Children’s Books Guide

Robert Munsch takes on a different view of the knight in shining armor concept.  Written in 1980, The Paper Bag Princess flips the tale of a princess, her prince, and a dragon onto its head.  Princess Elizabeth is a pretty girl who prepares to marry the practically-perfect Prince Ronald.  Suddenly a dragon arrives and thwarts [...]

Enchanting, titillating, and vividly colorful, Eleventh Hour by Graeme Base is one of the best children’s books for all ages. With the artistic mastery that will draw you and your children in, the beauty of the artwork is enhanced by the secrets that hide within. From the Roman cathedrals to the Scottish palaces and even [...]

When it comes to childrens books, illustrator John J. Muth is legendary and his stunning Caldecott Honor Award winning picture book entitled Zen Shorts is a perfect example of why. Breathtakingly beautiful in its illustrations, this book deftly tells the story of three young siblings who discover they have a new neighbor – a wise [...]

The Trouble With Trolls is a story that is laced with Scandinavian folklore and illustrations that offer a feel for the Scandinavian mountains. When Treva and her dog, Tuffi, go out to visit her cousin who lives up the mountain, they encounter some Trolls who decide they want a dog. When they try to kidnap [...]

Ooh la la, Nancy is overjoyed (her fancy word for happy) that her class is taking a trip to the museum in the book by Jane O’connor, Fancy Nancy at the Museum.  What could be more fun than that, with all the fancy things to see, and the special way she will be even fancier [...]

Written by Michael Rosen and illustrated by Helen Oxenbury, We’re Going on a Bear Hunt will make children long to go on a bear hunt of their own. Some children’s books are about the journey and not the destination and this is one of those books.  Though the family – a father and his four [...]

Certain children’s books are sure to make kids happy and adults say, “Aww!”  P.D. Eastman’s Are You My Mother? is one of those books.  When a mother bird heads out to get some food for herself, her egg hatches.  Since mom isn’t in the nest, the baby bird decides to go find her.  After asking [...]

For children learning to share and to understand the benefits of doing so, Marcus Pfister’s The Rainbow Fish is an excellent choice.  Using his skill with dazzling watercolors, Pfister brings to life a fish whose scales are all the colors of the rainbow (and then some!).  Swimming about in the big blue sea, the other [...]

In 1938, Esphyr Slobodkina published Caps for Sale, and today people still arrive in bookstores requesting the title.  The subtitle of the book tells the entire tale – Caps for Sale: A Tale of a Peddler, Some Monkeys and Their Monkey Business.  The story is simple and makes for a popular read aloud book. One [...]

Children who live in places where the winter months bring lots of snow will favor this book as much as any child who may not live near snow and wish to see it. The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats is the sort of book read to kids in kindergarten or by parents on cold [...]