Children’s Book Reviews

Update: Due to sickness and preparing for company (plus a birthday party), I was not able to post this week. I have been working though on some reviews and activities that I will share next week!

Children’s book reviews from last week:

The Stourbridge Lion: America’s First Locomotive by Karl Zimmermann and illustrated by Steven Walker
This beautiful picture book is the latest installment by Karl Zimmermann’s books about trains. Even children who don’t care for non-fiction will enjoy the well told story about The Stourbridge Lion and will learn all about trains in the process.

Under the Baobab Tree by Julie Stiegemeyer and illustrated by E.B. Lewis
Soothing lyrical prose combined with oil pastel illustrations make this picture book stand out among the typical books produced for Christian children. The emphasis of the church cross-culturally is also refreshingly unusual.

My picture book recommendations of the week:

The Magic Fan written and illustrated by Keith Baker tells the story of a Japanese boy named Yoshi who loves to build but doesn’t know what to build next. He finds a magic fan that reveals new ideas to build in a timely manner to save his village from a tsunami. Each page spread features a fan inlay that opens up to show the next part of the story.

Artist to artist: 23 Major Illustrators Talk to Children About Their Art. Older children will enjoy these letters written to encourage artist ability accompanied by samples of the various artists’ work. I especially liked that this book included some samples of the artists’ early childhood artwork.

I, Vivaldi by Janice Shefelman and illustrated by Tom Shefelman. This historical fiction/biography about Vivaldi’s life will certainly interest children in his music. The illustrations are bright and the story imaginative. This picture book would be paired wonderfully with a CD of Vivaldi’s Four Seasons. The back contains a paragraph summary explaining what facts of Vivaldi’s life inspired this story.

Next on my list of children’s book reviews is:

Eddie: The Lost Youth of Edgar Allan Poe by Scott Gustafson – Scott Gustafson is one of my favorite illustrators so I had to check out his new middle grade illustrated novel. I will be posting a review early this week!

Machines: Go to Work in the City by William Low – This picture book is imaginative and fun to read. I can’t wait to tell you more about it!

I also am working on a round-up post of books and activities about Red Riding Hood.

What else have I been up to?

I recently joined the Kid Blogger Network and am excited about the collaborative possibilities with so many imaginative and talented women. I also added my Google + page to my sidebar as a new way to follow my blog.

You may have noticed that I no longer am automatically including a interior photo of the books that I review. Although my understanding of copyright laws allows for a photo within a review, I’ve noticed that many publishers ask that a permission letter be obtained to include a sample of the interior.  Rather than risk being sued, reported to Google, or harming those who create these books, I will not post a sample unless I have the proper permissions. 

This post is linked to: We Teach Mentor Texts, It’s Monday What Are You Reading, Book Sharing Monday, and What My Child Is Reading