Reading To Your Inner Child
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Topic: Book Reviews
Feast for 10 by Cathryn Falwell

My review

rating: 5 of 5 stars
This is a really wonderful concept book featuring an African-American family that prepares a meal starting with a trip to the grocery store. The book will introduce children to food, numbers, and a traditional family of brown faces. Perfect for read alouds, flannel board stories, and a story & craft. Some health conscious parents might object to the mother frying the chicken, but aside from that, there is nothing objectionable abou this book.

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The Cow That Laid an Egg by Andy Cutbill

My review

rating: 4 of 5 stars
This is a clever yet subtle book about friendship and adoption. Marjorie the cow has no special skill or talent that makes her stand out, so her friends the chickens lay a cow-spotted egg for her and slip underneath her while she sleeps. Marjorie and the farm becomes world famous as the first cow to lay an egg. (This part is almost reminiscent of Wilbur in Charolette's Web.) Her envious cow-mates don't like having the spotlight taken away, so they go out to prove that Marjorie didn't lay the egg. After weeks of waiting, the egg hatches and out pops a chicken. The chicken, being held by Marjorie, looks at its new mother and says "MOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" The chicken may not have come from inside the cow, but the cow is its Mommy.

The cut & paste and collage style of the illustrations are bright, funny, and make the farm animals surprisingly expressive.

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Shhhh by Kevin Henkes

My review

rating: 5 of 5 stars
The prolific Kevin Henkes wonderful Shhhh humorously captures life with a preschooler. First, the story starts out very quietly as a young child describes everthing and everyone who is asleep in her house. The assumption by the reader is that this youngster will also join everyone in their slumber. The assumption is wrong! The child can't stand the silence and awakens everyone by blowing a toy horn. It's a great anti-bedtime story.

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I Get So Hungry by Bebe Moore Campbell

My review

rating: 4 of 5 stars
This is a sweet and insightful yet hopeful book about an obese little girl who sets out to lose weight with her plus-size teacher. The cherubic cheeks and expressive eyes of little Nikki immediately draws you in, makes you want to love her like a cuddly teddy bear. But it is those same characteristics that make my throat tighten with tears as she describes eating away her pain when a classmate makes fun of her. As a plus-size woman, I feel a little Nikki's pain and understand her struggle. I want to hug her and tell her that she'll be okay, but the truth is that she does need to lose weight and eat healthier. This book says it gently and directly without preachiness.

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Darkness Slipped In by Ella Burfoot

My review

rating: 5 of 5 stars
A delightfully cute book about a little girl who gets over her fear of the dark by dancing with it. The art work is great especially the interpretation of "darkness." A wonderful book to read to toddlers and preschoolers.

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My Day, Your Day by Robin Ballard

My review

rating: 3 of 5 stars
My Day, Your Day by Robin Ballard is one of those wonderful books to read aloud with your toddler or preschooler who has a bit of separation anxiety. The sweet genius of the book is how the author compares daycare/preschool activities to parents' job activities. (For example, a preschool nap time is compared to a maternity ward nurse who carries a sleeping infant to waiting parents.)

This picture book is good for:
1. reading aloud
2. demonstrating non-traditional gender roles
3. easing separation anxiety in children
4. introducing daycare or preschool
5. showing multi-ethnic characters and
6. showing community workers.

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