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Hello Readers!

Today’s post is going to be a bit different. Instead of a written review, I’ve posted a Book Talk video on the genuine, hilarious, action-packed first book of Rick Riordan’s teen series, Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard.

Click play on the video to hear why I think The Sword of Summer is an important, worthwhile read for teens of all ages.

Enjoy!

--Orange Reader

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Review: “Rabbit’s Gift” by George Shannon and Illustrated by Laura Dronzek

Snow is coming, coming soon, so Rabbit needs to find food fast. Just in time, a turnip turns up, and a second one, too. Who in the woods wouldn't want to tuck away an extra turnip for the long winter? Not Rabbit. He chooses a different path--and starts a wave of generosity that spreads among all his forest friends.

When the snow piles up outside, there’s nothing better than sharing a meal with friends.

(Summary taken from back and inside cover)

Rabbit’s Gift is a picture book by George Shannon and illustrated Laura Dronzek. It is an adaptation of a folktale that can be found in Chinese, Japanese, French, and Spanish retellings. The story of the book is that Rabbit has been gathering food and has extra. He thinks that his friend Donkey could use it so he brings it to where Donkey lives, but Donkey wasn’t home so he leaves it there. Donkey comes upon the turnip and then delivers it to Goat’s home, who drops it off at Deer’s place, which completes the unknown circle by placing it in front of Rabbit’s home. Rabbit finds the turnip again and is surprised and then brings all of the animals together to share the turnip. The book has beautiful art that features Chinese characters of each animal on the border. The last page has all the characters again with their definitions as well as a short explanation about the folktale. Shannon has adapted a story that has been found in many cultures and variations that teaches the simple moral of sharing and thinking about others.

The book can be used as a tool to aide in the development of a child’s social and moral skills. The book encourages children to share with their friends and think about their needs once their own are met. I think it’s a nuanced understanding of sharing that is important to teach children and parents. A child is being taught that they can and should share when they have extra and when they are able to. Sharing is not being forced nor is it harming one to share with another. The book also encourages the notion of doing something without expecting a reward. Rabbit and the other animals think of their friend, bring the turnip to where they live, leave it there, and the snow hides their tracks. Children are often rewarded or scolded for behaviours and will act to receive attention; it’s important for them to see positive actions being done without reward to encourage that in the child as when they grow up they will not be rewarded for every good action.

Rabbit’s Gift is a great book for children ages 3-5. Parents and educators can frame the telling of the story around a theme such as sharing or friendship but can also use it around certain times of year like Thanksgiving or Christmas. Or it can be used when discussing other cultures and/or folktales because of the roots of the story. An extension activity that one could use would be to bring in stuffed animals of each animal and allow children to facilitate the story with props. This could lead into a larger discussion of sharing and good deeds and allow children to relate the story and action of sharing to their own lives. Another could be to teach the children how to write out the Chinese symbols.

Overall, Green Reader highly recommends reading this book to your child for entertainment and education. The story is timeless and the art is beautiful!

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Review: “The Tooth Mouse” written by Susan hood ; illustrated by Janice Nadeau

“Have you ever lost a baby tooth, placed it under your pillow and found a coin left by the Tooth Fairy? In many countries around the world, there is no such thing as the Tooth Fairy. Instead there is ... 

The Tooth Mouse.” 

(Excerpt from The Tooth Mouse)

“The Tooth Mouse” by Susan Hood and illustrated by Janice Nadeau is the charming story of a little mouse named Sophie who wished to become the next Tooth Mouse. Set in France, the story follows Sophie as she tries to prove she is worthy of inheriting the title of Tooth Mouse from its current owner, succeeding in trials that test her bravery, honesty, and wisdom. Sprinkled with french words and a delightfully expressive vocabulary, “The Tooth Mouse” is a great read for kids age 4-6 who love fairy tales, and parents who want to broaden their child’s geographical and vocabulary horizons. 

When introducing a child to a book, it is good to give them a frame of reference for how to engage with the story. “The Tooth Mouse” helpfully gives you one in its opening: this is a story that is similar but different to that of the Tooth Fairy. We are still dealing with little creatures exchanging teeth for coins, but now we see a different culture’s take on the tale. Beyond simply being the origin of the myth, the book’s setting in France is also used to introduce the child to some basic french words. Words like “chérie” and “très bien” are used in such a way that their meaning is easily understood, while others are identical to their english counterparts. Whether in french or english, the writing is full of expressive and varied vocabulary, teaching kids the meaning of words like “gnawing” and “thievery” through clever use of context clues and delivery, through words and pictures. 

A book, however, is not only its words but the story it tells, and “The Tooth Mouse” succeeds in this area as well. Sophie is an ambitious little mouse determined to prove her worthiness as Tooth Mouse. Throughout her story she is faced with challenges, but always she rises to the occasion. Sophie is rewarded for her perseverance and problem solving skills, as well as for demonstrating that she possesses the qualities necessary to be a Tooth Mouse: bravery, honesty, and wisdom. Her story teaches children not only that these are admirable traits, but that even the most difficult of challenges can be overcome if you persevere. Sophie is brave and honest and wise, but above all she never stops trying, and she never stops believing in her ability to surmount the challenges placed in her way.

Once the story is over, a fun way to engage the child with what they just read might be imagining their own solutions to Sophie’s challenges: what would they do if they were challenged to think of a use for a thousand baby teeth? How might they convince a cat to give up its whiskers? Perhaps instead the child could be asked to come up with their own version of what happens to their baby teeth. If the child is younger, maybe a simple drawing of what a Tooth Mouse might look like. “The Tooth Mouse” lends itself well to activities that encourage creativity, whether through drawings or crafts or puzzle solving depending on the age of the child. Regardless of what happens after, “The Tooth Mouse” is a sweet and engaging story that will be enjoyed by children and their parents alike.

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Review: The Paper Bag Princess

Written by Robert Munsch Illustrated by Michael Martchenko Suggested age group: 3-5

When a dragon swoops in and destroys her whole castle to a pile of rubble, poor Princess Elizabeth is left with a kidnapped prince and a without a dress. However, she won’t let that stop her from rescuing her true love. She throws on the only thing she can find that isn’t burnt—a brown paper bag—and marches after the dragon to demand that he give back her prince. Unfortunately, dragons are very busy creatures, and do not heed the demands of princesses.

To begin the book, ask children if princesses usually dress in paper bags, and ask for ideas as to why Elizabeth would choose such attire. If you can get your hands on a dragon puppet, now is the time to whip it out. And remember that this dragon likes to show off.

After reading the book, ask children how they feel about Elizabeth rescuing Ronald. Who is usually the hero we see in fairy tales? Why didn’t Elizabeth want to marry Ronald after she worked so hard to save him? Ask the child how they would feel if they worked very hard to do a favour for someone and in return, they only received negatively.

Afterwards, while they’re still feeling inspired and energized, a great extension activity would be to have a child decorate their own paper bag attire—simply using a brown paper lunch bag. Children could use markers or crayons, stickers, foam cutouts, etc. Get creative. Feel free to jump in and decorate your own bag as well!

This story is great for inspire confidence in children—Elizabeth is brave enough to chase down a dragon that destroyed her entire castle despite having nothing to wear but a paper bag.  And then, after she has risked her life to rescue Ronald and all he can do is criticize her, she is confident enough to dump him. She is definitely not your typical prim and proper princess. Elizabeth can help teach children moral development—to ‘do the right thing’, but to also be themselves and not put up with any Roanlds in their lives. Or better yet, to not be a Ronald. The book also has fantastic expressive vocabulary which pairs incredibly well with such simple, yet expressive illustrations which are great for inspiring big imaginations in small children.

The Paper Bag Princess is sure to become a favourite for all.

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Review: “Corduroy” by Don Freeman

A classic story about friendship, family, and belonging.

To be a classic piece of literature, a work must have enduring value. Corduroy by Don Freeman is, without a doubt, a classic work of children’s literature which any parent or child would find joy in reading, even today. For those parents who wish to also promote emergent literacy skills in their children, Cordury’s enduring story is as effective at teaching children in the 3-5 age range about narrative now in 2020 as it was when it was first released in 1968.  

But what exactly is Corduroy about? Well, for those parents who haven’t yet had the joy of reading this story, Corduroy is about a stuffed bear who goes on an adventure through the department store in which he lives to search for his missing button. His journey begins after he is made aware of the button’s absence when the mother of a young girl, Lisa, says that she cannot buy her daughter Corduroy not only because she has spent too much money but, more importantly, because Corduroy is missing his button. At its core, Corduroy is a narrative about finding family, friends, and home regardless of where we come from or of the things that make us different. The themes at the heart of Corduroy’s narrative therefore make this book perfect for promoting childhood literacy and social development. 

Corduroy is geared towards an older age range than were the ‘first books’ we Readers reviewed not long ago. This difference means that Corduroy promotes a new set of literacy skills than our previous recommended books did. The most obvious literacy skill this book promotes in children is the ability to understand narrative. There is a distinct beginning, middle, and end in this story, tracing Corduroy’s journey through the department store in search of his missing button from where he lives on the shelf, to the different store departments, until finally he finds what he is looking for all along—a home, with Lisa, whom he meets in the beginning. For those parents familiar with narrative tropes, this journey also means that Corduroy follows the ‘home-and-away’ pattern common to children’s stories, as Corduroy starts his journey in his first home before he finds his true home with Lisa by his journey’s end. 

In addition to promoting narrative understanding, Corduroy also promotes social development in children through the story’s message, which coalesces at the end of the narrative. At first, Corduroy seems to be looking for his missing button. The certainty he expresses at the end of the story about always wanting a home and always wanting a friend reveals, on the other hand, that those were the things for which he has been searching all along. The button, for Corduroy, actually only represents his true wants—a home and a friend. When Lisa offers to sew on a different button in his new home, she makes it clear that she doesn’t actually care that he is missing a button. Instead, she simply wants to make sure Corduroy is comfortable, and figures a second button to hold up his overalls will help with that goal. This conversation between Lisa and Corduroy at the end crystallizes the message at the heart of the story: regardless of somebody’s superficial differences, each one of us deserves friends, family and a home—and these things exist for all of us. 

Through the combination of an older target audience and a more complex plot, the storytelling experience must also change and increase in complexity if we wish to extend the meaningful engagement and learning a child can have with a book like Corduroy—both before and after reading the story. Before reading the book, children should be encouraged to bring a favourite stuffed animal to enjoy the storytelling session, and children should be asked if they know any other stories about toys or stuffed animals to both encourage each child’s narrative recall and understanding, as well as to put Corduroy’s story into context of other stories the children already know. After reading the story, younger children can be asked to either colour in pictures of Corduroy or other familiar stuffed animals. Alternatively, older children should be encouraged to create pictures of their own stuffed animals going on adventures. Both these activities would encourage children to continue to think about the story—and narrative more generally—while simultaneously putting the story in context of each child’s existing knowledge and experiences. Through these activities, it is possible to further extend both the learning and the pleasure of every child’s reading experience of the already enjoyable narrative in Corduroy.

Encouraging literacy skills in children can be hard as they grow older into the 3-5 age range and begin to explore new interests that they didn’t yet have when they were younger. Corduroy’s timeless, heartfelt story will grasp any child’s interest while seamlessly promoting narrative understanding in children and aiding in their social development. For these reasons, this Reader resoundingly recommends this classic tale to any parents looking for that next special story to share with their children.

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Let children read whatever they want and then talk about it with them. If parents and kids can talk together, we won’t have as much censorship because we won’t have as much fear.

Judy Blume | Ko-Fi | Patreon (via wordsnstuff)

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Review of HUG by Jez Alborough

Jez Alborough’s HUG is a highly regarded picture book for pre-readers. It was easily my own daughter’s favourite book for at least a year, which is a long time when you’re 18 to 24 months old. She insisted on having it read to her over and over, and it’s probably the first book she ever read on her own.

It’s almost a graphic novel for pre-readers, with each page corresponding to a single panel of a comic strip, and all the dialogue in comics-style speech balloons. It’s the story of Bobo, the baby chimpanzee, who slowly becomes more and more despondent as he sees other baby animals being hugged by their parents, but his parents are nowhere to been seen. The entire book consists of Alborough’s brilliantly playful illustrations and only three words: “Hug”, “Bobo” and “Mommy!” And yet it manages to convey so much raw emotion that my group work collaborators were all practically crying for Bobo when I read them the book. It’s emotion this book is designed to convey to pre-readers. It has the barest wisp of a plotline, which may or may not even register on its intended audience, but more importantly it educates children about emotions: sadness, loneliness, despair, happiness, love and gratitude. All in a tiny board book with only a handful of pages.

It’s on this score that I think HUG really succeeds in its mission. Children identify completely with Bobo as he wanders through the book, desperately looking for someone to hug him. They know what it feels like to feel alone, scared and lost, and Alborough both justifies and tames those emotions and gives pre-readers a safe space to experience them. HUG is also visually beautiful, with engaging and extremely expressive illustrations. It’s not clear that it would work as well as it does without them.

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Review: “Simon Says Open the Book” by Emilia Zebrowska ; illustrated by Susan Reagan

Simon Says Open the Book, written by Emilia Zebrowska and illustrated by Susan Reagan, is a delightful first book for toddlers around the ages of 2-3. Themed around the game Simon says, the book encourages participation from the reader, asking them to stamp their feet or point to the sky, while slowly winding down the physicality of the requests until it ends on turning out the light and saying goodnight. This slow winding down is supported by its illustrations, which feature easily understood drawings and simple muted colour palettes. A good choice for parents looking for something sweet to read at bedtime.

This is not to say the book is only good in convincing children to go to sleep. Children start to recognize rhymes around two years old and the simple, repetitive rhyming in Simon Says Open the Book promotes their phonological awareness. The alliteration of “Simon says” coupled with a simple AA BB rhyme scheme makes for an engaging series of sounds without overwhelming or confusing the child. By directly engaging the child through the game, the book also fosters a link between words on a page and what they represent, teaching kids about the concept of printed text. Every time the books elicits an action from the child, the verb in question is highlighted, and the illustration does as “Simon says”; The parents can then encourage the child to also do as simon says, or simply make a note to the child about what the characters are doing.

The book shines most in it’s interactivity between parent and child. It can start out simply as a way to teach the child simple verbs like “stamp” or “point”, but with further reading can create a shared game between parent and child, a fun bedtime ritual that can be learned and anticipated. The child might even start to engage differently with the book the more they read it; while simple, the illustrations do feature certain characters that are a bit hidden, encouraging the child to engage more deeply with what they see and suss out its secrets. I recommend Simon Says Open the Book for any parents looking to engage their rambunctious child in reading, as its endearing images and engaging text are a delight to read for parents and toddlers alike.

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Review: “Color Farm” by Lois Ehlert

An entertaining adventure through the colourful and geometric world of Lois Ehlert’s Color Farm.

In an age where we consume most of our media digitally, it can seem difficult--or even impossible--to make time and space in our lives for traditional print media, especially for young children who are drawn to digital media’s bright colours and interactivity. Lois Ehlert’s book, Color Farm, first published in 1990, is an old solution to a modern problem for young children between the ages of 18-24 months, who are in what Piaget refers to as the “mental representations” phase of the “sensorimotor” stage of child development. At this stage, children are working to develop internal depictions of objects or events, and Color Farm aids in this process and promotes emergent literacy skills through the book’s colourful illustrations of familiar animals and the simple geometric shapes of which they are formed.

As a “first book” or “concept book”, Ehlert’s Color Farm makes extensive use of its illustrations to teach children about basic shapes. On almost every page in the book, Ehlert depicts a familiar farm animal with clear, colourful blocks of shapes. The clear delineation of the different shapes ensures children at the lower end of the 18-24 months range can see where one shape begins and the other ends, while the layering of shapes to create the more complex animal portrait keeps older children interested and learning about the way shapes can work together to create new, more complicated silhouettes. Additionally, the book reinforces the shape concepts it introduces by intermittently revising shapes as they appear. When a new shape is introduced, the shape is immediately reviewed both with tactile feedback--thanks to being physically cut out of the page--and also visual feedback, as the shape is clearly defined when the page is flipped after the shape is first introduced. Then, the set of shapes introduced in the book are also reviewed before new shapes are introduced, so as to further reaffirm the child’s shape learning.

As with any good book geared toward children in the 18-24 months age range, Ehlert’s Color Farm not only excels at teaching its core concept--shapes--but also promotes several emergent literacy skills. The first and most obvious of these skills is book and print sense, as Color Farm is a physical book which children must learn to handle in order to use. Due to its focus on shapes, Color Farm also encourages alphabet knowledge, as learning shapes is a precursor to learning the alphabet, which at its core is a system of shapes. Learning shapes, additionally, is a pre-math skill that the book encourages given the way the illustrations are comprised of groups of multiple shapes, which leads to comparison as the shapes are first learned in context of others. Finally, since Color Farm emphasizes interesting and varied illustrations over complex text, this book also encourages development of expressive vocabulary in children. If Color Farm could be said to do anything, it would certainly be to exceed at promoting emergent literacy skills for the 18-24 age bracket with flying colours.

Thanks to the Color Farm’s use of colourful, geometric animal illustrations, there are also many different ways parents can extend the book’s concepts and create other learning opportunities for their children. For example, parents could manipulate the book to demonstrate how the same shapes can look different depending on how somebody looks at them. Additionally, due to the book’s lack of narrative, there are opportunities throughout the book to stop and ask a child about an animal’s shape, colour, or sound in order to further help a child develop his or her expressive vocabulary.

In all, this Reader could not recommend Color Farm enough to parents with children in the 18-24 months age range who wish to help promote emergent literacy skills in their children with the help of a brilliantly unique and colourful book.

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Splish Splash Foxes Dash by Geraldo Valério, who also illustrates the book, is a wonderfully engaging first book for young children. His art style is exceptionally interesting—he uses magazines and wrapping paper to create his images. Such a fun art style really adds to the enjoyable content of the book that includes ‘lunching on leaves’ and ‘pirouetting prawns’.

The book is best suited for children around 18-24 months, it’s pages filled with bright, collage-style animals that stand out in front of a white background, really allowing young, learning minds focus on the animals and colours. The alliteration is great for reading in an exaggerated or excited manner and children will pick up on that, learning to accentuate their own words. However, even those as young as 3 months could benefit from the bright, colour focused pages—an age when they can recognize the full colour spectrum. Splish Splash can also easily transition into early reading years when children begin to read the books they love back to their parents—with improving accuracy! Even before a child can read the word, they’ll learn to recognize the animal or the colour, and having both the word and animal/colour will help them make that connection into reading. That those ‘shapes’ (letters) come together to make the sounds for the word ‘red’ or ‘duck’.

Throughout the book parents can pause and ask questions like ‘can you think of any other animals/things are -insert colour here-’. Or, being a book on Canadian animals, parents could ask home-related questions like ‘have we ever seen a duck on our backyard? How about a blue whale!?’ But be prepared for some possibly interesting answers from younger children; perhaps there’s been a recent blue whale sighting in the bathtub!

Spilsh Spalsh has big pictures, bright colours, as well as every child’s favourite, animals. Geraldo’s collage-block style is also incredibly engaging, really drawing the eye in and while children stare in wonder parents will continue to find small details read after read. Of course we all want to read the books we love to our children, especially if it’s something ‘fun’ with some pizzazz—which makes it easier to read a couple dozen times. Splish Splash Foxes Dash delivers on all levels of promoting emergent literacy skills and enjoyment for both children and parents alike.

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Green Reader First Book Review: Purr by Alison Lester

“Purr” by Alison Lester is a first book that teaches children the names and sounds of animals that are common pets. Each two page spread has a beautiful watercolour painting of an animal with accompanying text that describes something about it and then has the sound the animal makes. It is unique in that it teaches the reader about animals commonly kept as pets. The choice of common domesticated animals makes the book more accessible to youger children as they are much more recognizable. The book may start conversations based on the familiarity of these animals. If the child doesn’t have a pet this can encourage a familiarity with animals, and possibly open them to the concept and make them more comfortable as children that do not grow up with pets can be more timid and shy around animals

On the inside front and back cover there is a collage of paintings of animals in the book but also other animals not in the story. These pages can be used for questions before or after the story is read. For example, you can ask a child to point out a specific animal, ask them to point or say their favourite animal, or point to each animal and ask what sound they make which can all reinforce vocabulary skills and an expressive vocabulary. It is naturally read with a sing-song voice with rhyming elements and the animal sounds are repeated three times or in an alliteration of similar sounds that can bring phonological awareness and phonological sensitivity. Additonally, it’s a board book so it can be give to a child without worry to read and let them turn the pages independently so they can develop and practice book print awareness as well as print and book concepts. Its durable construction encourages frequent reads, and easily allows the book to become one parents can trust their children to enjoy and not destroy.

I really enjoyed reading Purr. The art is simply adorable and the story is wonderful to read aloud. Purr by Alison Lester is a great first book for children between ages 2 and 3. However I believe it can be appreciated by children younger and older as well. It is a good book for introducing animals and what sounds they make and can also reinforce knowledge the child already has. It is the quintessential example of a first book that parents and children can enjoy together. I would highly recommend checking out Purr with your child today!

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matilda + her books in matilda (1996)

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So Matilda’s strong young mind continued to grow, nurtured by the voices of all those authors who had sent their books out into the world like ships on the sea. These books gave Matilda a hopeful and comforting message: You are not alone.

Matilda by Roald Dahl

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“We never leave a library or a bookstore empty handed, even when our hands are empty.”

- Kristen Costello

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"There is no friend as loyal as a book."

Ernest Hemingway.

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24.10.19 // Mornings

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Reading Rainbow first aired on June 6th, 1983.