Looking for some summer themes to enjoy with your preschooler? We've got them below!
A Very Curious Bear by Tony Mitton, illustrated by Paul Howard. Random House, 2008. Little Bear has lots of questions about the outdoors and the answers are straightforward and sweet. The illustrations are colorful and easy to follow. The text offers a nice rhyming pace.- Pig Little by Mike Thaler, illustrated by Paige Miglio. Henry Holt and Company 2006. Take one last look at this year's beach vacation with this wonderful book. Pig Little goes to the beach with his family one day and experiences everything from shells to stars to castles to digging to ice-cream cones and sandy messes. The pictures are delightfully specific.
- The Boy On the Beach by Niki Daly. Simon & Schuster, 1999. The word images really make this book sing: "It's hot, hot, hot – hot as sun-melted tar in the beach parking lot … Sun-cream nose, castle-bashing, sea-pool splashing."
- A Camping Spree with Mr. Magee by Chris Van Dusen. Raincoast Books, 2003. Mr. Magee and his little dog Dee pack up their Rambler and hit the road through the mountains and towards the sea. This is all done with fun rhyme and illustrations depicting a Pacific coastline and all the peculiar details a camping trip entails: marshmallow sticks, bunks in the camper, the hitch, and what all good campout books need — a stumbling, bumbling old bear that adds the plot to this fun, short story.
- The Seven Silly Eaters by Mary Ann Hoberman, illustrated by Marla Frazee (Harcourt Brace & Company, 1997). The sophisticated rhyming brings a nice structure to a gloriously goofy story about a mother who painstakingly fixes exactly what her children demand of her to eat … all seven of them!
- Giraffe's Can't Dance by Giles Andreae, illustrated by Guy Parker-Rees (Orchard Book Australia, 1999). Gerald has bandy knees, rather thin legs, and he isn't very coordinated. When the jungle dance arrives and the warthogs are waltzing, the rhinos are rock-n-rolling, and the lions dance a tango – Gerald feels left out. The illustrations offer neat details in this "you can do it!" book.
- Micawber by John Lithgow, illustrated by C. F. Payne. Simon and Schuster, 2002. The marvelous words in this book set it apart, creating a perfect occasion to introduce the dictionary for parent and child alike! The illustrations are lushly drawn, giving life to the squirrel artist and New York's Central Park.
The Worrywarts by Pamela Duncan Edwards, illustrated by Henry Cole. HarperCollins, 1999. Three friends – a wombat, a weasel, and a woodchuck – awake one morning and decide to see the world. Each one is overtaken by worries about "what if?" but the friends reassure each other. When their worries come true, their quick and wacky responses provide many laughs.- How Many Stars in the Sky? By Lenny Hort, illustrated by James E. Ransome. Tambourine Books, 1991. A boy and his father go on a midnight journey to count stars, riding through town and eventually out to the country where they find millions of stars. The illustrations have rich colors and a textural feel to them.
- The Crooked Apple Tree by Eric Houghton, illustrated by Caroline Gold. Barefoot Books, 1999. Moving to a new house can produce conflicting emotions. Some things change, but other things (like our imagination) remain. The children in this story miss their favorite pond but find a crooked apple tree that provides as many adventures as their imaginations can create. The mother and father play a key role in the transition, and the illustrations complement the story nicely.
My Big Dog by Janet Stevens and Susan Stevens Crummel, illustrated by Janet Stevens. Dragonfly Books 1991. For dog and cat lovers alike! The cat is the story teller, and the cat is trying to ignore one very lovable dog who has become a member of the family. Lots of laughs and vivid pictures and expressions in this fun book.
Springfield Moms reader Tara McAndrew added these summer picks as well.
- Insectlopedia by Douglas Florian, Voyager Books, 2002. Tara writes: "Florian's clever wordsmithing is a wonder that even kids will appreciate. He has some amazing shape poems – poems written in a shape related to the subject. You won't find many of these in most books."
- Wump World by Bill Peet, Houghton Mifflin, 1981. This older book includes "a sweet story about the gentle ‘wumps,' whose world is overtaken and trashed by aliens," Tara says. "There's a nice environmental message that also entertains. My son loved it from the time he was 5." Ages 4 – 8.
- Skippyjon Jones by Judy Schachner, Puffin, 2007. "This is a hysterical, relatively new series of books about a Siamese cat who wishes he were a dashing, sword-buckling Chihuahua. The word play is lots of fun. Bonus: parts are in Spanish, so your child is exposed to easy-to-understand Spanish words." Ages 4 – 8.
Submitted by Springfield Moms Series Editor Julie Kaiser and Springfield Moms reader Tara McAndrew.
