Children’s Picture Book Recommendations–Week of December 3, 2023 are by Angela Ferraris, The Retired School Librarian.
(The content below contains Amazon affiliate links. When you buy through these links, she may earn an affiliate commission at no additional cost to you.)
by Laurie Wallmark (Author), Adelina Lirius (Illustrator)
Brief summary: Rivka, a Jewish girl who lived in the Lower East Side of New York City during the flu pandemic of 1918, thought she was going to school but had to delay her first day for several months. Rivka’s father was sick with influenza and had to stay in bed. Her mother had to go to work. Rivka cared for her father and tended to her little sister, Miriam.
The young girl trades working for various stores in the area in exchange for the storeowners’ teaching her how to write and read. She eventually gets to go to school with the help of her community.
Comments: Historical fiction picture books like these should be read to children to help them better understand how lucky they are to go to school and have opportunities so many did not have in earlier times or even today.
Rating: 4/5 đź“—đź“—đź“—đź“—
Continue reading for more details and buying options on this book’s Amazon page.
The Emerald Forest
by Catherine Ward (Author), Karin Littlewood (Author)
Brief summary: Orangutan lives with her children on a rainforest island called Sumatra in Indonesia until a deforesting machine comes and rips out the tree she is in. She and her family are relocated to Bukit Tigapuluh National Park(Thirty Hills).
Comments: I was tearing up when I read this heartfelt picture book; beautifully illustrated. It would be a good story to share with students with an endangered species, environment, or deforestation unit of study.
Rating: 4.5/5 đź“—đź“—đź“—đź“—1/2
Continue reading for more details and buying options on this book’s Amazon page.
Brief summary: Gray Fox walks in the fall woods during a full moon, seeing her reflection in the river before returning to the den.
Comments: The cover of this book is designed beautifully with raised imprints and specks of silver. Although the title is in cursive, the text inside is in block letters.
The gray illustrations were created by the author and his daughter.
This is a short and gentle book, excellent for bedtime.
Rating: 4/5 đź“—đź“—đź“—đź“—
Continue reading for more details and buying options on this book’s Amazon page.
A Letter for Bob
by Kim Rogers (Author), Jonathan Nelson (Illustrator)
Brief summary: Katie, a young girl, writes a letter to their car, Bob, as they have traded him in for a bigger one to match their growing family. She thanks Bob and shares the family’s wonderful(and not-so-wonderful) memories in the car, such as attending the Wichita Annual Dance, the Indian Hills Powwow, their vacations, sports events, and everyday occurrences.
Comments: The story was a mixture of humorous and sentimental memories.
Everyone can relate to this picture book’s story as cars(and other family-owned objects) can seem like family members.
The back sections include Author’s Note, Glossary, and Current Tribal Locations.
Rating: 4/5 đź“—đź“—đź“—đź“—
Continue reading for more details and buying options on this book’s Amazon page.
Wintergarden
by Janet Fox (Author), Jasu Hu (Illustrator)
Brief summary: In the winter, a girl helps her mother grow a garden on the window sill in little pots. The child cares for and tends the plants, harvesting some for their Thanksgiving meal.
When the weather warms up, she looks forward to picking out seeds to grow more plants.
Comments: Directions for how to grow your own wintergarden are at the back of the book.
Rating: 4/5 đź“—đź“—đź“—đź“—
Continue reading for more details and buying options on this book’s Amazon page.
Children’s book titles are carefully handpicked by a certified elementary school librarian who, although retired, still enjoys reading children’s books, especially picture books, and recommending them to busy teachers, school librarians, parents, grandparents, and other book lovers.
Most of the books Mrs. Ferraris reads before recommending are checked out from the public library, except for those much-appreciated complimentary copies sent to her for an honest review. Those are noted.
(The content below contains Amazon affiliate links. When you buy through these links, she may earn an affiliate commission at no additional cost to you.)
On the Edge of the World (Stories from Latin America)
by Anna Desnitskaya (Author), Lena Traer (Translator)
Brief summary: Vera lives on the east coast of Russia. She longs to have a friend and often imagines one enjoying her interests and the places she goes. When it is dark, Vera goes to the beach with her mom and turns her flashlight off and on in Morse code for “hi.”
Lucas lives in Chile and longs to have a friend too. He imagines what it would be like to have someone to play soccer or read a book high up in a tree. In the evening, Lucas and his father go to the beach and turn his flashlight off and on, blinking four short flashes, pause, and two short flashes.
Will these two get a response?
Comments: Half of the book is Vera’s story, and then one flips the book over and reads about Luca’s story. I love upside-down books.
Teachers could share this in social studies. For example: “If we are standing on the eastern section of our school and shine a flashlight at night, what is the closest city, state, or country.
It could also supplement a science class on how far a flashlight’s beam can be seen or even have the students practice Morse Code.
Rating: 4/5đź“—đź“—đź“—đź“—
Continue reading for more details and buying options on this book’s Amazon page.
*I received a complimentary print copy of this children’s book from the publisher to give an honest review.
Carina Felina
by Carmen Agra Deedy (Author), Henry Cole (Illustrator)
Brief summary: Pepe the parrot loves Carina Felina, the cat. He invites her to his house for dinner, where he has made 100 Cuban crackers. Carina Felina ate them all and Pepe! The greedy and narcissistic cat goes through the town, eating and eating everyone she comes across. Will they ever get out of the cat’s belly?
Comments: This is a Caribbean retelling of “The Cat and the Parrot”. There are some Spanish words in the story with a pronunciation key in the back and the recipe for Pepe’s Cuban Crackers.
Rating: 4/5 đź“—đź“—đź“—đź“—
Continue reading for more details and buying options on this book’s Amazon page.
Grandpa and the Kingfisher
by Anna Wilson (Author), Sarah Massini (Illustrator)
Brief summary: A young boy and his grandpa visit the river in the spring and discover a kingfisher diving in the water to catch a fish. They come back in the summer to find two kingfishers building a nest.
The boy and his grandfather keep coming to the river over the seasons, watching the birds’ life cycle.
The boy asks questions about the birds while the man answers, paralleling his life.
Comments: This story does talk about death and how nature continues but gently and matter-of-factly so that children can understand.
Wonderful watercolor illustrations.
Rating: 4/5 đź“—đź“—đź“—đź“—
Continue reading for more details and buying options on this book’s Amazon page.
Colorful Mondays: A Bookmobile Spreads Hope in Honduras (Stories from Latin America)
by Nelson RodrĂguez (Author), Leonardo AgustĂn Montes (Author), Rosana FarĂa (Illustrator), Carla Tabora (Illustrator), Lawrence Schimel (Translator)
Brief summary: Luis lives in Villa Nueva, Honduras, and prefers sharing happy stories with his friends and neighbors to take their minds off unhappiness. He is good at storytelling and likes to retell stories. Monday is when the bookmobile comes for the Hour of the ChochororochochochĂł, where the bookmobile comes to share stories and books. Luis repeats the stories he has heard with his family.
Comments: The back pages tell the factual story of JustWorld International. This would be a wonderful book for children to learn about how other cultures learn about storytelling and books.
Rating: 4.5/5 đź“—đź“—đź“—đź“—1/2
Continue reading for more details and buying options on this book’s Amazon page.
*I received a complimentary print copy of this children’s book from the publisher to give an honest review.
Baller Ina
by Liz Casal (Author, Illustrator)
Brief summary: Ina loves to practice her ballet steps. She changes into her high tops to play basketball, using the steps she has learned in ballet class.
Comments: This is an upbeat book on how athletes can use skills from one sport to another.
Rating: 3/5 đź“—đź“—đź“—
Continue reading for more details and buying options on this book’s Amazon page.
The Baddies
by Julia Donaldson (Author), Axel Scheffler (Illustrator)
Brief summary: A troll, ghost, and witch are baddies who enjoy being bad and bragging about it. A girl moves into a nearby cottage. The baddies devise different ways to scare her but are unsuccessful as she shows them kindness and understanding.
Comments: Young readers will enjoy the humorous story.
This is the author of the two books Room on the Broom and The Gruffalo.
This was originally printed in the UK in 2022.
Rating: 3.5/5 đź“—đź“—đź“— 1/2
Continue reading for more details and buying options on this book’s Amazon page.
Together We Swim
by Valerie Bolling (Author), Kaylani Juanita (Illustrator)
Brief summary: A toddler learns to swim in the pool with the reassurance of his mother and father when he fails and the praise when he accomplishes the steps to swimming without help.
Comments: I recommend this book for preschool and kindergarten teachers looking for fun rhythmic and rhyming text that young readers will enjoy saying aloud.
Perseverance and reassurance after failing a task can lead to success.
Rating: 3.5/5 đź“—đź“—đź“—1/2
Continue reading for more details and buying options on this book’s Amazon page.
Wepa
by J de laVega (Author, Illustrator)
Brief summary: Besides being intelligent, Mia likes to be creative and fashionable but has some things she does not do well. Her Mami says she has too much wepa. Mia tries ballet, hoping to get some of the wepa out, but it does not work. She finally finds an avenue where she releases her wepa.
Comments: According to dictionary.com, wepa means “a Spanish slang used to convey excitement, congratulations, and joy, similar to the English Oh yeah!, Wow!, or That’s awesome!“
The author shares that everyone in her family has ADHD.
This is a bilingual English-Spanish picture book.
Rating: 3.5/5 đź“—đź“—đź“—1/2
Continue reading for more details and buying options on this book’s Amazon page.
The Queen of Chess: How Judit Polgár Changed the Game
by Laurie Wallmark (Author), Stevie Lewis (Illustrator)
Brief summary: Judit and her sisters were trained by their parents to play chess. They competed, with Judit being the youngest. She won junior tournaments against adults. Judit and her family went to the USA, where she competed in games against adults and won. Her goal was to become the youngest grandmaster. She returned to Budapest to study and became the national champion of Hungary. Will Judit’s chess journey lead her to her goal?
Comments: The back pages include Timeline and The Mathematics of Chess.
This is an inspirational story of encouragement, hard work, and perseverance.
Rating: 3.5/5 đź“—đź“—đź“—1/2
Continue reading for more details and buying options on this book’s Amazon page.
The Young Teacher and the Great Serpent (Stories from Latin America)
by Irene Vasco (Author), Juan Palomino (Illustrator), Lawrence Schimel (Translator)
Brief summary: A young teacher is given her first teaching assignment in Las Delicias, in the middle of the jungle in the Amazon. She brings her many books on an eventful four-day journey to the new school, a straw roof with a blackboard against a tree trunk.
She begins teaching and sharing her books for the students to take home. One morning, the children ran by the school, urging her that a great serpent was coming. They must get to higher ground. The serpent does come, destroying everything, including her precious books.
A few days later, around a fire, the women began to share legends from the squares of white fabric they had been embroidering and making into cloth books. The students translated the words for the teacher. Over time, the teacher learned the language of Las Delicias and how to embroider. She decided to stay.
Comments: Young readers will stay interested in the curiosity of how this young teacher’s journey unfolds.
I kept wondering where I would have been sent to teach. I’m thankful I was able to choose myself.
Wouldn’t this be an excellent book to share on a teachers’ professional development day?
Rating: 4/5 đź“—đź“—đź“—đź“—
Continue reading for more details and buying options on this book’s Amazon page.
*I received a complimentary print copy of this children’s book from the publisher to give an honest review.
Children’s book titles are carefully handpicked by a certified elementary school librarian who, although retired, still enjoys reading children’s books, especially picture books, and recommending them to busy teachers, school librarians, parents, grandparents, and other book lovers.
Most of the books Mrs. Ferraris reads before recommending are checked out from the public library, except for those much-appreciated complimentary copies sent to her for an honest review. Those are noted.
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