Library Finds: Great Books for Children

We've been visiting the Whittier Public Library every three weeks and taking home a bag full of new books. This prevents me from getting burned out on Goodnight Moon and Let's Go For A Ride on a Train, which we own and have been requested over a dozen times, perhaps even a hundred in the last year.

I've kept a running list of the books we've checked out and my ratings. I rate books based on illustrations, parental appeal, storyline, and whether or not Lee liked them.

Here are the library find winners for the summer:

Soup Day by Melissa Iwai: Tells the story of a mother and daughter buying the ingredients for and cooking soup. The pictures were graphically unique. The story involved naming and counting vegetables, identification of shapes, and a soup recipe in the back. Lee requested this book repeatedly because he is fascinated with helping me cook. (Book Rating: 8)

Leaf by Stephen Michael King: Wordless picture book about a seed that falls into a boy's hair and sprouts. He cares for the sprout, protects it from the sun, waters it, and tries to save it from his mother's hair scissors. The ending is sweet and fun. Pictures were whimsical. Lee liked the story and often referred to it in his play. (Book Rating: 10)

Somewhere in the Ocean by Jennifer Ward: This book is an illustrated version of the song "Over in the Meadow," sung by Raffi. The pictures are well done paintings. Lee liked it because each page had a hidden number. (Book Rating: 8)

Who Made This Cake? by Chihiro Nakagawa : Very creative story about tiny people using their tiny trucks to make a giant cake. The little people use dump trucks for the sugar and flower, giant jack-hammers to crack the eggs, cement mixers for the icing, and a helicopter to put the cake's message on top. Great illustrations. Somewhat silly and unnecessary text. Lee loved. (Book Rating: 9)

A Little Sail Boat by Lois Lenski: Rather a technical book about Captain Small's sailing adventure. The illustrations were simple and not very exciting, but Lee was enthralled with the sailing explanations. I appreciated the actual sailing terms used. Educational for both children and adults. (Book Rating: 8)

Wow! Ocean! by Robert Neubecker: Great educational book for both children and adults. Each page was a different category of ocean life. Each page had a dog, which Lee enjoyed looking for. Pictures were decent. Text was unnecessary. (Book Rating: 9)

Everything Goes: On Land by Brian Biggs: Exhaustive book on land vehicles. Included bikes, motorcycles, trains, RV's, trucks, and cars. Included cutaways of what's inside each vehicle. Pictures were rather unrealistic, but there was plenty to look at on each page. (Book Rating: 8)

Comments

Abby, this is great! You should put a link to your fb page, so other moms can read it. :)