I See Me! A Day in the Life of a Princess

I See Me! A Day in the Life of a Princess

Rating: 3.5 stars

I have several I See Me! books for my own children on our crowded bookshelves here in our home. My daughter received a customized My Very Own Name when she was born from family friends. It wasn’t one we read to her often until she realized that it was in fact, about her very own name, and then she chose it frequently for bedtime and anytime readings.

When our two boys came along, we purchased for them a book from the next iteration of I See Me! books, My Very Own Pirate Tale. This book is better than my daughter’s because it is, in fact, more of a story. A fearless pirate captain is needed, and a treasure map (of sorts) spells out the new pirate’s name (in other words, your child’s name). Both boys went through phases of loving the book. This book as well as My Very Own Name are still available through www.iseeme.com. 

I liked these books a lot, but they are just okay compared to the next iteration of I See Me! books which are just fantastic! In these books, the child’s name is not the only thing that is customized. Nope, it’s 2014, of course, and these books have photographs of your child of choice inside the actual pages of the book. The photographs aren’t slipped in (I’ve seen that before)—they are part of the illustration, part of the page. It’s one thing for a child to hear their names out loud by a grown-up; it’s entirely another (wonderful) thing for a child to see their own face jump out from the page. I See Me! was kind enough to have three books made for Washington FAMILY Magazine to hold, flip through, and review in order to tell you, parents everywhere, that these are fine, worth-the-money products. 
And that’s what I am here to tell you: Girls everywhere will go crazy over Princess: A Day In the Life of a Princess books. 

When you order this book from www.iseeme.com, you provide your child’s name, gender, hair color, birthday, city, and skin color. Uploading a photograph is actually optional and of the three books reviewed for Washington FAMILY Magazine, this is the book that needs the photo the least. It is used twice: on the dedication page (for maximum effect—what a hook for a child to see their face on the first page!) and in a frame on page four with their name along the frame. The cartoon princess in the book is made in their likeness. 

The story is a little tale of a girl who dreams about becoming a princess and then, POOF!, she actually wakes up as a crown-wearing royal. She has a breakfast (cupcakes and fruit!) and strolls around her castle, visits her horses, trots through the garden, and ends up having a tea party. There are details of your girl of choice sprinkled in the words: her birthstone, her birthday and the city where she lives. 

To read the rest of the review, please click HERE.

Big Bear's Big Boat by Eve Bunting

Big Bear's Big Boat by Eve Bunting, illustrated by Nancy Carpenter

Rating: 5 stars

Sometimes, books end up in our giant library bag just for me.

I know, I know--they are picture books and they're found in the CHILDREN'S section, and they are meant for younger eyes and younger hearts than mine. But I'm a firm believer that children's books (from picture books to young adult novels) are good at any age, so I read them, unashamed, even when my kids aren't around.

So this book. Big Bear's Big Boat.

Big Bear's too big for his small boat. Kindly, he gives it to Little Bear because it's just Little Bear's size. Now, he sets off to build up another boat for himself. "I want it to be just like my little boat, but bigger," he tells his mom.

So he saws and he hammers and he measures and he builds until he's got his new big boat. Just like the old boat, but bigger. He smiles with satisfaction as he sits in his newly-finished boat.

This his friends get a look at it.

"It needs a big mast!" suggests Beaver. "It needs a top deck!" says Otter. "It needs a cabin!" screeches Blue Heron. Big Bear considers these suggestions and then adds a big mast, a top deck, and a cabin.

The he steps back, looks at his big boat. "What an ugly boat I've made. The mast leans over, the deck slants, and the cabin is higgledy-piggedly."

He goes to his friends. He doesn't want to hurt their feelings. He thanks them for their help but says he realizes he doesn't like the boat when it has all of their suggestions on it. "This boat is not my dream. A bear should never let go of his own dream." His friends nod in agreement, support his (very right in my own opinion) opinion, and watch as Big Bear takes down the mast that leans over, the higgedly-piggedly cabin, and the slanted deck.

And he was happy.

He pushes the boat into Blueberry Lake and rows it all around, fishes from it, relaxes in it, and watches the night sky from it.

And he is happy.

Right now, I'm trying so, so very hard to become a children's book author. I am putting my manuscripts out there in the big, opinion-filled world and people who supposedly know a whole lot more than me are telling me what they think of them. It's humbling for sure, though it's what I expected, and after each round of feedback I wonder: Is this my vision? Do I agree with their feedback? I need to learn from Big Bear, who has a big skill in his back fur-pocket: He can say no, thank you, that's not my dream. And then, he follows his own voice or heart or vision.

What a great lesson--for me, for my kids, for you, for all of us.

I See Me! M is for Me

I See Me! M is for Me
Rating: 5 stars

Do you know how kids go through phases where they are obsessed with one certain thing? For example, my six-year old son can't get enough baseball--he'll read anything baseball-related, from picture books to the sports section of the New York Times. My seven-year old daughter has a "crafternoon" when she comes home from school most days, and often raids my recycling (I prohibit the dirty, messy stuff) to get new materials.

The youngest in our bunch is currently obsessed with the alphabet. Three and a half-year old Kiefer walks around proudly and loudly just spelling out his name "K-I-E-F-E-R!" He is learning how to write his name--he needs a little help sometimes with that pesky curve on the R. But he happily and seriously works on that R as if his life depends on it. Anytime he sees letters--from license plates to posters, t-shirts to the "SUNSHINE" coffee mug from which I'm sipping right now--he traces them in the air with his finger as his eye focuses on the letter.

He's going to love it!

When he sees this M is for Me book that I recently ordered from www.iseeme.com, he is going to go bananas! The cover alone will stop him in his tracks: K is for KIEFER it reads, loud and proud. That’s not the only thing personalized in this book. When he opens the cover, he’ll see himself smiling back at him. There’s no mirror involved; instead, I See Me! placed a photograph I sent to them of Kiefer on the page, complete with a short note: 

“Kiefer, This special book is filled with words that describe my hopes for you. Together we’ll read this book to learn the alphabet and all about you!”

Just like any alphabet book, there’s a word for each letter of the alphabet. But unlike any other alphabet book I’ve seen, these words are positive attributes that we all hope our children possess. Here are a few to give you an idea: 

A is for Active 

B is for Brave 

C is for Caring 

D is for Determined 

E is for Extraordinary 

F is for Friendly

To read the rest of the review, please click HERE to go to Washington FAMILY Magazine's book review section.

I See Me! Farm Friends

I See Me! Farm Friends

This review was first published at Washington Family Magazine. Click HERE for the link to that original review.

I have several I See Me! books for my very own children on our crowded bookshelves here in our home. My daughter received a customized My Very Own Name when she was born from family friends. It wasn't one we read to her often until she realized that it was, in fact, about HER with her very own name, and then she chose it frequently for bedtime and anytime readings.

When our two boys came along, we purchased for them a book from the next iteration of I See Me! books, My Very Own Pirate Tale. This book, methinks, is better than my daughter's because it is, in fact, a story. A fearless captain is needed, and a treasure map (of sorts) spells out the new pirate's name (in other words, your child's name). Both boys went through phrases of loving the book. This book as well as My Very Own Name are still available through www.iseeme.com.

These books are okay. They are just okay compared to the next generation of I See Me! books, which are FANTASTIC!

In these books, the child's name is not the only thing that is customized. Nope, it's 2014, of course, and these books have photographs of your child of choice inside the actual pages of the book. The photographs aren't slipped in (I've seen that before)--they are part of the illustration, part of the page. It's one thing for a child to hear their names out loud by a grown-up; it's entirely another (wonderful) thing for a child to see their own face jump out from the page.

I See Me! was ind enough to have three books made for this lucky Washington FAMILY Magazine reviewer--so I could hold, flip through, and review these books in order to tell you, parents, everywhere, if these are fine, worth-the-money products. And that's what I am here to tell you: they are fine, worth-the-money products! Children everywhere are sure to give the My Farm Friends personalized book a raucous standing ovation.

When you order this book from www.iseeme.com, you provide your child's name, gender, hair color, birthday, and skin color. Uploading a photograph is actually optional but I assure you: you should! Because when your child receives this book in his or her lap, the first thing she'll see is her face on the cover, instead of the farmer's face. Her body will be illustrated cuteness, but her face will be her own. The title will no longer be vague; it will be Griffin's Farm Friends or Ella's Farm Friends.

The story is, in itself, an engaging children's story, complete with rhyme and animal sounds all around. And as your child turns the pages, the farmer on each page will be your child. The gender of the farmer on the page will be what you've instructed. And the face? The image you provided to I See Me! Your child will be delighted to see her own face on every single page. For sure.

The downside of this book: It's expensive. Most board books cost $8 to $12; Farm Friends costs $29.95. This book isn't a necessary part of your child's book collection. As a lover of books, I think there are plenty more that need to be there before this one. So, is it worth it? If you can do it, I think it is. Can you request the book from a grandparent or other special family friend? At this young age, kids get intrigued by books because of gimmicks such as lift-the-flaps, surfaces they can touch, mirrors, and even photographs of themselves. These gimmicks work to create interest in books and start kids thinking: books are cool!

Doug Unplugs at the Farm by Dan Yacarrino

Doug Unplugs at the Farm by Dan Yacarrino

Rating: 5 stars

Review for Washington Family Magazine:

Meet Doug. He’s a robot. He’s a young robot whose parents want him to be the smartest robot ever. His robot mom and robot dad accomplish this by plugging in Doug for lengthy downloads full of facts and figures.

We first met Doug in Doug Unplugged, published in 2013. In this book, Doug’s parents plug him in to learn about the city before they head off to work. Doug is happy to learn a bunch of facts about the city, but a pigeon on the windowsill makes him feel something he doesn’t often feel—curiosity—and when he reaches for the pigeon, he unplugs himself. And suddenly, he’s free to explore and experience the city in a more meaningful way.

In Doug Unplugs on the Farm, Doug and his parents drive to visit his grandbots in the country. As they are still interested in Doug being the very smartest robot, his mom-bot and dad-bot plug him in to learn about the farms he’s driving past. He learns some neat facts (that my three kids liked, too):

• Cows need to be milked every day.

• Sheep tend to follow each other.

• A baby pig is called a piglet.

• Horses can pull plows.

His downloading is interrupted when a whole flock of sheep runs across the road, causing his dad-bot to veer into a ditch and for the whole family to become unplugged!

To find out what happened and read the rest of the review of this fantastic book, click HERE.

Ninja Boy Goes to School by N.D. Wilson

Ninja Boy Goes to School by N.D. Wilson, illustrated by J.J. Harrison

Rating: 4 stars

Review for Washington Family Magazine:

How fitting that my kids and I read Ninja Boy Goes to School the day before school started. I anticipated the story to be a this-is-how-you-are-brave-at-school message, which was a tale my kindergarten-starting son Ben might especially appreciate.

I must admit I was a little surprised by the story that actually unfolded!

N.D. Wilson introduces how to be a ninja--a job that's not just for anybody. A ninja must be silent, nimble, strong, graceful. He brings levity to this serious topic with parenthetical comments that are cute and funny. J.J. Harrison keeps the talk of ninja on the appropriate kid level with bright illustrations that are a great balance of serious ninja and silly kid.

Ninja Boy—we don’t ever know his name—goes to school by bus, but instead of sitting in the seat, he suction cups himself to the roof of the bus, something my kids howled at. Other kids on this page laugh at Ninja Boy too, but he is too committed to being a ninja to notice or care. 


And this is where the story takes an unexpected turn...

To read the rest of the review (and find out what happens! What a cliff-hanger, I know!), click HERE.

Mama Built A Little Nest by Jennifer Ward

Mama Built A Little Nest by Jennifer Ward, illustrated by Steve Jenkins

Rating: 5 stars

If you've got a nature-loving kid somewhere near you, this book needs to be in his or her hands. We were all blown away by how many facts we learned from a book that appeared to be a simple rhyme with gorgeous illustrations.

Ward gives us a gift of a book jam-packed with great information about a bunch of different birds--from the more well-known emperor penguin and falcons to more unique birds such as the weaverbird (the yellow bird pictured on the cover), falcon, grebe, and shorebird.

This is a grow-with-me book, or a book for a household like ours--with one strong, curious reader; one emerging, interested reader; and one bird-loving, letter-finder. On each two-page spread is a succinct, one-stanza rhyme about the bird illustrated on the page. There are also several sentences about the bird written in a smaller, different font for readers like Lorelei to read on her own or for me to read to Ben (he can read most of the words in the actual poem himself).

Mama built a little nest / inside a sturdy trunk.
She used her beak to tap-tap-tap / the perfect place to bunk.

Each page not only shows the reader what the bird looks like, but what the nest is like. The diversity of each bird--from what it looks like to how it makes its nest--impressed me greatly and was fun to point out to my kids. The birds and their neat nests grabbed my kids' attention and set off their imaginations.

Here are some of my favorite facts about the birds and their nests in this book:

• A hummingbird makes the smallest cup-shaped nest out of spiderwebs so the nest will stretch as the chicks grow.
• The male cactus wren makes many dome-shaped nests to attract a female. If impressed, the female will choose one and then continue to add to its structure.
• Grebes create a floating nest on the water and anchor it to water plants.
• The swiftlet makes an edible nest (!!) using tube-shaped saliva, which hardens in the air. Swiftlet nests are used in bird's nest soup, a Chinese delicacy.

My kids love this type of bird feeder!

This is a wonderful, one-of-a-kind book that pairs nicely with the kind of bird feeder we have attached to our window...click HERE for link to purchase.

Little Women Christmas by Heather Vogel Frederick

Little Women Christmas by Heather Vogel Frederick, illustrated by Bagram Ibatoulline

Rating: 5 stars

In May 2007, I held my daughter Lorelei for the first time. My first day as a mother was an idyllic bubble of joy—Lorelei nursed confidently, I capably soothed her cries, and the nurses were a short call away should I have any questions about the many things I didn’t know how to do.

On Lorelei’s second day in this world, my father came to visit. He came, of course, to say hello to Lorelei, to welcome her into this world and our family, to congratulate my husband and me. He sat holding his granddaughter, singing Ranger jodies into her tiny ears. He also came to say good-bye. He deployed for Iraq the next day.

It’s hard for me to imagine how my heart held these two giant, opposing emotions. My blissful hours with Lorelei had an undercurrent of fear as my father bunkered into and worked from the Green Zone. I endured six months of this, of letter writing and baby bathing, of worrying and cooing.

Click HERE to read the rest of the review at Nerdy Book Club...

Little Blue Truck's Christmas by Alice Schertle

Little Blue Truck's Christmas by Alice Schertle, illustrated by Jill McElmurry

Rating: 5 stars

Little Blue and I go way back. I mean, waaaaay back.

The original Little Blue Truck was Ben's favorite book as a baby. Because I read it to him daily, I can still recite the words and recall McElmurry's sweet illustrations that correspond with the stanzas. I can still recall having baby Ben (who turns six in two weeks! what?!) sitting in my lap and reading again and again, him flipping the pages, making the animals sounds, laughing at the change in my voice for the different characters.

I also snapped up the sequel, Little Blue Truck Leads the Way when it was released a few years later. Both of these books have all that you want in great children's books: a fun, interesting rhythm and rhyme; sweet illustrations of neat characters; a nice moral to the story. In the first book, Little Blue helps a big, rude truck get out of the muck and, through his kind actions (rather than preachy words), teaches him that it pays to be a nice guy. In the second book, country-boy Little Blue teaches big-city traffic how to slow down, be patient, and take turns.

This third book, Little Blue Truck's Christmas, is just as wonderful as the first two. It is in a board book format, so best for ages four and under. There's some counting, just from one to five and then back down again, which is best for littler readers. Little Blue puts five trees in back to deliver to his friends, who all (wonderfully) say please and thank you as they request specific trees in the truck bed of Little Blue.

Who gets the last tree? I like this part. I think in decades past the last tree would be saved for an elderly person, someone who needs it most--and while that is fine and dandy, I think the fact that Little Truck saves the last tree for himself is an example of the "self love" trend that has been occurring for the past few years: You've got to love yourself and regard your own happiness in this life we've got, and that habit starts when kids are kids...and hopefully lasts until they are old and gray (and hopefully still very happy).

It's good to see you again, Little Blue!

A Boy and a Jaguar by Alan Rabinowitz

A Boy and a Jaguar by Alan Rabinowitz, illustrated by Cátia Chien

Rating: 5 stars

Once upon a time, a little boy about four years old walked with his father to the Bronx Zoo. This boy stood in front of the cage of a giant, wild jaguar. The jaguar paced before the boy, seeming frustrated at his confined situation.

The boy understood how the jaguar felt. He was a stutterer; thoughts were confined to his head, unable to get out. Usually when he tried to "use his words" he grew red in the face and his body convulsed with the his inability to transform his thoughts into coherent sounds and launch them successfully into the conversation.

But today, in front of this great cat, he whispered without a single stutter, "One day, if I figure out how to speak, I will speak for you, too." There was something magical between them. With this wild creature, he could speak.

On the days between visits to that jaguar in the Bronx Zoo, the little boy endured harsh sentences--he heard grown-ups tell him he was broken, and he was sent to a school for disturbed children. Like that jaguar, he felt caged and misunderstood.

"If I try to push words out, my head and body shake uncontrollably."

Years went by and this little boy grew up and went to college in an experimental program that embraced his debilitating stutter, and grown ups encouraged him to be a "fluent stutterer." He worked hard to finally speak without stuttering. He found his voice.

But he still feels broken on the inside, still feels damaged and different and unsure how to use that voice. He studies black bears in the Great Smoky Mountains, then travels to Belize to study jaguars. He starts to feel connected to his voice, and he wants to use it to fulfill the promise he made to that one jaguar on that one day so long ago.

He begins to follow and capture jaguars for study before releasing them. He successfully argues for the world's first and only jaguar wildlife preserve. He becomes Dr. Alan Rabinowitz: a zoologist, a conservationist, a passionate advocate for the 36 big cat species of the world, what Time calls the "Indiana Jones of Wildlife Conservation." And today, he says he is grateful for his stuttering, because that disability led him to what he is most passionate about: jaguars.

This is an incredibly moving true story about working hard, keeping promises, finding your passion, and making the world a better place.

P.S. The illustrations by Cátia Chien are phenomenal, too!

Shh! We Have a Plan! by Chris Haughton

Shh! We Have a Plan! by Chris Naughton

Rating: 5 stars

Shh! We Have a Plan! is sitting on Kiefer's bed right now, and it hasn't moved very far all week. He is just crazy about it. Almost as crazy as I am about the book, which is oddly dark for a picture book.

But the hues match the setting and story perfectly: Four wrapped-up guys go out hunting for a bird in the dark. Three are serious about catching one; one is along for the ride, seemingly too young to have been left at home.

"Hello, birdie!" this little one calls out.

"Shh..." says the first guy.

"SHHH!!" reinforces the second guy.

"We have a plan!" says the last guy, who is holding something (a cage, a ladder, a big log).

Kiefer likes to then tell me what their plan is: "They're going to CATCH the birdie and put him in the cage." Or "They're going to climb up the ladder to get the birdie in the tree!"

Ready one, ready two, ready th...!

The three guys try to get that birdie but never succeed.  Finally the littlest guy pulls out some bread and attracts not just the one bird but a whole flock, including a big, mean one that does NOT want to be caught. They run for their lives!

And they decide maybe they'll catch a squirrel instead.

This is a wonderful book with which your child or student can practice making predictions, and to talk generally of having a "plan." Maybe it's just plan-happy me that appreciates that...?!

Sally Goes to Heaven by Stephen Huneck

Sally Goes to Heaven by Stephen Huneck

Rating: 5 stars

Our own black dog--her name is Lulu, not Sally--is luckily not going to Heaven this week.  But when she does, I'm glad to have another book to read to my kids to make that lesson a little less painful.

I've reviewed three other Sally books (there are more)--Sally Gets a Job, Sally's Great Balloon Adventure, and Sally Goes to the Vet--and explained how much I like the very simple, very straightforward yet still very unique woodcut illustrations in the books. And I like Sally a whole lot!  How sad but appropriate that after these adventures and life experiences, she dies.  And goes to Heaven.

The first few pages of the book are about how difficult it is for Sally to eat and move. And then, the next morning, "Sally wakes up in heaven." And the joy begins!  She runs in circles really fast, without any sort of pain. There's a gigantic mound of smelly socks for her to sniff like crazy--hurray! All the animals play together; no one is afraid of anyone else. Meatballs grow on bushes and there are ice cream stands--for dogs!--on every block. Frisbees fill the sky!

Sally just wishes she could comfort her family and friends and let them know that all is good, her pain is gone, and that she is happy.

This is a very sweet book about a very sad time in the life of a family, but Huneck focuses the pet death experience about the dog and the wonderful things she's doing in Heaven. It's a "good to know about" book for when you need it.

(Another book very similar to this book you might also want to know about: Dog Heaven by Cynthia Rylant...)

The Tarantula in My Purse: and 172 Other Wild Pets by Jean Craighead George

The Tarantula in My Purse: and 172 Other Wild Pets by Jean Craighead George

Rating: 5 stars

I went on a trip last week, and left this book for Lorelei with a Post-It stuck onto it: "DO NOT read this book! Mrs. George is MUCH nicer than your mom! She lets her kids bring any and every animal they want into their home as a pet!  Your mom is not that nice.  Do NOT read this--you'll get too many great ideas!"

She read the book (of course). And loved it.

That's right: Jean Craighead George was a much more tolerant, patient, encouraging mother than I am. She tolerated--no, encouraged!--her three children to bring home and keep home anything and everything they found in the wild. Crows. Skunks. Frogs. Fish. Ducks. Geese. Lots of birds. And yes, even a tarantula.

Because George herself had this sort of upbringing, it was second-nature to her.  So I guess I could blame my dear mom and dad, but...I try not to throw them under the bus unless it's absolutely necessary.

Each short little chapter is about a different pet the George family had, and little quirks and idiosyncrasies about that particular animal and/or that particular pet. It is not overly scientific, and I think that's a really great thing. Instead, there are heaps of small bits of information about the behavior of wildlife that the family learned first-hand simply by observing the animal over an extended period of time. They just wrote down what they observed, and oftentimes George would also provided background about the animal's behavior that she had learned through research while writing one of her many nature books.  (She is the author of more than 100 books, including Julie of the Wolves and, my childhood favorite, My Side of the Mountain.)

This was a great, fun read for me, but also very appropriate for any animal-loving kid. It would be a great read-aloud book as kids wonder "What if we had a ___ for a pet?!" Appropriate for any age at all--just be ready for some wild pet suggestions!

--

P.S. I heard about this book through the for-adults book The Book Whisperer, which is full of ideas on how to get kids to read more and also has a ton of middle-grade great book suggestions in it.

P.P.S. One fun exercise to do with this book is to read this book together (or, like Lorelei and I did, separate) and then read the I Can Read It book Goose and Duck, which is a cute little fictional story that you quickly find out in the book is based on a totally true story. What a need example of how to come up with a fiction story with a true story, and how you write what you know!

Fox's Garden by Princesse CamCam

Fox's Garden by Princesse Camcam

Rating: 5 stars

One cold and snowy night, a fox gets lost among endless woods and drifts of snow. She runs past one house, but gets scared off by the look of fright in the woman's eyes.  She runs up to another home, but gets kicked off by an angry old man. Not knowing where else to go, the fox finds a greenhouse open and available, so she goes in to get out of the cold.

She doesn't realize a small boy watches her from his window.  He gathers some food and follows her inside, and realizes that the fox is not alone.  She now has a small gathering of kits around her, nursing quietly among the flowers in the greenhouse.

The boy offers what he can: a basket of gifts. Then he slowly returns to his room; he doesn't further interrupt the fox or wait for her to pay him any attention.

While the boy sleeps, the fox and her kits carry large plumes of flowers from the greenhouse to the boy's house.  They all jump quietly through the window, and plant them in his room. Then, the fox family is off through the night.

The boy wakes to their grateful abundance of flowers in his own room.

--

There is something extremely special about this wordless picture book.  I'm not entirely sure what it is--I just can't put my finger on what makes this book so magical. Princesse Camcam (I'm sure you're not shocked to hear it's not her real name, but it is a pen name you're not likely to forget--she was born Camille Garoche in southwest France) creates her own paper-cut dioramas that she then lights up and photographs. This gives the illustrations a unique sense of depth as you turn the pages of her book.

The story, so elegantly and gently placed before the reader, is simple and straightforward. The adults in this book are not open to helping the fox, yet the small boy opens his heart and gives what he can to the fox. His thoughtfulness does not go unnoticed; the fox thanks him simply with a magical bouquet. The big lesson: kindness begets kindness.

The world needs more of this lesson.  The world needs more of books like these. This is truly one of the most beautiful books I have ever had the pleasure of reading.

Frances Dean Who Loved to Dance and Dance by Birgitta Sif

Frances Dean Who Loved to Dance and Dance by Birgitta Sif

Rating: 5 stars

Frances Dean was a little girl who loved to dance. "When no one was around, she would feel the wind and dance..." With the woods as her backdrop, the birds as her backup, and the geese and duck as her audience, she danced and danced and danced.

But when people were around, she stopped.  She felt their eyes on her, so she just stood still, waiting for them to pass. There were too many people and she stood for too long, so she forgot how to dance, and she forgot the joy she felt when dancing.

As she walked home, trying to figure out how to get her joyous dancing back, she stumbled across a little girl, much younger than she, singing a happy tune.  The girl saw Frances Dean, but had the courage to keep on singing, no matter whose eyes were on her. That night, Frances Dean thought of the little girl and how she kept singing, regardless of who or what was around her.

In the morning, Frances Dean woke up and, with a little help, remembered how much she loved to dance and dance. She practiced dancing in front of and with others.  She started small--with birds--then graduated--to a cat and dog--then, finally, with an old lady in the square. The little girl with the happy tune dance and sing together, being true to their own voice while also sharing their love with their world.

Stories like this--especially with whimsical, magical illustrations like those Sif produces --touch a special place in my heart right now, as Lorelei begins to navigate some of the "un-fun" aspects of girlhood in elementary school. The teasing isn't so bad right now, but it is teasing to keep her from being best friends with a boy (a gem of a child, I have to add), going to the barn she rides at now (the other girls go to a "better" barn), and stuff like that. We use the words, "What's the truth in your heart? Do you know what you really want to do?" She knows: be best friends with Garrett and ride that pony Mo. But...courage to Lorelei for keeping on being Lorelei.  (Who's a gem of a child, too, I think.)

Check out Birgitta Sif's first picture book Oliver and these other dancing books if you like this one:

A Dance Like Starlight by Kristy Dempsey
Rupert Can Dance by Jules Feiffer

Brush of the Gods by Lenore Look

Brush of the Gods by Lenore Look, illustrated by Meilo So

Rating: 5 stars

Ben chose this book as his bedtime book a few nights ago, when we were on a quick weekend trip to the beach. He and Kiefer were sharing a room in our rental place. On twin beds, lying side by side, my boys lay side by side, listening to Lenore Look's absorbing story and looking at Meilo So's amazing artwork. Kiefer was asleep by the end of it, but Ben was spellbound throughout and even let out a quiet "woah" at the ending.

The book tells the legend of Wu Daozi, an Chinese artist that lived in the eighth century. The story begins in his calligraphy class when he was a young boy.  He tries to get the strokes right, but his brush seems to have a mind of its own.  The monk-teacher chides him for not paying attention, not trying hard enough, not making his brush do his brain's bidding. Yet Wu Daozi learned in that classroom that he possessed a gift: the gift of art.

Leaving calligraphy behind, he painted on walls everywhere--at temples, teahouses, and the silk bazaar.  (I guess graffiti laws were different back then?) The scenes were extraordinary, and people stopped to appreciate his artwork and skill. One day, he paints a butterfly that is so life-like that it flutters off the wall, into the air. Daozi is shocked, and is certain that he imagined what just happened.  He paints another butterfly, and it, too, flies away.  Suddenly, all around the city, his incredibly realistic paintings start to disappear.  The horses gallop off, the birds fly away, the men march down the road...

Yet the Emperor commissions Daozi to do the biggest mural of his career (hoping that it won't fly away).  Daozi toils on it for years and years, growing older and older as he paints and paints.  At the unveiling, the painting doesn't disappear.  It remains.  But Daozi...old Daozi walks right into the painting and is never seen again!

Magical for sure.  In just the right way.

The Book Whisperer by Donalyn Miller

The Book Whisperer: Awakening the Inner Reader in Every Child by Donalyn Miller

Rating: 5 sister

My big sister once suggested to me that I read parenting books and summarize them, so to save parents the time of reading the whole book but give them the invaluable stuff of what's between the covers.  This is my first attempt at doing that...

Donalyn Miller is "the book whisperer."  She's not an expert according to degrees on her walls; she is an expert according to the students she's taught, encouraged, and inspired. And although I'm not a reading or Language Arts teacher for middle school students like most of the readers of The Book Whisperer, I am a reading mom--a reading mom with a children's book blog. So, I thought I might have something to learn. I thought right!

I kept a running list of things that we parents can do to get our younger children off to the right start at home before school even starts and also augment the "reading is great!" message that is (hopefully) being preached at school.

Here are lessons from her book for us parents of younger children:

1. Independent reading time is crucial! Give them time to read. 
Make time for reading, when most other things aren't available to your young child. At our house we have Quiet Time, just 30 minutes in the afternoon when we all take a break from each other and read in our rooms. Of course the kids often do things other than read--Ben likes to look at and reorganize his baseball card collection, and Lorelei will often engage in some artsy thing--but mostly I suggest they take up a pile of books and read them. And, mostly, that's what they do.

2. Let kids choose their own books. 
From time to time in the library I hear moms say "Let me choose the books. You know I choose good ones for you!" That makes me sad if the kids are told to sit on the sofa and not touch anything. But I believe in doing a mix of both--your library bag should be a combination of what you think they want or need and what they want. Go to the library and enjoy saying "YES!" for a whole hour (or seven minutes if you've got any kid under two years old)--because books are free and 50 is the limit (at least here in Fairfax County). Have them ask the librarians for help!

3. Validate their choices. 
This is an extension of #3, but very important to remember and DO. Read the books that they chose, even if it's the 300th time you've read it. Ask them why they like a book. Pick up a book that they chose from their school's library and express interest. Stop what you're doing to sit and read it. If you have a grade school child, ask them what their favorite book has been and then read that book. Like, right now. Validating their choices make them more confident in their choices--both as readers and as humans.

4. Read yourself! Be a reading role model. 

Parents can definitely do this, too!

Be excited about books! Enthusiasm is contagious. Tell them what you're reading, and read aloud interesting bits. Ask them what they're reading, and invite them to read funny or interesting or heart-pulling segments to you. Share with them your favorite books from childhood, and ask their aunts and uncles and grandparents and sitters to become part of this reading community if they are not already.

5. Read with them. 
Of course, the readers of the world go to college more often than not and get higher grades and score higher on all the tests out there. Well, that's great and all, but I love that reading has given me a great way to communicate with my children today. We have jokes from board books that we've read again and again, ways we remember things and reference points for life. Our relationship is deeper because of it, and I really do think books will help me through some of the angst-filled years that are ahead of us because we'll have something to talk about besides ourselves. (Or, we'll have a way of talking about ourselves in code.)


Other than these great take-aways and lots of insightful anecdotes, she points to five useful books and websites to encourage reading.  I'll share them with you (they're on page 116 of her book). Click on them for a link:

• Association for Library Services to Children: Literary Awards
• Books that Don't Bore 'Em: Young Adult Books That Speak to this Generation
• Goodreads (you can follow me on it if you like)
• Jen Robinson's Book Page
• Teenreads.com 

With the exception of Jen Robinson's Book Page, most of these websites and books are for older readers, but they are good to know about.

There you go!  No need to read the book...unless you're like me, and you just kinda sorta want to...!

Goldy Luck and the Three Pandas by Natasha Yim

Goldy Luck and the Three Pandas by Natasha Yim, illustrated by Grace Zong

Rating: 4 stars

At the rate we're going, we're going to have to keep renewing this book until the Chinese New Year! (It is late September as I type this...)  Kiefer will not let me return it--he's pulled it out of the library bag twice already.

It's definitely worth telling you about, and since it's been sitting around our house, I've been reading it almost once a day for the past few weeks.

Natasha Yim wrote a great Chinese twist of Goldylocks and the Three Bears. On Chinese New Year, Goldy Luck's mom asks her to bring a plate of turnip cakes to her next door neighbors. Once there, she tastes the family's congee rice porridge, determines the one in the plastic bowl is just right and gobbles it all up. She feels sleepy so tests the three chairs available, favoring the fun rocking chair--she ends up rocking it to pieces. Oops! She still feels sleepy and wanders to the bedrooms, selecting the third bed, a little futon, and falling fast asleep.

The (panda) bear family come home to this mess and finds the messy intruder fast asleep...until she is startled awake by their presence and runs back home immediately, embarrassed by her behavior. She thinks of her neighbors all day, and returns--with a fresh bowl of congee--to help clean up and celebrate the new year together.

There are lots of lessons to draw from this book, or you can simply enjoy the nice version of a classic story with wonderful illustrations by Grace Zong. Better yet, make the turnip cakes from the recipe in the back of the book and bring one by my house, please!

Big Little Mother by Kevin Kling

Big Little Mother by Kevin Kling, illustrated by Chris Monroe

Rating: 4 stars

I was prepared not to like this book, based on the title and cover. Then I reminded myself that that whole "don't judge a book by its cover" thing exists for a reason, so I did my best to suspend my disbelief and read the book. Glad I did! It's a a cute story.

The little brother in this story will always have a) a big sister and b) a cat, Kittywumpus, that is also older than him. Kittywumpus is that big sister's chosen playmate nine times out of ten; sometimes, if she's in just the right mood, that little brother gets to play along a little, too.

Until the day that Kittywumpus bolts out the door, and that big sister is forced to turn to her little brother and play with him. Things go well and things go smoothly as they play Adventures in Cardboard, Couch Cushion Treasure Hunt, and Sweet Moves in Groovy Threads. They pause between games to look for Kittywumpus, but then go back to each other and their creative play.

There's a sprinkling of mean-big-sister stuff in here, and I really dislike how she's mean--and how the little brother goes along with it as if he has to, as if his assertiveness needs not apply when dealing with his older sister.  I don't love this part of their relationship, though no sibling relationship is certainly perfect.

The end is fairly predictable, but not in a bad way. Kittywumpus does return, but the little brother remains in the big sister's circle of chosen playmates. The little brother is ecstatic to be accepted by her, even with the sprinkling of cool unkindness.


(My problem with the title/cover: I don't like the idea of oldest girls being "little mothers." Because I have an oldest girl and two younger boys, I hear "Oh! Is she like a little mother to them?" way too frequently. That's my own pet peeve I didn't mean to throw onto an innocent picture book...but did anyway...)

Rupert Can Dance by Jules Feiffer

Rupert Can Dance by Jules Feiffer

Rating: 5 stars

I have a magnet on my refrigerator with the suggestion "Dance like nobody's watching!" I think Rupert would appreciate that. But check out the picture on my blogger profile--clearly I don't care if anyone is watching, I'll still bust a move how I please...

Rupert is a cat belonging to Mandy. Mandy is a dancer extraordinaire--there's nothing Rupert likes more than to watch Mandy dance. Well, there might be one thing he likes more, and that happens the moment Mandy falls asleep each evening.  Rupert grabs her dancing shoes and dances the night away!

Dancing is his secret. It is the last thing he wanted Mandy to find out.

But one night, she does. She wakes up unexpectedly and saw him.  She is overjoyed; he is horrified. She wants to teach him how to dance, whereas he loves the freedom of doing his moves however he wants. So he stops dancing (much to both of their disappointment). For him, the joy was taken out of it once he was discovered. For her, she could not share the thing she loved the best with the cat she loved the most.

They could have gone on this way for years.
And in fact, they did.

Sad times indeed.

Then one day not too far after, Mandy acts dumb, and asks for his help in some dance steps. Rupert falls for this old trick and, happy to be needed as an expert, teaches her what she wants. She gets him dancing again, and they happily dance together ever after--taking turns leading.

The messy sketches of Jules Feiffer might not be my first choice of illustrations, but they capture the movement--and the joy in the movement--of these two characters really well. As for the moral of the story, all kids sure do need it. Dance like nobody's watching should be tattooed (hmm...children tattooed? some of you might object to that) on the inside of their foreheads before they start wilting from self-consciousness in middle school. Here's to hoping that yours and mine will remember their dance moves despite their peers' gaze.