April 29, 2004
Children's books
A couple of days ago, E. at Reading to my Kid posted a list of children's books with the same instructions as the last book meme: bold the ones you have read. Below the fold I replicate her list, followed by additional titles that we like:
Update (30/4/04): Perhaps we're barking up the wrong tree with all these beautiful books; CNN reports, "'Poop fiction' big hit with kids." Inelegant link from Mark Sarvas.
Another update (6/5/04): milk factory joins the conversation. Be sure to read the comments for other book suggestions.
Millions of Cats, by Wanda Gag
Angus and the Ducks, by Marjorie Flack
Caps for Sale, by Esphyr Slobodkina
The Man Who Didn't Wash His Dishes, by Phyllis Krasilovsky
Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel, by Virginia Lee Burton
Babar, by Jean de Brunhoff
Madeline, by Ludwig Bemelmans
The Runaway Bunny, by Margaret Wise Brown
Green Eggs and Ham, by Dr. Seuss
Bread and Jam for Frances, by Russell Hoban, illus. Lillian Hoban
Harold and the Purple Crayon, by Crockett Johnson
A Hole is to Dig, by Ruth Krauss, illus. Maurice Sendak
In the Night Kitchen, by Maurice Sendak [amazing]
George and Martha, by James Marshall
Sylvester and the Magic Pebble, by William Steig
Harry the Dirty Dog, by Gene Zion, illus. Margaret Bloy Graham [check out the other Harry books, too]
Blueberries for Sal, by Robert McCloskey
Mr. Rabbit and the Lovely Present, by Charlotte Zolotow, illus. Maurice Sendak
Ira Sleeps Over, by Bernard Waber
A Color of His Own, by Leo Lionni [a rainbow message for those who pay attention to pronouns]
A Whistle for Willie, by Ezra Jack Keats
The Beast of Monsieur Racine, by Tomi Ungerer
Strega Nona, by Tomi De Paola [one of our favourites]
Eloise, by Kay Thompson, illus. Hilary Knight
Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What do You See? Bill Martin Jr., illus Eric Carle [Jinker boy also likes Polar Bear, Polar Bear, What do You Hear?]
Freight Train, by Donald Crews
Frog and Toad are Friends, by Arnold Lobel
Jamberry, by Bruce Degan
First Tomato, by Rosemary Wells
Hondo & Fabian, by Peter McCarty [Lovely soft pencil drawings]
My Friend Rabbit, by Eric Rohmann
Tuesday, by David Wiesner
Zin! Zin! Zin! A Violin, by Lloyd Moss, illus. Marjorie Priceman
Charlie Parker Played Be Bop, by Chris Rashka
And here are some titles that I would add:
Scribbled at April 29, 2004 04:26 PM AST | Hmmm? (7) | TrackBack (0) | Link Cosmos | More? books/reading, parenthoodThe Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle. Counting, colours, food, holes in the page: what's not to like? [View image]
Everyone Poops by Taro Gomi. Hilarious, earthy, matter-of-fact, and part of an excellent series about the body. [View image]. [This was on the list before I saw the CNN story.]
The Mole Sisters and the Moonlit Night by Roslyn Schwartz. And all the other Mole Sisters books; they're magic. [View image]
Doggies by Sandra Boynton. All of Boynton, in fact, though the following is also particularly good. [View image]
The Going-To-Bed Book by Sandra Boynton. "They rock, and rock, and rock, to sleep." [View image]
Good Night, Gorilla by Peggy Rathmann. Be sure to look at the expressions on the faces of the animals. [View image]
The Mitten: A Ukrainian Folktale by Jan Brett. A beautiful artist; amazingly detailed images. [View image]
The Owl and the Pussycat by Edward Lear. Another intricately painted Jan Brett book. [View image]
The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats. One of Keats' colourful urban tales. [View image]
Madlenka by Peter Sis. Wistful, evocative, fantastic story; intricate and beautiful art. See also Madlenka's Dog. [View image]
Beegu by Alexis Deacon. Baby's first sf. Wonderful story; wonderful art. [View image]
The Subway Mouse by Barbara Reid. Amazing plastercine art. [View image]
McDuff Moves in by Rosemary Wells & Susan Jeffers. First of this nostalgic series. [View image]
Gaspard and Lisa at the Museum by Anne Gutman & Georg Hallensleben. Part of a series. Witty; thick and colourful oil (?) paintings. [View image]
Cat and Canary by Michael Foreman. Magic tale of bird-friendly cat who flies over NYC.
Where's That Cat? by Stephane Poulin. Wonderful scenes of Montreal. See also Catch That Cat! [View image]
Thanks for adding on to my list! I'll link over to you now. I agree, Good NIght Gorilla certainly should be on there. The ones I don't know are Cat and Canary, Where's the Cat, The Subway Mouse. Although Gaspard & Lisa never do it for me, somehow. What are they? are they DOGS?
-E (and Tulip)
Scribbled by E. at April 30, 2004 08:43 AM | PermalinkI say they are dogs, but Jinker boy is very emphatic that they are rabbits, even after I point out their tails.
Where's the Cat and The Subway Mouse are by Canadians, so perhaps that's why you haven't seen them.
We just read Cat and Canary last night; it's a favourite.
Scribbled by mj at April 30, 2004 09:15 AM | PermalinkThought you might be interested in this:
http://readingtokid.blogspot.com/
Sharon, what serendipity. E. of the first comment here writes Reading to my Kid. Yes, it's a wonderful blog; I just discovered it recently.
Scribbled by mj at May 5, 2004 01:13 AM | PermalinkTeach me to be in such a hurry -- just rushed through, didn't even check the comments . . .
Scribbled by SB at May 5, 2004 01:15 PM | PermalinkThis is a great list. I've added my contribution on my blog, http://catalogblog.blogspot.com It's quite different, quite, dare I say it, British? It surprised me to realise how many cultural references we pick up as young children!
Scribbled by Annie at May 10, 2004 08:40 AM | PermalinkThanks, Annie; I'll have fun looking through the lists. Your site looks to be a real goldmine.
Scribbled by mj at May 10, 2004 10:18 AM | Permalinkhttp://webteam.unb.ca/cgi-bin/MT-2.21/mt-tb.cgi/510
Here's what others have to say about Children's books: