I'm Glad I'm Me (2006)

 I'm Glad I'm Me Poems About You (2006) is a thin Scholastic paperback by Jack Prelutsky. He has a talent for capturing a child's perspective. For example, the poem My Mother Took Me Skating: "My mother took me skating and we glided on the ice. I wasn't very good at it and stumbled more than twice. My mother made a figure eight, and since it seemed like fun, I tried a little trick myself and made a figure one." There are 21 poems  that cover a variety of topics. It's a nice bite size collection of fun to help children enjoy poetry. The title of the book doesn't seem to have any particular significance. The final poem has this title. Nany Meyers illustrations are spot on. Her drawings are full of energy. I wish her name appeared on the cover of the book. 

My First a b c (1993)

 My First a b c by Jane Bunting (1993) is a product of Dorling Kindersley Limited, so it's practically guaranteed to be first rate. This is a large book of photographs organized by letters of the English alphabet. On each page, right in the middle, is a large lower-case letter in a bright color and wood grain finish. Photographs surround the letter. For example, The letter "g" has photographs of a goldfish, glasses, giraffe, guitar, gorilla, game, green paint, glove, and goose. The name of each picture appears in black typed font; my guess is it is Times New Roman. There is a border along each two-page spread. Inside the border a cute bug-like creature lines up capital letters that it pulls from a toy wagon. This book is large enough to for an adult to show a small group of children. What a beautiful book to elicit conversation. 

The Secret Santa of Olde Stonington (2003)

 TheSecret Santa of Olde Stonington by Mark KimballMoulton, illustrated by Susan Winget (2003) is a large, lovely story written in rhyme. “Nestled on a windswept coastline, up old New England way, lies the village of Olde Stonington with her protected bay.” It’s been a difficult year for the village and winter approaches with the residents unprepared -- despite their persistent hard work. In strolls a stranger, somewhat familiar yet not. He helps residents with their chores and then he leaves. And when Christmas arrives, no one is disappointed.

*Wilfrid Gordon McDonald Partridge (1984)

 Wilfrid Gordon McDonald Partridge by Mem Fox , illustrated by Julie Vivas (1984) is a lovely, lovely book. The main character is a small boy who “wasn’t very old either. His house was next to an old people’s home and he knew all the people who lived there.” Readers meet the old people. The small boy’s favorite is Miss Alison Delacourt Cooper. When he learns that she’s lost her memory, he sets out to help her find it. Julie Vivas’s illustrations are imaginative, colorful, and full of joy. Her use of whitspace  makes for an intimate relationship with each character. This is one of the best children’s picture books I’ve ever read.

Toot & Puddle (1997)

 What is it about Toot & Puddle by Holly Hobbie (1997) that made me smile all the way through? Maybe it was the joy in every page. Maybe it was the exquisite illustrations. Maybe it was the respect these friends had for one another's choices. Or maybe it was the precious sense of friendship between two pigs. Toot takes off on a worldwide adventure and sends post cards home describing both an excitement and personal concern. From India, Toot writes, "It's your birthday-Mar 3! Hope your party is the best. Friends forever, Toot." Ah, the old-fashioned pleasure of post cards! Bonus: children experience a sense of time as the months from February through October are marked on each post card. Readers will recognize the familiar fun that Puddle has at home and marvel at the exotic places Toot visits. 

Elephant Alphabet (2006)

 Elephant Alphabet by Gene Yates (2006) is an amusing look at letters. I like the consistency in the way the elephants are drawn. Each is a stocky, boxy pachyderm, so the leap to orthography isn't too large. Each letter accompanies a sentence with plenty of alliteration. "J elephant jumps for joy and drinks jugs of juice." The letters appear in color, in this case all of the "j"s are purple. And, believe it or not, Yates's picture has an elephant jumping into the shape of a "j"! It takes a lively imagination to produce twenty-six memorable situations for an elephant to celebrate each letter of the alphabet! This is a board book that very young readers will enjoy again and again.  

The Way I Feel (2000)

 The Way I Feel by Janan Cain (2000) teaches readers the valuable vocabulary of emotions. Each illustration is a two-page spread dedicated to one feeling and the rhyming text is only two or three sentences. Sometimes the words appear in straight lines and sometimes they float across a page. "The wheel fell off my brand new truck -- I needed some help from you. You kindly fixed my favorite toy. I'm thankful for all you do." At the end of the book is "A Note to Parents" with four suggestions including "Ask your child what circumstances make him or her feel happy, sad, jealous, and so on." My only caution is that there seems to be only two faces of color amongst the children. 

*Judy and the Volcano (1994)

 Judy and the Volcano by Wayne Harris (1994) is a clever story. Judy is stuck in her classroom while everyone else enjoys recess. Pressured by a creative writing assignment, she imagines herself trapped in the "worse storm the world has ever seen!" She must rescue children from a giant iguana, which is a representation of her teacher. Judy's ire softens when her imagination finds its way to the page. Yet, writing is difficult, so as she struggles with her manuscript, giant tree vines grow around her legs and arms inside her story. It will take a change of heart as well as perserverence to finish the assignment. She is forgiving in both imagination and reality. When all is said and done, she "couldn't wait to get started on my new story..."

Birthday Presents (1987)

 Birthday Presents (1987) is by one of my favorite authors, Cynthia Rylant. Again, she captures a compassionate element of childhood - growing up in a family that celebrates each birthday with love.  The story is a sequence of birthdays told by the parents of a child who is not gendered in the text. Each birthday has special recognition, fun and not so fun. At the second birthday party "You played until you were crabby, then you cried because you needed a nap. We laughed. We told you we loved you." Young readers can revel in their own physical, cognitive, and emotional growth as they watch a baby scream, a one-year-old spit up, a two-year-old play with wrapping paper, and a five-year-old help bake a cake. Sucie Stevenson's illustrations fill each page with color and a little chaos. Parents will chuckle at the joy and challenge of a child, all with love. 

Sing a Song of People (1967)

 Sing a Song of People is a title I saw elsewhere just about 20 minutes ago! Aren't such coincidences are curious? "Sing a Song of People" by Lois Lenski appears in A Beginning Book of Poems (1967) and is also the title of the book in my hands now. The copyright page reads "The text of  'Sing a Song of People' first appeared in The Life I Live and is reprinted here by arrangement with The Lori Lenski Covey Foundation, Inc." I don't see a publication date for this book; however, the illustrations are copyrighted 1987 by Giles Laroche. The illustrations are packed with people and the setting is Boston, Massachusetts. It took me many minutes to notice the dog that shows up on several pages. Clearly, this is a timeless poem. I would love to see how an illustrator would picture this poem in 2022. 

My Dog Does My Homework! (2004)

 My Dog Does My Homework! (2004) is a thin, pocket-sized collection of funny poems from many authors. The editor, Jon Scieszka, has "Poem Pointers" in text boxes on several pages. For example, he invites readers to write a poem about a creepy beast or bug, then adds: "Don't forget to use good verbs like slither and squirm (which rhymes nicely with worm, germ,  and term, by the way.)" I suppose teachers love this book, but it does tinge the joy of poetry with the color of work. I appreciate when challenging vocabulary appears in unexpected places, as in "From The Book of Nonsense" by Edward Lear. "There was an Old Person whose habits, Induced him to feed upon Rabbits; When he'd eaten eighteen, He turned perfectly green, Upon which he relinquished those habits." Relinquished: abandon, forgo, quit, renounce, discard. You could probably guess the meaning using context clues. 

A Beginning Book of Poems (1967)

 Old books like A Beginning Book of Poems (1967) are fascinating because they help me understand a generation. This book is a compilation recommended for grades 3 and 4. There was a teacher's manual to accompany it. There are eight sections, all educational, and only one that hints at unpleasantness ("A Mortifying Mistake" by Anna M. Pratt). Most of the illustrations feature a single hue alongside shades of gray, and there are many persons of color . This was the simple life of childhood. Books like this also tickled the ears with valuable lessons about the linguistics of English.

"Galoshes  by Rhoda W. Bacmeister  Susie's galoshes Make splishes and sploshes And slooshes and sloshes, As Susie steps slowly Along in the slush. They stamp and they tramp On the ice and concrete, They get stuck in the muck and the mud: But Susie likes much best to hear The slippery Slush As it slooshes and sloshes, And splishes and sploshes, All round her galoshes!"