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By Mom Unplugged, April 2, 2008 2:29 pm

April 2nd is International Children’s Book Day, a worldwide celebration aimed at inspiring a love of reading and calling attention to children’s books. This annual celebration was created by the International Board on Books for Young People (IBBY) a non-profit whose very worthwhile mission is the following:

- to promote international understanding through children’s books

- to give children everywhere the opportunity to have access to books with high literary and artistic standards

- to encourage the publication and distribution of quality children’s books, especially in developing countries

- to provide support and training for those involved with children and children’s literature

- to stimulate research and scholarly works in the field of children’s literature

Each year a different international chapter of IBBY hosts International Children’s Book Day. This year’s host country is Thailand.

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In honor of International Children’s Book Day, I thought it might be fun to write a post about 7 children’s books that we have enjoyed - one for each continent of the world! I tried to pick a book that was from, or takes place in, each continent. So here goes:

North America:

How the Stars Fell into the Sky by Jerrie Oughton and Lisa Desimini

This beautifully illustrated Navajo legend of how the stars came to be placed in the sky, has an underlying deeper meaning. How did the world come to be the chaotic and adversarial place that it is today? Blame it all on coyote!

South America:

The Great Kapok Tree: A Tale of the Amazon Rain Forest by Lynne Cherry

Marvelous illustrations tell the tale of rain forest inhabitants who each try to tell a woodcutter why he should not chop down their Kapok tree. Teaches about rain forest animals and their needs, as well as the interconnectedness of all living creatures. By the way, the ending is happy and shows the man dropping his ax and leaving the forest.

Africa:

Bringing the Rain to Kapiti Plainby Verna Aardema

An African folk tale about how Ki-Pat succeeded in bringing rain to drought-stricken Kapiti Plain. Told in a “House That Jack Built”-style rhyme that is fun to read.

Europe:

Bonny’s Big Day by James Herriot, illustrated by Ruth Brown

I decided to change the tone a bit with this selection. Until I found this charming book at a thrift store, I did not realize that James Herriot writes stories for children. Having always enjoyed his country vet series of books for adults, I was eager to read this sweet tale to my children. This story of a gruff old man and his love for his horses seems to be another of Mr. Herriot’s true tales of his days as a vet in the Yorkshire Dales. Too wordy for very young children, but animal-loving older kids will definitely enjoy this series.

Asia:

Monsoon by Uma Krishnaswami, illustrated by Jamel Akib

The poetic tale of an Indian girl anxiously awaiting the arrival of the annual monsoon rains. Beautiful written imagery combined with wonderful pastel illustrations vividly depict life in an Indian city.

Australia:

Big Rain Coming by Katrina Germein, illustrated by Bronwyn Bancroft

(I guess I have a real rain theme going here!) Unfortunately, I must admit that we seem to have no story books from or about Australia in our home collection. Factual books about Australia? Yes. But stories? No. I am totally embarrassed, especially if any of you reading this are Australians. I did however, find this book online and it seems like a really good one. The story is yet another about waiting for rain! The intricate, aboriginal style illustrations are what really seem to make the book. According to the School Library Journal review on Amazon: “The text is well paced with a perfect rhythm for reading aloud, and the large, clean double-page spreads make for easy viewing.”

Antarctica:

Antarctic Antics: A Book of Penguin Poems by Judy Sierra, illustrated by Jose Aruego and Ariane Dewey

Ha! I bet you didn’t think I could come up with one for Antarctica, did you! Actually, Antarctica should have been my most difficult, not Australia. But fortunately I had this book in the back of my mind all along. We just love this little book of funny and educational penguin poems. Each poem teaches something about penguins in a very humorous way. I really can’t recommend this one enough! (For more information, read my review here.)

Happy International Children’s Book Day to all, no matter what continent you call home!

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More links of interest:

+ My post about last year’s International Children’s Book Day which has lots of links to websites and stores for finding multicultural and international children’s books.

+ My post about ways to foster international understanding and interest in your children.

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By Mom Unplugged, November 8, 2007 1:56 pm

I must immediately write about something cheerier than lead paint and toxic Aqua Dots in order to rid myself of this bad feeling. How about haiku?

If you haven’t been following our weekly Unplugged Projects, last Monday’s project involved haiku. I wanted to suggest some children’s haiku books but couldn’t find any at my local library.

A few people came to the rescue and I would like to share their recommendations.

+++ First I must send you over to cloudscome’s blog, A Wrung Sponge. As a professional children’s librarian, she is my most authoritative source. Cloudscome kindly took the time this morning to pull her favorite haiku books off the shelf and listed them for me on her blog. Here are her recommendations:

Today and Today, Issa Kobayashi

Cricket Songs, Harry Behn

Cricket Never Does, Myra Cohn Livingston

One Leaf Rides the Wind, Celeste Mannis

A Pocketful of Poems, Nikki Grimes

Basho and the River Stones, Tim Myers

If Not For the Cat, Jack Prelutsky

Wingnuts, Paul Janeczko

Baseball Haiku, Cor Van Den Heuvel

Dogku, Andrew Clements

Thanks so much cloudscome! If you have never visited A Wrung Sponge it is worth a stop. Cloudscome writes lovely haiku herself and also gives great kids’ book recommendations (she is particularly interested in multicultural children’s books).

+++ Jenny of Wildwood Cottage found one haiku book at her library that 2 year-old daughter CJ enjoyed. She also recommends:

One Leaf Rides the Wind, Celeste Davidson Mannis

+++ Heather of Homeschooling Fun found this haiku book at her library and liked it a lot:

Asian Arts and Crafts for Creative Kids-Haiku, Patricia Donegan

Thank you all for your recommendations! I’ll have to get busy with my Interlibrary Loans.

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By Mom Unplugged, September 3, 2007 9:54 pm

My 7 year-old daughter won’t sleep without one of these under her pillow! I bought these as a stocking stuffer two Christmases ago for my daughter (then 5) and they have become part of her nightly ritual ever since.

After I tuck her in, she picks a card and looks at the picture while I read the back. Lately she has started reading the back herself. Some nights, my 5 year-old son even asks for one.
These cards have gorgeous Victorian illustrations on one side (with plenty of fairies and many images of children in fantastic, magical surroundings). The other side presents a soothing poem to put sweet thoughts into a child’s head before sleep.

These are not “children’s” poems but are works by such poets and authors as Rumi, Oscar Wilde, John Keats, Emily Dickinson, as well as many lesser known and anonymous writers (there is even one Navajo saying). The art work is dated and attributed to it’s illustrator, when known.

Some of the poems are quite sophisticated and at times it is difficult to find a quick and simple pre-bedtime answer to the question “what is that about.” The language of many poems can also be a bit archaic and complex, but my daughter does not seem to mind this.

Her favorite card is “Hope Is The Thing With Feathers” by Emily Dickinson and she likes to recite this one by heart. The cards are well-laminated and still look new after one year of loving use (except for the one that my son cut with scissors and we had to tape back together - oh well!).

When asked for a quote for this blog, my daughter says that I must tell people: “These cards make you have really good dreams!”

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By Mom Unplugged, May 25, 2007 9:42 pm

This sweet series of books contains the poems and illustrations of Cicely Mary Barker, arranged by season or subject. Since it is now spring, I feature Flower Fairies of the Spring. These little books were first published in 1923 and the language and pictures do feel like they come from the past.

Despite the age of the book however, it is still charming and fascinating today. My 6 year-old fairy-loving daughter frequently requests one of these poems before bed. Be advised, the language is quite sophisticated and some children, particularly younger ones, might be bored. Perhaps you might want to check it out of the library first.

Each two-page spread introduces a different flower fairy through a poem and accompanying illustration. For example, first are The Crocus Fairies, then The Colt’s-Foot Fairy, followed by The Celadine Fairy, etc.

Since Cicely Mary Parker was English, many of these flowers may not be so familiar to American readers. Perhaps it could be a good introduction to a botany or gardening lesson or discussion?

The illustrations are gorgeous. The fairies are lovely and expressive. For the pictures alone, this book is worth a look. Recently, the “Flower Fairies” have become quite commercialized. This series is the classic original and contains no modern, commercial references whatsoever.

I believe that these poems and illustrations can be found all together in a large volume, but I like this series since the books are quite small (about 5.5″ x 4.5″) and seem all the more magical because of their tiny size.

Other books in the series are:

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By Mom Unplugged, May 12, 2007 10:07 pm

Maybe I just don’t know my Maurice Sendak quite as well as I should, but I had never heard of this one when I found it in the “Friends Of The Library” used book bin for ten cents!

The subtitle of this 1962 book is “A Book of Months” because you will find a poem about chicken soup with rice for each of the twelve months of the year. The poems are funny and catchy. The illustrations are amusing, albeit not very colorful (mainly black and white with a few touches of blue and yellow) as is typical for many children’s books of the same era.

Of course repetitive readings of this book will help teach children the months of the year, but the real charm is in the amusing poems all about chicken and rice soup! My kids love it. What a great ten cent find!