It’s been a really long time since I did a book post and I’m thinking it’s to share some of our recent favourites in the children’s book department.  With Christmas approaching I know almost anyone who has a child to buy for could use some suggestions. So without further ado…

The Seven Silly Eaters by Mary Ann Hoberman has been one of our favourite books since we first purchased it I think two years ago. I absolutely love reading it as I am a huge fan of well-crafted rhyme (it is much more rare than you would think). The story is cute and the illustrations are fantastic and full of detail and the story is silly and entertaining for kids of a variety of ages.

Harvey Potter’s Balloon Farm by Jerdine Nolen is a book we happened upon at the library one time. Sometimes you pick a bunch of random books and hope to score and we scored big time when we brought this one home. It’s a tale of a man who grows balloons, as you can probably deduce from the title. Again, it has amazing illustrations of fields full of balloons of all shapes and sizes and it does my imagination good to read it. I like the message of not only tolerating, but embracing folks who are different and I also like the angle that suggests that a little mystery can be good for us.

The Gingerbread Girl by Lisa Campbell Ernst was a book I knew my daughter would love before I ever showed it to her. She had been learning about the tale of the gingerbread man at school and she was thrilled to see this sequel to the story (in which the little old woman makes a gingerbread girl to replace the lost gingerbread boy and the gingerbread girl outwits the devious fox and tames him). Again, very interesting illustrations, an empowering story about learning from the mistakes of others, and my daughter always likes to read the repetitive parts with me.

The Story of Peter Rabbit , Abridged. Everyone knows this classic story by Beatrix Potter and to be honest, I wasn’t that excited about it. We found it on sale at Winners and my son wanted it so we brought it home. And then we read it about five times a day for the next several months. What can I say? I guess the cautionary tale hit home for my 3 year old! I would have read it as many times as he requested just to hear him attempt to say “Flopsy, Mopsy, Cottontail and Peter” which is a mouthful for a little guy.

M is for Mischief: An A to Z of Naughty Children by Linda Ashman is another random library win. Fantastic rhyme which is almost guaranteed to win me over, combined with interesting illustration and 26 different mini-lessons about good manners told in a humorous way makes it a new favourite at our house. I may be purchasing this one in the future. It’s not often you find stories that are as enjoyable for parents as they are for kids.

The Donut Chef by Bob Staake was given to us as a gift. I had never heard of Bob Staake or any of his books until we picked up this one and I was an instant fan. The illustrations are very different but awesome. Again, amazing rhyme and an engaging story. However you may find yourself licking the pages or ready to drive yourself straight to the nearest donut store by the time you finish looking at page after page of yummy donuts! Consider yourself warned!

Not a Box by Antoinette Portis is short and sweet but it definitely captures my kids imaginations. If you’ve ever shaken your head in bewilderment while your kids play in the boxes their toys came in, this book will resonate with you. On every page the narrator asks the rabbit why he’s playing in/on/etc. a box and my kids love to chime in with the rabbit and yell “IT’S NOT A BOX!”.

The Gruffalo by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler. This duo has written a bunch of books that are well loved at our house (The Gruffalo’s Child, The Stick Man, The Snail and the Whale, The Spiffiest Giant in Town). Some people just have a talent for writing fantastic rhyme and Donaldson and Scheffler are no exception. Both myself and both by kids really enjoy the way the mouse outsmarts all his predators.

Monkey Business by Wallace Edwards is going to be under the tree for my kids this Christmas. I was only recently introduced to Edwards and I am already a huge fan of both his text and his illustrations. In this book each page illustrates a popular idiom (bull in a china shop, eating your words, etc.) and the pictures are guaranteed to make you chuckle. I can’t wait for Christmas morning so we can start reading! I’ve also admired Edwards books Mixed Beasts and Alphabeasts which are also completely fascinating.

Blueberry Girl by Neil Gaiman is not a book I have actually read with my kids. We own and absolutely love some of his other children’s books (The Day the Wolves Came Out of the Walls, The Day I Traded My Dad for Two Goldfish - I highly recommend both!) so I picked this one up at the book store the other day. To be completely honest, I’m not in love with the illustrations which sometimes makes it hard to fully appreciate the text in a story. They aren’t bad, but they’re just not really my style. But that is an incredibly personal thing. But the words are just so beautiful I totally started crying in the bookstore. And if I had purchased this book I would have cried every single time I read it to my kids. It’s sort of a prayer or blessing for a daughter, wishing her all the important qualities in life like kindness and strength and wisdom and I honestly don’t know what I’m going to do because I really really want to own it and yet I’m not sure I’ll ever read it if I do purchase it! Still, I thought it was worth posting about here.

This is already getting long so I’m going to wrap it up here. I could keep going all day as there aren’t many things I enjoy more than talking about my favourite books. But after writing all about them, now I’m ready to go cuddle up with my kids for story time!