Jan
16
By Merrie Leininger, McClatchy-Tribune
“E-Mergency!”
By Tom Lichtenheld and Ezra Fields-Meyer
40 pages, for ages 5-9
Chronicle Books, $16.99
If you are a parent, it’s a good chance you already have a Tom Lichtenheld book in your house – he’s the author of “Duck! Rabbit!” “Shark vs. Train” and “Goodnight, Goodnight, Construction Site.” This book is a collaboration between Lichtenheld and Ezra Fields-Meyer, a high-school student, and, if possible, is even more fun than the previous books.
Anyone who loves language — and silly puns — will love this book.
When the letter “E” falls down the stairs, the only way to get her back on her feet is for everyone to stop using her. But...
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Dec
16
McClatchy-Tribune
“The Carpenter’s Gift: A Christmas Tale about the Rockefeller Center Tree”
By David Rubel, illustrations by Jim LaMarche
$17.99, Random House
This 48-page picture book written by David Rubel in collaboration with Habitat for Humanity, with illustrations by Jim LaMarche is set during the Depression, and features Henry, an 8-year-old boy whose out-of-work father sells Christmas trees. He gives a leftover tree to construction workers building Rockefeller Center before Henry and his dad go home to their cold and drafty one-room house. The construction workers decide to help them out and give the family a new warm home.
To mark the moment, the boy plants a pinecone and years later, the tree is selected...
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Dec
03
By Lisa Smant, McClatchy Newspapers
The arrival of a new baby brings many activities, such as buying diapers and setting up a new room. But how do we prepare older siblings for a new baby? There are many books to help open the dialog between parents and siblings-to-be about a new bundle of joy moving into the house.
“Clementine and the Family Meeting”
by Sara Pennypacker; illustrated by Marla Frazee
Disney/Hyperion Books, 2011
For ages 7-10
Just before school, Clementine’s parents tell her about a family meeting for that evening. Usually these meetings mean that Clementine is in trouble. She waits in suspense all day wondering what she has done. When it is time for...
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Nov
29
By DAVID SHARP, Associated Press
PORTLAND, Maine — First there was Marley, the rambunctious Labrador retriever whose death brought readers to tears in John Grogan’s “Marley and Me.” Now there’s Sammy, a mixed-breed hound who’s the subject of another tear-jerker, a children’s book, “Sammy in the Sky.”
When her beloved hound dog died, Pulitzer Prize-Winning journalist Barbara Walsh watched her young daughters tearfully struggle with their loss and with tough questions. Walsh quickly realized there was a story to be told, one that she hopes will help other families deal with the loss of a pet.
But it wasn’t easy getting the book published, even after Walsh enlisted celebrated American artist Jamie Wyeth to fill the...
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Nov
24
By Rod Hagwood, South Florida Sun-Sentinel
Taye Diggs is all about the chocolate love.
And by that we mean his new children’s book “Chocolate Me” (Feiwel & Friends, 2011), a book that the star of “Private Practice” hopes will help kids feel good about being unique.
We caught up with the star of movies such as “How Stella Got Her Groove Back” and “The Best Man” at his West Coast home which he shares with son Walker and wife Idina Menzel (“Glee,” ‘’Wicked”) for a quick Q & A:
Question: The book, “Chocolate Me,” is based on a poem you wrote back in college, right?
Answer: Yeah, you know when you’re in college, that’s the time when you tend to have periods where you are more...
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Oct
22
By Daniel Rubin, The Philadelphia Inquirer
There’s a scene in Kerri Conner’s children’s book that’s ripped from real, raw life.
By the third chemo treatment, her thick, black hair had started coming out in clumps, so she asked her father to shave her head with his clippers.
That afternoon in the summer of 2008, she drove to the Meadowlane Montessori School in Jenkintown for pickup, and the thought came to mind that her daughter, 2 ½-year-old Madison, would see her and scream.
But when the girl ran to her, she said, “Mommy, I like your haircut.” Conner was so stunned she didn’t have to fight back the tears that have welled up every time she’s thought about that moment since.
“I believe our...
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Mar
04
“If I Could Keep You Little” by Marianne Richmond
c.2010, Sourcebooks
$15.99 / $18.99 Canada
32 pages
By Terri Schlichenmeyer, Philadelphia Tribune contributor
You can’t wait til you grow up.
The big kids get to do all the good stuff. They can stay up later and they get to go places you can’t go because you’re “too little.” They get to try things you’re not allowed to try and nobody treats them like babies.
Big Kids are so lucky, and you wish you were one of them.
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Chances are, your Mama doesn’t, though. She wishes you could be a baby forever, but in the new book “If I Could Keep You Little” by Marianne Richmond, you’ll both see that, if that would happen, you’d miss out on a lot of things.
When you were a little baby, your mother loved to hold you and take care of you. There were so many times she thought you were growing up too fast, and she wished she could keep you bundled up and sing lullabies to you forever. But if she did that, she wouldn’t have a chance to hear you sing in your own voice.
When you were younger and you went anywhere, Mom held your hand and she wished it would stay little forever. But if that happened, she wouldn’t see you wave good-bye with a hand that was growing every day.
Even today, if you get owies, Mom puts bandages on them and kisses the owies to make you feel better. Your mom wishes she could make sure you never have owies any more, but if that happened, you wouldn’t learn from your mistakes or have any fun climbing or exploring the world around you.
Mother knows best, and she used to dress you in the finest, best of fashions. Sometimes, she wishes she had reason to buy cute little suits and fancy little dresses again, but if that happened, she would miss a chance to see your creativity when you dress yourself every morning. And if you didn’t have your creativity, she’d miss your stories and your artwork, too.
Without a doubt, Mom wishes she could stop time and freeze you forever. But as you can see, you’d both miss out on an awful lot of good things to come!
Does it make you cry when you think about how your baby is growing up? Then here’s an extra chance to hold some time in your hands: grab the little one, grab a warm blanket, snuggle in, and enjoy “If I Could Keep You Little.”
With a cute rhyme and scribbly watercolor drawings, author and illustrator Marianne Richmond tells the story of growing up, and the wonderful discoveries that come from becoming a big kid and from watching that process unfold. I liked this book because it speaks not only to every mother who longs to stop time, but to kids everywhere who can’t wait to speed it up.
If your 2-to-5-year-old loves a good read-aloud story — and if you don’t mind getting a little teary-eyed while paging through it — this is a book to find. “If I Could Keep You Little” is a big delight.
Contact Terri Schlichenmeyer at bookwormsez@yahoo.com.
Feb
20
By Genevieve Hinson, MotherOfConfusion.com
Choosing books to read with your kids has just gotten easier. In January, Children’s Book-A-Day Almanac (http://childrensbookalmanac.com) launched with daily recommendations by children’s book expert, Anita Silvey.
Now, it may feel like you’ve read a thousand kids’ books but Silvey’s actually read 130,000 more. It’s obvious from her daily posts that she has love and respect for great literature. Her recommendations are intriguing, thought-provoking and brilliant.
Included with each day’s selection is the story behind the book or author. Make sure to read the daily facts — like the recently noted Susan B. Anthony’s birthday with the suggestion for “Fighter for...
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Feb
18
McClatchy-Tribune
“Just Being Audrey”
By Margaret Cardillo
Illustrated by Julia Denos
From Balzer + Bray Children’s Books ($16.99)
For ages 4-8
Like Audrey Hepburn herself, the children’s picture book “Just Being Audrey,” is charming, beautiful and inspiring.
The book, with its lovely soft pastel illustrations, starts with young Audrey’s dreams of becoming a ballerina in Belgium. It touches briefly on the family fleeing to Holland during World War II, before her discovery by the famous French author Colette, who picked her for the title role in her play “Gigi” on Broadway.
This is the point in the story were the movie-watching public falls in love with her....
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Feb
09
“Snook Alone” by Marilyn Nelson, illustrated by Timothy Basil Ering
c.2010, Candlewick
$16.99 / $20.00 Canada
48 pages
By Terri Schlichenmeyer, Philadelphia Tribune contributor
What are the things you like to do all by yourself?
You’re a big kid, so there are probably many things. You can dress yourself and zip your jacket — although it’s nice to have help sometimes. You can crawl into bed and pull up the covers, but being tucked in is better. You can feed yourself, play by yourself, and ride your bike alone, but it’s more fun when you’ve got a friend.
In the new book “Snook Alone” by Marilyn Nelson, illustrated by Timothy Basil Ering, a little dog does everything with his best friend — until one terrible night.
Out on an island in the far away sea, there lived a monk named Abba Jacob.
Abba Jacob’s job was to pray and work, pray and work all day long — which he did. And as he worked, his little rat terrier, Snook, chased rats and mice. That was his job, and he did it very well.
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Abba Jacob and Snook did everything together. They got up at the same time and watered the coconut palms. They worked in the sugar cane together. They ate breakfast at the same time, and they prayed together, too.
One day, Abba Jacob and Snook went by boat to a nearby island. Abba Jacob had been asked to make a list of the plants and animals on the island. Snook had been asked to chase and catch the rats and mice that were harming birds there.
But while Snook was working hard, a storm was brewing. Soon, it was dangerous and Abba Jacob had to leave the island quickly, but Snook was so busy that he didn’t hear Abba Jacob calling his name. Sadly, Abba Jacob had to go. He had to leave his best friend behind.
There was food on the island, and a little bit of shelter. Snook found water and he foraged for things to eat. He met crabs and sharks, turtles and birds, garbage and smells, and he caught lots and lots of mice. And he waited for Abba Jacob because he knew that Abba Jacob would never leave him for long …
I’m not usually one to ruin the end of a story, so I won’t do it here. Rest assured, though, that while you’ll shed a few tears at the beauty of the words that author Marilyn Nelson uses, and while the feelings she evokes will touch your pet-loving heart, there is a happy ending after all.
“Snook Alone” is, indeed, a gorgeous book that’s partly for kids who love dogs and partly for kids who care about the environment. There’s some harshness in this book, and there are moments of grace. Your kids are going to love the illustrations by Timothy Basil Ering, too, especially those of the funny little monk that loves his ferocious little dog.
Though “Snook Alone” is a picture book, I think the story is too involved for kids under five. But for slightly older children who’d enjoy a tale of friendship and love, this is a book to read together.
Contact Terri Schlichenmeyer at bookwormsez@yahoo.com.
