In honor of Mother’s Day, think about sharing some of these terrific
books with your family. A love for
books and reading often develops as moms (and dads too!) share cuddling times
together.
· Family stories can
help your child know about the people who are important in her/his life. Stories about her/his own family and
stories about other families can give her/him ideas of how one thing can lead
to another in a story and in real life.
· Consider telling
stories about your parents and grandparents or about others who are also
important to your family. This can
become a book you and your child make together, adding old photographs, or even
magazine pictures. When you have fun writing a book together, reading it together
becomes another pleasure.
· Reading stories
about families can generate questions from your child. Offer her/him chances to
choose books about family related subjects linked to these conversations. A book about a subject your child is
interested in becomes a book your child wants to read, or read with you.
· Use the 5-Finger
Rule to help your child choose a book s/he will be able to read: Open to any
page in the chosen book. As your
child reads the page have her/him make a fist. Beginning with the thumb, have her/him put down one finger
for each word s/he has trouble reading. If the fist is a completely open hand
by the end of the page, look for an easier book.
Reading is a time for playfulness.
Let fun be your guide to reading together.
Dial, $17.99
(hardcover)
Interest Level: Pre
Kindergarten – Grade 1
(This book is available to purchase from Books &
Books online: http://www.booksandbooks.com)
When
Dash, Charlie and Theo break their mother bear’s favorite blue seashell, they
decide not to tell her. Adding
another “shouldn’t have,” the three set sail in their boat to find a replacement.
On
the way, they discover other sailors, new islands, huge sea animals, and wide
seas. They ask a “salty bear”
where to find a blue seashell. He
tells them, “… if you look in the right place, I reckon you’ll find it.”
Looking
but not finding, they begin blaming each other. After they get back on their boat, a huge storm blows in,
scaring them.
Watercolor
paintings in blues and greens define the small bears’ world. From sand & surf and through their
adventures, the text ripples with the water illustrations. Central double page spreads show a
brightness of glinting sunshine, casting a small boat shadow on the wide sea.
The darkness of the storm pages reflects
their argument. Additionally, the contrasting bright glassy smoothness of the
calm sea could not be more dramatic as they see home. They know what they have to do.
A satisfying ending brings them
back to Mama. Although, the
forgiving hug in the welcoming doorway’s yellow light is not the final word.
A Mom for Umande
by Maria Faulconer
illustrated by Susan Kathleen Hartung
Dial, $16.99 (hardcover)
Interest
Level: Junior Kindergarten – Grade
3
(This book is available to purchase from Books & Books online: http://www.booksandbooks.com)
This
story is based on a newspaper article about Umande, a zoo-born gorilla whose
mother is very young. She doesn’t know
how to take care of him. She
doesn’t even know what he needs.
But, Colorado zookeepers at the Cheyenne
Mountain Zoo do know. They teach him
what a gorilla needs to learn.
They act like his mother.
One of the zookeepers takes him
across the country on an airplane to the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium in
Ohio. There, Umande meets an older
gorilla named Lulu.
Rubbing, blotting and scratching
the oil glazes on sealed paper, makes possible the interesting textures in the
illustrations. Among the effects
this process creates are the realistic details for hair, ropes and hay. Especially notable are expressions on
the faces of both people and gorillas.
Umande and Lulu’s faces are
particularly loving as they learn to know each other, play, and sleep together.
“At last, Umande has a mom.”
Careful research is seamlessly woven through this gentle story. An Author’s Note is included at the
end.
I’d Know You
Anywhere, My Love by Nancy Tillman.
Feiwel
and Friends, $17.99 (hardcover)
Interest Level: Junior Kindergarten – Grade 2
(This
book is available to purchase from Books & Books online: http://www.booksandbooks.com)
Author
and illustrator Tillman once again creates a timeless picture book. This funny,
loving conversation is between mother and child. Rhyming language generates easy grins. And recognition beyond physical
characteristics (including a “magical smile,” “the gleam in your eye,” “the
sound of your feet”) produces laughter.
The
digital artwork is created in layers. It is completed with mixed media – chalk,
watercolor, and pencil. Each
illustration identifies the mother somehow with the color red: umbrellas, hats,
a blanket, boots, jackets, and even a red sail on a boat. Attention to this color keeps the
action moving across the page.
This is an eye-catching choice, adding love to the power of connection.
All through the book, the mother
acknowledges the child’s disguises.
Among these are a rhinoceros, a fox, and a “wild spotted pony.” And still she says, “I’d know you
anywhere.”
More great books to choose from:
Baby Penguins Love
Their Mama by Melissa Guion
Philomel, $16.99 (hardcover)
Interest Level: Pre Kindergarten -
Kindergarten
(This book is available to purchase from Books & Books online:
http://www.booksandbooks.com)
Will You Still
Love Me If . . . ? by Catherine Leblanc
illustrated by Eve
Tharlet
Minedition, $16.99
(hardcover)
Interest Level: Pre
Kindergarten – Grade 1
(This
book is available to purchase from Books & Books online: http://www.booksandbooks.com)
Mama’s Little
Duckling by Marjorie Blain Parker
illustrations by Mike Wohnoutka
Dutton, $15.99 (hardcover) $6.99
(paperback)
Interest Level: Pre Kindergarten – Grade 1
(This book is available to borrow at
the Miami Dade Library; Main Branch, Miami Lakes, North Dade Regional. Also may be purchased from Books &
Books online: http://www.booksandbooks.com)
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