What We're Reading @ 226

Iggy Peck Architect by Andrea Beaty is a masterpiece of a book.  It's about a boy named Ignacious who is passionate about building things and dreams of being an architect.  But, once he reaches grade school, his creativity and innovative thoughts are squashed by his strict teacher.  But later, the class find themselves in a dangerous situation and Iggy and his architectural prowess come to the rescue.  It's silly (in a laugh out loud way) with an inspiring message of steadfastly holding on to your dreams.  Also, the illustrations are straight badass.

If you don't yet own The Curious Garden by Peter Brown, I suggest you hiy the "Add to Cart" button immediately.  It is a great book to read anytime, but is especially apropos as the weather warms and things start to grow.  Liam is a little boy who discovers a forgotten garden in the middle of a gray, gloomy city.  He makes a commitment to bring the little garden back to life and with the help from lots of friends he succeeds!  The illustrations in this one are vibrant and detailed.  We love it.

More book suggestions here.

What We're Reading @ 226

Harlem's Little Blackbird is one of our current favorites, but I have a suspicion that it will linger in our favorites list for years and years.  It's the empowering and inspiring story of Florence Mills, the legendary entertainer and mesmerizing songstress, whose career began at the age of six but flourished at the beginning of the Harlem Renaissance.  The lessons of racial injustice and perseverance through unfavorable odds are captivating (and important!) for little audiences.  The illustrations are colorful and lovely as well.

Sylvester and the Magic Pebble is a joyful read about a donkey who finds a magic pebble that can turn him into anything.  In an unfortunate incident, he accidentally turns himself into a rock and his mother and father worry that they've lost him forever.  In the end, after a joyful reunion with his parents, he decides that the Magic Pebble is nice, but maybe his life with his family is the nicest.  This a classic (1970), but the message remains poignant.

What We're Reading @ 226

Reading is one of my favorite things.  We don't only read to our children before bed, but throughout the day.  Especially on rainy, cold days.  Sometimes they just wander over to the book corner when its quiet and other times we pop popcorn, make tea and bring a big stack of books down to a blanket on the floor.  You know, like a reading picnic.

I'll find any excuse to escape to my room to read and I really want to pass that on to my kids.  A good book is the cheapest and most fulfilling adventure.  And, in my mind, you can never be bored if you love to read.  Like, ever...so long as you have a library card.

Kids books can have me mesmerized for hours.  They make up the majority of the gifts that I get for other kids (and my kids) and Amazon.com can have me reading summaries and reviews for way too long, deciding what our next book will be.  So, in case you're in a reading rut, I'm going to regularly put a few recommendations here to help out.  Please feel free to leave your own recommendations in the comments.

This is a hilarious book by Oliver Jeffers, whom I love.  And whose most famous/popular book is probably I Want My Hat Back, which is a pretty great one.   This Moose Belongs to Me is all about a little boy named Wilfred who finds a moose, and therefore thinks the moose belongs to him.  He teaches him rules and they go everywhere together, until the moose gets lost/wanders off.  The boy and the moose have to reach a compromise.  And while hilarious, it's a great lesson about healthy relationships, ownership and the compromises we make to get there.

The Paper Bag Princess by Robert Munsch is one of my all-time favorite classics.  It sort of comes as a surprise because his other book is so terrifying (and yet so popular, how?) that I had to remove it from our shelves.  But this one couldn't be more different.  It's about a sassy young princess whose prince gets kidnapped by a fierce dragon.  She embarks on a voyage to rescue the prince and by the time she's there, she is a ragged and dirty mess, having outsmarted the dragon.  The prince is critical of her appearance and unsupportive of her heroic arrival.  Essentially, she says...peace out, I don't need you.  I love the not so subtle moral.

Happy Reading!