Celebrate humor, poetry and youth with reading
Published: April 11. 2008 4:00AM PST
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Kid Culture features fun and educational books and toys for kids.
Get out your party hats, kazoos and balloons. It’s time to celebrate National Poetry Month, National Humor Month, Week of the Young Child and, best of all, National Library Week! What better way to celebrate than sharing a book with your young child.
‘What Will Fat Cat Sit On?’
By Jan Thomas
You are definitely in for a laugh with “What Will Fat Cat Sit On?” by Jan Thomas. The antics and facial expressions of Cow, Duck and Mouse will make everyone giggle as they try to save themselves from being sat on by Fat Cat. Youngsters will love shouting out each reoccurring “NO!” Early readers will love the sparse text that tells a satisfying story worth reading over and over.
Parents will love remembering how hilarious cartoons used to be. In other words, this book is for everyone.
‘Baby Face: A Book of Love for Baby’
By Cynthia Rylant
Poetry is not what it used to be. There are big and beautiful collections about everything you can imagine, from hamburgers to horses, from laugh-out-loud funny to shiver-in-your-bones spooky. Cynthia Rylant’s “Baby Face: A Book of Love for Baby” will delight new parents, as well as add to the nursery rhymes every home should have. The book features short poems that can be read aloud and savored with baby, one at a time, like tickles and hugs. “A perfect nose,/a perfect mouth,/and extraspecial ears./I love those eyes,/I love that hair,/I love those no-more-tears.” Diane Goode’s joyful illustrations are just the right touch for this charming book.
‘But Excuse Me That Is My Book’
By Lauren Child
During this month of celebrations, be sure to share a book about a place that is just right for you and your child to discover, imagine, explore and enjoy — the library! Almost every child has a favorite book he or she wants to hear over and over. However, if it comes from the library, that can be a problem when the book has to be returned. “But Excuse Me That Is My Book” by Lauren Child is about two sisters, one of whom is convinced that her favorite library book, “Beetles, Bugs, and Butterflies,” should be in her hands, and only her hands, always and forever. When her older sister, Charlie, tries to explain that someone else has borrowed the book, Lola responds with, “But they can’t. It’s MY book.” The story is hilarious, and the eventual never-ending solution is just right.
‘Goin’ Someplace Special’
By Patricia C. McKissack
One of the most memorable books about libraries is “Goin’ Someplace Special” by Patricia C. McKissack. Tricia Ann is on her way to a special place downtown, all by herself. But the year is 1950, and, unlike the white passengers, she must sit in the back of the bus. During her journey she sees hurtful signs and hears painful comments, but her grandmother’s words, “You are somebody, a human being — no better, no worse than anybody else in the world,” which give her the courage to continue until she arrives at the building that says, “Public Library: All Are Welcome.”
See you at the library.
Recommendations from
Heather McNeil,
youth services coordinator, Deschutes Public Library System.
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