Children's Book Post

A bit of what we've been reading:

Pippi Longstocking by Astrid Lindgren. I never had read this before, and it was a revelation to the whole family. What a delightful and funny girl Pippi is, and what a sweet book! The whole family was enchanted by the willful strangeness and silly adventures of Pippi.

Earth Mother by Ellen Jackson. Jackson is the author of many other pagan-themed picture books for children, including a quartet of books for the wheel of the year (Spring and Fall equinox, Winter and Summer solstice). In Earth Mother, a somewhat mysterious female mother figure walks through the world and encounters a triangle of creatures (man, frog, mosquito) all wishing there was more of their food and less of their predator, but the book makes clear that in the web of life all are needed. I used this book to read aloud in a Children's Chapel at church, and the children all "got it" and it sparked some good comments from many of them.

A Sick Day for Amos McGee by Philip Christian Stead. We had this book out from the library and it just happened to be that Hypatia had a sick day and had to stay home ... it was perfect timing to pull out this sweet little story about the Best Sick Day Ever. Who wouldn't want their animal friends to come over and take care of them when they are sick?

Snow Rabbit, Spring Rabbit: A book of changing seasons by Il Sung Na. The illustrations here are simply beautiful. A journey through all the ways animals get through the winter, with a snowy rabbit appearing cleverly on each page. And then when spring comes, the rabbit has changed too - to a brown fur rabbit.

And Tango Makes Three by Justin Richardson. Although I am personally tired of this story, and feel that it gets a bit overdone in some circles, when I brought it out again for Hypatia she was very engaged by this story of two boy penguins who love each other and seem to long for a baby of their own, and their joy when the zoo keeper helped them get one.