Looking for summer stories and
activities for the younger crowd?
Look no further! Try any or
all of these titles to get the little ones moving, or even to settle them down
for a nap after swimming or soccer.
Great choices are listed below to keep campers occupied and involved as
the summer progresses. Enjoy!
Camp K-9
by Mary Ann Rodman
illustrated by Nancy Hayashi
Peachtree, $15.595, Ages 4-8
On
the bus to summer camp, Roxie meets the resident bully, a poodle named Lacy
who, Roxie fears, will discover her secret – that she brought her blankie
along. When Lacy shows up in
Roxie’s cabin, she takes the bunk bed Roxie has chosen, at dinner Lacy “accidentally”
knocks someone’s plate off the table with her pooch pouch, at campfire time she
jumps out from behind a tree during a spooky story, scaring the entire group,
and then is missing at the dock the next day, for paddle time.
Muted watercolor, pen and colored pencil
illustrations accompany the dramatic text, showing the anthropomorphized dog
characters involved in familiar camp activities, with clever dog identifiers
like chow time, Barks & Crafts, a dogtrot. Additionally, the repetition of the bully’s apology,
“’Sorry,’ says Lacy,” followed by Roxie’s’ observation, “but I know she’s not,”
gives readers a feel for Roxie’s view of what’s really going on. Meanwhile Roxie’s refrain, “I want my
blankie. I want it right now!”
supplies a sense of how painful it can be to keep something important hidden.
When
Roxie discovers Lacy’s secret, Roxie recognizes the possibilities for
friendship that can emerge, when secrets are shared.
You Are a Lion: And Other
Fun Yoga Poses
by Taeeun Yoo
Penguin, $16.99, Ages 3-7
Want
a fun yoga book for young children?
You’ve come to the right place with author-illustrator Yoo’s active
non-rhyming picture book in verse for young children. Pretend you are a lion, a butterfly, especially a dog, even
a snake, and you will be off on a journey of imagination to find a mountain of
engaging movement for the youngest set.
Linoleum
block prints and pencil drawings are enhanced with Photoshop, creating bright,
colorful illustrations of children from multiple ethnicities, to accompany the
rhythmic text. Beginning with
stretching in a morning garden, single pages of brief instructions follow,
leading to double page spreads of a child in a yoga position, beside an animal
actually looking like the pose.
The children’s clothing hints at the creature they will imitate. A concluding rest brings the playful
yoga session to a close.
Hop, Hop, Jump!
by Lauren Thompson
illustrated by Jarrett J.
Krosoczka
Simon & Schuster,
$14.99, Ages 3-5
This
brief action-packed, camp-based picture book sets readers up for vigorous
movement and games. Not only are
the activities named and the multicultural children in the cheerful acrylic
illustrations eager participants in the high-spirited romp, but the parts of
the body involved in performing the lively amusements are identified as well.
Short
rhythmic verbs, and bold typeface are coupled with smiling campers
demonstrating sports and activities from hiking, swimming and tumbling, to
dancing, photography and bowling.
From fingers and toes, through elbow, knee and shoulder, to eye, waist
and heel, readers are invited to “groove it” and “goose it” with their friends,
through a series of rollicking images and a near-exhaustive listing of body
parts.
