As a young girl, some of the best hours I spent were with my books. I loved Nancy Drew, Anne of Green Gables and Island of the Blue Dolphins, just to name a few. But these picks aren't appropriate for Dylan, my 5-year old little guy. So over time and many library stops, together we've formulated a new set of great reads. Here's Dylan's current reading list (note in my previous blog I listed some of our favorite books for the infant/toddler set).
1. The Scrambled States of America -- By Laurie Keller. This might be the single book Dylan has read the most in his young life. Basically, Kansas is tired of being landlocked, so all the states throw a big party and decide to rearrange themselves. The results are hilarious. Dylan adores geography and the pictures in this book (Keller also illustrates) crack him up. Actually there is a lot of advanced humor in the illustrations (for instance, states munch on Georgia peach pie, California fruit salad and Iowa corn surprise at the party, and Illinois is insistent the "s" in its name is silent!) http://www.lauriekeller.com/
2. Punk Farm -- By Jarrett J. Krosoczka. Unleash your little rocker and have a blast reading about the antics of cow, sheep, pig, goat and chicken who naturally score big with "Old McDonald." The book notes you can even download the "barnburning single" at http://www.punkfarm.com/ All the animals in the band have distinct personalities. Dylan and I love Goat who says deep things, such as, "Whatever, dude." Punk Farm goes on tour in its second book, which is also a great read.
3. Duck for President-- By Doreen Cronin, illustrated by Betsy Lewin. In a crazy election year, I think Republicans and Democrats alike would have to endorse this book. Duck gets tired of his barnyard jobs and just keeps seeking higher office hoping for something better. This even has some math/vote counting skills involved! This is the same duo that created Click, Clack, Moo: Cows that Type, another favorite around here. The humor and illustrations make this a landslide winner! http://www.doreencronin.com/
4. 
The Jungle Baseball Game-- By Tom Paxton, illustrated by Karen Lee Schmidt. This book is a huge hit (bad pun intended!) Dylan loves the rhymes, which are great fun to say. I like reading it because I think it says something about not being overconfident, and if you happen to be the underdog Hippos, don't assume all is lost. The book builds to a great ending -- Dylan loves yelling, "You're OUT!" as Merve the Curve clinches the game. Fun illustrations. http://tompaxton.com/children.html
5. 
10 Minutes to Bedtime -- By Peggy Rathmann. Rathmann is a Caldecott Medal winner for Officer Buckle and Gloria (think Oscar for children's illustrators). This is primarily a picture book showing dad counting down the minutes to bedtime. The book looks so simple, but it's not! His child hosts a 10-minute bedtime tour for hamsters to which dad is oblivious. This would be fine for little ones; however, as we've read this book probably 75 times, you have to be older to fully appreciate the level of detail in Rathmann's art -- each little numbered hamster has their own quirks. Other humor is that the child in the story actually pulls out 10 Minutes to Bedtime as the bedtime story. Much better than counting sheep! http://peggyrathmann.com/ you can also check out http://www.hamstertours.com/
6. I was only planning on listing 5 books, but I'd be remiss if I did not list at least a few "arty" books. If you are looking for great ways to introduce art to your child and even yourself consider Vincent's Colors distributed by the Metropolitan Museum of Art, which is the words and pics of Vincent van Gogh, Why is Blue Dog Blue? by Louisiana painter George Rodrigue and I Spy Two Eyes (Numbers in Art) which is devised and selected by Lucy Micklethwait.
Happy reading!