Author: Eva Furrow and Donna Jo Napoli; illustrated by Laurel Molk
Perfect read for a fast hyper stimulating world we live in. Harriet, the tortoise, goes on a vey satisfying and enjoyable adventure spanning seasons. Knowing her shortcoming in speed, she shows the value in planning ahead and leaving early, which I am very bad at. So it naturally resonated with me and definitely with the five year old.
Author: Drew Daywalt Pictures: OLiver Jeffers
The premise is that the crayons in a little boy’s crayon box write letters to him asking him to address their points of distress (I think one does not have any distress and is a letter of thanks) . In a day and age where even explaining email to a 5 year old is difficult, the concept of writing letters is a little alien to them. But the book is an absolute ripper because of the illustrations. As each one of their crayons grow through their emotions, the pages come alive with the corresponding colors. The final page where the boy makes amends is a refreshing, imaginative blast of color where you can tell your child that it is perfectly OK not to conform to the norms .
Author: Adam Rubin. Illustrator: Daniel Salmieri
I love the ridiculous idea. I kept searching to see if the dragons are being used as a metaphor for kids. But no, the dragons really love tacos. They end up eating a few forbidden ones and they do some crazy things for humans but stuff that is on par for dragons. The illustrations by Daniel Salmieri are a delight. Pant Loads of Tacos and Boatloads of Tacos always make my 5 year old laugh out loud. The sequel did not work for her. The idea of a time machine was too much for her to wrap around. But the first book is a stroke of genius.
Author and Illustrator: “The OG” Maurice Sendak
This is a tribute to the wild imagination inside every child, who wants to command a army of wild things and rule them. There is a Max in all of us. The visuals draw you in bringing out child’s impishness, courage, valor , hunger, anger, enjoyment and vulnerability. The wild things are scary and adorable. My appreciation for Sendak only grew when I saw him in an interview with Stephen Colbert (I am colbert fan boy) and Sendak absolutely owned Stephen in the interview
This is another book that was written in the early 1940s . I fear I might have to drop the word – “Classic”. (Read Mark Tawin’s quote on Classics and you will know the reason for my apprehension). A Mallard and his wife take you on a tour of Boston as they attempt to start a family. The family with fantastic duck names experience wonderful human kindness and thrive in the public parks of Boston. An uplifting book with a great room for conversation with the kids.
This book came out in 1930. Almsot one hundred years later, it still maintains its appeal. If I showed my 5 year old a stack of books, she would clearly pick this out and ask to read it. I have even asked her why she loves it so much and she says it has trains and toys. One hundred years later, certain things maintain their eternal charm and capture our imagination. I have only read the edition with newer art by Loren Long but the art in this truly captivating as well
Santa gifted this book for the five year old for this year’s Christmas. The Book tracks the story of a grumpy lonely bear and a mouse desperate to befiend him. While the graphics landed well and she found the story enjoyable, she couldnt really get why the bear did not like visitors or friends.
This is a really funny book. The therapy suggestions offered by Mr. Mutt to troubled dogs brought out waves of laughter from the five year old. I dont think she quite grasped the format. of the book but she loved the silliness and the graphics of the book.
[Update: We had borrowed this book from the library. She returned it with a heavy heart. She has asked me repeatedly about owning the book]
Author: Grace Lin
The graphics in this book left me spellbound. Simple and beautifully illustrated on a dark background, the book cleverly talks about the waxing phase of the moon. Not a lot of books show up in the dark background and the novelty does add to the appeal of the book
My daughter loved this book. The desire to have something lofty and through continuous discussions (illustrated realistically, playfully) the parents manage to bring down expectations to a level where both sides feel they won the day. But in the day, there is always only one winner.
My daughter who is beginning to read and count large numbers went back to the book multiple times.
My five year old daughter was a little perplexed why the boy was not listening to his teacher and I do not think the theme got to her. She did enjoy the illustrations as she was telling me about how the boy must have been feeling but this book did not work for us.
When I read books to my toddler, I am most satisfied when it brings out a smile in them. She couldn’t stop giggling halfway through No David when the kid steps out to the street and his mom is yelling “No, David”. This is a beautifully illustrated book and fully deserves the Caldecott Honor. The happy ending is a predictable touch but it fully got the “Aw, Aw” from the kids.
” The X was X-rayed” exclaims my kindgartner everytime we read the book. This book by Chris Allsburg where each character is introduced with a sense of theatre is a suspenseful read even for grown ups as we try to guess what scene each alphabet is depicting based on the picture. I like the way the author reveals the alphabet in the first page and in the next page reveals what is being done to alpahbet on stage giving us ample time to be creative with our imagination
The fun fact about this book is it is written in Insect Language with English alphabets. So it is really hilarious to decipher what the insects are talking and you can let your imagination run wild. The astounding visuals on each page help your broaden that creativity. We have discussed butterfly life cycles, seasons, plant growth, life forms dependent on plants while reading this book. One more book which we did not return after the normal lending period and kept renewing it. “Icky, Icky, Icky”
I read nightly to my five year old and I am reading her Caldecott medal winning books or Caldecott Honor books.
We recently read the Knight Owl by Christopher Denise. The illustrations are perfect – an owl who wants to be a Knight who is perservering, clever and strong. The reveal in the section where he smartly escapes and befriends the dragon is so humorous. We borrow 10-12 books from the library every week and she held on to this one for a while . We read it multiple times over multiple weeks. We definitely recommend it.
Book Link: https://bookshop.org/p/books/knight-owl-christopher-denise/16321815?ean=9780316310628