Archive for the ‘Classic’ Category

Ten Black Dots by Donald Crews

August 12, 2010 - 6:36 pm No Comments

This classic counting book has children thinking outside the box and seeing that they may look like black dots, but three black dots can made a snowman’s face or eight black dots can make the wheels on a train, for example. This would also be a great lead-in to a fun art project. The children could make their own project with a certain number of dots and turn it into their own creation. Fun times!

Blueberries for Sal by Robert McCloskey

July 11, 2010 - 11:11 pm No Comments

This is a such a sweet and simple story of a mother and her child out picking berries whose trip to the berry patch gets mixed up with a mother bear and her cub also out looking for berries. I think one of my favorite parts of this story is the last picture of the book with the mother and Sal in their kitchen canning all of the blueberries they just picked. If you have gone to the berry patch recently or are going to be heading there soon, this is a must read.

Bread and Jam for Frances by Russell Hoban

June 13, 2010 - 9:05 pm No Comments

Frances LOVES bread and jam. In fact, that’s all she wants to eat. Her mother makes her eggs for breakfast and all she wants is bread and jam. Her mother makes her a chicken salad sandwich for lunch, but all Frances wants is bread and jam. So….that’s exactly what her mother gives her for breakfast, lunch, snack and dinner. Frances quickly realizes that maybe she might like something else to eat besides bread and jam all the time. I think all children can see themselves in Frances’ picky eating habits and most parents probably know exactly how Frances’ parents feel.

Summer by Alice Low

May 31, 2010 - 9:35 pm No Comments

This rhyming book about summer has been around for decades (your parents probably read it to you, too). I love that it rhymes and I adore the pictures. This book also seems to capture how awesome summer is when you are a child. Not only is this a great book to read during the summer, but it’s also a great book to read in the dead of winter when you WISH it was summer.

Harry the Dirty Dog by Gene Zion

May 22, 2010 - 10:35 pm No Comments

Harry does not like baths but he DOES like to get dirty…super dirty. He is a white dog with black spots, but sometimes he is so dirty he ends up being a black dog with white spots. Well, no matter how dirty he gets his family misses him when he takes off one day to avoid a bath. They are a little curious about the black dog with white spots that shows up in their yard until they give him a bath and find out it is their beloved Harry.

Corduroy by Don Freeman

May 10, 2010 - 10:35 pm No Comments

No one will buy poor Corduroy. He has lost the button on his overalls and he looks “used”. He decides to take matters into his own hands and goes in search of a button, but is found by a security guard before he can accomplish his mission and is sent back down to be with the other toys. Things start to look up though when a child comes to get him and takes her home with him. She doesn’t care that he is missing a button, she loves him just the way he is and Corduroy gets a home just like he’s always wanted.

Are You My Mother? by P.D. Eastman

May 3, 2010 - 4:44 am No Comments

This is the story of a poor bird who falls out of his nest right after he hatches. His mother was out looking for worms when he hatched so he doesn’t know what she looks like, but he is determined to find her. He asks a kitten, a dog, a pig, a hen, a cow, a plane, a boat and several other things if they are his mother, but of course they are not. My boys thought it was funny that the bird thought all of these things were his mother-that’s just silly! 🙂 I think the part they loved the most though was that, in the end, the bird is safely reunited with his mother and all is well.

Caps for Sale by Esphyr Slobodkina

April 26, 2010 - 6:20 am No Comments

Caps for Sale is definitely a classic. It has been around for decades and has made thousands of children giggle. I really like how there is repetition in this book so the children who are listening to the story can participate. I also like the ending. The ending is funny to children no matter how many times they have read the book….any book that has that many ornery monkeys in it is going to bring on some laughter. 🙂

Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel by Virginia Lee Burton

April 19, 2010 - 4:48 am No Comments

This book has been around for longer than most of us have been alive, so it must be a keeper. Mike Mulligan and his steam shovel, Mary Anne, get the job of digging the cellar for Popperville’s new town hall, but if they can’t get if done in a day then they won’t get paid. It’s a race against the clock and just about everyone thinks they can’t get it done. It’s a great story about underdogs and perseverance.

The Big Red Barn by Margaret Wise Brown

April 8, 2010 - 5:53 pm 1 Comment

I used to be a preschool teacher and one of the interview questions I had was to name my favorite children’s book.  In that split second when you have to come up with a coherent answer I came up with Margaret Wise Brown’s The Big Red Barn.  I think the reason I fell in love with this book, besides the sweet and simple story,  is the cadence of the words, the rhyme and the ease with which children can learn the story and start to “read” it themselves because of its simplicity.  Less is more with this book.  It’s not a showstopper…it is a quiet classic.