Linda's comments (member since Aug 02, 2007)

Linda's comments from the Children's Books group.

The Year of the Tree of the Dancing Goats is one of my very favorites: When all the folks in town get horribly ill, Patricia's family, who is Jewish, works together to make a nice Christmas for their neighbors.
Another favorite is Robert Sabuda's The Christmas Alphabet. He's a pop-up book genius, and this is one of his best.
My favorite Christmas story of all may be the chapter from A Tree Grows in Brooklyn where Frankie and her brother win a Christmas tree. It's such a pivotal chapter in the book, and such a tale of hope and persistence in its own right.

A few that haven't been mentioned:
More Than Anything Else by Marie Bradbury- Lyrical and beautifully illustrated story (Chris K Soentpiet) of how Booker T Washington learned to read.
I Want to Be by Thylias Moss- stunningly illustrated by Jerry Pinkney- a little girl has some surprising, poetic answers to the question, "what do you want to be be when you grow up?" (African American)
Laughing Tomatoes- really fun poems by Francisco X. Alarcon, gorgeous illustrations by Maya Christina Gonzalez (Latino)
Meet Danitra Brown by Nikki Grimes- the tale of a friendship through poems with outstanding illustrations by Floyd Cooper(noticing a theme yet?)

I'm partial to picture books that combine poetry and wonderful illustrations. One that comes to mind is Laughing Tomatoes by Francisco Alarcon. He has several books, that's just the title I can remember right now. Two favorite anthologies: Animals, illustrated by Eric Carle; and Sing a Song of Popcorn, illustrated by several noted illustrators. Though not specifically for children, Good Poems edited by Garrison Keillor has many poems that children can appreciate (though some are not appropriate, so use caution).

Books with subtle wordplay are fun to read out loud. I'm thinking of Chrysanthemum by Kevin Henkes and Charlotte's Web by E.B. White. They use rich, evocative language that I never tire of. I get really bored with Magic Treehouse books because of the rather flat language, but kids love them because they can read them on their own. And though I love In the Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson by Bette Bao Lord, it's tough going as a read-aloud. Somehow the words just don't trip off the tongue, though it's perfectly lovely silent reading.