The Reading Chair
Trucks Roll! by George Ella Lyon. Illus. by Craig Frazier. 2007. New York: Atheneum/Richard Jackson Books. 32 pp. ISBN 9781416924357. Ages 2 to 5.
Children love watching a truck barrel down the road with cargo in tow, and they’ll especially enjoy the bold and colorful illustrations of trucks carrying oversized loads, like cookies as big as wheels and apples as big as people. This is the stuff of over-the-top childhood fantasies. Lyon’s rhyming text makes this book travel smoothly onward like the road trip it describes, and she always adds a twist: “Stop for traffic lights. Stop for tolls. Stop for pork chops and cinnamon rolls.” Excellent vocabulary (dispatcher, pistons) and information (sleeping in the cab, stopping at the weigh station, coffee when the sun comes up) make this book a good read-aloud or a good addition to the block area.
Where the Giant Sleeps, by Mem Fox. Illus. by Vladimir Radunsky. 2007. New York: Harcourt. 28 pp. ISBN 9780152057855. Ages 2 to 5.
Let Fox and Radunsky lead you on a tour to the land of giants, goblins, pixies, and ogres as only these two can. “This is where the giant sleeps, and here the fairy dozes. Here the pirate lays his head, though one eye never closes.” It’s nighttime when readers meet these mythical residents, who are powerful and soothing at the same time (“And here the ogre shuts his eyes and takes a rest from roaring”). The illustrations, the language, and the characters will surround and cradle young readers and capture for them the magic of nighttime and sleep. A small boy guides the story—the same boy who, at the end of the book, can be seen sleeping in bed with the toys that inspired this fantasy.
Fred Stays with Me! by Nancy Coffelt. Illus. by Tricia Tusa. 2007. New York: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers. 32 pp. ISBN 9780316882699. Ages 3 to 6.
In this excellent book about divorce, a spirited girl divides her time between two homes. No matter which home she’s in, she says her dog Fred “stays with me.” Whether it’s pizza at Mom’s or peanut butter sandwiches at Dad’s, Fred is there waiting for crumbs. Whether she’s sleeping in her bunk bed or her regular bed, Fred is there on the floor. Whether he’s infuriating a neighbor’s poodle at her mother’s house or snatching her father’s socks, Fred is there causing trouble.
Fred offers continuity now that her family life has a few more moving parts. And when each parent gets fed up with the dog’s antics and declares, “Fred can’t stay with me!” the young girl wisely explains, “Excuse me . . . Fred doesn’t stay with either of you. Fred stays with ME!”
This book distills complicated issues into a poignant and reassuring story. In her well-paced writing, Coffelt wastes no words. Tusa’s whimsical illustrations in a red and tan palette pull the book together. While particularly helpful for children struggling with parents’ divorce, this book will be compelling to a wide audience.
Shanté Keys and the New Year’s Peas, by Gail Piernas-Davenport. Illus. by Marion Eldridge. 2007. Morton Grove, IL: Albert Whitman. 32 pp. ISBN 9780807573303. Ages 3 to 6.
Just before New Year’s, Grandma realizes that she has run out of black-eyed peas. For this African American family, it’s not New Year’s without peas. As young Shanté knocks on neighbors’ doors in search of the crucial ingredient, she learns how each one celebrates the holiday. For the Chinese New Year, Miss Lee makes crisp golden dumplings. For Diwali, her Hindu friend Hari eats sweets. Mr. MacGhee, from Scotland, celebrates with haggis and cheese. But what about those peas? Luckily, Auntie Marie has plenty for the Keys family . . . and for all of the neighbors Shanté has invited for a taste. Fast-paced rhyme makes this book roll, and vibrant illustrations add to the energy. With multiculturalism, neighborhood, and family as themes, the book will inspire numerous classroom projects.
A Seed Is Sleepy, by Dianna Hutts Aston. Illus. by Sylvia Long. 2007. San Francisco, CA: Chronicle Books. 32 pp. ISBN 9780811855204. Ages 4 to 8.
Aston and Long knocked us out with An Egg Is Quiet, and we’re happy to report that their shift to the plant kingdom in this sequel is also well worth a good look. In our review of An Egg Is Quiet (The Reading Chair, January 2007), we noted the book’s combination of scientific and artistic strengths. The same is true in A Seed Is Sleepy, where seeds are presented as characters—secretive, fruitful, adventurous, and inventive—and the exquisite, detailed watercolor illustrations teach us how they travel, how they survive, and how they grow.
Readers will enjoy the life cycle diagrams in which pumpkin seeds, beans, rice, and corn kernels sprout on the page. Children will be engaged by the accessible writing: “To find a spot to grow, a seed might leap from its pod, or cling to a child’s shoestring, or tumble through a bear’s belly.” With brief lines of text for young readers and more detailed information for older ones, this is an excellent browsing book for many ages. Education experts decry the decreased time children spend exploring nature today. Let this book be a connection between the classroom and the outdoors.
Isabel Baker, MAT, MLS, is president of The Book Vine for Children, a national company dedicated to getting good books into the hands of preschool children and their teachers. Isabel has worked as a children’s librarian and is currently a presenter on early literacy and book selection.
Miriam Baker Schiffer, MFA, is a writer.
Beyond the Journal—Young Children on the Web, March 2008.
Copyright © 2008 by the National Association for the Education
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