Books that Make You Want to Hold Your Kids Close
Parenting is more demanding now than when we were growing up. Television had 3 stations. There weren’t options like DVR and ON DEMAND, so it didn’t have the pull on kids it has today. Video games were non-existent, and if you had an after-school activity other than softball or piano lessons, you were rare. You had toys, books, and your backyard.
I am a parent of three children ranging in age from two to seventeen. My favorite activity with my children has always been reading to them. It’s when I shut out the rest of the world and pull the bubble closed around us. Valuing this special time as I do, I’m pretty discriminating with the books I choose. Here are some of my favorites for sending my kids peacefully to dreamland:
Preschool: The Bunny Bungalow by Cynthia Rylant is so winsome, that I literally want to be one of the five bunny children so lovingly raised in this family. Illustrations by Nancy Hayashi convey the warmth we all strive to provide for our children. Somehow, this book works without being too sweet. The bunny family stumbles upon an abandoned brook-side bungalow and moves in. They carve out a cozy home for themselves and invite us fortunate readers in to share in their daily lives.
Grades K-1: Weird Parents by Don and Audrey Wood, (one of my favorite picture book author/illustrator teams) tells the story of a boy with one bizarre set of parents. They adore their son and can’t contain their enthusiasm for parenting and life, much to his extreme embarrassment. How the boy comes to value their attentions more than wishing they (and he) could just disappear is the charm of this book.
Grades 2-3: Lafcadio, of Lafacadio, the Lion who shot Back by Shel Silverstein, has got to be the most captivating literary lion ever. He is happy living in the jungle and doing lion activities like eating hunters, and sleeping in the sun, until he discovers his uncanny talent for shooting targets. (He ate the hunter, but didn’t find the gun to his taste.) He is discovered by a circus man and brought to New York to seek fame and fortune. At first he likes his new life of luxury, but being comfortable in his own fur is ultimately the lesson Lafcadio must learn. He does so with lots of laugh-out-loud humor.
Grades 4-5: Ida Early Comes over the Mountain by Robert Burch is a chapter book that makes a marvelous read-aloud. Ida Early just shows up one day, Mary Poppins style, to a family during the Depression that is sorely missing the loss of a loving mother. The children’s rigid and humorless aunt is a poor substitute, making the children miserable. Aside from showing up out of the blue, Ida and Mary Poppins have nothing in common, but the end result is similar. Ida is a gem, and despite her unorthodox packaging, she is just what this family needs.
Robin Black, M.Ed., is mom to Cameron (age 2), Caroline (age 13) and Daniel (age 17). When she's not reading out loud to her children, she leads her original program KIDS COOK THE BOOKS, where she teaches kids to cook while sharing great literature for culinary inspiration. You may contact Robin at robinandkevin@comcast.net.