Book illustrations courtesy of the Amazon Book store.
For the past year, I’ve focused on my travel blog and had a great time talking about my favorite places. But recently my husband began writing children’s books which got me thinking about my blogging roots. I started out as a book blogger but slowly became enamored with travel writing. Old habits die hard though, and every now and then I just have to rave about my favorite reads. So . . . if you all don’t mind, I’d like to change hats for a moment and tell you about some fun children’s books.
The Princess and the Pig
By Jonathan Emmett and Poly Bernatene
Fans of Peppa Pig will also love this crazy tale of mistaken identity.
What happens when a baby princess is accidentally exchanged for a piglet? I dare you not to laugh as the families of both babies try to cope with this unexpected turn of events. In this spoof of a fairy tale, almost everyone lives happily ever after.
Moral of the story: a princess can be kind of a pig, but a pig cannot be a princess.
Saturdays and Teacakes
By Lester L. Laminack and Chris Sonpiet
This book about a boy and his grandma will steal your heart. Every Saturday the boy hops on his bike – faithful friend in tow – and travels to grandma’s house, where he mows her lawn. While he’s there he and grandma bake teacakes, work in the garden and sit on the porch swing relaxing and enjoying tomato sandwiches. Not much action in this little gem, but that’s the appeal. It’s a gentle, joyful tribute to days gone by and an inspiration to grandma’s who love spending time with their little ones.
I can’t review this book without a serious nod to the illustrator Chris Sonpiet. His artwork is always amazing, but in Saturdays and Teacakes, it’s over the top. The magnificent illustrations in this book would be worth the purchase price even without the sweet story. Luckily we get to enjoy both. Don’t miss this “sit in Grandma’s lap” favorite.
The Wide Mouthed Frog
This book wins hands-down as a storytime classic. With its bright illustrations and fun pop-up animals, it’s a treasure. I guarantee Frog’s adventures will have your children laughing out loud.
As frog visits his neighbors, blue feathered bird, and furry brown mouse, he brags about his very wide mouth. All is well until he happens onto a big green alligator.
“I am a wide-mouthed frog and I eat flies,” he tells the alligator. “What do you eat?” The alligator says, “I eat delicious wide-mouthed frogs.”
Wait for it – wait for it – there’s a big SPLASH and . . . the surprise ending is delightful and your kids will have you on instant replay for way too long.
Another thing I like about this book is how durable it is. Pop-up books often have a short shelf life especially in the library, but this is made of sturdier stuff which is good as little hands can’t help but reach for the colorful pop-outs.
Come With Me
By Ashley Wolff
When a boy picks his favorite from a new litter of puppies he tells her about the adventures they’ll have when she’s old enough to come with him. Come with me Pumpkin, down through the meadow; down to the sea . . .
In a series of whimsical watercolors, author and illustrator Ashly Wolff take readers to a boy’s favorite places in his seaside town. He and Pumpkin listen to the seals barking on the rocks, look for hermit crabs and starfish in the tide pools, and stop for cookies at the bakery. When the wind blows across the Pacific it tickles their ears – “Oh Pumpkin I can’t wait until you can come with me”.
Whether you live by the sea or just dream of doing so you’ll love this book. Share it with the little and the big people in your life.
Do you have a favorite children’s book? Is there a special one from your childhood that you have fond memories of? I know I loved the Pippi Longstockings books and Mrs. Piggle Wiggle, also anything by Beverly Cleary . . . I’d love to hear about yours.
The Library Lady Travels 
I’d forgotten about the Richard Scary books. I loved those when I was little too. Good luck to your daughter. We need more excellent teachers.
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I loved Golden books when I was a little girl and Richard Scarry books with all their details. My son loved Dr. Suess and my daughter’s favorite childhood book was There is an Alligator under my bed. I still have those books of theirs too. I will sometimes by children’s books just because their art work is so amazing. My daughter is getting a degree in education so maybe some day she will love my library of children’s books.
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I also look forward to exploring more children’s books with my hat children – and my step-daughter is expecting #2 so we will be doing this pretty soon.
I like the way you provide book snippets – and the princess and the pig book would be my top choice from this post.
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😊📚
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Thanks Prior, When you love children’s books like I do, it’s fun to have someone to share them with. Yes, Princess and the Pig was really funny. Thanks for the follow.
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🙂
glad yo follow and I thought I was already following you but guess not…
and now I am – and wishing you a good week
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Sadly I can’t remember until I really started to read and then it was wishing chair, famous five, secret seven…
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I’d never heard of the Wishing Chair and looked it up. It looks delicious. I’ll have to see if I can find one somewhere. Thanks for joining in. It’s fun to hear other people’s favorites.
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I love Chris Sonpiet’s artwork. He’s illustrated several books, but one of my favorites is the lLast Dragon. He’s an amazing artist. Very lifelike. My favorite books as a child were by Dr. Suess. My mother ordered them from a book club and I was always so excited to have a new one show up every month.
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I still love those. Barthalomew and the Oobleck is a good lesser-known Dr. Seuss. Thanks for your comment. (I had a children’s magazine subscription that came once a month. I remember the excitement .)
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I haven’t read any of these as a kid or to a kid, but they all sound great!
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It’s never to late to start reading children’s books. I’m so thrilled to have grandkids so I can have an excuse to read all my old favorites again.
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Hi Library Lady, My favorite children’s book when I was little was a book called Honeybunch. It was about a girl and her neighbor a boy -who went to the Redwood forest. Since I didn’t live in the United States this was fascinating to me. I have since gotten to see the Redwoods in person. Nice post.
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Hi Hans, what an interesting comment. I’m so glad you finally got to see the Redwoods. My favorite Red wood forest area was called the Trees of Mystery in California. There was a giant statue of Paul Bunyon and Babe his big blue ox, out in the front. Funny, I’d forgotten about that till now.
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Hi Library Lady, It’s good to see some book reviews from you. Love your travels, but we know our favorite thing is kids books. Love ya –
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Hi Cindy, of course, we’re library ladies! What are you up to these days? Hope all is well.
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Hey Cindy, what’s your favorite children’s book?
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I started out blogging about children’s books too, when I worked in a library. I tried to keep it up after retirement but eventually it was one of the things that had to go!
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Sounds like we have a lot in common. Did you get too busy traveling? That’s what I’m hoping to do when I retire. Thanks.
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I had a particular audience in mind (I worked in a teacher education institution) so it was hard to get motivated once I left. My travel blog then got much more attention from me.
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I’m really enjoying your blog by the way – Scotland is on my bucket list..
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Thank you!
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Thanks HIldy it’s good to hear from some of my LL Writes, followers. I hope you’re doing well
and are getting lots of books published.
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Hi Library Lady,
This made me laugh. I have an old and battered copy of wide mouthed frog. It’s been one of my kids favorites. I’ll have to check out your other suggestions. Thanks for the recommend.
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