With Christmas season nearing, we ordered some new children’s books for our Early Childhood Education Program and for the faculty and staff who have little ones. I was looking through them and realized they would be perfect for little boys.
First, Snowboy 1,2,3 by Joe Wahman and illustrated by his wife Wendy, opens with a snow boy not quite big enough to be a man – he is made with only two balls of packed snow instead of the traditional three – sitting on a soft field blanketed in white.
Snowboy is decked in red socks, green and red mittens, a crazy-green Ignatius Reilly cap, and a bright red bow. The rhyme starts, “One snowboy all alone. Two children unaware. Three ancient apple trees. Four apples in the air.” Boys will enjoy the antics of Snowboy and might even want to build him during our next snow fall.
Second, Hugless Douglas written and illustrated by David Melling features a bear cub named Douglas. He spends his days hugging things that aren’t comfortable or hug back. The rock is too heavy, the tree full of splinters, and the bushes full of scared sheep hiding from him. It isn’t until mom wakes from her hibernation later that day that Douglas gets the satisfying hug he so desperately seeks.
Third choice for new easy books for boys is Goodnight, Goodnight, Construction Site by Sherri Rinker and illustrator Tom Lichtenheld. Opening lines, “Down in the big construction site, the tough trucks work with all their might. To build a building, make a road, to get the job done – load by load!”
Mississippi boys love trucks! This book has them all: crane, cement mixer, dump, bulldozer, and excavator. And like the popular Pixar Cars series, these trucks have human characteristics. They smile and laugh, chew rocks, and yawn, but most importantly they sleep hence the title.
Lastly, it is the two turtledoves song with a nautical theme titled, A Pirate’s Twelve Days of Christmas by Philip Yates and illustrated by Sebastia Serra. The little cabin boy has a secret Santa who gives him something different every day. Cabin boy is surprised by “a parrot in a palm tree!” The book continues, “On the second day of Christmas a gift was sent to me: 2 cutlasses an’ a parrot in a palm tree.”
It isn’t too late to get some books for boys this Christmas season!
My Mission...Not Impossible...Make Mississippi Read!
Wednesday, November 28, 2012
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2 comments:
Thank you Maggie, for seeing Snowboy is a Real boy! He and the other snow kids have my dog's beautiful eyes.
Cool! You do great work and more people need to be exposed! Thank you for dropping by!!!
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