Jackie "the Librarian"'s comments

Jackie "the Librarian"'s comments from the Children's Books group.

Note: Jackie "the Librarian" is no longer a member of this group.

Dick King-Smith is great for third-graders! Three Terrible Trins, and A Mouse Called Wolf are fun ones.

How about the Cecelia Rees books?

Pirates!
Nancy Kington, a wealthy merchant's daughter living in Bristol, England in the early 1700's, is sometimes lonely but enjoys the privileges her father's business brings. Minerva Sharpe is a penniless slave's daughter living and working on the Kington's Jamaican plantation. These two young women, united through a set of extraordinary circumstances including a brutal murder, an arranged marriage, and set of ruby earrings, find themselves sailing the high seas in search of love, adventure and freedom—as pirates!

Witch Child
Set during pilgrim times, the main character actually seems to have some magical powers.

Sorceress The sequel to Witch Child

Fred Stays With Me by Nancy Coffelt

Told from the point of view of a young child whose parents are divorced, Fred Stays with Me follows a girl and her dog, Fred, from one parent's house to the other's, giving her a sense of continuity and stability.

Two Homes by Claire Masurel

At Mommy’s house, Alex has a soft chair. At Daddy’s house, Alex has a rocking chair. In each home, Alex also has a special bedroom and lots of friends to play with. But whether Alex is with Mommy or with Daddy, one thing always stays the same - Alex is loved. The gently reassuring text focuses on what is gained rather than what is lost when parents divorce, while the sensitive illustrations, depicting two unique homes in all their small details, firmly establish Alex’s place in both of them.

No, it says "We thought she'd throw up then and there, but she didn't", instead of dying.

My Little Sister Ate One Hare by Bill Grossman.
It's great because it's just a little gross and funny, with colorful, rich illustrations. It's got cumulative rhyme similar to "I Know an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly", and a great ending.
Remember, everyone, "Save the whales, for lunch!"

I like the series by Lensey Namioka about the Yang family. They are warm and funny:

Yang the Youngest and His Terrible Ear
Yang the Third and Her Impossible Family
Yang the Second and Her Secret Admirers
Yang the Eldest and His Odd Jobs

Laurence Yep writes many good children's books with Chinese-American characters, including a fantasy series:
The Tiger's Apprentice
Tiger's Blood
Tiger Magic

Talking Like the Rain selected by X. J. Kennedy is a great compilation of classics and funny poems, with great watercolor illustrations.

I like Karla Kuskin, she's done some fun easy reader level poetry:
Soap Soup and Other Verses is one.
She wrote one of my favorite ever poems:

I am very fond of bugs.
I kiss them,
and I give them hugs.

Dav Pilkey (author of Captain Underpants) also does a beginning reader series with a dragon who takes things too literally, like Amelia Bedelia in a non-maid kind of way. I love Dragon's Fat Cat and A Friend for Dragon.
Pilkey has also done a couple of monster movie spoofs, Dogzilla and Kat Kong that are very silly and fun.

Eva Ibbotson has been pretty amazing lately. I love Journey to the River Sea and The Star of Kazan.
Because of Winn-Dixie by Kate DiCamillo.
Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli.

I loved Mandy by Julie Andrews Edwards. It was on a list of recommended books for kids who were adopted, so my parents got it for me, and it was perfect. I also loved Last of the Really Great Whangdoodles by Edwards, too, and give it credit for me paying more attention to what's around me, colors and textures, etc.
Other favorites were:
Alfred Hitchcock and the Three Investigators series
A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle
The Hateful Plateful Trick by Scott Corbett. It's that magic chemistry set, again, and everyone ends up smelling like their least favorite food.
The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster
and Harriet the Spy by Louise Fitzhugh