ages 3 – 6

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May 18, 2013 | Published in ages 0 - 3, ages 3 - 6, ages 6 - 9, ages 9 - 12, Children's Books, Children's Non-fiction, Dawn

The Barnes & Noble Guide to Children’s Books

by Dawn

Choosing quality children’s literature can be a tricky task, whether you’re searching the library shelves for something to read with your own child or looking to purchase a gift for a friend’s little one. While there are no limits to the numbers of book blogs offering suggestions (including us!), even those of us who adore children’s books like to consult an expert once in a while, too. Kaylee N. Davis, a children’s book specialist and literary agent, has compiled an incredible collection of titles to recommend in The Barnes & Noble Guide to Children’s Books.

As an early childhood educator and a children’s lit lover myself, I was thrilled to not only recognize every character on the front and back cover, but also to turn the pages in this book and be reminded of so many fabulous books. The guide is broken down in sections by age and unique genres: Newborn to 2 Years; Picture Books Ages 2-6; Chapter Book Series Ages 6-8; Middle Grade Readers Ages 8-12; Innovative Formats; Fairy Tales, Folktales & Anthologies; Poetry; Growing Up; and Nonfiction & Reference, featuring only the “best of the best.” I appreciated the fact that there is a good mixture of work by contemporary authors along with many classic pieces of children’s literature, ensuring that lots of familiar titles will be seen along with many recommendations likely unfamiliar to new parents.

Let me reassure you that this is not simply a collection of titles, for each recommendation features full-color cover images as well as an informative description of each book. Each section also contains essays by beloved authors in that reading level or genre. Parents of toddlers will be happy to see an essay by Sandra Boynton on her influences as a writer, and picture book fans will smile when reading Kevin Henkes express his joy at being an author. Even one of my own personal favorites, Mo Willems, makes an appearance, in an essay that reminded me to encourage my children’s efforts in drawing and writing stories of their own.

If you’re looking for a gift for a new parent, or even an end-of-the-school-year gift for a children’s book loving teacher, be sure to check out The Barnes & Noble Guide to Children’s Books, a guide that will surely be welcomed on any kid-lit fan’s shelf.

Dawn loves reading and talking about children’s literature almost as much as reading the actual books to children. Every summer, Dawn highlights five picture books of the week on her blog, my thoughts exactly.

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Steam Train, Dream Train {Review and Giveaway}

I greatly enjoyed Goodnight, Goodnight, Construction Site (linked to my review) by Sherri Duskey Rinker and one of my favorite illustrators, Tom Lichtenheld. This wonderful duo has once again shown they know where the interests of young children lie, with their new release Steam Train, Dream Train.

Through the darkness, clickety-clack . . .

coming closer, down the track . . .

hold your breath so you can hear

huffing, chuffing drawing near.

As the steam train pulls into the station, the driver signals the animal crew to load up the freight. As in with construction vehicles in their first book, the different types of train cars are described – tender, boxcar, hopper, wellcar and many more.

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Truck Stop {Review and Giveaway}

When I heard that Anne Rockwell had a new picture book coming out, I didn’t hesitate a moment to accept the offer for a review copy. As a preschool teacher for twelve years, I’ve routinely relied on her collection when setting up my classroom book selections. Rockwell has a way of creating engaging stories that provide information on topics of interest to young children, and she has done just that with over 100 titles under her belt!

Rockwell’s newest is Truck Stop, a story about a highway truck stop rest area told through a young boy’s eyes. Each morning, the boy and his parents open the truck stop up for business, and there’s a flurry of activity all before the boy catches his morning bus to school.

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Because I’m Your Dad {Review and Giveaway}

Dads are different from moms. In fact, each parent is different from every other. I like the way this book highlights that, as Ahmet Zappa pays tribute to his father Frank, and yet doesn’t fully bow to all the stereotypes of fun dad versus taking-care-of-business mom.

Please click over to 5 Minutes for Mom to read my full review of Because I’m Your Dad, where you can enter to win the book and the fun monster bowling set pictured below.

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Scaredy Squirrel Goes Camping

Scaredy Squirrel Goes Camping is the latest offering from Melanie Watt and Kids Can Press. I love Scaredy Squirrel (linked to some our past coverage). But until a book showed up on my doorstep, I didn’t even realize that there was a new one out this month. I left it out on the coffee table to be discovered, and sure enough both of my Scaredy Squirrel fans, 9 and 14, dug right in.

Their mom (that’s me) was a little less enthusiastic. I was excited to know it existed in general, but as far as real excitement about the story itself?

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A Long Way Away

Get your little ones ready for a wild ride with a new picture book that features a story that can be read forward or backward! Frank Viva’s A Long Way Away goes from the reaches of outer space to the deep, dark sea, with an adorable creature taking this trip both ways, depending on the direction of the book!

Following the idea of “reverse poetry,” the text of this picture book can be read from front cover to back, or in reverse, telling a different story in each direction. Viva’s illustrations are bright, with a yellow line tracking the mysterious outer space creature’s path of travel, and even young readers will be reminded of Viva’s previous book Along a Long Road, which wowed me in 2011 and was among the many Cybils Awards nominees that I adored (linked to my mini-review).

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Isabella, Star of the Story

Isabella is back, and she’s once again declaring her name to not be Isabella! Fans of the original My Name is Not Isabella (linked to our site’s 2008 review) will be happy to find her joyfully using her imagination once again in Isabella: Star of the Story, a story by Jennifer Fosberry with pictures by Mike Litwin.

This time around, Isabella’s pretending takes on a literary theme. As she and her parents head to the library, Isabella’s imagination soars through six works of classic literature for children, including Peter Pan, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, and Goldilocks and the Three Bears.

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Awesome Dawson

I haven’t ever picked up any graphic novels for our kids and I can’t say that I’m terribly inclined to engage them much in general. Awesome Dawson, by Chris Gall is like a beginners graphic novel. It’s a picture book that is laid out in a comic format. I find reading this type of layout very distracting. There isn’t a natural flow to the sentences and everything about it just feels choppy and disorganized to me.

That said, my boys absolutely love this book.

Awesome Dawson is awesome because he can build anything out of anything. He collects things that people have tossed aside and builds amazing new creations with them.

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Bear-themed Picture Books

Here’s the thing. My family loves Tiger Tales books. We get so excited when their new releases hit our front door step. We are excited because it is almost 100% guaranteed that we will love each and every title that is in the box. This new Spring selection is no exception. Check out some of their new and adorable new books!

In Hands Off My Honey! Bear comes stomping out to his hollow by the big oak tree and roars, “I have a great big jar of delicious honey! And it is ALL mine!” Mouse overhears and determines that Bear is going to share that honey – like it or not!

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Ranger Rick Jr. Appventures App {Review and Giveaway}

Did you know the National Wildlife Federation has a great learning app for iPad? Neither did I! The first in the series is Ranger Rick Jr. Appventures Lions. Produced by the same people who put out Ranger Rick magazines this app lets adventurous kids follow Ricky Racoon and his friends as they learn all about lions.

The app is divided into three categories Explore, Play and Create. This educational and fun app guides young adventures (age 4-7) through a series of animal games, videos, stories, puzzles, jokes and more including

· Photo Safari - a game that asks children to take photos of all the lions in Lars’ pride.

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Lisa Loeb’s Songs for Movin’ & Shakin’

Do you and your kids like to dance and sing together? Well, get ready to boogie down with a new book and CD made for music-loving kids, Lisa Loeb’s Songs for Movin’ and Shakin’.

Yes, you remember Lisa Loeb, the cool chick with the distinctive glasses whose song “Stay (I Missed You)” hit number one in the early 90s and was on the radio almost nonstop. Loeb is quite the multi-talented performer, and her energy and voice are perfectly suited for upbeat children’s songs that adults will be happy to play for their children.

My kids and I popped this CD in the other day while we were playing a board game together.

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Take Me Out to the Yakyu

It’s baseball season, and Take Me Out to the Yakyu by Aaron Meshon is a fun way to look at the joys of experiencing baseball as a family. The little something extra is that the boy in this story gets to enjoy baseball on two continents.

He loves baseball in America and in Japan. Each page contrasts the different ways they enjoy baseball, from the food the eat, the way they get to the stadium, how they prepare, how they cheer and more.