The Monster at The End of This Book

One of my favorite Little Golden Books from childhood, “The Monster at the End of This Book” is a wonderful children’s book. Sesame Street’s famous Grover is very frightened by the idea of a monster and begs the reader at every page not to turn the page and get any closer to the end of the book. He is so afraid that he builds walls and ties ropes to try to keep you from turning pages! Of course the end is not so scary and maybe you can guess who the monster at the end of the book is, but children will love this story and laugh from beginning to end!

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Chicka Chicka Boom Boom!

If you haven’t read this incredibly popular book yet you

need to get it right away! “Chicka Chicka Boom Boom” by Bill Martin Jr. and John Archambault is an alphabet story with a rhythm that will capture the attention of every child in hearing distance. All the letters of the alphabet are running to the top of the coconut tree but “Chicka Chicka Boom Boom, will there be enough room?” What happens when all the letters reach the top? Read this delightful children’s book to find out! To add to the rhyme, the illustrations of Lois Ehlert wil draw young eyes to the page as you read to children.

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Ouch!

The storybook “Ouch” is a retelling of a Grimm story. Natalie Babbitt, author of “Tuck Everlasting”, “The Devil’s Storybook”, and “The Eyes of the Amaryllis” tells this story in a very conversational tone, as if she’s talking to children during a kindergarten circle time.

A baby boy is born with a crown birthmark, which means he will marry a princess. The boy’s parents are thrilled, but the King is not so excited. The King goes through a series of acts to try to keep this “nobody special” from marrying his precious daughter.

He ultimately sends the boy to get three golden hairs from the devil so he can marry the princess. For a “nobody special” the boy turns out to be confident, kind and wise and outsmarts the king and the devil.

This HarperCollins hardcover is beautifully illustrated by Fred Marcellino and children will love following along with the illustrations when the story is read to them. Older children will enjoy reading this for themselves as they learn more difficult words.

HarperCollins 2008 32 Pages

No David!

“No, David!” written an illustrated by David Shannon is based on a book that he first wrote as a child. The first two words he learned to write were “No” and “David”. He made a book that was filled with pictures of him doing things he wasn’t supposed to do and “No David” written across the pages.

David Shannon turned this concept into a delightful children’s book that young children as well as adults reading to children can easily identify with. Shannon’s childlike pictures make each page more interesting than the last. The simple words (there are a few more than just “no” and “David”) will be easy for new readers and listeners to sit through.

This is one of my favorite books because it comes straight from a childhood creation and is written from a perspective of a child. The end of the book shows that David learns some news words, “Yes, David, I love you.”

The Little Squeegy Bug

“The Little Squeegy Bug” by Bill Martin Jr. and illustrated by Patrick Corrigan is a very cute tale about how a firefly came to be. He starts out as a tiny bug that no one knew where he came from, he’s not an ant or a cricket or a flea. With the challenge of Buzzer the Bumble Bee and the help of Creepy the Caterpillar and Haunchy the Spider, he becomes Squeegy the Firefly and goes on to light up the night sky.

This delightful story is entertaining for older children, but with lots of details and pages of dialogue, it may be difficult for younger attention spans. The illustrations are very colorful and the large scale often gives us the bug’s perspective on life.

A very cute children’s book!

Mommy Mine

“Mommy Mine” written by Tim Warnes and illustrated by Jane Chapman is a poem about Mommies in the animal world. Each page shows a different Mommy and Baby animal and sweet pictures of “Mommy kisses”, “Mommy cuddle” and “Mommy chatter”. With alligators, mice, monkeys, birds, elephants and giraffes young children will enjoy learning about “Mommy spiney”, “Mommy tiny” and “Mommy loud”.

This is one of very very few books that my 9 to 18-month-olds in my class will sit through and listen to every word. The rhyme keeps their attention and the pictures give them something bright and colorful to look at. The message of the book is simple “The best mom in the whole world is Mommy Mine”. A very precious children’s book, especially for the youngest listeners.

The Very Hungry Caterpillar

Eric Carle is one of my favorite children’s authors. I would recommend any children’s books written by him. One of my particular favorites is “The Very Hungry Caterpillar”. Carle’s brightly colored illustrations are not only very eye-catching, but they are also very childlike. He does most of his artwork as individual objects on blank white paper to leave some things to the child’s imagination. This story is about a tiny caterpillar that is very hungry. We read about what the caterpillar eats on each day of the week, but he is still hungry! Finally on Sunday he eats and eats and eats…and then he is not such a tiny caterpillar anymore.

As a teacher of young children, I can say that even my youngest kids will sit and listen to this story. The pictures really capture kids attention and the story is very fun and the simple words make it easy for young readers to understand.

Other children’s books by Eric Carle include “1,2,3, to the Zoo”, “Do You Want to Be my

Friend?”, “The Grouchy Ladybug”, and “The Very Quiet Cricket”