5 Great Children's Book Authors at No Time for Flashcards

Check out the list  of 5 Great Children's Book Authors at No Time for Flashcards.  I love her picks!  Who are your favorites?

Father's Day Books

We are getting mighty close to a special holiday on Sunday - Father's Day!  If you are still looking for a gift for dad or just something special as you celebrate, consider one of these daddy themed books!

 

Day Out with Daddy by Stephen Cook – A simple, funny tale told from a young boy’s point of view about a special day with Dad while Mom’s away. Appropriate for older preschoolers and young elementary students (who may get the jokes a little better).

Daddy Hugs by Karen Katz – This brightly illustrated story shows Daddy and Baby throughout their day, giving different kinds of hugs (teeny tiny finger hugs, boo-boo hugs, etc.) from 1 to 10.  Appropriate for babies and toddlers.

The Very Best Daddy of All by Marion Dane Bauer – I find this book so refreshing because it features animal dads and their children – something that seems hard to find in picture books.  My daughter always sees the pictures of animal moms and asks where the daddies are!  This is a sweet book showing animal fathers taking care of their offspring and ends with a human father who is, of course, the very best!  The pictures are soft and the text is rhyming, so it’s a great bedtime book.  Appropriate for preschoolers.

Rainbow stories for preschoolers

If you're experiencing the proverbial "April showers" as we are today, it's a perfect opportunity to share some rainbow books and activities with your preschooler. Here's a few of my favorite rainbow books:

A Rainbow of My Own by Don Freeman

A little boy imagines having a rainbow of his own to play with, then comes home to discover that he actually does!  Charming story by the author of the beloved classic Corduroy.

Duckie's Rainbow by Frances Barry


This is a super simple and engaging book - great for toddlers too!  As Duckie hurries home to avoid getting caught in the rain, different colors in her environment (a yellow corn field, a blue pond, etc.) make up a beautiful rainbow at the end of the book.

Planting a Rainbow by Lois Ehlert

This gorgeously illustrated story isn't really about rainbows at all, but it does feature all the colors of a rainbow as the young narrator describes the family flower garden from seed to full bloom.

After reading these books, there are lots of great rainbow activities you can do!  Try a color scavenger hunt to find all the colors of the rainbow - easily done indoors or out!  There's a great idea for a paint sample rainbow mosaic at I Can Teach My Child here.  The Crafty Crow featured rainbow activities here and here.  And you can read about the rainbow fun I had with my two year old daughter here.

The Daddy Mountain by Jules Fieffer

The Daddy Mountain, by Jules Fieffer, is a winner of the Blue Ribbon Picture Book Awards.  It's also a favorite in our house.  I bought it many years ago when my second child was little.  She loved her daddy and the minute he stopped moving she'd be climing on him.  The character in this book also loves to climb up daddy, so the book was a perfect fit for my daughter.

Although it hadn't been read in a few years, it was still sitting on our bookshelf.  As my 3 year old was trying to climb up my husband yesterday I was reminded of this cute tale.  So, we pulled it out, and as I started to read it to my 3 year old, ALL my girls came over and listened.  Even at 9 and 8 my older ones weren't too old, especially because they could relate to it.  My one year old even came over and joined us . . . just because.  The child in the book (no gender specified) gets very excited about the trek up the daddy mountain, and it leaves your child wondering what will happen next.  This book is most suited for 2 - 5 year olds, but great for all ages up through elementary school.

National Reading Month Read Along Follow-Up

Now that National Reading Month has come to a close, here a is a great  Read-Along that you can check out to continue reading all year long.  Reading like this shouldn't happen one month a year, it should happen everyday, all year long.  Check out these amazing ideas and books that have been shared.

Polly at Helping Little Hands  has a huge collage of reading activities that you can choose from for sharing books with your little one.

Dr. Seuss' Birthday and Read A Book A Day for One Month

Today would have been Dr. Seuss' birthday.  In honor of a wonderful man, who loved to promote reading and literacy in children, I'm planning on starting a "Book a Day" for the entire month of March with my 2 year old.  She's been showing major interest in books, and having my older girls read to her is just not enough for me.  It only takes a few minutes a day to sit and read a board book, or even something a little longer.  The rewards will be huge!  Who wants to join me?  One book a day, for one month.  Let's see the impact we can have on our children.  I'll leave you with some wise words from Dr. Seuss himself.

"The more that you read,

The more things you will know.

The more that you learn,

The more places you'll go."

~ Dr. Seuss ~

Love Stories for Preschoolers

After celebrating Valentine's Day last week it's fun to extend the love theme a bit. There's many great V-day books, but these two are favorites of mine that feature love and friendship, but aren't explicitly holiday stories. They are both good for older preschoolers and young elementary students.

Dear Bunny by Michaela Morgan features two shy rabbits who write letters in hopes of making a connection with each other. Unfortunately, a family of mice shreds the letters in an effort to stay warm and dry in a storm. When the mice discover their mistake, they set out to right their wrong. Will the bunnies make a connection?

Porcuping: A Prickly Love Story by Lisa Wheeler and Janie Bynum is the story of lonely Cushion the porcupine, who sets out to find love by singing to the other animals in the petting zoo. His songs are funny, but somewhat offensive to the other animals and aren't well received. Finally, he finds a companion in a hedgehog named Barb. After enjoying this book, check out the further adventures of Cushion and Barb in Hokey Pokey: Another Prickly Love Story.

Great Books for Twos: Five Trucks by Brian Floca

This book has been in heavy rotation at our house since we picked it up at the library last week. A great choice for indulging your favorite two-year-old's interest in transportation: Floca's simple story tells of five trucks that work to ready an airplane for take-off. The text is very simple - only a sentence per page, while the pictures are more realistic. The story is still very engaging. Parents and caregivers will appreciate that the drivers are both male and female and seem to be of several different ethnic backgrounds. Adults will also appreciate some of the details in the images, like the driver whose truck is littered with coffee cups and the luggage box marked "fragile" that looks like it's been run over by a truck!

This is a great book to tie into real life experiences of visiting an airport or travelling on a plane. Talk with your child about other trucks that "work" to make our lives easier, then pick up some books featuring them - fire trucks, garbage trucks, and construction trucks are easy to find in picture books. For another great truck book see this post.

How to Select Good Picture Books - from Ohdeedoh

There's a nice post over at Ohdeedoh with a lot of links and some tips for picking out good picture books. Check it out here.

Dolly Parton's Imagination Library: Free Books!

I just saw this post over on Hip2Save that reminded me about this great program! I signed my daughter up last week. If you live in a qualifying area and have a child under 5, you can sign them up to receive a free picture book in the mail every month until they are 5! What a great way to get a young child excited about reading (who doesn't love mail?) and expand your picture book collection! There are no income restrictions, you just have to live in an area that participates in the program.

To find out if the program is operating in your neighborhood, visit the Dolly Parton's Imagination Library website here.

Great Books for Two-Year-Olds: Freight Train by Donald Crews

Seems like every two-year-old, boy or girl, loves trains. Freight Train by Donald Crews is sure to be a hit. This simple, engaging book features the bright colors of a rainbow-hued train and the straightforward illustrations (that still offer very interesting perspectives on the activities of a train) are perfect for toddlers and young preschoolers. Adults should be able to appreciate the artistry in the pictures too, as this was a Caldecott honor book in 1978. There's very little text in this book - sometimes just a few words on a page, so this is a title that young children can start "reading" on their own - they will have it memorized before long.

Take the train theme further and sing train songs, make a rainbow train out of construction paper like the one in the book, or take a pretend train ride in a cardboard box train. If your child is interested in transportation, check out some of Donald Crews' other books, like School Bus or Truck.

Favorite Fall Book: Duck and Goose Find a Pumpkin

My two-year-old daughter has loved reading this book over the last few weeks. Duck and Goose Find a Pumpkin is a sweet, simple, beautifully illustrated story of Duck and Goose's search for pumpkin. Wouldn't you know - the last place they think to look is the pumpkin patch? While many children's books with fall themes are better for elementary age kids, this one is perfect for toddlers and preschoolers.

I think it would be fun to read this book and then go on a pumpkin search. Pretend or real pumpkins could be placed in various locations inside or outside. Little guys would have a blast repeating Duck and Goose's search, and would surely be begging to read it again.

Great Books for Two-Year-Olds: Trucks: Whizz! Zoom! Rumble!

My daughter turned two this weekend, and this momentous birthday inspired me to start a new series here on On the Lap. One of the most frequent requests I got as a children's librarian in public libraries was for books appropriate for toddlers. Children this age respond so well to simple stories, rhyming text, and interesting, but uncluttered pictures. However, books meeting that criteria aren't always easy to find on library or book store shelf. Too often, parents turn to books that are too long, too simple (baby board books), or too familiar (like the same "character" books over and over). In this series, I'll feature some books that particularly appeal to the not-a-baby but not-yet-a-preschooler set.

Trucks: Whizz! Zoom! Rumble! by Patricia Hubbell and illustrated by Megan Halsey is a great book to share with a two-year-old. First of all, the subject matter is perfect to appeal to these little guys (and girls - let's not let gender prevent us from sharing any book with a child!). The text is simple, rhyming, and includes some repetition. All different kinds of trucks are driving on the long, long road. The illustrations are more detailed than most two-year-olds will catch on to (each truck's driver matches the truck's purpose, and there's a lot of special, vintage-y details), but clear enough that a young child will be interested. Bonus for parents-the trucks "rest" at the end of their work, making this a good naptime/bedtime book!

Julia Donaldson, Author Extraordinaire

If you haven't heard of the Gruffalo, then you must have been living in a cupboard, Harry Potter style, for the last 10 or so years. The Gruffalo was a huuuuge success for Donaldson and her illustrator of choice, Axel Scheffler.

Now reaching a new audience as a theatre production as well as the Christmas television feature that was later released as a DVD, The Gruffalo also appears on a range of stationery, lunchboxes and greeting cards. There's a sequel (The Gruffalo's Child), a song book and a pop up puzzle book. Gruffalo-mania is loud, proud and everywhere!

And so, very quietly, with no song and dance, Zog has arrived. Published in August 2010, Donaldson's new book for children follows the adventures of the accident-prone Zog the dragon at school. Cleverly tapping into recent movie trends, such as Shrek Forever After and How To Train Your Dragon, Zog features Donaldson's characteristic gentle and humorous rhymes and Sheffler's dynamic illustrations.

With all the mishaps that befall Zog, surely rescuing a Princess is the least of his worries. Unless, of course, that Princess doesn't want rescuing....

Buy the book or borrow it from your library. You won't regret it!

What's Your Favorite Book to Read Aloud at Bedtime?

I have 3 little boys and a few years ago when my youngest was a baby, my mother gave me this book "You're All My Favorites" and 3 little bears that to me, represent each of my baby boys.  I love reading this book aloud to them.  A few of my other favorites are, "The Napping House" because I love to hear my children giggle before bed but I'm very sentimental so I also love reading "Time For Bed" because it was the first book my husband and I read to our little boys before they were even born.  My mother gave me "Love You Forever" to make me cry but I've heard Robert Munsch tell his version and it can be down right funny to read as well.  "Guess How Much I Love You" to me is a tongue twister in it's own right.  It's a simple story line with beautiful illustrations.   

The Napping House by Audry Wood

Time for Bed by Mem Fox

Love You Forever by Robert Munsch

Guess How Much I Love You by Sam McBratney

What is your favorite read aloud books at bedtime?

Organize Books by Color

I've always loved the look of organizing children's books like this.  Visit here to see more examples.

8 Poetry Books for Kids

Need a list of wonderfully fun books for kids that will introduce them to fabulous poetry?  Here's your list!  Introduce your child to a world that encourages fun with words.

Vintage Kids Books My Kids Love

YES!  There is a whole blog dedicated to vintage children's books.  My favorite blog ever I think.  As a matter of fact, I'm a huge fan of the illustrator of that book on the top of the pile in the picture.  I love collecting vintage books.  You'll love this website too, it'll bring back tender memories!

Children's Books Reviewed Online

Shelfari is a site you have to sign into, but it's worth it. Look at the cute, virtual bookshelf (above). It's fun to keep track of the books you have read and want to read. It also has a great search engine with ratings and reviews from other members.
Common Sense Media is an independent, not-for-profit organization with a mission to help the public become informed about the books [and movies, video games, websites etc] they consume. We like to come here for specific reviews on books we are interested in. We also like to browse the book lists recommended by parents, kids, and by common sense media itself.
Share your favorite online book review and inspiration resources below - we can always use more.

Thanks Jackie Boucher for this awesome list!

10 Places to Pick Up Used Children's Books

I LOVE children's books.  In college, I didn't own a single one but I have built my collection by purchasing them from many different sources.  Used or not, they will still tell the same story.  You can even find books in such good condition you can give them as gifts.  Check out this list of places you can pick up used children's books.