Put a Little Spring in Their Step with Great Books That Celebrate the Season

 

 

As I look out my window today, I notice that the world is predominately grey and white. If I close my eyes, however, I can picture it in springtime. There, in my mind's eye, I can turn the world into anything I want. This is what I want: trees decorated with tender new leaves, gardens dressed in riotous colour, birds flitting in and out of view, and a baby animal or two frolicking in the warmth of the sun. To hold onto this springtime world  a little while longer, I have two choices. I can either keep my eyes closed or I can open a book by Kevin Henkes. And when parents, tired like me of the grey-and-white world of not-yet spring, were looking for books to recreate spring's magic for their children (and I suspect themselves), I would take them to the shelf in the store that boasted his beautiful books. 

 

My Garden is narrated by a precocious little girl with a lively imagination. At first, we see her mother's garden, the one our narrator helps weed and water daily. As we turn the pages, however, we take a tour of the garden of her imagination where sunflowers can have plaid centres, weeds never grow, nothing ever dies, vegetables are invisible, and unlikely treasures can just pop up. By combining the real with the imagined, My Garden, invites the reader to admire the beauty of nature and the limitlessness of the imagination. With its watercolour illustrations and honest approach, it is perfect for children between the ages of three and six.

In Little White Rabbit, a baby bunny romps through his first spring day. Just as a child might, he finds himself wondering what it would be like to be the many things he sees. In order to experience the colour green, he imagines himself being it, and turns that colour. When he sees a tree, in order to understand what it would be like to be that tall, he becomes that tall. And when he notices butterflies flitting about, he imagines himself flying. Using the curiosity and innocence of childhood, Henkes presents the two- to five-year old with the magical elements of spring in a way she can understand and celebrate.

Birds, Henkes's exquisite collaboration with Laura Dronzek, captures the colour, beauty, and swift unpredictability of our feathered friends. And in true Henkes style, this whimsical offering surprises us by asking the reader to imagine what a cloud would look like if it were shaped like a bird, or to imagine what a tree full of birds would look like after the tree yelled "surprise". Not only does it describe the beauty and habits of birds, it offers the wonder of them and is also perfect for the two- to five- year old.

So, join me, won't you, and brighten this chilly winter day with a sunny book from Kevin Henkes.

http://www.kevinhenkes.com/

 

 

 

 

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http://www.kevinhenkes.com/

Great Books for Dog-Loving Toddlers:



Have you ever noticed a baby or a toddler's face when it spots a dog? Curiosity quickly gives way to happy smiles and often rollicking laughter at this hairy creature with four legs, a tail, and a scratchy tongue that is so different from them. When parents of young children who love dogs would come into the store asking for recommendations, I didn't have one particular book to suggest. Because there are a number of truly wonderful picture books to choose from,  I would ask them what they would like the focus of the book to be. Did they want a book about a dog that tells a funny story, a book that includes many different kinds of dogs, or a book that reveals a dog's nature?

For those interested in a book that tells a funny story, I would often suggest Bark, George, by Jules Feiffer. This delightful story, told with simple language and appealing line drawings, chronicles the tale of a puppy who makes the sound of every other animal imaginable when his mother tells him to "bark". After a trip to the vet, the mother discovers the reasons George sounds like other animals after the good doctor pulls them, one by one, from George's tummy. Delighted that he can now bark like a proper dog, George's mother asks him to do just that for a dog friend of hers. To which George replies (presumably in the vet's voice) "Hello".

For those who wanted a book that includes different dog breeds, but also tells a clever story, Dogs, by Emily Gravett fit the bill. The unkown narrator begins by listing the kinds of dogs she likes: big and small, hairy and bald, spotted and striped...which becomes a casual list of opposites for the child to learn.  As well as the clever "opposites" descriptors, the book's endpapers identify all the breeds used in the story. In a surprise twist, the ending reveals the narrator to be a cat whose favorite kind of dog is one that won't chase it.

And for a book that illustrates a dog's heart and soul, the classic Good Dog, Carl, by Alexandra Day is one of the best. In the tradition of Nana, the children's canine nursemaid in Peter Pan, Carl, a fun-loving Rottweiler, becomes babysitter for a day when the mother in the story leaves him to look after the baby while she goes shopping. Knowing just the sort of things children want to do, from the forbidden to the fun, Carl treats his charge to a day he'll never forget. But at the end of it all, being the protector he is, Carl feeds, bathes, and puts the baby to bed, then straightens the house so that mother is none the wiser. Told entirely in pictures, with the exception of the first and last pages, Good Dog, Carl ignites a child's imagination while illustrating the loyal and fun-loving nature of man's best friend.

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