I have an idea. I received two little books from an eight-year-old boy. Yes, real books written and illustrated by a child. It made me think: If that eight-year-old can do this, imagine what my brilliant little people can do. Let me show you the books and tell you what the stories are about.

The first one on the left is The Sneakiest Pirates. It’s a tale of a young boy, Pirate Pete and his dad, Scurvy James, setting sail on a mischievous adventure on the high seas to find the King’s loot, stolen by Peg Leg Chuck. This small boy and his Dad are clearly having the time of their lives.

The second book is The Heroes of Googley Woogley. This one is the tale of a young boy, Space Boy Pete and his dad, Space Man James, rocketing off into deep space to save the day. This small boy’s active imagination are again taking him and his dad into a cartooish adventure that is funny and a must read for little readers.

What do you think? A bunch of paper and a box of crayons, maybe watercolors for the older ones? I sent these two books to my granddaughters and they loved them. Actually, the four-year-old really loved them. The sophisticated ten-year-old did too but she has a different way of showing it. (“Well, Nana, you know I’ve been writing my own books for years now!”)

Give it a try if you’re looking for a satisfying project. You may have to do the writing for the younger ones while they tell you their story. Most children can illustrate their own book. If you need inspiration, these two books are reasonably priced and do make great gifts.

If you are still looking for something to do, put on the bathing suits and get out the garden hose. Here’s my two little charmers doing just that.

You can buy The Sneakiest Pirates at Amazon.
You can buy The Heroes of Googley Woogley at Amazon.

Judith St. George

Scholastic Inc., 2007

Today’s post is written by a guest blogger. Well, to be honest, she is an aspiring guest blogger. On a recent visit with my ten-year-old granddaughter she shared with me a book she was reviewing for her fourth-grade class. I thought you might enjoy hearing about it as well.

Although it was written two years ago, it’s the story of two little girls living in the White House. Maybe I better let Q tell the story. Here is her book review.

Have you ever wondered if ghosts were real? Well, I just read the perfect book. It’s about two girls named Annie and Kay-Kay. Their mother is President of the United States and they recently moved into the White House. The story is told by Kay-Kay who loves to write mysteries.

One day a classmate, Borden, told the girls about the time his grandfather saw Abraham Lincoln’s ghost in the Lincoln bedroom. (Borden’s grandfather was President before their mother.)

The girls want to sleep in that bedroom and that evening when their Uncle Matt came for dinner Kay-Kay asked if she and Annie could sleep in Lincoln’s bedroom. Unfortunately, her mother said no. When Uncle Matt found out about the ghost, he said he wanted to sleep in the Lincoln bedroom. Mother said yes and it was decided he would do it the next Saturday.

Kay-Kay and Annie talked it over and decided that they would scare Uncle Matt. Their plan involved a hidden ipod set to go off late at night and would play the Gettysburg Address. I can’t tell you what happened next because you will have to read the book yourself.

I recommend this book because the author used a lot of good language and funny phrases like “she put her foot in her mouth instead of her food.” So, I highly recommend you read this book.

I am thoroughly enjoying this chance to re-read some of the books I enjoyed as a child. Most of us who are adult book lovers got our start as children. We can all give lists of those favorites. And then, if we have children of our own, we get to share those favorites with our children. For me, it’s now the grandchildren. How great is that?! 

The Little House books have been around since the 1930s. They portray a life that only a few people now remember. But, thanks to the popular TV series and re-runs, the books are still popular. Recently while visiting with my mother (88 years young) we discovered an old complete set of the books and started in reading them. Out of all of the books this one, On The Banks of Plum Creek, stands out as a favorite from childhood. Here’s my review:

On The Banks of Plum Creek

Laura Ingalls Wilder

Harper and Row, 1937

Summary: This book features Laura Ingalls in Minnesota when she is seven to eight years old. The book opens with the whole family moving to a beautiful place on the prairie. Unfortunately, there is no house. There is, however, a “dugout” – a house dug into the ground and fortified with sod. 

Pa is determined that he will have an amazing harvest of wheat and oats that will bring riches to them all. So he buys supplies on credit to build a nice two-story house. I don’t want to spoil it for you except to say that it does turn out fine. But getting there is tough what with the grasshoppers and the ice and snow storms and other calamities. This is the first book to introduce Nellie and her brother. They play a very minor role, unlike the TV series.

My opinion: It was still a fun read as an adult. I like that the author doesn’t talk down to the reader. She tells of everyday experiences as if they were adventures. For example the task of walking a mile into town with her sister when there was no road. Or the time the roof fell in on the dugout. Or how they picked the plums off the trees by the creek. Although there are a few good drawings to illustrate the story, it’s still a great read for using your imagination. I recommend it for children eight-years of age or older. It would make for a great read-aloud book for the whole family.

If you are interested in re-reading your childhood favorites, visit here to learn more about the challenge.

Homer Price

Robert McCloskey

The Viking Press, 1941

Genre: Children’s Fiction

Homer Price was one of my childhood heroes. I was quite the tomboy and I imagined myself as Homer. We had a lot of things in common. We both lived in the Midwest, although his town is smaller than mine. We both have some rather quirky relatives and neighbors, but then quirky seems normal. We also shared some traditions that are gone now. Does anyone burn leaves in the Fall anymore?

Homer has lots of adventures that are told in six chapters. Each chapter is a separate story. I’m not going to tell you about all the stories, just two.

The first is the story of Uncle Ulysses’ Donut Machine. Homer is in charge of his uncle’s diner for a couple of hours while Uncle Ulysses is at the barbershop. With some help from a rich customer, Homer gets the donut machine going and the donuts are really delicious. Unfortunately, he can’t stop the donut machine and pretty soon donuts are piling up everywhere. Of course there will be a creative solution. Here’s a picture from this story. Just looking at it tickles me inside.

Another story features Homer’s Uncle Telly and the Sheriff who are competing for the hand of Miss Terwilliger, who is a very clever lady. Both men collect string and have string balls that are nearly six feet across! A contest is devised to see who has the most string with Miss Terwilliger as the prize. The clever Miss Terwilliger has her own plan for this contest. I won’t spoil it for you but, there is a happy ending.

I’m so glad this book is still in print and still popular with children. I’d recommend this book to both boys and girls in the seven to ten-year-old range. And then I’d also recommend it to adults like me who still have a big child inside of them. You can always say you’re getting this for the kids or grandkids.;)

I read this book for the Childhood Favourites Book Challange.

The Railway Children
by Edith Nesbitt
Sea Star Books, 1906

So many things happen in this tale of three children and their mother. They have moved from their wealthy villa near London to an isolated village somewhere in the English countryside. They are suddenly very poor and their father is mysteriously away for a long time.

Being poor doesn’t seem to bother the children as they are enjoying the freedom of exploring the countryside and are especially enamored with the railway that goes by. They make friends with the station master, the porter, and especially the “old gentleman” they wave to everyday as he rides the 9:15.

The children, Roberta, Peter, and Phyllis, are normal, everyday children with plenty of arguing and mis-behaving. But they manage to have lots of fun. The book is filled with their heroic adventures such as these:

• They witness a landslide onto the train tracks and then attempt to signal the oncoming train
• They befriend an old bedraggled old man who speaks no English
• They rescue a boy from inside the railway tunnel

Although the book was written over a hundred years ago, I believe it is still appealing for children today. It’s probably best for readers age 10 to 12. (The children in the story are about 12, 10, 8.) It’s written in the style of a storyteller with occasional asides to the “Gentle Reader”. Ideally, it would be best as a Read Aloud book – perhaps after dinner, a chapter at a time. Best would be to have it read by someone with a beautiful English accent.

I chose this book as my first in the Decades 09 Challenge - decade of the 1900′s.

Make Way For Ducklings

Robert McCloskey

The Viking Press, 1941

A Caldecott Medal Winner

Summary: This is the story of Mr. and Mrs. Mallard’s search for a new home in time to lay with eggs. After the eggs are hatched and the new little ones learn everything from their mother, they are ready to travel. Mrs. Mallard takes them on a walk through Boston. Along the way they meet very busy traffic, some friendly policemen, and other nice people.

My reaction: Having this book read to me is one of my earliest memories. However, I still see the setting for this story as Lincoln Park in my hometown of Kenosha, Wisconsin. It must have been read to me that way. The story is still very simple yet very charming. All of the drawings are what I believe is called sepia. This may be different for some of today’s children who are used to bright, vivid colors. Based on my grandchildren, I see this as a good read-to book for two to four year olds.

Blueberries For Sal

Robert McCloskey

The Viking Press, 1948

A Caldecott Honor Book

Summary: Little Sal and her mother take their pails to Blueberry Hill to pick blueberries to be canned for winter food. Little Sal helps pick the berries but eats most of them. Meanwhile, on the other side of Blueberry Hill, is Little Bear and his mother. They have come to eat enough blueberries so they can grow big and fat for the long winter. Both Little Sal and Little Bear become separated from their mothers. I will stop the story right here so I don’t spoil it for you.

My reaction: This is another charming story with beautiful, simple black and white drawings. I read this book last Spring to my granddaughter when she was three. We both loved it. We could both understand what it felt like to be separated from our mothers. And, as two blueberry-lovers, we wished we could be on Blueberry Hill and eat all those berries. 

These are two strong recommendations for your young readers. Today’s post is part of Classic Children’s Boods at 5 Minutes For Books and one of my book challenges, Childhood Favourites. If you want more information, chlick on either title.

  by Mo Willems

  Hyperion Books for Children, 2007

   ISBN- 10: 1423106765

How great to have books for children that makes them laugh out loud. Mo Willems is the genius behind the Pigeon series of books that I’m familiar with. My three-year-old granddaughter, Lou, and I are especially enamored with “Don’t Let the Pigeon Stay Up Late!” and “Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus!” I was excited when I saw a new, to me, set of Mo Willems books at the library.

This set of books features Elephant and Piggy. As you can see on the photo of the book cover to the left above, Elephant is a gray chubby guy who wears glasses. His friend, Piggy, is a rosy-pink guy with pointy ears and big eyes. I was immediately charmed just by looking at the characters.

The drawings are simple and clean with just the right amount of detail.The facial expressions and body language allow you to “read” the story without the words. Here’s a picture (to the right) of two pages which should give you an idea of what I’m talking about.

The story in this book is a simple one about a bird landing on Elephant’s head. And then a second bird lands and the story goes on from there. I won’t spoil it for you.

As I did a little research on Mo Willems and the books, I learned that this set of books is intended for early readers. Wow, how much fun to be allowed to  learn to read with these books! The lines are not stilted, even the repeated lines. The book can be easily read with plenty of inflection as the story is told in dialogue between Elephant and Piggy.

I could find nothing negative about this book. It captivated me from beginning to end. As fellow “Nanas” know, that is a key consideration when picking a book to read to toddlers. If they like a book you have to read it over and over and over and over! With this book I won’t mind. The age recommendation is 4 to 8 but I can see my three-year-old loving this. Try it for yourself.

I have a passion for children’s books. It is especially nice if I can read them to children. But, if none are available, I will read them to myself. So, I am especially pleased to join Lynda at The Holistic Knitter as she sponsors a six-month Childhood Favourite Book Challenge. 

The challenge is to think back to childhood and recall the books I loved and re-read them before June 21, 2009. It was hard to whittle down this list but I went with my all-time favourites. (Favourites is spelled correctly. The Holistic Knitter lives in Wales.) Here’s my list as of today. I’m reserving the right to change my mind.

1. Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
2. Homer Price by Robert McCloskey
3. On The Banks of Plum Creek by Loura Ingalls Wilder
4. The Boxcar Children by Gertrude Chandler Warner
5. Heidi by Johanna Spyri
6. One of The Bobbsey Twins books  
7. Strawberry Girl by Lois Lenski
8. Charlotte’s Web by E.B. White
9. Make Way For Ducklings by Robert McCloskey
10. Blueberries For Sal by Robert McCloskey
11. Twenty One Balloons by William Pene du Bois

If you also have a passion for children’s books, please join us in this challenge. Visit here to join. Whether you join or not, I’d like to know what some of your favourite childhood books are.

Teaser Tuesday is when bloggers reveal just a couple sentences of a book they’re reading. This is hosted by the blogger at Should Be Reading.

Here are the rules/guidelines:

Grab the book you are currently reading. Let the book fall open to a random page. Share two “teaser” sentences from that page, somewhere between lines 7 and 12. You must also share the title of the book – that way people can have some great book recommendations if they like the teaser you’ve given. 

Here’s my teaser:

“She and Pantalaimon could feel each other’s thoughts, and tried to keep calm, but the thought of John Faa dead . . . And what had happened to Farder Coram?

Page 206 of The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman. For other teasers, visit here.

Prairie Night Before Christmas

 ***Now in print as Cowboys Night Before Christmas 

Written and Illustrated by James Rice

Pelican Publishing Company, 1986

I’m showcasing this book for all you cowboys and cowboy lovers. It’s the story of “two lonely cowboys”  - the old cowhand and the youngster, who remind me of Dusty and Lefty of Prairie Home Companion fame. Here’s a summary of the plot:  

On a cold, stormy Christmas Eve a stranger was banging on the bunkhouse door. He was a bearded old man dressed in boots and a stetson. He asked for their help with a cargo load he was trying to deliver. So the three of them hitched up some longhorn steers to his wagon. After some struggle the team finally took off. And to the surprise of the old cowhand and the youngster, the team flew up into the air! 

There’s another surprise back in the bunkhouse for the two cowboys but I won’t spoil it for you. This was a charming take on the classic Night Before Christmas that I think will please both children and the old cowboys.

For more reviews on children’s books with a Christmas theme, visit 5 Minutes For Books.