Children's Book Recommendations For When You're Cooped-Up

We've had a huge snow storm again!  It makes me want to curl up and read some good books to some little ones!  Do you know the best way to make your child a great Reader?  By reading aloud to them!  Here are 6 fun Children's Books for little children and beginning readers!

Books To Read

Snowballs, by Lois Ehlert

This author is a fairly recent discovery of mine who's become a fast favorite!  Ehlert, who lives next door to my state, in Wisconsin, writes the most creative books!  This one starts out, "Do you think birds know when it's going to snow?"  The pictures are a visual feast!  Her books, always colorful, seem 3-dimensional, using lots of ordinary objects to provide "texture" on the pages--you'll reach out to touch them!

In "Snowballs," ideas abound for using common household objects and foods to "decorate" snowmen, such as popcorn (kernels and popped), colorful shoelaces to make hair on "snow mom," and, a knitted bag on a string filled with peanuts in the shell to put around her neck!  A seashell for a nose and coffee beans for eyes! 

There's a whole family of snow people! The "snow boy" has nuts (as in nuts and bolts) for eyes and two big wheels that are off of a toy truck for ears. All of these snow people are shown as indoor projects, with the bodies made out of large circles of white paper, which of course is a great idea when you can't go outdoors (and you don't have this book to read yet)!


Everything used to decorate the snow people is pictured and labeled in the back of the book. Some of the creative ideas are:  a foil candy wrapper wadded up, a colorful plastic fork, a luggage tag, a coffee bean, a ribbon, sunflower seeds, a cinnamon stick, a pinecone, and kernels of corn. They'll inspire you to create your own very special snow person! This is such a fun book to read--your kids will love it, and you will, too! Included in the back is an explanation of what makes it snow, and photos of real snowmen that are very cute.

Eloise Wilkin's poems to read to the very young, selected by Josette Frank

You'll be able to find this in the GRRLibrary system, if you're in my area (www.griver.org) or check your library.  This is a sweet book that your children will be memorizing poems from without trying!

Examples of the poems you'll find inside this book:

"Thaw," by Eunice Tietjens:

"The snow is soft, and how it squashes!

'Galumph, galumph!' go my galoshes."

"Jump or Jiggle," by Evelyn Beyer:

(This has no commas or periods, but I will put them in so you can read it!)

"Frogs jump, Caterpillars hump.

Worms wiggle, Bugs jiggle.

Rabbits hop, Horses clop.

Snakes slide, Sea gulls glide.

Mice creep, Deer leap.

Puppies bounce, Kittens pounce.

Lions stalk--But--I walk!"

"High-Heeled Shoes," by Kate Cox Goddard:

"I like to wear my Mommie's shoes.

I mean the pairs she doesn't use.

I pick the ones with highest heels,

You can't imagine how it feels

To walk around, go out the door,

Clump-clumping all across the floor."  

We own this book illustrated by Dagmar Wilson, whose illustrations are cute, but Eloise Wilkin's illustrations are very, very favorites of mine--darling--and you can get this version from the library!

We Help Daddy,
A Golden Book, by Eloise Wilkin

We own this book, but I couldn't find it in our library system, though there are other Wilkin favorites, such as the "Goodnight Book" and "Baby's Christmas," but maybe you'll be able to find it in yours, or at a thrift store.  This is a fabulous book, not only to read to small children, but because it also teaches Mom and Dad the many ways that little ones can learn to work, and be helpful!

Benjy and Sue, who appear to be around 5 and 3, help Daddy all day as he does yardwork and fixes things around the house.  
The story is told from the perspective of 3-year-old Sue. This is such a charming book, with sweet illustrations--find it if you can.

A Bag Full of Pups, by Dick Gackenbach
This is a cute story about a man whose dog has 12 puppies and what happens when he goes to the city and yells, "Free Puppies!"   This story isn't in our library system, (we own this book), but many other titles by this author are there, as well as other stories illustrated by him.

"What Is That?" Said the Cat, by Grace Maccarone

This is a Level 1 Reader, so has lots of rhyming and white space on the pages, and is good for a beginning reader.  A book about a box that has something inside which animals, one by one, try to open, and when they do, they are Very Surprised by what's inside!  In my library system, (check it out in yours) you can find a whole list of Level 1 Readers (go to www.griver.org, the Great River Regional Library System, and search for "Hello Reader! Level 1." I haven't read this book yet, but it sounded cute, from the reviews.  There were many other Level 1 books to choose from.


A Bug, A Bear, and a Boy Paint a Picture

by David McPhail
I love the Bug, A Bear and a Boy books.  You can sometimes find them at Goodwill, and other thrift stores.  In my library system, you can find one or two.  Our Scholastic copy of this one is a small, thin paperback.  The illustrations are very precious.  With 8 pages and a sentence or 2 on each, it's a quick read, but the illustrations are wonderful, and the sentiments sweet.  A cuddle-up and read kind of book.
I hope you'll take time to read some great books to your children today!