New Children's Books of 2014

Cyber Monday is upon us, friends.

So, before you panic over all of the options (especially if you're looking for some GREAT new children's literature for your kids), we'd like to highlight a few new books that have come out in the past year that we have loved, or at least our kids have loved in some way - and maybe you'll even be able to snag one as an Amazon Lightning Deal (cause who doesn't love a good lightning deal?). We read many new books, but these are the ones that were our "top picks" - included my Very Top Pick for 2014. (To see what that is, scroll to the end) 

NOTE: If you read this post today (12/1/14) and decide to get a book off of Amazon.com, TODAY ONLY you can use code HOLIDAY30 to get 30% off of any print book (yes, that's off of their already-low book prices. And if you're a Prime member, you can select their "No-Rush Shipping" and earn $1 credit- every time - towards kindle books, movies, or music). Okay, sales pitch over. No, we do not work for Amazon. Just excited about good deals. :-) 

Best New Children's Books of 2014 (IMO)

Have You Seen My Dragon

by Steve Light

• Great for - boys, fantasy lovers, ages 2-5.
• What I love about this book - I love the pen and ink drawings in this books, especially with all of the black and white pictures with the few colored characters/objects scattered throughout. The book is a little bit of a "seek and find" theme (even though the "dragon" should be found rather easily). But I also loved all of the "city" objects that can be identified throughout - a great teaching tool if you don't already live in a big city and see these things on a regular basis. 
• What my Son loved about this book - my four-year old loved that this book was about a dragon. Simply put, he's into dragons these days. So if you have a son or child who loves dragons and loves getting caught up in all things fantasy, then they'll love this book. 

Maple

by Lori Nichols 

• Great for  - boys and girls; siblings; any child who just got or is about to get a sibling. Ages 2-6. 
• What I love about this book - EVERYTHING. Okay, so I'm prone to hyperbole, but my kids and I did really love this debut picture book of Lori Nichols'. So much so, that we already own it (daughter's birthday was in October, etc.) And not just this book, but the sequel as well (but I'm getting ahead of myself). Anyway, I love the soft, meticulous, beautiful illustrations. And the perfect depiction of little Maple, happily playing outside with "her tree" (you'll never guess what kind). And her realization one day that trees are fine, but little girls need more than trees for friends. And the new tree that starts to grow next to hers. :-) I'll stop there and let you finish the story yourself. But it's a sweet, fun story that we loved reading through.
• What my kids loved about this book - Both of my kids loved this story. And my son really connected with the idea of being an oldest child and getting a "new sibling" (he's about to get another in a few months). In fact, he connected so much with this story that he is begging me to name our new little girl "Maple." We'll see what happens come February ... :-) 

Maple and Willow Together

by Lori Nichols

• Great for - boys, girls, siblings, ages 2-6
• What I love about this book - See comments above (more of the same). But I also love how this particular story perfectly captured the essence of real sibling life. As in, it's not all daisies and roses. But I especially love the resolution in this story - it's just sweet. And fun. And fairly realistic. :-) You'll enjoy it. 
• What my Kids love about this book - They mainly love that we got another book about Maple. But it was also a good teaching tool, as my 4 and 2 year-olds are currently working through "sibling irritation" at very high levels these days. No, this book is not going to address how to best deal with your kids when they fight; but it brings up a perfectly portrayed scenario that you can use to start up a conversation (that's not in "the heat of the moment").

Go! Go! Go! Stop!

by Charise Mericle Harper

• Great for - any kids, ages 2-6, kids learning colors
• What I love about this book - I suppose I could say that I love that this book teaches the meaning of red, green, and yellow traffic lights. If I sound hesitant, it's only because this wonderfully fun book has induced a season of "RED LIGHT/GREEN LIGHT" (yes, the game) in our house that never seems to end. My son won't do anything now without me "giving him the green light." :-\
• What my Kids/Son love(s) about this book - As I mentioned, my kids think this book is great. Boys will love it because it has lots of silly, fun-looking construction vehicles. And our daughter loves it because of the basic color scheme that she has started identifying - red, green, and yellow (at the very end). So if you are ready to play 38,000 games of Red Light/Green Light, then by all means, buy this book. (Seriously, I'm sure your kids will love it. I'm just green-light-ed out.) 

And the winner for my 2014 children's book list is ... 

The Christmas Tale of Peter Rabbit

by Emma Thompson

• Great for - EVERYONE. ALL AGES. 
• What I love about this book - So far, I haven't found anything to NOT love about this book. But here's my simplified list: 1) The AUTHOR - It's by Emma Thompson. She's genius, folks. Sheer genius. 2) The CHARACTERS - It's about Peter Rabbit. No it's not an original Beatrix Potter tale, but Thompson, like no other, gets as close as anyone could. 3) The PICTURES - Eleanor Taylor = another genius. They're beautiful, and look so much like original Potter paintings. 4) The STORY - it's such a fun story, and with so many fun, big words (just like our friend Beatrix would use). 
• What my kids love about this book - Actually, they don't yet, But that's because it's very new, and I've been too cheap to actually purchase it (I've only read through it in a bookstore). But I'm lobbying for my mom to take care of this dilema come Christmas ... 
• THE BEST PART!!! - This book comes with a CD of Emma Thompson herself reading the story. My kids are really into story-on-CDs these days. And I honestly can't wait to hear this one being read by one of my favorite actresses. It's going to be a winner. I am really really hoping this is a lightning deal tomorrow. :-) 

Well, I hope that helpful to you. If you want to know about any other newer books, just let me know. I can tell you that This is a Moose, The Pigeon Needs a Bath, and EIEIO: How Old MacDonald Got His Farm with a Little Help from a Hen did NOT make the cut (just not impressed, no matter what the reviews). But happy book-browsing either way - and may your reading days with your kids be merry and bright! 

Megan for the Sisterhood 

NEW Children's Authors / Books

(c) Amazon.com

As a conclusion to our Children's Author Highlight Series, I wanted to contribute a post highlighting a few of the books that my 3-year-old son and I perused this summer. While browsing some books on Amazon one day, I noticed a box in the sidebar called "Best Books of 2013." When I clicked on it, I immediately noted the categories and went right to the "Best Children's Books of 2013" tab. After skimming through the list, I picked out 4 that looked intriguing and then logged onto our library to see if they were available. Fortunately, given the fact that they are all new books (and that we have a great, updated library), I was able to get them all within a week. Brenden and I thoroughly enjoyed reading through these - and our library even allowed him to participate in the summer book reading program with these (side note: His name got picked the next week for one of the prizes - so, YAY for reading programs!). Here's a quick summary then of these recent children's books if you are ready for something new.

Steam Train, Dream Train

by Sherri Duskey Rinker & Tom Lichtenheld

If it has trains, it will be loved - I think any of you with toddler boys know this is a fact. So yes, we loved this book, for its trains, its animals, and its total imagination. It reads just like a kid's dream (ie. it didn't always make sense to me, but it made perfect sense to Brenden). We also loved the pictures - very "soft" looking, but still very defined. I think we are going to have to get the other book by these authors now, called Goodnight, Goodnight Construction Site. 

The Day the Crayons Quit

by Drew Daywalt and Oliver Jeffers

While my son loved this book for all of the colors, I thoroughly enjoyed this book for the story - and humor! I was actually laughing out loud at some parts. Duncan's crayons all write him letters, detailing their complaints and how they feel they need to be treated in the future. I was worried at first that this would be some weird social-issues-oriented book - but it's not! If anything, it makes fun of those things. And each of the letters the crayons write sounds just like a 7-year-old wrote them. My favorite part: the letters from Orange and Yellow, with each insisting that HE is the true color of the sun. Adults, this will transport you back to elementary school coloring time (and everyone fighting for the peach crayon, since everyone KNOWS that people can only be drawn with peach). 

The Matchbox Diary

by Paul Fleischman & Bagram Ibatoulline

This one was my absolute favorite by far - and maybe one of my new favorites ever! I LOVED the idea behind this book as well as the gorgeous pictures and the history that was delightfully integrated. A grandfather shares his "matchbox diary" with his granddaughter - with a large box containing all of his little matchboxes, and each matchbox holding some remnant that reminds him of his upbringing. He shares that, as an Italian immigrant to the US, he didn't know how to write or read - but he desperately wanted to have a "diary" like one of his friends. So he decided to do it this way. Moms, your 3-year-olds will probably not appreciate this book very much ... yet. But I do think it's one we're going to add to our collection for when our kids can better appreciate it. 

If You Want to See a Whale

by Julie Fogliano & Erin Stead

"If you want to see a whale, you will need to know what not to look at.

Pink roses, pelicans, possible pirates . . .

If you want to see a whale, you have to keep your eyes on the sea, and wait . . .

and wait . . . and wait . . ."

This was such an enjoyable book for all of us - perfect for younger children as well as older children. The story has just enough "pretend" elements, good pacing (with quiet pauses), and beautifully simple little pencil drawings that kids will love. This was also my husband's favorite to read to Brenden. So for those of you who prefer not to go out into the ocean in small boats on choppy waters, you can probably get your glimpse through your local library. 

Enjoy some more reading with the kids in your life (even if they are all heading back to school these days). Who knows? Maybe you can give their teachers some fun, new ideas. We'd also love to hear about any other new authors you've found and read too!

Megan, for The Sisterhood. 

Children's Author Highlight: Karma Wilson

Photo Credit

Karma Wilson's first book (and possibly her most well-known book), Bear Snores On was published in 2002.  Since that time, Wilson has published more than 30 children's books.  Karma Wilson prefers to write in poetry form, and relies on others to do the artwork for her stories.Wilson lives with her husband, three children, and several animals on a small ranch in Montana.  More complete biographical information can be read here.

Karma Wilson's collection of children's books include 4 books about Pip the Penguin, 4 books about Calico the Cat, 8 books about Bear and his friends, 5 books with a spiritual emphasis, and 18 books with various characters and themes.  A complete list of titles can be seen here.

Admittedly, we have only read a few books by Karma Wilson, but we have enjoyed the ones we have read.  We will be looking for more Wilson books on our next trip to the library.  This week we recommend the following titles:

• Bear Snores On
• Bear Says Thanks
• Bear Feels Scared
• Don't Be Afraid, Little Pip

Disclaimer: Our recommendation of the books mentioned in this post is not a complete endorsement of the author, illustrator, or their other works.  Please use discernment in selecting books by any given author.

This is part 10 in the Children's Author Highlight Series.  Click here for more children's author recommendations.

Children's Author Highlight: Dr. Seuss

Photo Credit

How could we do a series on children's authors and not include Theodor Geisel (or more commonly known as Dr. Seuss)?  Much has been written about Dr. Seuss, and can be read in good detail here.  I do want to share with you some of the fascinating facts about Ted.

Did you know?

• Seuss worked for 30 years in advertising (creating ads for companies like NBC, General Electric, and Ford).
• Of the 66 books Seuss wrote, illustrated, or were published posthumously, only 5 were written in prose.
• He began his children's book career because it was one of the only genres not banned in his advertising contract with Standard Oil.
• Seuss and his first wife, Helen Palmer (author of an Albright favorite A Fish Out of Water), could not have children, so Seuss talked of their imaginary children, even dedicating The 500 Hats of Bartholomew Cubbins to his imaginary daughter, Chrysanthemum-Pearl.
• The Cat in the Hat contains 236 different words, and was written for the purpose of helping children become better readers.
• Green Eggs and Ham (Seuss's best-selling title) was written in answer to a bet from a publisher that Seuss couldn't write a book with no more than 50 different words in it.

The website found here contains hours of educational activities and games featuring all things Seuss.  Also found on this website is a Seuss book list and links for both educators and parents.

Some of our Dr. Seuss Day Activities

Dr. Seuss books can be great for inspiring activities for children.  We have enjoyed making oobleck (recipes can be found here) after reading Bartholomew and the Oobleck, had a breakfast of green eggs and ham after reading Green Eggs and Ham, and built tall towers with building blocks after reading Yertle the Turtle.  Have you enjoyed similar activities inspired by a Dr. Seuss book?  Let us know about it!

Obviously, with 66 titles to choose from, this recommended list is limited but represents our favorites:

• Yertle the Turtle
• Green Eggs and Ham
•  Sneetches
• Horton Hatches the Egg
• The Cat in the Hat
• Bartholomew and the Oobleck

Disclaimer: Our recommendation of the books mentioned in this post is not a complete endorsement of the author, illustrator, or their other works.  Please use discernment in selecting books by any given author.

This is part 9 in the Children's Author Highlight Series.  Click here for more children's author recommendations.

Children's Author Highlight: Judi Barrett

Photo Credit

For an occasional flavor of the crazy, absurd, or silly in a children's book, I would like to recommend the author Judi Barrett.  In searching for more information about Judi Barrett and her works I have discovered many titles that I have not read (though will be checking out from the library soon).  Barrett writes wildly imaginative stories, which are illustrated by others.

Perhaps Barrett's most popular book is Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (having been recently made into a movie).  My children seem enthralled by the town of Chewandswallow and the notion that fried chicken and cherry pie can fall from the sky like rain.  I would recommend this book for 4-8 year olds.

Our most recent Judi Barrett favorite is called Animals Should Definitely NOT Wear Clothing.  My children and I thoroughly enjoy reading this book.  We all laugh at the hilarious illustrations of a moose caught up in suspenders, opossums wearing clothes upside down, and a giraffe wearing 12 neckties.  This book is a great read with preschoolers. 

We have also enjoyed Never Take a Shark to the Dentist - another silly book of animals doing "human things" and the ridiculous consequences of doing so.  For example, never take a centipede shopping for shoes, or never give a moth a sweater.

This week's light-hearted book recommendations by Judi Barrett are:

• Cloudy with a Change of Meatballs
• Animals Should Definitely NOT Wear Clothing
• Never Take a Shark to the Dentist

What other Judi Barrett books have you enjoyed?

Disclaimer: Our recommendation of the books mentioned in this post is not a complete endorsement of the author, illustrator, or their other works.  Please use discernment in selecting books by any given author.

This is part 8 in the Children's Author Highlight Series.  Click here for more children's author recommendations.

Children's Author Highlight: Robert McCloskey

Photo Credit

Robert McCloskey is one of my childhood favorite children's authors.  I have fond memories of pouring over the illustrations in Make Way for Ducklings and Blueberries for Sal with my mom and brothers.  While most children's books are full of colorful illustrations, McCloskey's beautifully intricate drawings are monochromatic (sketched in one color).  Not only did McCloskey use monochromatic sketching in his books, but also he used the world around him as the setting of his sketches/stories.  Many of his books are set in Maine, capturing the beauty of the coast and ocean.  The quality of McCloskey's work is validated by the number of times his books won either the Caldecott medal (annual award for best illustrations in a children's book) or was runner up for the Caldecott medal.

Illustration in the front cover of
Blueberries for Sal

Blueberries for Sal is a story about a mother and daughter (supposedly McCloskey's wife and daughter were the models for the illustrations) who go out blueberry picking.  On the other side of the hill a momma bear and cub are also eating blueberries.  In the course of events the bear cub and the little girl switch places and their mothers are quite surprised to discover they are being followed through the blueberry patches by the wrong offspring.

Make Way for Ducklings is set in the city of Boston.  The illustrations depict many of the old buildings in Boston that are still standing today.  The story is about how a mother and father duck choose to raise their little tribe of ducklings in the middle of the city of Boston.  My children are delighted by this clever story and really like the police officer that comes to the aid of the duck family trying to cross a busy city street.

Does this illustration not cause
you to want to read this book?

One more of our favorite McCloskey books is Homer Price.  This book makes a great read aloud to elementary aged kids (and older).  Homer Price is a collection of hilarious stories that we have laughed about together a few times.


This week's author highlight books to look for at the library include:

• Blueberries for Sal
• Make Way for Ducklings
• Homer Price

Disclaimer: Our recommendation of the books mentioned in this post is not a complete endorsement of the author, illustrator, or their other works.  Please use discernment in selecting books by any given author.

This is part 7 in the Children's Author Highlight Series.  Click here for more children's author recommendations.

Children's Author Highlight: Eric Carle

Photo Credit

This week's author highlight has illustrated more than 70 books - most of which he authored himself!  The Very Hungry Caterpillar, published in 1969, is perhaps Eric Carle's best known book, having been translated into 50 different languages.  Eric Carle's website, found here, includes a more extensive biography, a complete book list, pictorial explanations of his artwork, links to his blog, and more.

Photo Credit

His Life:  Eric Carle was born in 1929 in New York; but as a 6 year old moved with his family to Germany, where he spent the rest of his childhood.  In 1952, Carle returned to New York and worked for the New York Times as a graphic artist.  He was first asked to illustrate Bill Martin's Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What do You See? in 1967, which launched his career as a children's book illustrator.  The next two years Carle published 1,2,3 to the Zoo, and The Hungry Caterpillar, both of which he authored and illustrated.  These still-popular works were just the beginning of a very successful writing/illustrating career.

Our Eric Carle Illustrations

His Art: Eric Carle's artwork is easily recognizable in his unique approach to creating illustrations.  Carle first paints large sheets of white tissue paper a variety of colors.  Once the papers are dry, Carle cuts different shapes out of the painted tissue papers, and creates vibrant pictures to illustrate his stories.  You can click here to learn more about how Eric Carle creates his illustrations.  This style of illustrations is easily duplicated at home (or in the classroom).  My children (the younger and older ones) LOVED making "Eric Carle" pictures a couple of weeks ago.

Photo Credit

His Books: Another quality about Eric Carle's books that I appreciate is that the main theme of each of his books teaches a specific concept.  The following is a short list of Carle's books with the concepts they each teach:

• The Very Hungry Caterpillar* (Metamorphosis)
• The Tiny Seed (Life Cycle of Plants)
• Papa, Please Get the Moon for Me (Phases of the Moon)
• A House for Hermit Crab (A Simple Introduction to Marine Biology)
• Today is Monday* (The Days of the Week)
• Hello, Red Fox (The Color Wheel)

In addition to the books listed above, I also recommend the following books by Eric Carle:

• 1,2,3 to the Zoo* (another wordless book - take note of the train across the bottom of the page)
• Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?* (written by Bill Martin)
• The Mixed-Up Chameleon
• Does a Kangaroo Have a Mother Too?*
• The Grouchy Ladybug
• The Very Busy Spider
• The Very Quiet Cricket
• The Very Clumsy Click Beetle
• The Very Lonely Firefly
• From Head to Toe*
• 10 Little Rubber Ducks*

* These books are ideal for the younger child (2-3 years)

Disclaimer: Our recommendation of the books mentioned in this post is not a complete endorsement of the author, illustrator, or their other works.  Please use discernment in selecting books by any given author.

This is part 6 in the Children's Author Highlight Series.  Click here for more children's author recommendations.

Children's Author Highlight: Peggy Rathmann

Photo Credit

This week's author highlight is short and sweet.  Peggy Rathmann, both an illustrator and an author, has published 6 children's books, seen here.  Rathmann lives on a ranch in  California with her husband, John Wick.  The story lines of Rathmann's books point back to great childhood memories explained here.

Officer Buckle and Gloria is a delightful story of a dog, who upstages Officer Buckle, a school safety officer.  This book won the Caldecott medal (award for the best illustrations in a children's book) in 1996.  My children laugh at the antics of the main character, Gloria.

Goodnight Gorilla has become one of my favorite books for toddlers.  The story contains very few words, but the illustrations, and the details in the illustrations tell a great story.  In this story several zoo animals follow a zookeeper home after a gorilla steals the cage keys and lets the animals out.  While enjoying the main story line ingeniously communicated through the illustrations, take note of the mouse, the banana, and the balloon on every page.

This week's library trip recommended reads by Peggy Rathmann:

• Officer Buckle and Gloria (for preschoolers-early elementary)
• Goodnight Gorilla (for toddlers-preschoolers)

Disclaimer: Our recommendation of the books mentioned in this post is not a complete endorsement of the author, illustrator, or their other works.  Please use discernment in selecting books by any given author.

This is part 5 in the Children's Author Highlight Series.  Click here for more children's author recommendations.

Children's Author Highlight: Marjorie Flack

Marjorie Flack, born in 1897, published more than 15 children's books, one of which (The  Boats on the River) won the Caldecott Award (given annually to a children's book for its illustrations).  While Flack did the artwork in many of her books, other artists illustrated many of her books.

We have enjoyed The Story of Ping many times over.  Ping is a little duck on the Yangtze River that gets separated from his aunts, uncles, and cousins for a day, but is happily reunited with them at the end of the story.  We also stumbled on Ask Mr. Bear at the library about a year ago, and have borrowed it several times since then.  The little boy in the story is at a loss for what to give his mother for her birthday, and after consulting several different animals, is inspired by Mr. Bear to give his mom a big hug for her birthday.

Marjorie Flack also enjoyed writing stories about a little scottish

terrier named Angus (inspired by her own scottish terrier).  Over the course of her writing career, Flack published five different books about Angus.

This week's recommended books are:

• The Story of Ping
• Ask Mr. Bear
• Angus and the Ducks
• Angus and the Cat
• Angus Lost
• Angus and the Wagtail Bess
• Angus and Topsy

Disclaimer: Our recommendation of the books mentioned in this post is not a complete endorsement of the author, illustrator, or their other works.  Please use discernment in selecting books by any given author.

This is part 4 in the Children's Author Highlight Series.  Click here for more children's author recommendations.

Children's Author Highlight: Jan Brett

See below for photo credit

I was introduced to today's author highlight while in college taking a children's literature class.  Since that time, Jan Brett has become a favorite author-illustrator.  Jan Brett is a contemporary author, currently writing, painting, and publishing.  Brett's fantastic artwork is what drew me to her books.  Every book is full of beautiful color and detail. 

See below for photo credit

The following are facts about Jan Brett and her books that I find fascinating:

• Jan Brett's husband, Joe,  is a string bass player in the Boston Symphony Orchestra (and he was the inspiration for Brett's book, Berlioz the Bear).
• Jan Brett loves to travel world wide.  She not only gets inspiration for her books from the countries (and their traditions) she visits, but also studies architecture and costumes to incorporate into her artwork.
• Jan Brett incorporates lots of animals into her books, but her favorite animal is a hedgehog.  Many of her books have hedgehogs included somewhere in the artwork (for example, in her book, Goldilocks and the Three Bears, the bed posts of the bears' beds have hedgehogs carved into them).
• The border art in many of Brett's books include glimpses into what is coming next in the story.  In The Mitten, different wild animals happen upon the same mitten, one at a time.  The border art throughout this book includes the animal that is coming next.  I love how this detail helps a child's prediction skills as we read these books.

Jan Brett's website is a treasure for teachers (or mothers who love children's literature).  Click here to get access to free coloring pages, a master book list, stories behind Brett's books, videos of Jan Brett, a tutorial on how to draw a hedgehog, more information about Jan Brett, and much more!

This link is a complete book list of books by Jan Brett, and includes the setting of each book.  The books I would like to recommend this week are:

• The Hat (Notice the animals in the border art predicting what is coming next)
• The Mitten (Notice the animals int he border art predicting what is coming next)
• Berlioz the Bear (Notice the happenings in the border art at the top of the page as the village prepares for Berlioz's arrival)
• Hedgie's Surprise (A fun story featuring Jan Brett's favorite animal)
• Who's That Knocking on Christmas Eve? (We really enjoy reading this one every year around Chrismtas time)
• Christmas Trolls (Notice the border art at the bottom of the page to see what is happening to all of the Christmas decorations)
• Armadillo Rodeo (A fun story about an armadillo that gets a smattering of decorated cowboy boots confused with his family)

Disclaimer: Our recommendation of the books mentioned in this post is not a complete endorsement of the author, illustrator, or their other works.  Please use discernment in selecting books by any given author.

This is part 3 in the Children's Author Highlight Series.  Click here for more children's author recommendations.

Photo of Jan Brett was found on Jan Brett's website here.
Photo of Hedgie was found here.

16 Tips to Raise Kids Who Love to Read

As a supplement to Joanne's series on Children's Authors, I wanted to pass along this quick list with excerpts from a book that I have (almost) finished reading - Tony Reinke's Lit! A Christian Guide to Reading Books (more on some of the other great aspects of this book later). For now, hopefully you can be encouraged and inspired by his advice on raising kids who love to read - even if you don't enjoy it yourself. :-)


16 TIPS TO RAISE KIDS WHO LOVE TO READ
by Tony Reinke

1. Fill your home with books. Many of history’s most prolific readers, writers, leaders - and Theologians - were raised in homes filled with books.
2. Read to your kids. We all begin as readers who require aided discovery - that is, initially we need parents, pastors, classrooms, and teachers to help us to learn from books.
3. Don’t stop reading to your kids. Parents should read aloud to their children from birth until college, the point in their lives when literacy plays the most important role in their educational success.
4. Read your books in front of your kids. Young children prize what they see their parents prize. . . . Let it be obvious to them that books are cherished in your own life. (Blogger's Note: If you don't really "cherish" books yourself, start by reading Reinke's book Lit! - Some great tips on how to enjoy reading - and why as a Christian you should.) 
5. Teach young children to read. Every child will learn to read at a different pace, but try to teach your children to read early.
6. Push entertainment into the background. It is not impossible to enjoy reading and entertainment, but your priorities must be settled first. In our home, reading is the priority over video games and television and movies. This is modeled in how we talk about books and how we limit electronic media. 
7. Listen to audio books in the car. Over the years we have logged many miles on the road for family vacations. We have grown to anticipate these road trips and the opportunity they present for the entire family to enjoy audio books. 
8. Hunt for the best books. Take time to plan books by season, by personal interest, and even by school studies. Talk with other parents in your church to find reliable recommendations. 
9. Anticipate new books. My wife and I seek to connect our children’s reading interest with specific authors. Once we discover an author that our child really enjoys, we watch local book signings and new book releases. 
10. Celebrate the classics. Find ways to get significant dates from your favorite books, and the birthdays of your favorite authors, into your calendar so you can celebrate.
11. Cultivate your child’s moral imagination. Find books that picture moral lessons in the imagination, and savor those books with your children. (Blogger's Note: For two great articles on why this is important, read theologian Russell Moore's post on "Why Christians Should Read Fiction" and David Mill's article on "Enchanting Children.")
12. Help interpret worldviews as you read to your children. Reading literature together allows parents to read about sin and evil and goodness and beauty—and to pause and help the child interpret those realities in light of Scripture. Ultimately we can use books to show our children where a biblical worldview and real life connect or clash. (Blogger's Note: WORLD Magazine does a great job reviewing books and identifying different worldviews found within them.)
13. Read your favorite excerpts to your children. This simple exercise shows my children a love of reading, and it serves them a sweet dessert of prose.
14. Invite your children to read to the family. I will buy [my son] as many books as he can read, so long as he agrees to mark his five favorite pages in each book, bring those marked pages to the dinner table, explain the context, and read them to the family. 
15. Challenge your children to improve books. When the time is appropriate, encourage your kids to disagree with a book. 
16. Most importantly, read the Bible together as a family. Books are a big part of our home, but the Bible is the supreme Book. Parents model the primacy of Scripture by reading the Bible together as a family on a regular basis.

Megan for the Sisterhood

Children's Author Highlight: Hans and Margret Rey

see photo credit below

Among the most popular characters in children's literature is Curious George - a good little monkey, but always very curious.  PBS Kids television version of Curious George has helped the popularity of this little monkey among thousands of children, including my own.  However, a popular kids TV series, a movie, and a gazillion George adventure stories seems to have cast a shadow on the real deal Curious George.  Did you know that there are only 7 original Curious George books written by the Reys?  The shelf at our public library is full of Curious George books, but most of them are not from the original collection.  The ones that say "H.A. Rey's Curious George" have borrowed the character George, but are not part of the original 7, and have been authored by other individuals.  While these short tales are cute adventures, they fall short of the originals, in my opinion.

The Reys worked together to develop the Curious George stories with Hans primarily doing the artwork and Margret writing the stories.  I highly recommend clicking here to read about H.A. Rey, and his wife Margret (who co-authored many of Rey's works), how they came to the United States as Jewish refugees during WWII, details about Curious George, and where the Rey's got their ideas for the George books.

This week I recommend the original 7 Curious George books:

• Curious George (1941)
• Curious George Takes a Job (1947)
• Curious George Rides a Bike (1952)
• Curious George Gets a Medal (1957)
• Curious George Flies a Kite (1958)
• Curious George Learns the Alphabet (1963)
• Curious George Goes to the Hospital (1966)

I also recommend Cecily G. and the Nine Monkeys (1939), the Rey's first children's book which debuts the character George, and Katy No-Pocket (1973), a cute story about a kangaroo and  illustrated by H.A. Rey.

Let us know if there are other H.A. Rey stories that you enjoy.

Disclaimer: Our recommendation of the books mentioned in this post is not a complete endorsement of the author, illustrator, or their other works.  Please use discernment in selecting books by any given author.

This is part 2 in the Children's Author Highlight Series.  Click here for more children's author recommendations.

Photo found here with the following credit: Margret and H. A. Rey, United States, late 1940s. H. A. & Margret Rey Papers, de Grummond Children’s Literature Collection, McCain Library and Archives, The University of Southern Mississippi.