by Nancy Pearl
Seven Blind Mice by Ed Young, who uses paper collages to illustrate this retelling of the Hindu folk tale about the blind man and the elephant
The Seven Chinese Sisters by Kathy Tucker
The Six Fools by Zora Neale Hurston (Joyce Carol Thomas adapted this from one of the Gulf state folk tales collected by Hurston in the 1930s)
So Say The Little Monkeys by Nancy Van Laan (Brazil)
Something from Nothing: Adapted from a Jewish Folktale by Phoebe Gilman
Stone Soup by Marcia Brown (probably originally from France)
Strega Nona by Tomie dePaola (this Italian folk tale has been charming young readers since it was first published in 1976; there are now many sequels, and even one prequel)
The Teeny Tiny Woman: A Traditional Tale by Arthur Robins and The Teeny-Tiny Woman by Paul Galdone (British)
The Three Sillies by Steven Kellogg (British)
Yoshi’s Feast by Kimiko Kajikawa (Japan)
GIRLS RULE
It’s never too early to show impressionable young readers that girls (even if they’re not human) can be the heroines of stories, and life, too.
Ludwig Bemelmans’s Madeline grew up “in an old house in Paris, all covered with vines,” with eleven other little girls, and was, as it turns out, the bravest of them all (and the only one to be rushed to the hospital in the middle of the night to have her appendix out). This is truly one of the great children’s books of all time.
Think Paul Bunyan is the last word in strength and bravery? You’ll think again when you read about the adventures of Angelica Longrider (who was born bigger than her mother), the heroine of Anne Isaacs’s tall tale Swamp Angel, which describes Angelica’s greatest achievement: dispatching Thundering Tarnation, a black bear bent on disturbing the lives (and stealing the food) of the pioneers far from town. The illustrations by Paul O. Zelinsky add to the enjoyment.
Cornelia Funke’s amusing and instructive The Princess Knight provides an excellent lesson for anyone who doubts that girls can do as well (or better than) boys in most things in life. And the pictures—by Kerstin Meyer—are great fun, too. The author and illustrator also collaborated on Pirate Girl, in which Molly, who just wants to go visit her grandmother, is grabbed by a group of pirates, contrives her own rescue, and gives the offenders a righteous punishment.
Two little girls who know exactly what they want to wear—and wouldn’t have it any other way—include Fancy Nancy by Jane O’Connor (with exuberant illustrations by Robin Preiss Glasser) and Ella Sarah Gets Dressed, written and illustrated by Margaret Chodos-Irvine.
When her seamstress mother becomes ill, Irene is asked to deliver the duchess’s dress—a task that the intrepid Irene succeeds in completing, despite huge obstacles, in William Steig’s Brave Irene.
Charlotte,the determined child who stars in Barbara McClintock’s Dahlia, hates dolls, much preferring to climb trees and make mud-pies with her dog Bruno, and she isn’t happy that her Aunt Edme has sent her a particularly fussy-looking one (“Her painted mouth was prim. She was dressed in linen and lace and delicate silk ribbons. Frail hands were covered with thin gloves.”). But after she includes the doll in all of her adventures (with some attendant scrapes, scratches, and more serious injuries to poor Dahlia), both doll and little girl conclude that life is better together. Set in the Victorian period, McClintock’s illustrations of this lovely and timeless tale are filled with muted colors, lending to the sense of reading about a time period long long ago.
Other books featuring stalwart girls include Tar Beach by Faith Ringgold (based on the artist’s “story quilt,” displayed at the Guggenheim Museum); Kiss the Cow! by Phyllis Root (a marvelous selection for story hours); Eloise by Kay Thompson (I bet that reservations at the Plaza in New York increased a gazillionfold as a result of this book. I know that I always wanted to stay there.); Willa and the Wind, retold by Janice M. Del Negro from a Norwegian folk tale; Sense Pass King: A Story from Cameroon, retold by Katrin Tchana, with pictures by Trina Schart Hyman; Miss Bridie Chose a Shovel by Leslie Connor, with woodcut and watercolor illustrations by Mary Azarian; and A Chair for My Mother by Vera B.Williams.
GRANDMAS AND GRANDPAS
When I became a grandmother, I realized that all the truisms about being a grandparent are actually true—the time you spend with your grandchildren is an unalloyed joy (probably because you don’t have to spend all your time with them).This special relationship is described in the following books, many of which are appropriate for beginning readers.
Ruddy’s not very fond of his Grandmother Silk, and the prospect of spending ten days with her while his parents take a cruise doesn’t thrill him at all. But when the two get snowed in during a freak Halloween storm, he learns that they have more in common than he ever realized, in Carol Fenner’s Snowed In with Grandmother Silk.
When Grandma Ni Ni moves from Cincinnati to California, her grandson Xiao Jimmy misses visiting her every day after school, helping her make jiao zi and hearing her stories about growing up in China, in The Key Collection by Andrea Cheng.
You might be as surprised as I was to learn who the narrator is in Carol Diggory Shields’s Lucky Pennies and Hot Chocolate, an affectionate story about a little boy and his grandfather.
A stray (and mischievous) kitten helps Rana make friends at her new school and develop a better relationship with her grandmother, in Meow Means Mischief by Ann Whitehead Nagda.
Trish Cooke’s Full, Full, Full of Love, with illustrations by Paul Howard, gathers together at Grannie’s house a large and loving African American family for their regular Sunday dinner.
“What if I could fly,” wonders Rosalba, in Abuela by Arthur Dorros, as she and her grandmother, her abuela, take their regular trip to feed the birds in the park. And magically (I’ve always believed that grandmothers are capable of this), the two embark on a flying trip around Manhattan. Each landmark reminds Abuela of something from her own past, which she shares with her granddaughter. The mixed-media illustrations (watercolors, pastels, and collages) by Elisa Kleven are done in a charming folk-art style, which, combined with Dorros’s use of Spanish phrases, makes this a perfect choice for a multicultural story hour.
Norton Juster’s The Hello, Goodbye Window (with joyful and lusciously colored, almost scribble-like mixed-media illustrations by Chris Raschka) is a warm tale of the love between a young girl and her grandparents, Nanna and Poppy. One of the interesting facets of this book is that Raschka’s pictures make it clear this is an interracial family—it reminded me of a picture book I read when I was a child called Two is a Team by Lorraine and Jerrold Beim, which depicts two little boys of different races cooperating to make a scooter. As in Juster’s book, the text never mentions race at all. Because I am insatiably curious, I’d love to know who thought of presenting a mixed-race family—Juster, Raschka, or perhaps the editor? In any case, it offers a powerful, though subtle, message.
Finally, although the book itself isn’t all about grandparents, there’s a wonderful chapter in Tell Me a Mitzi by Lore Segal about a little girl who takes her younger brother for an early morning cab ride to their grandparents’ house, somewhere in New York City. The grandmother also saves the day in the second chapter, when the whole family comes down with colds.
GRIN AND BEAR IT!
I couldn’t bear not including this category—once you start reading the books below you’ll understand why.
The Hare who lost the race to the Tortoise in Aesop’s Fables also lost his farm to pay his debts. Now, in order to get vegetables to feed his family, he tries to trick a very tired bear, in Tops & Bottoms, a Caldecott Honor Book by Janet Stevens; it’s a story that may go a long way in helping children love their veggies. The double-spread line-and-wash paintings add to the charm of this humor-filled tale.
The rhythmical text in Bill Martin Jr.’s Brown Bear, Brown Bear,What Do You See? comes to life with Eric Carle’s bold and colorful illustrations. This is one of those phenomenally popular books (along
with its sequels, Polar Bear, Polar Bear, What Do You Hear? and Panda Bear, Panda Bear, What Do You See?) that children beg to hear again and again.
Nancy White Carlstrom’s series of books about Jesse Bear (with cheerful watercolor and pen-and-ink illustrations by Bruce Degen) are always fun to share with children, and there’s the added benefit that they remain entertaining, no matter how often you’re forced to read them aloud—start with Jesse Bear, What Will You Wear? and go on to Better Not Get Wet, Jesse Bear, How Do You Say It Today, Jesse Bear?, and others.
Bears can sleep through anything (or almost anything)—just take a look at Karma Wilson’s humorous Bear Snores On, with charming illustrations done in acrylics by Jane Chapman. (And there’s more Bear to be found in Bear Wants More, Bear Stays Up for Christmas, and Bear’s New Friend.)
By sharing three Zen tales with Addy, Michael, and Karl, a very wise panda bear named Stillwater gives them new ways of thinking about the world in Zen Shorts by Jon J Muth, illustrated with dark ink drawings on pastel-colored pages.
It’s amazing the lessons you can learn from a bear, especially if you’re a failed magician, as you can see in Jon Agee’s Milo’s Hat Trick.
Simple living was the mantra of nineteenth-century writer Henry David Thoreau, and in D. B. Johnson’s series of books imagining Henry as a bear, children can easily come to see the benefits of Thoreau’s way of life, along with his love and respect for nature. There’s minimal text—the joy is in the multifaceted (color) pencil and paint illustrations. My favorite is Henry Hikes to Fitchburg (he seems to be wearing a red bathrobe and wide-brimmed hat on his trip to the city), but try them all.
Two other bear-y good books are Not This Bear! by Bernice Myers (which is difficult to find but worth the hunt) and Don Freeman’s now classic Corduroy (and sequels).
JUST FOR FUN
Sometimes reading a good book that makes you laugh out loud is just what’s needed. The books in this section have always seemed to me to be equally humorous to both the listening children and the adults who are reading to them.And that’s no small achievement.
Even the most dedicated bird-watcher won’t find more interesting birds anywhere than in Arnold Lobel’s The Ice-Cream Cone Coot and Other Rare Birds. Here’s where you’ll discover the Pincushion Piffle (who helps with the sewing) and the Jackknife Niffy (who cuts off your nose in a jiffy, if you don’t watch out), the Milkbottle Midge, the Buttonbeaks, and many others. The illustrations are delightfully inventive, too.
Lobel’s Fables (which was honored with the Caldecott Medal) is yet another example of this talented writer/illustrator’s work. Here he’s come up with some twists on Aesop’s fables, each with its own useful moral. Read a few of these each night at bedtime—they’re the perfect length and great fun besides.
Wallace Edwards’s gorgeously imaginative illustrations highlight Kenyon Cox’s fantastical animals (described in delightful verse) in Mixed Beasts, which makes this a good companion for The Ice-Cream Cone Coot.
Jack Prelutsky combined his wacky sense of humor with the illustrations of Peter Sís to create Scranimals, a guide to the most unusual fauna found on Scranimal Island.
Brock Cole has written a modern fairy tale in Buttons, the story of three sisters who are given the task of finding buttons to replace the ones on their (very overweight) father’s britches.
As author George Shannon and illustrator Laura Dronzek show, it can be a lot of fun to have your preconceived notions of color upset; just take a look at White Is for Blueberry and you’ll see what I mean.
The story of the Montgolfier brothers’ first ride in the hot-air balloon they invented is told with tongue firmly in cheek and a strong sense of the absurd in Marjorie Priceman’s Hot Air:The (Mostly) True Story of the First Hot-Air Balloon Ride.
Bored by Dick and Jane? Try Lane Smith’s The Happy Hocky Family and The Happy Hocky Family Moves to the Country! for a delightfully satirical change of pace.
If you can find a copy of Russell Hoban’s How Tom Beat Captain Najork and His Hired Sportsmen, you’ll discover an awfully smart little boy named Tom and two aunts, Miss Fidget Wonkham-Strong and Bundlejoy Cosysweet. Guess which one Tom prefers?
How to Tame Your Dragon by Cressida Cowell is the story of Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III, puny son and heir of Haddock, Chief of the Hairy Hooligans, who has to prove his worth against his much larger and nastier peers. This over-the-top story has everything to appeal to young readers, especially those who may think that books are dull: Viking valor, adventures with dragons, suspense, and slapstick humor—all appealingly illustrated with slapdash black-and-white drawings. HTTYD is loosely preceded by Hiccup the Seasick Viking and more closely followed by How to be a Pirate.
The really obvious jokes and—let’s be frank, here—bathroom humor that make Cowell’s books so popular with little boys, especially, are also a major component in Dav Pilkey’s The Adventures of Captain Underpants, which features George and Harold and their exploits with their awful school principal, Mr. Krupp. Great fun for all.
Young fans of the Cowell and Pilkey books will definitely enjoy reading the books about Tashi and Jack by Anna and Barbara Fienberg.This series of Australian imports by a mother and daughter team hits all the right notes as each book relates another fantastical adventure of Tashi’s involving ghosts, white tigers, giants, and other fearsome creatures. My favorite is Tashi and the Ghosts, but you can’t really go wrong with any of them.
In Mini Grey’s delicious Traction Man Is Here! a superhero action figure who bravely guards the breakfast toast, searches in the soapy dishwater for the lost wreck of the sieve, and rescues some dolls in distress is finally almost outdone by an all-in-one green romper suit and matching bonnet that a kind grandmother knits him for Christmas.Will Traction Man prevail against the odds? Read it and laugh.
When Arnie discovers just what the fate of being a doughnut is, he realizes that he’d better try to come up with something (besides being good to eat) that he excels at, in Laurie Keller’s Arnie the Doughnut.
A fish running away down Kearny Street toward the San Francisco Bay? Try not to laugh too much when you share Lakas’s attempts to capture his pet, in Lakas and the Manilatown Fish, with words (in both Tagalog and English) by Anthony D. Robles and pictures by Carl Angel.
Mo Willems has a terrific sense of humor, as evidenced by Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus!, The Pigeon Finds a Hot Dog!, and Don’t Let the Pigeon Stay Up Late! Kids as young as two and three love these books.
Esphyr Slobodkina both wrote and illustrated the captivating Caps for Sale, in which a peddler runs into some problems with a group of monkeys who want caps of their own.
Author Jon Scieszka and illustrator Lane Smith have collaborated on a number of well-loved (and side-splittingly funny) picture books, including Science Verse and Math Curse.
The adventures of Lyle the crocodile are surefire laugh inducers. Don’t miss The House on East 88th Street, as well as Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile, Lyle Finds His Mother, Funny, Funny Lyle, and Lyle at the Office, written and illustrated by Bernard Waber.
Don’t let any child grow up without meeting Imogene, who wakes up one morning with antlers growing out of her head, in David Small’s hilarious Imogene’s Antlers.
Eugene, the hero of Jon Agee’s Terrific, is always sure that the worst will happen, until he meets a very smart parrot named Lenny on the desert island where he’s been stranded.
A group of animals learns the ins and outs of making strawberry shortcake with many laugh-aloud misunderstandings along the way, in Cook-A-Doodle Doo! by Janet Stevens and Susan Stevens Crummel.The group includes Big Brown Rooster, a descendant of the Little Red Hen. (Remember her? She’s the one who couldn’t get any of her barnyard friends to help her bake bread, but everyone wanted to eat it once it was done; you might take a look at Margot Zemach’s The Little Red Hen: An Old Story to refresh your memory.) The recipe that Big Brown Rooster uses is included, so try it out with your preschooler.
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sp; When some Icelandic chickens start thinking that they’re really middle-aged Icelandic housewives, it takes the ingenuity of real Icelandic housewives to figure out how to get the chickens back to doing what they do best—laying eggs, or at least that’s the story found in The Problem with Chickens, a clever matching of deadpan humor in both text and illustrations, by Bruce McMillan and Gunnella, respectively.
LATKES, DREIDELS, AND LIGHTS: CHANUKAH BETWEEN THE PAGES
The main problem with finding good books about Hanukah is figuring out how to spell the name of the holiday. Does it begin with an H? Or a Ch? Does it have one k or two? I’d advise trying all the various spellings—these books are both entertaining and instructive, an unbeatable combination (as are latkes and applesauce—yum!). In between bites of the very special potato pancakes known as latkes, try these:
Three picture books set in Eastern European villages are Just Enough Is Plenty: A Hanukkah Tale by Barbara Diamond Golden, with paintings by Seymour Chwast; Nina Jaffe’s In the Month of Kislev: A Story for Hanukkah; and Eric A. Kimmel’s Zigazak!: A Magical Hanukkah Night.