Picture Books::Bears, Goats, Squirrels, And More

 This picture book post is almost back to back with my last one- I am attempting to move it to earlier in the week. The end of the week always seems to get crazy! Anyway, this is sort of a hodgepodge of titles, but all are wonderful books.

                                       
I discovered this book a few years ago through The Read Aloud Handbook by Jim Trelease. It was magical to my boys the first time I read it to them and it is still magical today. When I sat down to read this to James today, both of my older boys ran in to visit one of their old favorites. This story, about a boy that wants to bag a bear for his family (a matter of prestige), is absolutely adorable. Johnny Orchard does bag his bear, but not in the way he expected, and that is when the adventure starts. My boys give this one a "thumbs-up".

I can't remember what made me order the following two books from the library, so I am guessing that they were recommended on a picture book challenge post. I thank the blogger who posted these books- they really are worth reading.

Based on a true account of the authors' grandfather, I found this book very moving- my boys sort of eyed me suspiciously as I choked up a few times (I find myself doing that more as I get older;)). It is not a tearjerker- just an inspirational story of a young boy who wants to make life better for his mother and himself, and his determination to get an education to accomplish that goal. I like that it introduced my boys to Korea (a part of the world we have not learned much about), explained some of the culture of the time, and even introduces a few Korean words to the listener. We all enjoyed reading/listening to this book.

Like the above title, Royal Bee, this is a true story. It is also about a young person striving to receive an education and better her circumstances. The difference between this book and Royal Bee is that it is recent, really ongoing, history. The story is about just what the title says- Beatrice's goat. This goat brings change to Beatrice's life and her family's life in Uganda in a way that Beatrice could never have imagined.  Heifer Project International invited the author of this book to visit East Africa to research a children's book, and this story is the result. I don't know much about Heifer Project, but I think we will look in to it! 

  

Most our reads come from the library, but this one,  not available at our library, was highly recommended on a website that we referenced for our Snowflake Bentley studies. After the many "snowflake" reads that we have gone through lately, I was not sure how interested my boys would be, but they found this book fascinating. The pictures of the snowflakes are amazing, and the information in the book is a nice solid addition to our study. I am glad to have this book for our home library.

A few Don Freeman Books:

I guess this is what you would call a classic- written in 1955 and still going strong. When we visit the library, we often check out several books by one author. This week we checked out a few Don Freeman books (I just found out a few years ago that Corduroy was not his only book!).  About a 6 year old boy who never, ever wants to get his hair cut. This story takes the reader/listener step by step to the inevitable ending of a nice new haircut and a birthday celebration. Fun read!

This one, is about a squirrel's adventure while trying to achieve his independence. Earl the squirrel is spoiled by a human, Jill, who lives nearby. His mother insists that he needs to learn to find acorns on his own.  Earl does so, and takes pride in his new found self-sufficiency.  

18 books read

182 more to go!