Sod Houses on the Great Plains

Glen Rounds. Holiday House 1995, Hardcover, 1 pages, $97.33

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Glen Rounds summarizes, simply and clearly, how the sod house on the Great Plains came to be. With succint and vivid detail, he describes the introduction of sod as a building material, and gives the reader a feel for how it might have felt to live in such a building. This book is illustrated in his whimsical, somewhat abstract style which is sometimes reminiscent of cave drawings. This makes an excellent (and unromantic) complement to Dandelions and could be a precursor to On the Banks of Plum Creek. It is unfortunately out of print, but is available in public libraries and on the used book market.

Curious George Takes a Job

H. A. Rey. HMH Books 1974, Paperback, 48 pages, $0.01

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

This is another of the Reys’ gleeful books of monkey business.  In this one, George escapes from the zoo, wanders into a restaurant and gets caught eating the pasta, takes a job as a window-washer (and gets distracted painting a jungle-scape in someone’s apartment), and takes a fall from the fire escape, landing himself in the hospital, where the man with the yellow hat comes to rescue him.

The book is characterized by the excellent writing of the classic Curious George series, with fast-moving action and a lovable, mischievous character all children love to vicariously enjoy.  It’s appropriate for preschool through elementary school ages.

Richard Scarry’s What Do People Do All Day

Richard Scarry. Random House Books for Young Readers 1968, Hardcover, 64 pages, $7.46

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Richard Scarry had a tremendous gift for telling stories that, while simple in plot, are rich in visual detail so that, having been read aloud once, they provide hours of entertainment for prereaders to enjoy at their leisure. His lively, fill-up-the-page artwork and classic sense of humor have endeared him to children for over fifty years.

In this book, Scarry introduces individual citizens of Busytown, then tells short stories about specific projects they are involved in: building a house, mailing a letter, putting out a fire, visiting the hospital, riding a train, growing a crop, lumberjacking and processing wood, building a road, taking an ocean voyage, and making bread.  By interweaving these individual stories, he shows how greater social process work together in industrial society.  Each story demonstrates the value of work, both for the individuals who perform it and those who enjoy its effects.  It’s a wonderfully orienting book, helping even very young children understand the interworkings of their society.

This abridged edition is easy to find, but disappointingly, the unabridged version (which includes a stay-at-home mom, policeman, water treatment processes, and electric plant) has become a collector’s item.

Mouse Paint

Ellen Stoll Walsh. Harcourt, Inc. 1995, Board book, 16 pages, $2.00

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

This playful, lucidly-written fantasy about three mice will entertain and amuse young readers while introducing them to a bit of color theory.  In the story, three white mice discover three pots of paint on the white paper where they live.  They first dive into the paint to color themselves, then splash in paint puddles and discover that primary colors, when combined, make new colors.  Finally, they wash themselves clean (in the cat’s water bowl) and paint the paper with all the available colors — except for a section of white where they can hide from the cat.

This story is probably best suited for babies and toddlers, but its humor will also appeal to the kindergarten and early-elementary ages.

Building a House (Mulberry Books)

Byron Barton (Illustrator). Greenwillow Books 1990, Paperback, 32 pages, $3.44

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Byron Barton’s deceptively simple cartoon-like drawings and streamlined text may seem unimpressive at first glance.  But this author has a distinctive gift for distilling essential components of any event or theme into a page-turningly smooth story that the youngest child can follow.  In this volume, he describes and illustrates the step-by-step construction of a family home, beginning with “a green hill” with land surveyors pictured, and ending with a family moving into the home.  It’s an excellent early lesson in architecture for any child, but particularly those young children who show an interest in how objects in their environment work.

Polar Bear, Polar Bear, What Do You Hear? (Brown Bear and Friends)

Eric Carle (Illustrator). Henry Holt and Co. (BYR) 1997, Board book, 32 pages, $4.07

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

This is a pleasant follow-up to Brown Bear Brown Bear, What Do You See?, with the rhythmic refrain changed by one word.  This volume focuses on animals found in the zoo and the sounds they make: Polar bear, lion, hippo, flamingo, zebra, boa constrictor, elephant, leopard, peacock, walrus, finishing with the zookeeper and children, who playfully imitate the animals.  It’s characterized by pleasant, predictable repetition and Eric Carle’s wonderfully playful collage illustrations.

Like Brown Bear, this book is well suited to the preschool crowd and could make a confidence-building practice reader.

Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?

Eric Carle (Illustrator). Henry Holt and Co. (BYR) 1996, Board book, 32 pages, $4.32

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

This immensely popular toddler book features a procession of animals, introduced by the same chant addressed to the preceding animal: “Brown Bear, Brown Bear, what do you see?” The animal answers, “I see a red bird looking at me.”  Then the page is turned to reveal a red bird, who is asked the same question, and answers that a yellow duck is looking at her.  In this way a blue horse, green frog, purple cat, black sheep, and gold fish are introduced, who finally mention the teacher and children who are looking at them (presumably from outside the book, as well as being pictured in its pages.)

The predictable format, rhymic repetition, pleasing collage illustrations, and systematic introduction of colors with animal names have endeared this book to children and those who teach them since its publication 40 years ago.  It has been translated into many languages and is read around the world.  It is well suited to toddlers, and can also work as a confidence-building early beginning reader.

Gobble Growl Grunt

Peter Spier. Scholastic 1973, Paperback, $0.84

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

This is another unusual book like Crash! Bang! Boom!, but this time devoted to animal sounds.  From humpback elephants (“taa-taaah”) to dolphins (“ih-ih-ih-ih”), rattlesnakes (“ticka-ticka-tick”) to rats (“squeal”), each animal is wonderfully rendered in Spier’s inimitable style — then labeled, and given a sound to make in concert with about 15-30 others on each two-page spread.

This is a good book for early readers, who will benefit from the enjoyable phonetic practice of sounding out the animal noises.  Confident readers may enjoy it even more, especially if they can share the experience with friends who enjoy imitating animals.  Pre-readers will enjoy having it read aloud and may have fun imitating the animals, but parents should be forewarned that it can be rather tiring to read aloud.

The book is unfortunately out of print, but is available on the used market.

Crash! Bang! Boom!

Peter Spier. Doubleday 1972, Hardcover, $11.95

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Crash! Bang! Boom! is an unusual picture book which, rather than telling a story, provides an auditory and visual experience of the world.  Each two-page spread contains about twenty actions which are related to one another in some way, with a written-out sound effect — a boiling coffeepot sounding “glub-blub-glubglub” and then being poured, “luck-luck-luck,” a chain-saw sounding “rrrooaarrrrr” and an axe hitting a thumb with a “thack.”

The book is characterized by Spier’s lively, intricately detailed drawings and has a very appealing mood.  It ought to provide wonderful phonetic practice for beginning readers, and will also be enjoyable for confident readers.  Preschoolers will enjoy having it read to them, but adults may find it wearying to read aloud, so I recommend it primarily for self-reading.

Like many of Spier’s wonderful books, this one is out of print, but is available on the used market.

Bambi

Felix Salten. Aladdin 2010, Paperback, 192 pages, $2.37

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Most of my generation, when they think of Bambi, think of the sentimental Disney movie.  But the original book was a serious work.  Its one-of-a-kind conception and spectacular writing have earned it classic status as the story of a young deer growing to adulthood in his woodland home.  Salten’s writing is compelling, and scenes from the story will stay in the mind long after reading, to be often recalled and savored.  This Bambi lives a grim and dangerous life, his world filled with blood and fear — and most of his troubles emanate from the dreaded Man.

Bambi’s response to his pitiless world is to emulate his distant father, exiling himself from the company of others — even Faline, his mate.  In abandoning these relationships, he chooses a solitary life in which he accepts loneliness (his own and Faline’s) as the price of his safety.

There is a clear sense that Bambi’s coming-of-age is defined by no longer needing to rely on others.  His relationship with his father begins when the old stag rebukes him for calling his mother: “Your mother has no time for you.  Can’t you stay by yourself?”  Later in life, his father befriends him and teaches him to move through the forest so that he is never seen.  The relationship ends when his father leaves him to die alone.  Bambi then passes on the heritage of solitude by rebuking two fawns for crying after their mother.

In contrast to this message of isolationism, the Bible teaches that a solitary existence falls short of God’s plan (Genesis 2:18).  Rather than affirming interdependence as a sign of weakness, Scripture teaches that people are meant to live in community (Ecclesiastes 4:12; 1 Corinthians 12:12; and Hebrews 10:24-25).  Rather than becoming stronger when we withdraw from others, being alone actually makes us more vulnerable to attack.

The romantic appeal of Bambi’s self-chosen exile has an especial attraction in our individualistic culture.  Adults will need to use discernment about when a child is ready for this book.  The reader ought to be mature enough to critically engage Salten’s perspective without being drawn into his isolationist impulse.  Since the message is embedded in a masterfully written story, parents should be cautious about introducing it too early, but at the right time it ought to provide excellent material for discussion.