Picture Book Challenge

 

These three were for James (7yo).

Giants in the Land -a true story about the giant pine trees that once populated New England. These 200 ft. tall and 4 ft wide trees, used by the Royal Navy for masts, were eventually wiped out. Unlike some children's stories that offer an ecology lesson, this leaves the reader (and the listener) hopeful. It really is an incredible story, and the scratchboard drawings are just stunning.

Virgie Goes to School With Us Boys is inspired by stories that the author's great aunt told about their family's history in post-slavery Tennessee. This book is about Virgie's desire to go to school with her brothers even though it is miles away and means being away from home all week long. Notes about the family that inspired this story and a picture of Virgie's real life brothers are included at the end of the story. We seem to have a theme going in a few of our recent picture books about the desire for education, especially for those who have to fight for the right- puts a different light on "doing school"!

Fearless Jack, a "Jack Tale" from Appalachia, is a take on Jack and the Giant. This Jack takes on wild boars, ferocious bears, and a unicorn all quite by accident, but always in hopes of the reward of money to provide for his mother. An interesting explanation of "Jack Tales" is included in the front of the book. This is fun read- my boys always appreciate a good voice, and this book leaves lots of room for that with sentences that include things like "there's a big ree-ward for the capture of them varmints".... Great for a fun afternoon read.



And three for my grandbabies. 

Book #1 (not shown) was new to me. Let's Dance Little Pookie, like all Sandra Boynton books, is absolutely adorable. This one makes you want to dance and play while you are reading! My 1 year old granddaughter gave this one a two thumbs up! ;)

Book #2, Guess How Much I Love You, needs no introduction. When James (7yo) picked it for me to read with my grandson, I quickly turned it down saying that Nico (18 mo) was not ready for it. James insisted that it was a good book and Nico will like it, so we quickly cuddled up for a read! Can't get much more warm and fuzzy than that.

Book #3- This sweet book, Where Does the Brown Bear Go?, is just perfect to read to the littlest listeners. Again, James insisted that Nico would love reading this book- and he did. This is a great sit down, cuddle up and relax book.


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Comments

  1. UnknownMarch 8, 2011 at 3:28 AM

    As always, you have great book picks!

    ReplyDelete
  2. JoannaMarch 8, 2011 at 9:40 PM

    You seem to have picked some good boy Picture books there, and of courseI have to agree with James, even a newborn would like "Guess How Much I love you?" ;)

    ReplyDelete
  3. MelMarch 9, 2011 at 11:14 AM

    Thank you for stopping by my blog.:) We're actually hoping to visit California this summer, so I'm hoping we can take Jacob to see some of the historical sites like that.
    I would love to read Virgie Goes to School with us Boys. Sounds like a wonderful book; we're starting to study just a bit about slavery, the Civil War.

    ReplyDelete

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