A Library

Sophie Rosen , ,

Giovanni, Nikki. A Library. New York: Versify, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers, 2022.
A young girl helps her grandmother with washing the dishes and doing the laundry before setting off for the public library. Later, back home again, she helps fold the laundry and prepare a meal, before settling down on the back porch with her new books. The beautifully bold yet gentle illustrations by Erin K. Robinson combined with the brief text in a large font have created a wonderful story – by an award-winning poet – to read aloud to a group of primary-school-age children. Perfect as an introduction to talking about the joy of libraries. Perfect as an introduction to talking about the value of reflecting on life. Highly recommended for teachers, teacher-librarians, and readers 5 to 8 years old.

More stories related to the author’s own life

More books about reading and libraries 

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Kimchi, Kimchi Every Day

Sophie Rosen , ,

Kim, Erica. Kimchi, Kimchi Every Day. Washington, D.C.: Soaring Kite Books, 2022.

A cheerful, rhyming book that goes through the days of the week celebrating different ways of preparing of kimchi, the famous Korean dish based on fermented vegetables. Exuberantly designed with various fonts – all in the large letters – and brightly coloured full-page illustrations, this picture book is recommended for children three to seven years old. Explanatory notes at the end – providing additional information – make this a useful book for young students starting to do research projects. 

More picture books about cultural concepts 

More Korean stories

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Nano

Sophie Rosen , ,

Wade, Jess. Nano: The Spectacular Science of the Very (Very) Small. Somerville, Massachusetts: Candlewick Press, 2021.
What a spectacular science book for young readers! Skillfully designed – with fonts of different styles and sizes – and cheerfully illustrated, this picture book about the astonishing world of nanotechnology is highly recommended for readers 6 to 10 years old. 

They will learn that pencils contain graphite – layers of carbon atoms on top of each other – that leaves marks on paper because the layers so easily slide over each other and smudge. 

A single layer of graphite is graphene, the strongest material now known; it is used to make airplanes lighter in weight and windows clean themselves when touched by sunlight.

More books to expand general knowledge

Older readers may also enjoy this picture book. Too often, it seems, students in grades 6 to 8 are strongly encouraged to read but not shown how easy it is to have fun with books. Three-dimensional reading – the kind that requires paper – does not have to involve serious, multi-chaptered books or humorous graphic novels. It can include picture books that expand general knowledge. A few minutes of reading and you come away with more facts to improve understanding of – and pique interest in – our incredible world.

More ideas for encouraging fun while reading

Generally, I recommend borrowing books from a library. How can we possibly buy every book we want to read? But this is a picture book you might like to purchase and keep. For a long time. The very first book I owned – the first book that was specifically mine – was Our Earth: What It Is, part of the Whitman Learn About series. I was six years old and so fascinated by all the incredible information that my parents ordered the whole series for me. Every month, a new title would arrive in the mail. Bliss! I still have almost the whole set, including that first book with these sentences: “One day we will land on the moon and look back at the Earth. What a wonderful sight we will see!” Decades in the future, you will still appreciate Nano but what will you notice about the progress of technology? What will make you smile?

What books do you own that you have had for a long time? What books do you still treasure? Let me know!

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To My Panik

Sophie Rosen , ,

Sammurtok, Nadia. To My Panik: To My Daughter. Iqaluit, Nunavut: Inhabit Media, 2022.
A mother lovingly tells her daughter how much she loves her. Her eyes that look like warm flames in a stone lamp. Her ears that listen like a mother bear caring for her cubs. Her lips, her voice, her personality, and her sense of humour. All are described with comparisons to features in their Arctic environment. This inspiring picture book – illustrated by Turkish artist Pelin Turgut – is highly recommended for children three to seven years old and for parents of all ages. 

More stories of indigenous people of North America

More books by Canadian writers

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So Much Snow

Sophie Rosen , ,

Schroeder, Kristen. So Much Snow. New York : Random House Studio, 2022.
Snow falls and falls, turning everything white. The next week, the temperature warms, the snow starts melting, and streams start flowing. Spring is coming!. But then….Could that be snow again? This delightful picture book, softly illustrated by Sarah Jacoby, depicts forest animals – foxes, rabbits, deer, and mice – adapting as the weather changes over the course of two weeks in late winter. An excellent story to read to young children learning the days of the week.   

More picture books that follow a chronological pattern

More stories about winter

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Rodney was a Tortoise

Sophie Rosen , , , ,

Forler, Nan. Rodney was a Tortoise. Toronto: Tundra Books, 2022.
Bernadette loves her friend, Rodney. They have contests, play dress up games, and enjoy treats together. In the evenings, she reads him stories of the outdoors. At night, he sleeps in a tank beside her bed. The two of them are the best of companions. But one day, Rodney stops moving. He has died, and not even a funeral and remembering all the lessons he taught her can ease the grief. At school, everyone goes about their usual life, talking about their usual concerns, while she withdraws further and further into sadness until one day a classmate – Amar – comes to sit beside her out in the playground. And slowly Bernadette comes back to life. The soft watercolour and pencil illustrations by Young Ling Kang help tell this gentle story recommended for anyone who has ever lost a beloved friend.

Questions to talk about…
How do we gladly make accommodations for the weaknesses of our friends?
What have our friends taught us about how to live a good life?
How do we protect ourselves when in pain?
How do we reenter life after deep grief?

More stories of grief

More stories of friendship

More stories by Canadian writers

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My Life Begins!

Sophie Rosen , ,

MacLachlan, Patricia. My Life Begins! New York: Katherine Tegen Books, an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers, 2022.
Nine-year-old Jacob wants a dog. Instead, he gets a sibling. Three siblings. Triplets! How do you take care of three babies? How do you tell them apart? Jacob decides to make those babies his school research project. What will he learn? What will he report? This easy-to-read 119-page novel is warmly recommended for readers 7 to 10 years old.

Patricia MacLachlan died in 2022. This was her last novel published for children. She is perhaps most famous for Sarah, Plain and Tall, a story that won the Newbery Medal in 1986, but she wrote over 60 books in her life. Everything she wrote was full of beauty and grace, hope and encouragement, humour and – ultimately – peace. 

More novels for young readers

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