Best Children's Weather Books
Universal in its appeal, the story has become a favorite of millions, as it reveals a child's wonder at a new world, and the hope of capturing and keeping that wonder forever. "Ezra Jack Keats's classic The Snowy Day , winner of the 1963 Caldecott Medal, pays homage to the wonder and pure pleasure a child experiences when the world is blanketed in snow. The Snowy Day , a 1963 Caldecott Medal winner, is the simple tale of a boy waking up to discover that snow has fallen during the night. Now in a sturdy board-book format just right for youngest readers, Ezra Jack Keats's classic The Snowy Day, winner of the 1963 Caldecott Medal, pays homage to the wonder and pure pleasure a child experiences when the world is blanketed in snow.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"I love this timeless classic book and its story of a boy's adventures on the first day of snow so it only made sense to buy the board book for my toddler to read to him during the snowy days here in Chicago!"
"This is a precious and timeless story about winter play and the snow."
"A classic."
"Such a classic."
"And was great for my niece that loves to look at the moon."
"Great book as are all of the Frank Asch stories are!"
"This book is a cute little book about how one little child decides to spend a snowy day."
But it never rained rain and it never snowed snow and it never blew just wind. But it never rained rain and it never snowed snow and it never blew just wind. END Judi Barrett is the author of many beloved books for children, including the bestselling Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs , Pickles to Pittsburgh , Animals Should Definitely Not Wear Clothing , Lots More Animals Should Definitely Not Wear Clothing , Santa from Cincinnati , and An Excessive Alphabet . Ron Barrett is the internationally bestselling illustrator of many books for children, including Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs , Pickles to Pittsburgh , Superhero Joe , Animals Should Definitely Not Wear Clothing , Lots More Animals Should Definitely Not Wear Clothing , and An Excessive Alphabet .
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"This is a children's book but I would recommend it for adults as well."
"We've seen the movie, just read this book to my son for the first time- he really enjoyed it."
"Keep reading!""
"I read that the Israelites ate manna in the desert for 40 years, but left over manna melted at the end of the day. People could just bring plates or cups and receive food or soup from the sky."
"My mom read the first one to me as a child, I had no idea there were sequels!!!!"
"REALLY DARLING HILARIOUS BOOK I JUST LOVE IT."
"One of the all time best children's books."
"The pages are small and do not fill the screen."
Written with graceful simplicity, The Big Wave won the Children’s Book Award of the Child Study Association of America when it was first released. The famous story of a Japanese boy who must face life after escaping the tidal wave destruction of his family and village.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"There are some big changes that happen in their lives and they find that being together as a family is important while not having fears."
"The main characters are good people, with hearts big enough to accept someone else into their family, even though they are not blessed with money."
"I've always found this author's novels well written, holding my interest and this one is of no exception."
"I hope it conveys to them the message that we are able to endure and recover from very dire events in life, no matter our age."
"A very tender story on the need for taking time to grieve the loss in one 's life."
"I Love Peal buck's writings."
"This story gives a quick but deep look into the Japanese mindset regarding life and death."
"The story is set in Japan and is a great cultural experience in addition to having a great theme and value idea."
Best Children's Books on City Life
This Newbery Medal winner that has a fantastic puzzle at its heart has been called “smart and mesmerizing,” ( The New York Times ), “superb” ( The Wall Street Journal ), and “incandescent” ( The Washington Post ). Amazon Best of the Month, July 2009: Shortly after sixth-grader Miranda and her best friend Sal part ways, for some inexplicable reason her once familiar world turns upside down. Rebecca Stead's poignant novel, When You Reach Me , captures the interior monologue and observations of kids who are starting to recognize and negotiate the complexities of friendship and family, class and identity. Set in New York City in 1979, the story takes its cue from beloved Manhattan tales for middle graders like E.L. Konigsburg's From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler , Louise Fitzhugh's Harriet the Spy , and Norma Klein's Mom the Wolfman and Me . Like those earlier novels, When You Reach Me will stir the imaginations of young readers curious about day-to-day life in a big city. Here’s what Rebecca had to say about growing up in New York City, meeting Madeleine L’Engle, and how writing a novel is a lot like solving a puzzle. What I love about L’Engle’s book now is how it deals with so much fragile inner-human stuff at the same time that it takes on life’s big questions. It started out as a small detail in Miranda’s story, a sort of talisman, and one I thought I would eventually jettison, because you can’t just toss A Wrinkle in Time in there casually. So I went back to A Wrinkle in Time and read it again and again, trying to see it as different characters in my own story might (sounds crazy, but it’s possible!). Amazon.com: I love the way you incorporate hints of science fiction into the ordinary events of Miranda’s life. When I started writing my first novel, First Light , a lot of the raw material was also fragmented, and I had to sort of develop them into traditional chapters, which was what worked best for that story. But When You Reach Me is a little like a puzzle, and I loved the challenge of smoothing these small pieces until the whole thing fit together just right. Amazon.com: At the very beginning of the novel, we learn that Miranda’s mom is going to be a contestant on the 1970’s TV game show The $20,000 Pyramid . Rebecca Stead: They have a pretty nice system, which starts with their neighbor, Louisa, who scribbles down each day’s Pyramid clues at her nursing job because she’s the only one with access to a television at lunchtime. Amazon.com: Why do Miranda and her friends Annemarie and Colin like working in Jimmy’s sandwich shop during lunch hour? Rebecca Stead: I’m now raising two kids of my own in New York City, and I think a lot about the differences between today’s "preteen experience" and the one I had. Grade 5-8–Sixth-grader Miranda lives in 1978 New York City with her mother, and her life compass is Madeleine L'Engle's A Wrinkle in Time . Miranda spends considerable time observing a raving vagrant who her mother calls the laughing man and trying to find the connection between the notes and her everyday life. Discerning readers will realize the ties between Miranda's mystery and L'Engle's plot, but will enjoy hints of fantasy and descriptions of middle school dynamics.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"I do remember the $20,00 Pyramid Game Show, and the author does a deft job of weaving this sub-plot through the book, while handling important topics of friendship, judging on first impressions, kindness towards strangers and coming of age."
"This book is not a book I chose, I had to read it for my graduate class but I believe in fate and I believe this book was on the list for a reason."
"This book has all of the elements I typically enjoy: great interaction between the characters, a splash of sci-fi and a concept to keep you thinking long after you read the last page!"
"I liked when you reach me because it talked about a wrinkle in time and time travel."
"I also love realism: kids (or adults) in common situations, learning how to act, taking steps that shape them into the people they become. The realism comes from the basic story premise: 11-year-old Miranda lives in New York during the 1970s. Her mother is obsessed with becoming a contestant on a tv show, The $20,000 Pyramid, and spends meal times studying and practicing. Miranda witnesses some seemingly weird actions on the sidewalk: she keeps encountering one particular homeless person who acts strangely."
"Because so many of them are a coming of age story, focusing on a young or boy learning to deal with whatever hardships life has dealt them, some of the details begin to merge together creating a giant Newbery read instead of the individual books. Too many times in stories where plot lines overlap and characters connect in unexpected ways, the coincidences become too much and too unrealistic for the necessary suspension of disbelief, and it lessens the enjoyment of the story, because I can't believe any of that would actually happen. One of the complaints I had with this book the first time I read it was the desire to know more about some of the periphery characters. Knowing too much about this book the first time you read it ruins some of its magic. Those are what make it such a magnificent first time read, but allows you to enjoy the story more each time you read it. I re-read this book just the other day, about two months after my first read through, and I found myself noticing much that I missed the first time through, and enjoying it just that much more."
"I teach 6th grade ELA, and I enjoy finding new books for my classroom library. My fellow ELA teachers downloaded it and within a day we were discussing our thoughts on the ending."
Best Children's Water Books
National Geographic Kids First Big Book of the Ocean is an adorable animal reference that includes the sea's high-interest animals, such as dolphins, sharks, sea otters, and penguins, and introduces kids to some of its lesser-known creatures. “Equally suitable for quick dips or lengthy dives, this gallery of ocean dwellers will attract schools of newly fledged readers.” -- Kirkus Reviews , starred review. “A delightful, age-appropriate introduction to ocean creatures big and small.” – Children’s Book Council.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"I am sure we will eventually need to rebuy this book as we did with the dinosaur book because they get so loved pages get ripped many times then ripped out."
"These National Geographic books are the best for little kids."
"Bought this as a gift for a 4 year old and I think it's something he can enjoy now (with the beautiful pictures) and enjoy later as he reads more."
"We've had this book a few years now, and as my daughter becomes a more fluent reader in 2nd grade, I often catch her sitting down, reading this book."
"I am a National Geographic geek from way back but had to sensor my Nat Geo books and magazines to show 2-12 year olds so these allow me to share the pics without the more adult content."
"We plan on purchasing other National Geographic kids books, as our daughter's "sponge" of a brain is taking in so much animal knowledge from them!"
"My grandson absolutely loves this book."
"Beautiful book in the series - never disappoints!"
Best Children's Fossil Books
From dazzling gemstones to sparkling crystals to molten lava, this brilliantly illustrated book introduces children to the exciting world of rocks and minerals, including both the building blocks and the bling. This high-interest, educationally vetted series of beginning readers features the magnificent images of National Geographic, accompanied by texts written by experienced, skilled children's book authors. Since then she has written over 60 natural science and history books for young readers, and been awarded honors by the NSTA/CBC, the NCSS/CBC, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Library Association, the IRA/CBC Children’s Choice.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"I bought this book along with a rock and mineral set for my 7 year olds birthday."
"I got her some break your own geodes and this book she loved it."
"Disappointed with the geodes."
"Very nice pictures and information for the early reader."
"My son loved these for his 6th Birthday present!"
"Love the National Geographic Readers Series!"
"Teaching the little inquisitive little mind."
"I wanted an identifier book for rocks, minerals but it doesn't say what they are."
Best Children's Gardening Books
It is only through a series of mysterious encounters -- with a ghostly white dog and a mute boy -- that Green relearns the lessons of love and begins to heal as she tells her own story. The contrast between her original faith in the promise of the future and her later acknowledgment of the tentative nature of reality is vividly and eloquently portrayed. Renee Steinberg, Fieldstone Middle School, Montvale, NJ Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc. Gr. Hoffman's latest fable for teens begins with an apocalyptic scene that mirrors the events of 9/11: a girl watches as her city across the river explodes into smoke and fire, and people leap from buildings. Faced with grief and an anarchic world, Green finds solace in the brittle numbness of daily tasks and in the pain of the tattoos that she begins to draw on herself.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"Call me old fashioned, but I like a book to take more than an hour and a half to read. I will read the sequel, like I said, it is a great story."
"I had just finished Alice Hoffman's new book the prequel to Practical Magic."
"What a lovely heart opening story of loss and discovery."
"Beautifully written."
"Short and descriptive... Just enough characters and a beautiful story of how loss turns to fear and in time, a return to love."
"Told by the girl herself, it tells of her hope that her family will return, her denial that they won't return after time passes, her fears at being alone, her grief at losing those dear to her."
"I read this story probably a decade ago, and spent the better part of that decade trying to find it again."
Best Children's Forest & Tree Books
But years later when she returns home, she is shocked to see whole forests being cut down, and she knows that soon all the trees will be destroyed. This true story of Wangari Maathai, environmentalist and winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, is a shining example of how one woman’s passion, vision, and determination inspired great change. Like Claire A. Nivola’s Planting the Trees of Kenya (2008), this powerful picture-book biography introduces Kenyan environmentalist Wangari Maathai, winner of the 2004 Nobel Peace Prize. As in Nivola’s title, Winter follows her charismatic subject from her rural Kenyan childhood to her adult life as the founder of the Green Belt Movement, which has profoundly improved her country’s health and economy. As in her other similarly formatted picture books, such as The Librarian of Basra: A True Story from Iraq (2005), Winter’s acrylic paintings employ rich, opaque hues and elemental shapes that illustrate specific details while conveying a broader sense of her subject’s remarkable influence.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"There seems to be a great book about this amazing women for every age group, so if this one seems to young or lacking depth, try Planting the Trees of Kenya, Mama Miti, or Seeds of change,"
"It teaches a powerful lesson about the importance of protecting our environment, standing up for what you believe in the face of adversity, and creating a community that works together to make the world a better place."
"I love the story and the illustrations make this book on of my favorites."
"Wonderful book for a child to help foster helping others."
"This was a summer reading assignment for my 8 year old son and I was delighted to hear about this incredible woman."
"For all our progress on the gender front, girls still need positive female role models, and Wangari Maathai, founder of the Green Belt Movement and Nobel Prize Winner is a terrific one."
"The copy I bought is now in the public library of Morant Bay, Jamaica."
"An excellent book, beautiful illustrations."
Best Children's Environment Books
This Newbery Honor-winning, hilarious Floridian adventure involves new kids, bullies, alligators, eco-warriors, pancakes, pint-sized owls, and more. Characteristically quirky characters and comic twists will surely gain the author new fans, though their attention may wander during his narrative's intermittently protracted focus on several adults, among them a policeman and the manager of a construction site for a new franchise of a pancake restaurant chain. Both men are on a quest to discover who is sabotaging the site at night, including such pranks as uprooting survey stakes, spray-painting the police cruiser's windows while the officer sleeps within and filling the portable potties with alligators. The story's most intriguing character is the boy behind the mischief, a runaway on a mission to protect the miniature owls that live in burrows underneath the site. Roy, who has recently moved to Florida from Montana, befriends the homeless boy (nicknamed Mullet Fingers) and takes up his cause, as does the runaway's stepsister.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"Great 4 book set for 10 year old reader."
"Hiaasen hits it out of the park, again!"
"great reader for 10-12 year old."
"A wonderful story with good morals."
"enjoy it alot."
"One of his better books."
"Bought it for school project."
Best Children's Flower & Plant Books
After Billy Bee falls asleep on leaf, he drifts far away downstream and wakes up to a place he has never been before. At first he is surrounded by dark trees, creepy sounds, and snapping twigs, but then he meets a whimsical character named Jolly Jillie that leads him to safety. In this first book of “The Adventures of Billy Bee” series, children read about the true power of love, friendship, and self-belief. There are several hidden pictures in the book: Two chickens, two rabbits, three dogs, a spider, a fish, and two cats. Peter's belief in his message coupled with a genuine desire to make a difference in children's lives is easily visible in his stories. Principal / Fred C. Underhill School / NH. As a teacher and a first time mom- to- be, it is important for me to select literature, which will teach my students to be better people. She asks me to read it to her several times a day , and she also loves Callie's Wish (coming soon). She is only two now, so I'm not sure if she understands the valuable message in this book yet, but I know we will be reading this series for years to come, and soon my infant son Tristan will also love it. This story is one in five in the Adventures of Billy Bee ® children's book series and the first one to be released digitally with Kindle. It has always been a special one for me because I wrote this one for my wife Gilda, or as we all call her Gillie, (sounds like Jillie, hence "Jolly Jillie"). The story evolved into more than I ever could have imagined that day in traffic.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"A beautifully, colorfully illustrated book about the colorful nature of love!"
"The rhyming passages made for fun reading aloud and my 6 year old enjoyed guessing the correct word to finish the phrase or sentence."
"We have had the hard copies and it's wonderful to be able to start taking them on the go with kids on the Kindle!"
"I thought this was a wonderful great book."
"Good book for the level of youngsters it written for."
"We were so lucky to have been introduced to billy bee many years ago and so very much enjoy the story not to mention the meaning of it."
"I find it fascinating that he does such rugged work and writes meaningful children's books at the same time."
"A beautiful story about finding love within yourself and others."
Best Children's Rocks & Minerals Books
From dazzling gemstones to sparkling crystals to molten lava, this brilliantly illustrated book introduces children to the exciting world of rocks and minerals, including both the building blocks and the bling. This high-interest, educationally vetted series of beginning readers features the magnificent images of National Geographic, accompanied by texts written by experienced, skilled children's book authors. Since then she has written over 60 natural science and history books for young readers, and been awarded honors by the NSTA/CBC, the NCSS/CBC, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Library Association, the IRA/CBC Children’s Choice.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"I bought this book along with a rock and mineral set for my 7 year olds birthday."
"I got her some break your own geodes and this book she loved it."
"Disappointed with the geodes."
"Very nice pictures and information for the early reader."
"My son loved these for his 6th Birthday present!"
"Love the National Geographic Readers Series!"
"Teaching the little inquisitive little mind."
"Great book!"
Best Children's Earthquake & Volcano Books
Hot melted rock from the middle of our planet forces its way up through cracks in the Earth’s crusts, exploding violently and sometimes unexpectedly in volcanic fury that can terrorize populations for months, even years. ANNE SCHREIBER is a graduate in Science Education from Cornell University and began her career as an elementary school teacher.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"It's very fun to read and it says something in the beginning and it is true I wanted to read it to my mommy."
"Teaching the little inquisitive little mind."
"Love these books...so do my grandchildren!"
"grandson loves these books."
"I am in love with these books."