PLANETS - A SOLAR SYSTEM STICKER BOOK

By Ellen Hasbrouck
Illustrated by Scott McDougall
2001
32 Pages

I have been looking for a simple book about the solar system for my 3-year-old daughter ever since we went to a planetarium show, and found this great book. It takes you through the solar system beginning with the sun, "This is the sun, shining so bright, giving us the energy of heat and light." You then turn a short page and see Mercury floating in space next to the sun, with another short rhyme about Mercury. You continue through the solar system turning successively larger pages with each planet appearing next to the last one, and another short rhyme about each. At the end you see the sun and each planet all lined up together. The last few pages of the book include a few more facts about the sun and planets, as well as a page of stickers. It seems to be just the right amount of information for a preschooler interested in the solar system, and I think rhymes are always an excellent way for this age group to remember what they've read.

PET OF THE MET

By Lydia & Don Freeman
1953
64 Pages

Maestro Petrini is a mouse who works as a page turner at the Metropolitan Opera House and lives with his family in an old harp case in the attic. His nemisis is Mephisto the cat who lives in an empty violin case in the basement, and earns his milk by keeping the opera house free of mice. This book by the author of "Corduroy", is a great introduction to the world of opera. A children's matinee of "The Magic Flute" is the performance that brings Petrini and Mephisto together in a dramatic climax beautifully illustrating the dancing of the forest animals to the music of the magic flute. Opera is not my cup of tea, but I kind of want to see "The Magic Flute" now...

Besides "Corduroy", two of our other favorites by Don Freeman are, "A Rainbow of my Own", and "Earl the Squirrel". Take a look and let me know what you think!

POLKA BATS AND OCTOPUS SLACKS

By Calef Brown
1998
32 Pages

"Georgie Spider catches flies
but never eats the little guys.
Instead he cooks up insect pies.
He doesn't use the legs or eyes
or any artificial dyes.
They're very good
(though small in size).
At last year's fair they won first prize.
So if you're hungry, stop on by,
give Georgie's fresh fly pie a try!"

How's that for children's poetry? If you liked the rhyming story above, you'll like the others in this book of 14 stories by Calef Brown. Each one-page story is accompanied by a brightly colored, kind of hip, folk art illustration. It's hard to describe the style of writing...silly, a little gross, clever, 'out there'. It's a good alternative when you're looking for a little rhyme-time unlike all the other books of poetry for children. My daughter's favorite line is, "Kick it funky snowman!".

CHICKEN SOUP WITH RICE

By Maurice Sendak
1962
32 Pages

"In January, it's so nice,
while slipping on the sliding ice,
to sip hot chicken soup with rice.
Sipping once, sipping twice,
sipping chicken soup with rice."

And so we go through the months of the year with a little boy and his bowl of chicken soup with rice. Each month brings another lovely rhyme describing another way and place for the boy to enjoy his soup. If you have a kid who memorizes every page of the books you read - especially the rhyming ones, he or she will have this one memorized in no time!

Children's Books Online - The Rosetta Project

If you're anything like me, you probably love the illustrations in children's books as much, if not more, than the story. In fact, I wish I could think of 50 different ways to say "I loved the illustrations in this book!", because that's pretty much the truth about each book I've reviewed for this web site. So I was very happy to have discovered this great web site: Children's Books Online - The Rosetta Project. Some wonderful man in Maine (along with many volunteers), has amassed "the largest collection of illustrated antique books online...we think". Anyway, there are tens of thousands of pages scanned from hundreds of books published before 1930 (and therefore copyright free). Beautiful vintage illustrations, and the words as well, to feast your eyes upon - it's hard to stop at just one book, you'll want to keep browsing from one to another. They're also nicely categorized by reading level beginning with pre-readers (these will have more illustrations), and up to Advanced and Adult Readers (which have very few illustrations).

LITTLE RABBIT LOST

By Harry Horse
2002
26 Pages

It's Little Rabbit's fourth birthday, and the whole rabbit family gets to go to the Rabbit World amusement park. Little Rabbit is sure that now that he is four, he's old enough to go where he wants and do what he wants. But when he gets lost (and found again), he decides he will still be his Mama's little rabbit for a while longer. I love the illustrations, which remind me of a cross between Beatrix Potter and Ernest H. Shepard, the illustrator of the original Winnie-the-Pooh stories. My daughter especially likes pointing out all the rides in the panoramic view of Rabbit World, and all the other little details contained in each illustration. When I ask her where she wants to go, she now says we're going to 'Baby Macy World'. We also love the other two books about Little Rabbit (Little Rabbit Goes to School, and Little Rabbit Runaway), in which he continues to push the boundaries of his independence, but always comes back to being Mama's Little Rabbit.

ELLA THE ELEGANT ELEPHANT

By Carmela & Steven D'Amico
2004
56 Pages

"Somewhere in the great, wide Indian Ocean lie the Elephant Islands, hidden by a fog so thick that no human being has ever found them."

This is a very sweet story about a young elephant new to town and dreading her first day in a new school. She finds her Grandmother's big, red 'lucky hat' among the moving boxes and decides to wear it school. This definitely sets her apart at a school where all the students wear rather drab uniforms. Lessons ensue about remaining true to oneself and the Golden Rule, and the 'lucky hat' turns out to be quite magically lucky indeed. I loved the illustrations, and was left wanting to know more about the 'Elephant Islands' where Ella and her mother live. My daughter, of course, liked the drama of the story, and we are both looking forward to learning more about Ella and her world in Ella Takes The Cake and Ella Sets the Stage.

MILLIONS OF CATS

By Wanda Ga'g
1928
32 Pages

"Cats here, cats there,
cats and kittens everywhere,
hundreds of cats, thousands of cats,
millions and billions and trillions of cats."

When a very old man sets out to find the prettiest cat for his wife, the very old woman, he comes upon a hill that is covered with cats. Unable to choose, he decides to bring them all home, whereupon his very practical wife points out they can't possibly take care of all those cats. So they let the cats decide for themselves which is the prettiest one. It's a classic story with the great repeating rhyme quoted above, and black and white line drawings that actually express the idea of millions and billions and trillions of cats!

IN THE RAIN WITH BABY DUCK

By Amy Hest
Illustrated by Jill Barton
1999
32 Pages

The Duck family heads off to Grandpa's house for Pancake Sunday, but it's raining and Baby Duck doesn't like the rain. "I've never heard of a duck who doesn't like the rain", worried Mrs. Duck. But while Mr. Duck makes the pancakes, Grandpa Duck shows Baby Duck how much fun the rain can be with the right equipment and the right attitude. This is one of a series of books about Baby Duck by Amy Hest, who you may know of from her books about Sam the bear (Goodnight Sam, You Can Do It, Sam!). Grandpa Duck shows up in each book, to listen kindly to Baby Duck's concerns, and always helps her feel more confident.

365 PENQUINS

By Jean-Luc Fromental
Illustrated by Joelle Jolivet
2006
48 Pages

A mysterious box with a penquin inside is delivered to a family's house on New Year's Day, and another arrives the next day, and every day thereafter for the next 363 days. Who is sending the penquins, why are they sending the penguins, and how will the family take care of them? This fun book keeps us guessing and turning the pages to find out how this family deals with the care, feeding and storage of the constantly increasing numbers of penguins. The family tries to solve these issues using their mathematics skills, which are clearly beyond the average toddler or preschooler. But my 2 1/2-year-old, enjoyed the story itself, and seeing what would happen next as we turned each page, and discovered the big surprise at the end. She also enjoyed finding the one penquin named Chilly, who had blue feet, amongst the other orange-footed penquins. The excellent, graphic illustrations flesh out the story even more, and you and your child will discover new details in the pictures with each reading.