Books for Your little Sweethearts!

VALENTINES DAY IS ALMOST HERE!

Of course a hug is the best gift one can receive on Valentines Day. Home made cards are also nice, especially if they are received Valentines Day, and not two days later (pay attention dear husband). But I have to say that chocolate is not a nice gift, it is fattening, it melts in the sun, and it can be hard to share. Books however, are not fattening, can take quite a bit of heat and light, and are best shared. So if you must give a gift for Valentines Day, I highly recommend giving a book. Below are some of my favorites.



Loving Board Books
Too Many Kisses by Ethan Long
Oscar can only say three words, and they aren't "I love you". He can say "hi", "bye", and "hot" - though Delia who watches him Tuesdays and Thursdays swears he can say "vaca" (Spanish for cow). So maybe he can say four words. I'm not really sure how many words he can understand, but I'm pretty sure he doesn't know the word "kisses" or "gurgle" or "shlurp"; this lack of word knowledge doesn't stop him from breaking into a fit of giggles when we push the "PRESS ME! KISS ME!" button on this board book and hear an awesome slurpy moochy kiss. Too Many Kisses is the only book that will make my 13-month-old laugh out loud.

Hugs and Kisses by Priddy Books
Love bugs, dancing bees, and bear hugs - what more could you ask for in a touch and feel valentines book that retails for $4.95. It is a smacking good deal.







Love with a Bit of Plot.
Henry in Love by Peter McCarty

Whimsy and some shading make the illustrations in Peter McCarty's Book about Henry, a cat in love with his rabbit classmate Chloe, sentimentally striking. The moral of the story is that you can't give up much more than a blueberry muffin, and it is painfully true.







Slugs in Love by Susan Pearson
Slugs in Love may not have the beauty of Henry in Love, and in truth it's plot is not quite as achingly honest. But it does have humor, and rhymes, and I like it. Actually I like Slugs more than Henry, but the majority of my co-workers prefer Henry, so he got top billing. I suppose they think a classroom full of animals that would normally eat each other is more realistic than two slugs writing romantic poems to one another, in slime, throughout a garden patch. You be the judge.




The Valentine Classic
I Like You by Sandol Stoddard Warburg

The perfect gift for a friend of any age!

"If I pretend I am drowning
You pretend you are saving me"

Black ink illustrations accompany all the wonderful, playful reasons I Like You.

Did I call it or WHAT!

The Caldecott has been awarded, and I have to say - I'm happy.

Link to Caldecott award winner.

Link to my previous post where (I'm bragging) I called it.

Congratulations Mr. Pinkney!

Easy Readers Can Be Fun!

A lot of teachers come into the store lamenting about the difficulties of teaching to students who can be grades below their age in reading abilities. These teachers often pick up what I now think of as "reluctant reader classics", Jeff Kinney's Diary of a Wimpy Kid, and Dav Pilkey's Captain Underpants and Ricky Ricotta's Mighty Robot series. These books are illustrated like comic books, but with some paragraphs thrown in; though they are written for kids aged 7-10 (Wimpy Kid goes a bit older) 12-year-olds can be seen reading them in class without being embarrassed.

Teachers purchase these books so often that I sometimes think of Captain Underpants as a book for reluctant fifth-grade readers. But the truth is, Captain Underpants is a book for 7-year-olds starting to read, as well as 11-year-olds who feel intimidated by a page chock-full of text. Pictures illustrate the text, making the words easier to understand. But of course pictures can do more than illustrate text.

At the latest Northern California Independent Booksellers Association Trade Show I spent a long time talking to a very passionate Diamond Publishing Rep about comic books and their power to inspire reading. As the Diamond Rep correctly pointed out, because comic books tell stories with pictures, even children who don't know how to read can enjoy them; because they already enjoy the comic book children are not reluctant to pick them up; because the comic's speech bubbles clearly show where words are coming from children are not confused about who is saying what; and because the words are few, but part of the story, children are motivated to read them. Schools and libraries that formerly shunned comics are now starting to embrace them.

Mr. Diamond Rep then showed me some books from a new publisher called TOON BOOKS. They were comics, but with the sense of humor of a six or seven-year-old, and they were the size of a level reader, but they were much more entertaining. Level readers, typically start with level 1 with three or four words in a row and go up to level 4 with full paragraphs and sometimes full pages of text. Level readers are good learning tools, but they are SOOOOO BORING! This is an example of a Spiderman level 2 reader :

I have to stop him.

It's time for me to go to work.

I cannot enjoy my Party if a bad guy is planning a crime.

Sandman is stealing other people's money.

This is an example from Otto's Orange Day from TOON BOOKS :

Orange is pretty. It's bold and it's strong!

Now check out this ditty; it's my orange song.

I like orange flowers...

...and I wear orange socks...

...and I build a tall tower...

...out of bright orange blocks!

So just give me orange. It's bright and it's pretty.

Just give orange - And I'm one happy kitty!

I certainly enjoy reading Otto's Orange Day more than Spiderman. In fact, I am a fan of Otto's Orange Day. It has chapters (three of them), and it has a plot. Level readers are notoriously short on plot, but with pictures illustrating new developments in addition to words, you can actually say quite a bit. I will happily teach Oscar to read with comics, especially with TOON BOOKS, and then we can work up towards Captain Underpants, but we will probably try potty-training first.

To see if other people (well kids) like these books as much as me I had them quality tested. I can safely say that they are 4-year-old and 8-year-old approved. In fact the kids LOVED the books.

Spellbinder now has a number of TOON BOOKS in the store. Some are very affordable at $4.99 in paperback, but some of the best stories ( like the Benny and Penny books) are only available in hardcover and run $12.95. They all have excellent quality binding and the artwork is spectacular. And for a while, they are 20% OFF.