The Kids Week In Books, No. 5

I couldn't find a picture of the first book I'll mention this week, but I wish I could because the illustrations are what makes it great. "The Troublesome Pig" by Priscilla Lamont tells the story of a little old lady who buys an ornery pig. The pig won't jump over the stile to get home, so the old lady goes off in search of a remedy. It's a funny story. The old lady says droll things like, "Well I never did!" and such. The real selling point for the book are the excellent water color illustrations, which bring the book to life. I'd highly recommend this one.

"Angus Lost" is by Marjorie Flack, the author who wrote and illustrated "The Story of Ping" which you might know. Angus is a little Scottie dog who goes on adventures. Hannah likes him. There are other Angus books in the series, and we have them on hold at the library but haven't read them yet. The one thing that bothers me about Angus Lost is how the script is full of random CAPITALIZATIONS that are pretty MEANINGLESS and make me wonder why I should emphasize suhc trivial bits OF the story. See how annoying that is? If you can get past the caps, you would probably enjoy this book.

"Are You My Mother?" by P.D. Eastman is an older book that you might remember reading when you were a child yourself. You probably liked it. The pictures are jaunty and the story is lively. I use a different voice for each of the characters and Hannah thinks that is funny. You can really get theatrical if you like, I won't laugh at you.

I think "Dr. Seuss's ABC" is one of the best ABC books out there. In characteristic Dr. Seuss style, it's funny and clever and silly, with good illustrations. The letters are also printed clearly (what is up with ABC books that print the letters in such a way that they are almost indecipherable by even adults? What good is that to a child who is trying to learn letters???) and that is a bonus. My favorite is R. "BIG R, little r, Rosy Robin Ross. Rosy's going riding on her red rhinoceros."

Other Reading:
We're still reading "Winnie the Pooh" by A. A. Milne for the read aloud book, and reading lots of nursery rhyme anthologies and poetry anthologies and large chunks from both of the children's Bibles we have. We read a lot of books every day, because that is what Hannah likes to do, and I don't mind.