What Kids Should Read

If your child is extremely inquisitive and  loves to learn this is the book is for them. While you may sensor some of what you want to read the book is interesting and captivating to children. Everything from Ants, barf, leaches,rats to cannibalism is discussed at length. Children will truly get an idea of what these things really mean, My son is only four and he loves hearing about the different topics and has even learned quite a few things that he still remembers. This shows me that not only is he interested in the topics as I am reading them, but he is learning. I love this book and find myself learning things I never knew as well. I do skip certain things while reading, as it is a bit too much knowledge for a four year old, but still find it worth it. Every day he looks forward to me reading about another “nasty” topic.

This classic tale brought to life again with new art by Loren Long has a “good Samaritan”  feel to it. It teaches the wonderful lessons of self determination, having faith, helping others, and showing compassion, It also teaches what the emotions of arrogance, selfishness, and helplessness are. These are just as important because they are words that your child should know about and when you discuss with your child, you empower them. By teaching them all the important lessons in this book you are teaching your child to be a better, stronger, ore well rounded person. This book is a must read for every child. Their is also  a lot of information about trains for all those children who are transportation lovers.

Once again Dr. Seuss brilliantly captures the humor of a child and blends it with literacy skills. The child in this book refuses to wake up and goes through the various scenarios in which he won’t wake up. This book is very easy to retell and the use of repetition makes it a good choice for early readers. Subtly though, is the topic that sometimes we all feel a certain way and  that is  acceptable. At the end of the book the mom decides to listen and let the boy sleep. What a great way to discuss with your child how he or she feels. It makes us realize that even though are children are little in age they still have big emotions.

This book wonderful makes children laugh out loud. It is just a silly book written with clever text that help children learn world families. Learning word families and rhyming patterns also help children learn to read. Once given the ending sound children are able to attach the first letter sound and read words. The funny scenarios in the book will leave your child smiling and talking about the times when its okay to be silly.

Beautifully Illustrated by Lisa Canney Chesaux

This book is a great way to introduce a child to art. It has a light story that focuses on a French frog who ends up living in the garden Monet liked to paint. Children are able to learn a little bit about the artist and his great style and use of color. A side benefit from this book is that it teaches children that though Philippe is different from the other frogs and endures a lot of teasing, he is still special. All children need to be reminded of how special they are and to not let teasing bother them. This book is a great way to open up discussion.

This book deals with the very important issue of bullying. It teaches children the importance of treating people the same way you want to be treated. We see the main character Lucas in both roles as someone who gets bullied and someone who bullies. The ants teach him a strong and powerful lesson by introducing him to their world. Once in that world Lucas is able to learn valuable lessons. These lessons include working together, the importance of all creatures on earth, and that everyone has feelings. This book also teaches about life in the ant colony and can open up discussion and research about the life of ants.

Though this book is a bit wordy it does a fantastic job of teaching children about nightmares. It takes away the scary parts of a nightmare and explains in fact that dreams are really just your brains jumbled thoughts at night. It also does a great job of showing that anyone can have bad dreams when both brother and sister have two different types of nightmares. Moat importantly brother and sister are able to turn to comfort from their parents. This helps to open discussion and shows children that they can discuss anything with thier parents. If your child has bad dreams, this is the book for them. Read the rest of this entry »

This story is a great sharing and caring book for parents and young children. This book has very few words but is full of laughter and also teaches some basic life concepts: Sometimes we say no to things we really enjoy, sometimes we might not realize we like something until its gone, and sometimes its just fun to be silly. The book also provides great sensory textures for your child which is wonderful since young children learn best from hands on experiences. Most importantly the laughter and fun that you will have with your child makes this book worthwhile.

Eric Carle’s The Very Hungry Caterpillar teaches children several major concepts in one tiny book. On the surface you can utilize the book to teach the basic life cycle of the butterfly. If you look a little deeper, their are lessons about the days of the week, counting, color, time of day, and even nutrition. As you can see this book can be a spring board into many exciting areas of learning for your child. The other aspect of this book worth mentioning is the art. Their is a distinctive style in all fo Eric Carle’s books that can lead to hands on art experiences for your child. Lastly the book very carefully uses repetitive language making it easy for children to retell from memory, one of the first steps when learning how to read.

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“The Featherless Chicken” written by Chih-Yuan Chen teaches children that even though you can be teased by other people underneath those people are just like you. This book shows the story of a chicken wanting to be like everyone else but underneath it all everyone else was just like him