Welcome to this month's children's book reviews. Every
month we review some great children's books. We review the best books to stimulate, educate, and encourage
young readers to develop a strong reading habit. Whether its a simple children's story book to read a child
to sleep, or a book that shows children the exciting worlds they can find through reading, we continue to
search for quality in children's books. We've recently expanded our children's book reviews to include books for teens,
tweens, and preteens.
"Five Little Ducks" is a cute little board book for preschool
children that tells the story of a family of ducks. As each
day ends, the mother duck says, "Quack, quack, quack!" and
one fewer duck comes back to her. Don't worry. There's a
happy ending. Each page has a peephole that shows the little
ducks with a number in the middle. Its a nifty nursery rhyme that
teaches little ones how to count.
This enchanting children's book tells the story of five different kinds of fairies.
It's written in the voice of Wendy Darling of Peter Pan fame, and describes each
kind of fairy with the charm and grace of the Disney movie and, of course, the original
book by J.M. Barrie. Lavishly illustrated with delicate colors, it brings the world
of Neverland to life for your children's imaginations to savor over and over.
Donna Jo Napoli revisits the classic Hans Christian Andersen tale of "The Ugly
Duckling" by setting it in Tasmania and embellishing the original with a host
of new characters from that region. It's a charming story still, of course, told
with great empathy for the poor duckling who doesn't seem to fit
in. Ms. Napoli revamps the story to be told in the voice of Ugly himself,
and aims it at slightly older children (ages 9-12) with details of the new animals
and their Australian habitat. Nicely done.
This time, Donna Jo Napoli takes "The Three Little Pigs" and moves them to
Africa where we meet Mogo the warthog and his two brothers, Mathani and Kebiro. Mogo is the
runt of the litter and the dangers of the African savanna loom large as
he and his brothers are forced out of their burrow to make room for their
mother's next litter. Mogo's brothers are lazy and things don't look good
for them. But Mogo is determined to survive. As he searches for food,
he meets all kinds of animals - rhinos, ostriches, and more. While foraging, he makes a
new friend - a young baboon who is also on his own.
It's a sweet story for young readers that teaches self-reliance and perseverence,
while introducing them to the animals of Africa. Nicely illustrated by
Lita Judge, it's easy to get enveloped in this children's story with all of the exotic
sights and sounds of that fascinating part of the world.
Gerald the baby elephant and Piggie the young pig are good friends. As the
cover notes, Gerald is careful, but Piggie is not. When Piggie gets a new
toy, she can't wait to show it to Gerald. But when she gives it to Gerald
to let him play with it, disaster strikes! Yes, the toy breaks. Piggie
is very upset and tells Gerald she is mad. Gerald says he's sorry, over and
over, but Piggie is still sad. The story has a happy ending when a baby
squirrel picks up the broken toy and makes up a new way to play with it.
Mo Willems is both the author and the illustrator of this excellent children's book
for new readers ages 4-8. The simple cartoon-like pictures are easy to follow,
and tell the story on their own as clearly as the text.
Linda Gerdner gives us a colorful book that gives children a taste of the
Hmong culture. It's the story of a young Hmong boy named Chersheng whose
family now lives in the US, having fled their native Laos. Chersheng has
noticed that his grandfather is forgetting things lately. That's because
he's in the early stages of Alzheimer's. But his grandfather does still
remember many things, and to help pass on his memories to his grandchildren,
he has made a Hmong story cloth that shows scenes from his life back in Laos.
Naturally, there is a lot of pain in this book. But there's an unbreaking
thread of hope and fortitude in how Chersheng comes to understand what's
happening to his grandfather, and also comes to learn about his forebears.
It inspires him to make his own story cloth to bring to school.
Delicate watercolor images accompany each page of the story, which is told
side-by-side in English and in Hmong. It's a treasure in many ways.
Be sure to visit us again next month when we'll
share more great children's books reviews! Our chidlren's book
reviews are written by our Editor, Richard L. Trethewey.
Rainbo Reviews' children's book reviews are published monthly. Back issues of our
reviews are available from the Rainbo Book Reviews Archive.
We're proud to announce that the archive is now searchable so you can find children's books we've reviewed in the past.
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