by Nancy Pearl
DEATH AND DYING
One of the hardest things a parent ever has to do (more difficult, I think, than explaining just where babies come from) is help a very young child understand the concept of death, whether the particular death has to do with a beloved family pet, a friend, or a family member. I’ve found these books particularly useful in meeting the challenge, and I have to say that in my own adult life I’ve found them to be comforting at times of sorrow, as well.
First published in 1982, Leo Buscaglia’s The Fall of Freddie the Leaf is one of the earliest children’s books to deal with this subject. It remains one of the best ways to help young readers see that death is a part of life.
Although Margaret Wise Brown is best known for Goodnight Moon (often the first book that parents read to their children), I’ve always preferred the elegiac and heartbreakingly realistic The Dead Bird, the story of a group of children who find a dead bird and decide to have a funeral for it.
Writing in verse about a young boy’s grief, poet Lucille Clifton describes how difficult it is for Everett when his father dies, in Everett Anderson’s Goodbye. Ann Grifalconi’s soft pencil drawings make a perfect pairing with the text.
What a lucky little boy Tommy is, to have both a grandmother (Nana Downstairs) and a great-grandmother (Nana Upstairs) to visit every Sunday with his mother and father. As Tomie dePaola shows us in Nana Upstairs and Nana Downstairs,Tommy appreciates it too—just take a look at the priceless picture of Tommy and Nana Upstairs eating candy and talking together. But then Nana Upstairs dies—and Tommy learns about love and loss.
“Sweet” is a much-overused adjective for describing children’s books, but it so perfectly fits Cynthia Rylant’s Dog Heaven and Cat Heaven that it’s impossible not to use it here. Any child who’s lost a much loved pet will take comfort from these.
Three other contemporary classics on this topic include Susan Varley’s Badger’s Parting Gifts, Judith Viorst’s The Tenth Good Thing About Barney, and Hans Wilhelm’s I’ll Always Love You.
A DOG’S LIFE
Based on the number of top-notch books in this category, it’s clear that publishers, artists, and authors believe that many kids (I was certainly one) want to spend much of their reading time in the company of dogs.
You won’t soon forget Orville, the main (dog) character in Haven Kimmel’s Orville: A Dog Story, who wants only to live life without a chain around his neck and with people who love him.
Is Harry a white dog with black spots, or a black dog with white spots? You’ll know for sure after reading Harry the Dirty Dog by Gene Zion.
When a stray dog is finally adopted, he gets a new name—but what shall it be? Stephen Michael King explores the choices (which range from Radiator to Winston) in Mutt Dog!
The only thing that makes Officer Buckle’s safety lessons bearable to the school children watching him is that police dog (and ham at heart) Gloria acts them out—to everyone’s delight, in Peggy Rathmann’s Officer Buckle and Gloria.
Marjorie Flack’s Angus Lost, Angus and the Ducks, and Angus and the Cat are all about a Scottish terrier, who is insatiably curious about so many things.These books, originally published in the 1930s, are still a treat to read today.
There are groan-worthy puns galore in Dav Pilkey’s hilarious The Hallo-Wiener, about a dachshund whose mother (wisely or unwisely) dresses him up for Halloween as a hot dog in a bun.
My husband’s favorite Little Golden Book (one of the original dozen books published in this most-loved series) was The Poky Little Puppy by Janette Sebring Lowrey, in which an adventurous puppy learns there are sometimes dire consequences to being late.
Carl, the Rottweiler who stars in Alexandra Day’s Good Dog, Carl (and its many sequels), demonstrates just how capable a babysitter he is.You can also meet Carl in Carl’s Sleepy Afternoon and Carl’s Birthday, among others.
In “Let’s Get a Pup!” Said Kate by Bob Graham, after visiting an animal shelter, the family ends up with not one, but two new dogs. (I love the tattooed mom.) Another good dog adoption story is Marc Simont’s The Stray Dog.
Using colorful illustrations and a minimum of text (making this appropriate for the very young reader) in Whistle for Willie, Ezra Jack Keats describes Peter’s attempts to learn to whistle for his pet dog.
The adventures of the main character in Clifford The Big Red Dog by Norman Bridwell show that it’s okay to be different, even though it’s not always easy.
Cynthia Rylant must love dogs—how else could she have come up with The Great Gracie Chase: Stop That Dog! about a brown-and-white dog who just wants peace and quiet and (all the way back in 1987) Henry and Mudge, the first in a long-running easy reading series about the love between an enormous English mastiff and his little boy. (My particular favorite is Henry and Mudge and the Great Grandpas.)
I adore Fergus, a West Highland terrier who has a great day in David Shannon’s Good Boy, Fergus! (We should all have his energy.)
If your child is up for quirks and kookiness, offer him or her Maira Kalman’s oddball series of books about Max Stravinsky, a (dog) poet and Hollywood director, including Ooh-la-la (Max in Love), Max in Hollywood, Baby, and Swami on Rye: Max in India. You’ll find them delightful, too. In fact, you might enjoy them more than your child will.
In The Sweetest Fig by ChrisVan Allsburg, a dentist is thwarted in his chance to have his dreams come true when his dog eats the second of two magical figs.
It’s a well-known fact that chicken soup is good for you, but Susan Meddaugh shows us the benefits of homemade vegetable soup—at least for dogs—in Martha Speaks, which depicts the curious effects of eating some of Granny’s alphabet soup, and Martha Blah Blah, which describes what happens when some letters are omitted from the soup.
EASY AS 1, 2, 3: COUNTING BOOKS
Based on their books, it seems clear to me that many illustrators love to set themselves a challenge: to come up with an inventive, attractive, and inviting counting book—putting those everyday numbers to work entertaining (and, dare we say, educating) a child (and the parent reading to him or her). Here are some of my favorites:Mitsumasa Anno’s Anno’s Counting Book
Sandra Boynton’s Hippos Go Berserk!
Eric Carle’s 1, 2, 3 to the Zoo and The Very Hungry Caterpillar
Eileen Christelow’s Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed
Emma Chichester Clark’s Mimi’s Book of Counting
Lisa Campbell Ernst’s Up to Ten and Down Again
Valorie Fisher’s How High Can a Dinosaur Count?: And Other Math Mysteries
Mordicai Gerstein illustrates counting backwards from ten in Roll Over!
Paul Giganti, Jr.’s Each Orange Had 8 Slices (illustrated by Donald Crews)
David Kirk’s Miss Spider’s Tea Party
Satoshi Kitamura’s When Sheep Cannot Sleep
Laurie Krebs’s We All Went on Safari: A Counting Journey Through Tanzania, with illustrations by Julia Cairns
April Pulley Sayre and Jeff Sayre’s One Is a Snail, Ten Is a Crab: A Counting by Feet Book (the pictures are by Randy Cecil)
FAIRY TALES (FRACTURED OR NOT)
I always found fairy tales too frightening to read when I was a child; all those Brothers Grimm stories were just, well, too grim for me. As a consequence, I didn’t read very many of them to my own children when they were young. However, I think that I am (was) probably in a minority, and, in fact, if these particular books had been around all those years ago, I might have really enjoyed reading them.
What’s fun about this section is that for nearly every fairy tale, there’s a fractured version as well, and it’s a joy to see what evident pleasure the writers and illustrators took in these new versions. I’ve also included here versions of fairy tales from other cultures.
Cinderella
In The Gift of the Crocodile: A Cinderella Story, Judy Sierra draws together bits and pieces of the classic tale from all over the world, but places her version of Cinderella in Indonesia. Her heroine,
Damura, treats a crocodile with respect, as her mother always taught her, and reaps many benefits as a result, including the love of a handsome prince.The stepmother and stepsister are appropriately wicked, but they get their comeuppance, which will please young readers. The colorful illustrations by Reynold Ruffins beautifully reflect the Spice Islands setting of the story.
Probably the oldest version of Cinderella comes from China, and in Ai-Ling Louie’s Yeh Shen: A Cinderella Story from China, with delicate and almost other-worldly pictures by EdYoung, young readers can enjoy this story of a young woman who gains all her heart desires as a result of her kindness to a magic fish.Who needs fairy godmothers, anyway?
The Frog Prince
It turns out that the frog (who had to search around a lot to find someone who would kiss him and turn him back into a man) and his princess aren’t really getting along, and the prince has a feeling he might be happier back as a frog—but how can he manage that? Jon Scieszka offers an answer in The Frog Prince Continued.
Hansel and Gretel
Hansel and Gretel by Will Moses has gorgeous folk-art illustrations that add warmth to a classic retelling of the original Grimm Brothers’ story.
Jack and the Beanstalk
The vibrant and lively illustrations (done in watercolor, acrylics, and colored inks) in Steven Kellogg’s Jack and the Beanstalk are reason enough for stalwart kids to seek out this straightforward version of the tale—and they won’t want to miss meeting the downright terrifying giant, who’s a chartreuse-y sort of color.
In his delightfully contrary fashion, Raymond Briggs introduces Jim, the hero of Jim and the Beanstalk, and offers a post-Jack view of the giant’s situation, now that he’s old and unable to subsist on little boys. Lucky for him, Jim is such a good kid. Pair this with Kellogg’s book for a treat for the children in your life.
Little Red Riding Hood
Carmine:A Little More Red by Melissa Sweet is both a fractured retelling of Little Red Riding Hood and a most inventive alphabet book, something I didn’t even realize until I finished reading it.The illustrations are adorable—there’s no other word for them—and there’s even a recipe for vegetable soup included.
Kids will giggle at Jake Gander, Storyville Detective: The Case of the Greedy Granny by George McClements, starting with the opening line (“My name is Jake Gander. I’m a cop. My beat: Storyville, a fairy-tale town where endings aren’t always happy. My job is to rewrite them.”), all the way to the last picture, in which the Three Bears open his office door with another case for Jake to solve. One of my favorite cases is when Jake investigates a grandmother whose behavior is causing her granddaughter Red to become suspicious—she now has “[f]ur pajamas that never came off, really sharp teeth, and rabbit breath.”
The well-known and well-regarded illustrator Trina Schart Hyman’s version of Little Red Riding Hood was a Caledecott Honor Book in 1983, and it’s easy to see why it was selected. The illustrations are richly captivating, and although both the disobedient little girl and her grandmother are devoured by the hungry wolf, they’re later rescued by a kindly woodsman.Thank goodness.
Ed Young’s Lon Po Po: A Red-Riding Hood Story from China is a powerful retelling of the Grimm tale; it was awarded the Caldecott medal in 1990. In this version, three little girls are left alone while their mother is away from home.When a sinister wolf (very scarily depicted) pretends to be their granny, it takes a smart little girl named Shang to see beneath the disguise and dispatch him to his death.
Puss in Boots
Charles Perrault’s original tale has never been better illustrated than in the version of Puss in Boots by Fred Marcellino, which was a Caldecott Honor Book in 1991. Puss’s clever plans succeed in getting his originally ungrateful owner all that he dreamed of and more, including the hand of a princess in marriage. And your children will love to see Puss dressed to the nines, tall leather boots and all.
Rapunzel
There needs to be a lifetime achievement award for artists like Paul O. Zelinsky: there’s not one of his books that is not worth seeking out. He’s won prizes galore for many of his books like Hansel and Gretel and The Story of Mrs. Lovewright and Purrless Her Cat, including his version of Rapunzel (winner of the 1998 Caldecott Medal), which he’s illustrated in the style of an Italian Renaissance painting, making marvelous use of trompe l’oeuil to both captivate and fool the eye.
Rumpelstiltskin
Rumpelstiltskin is another triumph by Paul O. Zelinsky. Its full page illustrations in oil lend the familiar story a warmth and depth that will enthrall both children and adults.
Virginia Hamilton’s The Girl Who Spun Gold, her West Indian version of the tale of a mysterious man who can spin straw into gold, is illustrated by Diane and Leo Dillon. Here Rumpelstiltskin is known as Lit’mahn, and his contest with Quashiba is presented in a lilting Caribbean rhythm and dialect. The pictures are simply gorgeous—textured patterns, multi-colored, and tinged everywhere with gold leaf.
Sleeping Beauty
It’s not hard to tell from the title that Will and Mary Pope Osborne’s Sleeping Bobby is a fractured retelling of the Brothers Grimm tale of a princess who sleeps for a hundred years. In the Osbornes’ version, it’s an 18-year-old prince who falls prey to the curse of a wicked woman and into the century-long nap, and a very perfect princess who awakens him with a kiss. Giselle Potter’s humorous illustrations are a perfect complement to the text.
The Three Little Pigs
I just love David Wiesner’s sense of humor, and it’s at its best in The Three Pigs, which he begins in the old familiar way but then branches off into a wild flight of imagination that can’t help but make readers of all ages chuckle in appreciation.
Eugene Trivizas’s The Three Little Wolves and the Big Bad Pig is made special by Helen Oxenbury’s amusing illustrations.
Other great renditions of this tale include The Three Little Pigs by James Marshall and The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs! as told to Jon Scieszka by Alexander T. Wolf, who was, quite simply, framed. I kid you not!
FOLK TALES
One of the best ways to get a feel for the soul of a country is to read its folk tales.There are collections of folk tales for middle-grade readers as well (see “Myths, Legends, Folk and Fairy Tales” in Part II), but the ones listed below have wonderful illustrations and are highly recommended for reading aloud, as well.
Beautiful Blackbird by Ashley Bryan (a folk tale from Zambia)
The Bossy Gallito: A Traditional Cuban Folk Tale by Lucía M. González
Crocodile and Hen: A Bakongo Folktale by Joan M. Lexau (from the French Congo)
The Faithful Friend by Robert D. San Souci, illustrated by Brian Pinkney (from the French West Indies)
Fat Cat: A Danish Folktale, retold by Margaret Read MacDonald
Fly, Eagle, Fly: An African Tale, retold by Christopher Gregorowski, with watercolor illustrations by Niki Daly (and a foreword by Archbishop Desmond Tutu) takes place in a small village in South Africa
The Flying Witch by Jane Yolen (this story of the witch Baba Yaga comes from Russia)
Frog Went A-Courtin’ by John Langstaff is a retelling of a traditional American song—and you’ll find yourself singing the words aloud as you share this with children
The Hatseller and the Monkeys: A West African Folktale by Baba Wagué Diakité
Head, Body, Legs: A Story from Liberia by Won-Ldy Paye and Margaret H. Lippert, illustrated by Julie Paschkis
Honey . . . Honey . . . Lion!: A Story from Africa by Jan Brett (Botswana)
Hosni the Dreamer: An Arabian Tale by Ehud Ben-Ezer, with pictures by Uri Shulevitz
The Hunter by Mary Casanova (a beautifully illustrated tale from China)
The Hunterman and the Crocodile: A West African Folktale by Baba Wagué Diakité
It Could Always Be Worse, a Yiddish folk tale by Margot Zemach
John Henry by Julius Lester, with illustrations by Jerry Pinkney (Traditional American)
Th
e Legend of the Persian Carpet by Tomie dePaola
Mabela the Clever by Margaret Read MacDonald (Sierra Leone)
The Mitten: A Ukrainian Folktale by Jan Brett
Monkey King by Ed Young (China)
Mufaro’s Beautiful Daughters: An African Tale by John Steptoe (Zimbabwe)
The Red Lion: A Tale of Ancient Persia by Diane Wolkstein (the illustrations by Ed Young resemble ancient Persian miniatures)
