What Kids Should Read

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.

Read the rest of this entry »

“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

This version of “the boy who cried wolf,” shows that lying causes problems but does not have the violence of the wolf eating the sheep. It is a clever adaptation of the story that not only teaches the boy a lesson but also shows the wolf in a different light. It not only provokes discussion with your child on why we should always tell the truth, but can also create a discussion on why everyone we think is bad may not be.

“Don’t Tell Lies, Lucy!” written by Phil Roxbee Cox takes a satirical approach to telling lies and illuminates the alternative side to lying.

Rather than using the approach of why lies are bad, this book teaches that people who lie always think that everyone else is lying. This is an important concept yet the light and funny tone of the book makes it easy for comprehension.

This book allows for open discussion between you and your children. In addition, it can be read several times as it is not very long. Good luck!