Guest post by Irene Roth! Finding Lincoln By: Ann Malaspina Illustrated by: Colin Bootman (Paintings by Coretta Scott King Honor artist) Albert Whitman and Company, 2009. This book is based on a true story. It is about an African-American boy who wants to get a book out of the main library in Alabama about young [...]

Nasreen’s Secret School: A True Story from Afghanistan by Jeanette Winter is one of those special books that we should all share with children at home and in our classrooms. It is the true story of a girl in Afghanistan, Nasreen, who did not speak to anybody after the Taliban took over, and she lived [...]

*Picture book for preschoolers through second graders, fantasy, farm life *A special cow as the main character *Rating: The Cow That Laid an Egg is a cute and clever picture book! I think kids will love it. Short, short summary: Marjorie was in the dumps–she didn’t think she was special. The chickens asked what was [...]

Why War is Never a Good Idea by Alice Walker and illustrated by Stefano Vitale is a poem put to life in a picture book with beautiful, rich illustrations. This powerful text shows children the affects of war and the innocent bystanders from frogs to children to mothers to villagers who are the victims of [...]

Sometimes when we talk to kids about issues going on in the world, like I wrote about on Monday with my stepson and the visiting priest from Africa who needs money for his church, it is hard for them to understand what we mean by freedom–especially if they live in a free country like the [...]

*Picture book for preschoolers through 2nd graders, fantasy (fractured nursery rhyme) *Dish and Spoon as main characters *Rating: Kids love books like The Adventures of the Dish and the Spoon that play off an old nursery rhyme and have loads of fun stuff in the illustrations. Short, short summary: What happened after the dish ran [...]

*Picture book, contemporary fiction for preschoolers to kindergartners *Two circle dogs as main characters *Rating: Circle Dogs by Kevin Henkes is a cute book for young children–it can teach them shapes and sounds and that reading is fun! Short, short summary: Two dogs who like to sleep and run in circles live in a square [...]

photo by aka Kath www.flickr.com Before I get to the topic of today’s post, “Being a Safety Nut,” I wanted to announce the winner of Gogo’s Dream: Swaziland Discovered. And the winner is. . .LuAnn Morgan. Congratulations to LuAnn. Thank you to everyone who left a comment. You can still go to Monday’s or yesterday’s [...]

*Picture book, contemporary fiction *Young boy as main character *Rating: A cute book that will help kids who are anxious about their first day of school–preschool or kindergarten. Short, short summary: A little boy gets all ready for school, but then he decides he doesn’t want to go. He is afraid that his stuffed animal, [...]

photo by nblumhardt www.flickr.com *Picture book for preschoolers through first graders *Animals as main characters *Rating: A cute book with a lot of different animal descriptions that kids will love. Short, short summary: A Bunny is Funny takes a look at different animals you might find at the zoo. From crabs to skunks, from giraffes [...]