The best way to educate young readers is to provide picture books that are so irresistible that kids feel a compulsion to pick them up and read them. Here are some educational picture books that appear to accomplish just that feat.
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Being at home during the pandemic is difficult for adults, and for many children, it’s a confusing time. They aren’t going to preschool or school, they aren’t seeing their friends, they aren’t getting to go to the playground to expend energy. And some may not understand why. These picture books will address a range of needs from acting out, feeling inadequate, and making a mistake, to enjoying this new slowed-down life. Some will teach important lessons and others will just be enjoyed as lovely, clever reads.
Dog lovers will be charmed and amused by this little literary gem, with an adorable photo of a dog licking its face on the cover, and more adorable photos of dogs on every page. From pit bulls to pugs, the faces of the dogs and the haikus on each dog’s page are carefully selected for maximum effect. The lovely white poodle with the fancy lion haircut adorns a haiku that reads:
‘Names
Within me there lies
The blood of a million wolves
You named me “Fluffy”‘
Some haikus are so clever and ambiguous, only dog parents will know what they are really referring to. “Lunch, no longer lunch/ Pooling in autumn sunshine/ Becomes again lunch”
There’s many references to poop and balls. The toilet might also be mentioned a few times. After all, it’s a dog who “wrote” these poems. Right? But there are also references to the companionship and love we have for our dogs and they have for us. But mostly, it’s humor. With some poignant exceptions like on poem titled “Going to Live on the Farm:” “Guys, there is no farm/ I wish there was, but there is/ Only nothingness” Heartbreaking haiku.
What makes these poems so enjoyable and so relatable is that they really do seem to express the feelings of our dogs. Loving, resigned, stoic, even disgusting at times, in all ways like our four-legged (usually) best friends.
And to answer the title question? It’s what remains after the surgery to neuter one’s dog, only expressed in rather less technical language.
First posted on Bookreporter.com.
Books about love are perfect read-aloud books for children at any time of the year, but what better gift of love than to bring a child (or parent) a lovely picture book about the many kinds of love we share and need. There are books that celebrate a mother’s love for her child and picture books that celebrate the love of a friend and how important that love can be, and also picture books that celebrate appreciating — and loving — our differences and our uniquenesses. Here are some exemplary choices for reading and gifting to your own loved ones.
Kids and animals — I love fabulous picture books about animals that will get kids hooked on reading. These nonfiction picture books are filled with color and animals, some about specific animals that fly or swim and about a plethora of other animals. One is even poetry about animals. Enjoy this list of books that are perfect for animal lovers and great for any library or bookshelf. Be prepared to read them time and time again for your young animal lover. It’s a long list, but it’s a wonderful one.
Summer brings visions of blue skies, green fields, turquoise waters, and carefree days. Summer days are perfect for sharing poems that will bring the beauty of nature and animals home to us. These three picture books filled with poetry do just that.
“Little Yellow Truck” is by prolific and talented author Eve Bunting and illustrated by 
Kevin Zimmer with a bright cheerful palette. It’s the story of a red dump truck, a green flatbed truck, a blue concrete mixer, and a little yellow pickup truck, all working together to build a children’s park. Little Yellow waits impatiently as the other trucks carry away trash, mix concrete, and bring in lumber. Then Big Green brings in the swings and slides, benches and tables. What will there be left for Little Yellow to do? Don’t worry, Little Yellow has an important job to make the park just perfect! Zimmer manages to create great expressions on the vehicles and kids will love the story of the little guy, worrying and impatient, who finally gets to do his job. (Sleeping Bear Press)
It’s not too late to get books for the children on your shopping list. And there are many great children’s books available for every age and every interest. There’s a plethora of wonderful picture books for children who love to read or listen to books.
It’s back to school time and there are some fabulous picture books to read with young children to talk about school. You will enjoy reading them, your children will enjoy listening to them, and if you chose to donate them to your kid’s classroom, the whole class will read them!
“All Our Wild Wonder” is a small book, but the brilliant tangerine cover surrounds the rectangle containing the title and an illustration of a hand holding a dandelion that is releasing its seeds into the world. It’s a small package containing a powerful poem.
At the center of the poem is Mrs. Ribeiro, “an Indian woman the size of a nightlight,” who glided through the school so effortlessly that children thought she floated. This diminutive principal was so devoted to the students at her school that she would leave meetings whenever a child needed her — even just to read to, or to show a gold star, or to see a finished project.
What do you get when an award-winning author and an award-winning author/illustrator collaborate on a book about love? You get “Love” by Newbery Medal-winning Matt de la Peña and New York Times bestselling illustrator Loren Long.
There’s a new poet in town, and he’s going to give Jack Prelutsky a run for his money. Chris Harris’s “I’m Just No Good at Rhyming and Other Nonsense for Mischievous Kids and Immature Grown-Ups” is filled with many poems and other miscellaneous nonsense (like a “How-are-these-two-pictures-different?” puzzle where — spoiler alert! — both pictures are the same!).
The poems are all filled with humor and are deftly illustrated by Lane Smith. Two pages are filled with the beginnings of poems and a running commentary by Smith about how the poems are too ridiculous and would Harris please try writing a different poem instead. After four no-gos, Smith suggests that Harris write a poem about a monster under the bed, which Harris writes, and which is fabulous (and illustrated).