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2008 Kids' Book List
This is where I will keep track of the books the kids and I read. Reading aloud is part of our history, our science, and usually our evening ritual.
1. Jack Sparrow: Dance of the Hours by Rob Kidd. If you haven't discovered the books that follow Jack Sparrow as a teenager and you have POTC lovers in your household, you should check these books out! They are great fun. This was number 8 in the series, I believe.
2. The Flying Horse: The Story of Pegasus by Jane B. Mason
3. The Parthenon by Elizabeth Mann: this is a great book that tells the history of the Parthenon and I learned some things I didn't know about this amazing structure. The illustrations are wonderful too. And the writing kept the children interested.
4. Cupid and Psyche M. Charlotte Craft - a wonderful myth with fantastic drawings
5. The Great Alexander the Great by Joe Lasker. A great picture book with an overview of the history of Alexander the Great.
6. Small Inventions That Make a Big Difference - a great, even if dated book about how many of the things in our world today were invented.
7. The Two Mountains: An Aztec Legend - retold by Eric A. Kimmel and illustrated by Leonard Everett Fisher. This is a wonderful story of how two mountains were created that bears striking similarities to the story of Adam and Eve.
8. Thirteen Moons on Turtle's Back: A Native American Year of Moons by Joseph Bruchac and Jonathan London. Illustrated by Thomas Locker. I have always been especially attracted to the Native American way of life and their histories. I enjoyed reading these stories about how they came up with the names of the different moons of the year.
9. Jabuti The Tortoise: A trickster Tale from the Amazon told by Gerald McDermott - This is a very colorful book. The fact that he was a trickster reminded us of the trickster spider in African mythology. Reading stories from different cultures can shed a lot of light on the culture and what it believed in.
10. The Roman News: The Greatest Newspaper in Civilization - this book is set up in a wonderful style like a newspaper. It covers a variety of topics (from Fashion to religion to building to food) and the short articles and fun pictures are sure to keep your kids interested!
11. Man On the Moon by Anastasia Suen, illustrated by Benrei Huang. A picture book of man's first landing on the moon.
12. When the Moon Is Full: A Lunar Year by Penny Pollock and illustrated y Mary Azarian. This book has beautiful illustrations that the children really enjoyed. Another book based on the Native American names for the different 'moons' of the year. It tells why they got that name and there is a short poem on each moon. At the end there are questions and answers that help teach your child about the moon.
13. If You Decide To Go To the Moon by Faith McNulty and illustrated by Steven Kellog. This book has cute illustrations and takes the reader on a journey into space and to the moon. The story weaves in history (past moon visits), science (information about the moon and space) and ends with a reminder of how special earth is.
14. Countdown to Space Moon Base First Colony in Space by Michael D. Cole. This is a book that portrays one author's thoughts and vision for the next thirty years of the space program. It would be great to see a working base on the moon, but I am not sure his timeline of this happening by 2030 is realistic due to the current climate on the space program.
15. Learning About Earth's Cycles With Graphic Organizers by Isaac Nadeau. This book starts small with the cycle of a child's day and expands until you have hit the cycle of the universe.
16. What Do Animals Do In Winter? How Animals Survive the Cold by Melvin and Gilda Berger, illustrated by Susan Harrison. An easy to read and understand book about how a vareity of animals spend their winter months.
17. Every Autumn Comes the Bear by Jim Arnosky. A lovely book where we see a bear preparing for the winter.
18. How Do Birds Find Their Way? by Roma Gans and illustrated by Paul Mirocha An well illustrated and easy to understand books about birds and how they migrate. It talks about how they use the position o fthe sun, the position of the stars, and the magnetic field to find their way back and forth.
19. Time To Sleep by Denise Fleming - a picture book where the creatures of the forest alert one another to the coming of winter.
20. I Once Was a Monkey: Stories Buddha Told by Jeanne M. Lee - A wonderful way to get an idea of the teachings of Buddha.
21. The Annotated Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum, edited by Michael Patrick Hearn - we enjoyed reading the story of the Wizard of Oz. I had only seen the movie previously. The comments in this version shed light on the story as well, but I only read a few of those. There are some scenes in the book that don't take place in the movie.
22. Jack Sparrow: Sins of the Father by Robert Kidd. This is the 10th in a series of books about Jack Sparrow when he was young and the children and I have enjoyed every book. In some ways this was the best as it gives us more insight into Jack and it introduces people like Teague, Gibbs, and James Norrington!
23. Ten Suns: A Chinese Legend retold by Eric A. Kimmel and illustrated by Yongsheng Xuan.
24. The Lost Horse by Ed Young.
25. The Dragon Prince: A Chinese Beauty and The Beast Tale told by Laurence Yep with pictures by Kam Mak
26. Ancient China (The Nature Company Discoveries Library
27. The Great Wall of China by Leonard Everett Fisher
28. Glass Slipper, Gold Sandal: A Worldwide Cinderella by Paul Fleischman and illustrated by Julie Paschkis. I saw this on one of the endcaps and read the book jacket cover:
"Once upon a time, in Mexico...in Iran...in Ireland...in Zimbabwee...
There lived a girl who worked all day in the rice fields...cooked in the royal kitchen...tended the cattle...then spent the night by the hearth, sleeping among the cinders.
The girl's name is Ashpet...Vasalisa...Sootface...Catskin...Cendrillon...Cinderella.
Her story has spanned centuries and continents, changing to match its suroundings. Now Newbery-winning author Paul Fleischman and illustrator Julie Paschkis braid its many versions into one globe-spanning tale, a hymn to the rich variety and the enduring constants of our cultures."
This story is enchanting and the illustrations are wonderful! The Cinderella lover in your house will love it! I did!
29. We read The Empty Pot. The Empty Pot by Demi is wonderfully illustrated and tells a fantastic story about the virtue of being truthful. Every parent will enjoy this tale right along with their children.
