. Yes, it is that good.
3. Cross a Bridge (ages 2-5), written by Ryan Ann Hunter and illustrated by Edward Miller, is a book no preschooler interested in construction should be without. Cross a Bridge covers more types of bridges than I knew existed (did you know that “pontoon” bridges used to float on animal skins blown up like balloons?), all with clear pictures and informative writing. Toddlers will enjoy the bold, simple design of the pages, and it would be the perfect addition to a block or building nook for a preschooler. I could see this book being used as inspiration for many little bridge-building projects and experiments around the house.
4. Mattland (ages 4-7), written by Gail Herbert and illustrated by Dusan Petricic, is the tale of a boy named Matt who has just moved to a new neighborhood. There are no trees, no grass, and no friends. Matt hates it. But then… he begins to create something in the vacant lot near his house that attracts the attention of a little girl. Pretty soon, they are building an entire village out of found materials, and even more neighborhood children join them in the construction of “Mattland”. I love the evocative illustrations, and the emphasis on the creativity of children. Mattland highlights the ability of children to stake out whatever space is available to them and, using the immense power of their imagination, make the most of it.
5. Zoo-ology (ages 2-8), written and illustrated by Joelle Jolivet, is wonderful for a number of reasons – the first of which is that it’s big. At 12 1/2 by 18 inches, it is perfect for looking at while sprawling out on the floor, gaping at the gorgeous illustrations of all sorts of animals. Zoo-ology also does a magnificent job of classifying the animals in interesting ways: There are pages devoted to animals living in hot climates, cold climates, animals with feathers, animals with horns, animals who live underground, and others that only come out at night. This is a case where I must disagree with the publisher’s age recommendation of 4-8 years old… I am sure that toddlers will love holding such a big book and taking in all of the glorious pictures, just as much as older kids will relish eating up all of the information and learning new animal names.
To visit the January Book Basket page in the Global Mama Shop, click here.
Happy Reading!
Related posts:
