Books We Love
I have provided my own comments on children’s books we have enjoyed reading together, most often culled from my weekly-ish Reading Round-up blog posts. I will be adding to this page every month or so. At present, I have divided the books by the following headings: BOARD BOOKS, PICTURE BOOKS – FICTION and PICTURE BOOKS – NON-FICTION, and CHAPTER BOOKS AND NOVELS. I hope you find many books here to share and enjoy with the children in your life.
Full Disclosure: The book links below are through the Amazon Affiliates Program. The first link is to amazon.ca, the second to amazon.com. If you buy a book through a link, I get more books from Amazon to sate our bibliophilic tendencies.
BOARD BOOKS
Dale, Penny. Ten in the Bed. My favourite version of the “roll over! roll over! and one fell out…” song. A young child finds the bed too crowded with stuffed animals, and as the animals fall out one by one they land with a “Thump!” or “Bonk!” or “Oof!” Soon there is “only one in the bed”—the child—who says, “I’m cold! I miss you!” So the animals all come back and the book ends with the child asleep, surrounded by the toys: “Ten in the bed, all fast asleep.” More here (Canada)
PICTURE BOOKS – FICTION
Arnold, Tedd. Even More Parts: Idioms from Head to Toe. Amusing artwork shows a boy taking idioms literally, such as opening his mouth to reveal a ‘frog in his throat.’ A great introduction to many idioms for younger audiences. One of a series. More here (Canada)
Davis, Katie. Who Hops? A look at different animals that hop, crawl, fly, slither, and swim but the final animal in each section is always a joke. e.g. “Who Hops? Frogs hop” (picture of frog hopping); “rabbits hop” (picture of rabbit hopping); “kangaroos hop” (picture of kangaroo hopping), “cows hop” (picture of a wide-eyed cow looking rather shocked and confused.) Turn the page: “No they don’t! Cows moo and give milk, but they don’t hop!” The book concludes by asking who hops and crawls and flies and slithers and swims? (“You do!”) Very simple yet playful book. More here (Canada)
Lester, Helen. The Wizard, the Fairy and the Magic Chicken. Three friends argue and try to outdo one another: “MY wand has a MOON on it” (wizard); “MY wand has a STAR on it (fairy); “MY wand has a PICKLE on it,” said the Magic Chicken. By trying to outdo one another, the friends create a problem, and the only way to solve it is to work together. Wonderful absurdist humour (and artwork) with a point to boot! More here (Canada)
Lowell, Susan. The Three Little Javelinas. A southwest adaptation of the Three Little Pigs story, with a coyote as the wolf, and building materials such as tumbleweed and adobe. The twist at the end—the explanation of the coyotes’ howl on desert nights—tickled my sons’ imaginations. More here (Canada)
Merrill, Jean. The Girl who Loved Caterpillars. A fascinating 12th century tale from Japan about a very unconventional girl and her love of caterpillars and other creepy-crawlies. She defies convention in many other ways, like not plucking her bushy caterpillar-like eyebrows and associating with boys of ‘lower-standing’ families, whom she gives playful (and unladylike) nicknames, like “Mantis Boy” or “Centipede”. When her parents suggest she collect butterflies like the lady next door, she says, “Why so much fuss about butterflies, but no wonder about the creatures they come from? It is the original nature of things I am interested in.” A shockingly modern tale about being true to yourself and questioning convention, from nearly a millennia ago. More here (Canada)
Mitton, Tony. Dinosaurumpus! Bouncy text about dinosaurs and other prehistoric creatures getting ready for a dance. It begs to be sung to your children, as they tap their toes to the textual beat. More here (Canada)
Niemann, Christoph. The Pet Dragon. A young girl gets a pet baby dragon, who runs away and she sets off to find him, meeting various people in various locations along the way. But the coolest thing about the book is that you learn to read some Chinese writing, as the Chinese writing (characters) are cleverly incorporated into the story via the artwork. More here (Canada) or
San Souci, Robert. The Talking Eggs. An engaging and unusual folk tale from the American South, about two sisters and not being deceived by appearances. A Caldecott Honour Book. Highly recommended. More here (Canada)
Steig, William. Sylvester and the Magic Pebble. 1970 winner of the Caldecott award. Sylvester the donkey finds a magic red pebble, but on his way home encounters a lion. Flustered, he wishes himself to become a rock (hence safe from the lion) but in turning to stone Sylvester is no longer holding/touching the pebble, so he cannot wish himself back to a donkey. His parents search for him, and are very distraught when he cannot be found. A year later they go to have a picnic on the rock that is Sylvester, with heart-warming results. More here (Canada)
Steiner, Joan. Look-Alikes: The More you Look, the More you See! A quirky, playful book where scenes are created using everyday objects in unusual ways. For example, in the cover picture a coffee pot forms the engine, potatoes are boulders beneath the tracks; inside, my favourite is a chair made from various shaped pretzels and a ritz cracker. The more you look, the more you see. One of a series. More here (Canada)
Tompert, Ann. Grandfather Tang’s Story. A grandfather tells his granddaughter a story about two wolves that change form (with accompanying tangram pictures), in the end almost getting themselves killed (as geese) by a hunter. A wonderful way to teach math through literature, and very accessible to even the youngest. The tangram pictures show the outlines of all 7 shapes, so it is easy to make each animal shape as you read the story. More here (Canada)
Trivizas, Eugene. The Three Little Wolves and the Big Bad Pig. Hilarious ‘fractured’ or ‘altered’ version of the Three Little Pigs, in which the three little wolves leave home, building houses of brick, concrete and barbed wire, etc. which the big bad pig resolves to huff and puff and puff and huff away. When this doesn’t work, well—he’s not called the big bad pig for nothing—so the pig acquires jackhammers and dynamite and so on to destroy the houses. The wolves’ last house, made of flowers, proves to be the most successful, as in huffing and puffing the pig gets a whiff of the lovely flowers, which softens his heart and makes him a nice friendly pig. More here (Canada)
Wiesner, David. Flotsam. An unusual wordless tale of a boy who finds a camera on the beach, as have countless children before him. The boy only learns about the camera’s incredible history once he develops the film. Superb artwork. More here (Canada)
Wilson, Karma. Bear Feels Scared and Bear Snores On. Playful, rhyming text and wonderful artwork telling the stories of bear getting lost and bear sleeping on while his friends are celebrating nearby, respectively. More here (Canada)
PICTURE BOOKS – NON-FICTION
Aston, Dianna Hutts. An Egg is Quiet. Covers all kinds of eggs (birds, reptiles, fish, etc.) and their characteristics, with stunning artwork. More here (Canada) or 
Atkins, Jennine. Girls Who Looked Under Rocks: The Lives of Six Pioneering Naturalists. A look at six women who overcame many prejudices and challenges to become leading scientists and writers. Includes Jane Goodall, Rachel Carson, and Anna Comstock. More here (Canada)
Goodman, Susan E. On This Spot: An Expedition Back Through Time. The “spot” in question is where today’s New York City appears–skyscrapers, taxis and people…but ON THIS SPOT 150 years ago (the next page): horse-drawn carts, people selling vegetables, etc. And ON THIS SPOT 350 years ago there was a fort called New Amsterdam, and during the ice age…, and during dinosaur times…, etc. More here (Canada)
Kress, Stephen W. Project Puffin: How We Brought Puffins Back to Egg Rock. A wonderfully inspiring true story of one man’s quest to bring puffins back to one of their historic nesting islands off the coast of Maine. Working with wildlife agencies in both Canada and the U.S., for several years in a row they brought young chicks to the island and hand-reared them…and then waited. Young puffins stay at sea for 2 to 4 years before returning to land to breed. In the meantime, decoy puffins were painted and distributed on the island so any returning puffins would not be lonely, and the aggressive sea gulls were discouraged from nesting. What has been learned from this project has been applied to other projects with different sea birds around the world. This is a detailed account with excellent photographs—well worth the half-hour read. More here (Canada)
Trapani, Iza. Jingle Bells. One of many Trapani books in which she takes a well-known song and alters the lyrics. This one uses the tune of Jingle Bells to teach about Christmas traditions from around the world. More here (Canada)
Ulmer, Michael. Loonies and Toonies: A Canadian Number Book. Great to read to Canadian kids. It uses numbers a back drop to introduce all kinds of facets of Canadian culture. Each page has a short poem and large picture, with more detailed information in side bars. e.g., 2 is the number of official languages, 6 is the number of time zones, 7 fathers of Confederation, 8 is about Terry Fox (“8 left shoes and just one right, to carry him to dark from morning light….the hero of Canada’s cancer fight”), 11 is Remembrance Day, 13 the number of provinces and territories, etc. Even I learned things from reading it! More here (Canada)
CHAPTER BOOKS AND NOVELS
King-Smith, Dick. Lady Lollipop. A delightful book from the author of Babe, about a spoiled princess who demands a pig for her 8th birthday. More here (Canada)
Stone, Rex. Attack of the Tyrannosaurus (Dinosaur Cove series #1). Friends Tom and Jamie find a secret cave that contains dinosaur footprints. When stepped on, these prints transport them to the time of the dinosaurs, where they befriend Wanna (the wannanosaurus) and have many adventures. The first in this middle-level, and very boy-friendly, chapter book series. More here (Canada)
White, E. B. The Trumpet of the Swan. The story of Louis, a remarkable trumpeter swan born without a voice, and his ability to overcome his difficulties with the help of his father, a trumpet, his human friend Sam, and his own hard work and ingenuity. One of my very favourite books as a child. More here (Canada)
Wishinsky, Frieda. Crazy for Gold (Canadian Flyer Adventures series #3). Friends Matt and Emily climb aboard their magic sled (the Flyer) to the the Klondike Gold Rush in the Yukon in the 1890s. The third in this excellent early chapter book series combining a fictional story with many (true) aspects of Canadian history. Similar to the American Magic Tree House series. More here (Canada)
Zoehfeld, Kathleen Weidner. Fossil Fever. A beginning chapter book about a boy who goes on a palaeontology dig with his uncle. Not ‘dumbed-down’ the way many beginning chapter books are. More here (Canada)
