I am excited to introduce you to two newly expanded collections in the Children’s Room: Read-Along Audiobooks and Spanish Language Picture Books. The read-alongs are picture books that come with a CD that reads the book aloud. Tones indicate when the pages are to be turned, so the child can follow along with the text. [...]
Because Amelia Smiled by David Ezra Stein This is a book about how one smile can affect a whole world. Amelia smiled and Mrs. Higgins saw her and smiled too. She was so happy that she baked some cookies for her son, who sang a song to his class, who inspired a dancer… The books [...]
One Gorilla by Anthony Browne In this oversized counting book, Anthony Browne presents one of the most lusciously beautiful picture books that I’ve seen in a long time. The brightly colored, richly saturated portraits of chimpanzees, mandrills, baboons, macaques, and other members of the primate family fill each page, compelling the reader to pause and [...]
“Reading is important because if you can read, you can learn anything about everything and everything about anything.” – Tomie DePaola 1. Read to your children frequently. In particular, babies’ and toddlers’ attentions will wander, but they can still hear you whether they seem to be paying attention to the books or not. They are [...]
This morning, Monday, January 23rd, the major children’s literary awards were announced at the American Library Association conference in Dallas. For months, children’s librarians have been reading, discussing and blogging about possible contenders and now we know! Today, I’ll look at the ‘big two’ for children’s literature – the Caldecott and Newbery awards – and [...]
The Mitten: A Ukrainian Folktale, 1989 by Jan Brett The Mitten, 2009 by Jim Aylesworth; illustrated by Barbara McClintock. Growing up in California, winters were never much to speak of. Still, I love the idea of winter. On winter vacations I loved breathing in the frosty air, sledding, making snow people. Now as an adult [...]
Flotsam by David Wiesner Some of my favorite picture books are those with no words at all. One that I particularly love is Flotsam by David Wiesner. This Caldecott Award winning book starts with a young boy finding an old-fashioned underwater camera on the beach. When he develops the film, the boy sees images from [...]
The Little House by Virginia Lee Burton At its heart The Little House is about finding a place in the world where you are loved. Every time I read it to my kids, I tear up at the happy ending. It’s a beautiful, if sentimental, story that stars not a child or family but a [...]
Follow Us