I love this children’s book called, The Storyteller’s Candle. It is the story of a woman named Pura Belpre who was born in Puerto Rico. She became the first Puerto Rican librarian in New York City. She brings her rich culture and her story telling abilities to the city where many latino’s had come to begin a new life. The library was viewed by them to be off limits to them. They did not know of the richness of culture inside the walls of the library…of the books written not only in English but also in Spanish.
Soon, the story telling room was transformed into a place that celebrated their Spanish culture in an environment that had previously seemed so cold and foreign to them having coming from a tropical island. This story is written in both English and Spanish. It is rich in history, in emotion and in culture. Mrs. Belpre puts on a fiesta complete with a parade, dances and a play. She uses puppets in her story telling at school which is where the children first learned about her work at the library. I think adults and children alike will enjoy it.The illustrations are realistic and golden and represent the latino culture well. The pictures take us back in time and show what New York City was like back then.
It was written by Lucia Gonzalez and illustrated by Lulu Delacre. It was published by Children’s Book Press in 2008. You can see their website here: http://www.childrensbookpress.org .
The Day Leo Said, I Hate You is a children’s picture book which communicates to both child and parent the importance of communication. Leo is struggling during his day because everything that he finds to do to entertain himself is earning him a laundry list of “No’s” from his mother.
Mom clearly is telling Leo that there are times that she has to say no; however, Leo feels very put upon because he isn’t being allowed to do what he wants. He resents the word no and he resents being told no by his mother. In fact, Leo hates the word no. Finally, in an overflow of emotion…Leo mistakenly tells his mother that he hates her. He instantly regrets it and mom feels she must teach Leo the difference between hating things and circumstances; and, telling people that he hates them.
The pictures in this picture book are designed well to show the activities and the emotions that the characters are feeling. The feelings that Leo feels are intense and so this book uses a really great true to life situation to be a teachable moment. Leo not only says something wrong, he chooses to act out while he is angry; which gets him told no once more. Leo has made a mistake and by talking things through learns how to correct his error and make things right. Mom shows that even when mistakes are made, there is forgiveness to be had. She shows love to her child even when he has done wrong. I think this book will be a wonderful way to use a book meant to educate and entertain to also help build an opportunity for character building. I think kids from 2-10 can benefit from this book and enjoy it as well.
The author of the book is Robie H. Harris. She has a website here: http://www.robieharris.com/ . The illustrator of the book is Molly Bang. Her website is here: http://www.mollybang.com/ . The book was published by Little, Brown and Company in 2008. Their website is: http://www.lb-kids.com .
Ten things that I can do to help my world, is a nice picture book that was written for children ages 3 and up. It starts training the very young child to start thinking about how he or she impacts the world by the choices that they make. It encourages them at their level to turn off light, save water when doing personal care; to be mindful of what they throw away and how they treat the other life forms on the planet.
By teaching them to make healthier and greener choices at such a young age…this book has the ability to impact their long term actions which can only help them to be more aware of the decisions that they make. The books pictures are cute and simple; they are very relatable to a young child’s world view.
While the lessons appear to be simple it really goes to the core of protecting our planet and our own health. The book even encourages a little one to choose walking over other forms of transportation. This is something that needs to be encouraged just as much as the recycling…exercising and taking care of ourselves and the Earth.
This book was written by Melanie Walsh and it was published by http://www.candlewick.com/.
Tasty Baby Belly Buttons is a Japanese folktale that is retold in this book written by Judy Sierra. The story tells of the Oni (which is something like an Ogre) who come into a Japanese village and steals the babies of the village to have their favorite snack—baby belly buttons. The adults of the village are frozen with fear.
One young child who was gifted to her aging parents; as they had no children and so hoped for one. She arrived in a melon as a newborn babe; therefore…she had no belly button to steal. Her mother always dreamed of a child to teach to make millet dumplings with. The father always dreamed of a child to teach how to be a warrior to protect those who were weak or helpless. Together they raised this young child to do wonderful things. She alone… was brave enough to battle the Oni and win the babies of the village back.
This book may not be for very young children as the images in the book may be a bit too scary for them. If they love to be dazzled with stories of good versus evil it may be fine…you just have to know your child. The drawings of the Oni are a bit big, overwhelming and repulsive…as scary things should be. But if your child is meek or easily frightened this book may not be for them.
Tasty Baby Belly Buttons was illustrated by Meilo So. The book was copyrighted in 1999 and published by, Alfred A. Knopf and distributed by Random House, Inc. http://www.randomhouse.com/kids
This Old House is a sweet tale filled with the idea of turning a house into a home. This story has an old abandoned home that needs repairs. It has been neglected and feels sad. People look at it and see all of it’s faults but they don’t see the potential in the house.
The home has given up it’s sense of hope. It still serves a purpose by providing shelter to the birds, a backdrop to the tree in the yard, and a place to showcase the flowers that grow alongside of it. Still, it has no family to call it’s own.
People began to talk about tearing the house down. The house looses all of it’s pride and is sagging under the criticism. Just like people do when others put them down…it lowers their self confidence.
Then one day, a family comes along in need of a home. They look at the house and examine it’s structural stability. They talk about how much work it would be to turn the house into a home. They wonder if the house is sturdy enough to house their family and be a place to call home. The house finds a shred of confidence and stands up tall and it’s stability is noted by the father. The family leaves and the home assumes all hope is lost. That negativity spreads to the trees, the birds and the flowers…all think that they have lost an opportunity to flourish and thrive.
When the family comes back; they invest their time, their energy and alot of work. The house has someone to love it, and someone to nurture it and together…the family, the home, the birds, the tree and the flowers form a place of love, safety, and security. A place to call home!
If a person were to apply this story to the relationships in their lives, you would see much more happiness and strength in the world. It shows the power of positive thinking, praise, and hard work; and you see the results from focussing on the good in life as opposed to the negatives!
This book was written by Pamela Duncan Edwards and illustrated by Henry Cole. It was published by Dutton Children’s Books in 2007. This book is a treasure and should be shared with those you care about…and those that you know who could use some hope in life!
Dirty Joe the Pirate is a kids picture book that has a rhyming quality to it but it is infused with a sense of humor that children will love. Dirty Joe is a wild and mangy pirate who has a love of dirty socks. He hijacks other boats and collects their dirty socks.
Along the way, the pirates run into another fierce pirate who is female. She battles them and uggghhh the humiliation….she wins the fight. What does she demand from Dirty Joe the pirate and his crew? Something worse than socks that smell…it is their underwear. Turns out that she flys their undies on the rigging of the ship…just like they fly the dirty socks on their rigging as a warning to all other ships.
The female pirate is very familiar…she looks sort of like Joe…her name is Annie and she is just as disqusting smelling and looking as Joe. It is his sister and she is just as bossy as a pirate as she is his big sister! 
Fun book for children and adults to read together.
This book was written by Bill Harley and illustrated by Jack E. Davis. It was published by Harper Collins and was copyrighted in 2008. The website for the publisher is: www.harpercollinschildrens.com , the author’s site: www.billharley.com , the illustrator’s website: http://picture-book.com/imagelist/72.
Hidden Michigan is a wonderful book that opens the eye of the reader to many of the wonderful things to do and see in Michigan. The writers, Anne Margaret Lewis and Janis Campbell, have all of the answers to the subject that always comes up with children about mid-summer; I’m bored…isn’t there anything to do?
If the book was written for adults it would be a tourist guide written in small print with photographs and written descriptions of where to go, where to stay, and how much everything costs. However, this is written for children; so it tells about things that interest them.
There are sports, heros, dinosaur footprints, activity centers, famous food places, orchards, planetariums, bridges, lighthouses, animals, water parks, inventors, museums, festivals, Sleeping Bear Dunes, Bear caves, boats, trains, ferries and so very much more to explore.
No boring old pictures in this book…the whole book is illustrated and in a fun way…turn the book in different directions and you find something new to peak your interest. The book was illustrated by Wendy Popko. Kids will love this book. It is fun to discover new places and things to see in your own back yard.
Hidden Michigan was copyrighted in 2006; and was published by Mackinac Island Press, Inc. Here is there website: www.mackinacislandpress.com
Thomas Jefferson-A Picture book biography was written by James Cross Giblin and was illustrated by Michael Dooling. Both the texts and the images help to get a vision of what life was like when Thomas Jefferson lived. It is hard to get to know someone when you can’t picture what they looked like or where they lived. This book opens that doorway to children instead of just presenting dry facts…it makes the life of Thomas Jefferson come alive.
Young Thomas Jefferson studied law and designed his own home from studying books of architecture. He was shy in school. But he loved to learn. He married and had children and grew up in a time when slavery was common in the south. He became a writer who went on to write some of the greatest writings that this country has come to treasure; such as the American Declaration of Independence. He became an important part of our country’s history.
He was a very interesting man. Some of the things he did seemed to conflict with the very things he wrote about. He didn’t believe in slavery…but he owned slaves. That is still hard to understand. Read the rest of this entry…