I remember loving Chris Van Dusen's colorful daydream of a book, If I Built a Car. The rhyming verses and expressive illustrations made it fun for the reader as well as the picture-looker. I think that if you looked at our library card history, you would see that we have borrowed that one a number of times.
Then there was Noodle Man: The Pasta Superhero by April Pulley Sayre. That was a hoot! Who knew an entire action-packed book could be filled with a noodle-maker and his pasta. We learned a lot about noodles with this book, as well as, how we could use noodles to stop robbers or help old ladies to cross the street!
We have also fallen in love with John Lithgow as a children's author. I never would have imagined that this silly man could be so poetic! By far, our two favorites by Lithgow would be The Remarkable Farkle McBride (just saying the title makes me smile) and Micawber. In the book about Farkle, we read about a musical prodigy as he struggles to find his niche. With hilarious pictures and delightful rhymes, there is no way to not enjoy Farkle's journey. It's a definite read-aloud book with all it's BOOM's and CRASH's! In Micawber, we read about a little squirrel who loves to visit the art museum. Then one fateful day, he sneaks home with a painter and he's never quite the same! The illustrations in this book are wonderful ... sweet Micawber truly comes alive in this story!
For sweet bed-time books, I love Niccolini's Song by Chuck Wilcoxen and Russell the Sheep by Rob Scotton. In Niccolini's Song, we read about a train conductor that sings his trains to sleep at night. One one night in particular, he faces an even bigger job ... a town full of people needing help to get to sleep. Such a sweet story and the pictures are beautiful. Russell the Sheep is delightfully silly. Scotton's pictures of Russell and his frog friend are so cute and the story is even cuter. A perfect read for anyone who has little one's who have trouble getting settled at night.
Of course, I have to mention a book dear to my heart. That would be, How Much, Woodchuck? by my mom, Linda Louise Ashley. Here is a book that was long in the making ... my mom had the verses written back when I was a wee-one. A few years ago she put the illustrations together and published this fun book. This one we have living in our home ... to be read again and again! :)
My list of Kellum-faves could go on and on ... but there is one more author that I wanted to highlight. Amy Krouse Rosenthal has three wonderful books available that you truly need to read. In each delightful book she presents a typical childhood problem, gives it a splendid little twist and treats us to a snapshot of opposite-world!
For example, in Little Pea, we meet our roly-poly green friend and his family. Everything seems normal enough, but for one thing: Little Pea doesn't want to have to eat his candy. Blech!
In Little Hoot, our tiny feathered friend battles with his parents about not wanting to stay up all night. Why can't he go to bed when all his friends do?!
Finally in Little Oink (perhaps my favorite) we meet a little piggy who hates to make messes and would rather clean his room. We all dream of little kids who say, "May I go clean my room please?"
Each book brings a lighthearted view to some potentially challenging aspects of parenting. Snuggle in for a read and get a fresh perspective about growing up ... and give your kids something funny to think about, too.
I'm looking forward to her future books. If I could place my requests, I would ask for:
- Little Stinky: The skunk who loves to take baths and scrub behind his ears.
- Little Grunt: The burro who loves to help take out the trash ... and bring in the groceries.
- Little Bunny: The little friend who loves to clean out under the refrigerator, washer and dryer.
- Little Woof: The puppy who likes to clean up after himself ... outside.
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