Children | Page 2 of 54

Dazzlin’ Dolly, as empowering and entertaining as illustrated books can be

Have you seen the Whitney Houston clip where she was recounting how Kevin Costner sole her on the idea of re-recording I Will Always Love You? Apparently, he really enjoyed country music and had presented the 1974 original song from Dolly Parton to Houston as an option for the movie that the two of them were making. The rest is history. Houston had the biggest song of her career and the first cultural renaissance of Dolly Parton had begun, not that she ever went anywhere. Dazzlin’ Dolly is an illustrated book that provides elementary school audiences with a great overview of her early life.

Dazzlin’ Dolly is an illustrated book looking at the early life of one of pop culture’s most generous and endearing influences, Dolly Parton.

The childhood and tribulations of her early years

The Spider-Verse Unfolds, a durable, pop-up style book for Miles Morales

When is a pop-up book not a pop-up book? We love high-quality, intricate pop-up books but readily acknowledge that their complexity paired with their price point makes them an unrealistic option for younger, unsupervised audiences. An Abrams Unfolds Books is a series from Abrams Books for Young Readers that takes the pop-up elements that attract pre-k audiences and puts them in a package that’s durable and less likely to get destroyed. The Spider-Verse Unfolds is the second book in the series and visits Miles Morales, as well as, some others from his spider-centric world.

The Spider-Verse Unfolds is an accordion-style pop-up book for pre-k kids and older to dive into the world of Miles Morales, Spider-Man.

It’s a pop-up book of sorts, in a unique way through the Spider-Verse

P.S.-We Made This!, unexpected crafting that lives up to its title

The issue with most craft books that we’ve run across is that they’re too complex. The end creation looks great, but it requires too many things to make it and has far too many steps. It’s worth noting that I’m a relatively handy guy also. I have a garage full of stuff to fix most simple things in a house and have two boys over ten, so we’ve acquired lots of craft things too. Having said that, every craft or maker book that we’ve tried to do has fallen short. P.S.-We Made This! does not the aforementioned issues. Instead, it’s a book of 85 relatively simple crafts or projects that mid-through upper elementary students can do with minimal to no assistance.

P.S.-We Made This! is the very rare crafting/activity book that can really, yes really, be done with normal, everyday things in your house.

It works, it really really works

The Natural Tolls of Digging Holes, playfully weird STEM for 4 and up

Moles Present The Natural Tolls of Digging Holes ironically reminds us of Dirt. That book was a vertical, poetic, look at something that we see every day. The art was varied and the whispy text showed how the tiny things that live in dirt can be a world unto itself. The Natural Tolls of Digging Holes takes that same spirit, has a more animated form of illustration, adds simpler text that rhymes and opens up its world to anyplace that you might see that’s been dug. This is an illustrated book that feeds curious young minds, softly teaches them and gets them to think while they’re smiling.

Moles Present The Natural Tolls of Digging Holes is silly on the surface, but makes ages 4-8 think about what’s under our feet.

STEm by any other name

Thanks A Ton!, teaches ‘thanks’ as only Hello!Lucky can

When we last saw the Hello!Lucky team, they were up and at ‘em with Go Get ‘Em Tiger. In Thanks A Ton! their bright, maniacally happy presentation is back with a cadre of animals and the goal of getting kids to laugh and say ‘thank you. If you haven’t seen a Hello!Lucky book or any of their graphic artwork it’s unmistakable.

It’s a book for children, keep telling yourself that

Week 7 of Camp Warner Bros. goes old school with cars and Tom & Jerry

When I told our oldest son that Tom & Jerry Movie: The Fast & The Furry was the film this week I cast a wayward eye his direction. He’s 10 and I didn’t think that kids that age had even heard of Tom & Jerry. He returned a wayward eye towards me and said, “I’m down with old-school cartoons dad”. Your kids younger than that will be completely down with it too. Plus there’s a cool box craft that allows your kids to create and sit in their own ‘fast car’ as they watch the film.

A classic box car, plus a cool cat and mouse to boot

Exquisite, a picture book on Gwendolyn Brooks that lives up to its name

The cover and thickness of Exquisite might turn off some audiences. The subtitle of the book is The Poetry and Life of Gwendolyn Brooks. Many elementary aged kids we know don’t like poetry. This is also a thick illustrated book, implying that there’s a lot to read about poetry and an author that they might not have heard of. It’s worth having young audiences hang in there for Exquisite. While it is a book about a poet, Gwendolyn Brooks, the text in it doesn’t rhyme and isn’t boring. The book is thick, but the pages use the words sparingly on some of them. The result is a gorgeous book that will entertain readers aged five an up.

Exquisite, a picture book that’s equal parts art, education and entertainment