We recently got back from a weekend trip to the city. It felt odd simply calling it, ‘the city’ because there are thousands of cities and to give it such a distinctive article makes it seem like it’s special simply by its size. These are some of the random things that puddle through my mind. Ride, Roll, Run-Time for Fun! is a picture book that features bold, geometric shapes and a group of kids playing in a big city. This is rhyming picture book fun that’s going to hammer down enjoyment to pre-k kids through kindergarten.
Body positivity on kids movement with happy rhyming textTag: picture book
Wally the World’s Greatest Piano-Playing Wombat, a read along with wit
Once when I was teaching fifth grade I mentioned to some of the students that they weren’t the best and that there would always be somebody better. This elicited a wave of sincere shock and disbelief from them. What about this, what about that were all questions that quickly followed their gape-mouthed expression. These kids needed to read a book akin to Wally the World’s Greatest Piano-Playing Wombat. It holds the title of being the longest-titled book that we’ve read in recent memory. It’s a title so long we couldn’t add any words to our review title, lest it not be accepted by search engines. , as well as being one that elementary kids will love to hear, but also one that readers, won’t mind reading.
Wombat resistance is futilePuppy Bus, a wonderfully goofy book about going to school amidst change
It starts in late June for us. The department stores start to display their back-to-school supplies, I’ll jokingly call it my favorite time of year, and my kids will roll their eyes in dad joke disdain. There’s also a wave of books that come out to comfort kids as to the new schedules, expectations and routines that many of them will experience for the first time. Puppy Bus is a silly picture book that pokes fun at the changes or new routines that those younger ages will go through by imagining that the human student gets on the dog school bus.
Let the cute back to school books beginMy Parents Won’t Stop Talking! will be on your forever bookshelf
The cover of this book is annoying, and that is the point. My Parents Won’t Stop Talking! Is an illustrated book that channels the impatience, imagination, panicked exaggeration, and manic mood swings that kids can have like few books before it. When you read it you’ll remember when you were a kid and your parents would not stop talking. The family was out for a walk, they’d see somehow they know and talk for what seemed like hours. My Parents Won’t Stop Talking! is from the viewpoint of a possibly impatient child as that exact thing happens.
Embrace the choas and go down the rabbit holeThe Sweetest Scoop, a fun picture book on ice cream, ethics and persistence
The other day I heard on the radio that Touch of Grey was released on this date in 1987. They then went on to chat about Jerry Garcia and I immediately regretted not seeing them on tour with my friend in 1988. However, now I’m all about reading, children’s literature, and introducing kids to great books, which bring us to The Sweetest Scoop, Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream Revolution. This is a picture book that examines the rise of the duo in the world of frozen treats and corporate responsibility. Don’t read too much into that last series of words because the book is entertaining, has a great narrative, and will make readers smile, in addition to giving them something to learn.
At the intersection of life, business and ethics is this surprisingly fun picture bookHornswoggled!, a super silly book that runs with wacky words
There’s a box social at the ole Smith place. There’s a difference between using outdated slang and using a large vocabulary. When I teach I often use a larger vocabulary because students need to practice their inference skills, of course, if there are any blank stares or questions I’ll re-state what I just said, and then say it in a way that they’ll understand. Horsnwoggled! is an illustrated book that looks at uncommon slang, peppered with a propensity of alliterations, and is set against a forest of anthropomorphic animals trying to solve a farcical whodunit.
Fun, nothing but fun, and that’s a great thingA Penny’s Worth, a kid’s look at money that most wish was history
The other day our youngest son wanted to cash in all of his coins for paper money. His pirate treasure chest was loaded with jangles and clinks from various coins bouncing together. I explained to him that if he goes to one of the machines that count it for him he’ll be charged, whereas if he counts it himself and goes to the bank, he’ll get all of the money. Of course, being 10 years old and wanting to see a machine do things, he opted for the first choice. A Penny’s Worth is an illustrated book that one hopes will be a historical relic within 10 years. A book on a penny, how quaint, remember when we had that copper-colored useless coin, we’ll all sit back and think. If there’s any justice in the world, A Penny’s Worth will sit alongside the book about Daylight Saving Time as things or concepts that once existed.
A penny saved is two pennies that it cost to do soAaron Slater, Illustrator a picture book that’s wise beyond its years
I’m a very punctual person, but I was really late to the illustrated book party that Andrea Beaty and David Roberts have been putting on. Granted, I have seen them because it is impossible to not see one of their books in a lower to mid-elementary classroom or in their school library. The Questioneers book series’ iconic use of graph paper on their cover images makes it clear that these are illustrated books are kept close to the heart of STEM. Aaron Slater, Illustrator follows the previous book’s blueprints. It has rhyming pages, lovingly detailed art, and has a story that aims high with its stem-tastic appeal that’s disguised as an illustrated book
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Better late than never to discover this illustrated series that exceeds from any angle