Celebrate the Year of the Dragon Part 1: Picture Book

In celebration of 2012 being the Year of the Dragon in the Chinese calendar, in this series of posts I will recommend children's books featuring dragons, starting with picture books.

1.  "The Paperbag Princess" by Robert Munsch (Author) and Michael Martchenko (Illustrator)

In this hilarious tale, a dragon destroys Princess Elizabeth's castle, burns her clothes and snatches her fiancée, Prince Ronald.  Wearing only a paper bag, the resourceful princess sets off to find her prince.  She outwits the dragon and rescues the prince, who turns out to be no Prince Charming.

I have fond memories of this book which I owned as a child, along with a copy of Robert Munsch's "Mud Puddle" (both in miniature format, perfect for little hands).  My favourite part was, and still is, when Princess Elizabeth calls the spoiled Prince Ronald "a bum" (and rightfully so).

2.  "Merlin and the Dragons" by Jane Yolen (Author) and Li Ming (Illustrator)

Jane Yolen draws upon Arthurian legends in this book, which features Merlin telling a young King Arthur  a story about another boy who had a prophetic dream about battling dragons.

Chinese New Year Books for Kids

Celebrate the Chinese New Year on January 23, 2012 with one of these picture books (click on the covers to learn more):

Follow a Chinese American family as they get ready for the Lunar New Year in this colourful picture book for ages 3 and up.





This picture book for ages 3 and up tells about the preparations to be made for the Chinese New Year in rhyming couplets.  As the story is told, the book folds out like an accordion, revealing the parade's dancing dragon.



   In this original folktale for ages 6 and up, when a boy comes home from the market with an old wok instead of food, his parents worry they will have nothing to eat for their Chinese New Year's Eve dinner.  Then the wok rolls out of their house, and comes back with a wonderful surprise.


Does your family have a favourite Chinese New Year book that you'd like to share?  Please leave a comment below.

Winter Reads: Picture Books for Snowy Days

I remember the joy of waking up as a child to find that the outside world had been magically transformed by a snowfall during the night.

Here are some picture books that are perfect for snowy days (click on the pictures for more details):

1.  "The Snowy Day" by Ezra Jack Keats  

A classic, award-winning children's book you may remember filling you with wonder when you were little.







2.  "The Snow Day" by Komako Sakai


A small rabbit is delighted to learn that kindergarten is closed due to the snow. But then he learned his daddy's flight home has been cancelled and he feels like he and his mommy are alone in the world (don't worry everything ends happily).


3.  "Just a Snowy Day" by Mercer Mayer
Follow Little Critter as he enjoys the perfect snowy day (comes with touch & feel, pull tabs, flaps and scratch & sniff):

Story Behind the Story: "Max & Ruby" series by Rosemary Wells

Rosemary Wells is a children's book author and illustrator best known for her "" picture books about two young bunnies.  Older sister Ruby, is the responsible one trying to teach her little brother about the world.  However, Max has his own ideas about what he wants to do which often gets him into trouble, but somehow everything always works out in the end. 

The characters originated from the author's own family.  Rosemary Wells would carefully listen to her two daughters, who were five and nine months at the time, as they interacted with each other.  The five-year-old would try to teach her younger sister things such as how to eat, dress and talk, and that is where Max and Ruby began.   

If you've ever watched the TV show, you may be troubled by the fact that their parents are never shown.  Don't worry, they are just in the other room listening in, just like Rosemary Wells eaves-dropped on her children many years ago.

New Year's Books for Children

Is one of your New Year's resolutions to read more to your kids?  Start by teaching them about the New Year with some of these books (click on the covers to learn more about each one):

Shanté discovers how different cultures celebrate the New Year when she sets out to borrow black-eyed peas from her neighbours.





 P. Bear invited all his friends for a fancy New Year's party.  As the clock strikes one, one whale arrives.  When the clock strikes two, two horses arrive.  As the countdown continues, your child will learn how to count and tell time.





Squirrel doesn't know what a New Year's resolution is.  Luckily Bear the librarian can tell her, and as she walks through the woods to think of one, she helps her animal friends along the way.




If you know of any good New Year's books, please share them by adding a comment.  Happy New Year!

Illustrated Books that are NOT Appropriate for Children

These books may look like children's books, but don't be fooled, they are actually aimed at adults.

1.  "Go the F**k to Sleep" by Adam Mansbach and Ricardo Cortés

Maybe this was an impulse buy or you received this as a joke gift and you want to get extra mileage out of it by reading it to your children (but the pictures are just so pretty and the kids will never know what it really says).  Just don't. Wait for the upcoming sanitized version if you really want to share it with your kids.

2.  "Highly Inappropriate Tales for Young People" by Douglas Coupland and Graham Roumieu

The title may be tongue-in-cheek, but seriously, these really are highly inappropriate tales for young people.  The stories follow the disturbing activities of characters such as a zombie substitute teacher who devours children, a sociopathic juicebox, an action figure with serious issues. 

3.  "The Gashlycrumb Tinies" by Edward Gorey

"A is for Amy who fell down the stairs. B is for Basil assaulted by bears."  Need I go on?  While I love Edward Gorey, his stories are not for little children. 

4.  "Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk: A Modest Bestiary" by David Sedaris

Don't let the cute picture on the cover fool you.  These anthropomorphic animal tales are aimed at adults (and even adults might find the stories and illustrations disturbing).

5.  "The Look Book" by Chris Sickels

I've never read this book, but the publishers warn this book uses dark humour combined with adult content.  It received many positive reviews on Amazon, so you may want to buy it for yourself - just don't give it to your children.


Did you ever mistake a picture book aimed at adults for a children's book?  Please share your story.

Strange and Remarkable Alphabet Books

Some unique alphabet books for children (click on the pictures to learn more):

1. "The Dangerous Alphabet" by Neil Gaiman



2.  "Alphabeasts" by Wallace Edwards



3.   "Silly Monsters ABC" by Gerald Hawksley

Book Review: Singing Away the Dark by Caroline Woodward and Julie Morstad (illustrator)

"Singing Away the Dark" is one of the most beautifully crafted picture books I have ever read.  It has such a timeless quality to it, it's hard to believe it was only just published in 2010, rather than being a long-time classic.



The story follows an imaginative six-year-old girl walking through the woods one winter morning to reach her school bus.  She overcomes many obstacles along the way - a barbed wire fence, a creepy forest, a bull munching hay and howling winds. But by singing to herself, she gains the courage she needs to overcome them.

As I grew up in the countryside, this book really resonated with me. The words and the illustrations perfectly captured the simple joys that exploring fields and forests can bring.  I felt like I was travelling back in time to a world I had almost forgotten about, and for that I am thankful for this book.

I give "Singing Away the Dark" 5 out of 5 footprints in the newly fallen snow.

Book Picks - Ten Good "Goodnight" Stories

Since the purpose of a bedtime story is to prepare children for bed, it isn't surprising there are a lot of books with "goodnight" in the title.

Here's a list of ten good "goodnight" books:

1.  Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown

2. Goodnight Gorilla by Peggy Rathmann

3. How do Dinosaurs Say Goodnight? by Jane Yolen

Christmas Book Picks Part 2 - Picture Books

What's your favourite Christmas picture book?  Below are some books to share with your children over the holidays (click on the pictures to learn more):

Publisher Spotlight: Kids Can Press

Kids Can Press is a Canadian children's book publisher, best known for for its "Franklin" books, and more recently, Melanie Watt's "Scaredy Squirrel" series.

For Writers and Illustrators

Writer and illustrator guidelines can be found on their website.  Unlike many publishers, they accept unsolicited manuscripts -  picture books, non-fiction books for children, and chapter books for ages 7 to 10.  However, they do not accept any fantasy books, or young adult fiction.

For Parents

The "Franklin" books are perfect books for a parent to read to their child (ages 3 to 8).   Although Franklin is a turtle, your child will easily relate to him.   The stories provide a nice balance between being entertaining, and teaching your child a valuable lesson.  

What Were Your Favourite Picture Books as a Child?

I still have my well-loved copies of "Goodnight Moon", "Runaway Bunny" and "The Three Little Kittens" from when I was small.  What were your favourite picture books as a child?  Do your children love those stories too?