A Word on Books

For all those waiting for photos of our new tile floor and Philadelphia excursions, please bear with me! I keep forgetting to get the flash drive with the photos on it out of Chris's laptop bag and only seem to remember when he's at work and I can't possibly retrieve it.

In the meantime, we made a new friend today at a mutual friend's birthday party, and she asked me what three books for children I would rank as indispensable. It's almost impossible for me to pick just three. I think there are multiple sets of three that would be worthy of saving from a burning building or bringing to a deserted island...or for that matter, bringing to a place where many people could benefit from them. I had a hard time responding in the midst of the party, but now that I'm at home and can think more clearly, these are the three I would choose today, for the preschool ages:

1) The Jesus Storybook Bible, Sally Lloyd-Jones
2) Winnie-the-Pooh, A.A. Milne
3) Dangerous Journey, Oliver Hunkin, adapted from John Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress

Why? Well, all of these are wonderful for reading aloud. And at the preschool level, there's not much better than cuddling up together with a good book. These three selections are enjoyable for both the parent and the child, which would become much more important if you had to read the same three books over and over again. We love how The Jesus Storybook Bible connects all of Scripture to Christ...as Lloyd-Jones writes, "every story whispers His name." Milne's classic keeps us chuckling and singing the hums of Pooh. Joshua and David regularly laugh - hard - at Pooh's silly predicaments. Dangerous Journey retains much of Bunyan's original dialogue and conveys the gist of Pilgrim's Progress effectively. In addition to the rich allegory that fosters plenty of discussion, the illustrations are riveting even for our two-year old.

Other favorites that might make the list on a different day include:
Leaves from a Child's Garden of Verses, Robert Louis Stevenson illus. Donna Green
Make Way for Ducklings, One Morning in Maine, Blueberries for Sal, and other Robert McCloskey gems
Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel, The Little House, Katy and the Big Snow, and other Virginia Lee Burton stories
Letting Swift River Go, Jane Yolen
Whistling, Elizabeth Partridge illus. Anna Grossnickle Hines
Corduroy, Don Freeman
Frogs Wore Red Suspenders, Jack Prelutsky (we especially like "Winnie Appleton" and "Peanut Peg and Peanut Pete")
Lassie Come-Home, Rosemary Wells, adapted for children from Eric Knight's 1938 original
Charlotte's Web, E.B. White (intended for a slightly older age group, it was a bit of a stretch for our two-year old at times, but even he enjoyed the goose's "idio-idio-idiosyncrasy")

We've also been enjoying children's nonfiction recently. We try to find books about places or historical figures we'll be encountering on a family vacation and then learn about them before traveling, and even with young children we have seen evidence that they are learning from their "research." Delving into children's biography and history, including the work of Betsy and Giulio Maestro (Liberty or Death, American Story Series), has been rewarding beyond expectation. There are more realistic, lively, entertaining, educational, and exceptionally illustrated nonfiction picture books than I would ever have guessed. What a treasure trove!

If you have read this far, hopefully you've been inspired to visit your local library to find a few new and old favorites of your own to enjoy with your child this month. Happy reading!