A good book fills a reader’s time. A great book fills a reader’s mind. An unforgettable book raises questions. I’ve noticed this in other forms of media, too. Television shows and movies that raise questions are more memorable. This makes sense. The brain is uncomfortable with unanswered questions, and it will pursue answers long after […]
We were asked to provide a quality collection of 25 titles for an Early Childhood conference this month. We sent 25 titles, but were ready with 35 more! Here are all 60 recommended titles. Here’s a handout we gave to conference attendees. Please share it with your Early Childhood parents and teachers!
This month’s 12 (mostly) biographies represent many walks of life and periods of time—most interestingly, some of their paths could have crossed. Their stories challenge us to live a story worth writing about. (Check out our History’s Stories pages to find these stories and more arranged chronologically.) Winnie: The True Story of the Bear Who […]
This month we highlight 12 nonfiction titles for a variety of ages. Some are novel in their approach to conveying information, while others inspire by exquisite writing, sound reasoning, or well-balanced visual design and historical retelling. Feathers: Not Just for Flying by Melissa Stewart, illustrated by Sarah S. Brannen (Random House, 2014) Publisher Summary Young […]
The Rumor by Monique Felix (Chronicle, 2011) Publisher Summary Word travels quickly through a peaceful village when a hungry beast is spotted in the hills. Some say he has ears that can hear a potential meal from a mile away! Others declare that his stink is enough to kill you with just one whiff! Still […]
Courage by Bernard Waber (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2002) Publisher Summary What is courage? Certainly it takes courage for a firefighter to rescue someone trapped in a burning building, but there are many other kinds of courage too. Everyday kinds that normal, ordinary people exhibit all the time, like “being the first to make up after […]
Lost in Bermooda by Mike Litwin (Albert Whitman & Co., 2014) Publisher Summary Bermooda has no “outsiders,” and most prefer to keep it that way. That is, until Chuck ventures into the boneyard alone and discovers a young human boy who has been washed up unconscious on the sandbar! The young boy’s name is Dakota […]
The Day the Crayons Quit by Drew Daywalt (Penguin, 2013) Publisher Summary Poor Duncan just wants to color. But when he opens his box of crayons, he finds only letters, all saying the same thing: His crayons have had enough! They quit! Beige Crayon is tired of playing second fiddle to Brown Crayon. Black wants […]
Oliver Twist adapted by Juliette Saumande from the novel by Charles Dickens, illustrated by Daniela Volpari (Auzou, 2013) Publisher Summary This is an illustrated adaptation for children of the famous novel by Charles Dickens. In nineteenth-century England, a young boy named Oliver Twist is driven out of his orphanage. Placed with an undertaker who mistreats him, […]
