Running List of Song Books: Christmas Edition

There are a ton of great Christmas songs that have also been turned into picture books to share.

Again, I will add to this as I find or remember them, so please feel free to remind me of any I have missed in the comments!

Deck the Halls, by Norman Rockwell
Here Comes Santa Claus, by Gene Autry
The Huron Carol, Brebeuf, Father Jean de, eng. lyrics by Jesse Edgar Middleton, ill Ian Wallace
Santa Baby - by Janie Bynum
- a reworking to celebrate sharing xmas with a baby, quite cute
Santa Claus Is Comin' To Town, by Steven Kellogg
- this is the full version
The Twelve Days of Christmas - there are lot of versions of this. Jan Brett's is quite nice, and
Robert Sabuda's pop-up is stunning.

Running List of Song Books

I love book versions of songs for kids. They give the kids something to look at and focus on when you use them with a group. They can add a new dimension to an old favourite, tucking humour or beauty into the pictures in greater detail. They are great for building phonetic awareness skills. Kids will sit still for a song or join in singing along, so they are great for a group. And of course, they help me remember the words!

This list will be added to as I find or remember new versions, so please add any favourites I may have missed in the comments!

Kids' Favourites:

Baby Beluga, by Raffi
Down By The Bay, by Raffi
Eensy Weensy Spider, by Nadine Bernard Westcott
I Know An Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly, by Nadine Bernard Westcott
*note, she doesn't die here
also: There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly, by Simms Taback
If You're Happy and You Know It, by Raffi
Lady With The Alligator Purse, by Nadine Bernard Westcott
Little White Duck, by Walt Whippo
Miss Mary Mack, by Nadine Bernard Westcott
Old McDonald, by Jane Cabrera
On Top of Spaghetti, by Paul Brett Johnson
* melding of story and song
Puff the Magic Dragon, by Pete Yarrow
The Seals on the Bus, by Lenny Hort
Shake Your Sillies Out, by Raffi
She'll Be Coming Round the Mountain, by Jonathan Emmett
Skip To My Lou, by Nadine Bernard Westcott
Spider on the Floor, by Raffi
The Teddy Bears' Picnic, by Jimmi Kennedy
This Little Light of Mine, by Raffi
The Wheels on the Bus, by Raffi
The Wheels on the Bus, by Paul O Zelinsky

Other Great Song Books:

A-tisket, A-tasket, by Ella Fitzgerald
Let It Shine, [ill.] by Ashley Bryan
Summertime, by George Gershwin
Turn! Turn! Turn!, by Pete Seeger
What a Wonderful World, by George Weiss
Rodgers and Hammerstein's My Favorite Things, by Oscar Hammerstein, ill. James Warhola

Reworking

This past week, the decision was made to stop publishing on Better Than a Playdate - that is, all columns, not just Pick of the Litter. Because it's a project that I enjoy and the lists are ones I use for my work at times, I've decided to recreate the column here, on a site of my own. Everything posted before today was found first on either Playdate or the earlier site MommyBlogsToronto, which I think is important to say because I have so enjoyed being a part of those projects.

As far as this site is concerned, having no schedule to hold to now means my posts will be less regular, to be sure, and less frequent, but I plan to continue posting as I have ideas and time to fill them out a bit. It also means that I may be slightly less rigorous - I have always felt I needed at least 4 good titles to make an idea worth posting, but I may, here, sometimes post with less if it's something I would like to put out there or titles that I think go well together.

I hope that if you were a reader on Playdate, you will continue to enjoy the lists here, as well.

Community Helpers: Where Do We Get It?

Daily, we eat. We buy groceries - canned goods, produce, baking supplies, and more. We cook them, often keeping children busy in another room, though we occasionally involve them. the whole business is a little removed from them. We sometimes go to restaurants, where someone else cooks behind closed doors, food appearing even more mysteriously than at home. So how to lead them to understanding and appreciating all the hard work behind these meals they eat (or refuse)? How to explain the logisitics, the late-night shelf-stocking, the care and pride that goes into supplying food for us?

Here are a handful of books of community helpers that illuminate the goings-on in stores, groceries, and restaurants, a great way to show kids what it takes to get a dinner on their table. Not only will you bring them to greater understanding of the world around them, but you will expand their vocabulary and maybe - just maybe - even get a little appreciation at mealtime. Maybe.

Stores:

The Candystore Man, by Jonathan London, ill. Kevin O'Malley

This book is more ode to a superpopular neighbourhood character than it is a look at how the man runs his store, but part of what makes him so special is his engagement with his community. He treats the winning football team to milkshakes and pinball, takes a blind boy to a basketball game, and shells out on Hallowe'en, not to mention being on cool cat. The story is written in a be-bop beat, as if in tribute to the candy store man's obvious love for all things jazzy, and O'Mally's illustrations would add fun to a funeral, so while a bit slight on the actual job involved, it's a winner for sharing at storytime.

A Fruit & Vegetable Man, by Roni Schotter, ill. Jeanette Winter

Ruby is a greengrocder who takes great pride in his work, choosing the best produce, stacking it artistically, and serving his customers well. New arrival Sun Ho soon becomes a young admirer of Ruby, who is much beloved in the neighbourhood, and asks Ruby to show him how he does it. Ruby takes him along on a day, teaching him how to choose, haggle, stack, and serve, all of which pays off when he for the first time becomes to sick to open the store for a few days. When he returns, he finds that Sun Ho and his family have been taking care of business for him, and decides that he can at last retire, leaving the community in good hands. This is a nice bok about taking pride in your work and serving your customers with integrity, and it really shows the dedication in some of those mainstays of the world around us.

The Storekeeper, by Tracey Campbell Pearson

This homey book follows the day of a general store proprieter who opens early, orders new stock, sorts mail, shelves product, and serves donuts while she helps out pretty much everyone in town wanting one thing or another. It is simply told, with some detail added in the cute drawings, but shows how busy it is to keep a small business running. There may not be too many small general stores left in the world, but I think it can translate to many a small business owner!

Groceries:

Market Day, by Lois Ehlert

This book shows a farming family loading up and going into town for market day, and is told in rhyme. The illustrations are a bit strange, but really interesting - a collage of folk art items that give the whole thing a sort of Central or South American feel. While this is not how a lot of North America has ben typically buying its food, the farmer's market is on the rise, and families who frequent them might really enjoy this relatable glimpse into their food's suppliers.

Feast For 10, by Cathryn Falwell

A family gets ready for a big family dinner in this cute counting book, starting with a trip to the grocery store, and continuing with the preparation of the meal. The paper-and-cloth collage illustrations are terrific, and I love the level of detail. It feels jut like any family outing to the grocer's, with one of the five children riding on the cart, others helping gather the ingredients for dinner. I also love it when a picture book features of family of colour without the story being about that, and this family is a good-looking one, to be sure.

The Little Red Hen (Makes a Pizza), by Philemon Sturges, ill. Amy Walrod

This urban take on the familiar tale of the little red hen is a winner. In it, the hen decides to make a pizza, and as she discovers the many things she will need and doesn't have, she is, as expected, given no help by her friends, who are out playing in the street. Instead, she runs out to the hardware store, the supermarkt, and the delicatessen to get what she neds, cooks it up herself, and in the end, breaks with th traditional tale and shares it with her shiftless friends. They repay her kindness by helping with th dishes, showing that they are no complete do-nothings after all. The story is definitely a fun retelling, but what pushes it into fantastic trritory is the comedic details in the paper collage illustrations - the selections and labels of the food in her pantry alone make it worth taking this treat home to share.

Restaurants:

Piggy's Pancake Parlour, by David McPhail

This is found in the picture book section, but it is sort of a picture-early chapter hybrid, as it is much more text-heavy than you average picture, and divided into chapters for easily reading it over a few nights of storytime, if you wish. In it we meet piggy, and discover how he learned to cook pancakes, how he met fox, and how the two of them went on to open a pancake restaurant together, including the story of how they experimented with having a model train deliver the pancakes to customers, but found it easier to do by hand in the end. It's a lovely book, a tale of friendship and work paying off in something wonderful, and a good story overall. McPhail's typically beautiful and finely detailed illustrations make the whole thing sing.

Big Jimmy's Kum Kau Chinese Take Out, by Ted Lewin

A young boy takes us with him as he spends the day helping out at his dad's chinese takeout restaurant. We see the ingredients delivered, the kitchen cleaned and the cooking stations prepared, the meat and vegetables chopped, and huge bowls of rice and noodles made ready. The boy folds menus while he waits for opening time, and once they do open up, the rush begins. Phones ring and woks sizzle as the boy helps stuff bags with orders, bringing them out to customers, and taking a moment to eat after the lunch rush. At the end of the day, though, he eats his favourite - pizza! Lewin's incredibly gorgeous watercolours bring this work to life, and in an artis's note at the end he notes that the restaurant is a real place in Brooklyn, and that the paintings were done from photographs he took, though the people are fictional and added in from other sources. It is, in a word, a prfect look into the running of a busy chinese restaurant.

Originally posted on Better Than a Playdate.

National Treasure: Barbara Reid

Barbara Reid is another one of Canada's great children's authors, and may be familiar to many of you, whether you know of her full range of books or not. Many of her books are favourites, but only one small and lesser-known set have gone into a series, making her somewhat less well-known than she ought to be. She is an illustrator of other people's books as well as an author/illustrator, so you may even have seen her art without ever having read what she has written herself. Either way, you should just make sure you know she has a good handful of wonderful books to be discovered.

What's so special about her, that I should call her a national treasure? I first became aware of her for her illustrations, which are phenomenal. A master of plastiscine, she shapes, blends, and texturizes with more detail than anyone I have seen in this medium, and even, sometimes, incorporates little bits of found stuff into the images, giving them an extra dimension of real life. Not only are her details incredible, but she has a gift for faces, something I always appreciate in an artist. So after enjoying her work on Jo Ellen Bogart's Gifts and Beverley Allinson's Effie, most notably, I began to notice her own work, and loved it even more. It turns out that as great as her genius for the image, her skill as a storyteller matches it. She uses lovely storytellerly details that give her stories a feel of modern fairy tales, and when she uses rhyme, she does it with skill and a nice, readable metre. Treasure, indeed. Here are some of my favourites:

Subway Mouse

This is one of her tales that is at once thoroughly modern, taking place in a subway system inhabited by a gang of tattooed mice, yet retains something of the air of a classic tale in its journey and its delightfully satisfying ending. Toronto readers will recognize a lot of details, and this work is an example of her incorporating lots of scraps of real objects that work perfectly to bring her already nicely detailed world that much closer to perfection.

The Golden Goose

I adore this twist on fairy tales and their often-spoiled princesses. Here, a pragmatic and earth-loving girl is completely misunderstood by her loving but status-conscious father, who wants to buy her some happiness and in his attempts, destroys the very things that she loves. In the end, her story fortunately intersects with that of a young man who has found a golden goose and is being tailed by a gaggle of greedy townspeople. The two hit it off perfectly, and are able to return her favourite places to the little patch of what they consider heaven. Her father may be left scratching his head, but he's happy she's happy, and all is well with a nice, modest couple. Sweet, full of great values without talking about them, and charming in its execution, I have given this as a gift more than once.

The Party

Anyone who has attended a big family party will appreciate how well she picks up on what goes on, from an aunt's big smooch to chasing around with cousins to the sleepy ride home later than usual. it's note perfect, and the rhyming works nicely, something I always watch for.

Zoe's Sunny Day / Rainy Day / Windy Day / Snowy Day

This set of simple books tells about what Zoe gets up to in different types of weather, and make a great introduction to talking about weather. Perfect for toddlers and early preschoolers, they are short and capture what it's like to be a young kid at the mercy of the outdoors and your mother's dictates.

Sing a Song of Mother Goose

She may not be an author in the truest sense of the word here, but she has put together one of my favourite collections of nursery rhymes, right up there with those illustrated by Rosemary Wells and by Kady MacDonald Denton, some illustrious (ha!) company, if ever there was.

Fox Walked Alone and Two By Two

These stories are both about Noah's Ark, but the Fox version is told from the point of view of the fox. Reid has said that she wrote it partly to try to answer some of the many questions the story had raised for her. If you are planning to introduce a child to this tale, one or both of these would be a wonderful way to do it.

Fun With Modeling Clay

In this how-to art book, Reid shares some of her tips and tricks to teach kids how to play with clay. Imagine, lessons from the master... A great way to extend her stories, to bring the concept of illustration home more fully to children, or add an extra dimension to an author study.

Originally posted on Better Than a Playdate.

Pumpkinpie's Picks

I haven't mentioned for a while now what my Pumpkinpie has been enjoying, which I think is a good window into what she and I like, so I think it's about time I pull back the curtain on bedtime at our house once again, especially since I've been buying new books like a mad thing lately. (That's what happens when you have time to browse bookstores while on mat leave...) She's also taken very strongly to some good stuff, surprising even me a little, given that this child has had some dubious favourites in the past. New on the playlist are:

Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs, by Judi Barrett, ill. Ron Barrett

This old classic was a surprise hit with Pumpkinpie! I thought it might hit her funny bone, but it is a slightly more sophisticated humour than I quite expected from a girl who still loves a good fart joke more than anything. Okay, so her favourite part is the man with a noodle stuck over his head, but still, I'm delighted to have her enjoying this amusing tall-tale of weather gone weird. Being more sophisticated also means that this would work for a child a year or two older till, too. (I'm not sure the forthcoming movie will work, though, depending on how muich they focus on the danger of the storms getting out of control. Will have to preview that one.)

Watch Me Throw The Ball! and I Will Surprise My Friend! (Elephant & Piggie books), by Mo Willems

The Elephant & Piggie series by kidlit superstar Mo Willems is fantastic, and so far all of them have been hits with her. These are the latest two we have been reading, and they crack both of us up every time. The serious and slightly stressed Gerald is balanced nicely by his light-hearted friend, Piggie, and Willems' signature cartoon style makes them quick and easy reads for parent and for emerging readers. We have on occasion taken turns reading parts, which works well with the colour-coded speech bubbles, the two characters, and the simple, short phrases. Yes, I'm fooling my child into reading to me, at least a little. What's not to love?

Pirate Pete's Talk Like a Pirate, by Kim Kennedy, ill. Doug Kennedy

Pirate Pete is looking for some rascals to crew his ship, and when he interviews a few, he finds that while they may be dirty and ready to steal and plunder, might swab the deck and fire a cannon like a pro, it is still hard to find a mate who can talk like a pirate, his prime criterion. After sending all the prospective pirates over the plank, he discovers that he had the prfect crew member on board the whole time - his parrot, who apparently has picked up his speech habits. This one is really funny, but be prepared to have a sore throat from growling in pirate speak night after night after night. (Yes, it was in heavy rotation.)

The Cow That Laid An Egg, by Andy Cutbill, ill. Russell Ayto

Marjorie the cow did not feel special, living with cows that seemed to do circus tricks, so her friends the chickens take matters into their own hands. Things get a little out of control, and it looks like the game is about to be up, when a surprise twist melts Marjorie's heart and makes the silly story sweet. The story and resolution remind me of Dr. Seuss's Horton Hatches An Egg, rendered in a simpler barnyard tale and illustrated in a style that brings to mind Lauren Child, of Charlie and Lola fame. Overall, a fun read with a cute ending that manages not to leave a sappy aftertaste.

Originally posted on Better Than a Playdate.

'Pie on Pie

As the weather grows warmer (well, okay, not today, but on the whole, we're getting there...), my thoughts turn to summer. yes, I love spring, but I dream of summer. The warm weather, the carefree feeling in the air - and the fruit. And, of course, because I have a sweet tooth, the fruit pies. Well who doesn't love pie? Since I'm not alone, there are some terrific picture books that pay tribute to the wonders of pie. You just might want to make sure you have some on hand if you are going to make these part of your reading, because you know they are going to want some...

Enemy Pie, by Derek Munson, ill. Tara Calahan King

This young boy has never had an enemy before, but now he does, and he doesn't know what to do. But his dad (who, oddly, looks a little like Richard Nixon...) does: you make enemy pie. Must be full of groos things, he decides, and offers some up, btu they aren't what his dad needs for the pie. As his dad mixes and bakes the pie, the kid tries to dream up the horrible stuff that must be in it, and is a little confused by the good smells wafting from the ktichen. (If it smelled bad, explains dad, your enemy wouldn't eat it. Sneaky!) So does it do bad things to your enemy instead? Dad keeps quiet, but tells him that the delivery is tricky - you have to spend a day with your enemy being nice to him. Of course, by the end of it, the two have become friends and the delicious pie is simply dessert. Funny and clever, I like this take on how to handle an enemy without ever teaching.

Sweet Dream Pie, by Audrey Wood, ill Mark Teague

A special pie is made on this street, but only now and then. When it seems time again, candies and all things sweet are baked into a massive mountain of gooey goodness, and everyone wants some. The smell is overwhelming, and all the neighbours partake, but when they overeat, things begin to get weird, and the dreams begin to get out of hand. By Wood, a master of silly, and Teague, whose illustrations are a marvel, this combination makes for some magic of its own in the form of a great book, though I think it works better for slightly older kids.

How To Make An Apple Pie and See The World, by Marjorie Priceman

If you want to make the perfect pie, you need the finest of ingredients, right? So in true over-the-top foodie style, you might want to travel the world to fetch the freshest, most exotic spices, for a start... This is a fun story of an around-the-globe trip, a sort of Amazing Race for pie, even if it is ludicrous. because really, isn't ludicrous one of the best ingredients for a kids' book? (See what I did there? Ingredient? Heh?) If your child is curious about voyages, why not take a fun one like this, and end on a note of dessert?

Pie in the Sky, by Lois Ehlert

This simple, wonderfully illustrated book is typical of Ehlert's, and reminds me quite a bit of her Growing Vegetable Soup. In both, a father tells a child that they are growing a foodstuff, and the child is then involved in the growing of the ingredients. They emphasize not only where food comes from and the cycles of growth, but also the patience required. As the tree goes through its growth cycle and birds and raccoons eat from the cherry crop, excitement grows, until it is time to pick cherries and make them into pie. The making of the pie is part of the story, and could serve as instructions if you wanted to try it out at home, as well. Cooking is, in fact, a great activity to share with children, not only teaching them about the reading and following of instructions, but also some rudimentary math and science skills. In the end, though? Oh come on - cherry pie, people! Yum.

The Apple Pie Tree, by Zoe Hall, ill. Shari Halpern

This book is another one about the tree in the backyard, this time an apple tree. This book is also aimed at young children, with lovely but simple collage illustrations, however this book does a pretty good job of walking quickly through the seasons and cycles of the tree and the robins it houses. In the end, though, apples are harvested and added to apple pie. A recipe at the end adds a nice element for extending the story if you are inclined towards baking with your child, and is joined by a bit of information on bees and pollination. The focus here is less on the pie, but the book is a great one for sharing with a child where fruit comes from. (Life cycles are also a kindergarten curriculum element, so it's a good way to bring some of that home.)

Original posted on Better Than a Playdate.

Add-on:
The Apple Pie That Papa Baked, by Lauren Thompson

This is a riff on the familiar cumulative rhyme "this is the house that Jack built," this time celebrating where the apples came from. The art in this book takes up the neo-retro trend seen in Chris Wormell's gorgeous woodcuts, in Cynthia Rylant and Nikki McClure's new All in a Day, and even to some degree in Kevin Henke's A Good Day. The ivory pages and black, red, and brown colour scheme further the older feel of the book and work well for the rural setting. A nice simple intro to apples for the young.

All for Pie, Pie for All, by David Martin, ill. Valeri Gorbachev

Five cats all eat a slice of pie, which leaves one slice sitting while they nap. Five mice all eat some of that, which leaves six crumbs sitting while they nap. The ants eat those, and then they, too, nap. When everyone wakes up hungry, the Grandma cat suggests they bake another pie, and everyone pitches in. It's cute, and makes a sort of interesting turnaround of the Little Red Hen story.

Community Helpers: Building Our Cityand Keeping It Clean

Last post, I introduced the idea of community helpers as a topic. It is, as I mentioned, a kindergarten curriculum element, and a good way to familiarize children with the world around them, allowing them to make text-to-life connections, and giving them both understanding and vocabulary for people in their neighbourhood.

Two of the loudest and most visible, and therefore fascinating from early on workers that a child will notice are construction workers and trash collectors, both of whom come with big, noisy trucks and eye-catching orange vests or coveralls. What child doesn't love these? Here are a few books that give them a bit of a closer look at what's going on with those people and machines that build our communities and help clean them up.

Construction:

Machines at Work, by Byron Barton

Byron Barton turns his bold style to a construction site in this title, showing the major steps in knocking down an old building and creating a new building and road. This is not a bad really, really general overview, and the simplicity of the book and the images makes it a terrific pick for a younger kid, but for an older kid, I would recommend a book with more detail and realism. For one thing, this all seems to happen in one day, which anyone who has lived on or near a construction site can tell you is far from reality! It makes a great intro to machines and construction, though, which is why I love that it is available as a board book, the format I bought it in for my own kids.

Building With Dad, by Carol Nevius, ill. Bill Thomson

In this sweet yet cool rhyming book, a boy tags along with his dad on a construction site and even gets to help here and there throughout the summer as his dad and the crew build the new school (which is of course total fantasy - can you imagine a child allowed on a site?!). The rhyme and metre work without reaching much if at all, the premise is pure boyhood fantasy, but it's the illustrations that lift this book from good to great. Beautifully painted, they capture strong summer sunlight, facial expressions, a wonderful sense of perspective, and even the gloppiness of concrete being poured to perfection. This is sure to be a winner with any construction fan.

Trash:

I Stink!, by Kate and Jim McMullan

A garbage truck introduces himself to you in this book, and tells you about what he does all night while we sleep - but be sure to read this with a growl and a sense of humour, because this garbage truck has some attitude to spare. Not to mention a loud belch right in the middle. Yes, it's not nice and tidy, but then, neither are garbage trucks. It's a crowd-pleaser, a great one to share aloud, and its star appeals to young kids on every level with his trash talkin'. Throw in an abc of the kind of stuff he eats, and it's even good for preliteracy skills, but your kid will never notice, I promise.

Trashy Town, by Andrea Zimmerman and David Clemesha, ill. Dan Yaccarino

The polar opposite of the above title, this book features the cheerful Mr. Gilly driving his pristine garbage truck around town cleaning it up before he returns home to clean himself. Instead of focusing on the dirt and noise, this truck celebrates the work that Mr. Gilly does. For each of his stops, there is a chorus made for chanting with kids:Dump it in, smash it down, drive around the trashy town! Is the trash truck full yet? NO! They will jump right in, making it an easy favourite, especially with younger kids. The drawings, again favouring design over revelling in the revolting, feature Yaccarino's signature sleek, geometric, almost cartoon-inspired style, making for a lovely book, too.

Originally posted at Better Than a Playdate.

Community Helpers: An Overview

One of the big curriculum elements in kindergarten is the theme of community workers. The idea is to introduce children to the neighbourhood and the city and the many people who help make it work. Who are they? Where do they work? What do they do to help us? It's a great idea, teaching them about these important cornerstones of the community, these everyday heroes, as it were. Not only so that they can appreciate them and their contributions, but also so that they gain a greater understanding of the world around them.

It's something that we as parents are so accustomed to living with daily that we sometimes forget to really stop and explain it. If it's an idea you'd like to bring home with you, this post is a starting point, a source for some general overview books. I'll follow up in the next little while with some posts about specific professions as well, as many of them are of interest to children. I mean, fire fighters? Seems to me those are of interest to lots of people...

Stella Louella's Runaway Book, by Lisa Campbell Ernst

Stella's library book is due by 5:00, and it has disappeared. She follows the trail of people who have passed it from one to the next, and as she does, the group of people helping her look grows behind her. Along the way, she meets and gathers in lots of people in her communityand the sense of true community is on full display, as each is concerned with helping her on her mission. By the end, she has what seems like a good portion of the town's population running around with her. This book features Ernst's trademark illustration style, and is a serious delight to read aloud as it plays with fun language, works the storyteller-style repetition as the group grows, and even provides clues to a riddle at the end. This is just a terrific title for sharing.

What Do People Do All Day?, by Richard Scarry

This fantastic book is a classic for good reason. It introduces the concept of work and workers and why people work, then goes on to introduce a solid set of different workers and their work in short stories of four to eight pages each. The stories contain a stunning level of detail in the text and illustrations both, making them wonderful to explore together again and again. I had forgotten how good this was - I may go buy it for Pumpkinpie now!

This Is Me and Where I Am, by Joanne Fitzgerald

This book is great for putting the idea of neighbourhood into context. It begins looking at the worlds, and then begins to focus in closer and closer, down to one country, then one city, one neighbourhood, one street, one yard, one house, one room, one bed, containing one child. it then pulls back out again to show the child within his/her room (its ambiguous), house, yard, street, neighbourhood, city, country, and world. It's an interesting book, and helps a child understand the way those terms are related in a nice clear, simple presentation.

Career Day, by Anne Rockwell, ill. Lizzy Rockwell

On Career Day in Ms. Madoff's class, the children bring their parents, who work a wide variety of jobs - mostly in the community, though some further afield. Each has an illustration of the person in the class and in their work environment, paired with a couple of lines briefly touching on what the job title means. This is a good way to introduce a host of different vocations in one fell swoop, but does not go into detail on any one of them - you could follow up with books with a narrower focus where your child shows interest.

When We Grow Up, by Anne Rockwell

Like Career Day, this book covers a swath of differnt careers without telling much about any one of them. In this case, we are shown a great number of children and what they want to be, with one line about each paired with an illustration showing them both as a child and as an adult doing their future dream job. This being a much older book has a different feel - the illustrations are drawings, and simple ones at that, the colour palette very limited, and the overall impression pretty retro. Still, if you're looking for a book about professions for a young child, it has the right level of complexity, as Anne Rockwell does picture books about the world around very well.

In the Middle of the Night, by Kathy Henderson, ill. Jennifer Eachus

This soft book speaks of the night workers, the bakers and mail sorters, officer cleaners and hospital staff, stargazers and delivery drivers who help make the world ready for us in the morning. Framing the story is a baby's bedtime, a birth, and a mother looking at the early morning sky as she walks her wee one. The book has a soft, foggy quality to its illustrations and a lyrical text that give the book on the whole a dreamlike feeling. Quite lovely, and different from other books about occupations. It would make a wonderful bedtime tale.

Coming Soon: Building a City and Keeping It Clean.

Originally posted on MommyBlogsToronto/Better Than a Playdate.

The Beast Within

A child's anger is unlike an adults. It's less of a quick snap or slow burn, and more of a wild rage. Anger can bring a child to a place where they can't hear or reason, can't stop themselves, can scarcely even catch a breath to howl anew. It's hard for adults to really understand the force of those emotions, but some authors get it and have portrayed it admirably in their work.

I'll bet your child can relate - which also makes these books a great way to talk to them about this powerful emotion at a calmer time. Your child might feel more understood, and you might even just be able to work out some strategies for communicating when your child feels this way and for how you can help him or her return to earth. And who doesn't want that?

When Sophie Gets Angry, Really, Really Angry, by Molly Bang

This critically acclaimed book was one of the early entries in this category of books that look unblinkingly at how out of control a child's anger can really get. In it, bold, swirling colours illustrate Sophie's wild emotions perfectly as she works through her anger and lets it out. Bang has a real feel for how a strong emotion can carry a child to a different place, and she has chosen a powerful way to express it in this book.

That Makes Me Mad!, by Stephen Kroll, ill. Christine Davenier

Nina explains in this book the things - the many things, some of them seemingly inconsequential to a grown-up, and some familiar, frustrating things - that make her mad.Each instance is illustrated in a little vignette that owes something to comic book sequencing and perfectly capture the expressions and postures of an irritated child. A lot of the circumstances will look familiar, as they happen within the family setting, which makes this all the more approachable. And in the end? Being able to tell her mom about how angry she is, in the end, turns out to be a big help. I like this book a lot - it reminds us of our children's feelings and how even in a warm, loving home, they are bound to get trodden on, and gives a nice, reassuring way to come back together as the storm passes over.

Angry Dragon, by Thierry Robberecht, ill Philippe Goossens

This book may be of particular interest to parents of boys, as the two above both feature girls. In this book, a boy turns into a dragon, taking on an angry red colour, fiercely hurling angry words and stomping about until he can return to being a boy and reconcile with his parents. In terms of illustrating how a child often has to feel their anger all burned away and spent before they can accept a parent's comfort, this is spot on. It also shows the kind of imagination that some children have, which I always appreciate.

If You're Angry and You Know It, by Cecily Kaiser, ill. Cary Pillo

This early reader turns the familiar song If You're Happy and You Know It into a song about dealing with your anger. Illustrations set up common school situations that might make a child feel angry, while the song suggests a technique for showing your anger, ie. "you're angry and you know it, stomp your feet." The suggestions are designed to let off steam, for the most part, and while we might not be thrilled with kids going around stomping, it certainly beats some of the other responses that young children lean towards in moments of rage, so for that, I quite like it. The book wraps up with a verse that assures children that they will then be happy once again. A nice tool for showing more appropriate ways to demonstrate anger, especially for those who are frequently frustrated.

Originally posted on MommyBlogsToronto/Better Than a Playdate.

Just the Way You Are

We want our children to be confident, to find their own niche, to feel good about something they love to do. That thing is not always the expected or conventional, though. These stories each celebrate doing things your own way, in your own time. They'll have you singing along with Frank (or Syd), "I did it myyyyyyyy way!"

The Fabulous Song, by Don Gillmor, ill. Marie-Louise Gay

This fantastic Canadian duo have collaborated on some of my very favourites, and this is no exception. Frederic's mother names him for Chopin, and is convinced he will be a musical genius. Despite this, her many attempts at getting him playing various instruments meet with failure after failure. It isn't until Frederic notices a conductor that he finds his niche, and makes his hidden musical talent known by bringing together his extended family in perfect harmony. It's funny, it's got great art, and the message is uplifting without being hammered home. Perfect.

Omar on Ice, by Maryann Kovalski

Omar loves pictures and wants to be an artist - unfortunately, drawing is not exactly his forte. He feels terrible until he goes skating, something he loves to do, and forgets all about it. But he feels even better than okay when a classmate points out the figures he has unwittingly drawn with his skates - he is an artist after all! A rousing book celebrating the joys of doing what you love - differently.

Leo the Late Bloomer, by Robert Kraus

Leo didn't do any of the things the other kids did. His father began to worry, but his mother had faith that he would catch up on his own schedule. And one day, proving both that not all children are the same and that mother's intuition is spot-on so often, Leo did indeed "bloom," suddenly able to do everything his parents could hope for. This classic is easily overlooked, as Kraus' drawing style is not flashy, but this and his other works are wonderful, and should not be missed.

The Mixed-Up Chameleon, by Eric Carle

A chameleon who feels envious of the qualities of several other animals takes on the characteristics of each, becoming so discombobulated that when a fly flies by and he is hungry, he doesn't know how to catch it until he wishes he was himself again. This simple lesson on appreciating who you are and the things that you can do is rendered in the instantly recognizable art of Eric Carle. It has the added benefit of presenting animals and colours, and comes in a board book as well.

Also in this vein, see Alexander and the Wind Up Mouse, Frederick, and others by Leo Lionni. My beloved Kevin Henkes books also often contain a note of this - see Chrysanthemum, Chester's Way, Owen, and Jessica.

Originally posted on MommyBlogsToronto/Better Than a Playdate.

Rediscovery: The Lovely Leo Lionni

Lio Lionni is one of those classic children's authors that is too often overlooked, having peaked in popularity some time back. His illustrations have an older feel, which I think contributes to this underappreciated status, as newer books are often more vibrant, but his stories are wonderfully told and his characters are charming enough to overcome their subdued coluor palette.

I am certainly guilty of this myself, as I am always enjoying new books and falling back on those classic authors that I really love, and only really reading a couple of his stories on a regular basis. This year, though, I have discovered a few other books of his, and decided to introduce them to Pumpkinpie. One I read just last week surprised me by being really funny - not something I had associated with him! I just goes to show you - there are treasures right under your nose, if you only open them to find out.

Here are a few highlights:

A Color of His Own and Fish is Fish

These are stories of acceptance, as well as great friendship. The first features a chameleon in search of his own colour. It's sweet, and has the bonus of introducing colours. The second sees a fish and a frog who are friends but go separate ways as the frog gains legs and travels the world on land. When he returns and tells the fish about the world, the fish wants to see, too, and tried to leave the pond, only to be rescued by the frog and in the end, learns that 'fish is fish" and that he is in the perfect place for him right where he is.

The Alphabet Tree

This story has the feel of a legend as it tells how the letters in the alphabet tree learned to come together to form words, and finally carry a most important message to a president. It is also the perfect illustration of the concept of print awareness, or the understanding that letters and words have meaning. Add it to your reading for preliteracy benefits, as well as the peacenik message at the end.

Swimmy and Inch by Inch

In each of these two classics, a tiny creature manages to confound a would-be predator through cleverness. Swimmy mobilizes a group of fish to work together, while the inchworm outwits a bird all on his own. Both are great stories of the plucky underdog coming out on top by using their smarts. Who doesn't love that?

Alexander and the Wind-Up Mouse

I remember this story from when I was a child, though it used to get confused in my head with William Steig's Sylvester and the Magic Pebble. It is, in fact, something like a cross between that and the Velveteen Rabbit, both wonderful stories, and is delightful in its own right, with a slightly eerie and magical atmosphere.In it, a mouse learns a lesson about seeing the benefits of his own situation, and finds a friend.

Frederick

This lovely winter tale emphasizes that while we need food and drink, we also need to feed our souls in the long dark months. Using colours and words, Frederick helps his brother mice weather the cold weather. Lovely, and a great way to talk about the value of things like poetry and imagination.

The Biggest House in the World

This is another tale of accepting your lot, but stands this opposite being prideful and showy. In it, a father snail tell shis son about a snail who grew the biggest, most beautiful shell in the world, and was very proud of himself, until he discovered that it was so heavy, he could not move to a new cabbage leaf, and withered away. The small snail understood the wisdom of keepinghis shell small and easy to move, and told the tale to any who asked about his modest home.

The Extraordinary Egg

A case of mistaken identity leads to a really very funny incongruity in this short, simple book. I never realized Lionni could do funny, so I was surprised and totally delighted by this simple and cute story..

Originally posted on MommyBlogsToronto/Better Than a Playdate.

National Treasure: Phoebe Gilman

First in a random series on great Canadian authors.

Phoebe Gilman did not start out as Canadian, nor did she start out as an author. In fact, she was born in New York, and traveled to a few different countries before settling in Toronto to teach at the Ontario College of Art (now OCAD) while she tried to get her first book published. Fifteen years after she started out, she found success, and The Balloon Tree has become something of a modern Canadian classic.

Gilman nearly always illustrated her own work, the exception being The Blue Hippopotamus, and has illustrated for others as well, as in the fantastically interactive Jean Little picture book Once Upon a Golden Apple, which is made all the more magical with Gilman's work sharing the page. Her illustrations are wonderful - rich and full of fine details in her folk and fairy tales, looser, more child-like, but still with interesting details in her fluffier fare.

She said in the charming biography at her own website that she preferred the words to the pictures, even though she thought of herself as an artist rather than a writer, and also mentioned that her favourite stories were fairy tales, but that she'd cover the illustrations if they didn't match the ones in her own head. This rings perfectly true with her work, some of which is definitely fairy-tale-inspired and all of which is illustrated wonderfully.

It is a huge shame that publishers did not find her sooner, allowing her a longer career before her death at 62 from Leukemia some six years ago, because her books are wonderful. Go, find a few, and share this treasure with your wee ones.

Top Picks:

Something From Nothing

This traditional jewish tale is wonderfully told, with storyteller style touches that make it perfect for sharing and participation. It's a great story on its own, as Joseph's blanket shrinks ever smaller until it is a mere button, but Gilman has added a secondary storyline in her highly detailed illustrations that may evade notice the first read or two, but will be a favourite addition to the reading of the story once it is discovered. This is my favourite version of the story, in fact.

The Balloon Tree

A favourite of ours in the princess category, it satisfies the girly need for a pretty young princess in a gown and a castle while giving it a medieval richness that defies the frothy pink of some princesses. even better, the princess is a young girl, but rather than flounder around, when the bad guy strikes, she takes action and saves the day with a little help from her friends and her father. It's a great story, with beautifukl illustrations that even a not-so-girly girl would probably enjoy.

The Gypsy Princess

I featured this in an earlier princess post as an example of a story that undercuts the whole princess thing even while feeding the craving for princess-themed things. In it, a young gypsy girl wishes to be a princess, and given the chance, she takes it, only to discover that her fantasy is just that. In reality, the formal princess life is not all she had imagined, and she runs back home to her vibrant campfire home.

Jillian Jiggs [and sequels]

Pumpkinpie has been thrilled and obsessed with this series this past month since I brought home the five-pack. We have read two or three every night and thankfully, with Gilman's facility for rhyme and metre, as well as fun little details in the illustrations, they haven't worn out their welcome yet. Over the series, Jillian Jiggs puts on a play with a growing cast, loses everything in the snow, sews assorted little stuffed pigs, fights a monster, and gets awfully distracted while trying to clean up her room. She entirely relateable, and lots of fun in these light romps.

Look to Gilman also for girl pirate themed books Grandma and the Pirates and Pirate Pearl.

Find Gilman and other great Canadian authors at your local public library!

Originally posted on MommyBlogsToronto/Better Than a Playdate.

When Grandparents Fade

Children love their grandparents. Grandparents are, after all, a wonderful part of a child's life. Who else can spoil and love thm without having to be the disciplinarians and taskmasters? It's a wonderful thing for them to be able to have a close bond. My grandmother was one of my favourite people, just as it should be, and memories of grandparents can be some of the best ones even half a lifetime later.

But how to explain when things start to become harder? If the wonderful person that is grandma starts to fade from view a little, if grandpa becomes a little strange or forgets who his own beloved grandchild is? It is a difficult thing for an adult to understand and accept when the person they know and love starts to disappear while their physical self is still here, the disconnect heart-wrenching. For a child, it is confusing and a little scary. Helping them to appreciate what is left, to continue to show their love for the person that was, and to become more comfortable around the new reality is perhaps the best we can hope for. A little help in discussing such a difficult thing is out there, though. Here are a few titles to get you started on that tricky path.

Wilfred Gordon McDonald Partridge, by Mem Fox

Wilfred lived next door to an old people's home, and he loved the people who lived there - most of all Miss Nancy. When he overheard that she had lost her memory, he set about finding out what a memory was so that he could help her find it. Each of the people he asks gives their own interpretation, and he finds objects that fill those niches, bringing them to her in the end. As she looks through them, they bring up a collection of memories she thought she had lost. This story is sweet and warm, and beautifully told be the incomparable Mem Fox. The illustrations are quirky and filled with warm colours that add to the feel of the book. Simply lovely, and while Miss Nancy might not be Wilfred's gandma, it's a very nice way to talk about memories and the loss of them, and shows a lovely way to help reconnect with an older person.

Mile-High Apple Pie, by Laura Langston and Lindsey Gardiner

This grandmother is a special grandmother - one who was always a bit of an eccentric, and quite wonderful for it, but is now living with the family because she is starting to forget. Margaret, her grandaughter, doesn't believe her parents when they tell her that one day, grandmother will forget everything, even who she is. She helps her remember, finding her slips and quirks even a little charming at times. One day, though, grandmother does forget, and Margaret is upset. The book relates a bit about her confused feelings, but stresses that while her grandmother might not always remember her, she does love her, and as Margaret sees that for herself, she feels better about it and goes on helping her out. Sweet and quirky, with illustrations to match, this is a nice, gentle way to talk about a grand's memory loss.

My Grandma's In A Nursing Home, by Judy Delton and Dorothy Tucker, ill. Charles Robinson

This is an older book, and feels it, being printed in black, white, and sepia only, but entirely worth getting over the bland appearance for. In it, Jason recounts what it is like to start visiting his grandma in her new home after she had moved out of his family's home (she has Alzheimer's and needs extra care, it is noted). At first, he, his grandmother, and his mother are all sad about the move, and the nursing home seems a strange, not-so-nice place filled with slightly scary old people, but as they all grow more accustomed to it, they relax and find some joy and a new friend or two. Told entirely from Jason's perspective, this book skips being too informational or teachy, and instead hits the feel of the visits right on. I do hope that they will update this one and re-release if someone notices this hidden gem.

This last book is in fact about a deceased grandparent, rather than one who is undergoing the changes of aging. It may more properly go, then, with the Books on Bereavement, but I thought it would be a good one to know about in case you are looking to prepare a child for this eventuality, as well.

The Grandad Tree, by Trish Cooke, ill. Sharon Wilson

This book is simple and lovely, using an apple tree in the yard as a starting point to remembering when they played under it with grandad, In short, nicely framed sentences, it talks about their grandad's life and the seasons and life cycle of the tree, and notes that both will last forever because they are remembered. It's a lovely sentiment, but the illustrations are the perfect touch to make the whole thing beautiful, and the overall feeling is sweet and wistful without dwelling heavily on death or falling into a lot of sentimentality. Wonderful. (On a side note, I also love that the book features a family of colour without ever making a point of that fact. I'd love to see that happen more!)

Find these and lots of great stories about happier times with grandparents at your local public library!

Originally posted on MommyBlogsToronto/Better Than a Playdate.

Pumpkinpie's Picks

I wasn't going to do a Pumpkinpie's Picks post for a while - I had posts ready! With themes and stuff! But I am about to overstep my parenting ethics, and I bet I'm not alone, so I'm here to share my pain, people.

You remember how in the comic strip Calvin & Hobbes, Calvin always wanted to read Hamster Huey and the Gooey Kablooey, every. single. night? Much to his parents teeeth-gnashing horror? Yeah. Pumpkinpie has a Huey, and my head is about to explode in a gooey kablooey.

Have you hit this particular wall in storytime before? Where you can't stand the thought of reading that one book even just one more time? What I want to know is - what did you do? Because I'm about to hide a book or two around here and tell Pumpkinpie I just don't know where they could have gone! But I hate the thought of deceiving my child, and I don't know if I can bring myself to do it. So tell me - what do I do?

And meanwhile, in the interest of public service, let me advise you not to take any of these home unless you want to find yourself reciting them in your sleep.

Skippyjon Jones, by Judith Schachner

This is currently enemy #1. Hamster Huey, if you will. Not only does she want this one every night, but it requires silly accents, which grow old after being trotted out a few times running. Plus, she practically knows it by heart herself, but refuses to give me a break and read it to me, instead. I've begged her for a night off, threatened to have Skippyjon go on vacation, and told her I need some variety, but I've only succeeded in getting one night's respite. A tale about a wild, crazy little cat with a massive imagination (and ears to match), it's silly, and I always figured it wouldn't play as well here as in the states, where there is more exposure to Mexican stereotypes culture, but apparently, background doesn't matter when there is funny to be had.

Miffy. Any Miffy. Series by Dick Bruna.

I love Miffy, in fact, and we have a handful that get rotated, so I don't mind this, but I warn you - if you venture down Miffy Lane, make sure you have a few different books on hand so the rhyming cadence, the simple illustrations, and the cute bunny don't grow too worn, because they'll get asked for night after night. I remember these from when I was a kid, actually, and loved them myself. Sorry, mom.

Dora's Storytime Collection.

Woe betide the friend who bought us this one. Dora shows have to be seriously cut down to fit a short few-page format for storytime books, and they, um, lose something in the translation. Yes, the shows are better. Oy. Still, at least she keeps choosing a sweet one about making a birthday cake for her mother, which involves some of her favourite things and mine - cake, birthdays, and chocolate. And I get a hug and I love you at the end, just like Dora's mom. Payoff!

Hello Kitty, Hello World

For a kid who likes Miffy, Hello Kitty is sort of a natural progression, seeing as she is drawn in much the same bold, graphic style. In this book, Hello Kitty is off to see the world, and she shows us some of the most famous things from each country she visits, as well as telling us how to say hello. The first few times we read this, I loved it. Cute! Fun! Even sort of educational! How nice to have my daughter aware that there are other places and cultures out there! How wonderful to hear her attempt to say hello in Swahili! But really. How many nights can I play tour guide for the same items? I think I know now what it must be like to run one of those tour buses, and it ain't pretty. My rendition's getting shorter and shorter. Maybe I need to bust out an atlas and an almanac so I can add in some new fun facts to spice things up.

Olivia Forms a Band, by Ian Falconer

I don't mind this one so much because, well, it's really funny, and somehow making all the crazy noises night after night isn't as bad a crazy accents. While it kind of feels like a bunch of funny bits strung together rather than a narrative, which I usually prefer, Olivia is a howl, and Pumpkinpie cracks up as I start imitating horns and cymbals gone awry, especially after seeing a parade full of marching bands this weekend. And like the Miffy books, there are a few Olivia books, so if your kid likes them, you can switch things up a bit, which really helps. As does the talent of the author/illustrator, which I can't help but admire, even as I read this for the hundredth time.

Find these and other addictive paper at your local public library!

Originally posted on MommyBlogsToronto/Better Than a Playdate.

Paleontology 101

What kid doesn't love dinosaurs? After all, they are fascinating. Gigantic, fierce, and deliciously scary, without ever being any real threat at all, thanks to the vast separation of time. Best of all, we know enough to dig up immense bones and create museum exhibits to fuel a child's imagination, enough to study them and learn about their lives and eating habits, yet they retain a sense of mystery, because there are still plenty of things we don't know and probably never will. If that doesn't get your sense of wonder stirring, I don't know what would. So it is that they are also a favourite theme in kindergarten classes, and your child may well come home telling you all about which have long necks and eat plants.

A great way to increase a child's interest in storytime is to tap into his/her other interests, and there are plenty of great dino titles to do the trick. (They are always much-requested among visits of younger classes, too.) This way, you can indulge your child's obsession, keep them focused as you read, and brush up on your own dino knowledge a bit, too. After all, if you want to be the cool parent, you'd better know your Compsognathus from your Pachycephalosaurus.

Dinosaur Roar, by Paul Stickland

This is a beginner for the milder mannered, for sure, as it is downright cute. Roly-poly, sweet-looking dinos frolick around to illustrate various opposites - not fare for the fan of the fearsome. Yet, it is a favourite of mine for using with young children because it is funny, uses adjectives you never find in any other opposite book, and I've never met a class who didn't love it.

Dinosaurs, Dinosaurs, by Byron Barton

This book is a simple one, using Barton's typically bold illustrations, but walks in general terms through some of the different types of dinosaur types. It doesn't use names in the text, but talks about how different groups of dinosaurs lived or looked, a good level for the budding dino enthusiast. The specific dinosaurs and their names are found on the endpapers, where I found that he used some more obscure dinos, as well as the usual suspects - Stegosaurus, Triceratops, and the like.

Danny and the Dinosaur, by Syd Hoff

This classic beginner reader holds its appeal well, as does the fantasy of playing with a real dinosaur - but a friendly plant-eater, please. Here, a dinosaur (an Apatosaurus, by the looks of things) comes to life on a museum visit, and her and Danny leave the museum for a day of fun. They help people on the way, too, no doubt leaving a few pacemakers working hard. Danny would love to take the dino home as a pet, but in the end, the dinosaur must go back to the museum, and promises that they can play again another day. A sweet, cute dino and simple drawings with a cartoon feel make this a hit.

My Dinosaur, by Mark Weatherby

This book is so sweet, it's a dino bedtime story. It reprises the fantasy of having a dino of one's own to play with, but here, the dinosaur appears at a young girl's window at bedtime, and takes her for a ride through the cool, dark forest. Their moonlight adventure is quite short and ends with her home asleep and, of course, possibly dreaming. The illustrations are of a softness that give the whole thing a dreamlike, foggy quality, and are really, very lovely. This one won't give anyone nightmares.

Older children may enjoy some of the more complicated dinosaur stories out there, and the hard-core dino enthusiast will no doubt follow them, too. They are, essentially, both more in-depth and detailed versions of the "and I have a dinosaur of my very own!" fantasy, Carrick's having more realistic dinosaurs, and Joyce's employing his usual fantastic retro-futuristic, ready-for-movies feel. Try:

Patrick's Dinosaurs, by Carol Carrick [and other in series]

Dinosaur Bob and His Adventures With the Family Lazardo, by William Joyce

Don't forget to also check Dewey number 567 for simpler non-fiction books by Ailiki, Bernard Most, and books in the True series. These are a must and will feed the curiosity of even the most serious dino lover, while avoiding the really graphic gore of some of the dino books for older kids. They may seem a bit heavy, but studies have shown that children will read at a dramatically higher reading level when reading about something they love, so encourage them to explore books that you might think are too much for them, anyhow. You never know just how much they might be getting out of them!

Bonus:

a dinosaur song! Sung to the tune of Three Blind Mice...

One, two, three, count with me
One, two, three, count with me
Triceratops had three big horns
'Cause that's the way that he was born,
One, two, three; One, two, three.

Dig up these and other great dinosaur tales at your local public library!

Originally posted on MommyBlogsToronto/Better Than a Playdate.

Book to Movie - The Early Years

It will come as no shock to any of you to hear someone suggest that Hollywood is looking just about anywhere for ideas these days. I know! Heck, for teens, they have in the past few years, even come out with movies based on great teen novels! Written for teens! And for the younger kids? Well, often enough we are seeing rehashes of things already done - Disney, I'm looking at you here, with your Cinderella II and you Lion King III. But we've also been getting a handful of movies based on perfectly good picture books.

Basing a movie for kids on a picture books for kids seems like a good idea, right? I mean, great literature, brought to life? What's not to like?

It's problematic, though. You've all read picture books to your kids. How long does it take, even if you add in silly voices and take time to look at the pictures and maybe even embellish a little or give them some chance to predict what's coming? Fifteen minutes, tops, maybe twenty for a heftier story or a fairy tale, is pretty much what we are talking about. If you pad it out with a musical number, you could stretch it to half an hour, maybe forty-five minutes if you really bring in the dancing clowns. But even the shortest, chintziest movie comes in at about 80 minutes plus. So if you have material that will fill at most half your movie... Yeah.

Now, some stories have enough embedded in them to make them expand fairly easily. Chris van Allsburg's books are like that, entire worlds of imagination available, lots left unsaid that can be unfolded and embroidered cinematically. They work. Others may have to rely on padding, improvising, or downright inventing new stuff to stuff it full with, which often doesn't work so well (*cough*Cat in the Hat*cough*), though in the hands of some seriously funny and talented people, a story can be warped beyond recognition, but come out pretty great anyhow, though I always feel like they may as well go all the way and retitle it and rename the characters. Shrek is a fine example of this - not that much left to do with the original work, but a fun movie that works.

If you've got a kid who loves movies, it can be a great way to tie a book back to what they've seen, or to inject something a little more literary into their viewing. It's also an interesting way to start talking about books and movies and what the differences are. Watching something you've read and seeing how Hollywood changed it is a great way to begin important discussions about things like media awareness and narrative structure with your older chid, too, making them more aware of the stories they are comsuming, both onscreen and on the page. That may sound a bit complicated to parents of younger kids, but it is something we have to start thinking of, as media is much a part of their lives. Not quite yet, though - I think these longer movies are, overall, more suited to kids of 6 or more so that they really get them, anyhow.

For younger kids, I love the Weston Woods adaptations of picture books available at your library and now also on Scholastic home dvds - they still make a great way to start talking about things like the voices used in turning the book into a movie, and are a fun way to watch favourite stories come alive. They are absolutely faithful to the originals, too, so while you won't be talking editorial choices, you also don't have to live with any bad ones! This means that their length comes in typically between six and twelve minutes, but they are often bundled onto a VHS or DVD in groups of four or more.

For those older kids, here are a handful of picture books that have been stretched into full-length features you might want to check out:

By prolific and wildly imaginative author/illustrator Chris Van Allsburg (who is also notable for the sheer beauty of his books, almost all what we consider "advanced pciture books"):

• Jumanji
• Zathura
• Polar Express - a newer Christmas classic, even for younger kids who are nearly certain to find the other two both scary and not so accessible

Ant Bully, original story by John Nickle - a strange story I was surprised to see translated to the screen, quite frankly, and a prime example of one that made me curious to see how they stretched it out into a feature.

Shrek, based VERY loosely on the original and little-known picture book by the fabulous William Steig, who I love.

The much-loved and newly plundered works of Dr. Seuss, apparently fertile ground for comedians to work their frenetic magic on kids:

• Cat in the Hat - Mike Myers dons the iconic tall hat this one
• Horton Hears a Who - so new I haven't seen it or even heard much about it, so while the voices of every working comic from Jim carrey and Steve Carrell to newcomers like Seth Rogan are employed, I think the fact that it is animated instead of "live" (but much made-up with prosthetics) action is wildly promising already, so i'm giving it a chance.
• How the Grinch Stole Christmas - Jim Carrey on grumpy green guy
• add Seussical to this some day when they move it from stage to screen. It's got to be coming, doesn't it?

Meet the Robinsons, based on Wm Joyce's A Day With Wilbur Robinson. Joyce tends to envision fairly complete worlds, too, and has had wonderful and successful shows based on his works, which tend also to a charming and movie-friendly retro futurism that translates well into animation like this.

Do you have a favourite kids movie based on a picture book? This is only a starting point, so leave recommendations if you have them!

Originally posted on MommyBlogsToronto/Better Than a Playdate.

Making a Spectacle of Yourself

I first wore glasses when I was a mere three years old. Having had a three-year-old now, I'm not sure how my mother ever kept them on me. In fact, I would guess that a lot of children have some difficulty adjusting to glasses. They are, let's face it, a sort of weird thing to have on. You see them and feel them on your face, and for someone accustomed to being unencumbered by them, not so great. Now, of course, there are extremely cute specs for little kids, far removed from the ugly plastic things of the 19mumblemumbles, but still, hard to get used to for some.

So we parents, we emphasize the need for them, we keep after them, and all the things that parents must do. But putting a positive spin on them is something that we can turn to authors for a little help with. Need some books to help put things in perspective or help the bespectacled future look a little brighter? Here you go. You're welcome.

Baby Duck and the Bad Eyeglasses, by Amy Hest, ill. Jill Barton

Baby Duck does NOT like her new eyeglasses. she worries that they might fall off, and that they look ugly, and begins to feel sorry for herself. Grampa, who also sports specs, tests her limits and she discovers that she can do all her favourite things with them, still, AND read clearly. All good. This installment in the cute baby duck series takes the typically reassuring tone of these books, with her always-understanding Grampa making things okay. I like how he gets her. And while these books hover on the edge of too-cute, they usually come down on the right side, and certainly sit well with young kids of toddler age.

Spectacles, by Ellen Raskin

A young girl keeps seeing strange things everywhere, until her parents are sure she needs glasses. She is not convinced, but they take her to pick some anyhow, and she gets some terrific ones from the fantastic selection available. Suddenly, things look different... at least, as long as she keeps them on. This book is great fun and features Raskin's signature quirky style. It is (so sadly!) out of print, but I mention it because if you can lay hands on it, is is well worth the search. It was a favourite of this specs-sporting child, back in the day.

Glasses: Who Needs 'Em?, by Lane Smith

This frequent Jon Scieszka collaborator takes on this topic alone in a typically offbeat picture book.It treads familiar territory - coming to grips with the need for glasses and realizing they aren't so bad - but Smith adds his own brand of humour and his angular but slightly fuzzy, dark-toned illustrations. What sets this book apart from the others here is that it has, I think, much greater boy appeal than most books on the subject.

Glasses for D.W., by Marc Brown

One of the side benefits of series books is that you can use them to tackle a number of topics, and here Marc Brown uses his phenomenally successful Arthur series to talk about glasses. D.W., it seems, wants glasses just like Arthur, and is pretending she can't see. She thinks they would be cool! This is lightweight, to be sure, but the different, more positive perspective could be a nice change from all the angst that can surround them.

Robin's New Glasses, by Christine C. Jones, ill. Ji Sun Lee

When Robin goes to get her new glasses, she is nervous, and wondered if things would change. They do, in fact - for the better! She scored some cute new rims in her favourite colour, so she loves how they look. Better still, she can see everything! This is a very simple little book, but her upbeat delght with her new specs is refreshing, and the young girl herself rendered in simple line drawings that keep this cute, but not overly so.

Bumposaurus, by Penny McKinlay, ill. Britta Teckentrup

Once a dinasaur was born so near-sighted, he was named Bumposaurus for his tendency to run into things. After a series of misadventures and mistakes culminates in his nearly getting eaten by a T. Rex he mistook for his mother, his loving family decides to take action. Enter Grandma, who lets him try on her glasses and opens up a whole new world to the little reptile. Cute and sweet (but not icky sweet), this little guy shows what a difference clear sight can make.

Originally posted on MommyBlogsToronto/Better Than a Playdate.

There's a Potty Goin' On Around Here

Ah, potty training. Feared by parents who haven't been there yet, subject of parenting books galore, and known to drive grown men to the very brink. I was lucky in this regard - Pumpkinpie was on the case before I was really even worried about it. Even so, I employed a book or two, in my usual manner, to help explain things to her, to show her other kids in action, and to give us a talking point. Now I can't tell you how to go about potty training your child (sorry), but I can tell you about a few good titles to help put forth the suggestion.

There are a, um, boatload of board books and other small volumes on this, many split into gender-specific boy and girl books. In the library, board books are not organized in the catalogue, and therefore cannot be requested on hold, so I won't give you suggestions for those here, except to say that if you are looking to buy one, I did really quite like the Dorling Kindersley (publisher) board book entitled My Potty Book for Girls, which I took home to read with Pumpkinpie. (ISBN for easy finding online: 0789448459, cover image so you know you've found the right one if you're looking, since board books can be tougher to locate and this one doesn't really have an author to be filed under.)

No More Diapers for Ducky!, by Bernetter Ford and Sam Williams

This is a cute, newer (2006) book in the field, and features drawings that are sweet, but not saccharine - a balance that can be hard to strike. When Ducky goes to Piggy's house to play, Piggy is busy on the potty, so she amuses herself for a while as she waits. And as she waits, her diaper becomes cold and wet and not so comfy, until she wriggles out of it and decides she's going to make the bold move to potty usage with her friend. How successful thsi first trip is, we don't know, but the book is a nice one, and uses my personal favourite among potty training methods - peer pressure. If that works for you, bring this one home.

I Want My Potty, by Tony Ross

Fans of the Little Princess have a go-to book on potty use here, as she decides she is sick of diapers, but has some adjustments issues with potty use initially. Soon she got used to it, and agreed that the potty was indeed "the place." Even so, even a potty-trained princess can have an accident now and then when she is too far from the potty, it turns out, which is a nice way to address that such slip-ups are a part of the learning process, not a major flaw in the learner.

The Potty Book for Girls/Boys, by Alyssa Satin Capucilli, ill. Dorothy Stott

This duo of small, rhyming, gender-specific books makes for a ncie introduction to pottying. In it, a child is comfortable with diapers, but when a box arrives and it is a potty, s/he is willing to give it a try. Accidents happen, so do times when s/he needs to sit for a spell. Still, his/her parents are encouraging, and all involved are proud of the eventual success, which is celebrated with phones calls to grandma and the purchase of new underwear.

My Big Boy / Girl Potty Book, by Joanna Cole, ill. Maxie Chambliss

This small book starts out by setting up the similarities between the main character and the reading (read-to) child, so that the child may relate to him - clever. It asks questions along the way to involve the child, encouraging them to discuss their own experiences or guess what is happening along the way as the boy gets a potty and tries it out. He doesn't have immediate success, but after a few tries, he does, to his parents' great delight. The child goes to pick out underpants, but still wears a diaper at night for a while, making for reasonable expectations. The books also show that the child has an accident when he forgets, but that it is not a big deal. It ends on a note of encouragement: "You can learn to use the potty, too. Then won't you be proud of yourself!" The boy version of this duo mentions also the boy's father teaching him to pee standing up. These are simple and straightforward, but create a nice environment of being supportive without pressure. I quite like them, in fact.

Try pairing these wtih a silly story about potty use, like Andrea Wayne-von-Konigslow's Toilet Tales to lighten things up, too.

Find these and more great resources at your local public library!

Originally posted on MommyBlogsToronto/Better Than a Playdate.

The Name Game

kitten kitten bo bitten, fee fi fo fitten, mee my mo mitten, kitten...

By now, my own bundle, so far known as The Bun, should have arrived. And hopefully, been named. I say hopefully because, well, around our house, the naming of babies is a long, arduous process. And other bloggers I know say it was tough for them, too. So how do you explain this to the sibling-to-be who may, as Pumpkinpie did, have her own ideas about being involved in the naming? How do you explain why a name is so important? Well, if you're me... you rely on someone else. Someone more articulate. Someone published.

Here are a few good stories about how we get and adapt to the names our parents choose for use.

Chrysanthemum, by Kevin Henkes

Chrysanthemum's parents chose what they were certain was the perfect name, and until she started school, she loved it, too. When she becomes the target of mean girls and it turns into a source of teasing, though, she dreams of other, less flowery names (like Jane). Her parents try to reassure her, being as loving as they can, but what really turns things around is the introduction of the music teacher, Miss Delphinium Twinkle, whose name is everything Chrysanthemum's is and who is considering that very name for her soon-to-be-born babe. Turns out, the mean girls would love the name Chrysanthemum after all. Need I even elaborate about Henkes' usual genius with handling social situations for young children and showing loving, supportive environments for the exploration of such things? I thought not.

The Name Jar, by Yangsook Choi

Unhei has just moved from Korea, and is unsure about her name. She gets teased on the school bus, and resolves to choose an American name. Yet her Korean family and the community see her name as beautiful. She tries a few new names in the mirror, but none feel right. At school, she finds a jar full of name ideas on her desk from her classmates - names of family members and story characters and more. As she becomes more comfortable, and with the help of one classmate's interest, she chooses to keep her name and teach the others to say it properly. This is a lovely tale of fitting in and coming to appreciate your own name, something that any child with an unusual name (like Chrysanthemum, above) might appreciate.

A Perfect Name, by Charlene Costanzo, ill. LeUyen Pham

Mama and Papa Hippo are struggling to name their baby daughter - and her naming ceremony is tomorrow. The problem is, there are so many beautiful names, and they all mean lovely, appropriate things. How to pick just two? They try them out on her, with no result. They try considering her personality, with too many results. In the end, it is her splashing in the water at the ceremony itself that inspires her perfect name. A cute take on the trials and tribulations of choosing a name, this easy tale is illustrated with wonderful illustrations full of joy.

How I Named The Baby, by Linda Shute

For my money, this is the one that best explains all the ins and outs of baby naming. In this family, they are working together to find a perfect name for either a boy or a girl (they don't know which it will be), and the older boy (future sibling) is part of the process. All the same things that most parents take into consideration are here - they are looking for a name that is not too old, but not too new, has a meaning they can live with, is not too fancy, but not too short. They find inspiration in many places along the way - the name might have a family connection, could be biblical, could come from a naming book or the name of a hero, could be a floral name... They find that they like different names, as we tend to do in my house (ahem, Misterpie!), but in the end, they find names that they feel are just right. It's a great explanation of how complicated it can be, yet very endearing and child-friendly.

You may also want to check out the baby naming books in your library's adult non-fiction section at 929.4!

Originally posted on MommyBlogsToronto/Better Than a Playdate.