Starting with the Little Ones

Continuing the Best of EatReadSleep’s Tenth Anniversary!

I read everything, but children’s books are also my profession. I loved reading to my son when he was little, and now I have grandchildren to turn into bibliophiles. During the ten years that I’ve been writing EatReadSleep, I have been the children’s selector for a large library system. Here are some of my favorites from that time.

Board Books

I have only written one post about these sturdy little volumes, and it was meant to be funny. Seriously, though, Sandra Boynton, Michael Dahl, and others have poured their prodigious talents into books that will be slobbered and chewed on, and parents everywhere appreciate it.

Academic Board Books are a thriving industry. Lots of titles here. Also lots of snark.

Picture Books

Picture books! Those little artistic gems. How I love them. The best picture books convey oceans of meaning in just a few well-chosen words, along with gorgeous or hilarious illustrations. Here are some of my favorites over the years. Many of the reviews are grouped in the original posts. Click the links for full reviews!

Series:

How Do Dinosaurs…? Jane Yolen is one the most prolific living writers, and this continuing series never fails to teach lessons in the cleverest ways.

Pete the Cat is one groovy dude. James Litwin started the series, which was continued by James Dean. This is one of the most popular series going these days.

Olivia makes an appearance in the same post. She is one precocious little pig.

Duck and Goose are a charming pair, one more adventurous than the other. Tad Hills is also the author of the excellent Rocket Learns to Read and others.

Jean Reagan writes the How to Babysit a…. series, instructing children to allow grandparents naps and other helpful advice. Comedy that hits close to home.

Bonny Becker started the Bear series with A Visitor for Bear. Sweet, charming, and amusing. Large volumes just right for bedtimes.

What dog lover doesn’t sympathize with Carter Goodrich’s Mister Bud? Adorable.

Some children’s books, like Muppets movies, are at least partly written for grownups, even though they definitely work for the kids, too. I Am Otter is one of those.

Single Titles:

Oh, this poor, little penguin. Flight School will have you sympathetically laughing along.

The Tortoise & the Hare is a wordless wonder, just one of the Caldecott winner’s stunning creations.

There Might Be Lobsters is a summery title that will help timid children to overcome their fears.

Hum and Swish is another breezy, oceanside title. This one encourages children to stay true to their own vision.

Great Joy is not your usual Santa-and-his-reindeer Christmas books for kids. Enduring and gorgeous. Tissues not included.

I mean, seriously. Look at those ears and tell me you’re not in love. In a Jar is for every child whose friend has moved away.

Sweety is a confident little misfit. For every child who marches to the beat of her own drummer. Sweetness and naked mole rats. (That’s a species, not a state of undress.)

This Is My Home, This Is My School. A fond look back by a happily homeschooled author, for his younger fellow home educators and their friends in conventional school settings.

Everything about Madeline Finn and the Library Dog will make you say, “Awww.” There are other books that follow, but I love this one.

Watercress is a recent multi-award winner, a quietly beautiful book that packs an emotional wallop.

Clovis Keeps His Cool, but just barely. That huge bull with the petite feet! Hilarious with a message.

Achingly poignant, Boats for Papa is for little ones experiencing the loss of a parent, whether through divorce, abandonment, incarceration, or death.

The Steads can do no wrong. A Sick Day for Amos McGee was the first Caldecott winner for this married couple and features an old zookeeper and his loving animals.

Saint George and the Dragon was old when my son was young. A medieval myth retold and spectacularly illustrated by one of my favorite book artists.

There will be many more children’s books to come, so stay tuned!

There Might Be Lobsters, by Carolyn Crimi

Sukie was a timid, little dog with an exuberant girl named Eleanor and a small, stuffed monkey named Chunka Munka. Although Eleanor encouraged her and even carried her down to the edge of the ocean, Sukie just could not summon up the nerve to go into the water, because

 

 

“Sukie was just a small dog,

and those waves were big,

and they were whooshy,

and they were salty, and they were too wet…

and, besides, there might be lobsters.”

So, Eleanor ran out to play in the waves while Sukie and Chunka Munka sat on the too-sandy beach and watched. Suddenly, disaster struck, and Chunka Munka was washed out to sea, and even though she was a little dog, Sukie courageously rushed to save her, heedless of the danger, because Chunka Munka was even smaller than she was.

Laurel Molk’s watercolor illustrations capture this serious pup on a brilliant summer’s day, with all of the people and activities a child would encounter on the beach. Eleanor, brown-skinned with a fluffy, brown pony tail, is always encouraging, but never pushy. There are no grown-ups with them, but Eleanor has wonderful parenting skills of her own.

This sweet and funny picture book is a delightful summer read for any preschooler, and it might even convince your apprehensive little one to take the plunge. Highly recommended.

Disclaimer: I read a library copy of this book. Opinions expressed are solely my own and may not reflect those of my employer or anyone else.