READING IDEAS FOR CHILDREN
The Gleason Public Library children's librarians have compiled a nice starting list of books for some of our youngest readers. If you have a favorite, let us know.
Book Lists
Coping with Loss
Nursery Rhymes, Fingerplays & Songs
Picture Books for the Very Young (6 months - 2 years)
Picture Books for Twos and Threes
Sure-Fire Hits to Read Aloud to Fours, Fives and Sixes
Firefighters
Princess
Sports Picture Books
Elementary school-age reading list, Carlisle Public Schools
Award Winners
Newbery Medal Winners and Honor Books, 1922-Present
Caldecott Medal Winners and Honor Books, 1938-Present
PICTURE BOOKS
At first glance, a picture book seems to be a very simple thing: typically 32 pages in length, designed for small children, colorful, with cartoon-like renderings of characters and a simple story. But good picture books are actually carefully designed to use deliberate narrative devices, meaningful illustrations, and design elements that compliment the tone and mood of the book. Four recent additions to the children's picture book collection at the Gleason Public Library are fine examples of this definition.
Scoot by Carloyn Falwell is the simple story of six turtles sunning themselves down at the pond. The charm of this book is in the details. Each illustration is a beautifully crafted collage rendered in cut and torn paper elements, stamped paint, and natural elements such as tree bark and wasp nest. Varying font sizes convey action, movement, and the tone of the book: lazy, sunny, and warm.
Splat the Cat by Rob Scotton is a treat both visually and as a story. Splat is a worried young cat headed out for his first day of school to learn what cats do. Splat brings his pet mouse Seymour along for moral support, and everything seems to be going great - until he learns that chasing mice is one of the many wonderful things that cats do. When Seymour escapes, hi-jinks ensue. Be sure to spend some time examining the detailed drawings that show Splat perpetually startled with his gorgeous stand up hair, wide-eyed expressions, and other humorous details.
Kevin Henkes' Old Bear is a reprint of the gentle story about the dreams an aging bear has while hibernating. Using vivid watercolor illustrations, the book creates a dream-like sense of each season: spring is pinks and purples; summer is blue and green; fall is red, orange, and brown; and winter is shades of blue and white. When Old Bear finally awakens, it's to a fully technicolor spring.
Not only will readers of all ages enjoy the illustrations in Turtle's Penguin Day by Valerie Gorbachev, they will also appreciate the humor. Father Turtle reads Little Turtle a bedtime story about penguins, leading Little Turtle to decide that he wants to be a penguin. This is a delightful tale of imagination and creativity, as Little Turtle's enthusiasm
LISTS
Picture Books for Twos and ThreesAll Books are found in the JJ (picture books) section. |
|
| Baker | Big Fat Hen |
| Bang | Ten, Nine, Eight |
| Barton | I Want To Be an Astronaut |
| Burmingham | Mr. Gumpy's Outing |
| Carlstrom | Jesse Bear, What Will You Wear? |
| Cowley | Mrs. Wishy-Washy's Farm |
| Crews | Freight Train |
| Ehlert | Fish Eyes: a Book You Can Count On |
| Fleming | Barnyard Banter |
| Fox | Time for Bed |
| Hill | Where's Spot? |
| Hutchins | What Game Shall We Play? |
| Miller | Whose Shoe ? |
| Numeroff | What Mommies Do Best, What Daddies do Best |
| Opie | My First Mother Goose |
| Rathmann | Goodnight, Gorilla |
| Rice | Benny Bakes a Cake |
| Shaw | Sheep in a Jeep |
| Simmons | Come Along, Daisy! |
| Tafuri | Spots, Feathers and Tales |
| Walsh | Do Pigs Have Stripes? |
| Zion | Harry the Dirty Dog |
Sure-Fire Hits to Read Aloud to Fours, Fives and SixesAll Books are found in the JJ (picture books) section. |
|
| Allard | Miss Nelson is Missing |
| Alley | Read to Tiger |
| Barrett | Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs |
| Barton | Shark vs. Train |
| Cannon | Stellaluna |
| Child | I Will Never Not Ever Eat a Tomato |
| Cousins | I'm the Best |
| Cronin | Thump, Quack, Moo: A Wacky Adventure |
| DePaola | Meet the Barkers |
| Falconer | Olivia |
| Feiffer | Bark, George |
| Henkes | Kitten's First Full Moon |
| Henkes | Chrysanthemum |
| Hills | Duck and Goose |
| Himmelman | Chickens to the Rescue |
| Hoban | Bread and Jam for Frances |
| Kasza | Badger's Fancy Meal |
| Kasza | Wolf's Chicken Stew |
| Knudsen | The Library Lion |
| Kraus | Leo the Late Bloomer |
| Leaf | The Story of Ferdinand |
| Lester | Tacky the Penguin |
| Long | How I Became a Pirate |
| Meddaugh | Martha Speaks |
| Novak | Mouse TV |
| Pinkney | The Lion and the Mouse |
| Rathmann | Officer Buckle and Gloria |
| Rosenthal | Duck! Rabbit! |
| Rosenthal | Little Pea |
| Seuss | Horton Hatches the Egg |
| Shannon | Duck on a Bike |
| Teague | Dear Mrs. LaRue: Letters from Obedience School |
| Waddell | Farmer Duck |
| Watt | Chester's Masterpiece |
| Wells | Shy Charles |
| Wiesner | The Three Pigs |
| Willems | Knuffle Bunny: A Cautionary Tale |
| Wilson | The Cow Loves Cookies |
| Wood | The Napping House |
| Compiled by the Gleason Library Children's Department September 2010 | |
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Sports Picture BooksAll Books are found in the JJ (picture books) section unless a call number is given. |
|
| Buchard | That's Hockey |
| Brown | DW Flips |
| Bunting | Trouble on the T-ball Team |
| Brug | Soccer Beat |
| Burleigh | Goal |
| Cooper | Ball Park |
| Delaney | Two Strikes, Four Eyes |
| Foreman | Wonder Goal! |
| Hall | When Willard Met Babe Ruth |
| Hest | Make the Team, Baby Duck! |
| Hopkinson | Girl Wonder: a Baseball Story in Nine Innings |
| Isadora J 796.357 Isa | Nick Plays Baseball |
| Isadora J 796.91 Isa | Sophie Skates |
| London | Froggy Plays Soccer |
| Mammano | Rhinos Who Play Soccer |
| Martin | Swish! |
| Paxton | The Jungle Baseball Game |
| Robbins | At the Ball Park |
| Rockwell | Morgan Plays Soccer |
| Stevenson | Sam the Zamboni Man |
| Tryon | Albert's Ballgame |
| Tavares | Zachary's Ball |
| Welch | Playing Right Field |
Coping with Loss |
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| Found in the JJ (picture books) section | |
| Aliki | The Two of Them (Grandfather) |
| Barron, T.A. | Where is Grandpa? (Grandfather) |
| Bunting, Eve | On Call Back Mountain (Older Friend) |
| Bunting, Eve | Rudi's Pond (Classmate) |
| Carlstrom, Nancy | Blow Me a Kiss, Miss Lilly (Older Friend) |
| Carson, Jo | You hold me and I'll hold you (Great Aunt) |
| DePaola, Tomie |
Nana Upstairs and Nana Downstairs (Grandmother and Great- grandmother) |
| Gould, Deborah | Grandpa's Slide Show (Grandfather) |
| Leavy, Una | Good-bye, Papa |
| Miles, Miska | Annie and the Old One (Grandmother) |
| Taha, Karen | A Gift for Tia Rosa (Older Friend) |
| Varley, Susan | Badger's Parting Gifts (Older Friend) |
| Wild, Margaret | Old Pig (Grandmother) |
| Yolen, Jane | Grandad Bill's Song (Grandfather) |
| Zolotow, Charlotte | My Grandson Lew (Grandfather) |
| Found in juvenile non-fiction | |
| J 128 Ber | When people die |
| J 155.9 Bro | When dinosaurs die |
| J 155.9 Edw | Saying goodbye to a brother or sister |
| J 155.9 Edw | Saying goodbye to a friend |
| J 155.9 Edw | Saying goodbye to a grandparent |
| J 155.9 Edw | Saying goodbye to a parent |
| J 811.54 Gri | What is goodbye? |
| J 155.9 Gro | Talking about death: a dialogue between parent and child |
| J 155.937 Jos | The goodbye boat |
| J 155.9 Les | Learning to say good-bye; when a parent dies |
| J 155.937 Mac | Why do people die? Helping your child understand |
| J 155.9 Rom | What on earth do you do when someone dies |
| Compiled by the Gleason Library Children's Department October 2003 | |
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Firefighters |
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| Found in the JJ (picture books) section (unless other call number is given) | |
| Averill, Ester | The Fire Cat (JJ/ER) |
| Benjamin, Cynthia | I am a Firefighter (JJ/BB) |
| Boelts, Maribeth | Firefighter's Thanksgiving |
| Bond, Felicia | Poinsettia and the Firefighters |
| Demarest, Chris | Firefighters A to Z |
| Desimini, Lisa | Dot the Fire Dog |
| Gergely, Tibor | Fire Engine Book |
| Gibbons, Gail | Fire! Fire! |
| Graham, Tom | Five Little Firefighters |
| Greene, Rhonda G. | Fire Bears: The Rescue Team |
| Hamilton, Kersten | Firefighters to the Rescue |
| Harper, Jamie | Miss Mingo and the Fire Drill |
| Hayward, Linda | A Day in the Life of a Firefighter |
| Hubbell, Patricia | Firefighters: Speeding! Spraying! Saving! |
| Krensky, Stephen | Spark the Firefighter |
| Lenski, Lois | Little Fire Engine |
| McGuire, Leslie | Big Frank's Fire Truck (JJ/pb) |
| McMillan, Bruce | Fire Engine Shapes |
| Mammano, Julie | Rhinos Who Rescue |
| Martin, Bill | Fire! Fire! Said Mrs. McGuire |
| Osborne, Mary | New York's Bravest |
| Rex, Michael | My Fire Engine |
| Rockwell, Anne | Fire Engines |
| Royston, Angela | Fire Fighter (JJ/ER) |
| Simon, Norma | Firefighters (also in J 363.37) |
| Simon, Seymour | Fighting Fires (JJ/ER) |
| Sis, Peter | Fire Truck |
| Slater, Dashka | Firefighters in the Dark |
| Teague, Mark | Firehouse! |
| Whiting, Susan | The Firefighters |
| Yee, Wong Herbert | Fireman Small |
| Yee, Wong Herbert | Fireman Small: Fire Down Below |
| Yee, Wong Herbert | Fireman Small to the Rescue (JJ/BB) |
| Zimmerman, Andrea | Fire Engine Man |
| Zimmerman, Andrea | Fire! Fire! Hurry! Hurry! |
| Found in juvenile non-fiction | |
| J 363.37 Masoff | Fire! |
| J 363.37 Schomp | If You Were a Firefighter |
| J 363.37 Winkleman | Firehouse |
| J 628.9 Gibbons | Fire! Fire! |
| J 628.9 Kuklin | Fighting Fires |
| J 628.9 Maas | Firefighters |
| JJ 628.9 Marston | Firetrucks |
| J 628.9 Miller | Fireboy to the Rescue |
| J 628.9 Minden | Firefighters |
| J 628.9 Mudd-Ruth | Firefighting: Behind the Scenes |
| J 626.9 Otfinoski | To the Rescue: Fire Trucks Then and Now |
| J 634.9 Demarest | Hotshots |
| J 636.7 Simon | Fire Fighters (also in JJ 636 Simon) |
| Updated by the Gleason Library Children's Department September 2010 | |
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Princess Books |
|
| Found in the JJ (picture books) section | |
| Auch, Mary Jane | Princess and the Pizza |
| Bateman, Teresa | Princesses Have a Ball |
| Carlow, Emma | Kitty Princess and the Newspaper Dress |
| Cartwright, Stephen | The Usborne Book of Princess Stories |
| Coyle, Carmela | Do Princesses Wear Hiking Boots? |
| Edmonds, Lyra | An African Princess |
| Funke, Cornelia | Princess Knight |
| Goodart | Arthur's Tractor |
| Holabird, Katharine | Angelina and the Princess |
| Karlin, Barbara | Cinderella |
| Kastner, Jill | Princess Dinosaur |
| Kleven, Elisa | The Paper Princess |
| Koller, Jackie | Horace the Horrible |
| Lester, Helen | Princess Penelope's Parrot |
| Lum, Kate | Princesses Are Not Quitters |
| Milord, Susan | Willa the Wonderful |
| Perrault, Charles | Cinderella or The Little Glass Slipper |
| Scott-Mitchell, Clare | Cinderella |
| Stevens, Janet | The Princess and the Pea |
| Tyler, Anne | Tumble Tower |
| Willard, Nancy | Cinderella's Dress |
| Folk Tales (J 398.2) | |
| J 398.2 Anderson | The Princess and the Pea (in Tales of Hans Christian Anderson) |
| J 398.2 Climo | A Treasury of Princesses |
| J 398.2 Craft | Cinderella |
| J 398.2 Craft | Sleeping Beauty |
| J 398.2 Dalton | The Starlight Princess & Other Princess Stories |
| J 398.2 McClintock | Cinderella |
| J 398.2 Pri | Princess: the Essential Guide |
| J 745.5 Hauser | Princess Crafts |
| Compiled by the Gleason Library Children's Department January 2006 | |
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