9 kids books about trick or treating!

What costumes are your kids picking for trick-or-treating this year?  My fourth grader is Pokemon obsessed, and his grandmother found him a comically large Pikachu costume.  When I say "comically large" picture the kind of costume big enough to require its own airline seat.  Yeah.  My preschooler is really into Ancient Egypt, and I found him a Pharaoh costume on sale.  Score!  Do you dress up right along with your kids?  I never pass up a chance to dress in costume, and my poor husband is usually a good sport about whatever couples costume I make him wear.  This year we are going as George and Martha Washington complete with colonial style wigs.  

Whatever your kids choose to be this year, here is the perfect pre-trick-or-treating reading list! 

Five Little Monkeys Trick-or-Treat (A Five Little Monkeys Story)

By Eileen Christelow

Buy on Amazon

The Berenstain Bears Trick or Treat (First Time Books)

By Stan Berenstain, Jan Berenstain

Buy on Amazon

Trick Arr Treat (Av2 Fiction Readalong 2017)

By Leslie Kimmelman

Buy on Amazon

Halloween ABC (Little Golden Book)

By Sarah Albee

Buy on Amazon

A Scratch & Sniff Halloween

By Elizabeth Spurr

Buy on Amazon

Llama Llama Trick or Treat

By Anna Dewdney

Buy on Amazon

Trick or Treat?

By Bill Martin Jr., Michael Sampson

Buy on Amazon

Trick-or-Treat: A Happy Haunter's Halloween

By Debbie Leppanen

Buy on Amazon

Trick or Treat

By Leo Landry

Buy on Amazon

the thing about vintage picture books

I love vintage picture books!  Love them so much, but an experience with an out-dated story book taught me something. Let me tell you about the time that I learned something about story books of old.  

I wanted (and still want) my sons to read from the canon of children's literature.  There are so many classics that I wanted to be in my sons' wheel house, from picture books like Madeline and anything by Maurice Sendak to chapter books like the Anne of Green Gables series and many others.  I purchased a copy of Rudyard Kipling's Just So Stories.  It looked very kid-friendly with beautiful water color illustrations and short little stories teaching lessons like fables with animal characters.  No red flags anywhere until we started reading together.  The first story about a naughty elephant was rife with details that frankly I just wasn't cool with.  The elephant gets spanked excessively throughout the story, and there were a lot of colonial-mindset derogatory descriptions about people from India.  Not the experience I was expecting. 

What I learned that day was the importance of pre-screening older books before I give them to my kids.  Now I'm not saying that I ban books with anything controversial inside.  A lot of times books with material that I find doesn't jive with what we want to teach our kids act as a good conversation starter and teachable moment.  For example, an 1950s Little Golden Book that shows a mom and a dad acting out staunch gender roles is a moment to talk about how men and women can do whatever they want today.  Dads can stay home.  Moms can work.  Reading a Little House book where they sing a song about "blackies" (cringe) is a moment to talk about diversity and discrimination.

But wait, didn't you just say you love vintage picture books?  What's to love?  So much!  The window into the past is such a valuable teaching tool for parents and kids.  Our modern world is fascinating but complicated.  I love the nostalgic simplicity of a vintage Little Golden Book or an old easy reader.  Every time I read a vintage picture book, I am reminded to bring some of that same simplicity back into my home.  

What do you think?  Have you had the same experience with older kid's books?

vintage picture book to love! a boy named john by ruth and roland tiemann

Hi there!  Welcome to our little cozy corner of the internet! I found this little retro gem online recently, and I had to have a copy.  There is just something about the illustrations in vintage children's books that tug at the heart strings, and A Boy Named John is filled with that nostalgic charm.  It is the story of John, a boy from London, England.  John travels around the world, and he learns that in different countries, his name is different in different languages.  In France, he is Jean.  In Scotland, he is Ian.  

Along with a different name, John learns that kids from each country like to eat different things, play different things, and more.  I loved looking through this with my kids.  I would love to get a second copy of this and frame some of the pages for our playroom! 

Do you remember taking foreign language classes in junior high and high school?  In the US, we typically can choose to learn French or Spanish, and on the first day of school, our teacher would give each student the French or Spanish version of their name.  All of my classmates were Marie for Mary, Jaques for Jack, you get the picture.  Apparently my name doesn't translate into French.  Sadly, in any language, Ashley remains Ashley.  A lovely name but I wanted the sophisticated mystique of a fancy French name.  Ah, well. Moving on . . . . 

Inspired by this book, it's fun to look up how your name changes in different languages and countries.  My kids enjoyed googling our names and finding the ways they morph into new names around the world.  Give it a go! 

the talking eggs by robert d. san souci and jerry pinkney

I love it when I read a story that is unpredictable.  Most movies/tv shows/books fit in to one of a few formulas, and after reading a few pages or watching a few minutes of it, you can usually tell where the narrative is heading.  

When I read The Talking Eggs by Robert D. San Souci with my older son (age 9), we got a few pages in, and he exclaims, "Oh I can tell where this is going!  It's going to be like Cinderella."  He was right.  The beginning of this story has all of the makings of a Cinderella adaptation - a young girl who works night and day to please her mean and selfish mother and sibling.  That, however, is where the similarities between this story and a fairy tale formula stop! 

When her mother sends her on an errand to fetch water at the well in the woods, Blanche meets an old woman who is terribly thirsty.  Blanche shows kindness and gives the old woman water.  When the old woman meets Blanche at the well a second time, she brings the girl to her unique home.  There Blanche sees a two headed cow, chickens of every color of the rainbow, and other crazy things.  Because she is polite and doesn't laugh at any of the old woman's crazy possessions, the old woman rewards her with magic eggs that produce riches and jewels!  When Blanche's mean sister, Rose, visits the old woman, she is not as polite, and her behavior gets her in trouble. 

storytime conversation starters: 

• what was the craziest thing blanche saw at the old woman's farm? would you be able to go there and not laugh?
• why was blanche rewarded and rose was not?
• what would you want to be hidden in your magic eggs?

the best kids books about new orleans!

For the next few days, I am spending time in my all-time favorite city, New Orleans!  I am here sans husband and kid to attend the iConnect iRetreat blogger conference, and I am having a great time.  This morning, I walked through the French Quarter to eat at my favorite bakery and coffee shop, Croissant d'Or, a truly old school New Orleans spot.  Then, I spent the day learning from some pretty amazing bloggers.  These conferences are so good for my spirit.  Spending time with other writers who are passionate and insightful really fuels my get-up-and-go attitude.  

I think New Orleans as a city is such a special place - the food, the music, the people are so unique and colorful.  Here is my list of some wonderfully NOLA books that will transport you to the Big Easy even when red beans and rice and jazz music seem miles away.    

Petite Rouge (Picture Puffins)

By Mike Artell

Gator Gumbo: A Spicy-Hot Tale

By Candace Fleming

Jenny Giraffe Discovers the French Quarter (Jenny Giraffe Series)

By Cecilia Dartez

Jenny Giraffe and the Streetcar Party (Jenny Giraffe Series)

By Cecilia Dartez

Runaway Beignet, The

By Connie Morgan

3 books my 3 year old loves

happy monday everyone!  my three year old likes dragons and castles, pirates, pyramids, and adventure stories.  here are three books that i have read him about a billion times lately. 

King Jack and the Dragon Board Book

By Peter Bently

Jack and his friends spend their whole afternoon building castle forts, chasing away dragons, and feasting like kings until their moms and dads say it's bed time.  Cute story! 

The Color Kittens (A Little Golden Book)

By Margaret Wise Brown

The color kittens are in charge of all the colors in the world, and they are on a mission to mix the perfect green paint!  They mix combination after combination of paint colors making purple, and orange, and brown, and finally green.  Playful illustrations.  

Corduroy

By Don Freeman

Corduroy is a classic!  A bear in a department store wants a home more than anything, but he looks a little shabby with his button missing from his overall strap.  He meets a special little girl who takes him home and fixes him up.  The story is a bit lengthy for preschoolers, but it's worth getting past the wordiness for the great story. 

a chair for my mother by vera b. williams

Hi there!  Hope you had a great long weekend.  My in-laws offered to take the kids to get breakfast and go to the park playground on Memorial Day.  I thought, Awesome!  I could use a little time alone to get stuff done. In true grandparent fashion, they returned my children cranky, utterly exhausted, and covered in Wendy's frosty. It's what grandparents do.  

Today's story has a grandparent (how's that for a transition?) and a single mom and her young daughter as well. It's a story that I have held in my heart since I was a kid watching Reading Rainbow.  I'm sure many of you had the same experience, and its status as a beloved book is well earned!  

A Chair for My Mother is the story of a single mom who works as a waitress in a diner.  Every night she comes home to the apartment she shares with her daughter and mother, and she rests her aching feet by sitting in the only chair they own - a hard backed kitchen chair.  

The reason they have no comfortable furniture is that everything they owned was destroyed when their previous apartment building burned down.  Now, the little family puts every extra penny they have into a big jar in hopes of using the money to buy the most perfect, most comfortable chair.  

The day finally comes when the jar is full, and they finally get their well-deserved comfy arm chair.  

Vera B. Williams has created a very prolific collection of picture books, and this is one of her best.  I love her watercolor illustrations and the way she subtly works in issues of dealing with tragedy, strength in community helpers, and what it means to not have money to spend on needs.  This book should be on every book shelf! 

Story time conversations: 

• When their apartment building burns down, all of their neighbors and friends come to their rescue, giving them furniture, clothes, and toys.  Is there any way we can become community helpers like in the story?
• They try out every kind of chair their is!  Which chair would you pick?
• It took them a long time to save up enough coins to buy their chair.  Have you ever saved up for something you really wanted?  What did that feel like? 

Have a great day! 

have a fun weekend!

The weekend is here again, and from you to me, please enjoy this picture of a cat reading a book while wearing bifocals.  You've earned it.  

Do you have a wonderful picture book that you and your kids love?  A chapter book that your kid can't put down?  Booktomato is always on the lookout for what's new, fun, and delightful in children's literature.  Shoot us an email or leave suggestions below in the comments.  

Whatever you find yourself up to this weekend, take some time to read a good book! 

books we love: robo-sauce by adam rubin and daniel salmieri

WARNING: THIS BOOK HAS THE ABILITY TO TRANSFORM INTO A ROBOT!  If you loved the book Dragons Love Tacos as much as we did, you will love Adam Rubin's new book Robo-sauce. It's fun to dress up and pretend to be a robot, but what if you had the ability to actually turn yourself into a real one?  For brave taste buds, this book holds a recipe for a sauce that can do just that.  Once the family in the book samples the sauce, they are turned into robots on a path to world-destruction!  This book also holds a secret - the book itself can turn into a robot too!  

All of Rubin's books have such a fun and quirky sense of humor.  The zany antics of his characters are just too funny!  His bio says that he has an interest in improv comedy, and it shows.  If you would like to check out more of his work, his other kids books include Dragons Love Tacos and Those Darn Squirrels.  recommended age: 3+

the tree in the courtyard: looking through anne frank's window by jeff gottesfeld and peter mccarty

There are picture books that make us laugh, and picture books that teach us our letters or numbers.  There are picture books that wow us with amazing artwork, and picture books that spark our imagination with their innovative storytelling.  All of these enrich our lives in different ways.  Here is a picture book that does a lot for the reader.  It teaches us, amazes us, inspires us, and might make us sad but hopeful.  

We are all probably familiar with the story of Anne Frank, but I was not aware of the fact that the tree that grew outside the building where Anne and her family hid from the Nazis was famous.  Cuttings from this tree have been planted all over the world in places where tragedies have happened as a symbol of peace and hope.  

The Tree in The Courtyard is told from the perspective of Anne's tree.  The tree loves Anne and her family and watches as they come and go from their home, as they play in its branches, and the tree looks inside their windows, watching them live their lives.  One day, the tree is confused because the family doesn't come out of their house.  Another day passes, and another.  Planes and bombs and soldiers come, but the family does not come out.  The tree spots Anne looking out of the attic window, and the tree is there the day the family is discovered and taken away.  

This is such a beautiful take on Anne Frank's story.  Explaining the atrocities of the Nazis' treatment of the Jewish people and the horror of war is hard.  It's not easy or fun, but it's a valuable lesson.  I feel like this book is an age-appropriate conversation starter for elementary school kids.  The sepia colored illustrations are a wonderful partner in telling the story.  This story is sad, but it ends on a note of hope.  Even when the tree falls in a storm, it lives on.  

What do you think?  Have your kids read the Diary of Anne Frank?  Do you ever use books to help teach difficult subjects?    

happy monday!

Hi there!  Hope your week is off to a great start!  Let's get the ball rolling with some of the best book posts from some of our favorite blogs on the web. 

• Maybe a Fox by Kathi Appelt and Alison McGhee +++ A Kid's Book A Day

https://kidsbookaday.com/2016/05/16/maybe-a-fox-by-kathi-appelt-and-alison-mcghee/

• 9 People Who Changed the World: Nobel Peace Prize Picture Books +++ Pragmaticmom.com 

http://www.pragmaticmom.com/2016/05/9-people-who-changed-world/

• Review: Please, Louise +++ Kids' Book Review

http://www.kids-bookreview.com/2016/05/review-please-louise.html

• 6th Grade Summer Reading List for Globally Conscious Kids +++ What Do We Do All Day 

http://www.whatdowedoallday.com/2016/05/6th-grade-summer-reading-list.html