Education Media Reviews

Schooling and Homeschooling

Creative Homeschooling for Gifted Children: A Resource Guide by LisaRivero (Great Potential Press, 2002)

The Disciplined Mind: Beyond the Facts and Standardized Tests, the k-12Education that Every Child Deserves byHoward Gardner (Penguin Putnam, 2000)

Games With Books: 28 of the Best Children's Books and How to Use Them toHelp Your Child Learn - From Preschool to Third Grade byPeggy Kaye (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2002)

Greening School Grounds: Creating Habitats for Learning by Tim Grantand Gail Littlejohn (New Society Publishers, 2001)

Guerilla Learning: How to Give Your Kids a Real Education With orWithout School by Grace Llewellyn and Amy Silver (john Wiley & Sons,2001)

The Happy Child: Changing the Heart of Education by Steven Harrison(Sentient Publications, 2002)

Homeschooling For Success: HowParents Can Create a Superior Education for Their Child by RebeccaKochenderfer and Elizabeth Kanna (Warner Books, 2002)

The Home School Source Book by Jean and Don Reed (Brook Farm Books,2000)

Homeschooling Step-by-Step: 100+ Simple Solutions to Homeschooling'sToughest Problems byLaura Maery Gold and Joan M. Zielinski (Prima Publsihing 2002)

In Their Own Way: Discovering and Encouraging Your Child's MultipleIntelligences by Thomas Armstrong, PhD (Jeremy P.Tarcher/Putnam,2000)

 

The Light Barrier: A Color Solution to Your Child's Light-based ReadingDifficulties by Rhonda Stone (St. Martin's Press, 2002)

A Parent's Guide to Homeschooling: Experts' Answers to Tough QuestionsAbout Homeschooling by Tamra B. Orr (Parents' Guide Press, 2002)

Punished by Rewards: The Trouble with Gold Stars, Incentive Plans, A's,Praise and Other Bribes byAlfie Kohn (Houghton Mifflin Co, 1999)

The Read-Aloud Handbook by Jim Trelease (Penguin Books, 2001)

A.W.E. ProjectThe A.W.E. Project: Reinventing Education, Reinventing the Human is the latest work from noted theologian and educator Matthew Fox. The A.W.E Project is Fox's remedy for the current crisis in education: Honor the teachings of the Ancestors, value Wisdom as well as knowledge, and Educate children in what Fox calls the ten Cs: psycho-spiritual concepts and practices such as compassion, contemplation, creativity, courage, and community. Fox is a master at synthesizing ideas from diverse wisdom traditions to create wholly unique and inspiring ideologies. The book comes with a CD of rapper Professor Pitt's songs about the ten Cs. (If you're curious, go to YouTube.com and search on "Professor Pitt.") I highly recommend The A.W.E. Project, especially for homeschoolers and unschoolers looking for a vital new vision of education. (CopperHouse, 2006) Reviewed by Melissa Chianta

Schools with Spirit: Nurturing the Inner Lives of Children and TeachersbyLinda Lantieri (Beacon Press, 2001)

Standardized Minds: The High Price if America's Testing Culture and WhatWe Can Do to Change It byPeter Sacks (Perseus Publishing, 1999)

The Teenagers Guide to School Outside the Box by Rebecca Greene(FreeSpirit Publishing, 2001)

 

Children's Books and Media

CDs, DVDs, and Videos

Marvelous Day!

SteveSongs' Marvelous Day! features the crystal-clear voice of Steve Roslonek (think Ben Folds) singing high-energy, full-bodied songs that will have you and your kids shakin' your hips in no time. (SteveSongs, 2006) -Reviewed by Melissa Chianta

Hey, Picasso
Jessica Harper's smooth-as-silk voice croons her original tunes inspired by great works of art, photos of which appear with the liner copy. You can simultaneously teach your child a little art history while entertaining him or her with vibrant folk, reggae, and jazz numbers. I particularly appreciated the funky "Not Your Father's." With a nod to Picasso's Three Musicians, the song encourages girls' musical expression: "Look inside yourself and you'll find where the soul notes are / And remember, this is not your father's guitar." (Rounder Kids, 2004) -Reviewed by Melissa Chianta

Lost in the Woods: The Movie
by Laura Sams and Robert Sams, uses stunning footage of live wildlife to tell a woodland tale of patience and trust. A fawn calmly awaits the return of Mother Doe, but his forest friends—the hysterical, Zorro-esque raccoon, Fernando Herandafandavez; Shirley, the languid box-turtle narrator; and others—worry she won't come back. The footage and storyline coincide wonderfully, the dialogue is funny and charming, and the music, too, is well done. Winner of multiple awards, this terrific video showcases its makers' multiple talents. Also check out the beautifully photographed children's book it's based on, the equally praised Lost in the Woods, by Carl R. Sams II and Jean Stoick. (video: Carl R. Sams II Photography, 2005; book: Carl R. Sams II Photography, 2004) -Reviewed by Melissa Chianta Buy It Now

Putumayo Kids's New Orleans Playground presents children's songs with that trumpet-tootin', ivory-ticklin' bayou sound. The genre's best lend their voices: Clifton Chenier, Buckwheat Zydeco, and Fats Domino, to name a few. (Putumayo Kids, 2006) Cozy, by Shakta Kaur Khalsa with Alima Dyal Clarke, features catchy, spiritual ditties that focus on qualities such as truthfulness, fortitude, and love. "I am brave, I am bold / My own spirit I can hold." (Radiant Child Music, 2006; www.childrensyoga.com) -Reviewed by Melissa Chianta

On You Are My Little Bird, Elizabeth Mitchell's clear, steady voice burnishes traditional and original folk tunes to a warm glow; her precise vocalization gives these simple songs a subtle sense of sophistication. The album's a treasure. (Smithsonian Folkways, 2006) -Reviewed by Melissa Chianta

Books for Babies and Toddlers

A Kick in the Head: An Everyday Guide to Poetic Forms
The mechanics of poetry is hardly an engrossing subject for children. Yet editor Paul B. Janeczko's A Kick in the Head: An Everyday Guide to Poetic Forms, with Chris Raschka's ebullient illustrations, is so colorful, jolly, funny, and appealing that whatever lessons are taught will hardly be noticed; child and adult will emerge more knowledgeable but unscathed.

Awake to Nap

by Nikki McCure, is not your everyday board book—not with its elegant paper cutouts and such unusual first phrases as C is for "Crows Commune" and D is for "Dinghy Dream." Nor is it your everyday alphabet book—McClure intentionally ends at the letter N. The author produced the illustrations while her son was sleeping; she says, "the naps were too short and life too thrilling to justify going all the way to Z"—an anti-perfectionist philosophy if ever I heard one. And with illustrations as satisfying as these, who needs the whole alphabet anyway? Ages 1 to 3. (Sasquatch Books, 2006) -Reviewed by Melissa Chianta

Baby On The Way by William Sears, MD, Martha Sears, RN, and Christie Watts Kelly (Little, Brown and Company, 2001) Ages 3 to 7.

Bear and Ball
This charmingly refined board book, by Cliff Wright, features delicate watercolors of a bear learning to walk and crawl—and play with his ball! Ages 0-2. (Chronicle Books, 2005) -Reviewed by Melissa Chianta.

Be Quiet, Marina! by Kristen DeBear (Star Bright Books, 2001) Ages 3 to 5.

Bless Your Heart by Holly Bea (Starseed Press, 2001) Ages 3 to 6.

Born Yogis
by Susie Arnett and Doug Kim, features lyrical black-and-white photographs of small children naturally assuming yoga postures, each image capturing a profound moment of pure presence. Accompanying the photos are insights from great mystics, truths these babes seem to innocently embody with ease. Nourishment for the eyes and spirit, Born Yogis honors the grace children bring into our lives. (Rodale Books, 2005) -Reviewed by Melissa Chianta

Bubba and Beau Meet the Relatives by Kathi Appelt
This story takes infant Bubba to see a cast of relatives such as some of us may recall: great, ballooning, grown-up faces staring right down on Bubba after he and his cousin Arlene are discovered wallowing in a mud hole. Only good old daddy, Big Bubba, doesn't stare. But, forever doting, he takes photographs before bathing the whole family in the back of the red truck. The exciting visit ends with Big Bubba's Bodacious Banana Buttermilk Pie, which is "better than a trip to Graceland." The entire Bubba series is a send-up of a sort of cornball American heartland. The books are carried out with so much affection that we understand we're all in the family—or wish we had one like Bubba's.

Finger Puppet Friends: Little Duck, Little Ladybug, Little Lamb, and Little Bee! (Finger Puppet Book)

Finger Puppet Friends is a clever collection of four tiny board books from Imagebooks—Little Duck, Little Ladybug, Little Lamb, Little Bee—that entertain with an animal finger puppet that pokes through a circular hole in the center of each book. For ages 0 to 2. (Chronicle Books, 2007) -Reviewed by Melissa Chianta

For You Are a Kenyan Child
Author Kelly Cunnane shares a typical day in the life of a much-loved Kenyan boy and teaches some Swahili words along the way. Painted with a rainbow palette, Ana Juan's sensuous, nuanced images tenderly animate the tale. Ages 4 to 7. (Simon & Schuster, 2006) -Reviewed by Melissa Chianta

Hush Little Baby by Sylvia Long (Chronicle Books, 1997) Ages 2 to 5.

It's So Amazing!: A Book about Eggs, Sperm, Birth, Babies, and Families
by Robie H Harris, illustrated by Michael Emberley, is a lighthearted, understandable explanation of the birds and the bees that also attends to more complex topics, such as different kinds of love and the function of genes. Diversities of race and sexual orientation are represented in both text and images. For ages 8 to 12. (Candlewick Press, 2002)

Just a Minute: A Trickster Tale and Counting Book by Yuyi Morales(Chronicle Books, 2003) Ages 3 to 6.

Lizards, Frogs, and Pollywogs
by Douglas Florian, pairs primal yet sophisticated watercolors with clever poems that subtly instruct on the nature of amphibians. Ages 3 to 6. (Voyager Books, 2005)

Me!
Page 1, "Me." Page 2, "I like myself." And that's how it goes with the self-satisfied bear who narrates Philip Waechter's Me! If ever a child feels left out —and who does not?— this book is a warmhearted antidote, funny for a child, immensely funny for the adult reader as well. The warmheartedness arises from the fact that, however self-satisfied our near may be, there's just one thing he lacks—so that at the end, page by page, he runs to... I cannot give it away, but it's so lovely, it brings tears to my jaundiced eyes. If, oddly, you don't have a child, give this as a valentine. For any age.

Misery Is a Smell in Your Backpack
by Harriet Ziefert, with drawings by Jennifer Rapp, is a book about bad days. Kids get annoyed with life's little irritations just as adults do, and Ziefert lets them know that it's just fine. My favorite entry: "Miserable is when you feel horrible, rotten, basty, dreadful, and mean and someone says: 'Hi! How are you?' " Exactly! Ages 9 and up. (Blue Apple Books, 2005)

Miss Spider's ABC's by David Kirk (Scholastic Press, 1998) Ages 1 to 4.

Mister Seahorse by Eric Carle (Philomel, 2004) Ages 4 to 7.

Mommy's Best Kisses
beautifully conveys the tender intimacy of the mother-child bond. Susan Winter's pastel-hued paintings of nuzzling animals illustrate Margaret Anasya's endearing text: "I kiss your small hand / as you reach for my face / I kiss your sweet neck—it's my favorite place." Ages three to six. (Harper Trophey, 2003) -Reviewed by Melissa Chianta

Mouse Shapes: A Very First Book by Jim Arnosky (Clarion Books, 2001) Ages 3 to 6.

My Book Box
by Will Hillenbrand, is a simple, clever, and attractively designed and illustrated story beginning with the elephant baby asking "What can I do with a box?" He then goes through a list of silly answers—a box for bugs, for pizza, pasta, or a hat—until the "Great idea!": a box for books to read at breakfast, or in the bathroom, or on an airplane. It's also a box to share, especially at bedtime, when little elephant and his companion, a frog, are tucked in, sound asleep. At the end, there's a printed recipe for making such a box of your very own. -Reviewed by Peter F. Neumeyer

My Very First Book of Animal Homes

My Very First Book of Animal Sounds
A sense of humor is one of the great gifts that we can impart to children. To that purpose, fresh, ingenious samples spring once again from the inexhaustible studio of Eric Carle. My Very First Book of Animal Homes and My Very First Book of Animal Sounds are small-format books, also illustrated with collages of painted paper by Carle, the current Michelangelo of that craft. A consummate storyteller and artist, Carle has chests of thin, wide drawers filled with colored paper, from which he assembles magical tales that have by now become canonical—such as The Very Hungry Caterpillar (1969) and Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? (1967). What's so funny about the two new books is that all the board pages are cut horizontally in the middle—you can juxtapose any animal with any home or sound: "Dog" may sleep in "nest" or "bat" in "iceberg" or—in the Sounds book—"dog" may "moo" and "mouse" may "crow." You get two pleasures at once: the child learns appropriate domiciles or sounds for animals, and—this is what's so delightful—these books can well serve as an introduction to humor for the young. In our house, the dialogue gets progressively sillier:

"Does the lion say Quack?" I ask.

"Noooo," says Emily, flipping the pages, "the lion says Peep."

"Does he really say Peep?"

"Noooo, the lion says Roar!" roars Emily, having turned to the appropriate picture. And we both roar at the joke.

Reviewed by Peter F. Neumeyer

Buy It Now! My Very First Book of Animal Homes

Buy It Now! My Very First Book of Animal Sounds

Please, Baby, Please
by Spike Lee and Tonya Lewis Lee. Parents plead with their spunky toddler to stay out of mischief. Kadir Nelson's adorable paintings playfully depict typical scenes of tiny-tot mayhem: a sippy cup cast aside, a toppled bowl of Cheerios, a mouthful of playground sand. Ages 1-4. (Simon & Schuster, 2002)

Tender Moments in the Wild: Animals and Their Babies edited by StephanieMaze (Moonstone Press, 2001) Ages 3 to 7.

To & Fro/Fast & Slow by Durga Bernhard (Walker & Company, 2001) Ages 3 to 7.

 

Books for Young Readers

A Bad Case of Stripes by David Shannon (The Blue Sky Press, 1998) Ages 4 to 7.

Art Up Close: From Ancient to Modern by Claire d' Harcourt (StarBright Books, 2003) Ages 5 and up.

A Seed Is Sleepy
In A Seed Is Sleepy, Dianna Hutts Aston's poetic yet informative text and Sylvia Long's elegant, detailed watercolors team up to create a gorgeous field guide to seeds for the under-seven set. The volume is a sequel to the duo's sublime An Egg Is Quiet. (A Seed Is Sleepy, 2007; An Egg Is Quiet, 2006; Chronicle Books) Ages 3 to 7. -Reviewed by Melissa Chianta

Black Ants and Buddhists: Thinking Critically and Teaching Differently in the Primary Grades
Mary Cowhey chronicles nine years instructing the innovative Peace Class at Jackson Street School in Northampton, Massachusetts. After 14 years as a community labor organizer, Cowhey became an educator and fashioned a radical first- and second-grade curriculum in which everything from history to math is taught through the lenses of social justice and cultural tolerance. Written in an engaging style, this is an inspiring book for educators and parents alike. (Stenhouse Publishers, 2006; www.stenhouse.com) -Reviewed by Melissa Chianta.

The Camelback Dogs! by Jasper Tomkins (Sasquatch Books, 2004) Ages 6 to 10.

Child of Faerie: Child of Earth by Jane Yolen (Little, Brown and Company, 1997) Ages 4 to 8.

Clip-Clop
by Nicola Smee, is one of the year's beauties. One after another, four barnyard friends beg to ride on Mr. Horse, and once on him, they urge him to go faster and faster, till they all fall off—and it was all such fun that they beg to ride again. The text is satisfyingly rhythmic and recurrent. The simple, large, totally unambiguous animals leave a broad path for the slapstick good humor, and invite reading aloud. Steve Jenkins and Robin Page's realistic, nonfiction Move! is similar to Clip-Clop in its natural narrative flow across the pages, as we are shown that penguins "waddle" and snakes "slither." The animals are striking, brilliant, as rendered in collages of torn paper, and at the end are two more pages of explanatory text—a beautiful book in every way. -Reviewed by Peter F. Neumeyer

Circle of Thanks by Susi Gregg Fowler (Scholastic Press, 1998) Ages 7 to 9.

Dan's Angel: A Detective's Guide to the Language of Paintings by Alexander Sturgis (Kane/Miller Book Publishers, 2003) Ages 5 to 8.

Desert Town by Bonnie and Arthur Geisert (Houghton Mifflin, 2001) Ages 7 to 12.

Disabled Fables

This is a collection of Aesop's fables retold and illustrated by adults with developmental disabilities, such as autism and Down syndrome, who are members of LA Goal, a non-profit that serves their community. Ages 7 to 10. (Star Bright Books, 2005) -Reviewed by Melissa Chianta

Earth and Me - Our Family Tree: Nature's Creatures by J. Patrick Lewis (Dawn Publications, 2002) Ages 4 to 10.

Eating the Alphabet, Fruits & Vegetables from A to Z, features bold colors strikingly juxtaposed—endive, in many shades of green with yellow stems, overlaps with brown-to-purple dates set against an ochre background, the whole facing a glory of three green-stemmed, purple-bodied eggplants set against a turquoise tray of figs. It makes one dizzy merely to write it. And although the book is for toddlers (six months to three years), its subtly watercolored origami illustrations are so finely graded in hue and so ingeniously designed that Eating the Alphabet is living proof that artistic subtlety can be offered to the very young. -Reviewed by Peter F. Neumeyer

The Elephant Book by Ian Redmond (Candlewick Press, 2001) Ages 6 to adult.

Follow the Trail: A Young Person's Guide to the Great Outdoors by Jessica Loy (Henry Holt & Co, 2003) Ages 7 to 12.

Go Outside: Over 130 Activities for Outdoor Adventures by Nancy Blakey (Tricycle Press, 2002) Ages 6 and up.

Good Clean Fun: Over 70 Seriously Fun Games for Creative Families by Cynthia MacGregor (Robins Lane Press, 2001) Ages 5 and up.

Grandma and Me at the Flea/Los Meros Meros Remateros by Juan FelipeHerrera, illustrated by Anita DeLucio-Brock (Children's Books Press, 2002) Ages 6 to 10.

Hansel and Gretel by Beni Montresor (Atheneum Book for Young Children,2001) Ages 5 to 7.

The Hermit and the Well by Thich Nhat Hanh (Plum Blossom Books,2003) Ages 5 to 8.

I and You and Don't Forget Who: What is a Pronoun? by Brian P.Cleary, illustrated by Brian Gable (Carolrhoda Books 2004) Ages 7 to 9.

I See The Rhythm by Michele Wood (Children’s Book Press, 1998)Ages 5 to 10.

Illuminations from the Bhagavad-Gita by Chris Murray (Mandala Publishing Group,1998) Ages 6 and up.

It's So Amazing!: A Book about Eggs, Sperm, Birth, Babies, and Families by Robie H. Harris, illustrated by Michael Emberley, is a lightjearted, understandable explanation of the birds and the bees that also attends to more complex topics, such as different kinds of love and the function of genes. Diversities of race and sexual orientation are represented in both text and images. For ages 8 to 12. (CandlewickPress, 2002) Ages 8 and up.

The Islamic Year: Surahs, Stories and Celebrations by Noorah Al-Gailani(Hawthorn Press, 2004) Ages 8 and up.

Larky Mavis by Brock Cole (Straus & Giroux, 2001) Ages 6 to 10.

The Little Wing Giver by Jacques Taravant (Henry Holt, 2001) Ages 4 to 8.

Look What I See! Where Can I Be? At the Synagogue by Dia L. Michels (Platypus Media, 2003)

The Louvre in Close-Up by Claire d’Harcourt (Éditions duSeuil/LeFunambule, 2001) Ages 6 to 12.

Mommy's Best Kisses
beautifully conveys the tender intimacy of the mother-child bond. Susan Winter's pastel-hued paintings of nuzzling animals illustrate Margaret Anasya's endearing text: "I kiss your small hand / as you reach for my face / I kiss your sweet neck—it's my favorite place." Ages three to six. (Harper Trophey, 2003) -Reviewed by Melissa Chianta.

My Book Box, by Will Hillenbrand, is a simple, clever, and attractively designed and illustrated story beginning with the elephant baby asking "What can I do with a box?" He then goes through a list of silly answers—a box for bugs, for pizza, pasta, or a hat—until the "Great idea!": a box for books to read at breakfast, or in the bathroom, or on an airplane. It's also a box to share, especially at bedtime, when little elephant and his companion, a frog, are tucked in, sound asleep. At the end, there's a printed recipe for making such a box of your very own. -Reviewed by Peter F. Neumeyer

Music For Alice by Allen Say (Houghton Mifflin Co., 2004) Ages 6 to 12.

My Chair by Betsy James (Arthur A. Levine Books, 2003) Ages 4 to 7.

My Very First Book of Animal Homes

My Very First Book of Animal Sounds

A sense of humor is one of the great gifts that we can impart to children. To that purpose, fresh, ingenious samples spring once again from the inexhaustible studio of Eric Carle. My Very First Book of Animal Homes and My Very First Book of Animal Sounds are small-format books, also illustrated with collages of painted paper by Carle, the current Michelangelo of that craft. A consummate storyteller and artist, Carle has chests of thin, wide drawers filled with colored paper, from which he assembles magical tales that have by now become canonical—such as The Very Hungry Caterpillar (1969) and Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? (1967). What's so funny about the two new books is that all the board pages are cut horizontally in the middle—you can juxtapose any animal with any home or sound: "Dog" may sleep in "nest" or "bat" in "iceberg" or—in the Sounds book—"dog" may "moo" and "mouse" may "crow." You get two pleasures at once: the child learns appropriate domiciles or sounds for animals, and—this is what's so delightful—these books can well serve as an introduction to humor for the young. In our house, the dialogue gets progressively sillier:

"Does the lion say Quack?" I ask.

"Noooo," says Emily, flipping the pages, "the lion says Peep."

"Does he really say Peep?"

"Noooo, the lion says Roar!" roars Emily, having turned to the appropriate picture. And we both roar at the joke.

Reviewed by Peter F. Neumeyer

Buy It Now! My Very First Book of Animal Homes  Buy It Now! My Very First Book of Animal Sounds

My Very Own Room/Mi propio cuartito by Amada Irma Perez (Children's Book Press, 2000) Ages 4 to 8.

Nursery Crimes by Arthur Geisert (Houghton Mifflin, 2001) Ages 7 to 12.

Once Upon a Fairy Tale (book/cd combo) by The Starbright Foundation(Viking, 2001) Ages 5 to 12.

Play With Us: 100 Games from Around the World
by Oriol Ripoll, is an impressive collection of traditional children's pastimes clearly described and depicted. Ripoll traveled the globe while researching the book, which serves as an introduction to foreign cultures as well as a guide to hours of wholesome fun. Ages 6 to 12. (Chicago Review Press, 2005) -Reviewed by Melissa Chianta

Pop-Up Aesop
by John Harris and illustrated by Calef Brown, inventively showcases brief versions of little-known fables by Aesop with creative pop-up art. Precisely engineered pages feature pullout pieces that hide the morals of the stories. Ages six to ten. (Getty Publications, 2005) -Reviewed by Melissa Chianta.

Ready, Set, Grow! by Lynda Madaras (Newmarket Press, 2003) Ages 8 and up.

Skin Again by Bell Hook (Hyperion, 2004) Ages 4 to 7.

Sunshine on My Shoulders illustrated byChristopher Canyon (Dawn Publications, 2003)

Traveling Man: The Journey of Ibn Battuta 1325-1354 by James Rumford(Houghton Mifflin, 2001) Ages 7 to 12.

The Twelve Gifts of Birth by Charlene Costanzo (HarperResource,1999)All Ages.

Watakame's Journey: The Story of the Great Flood and the New WorldbyHallie N. Love and Bonnie Larson (Clear Light Publishers, 1999) Ages 8 to 12.

Welcome With Love

My jaw dropped when I first saw Welcome With Love, by Jenni Overend, a gorgeous Australian picture book about a homebirth. The gently told story is illustrated by Julie Vivas?s intimate, pastel-hued watercolors, which bravely portray what actually happens during birth. This older but nonetheless exceptional book is stunning, and definitely deserves a place in your children?s library. For ages 3 to 7. (Kane/Miller, 2000) -Reviewed by Melissa Chianta

What If Nobody Forgave? And Other Stories edited by Colleen M. McDonald(Skinner House Books, 2003) Ages 8 and up

What's Wrong With Timmy? by Maria Shriver

When a Monster Is Born
Author Sean Taylor, was announced the Gold Medal Winner of the Nestlé Children's Book Prize, under-5 category, for his book When a Monster is Born, illustrated by Nick Sharratt. He declined the prize money, saying that he could not accept the money because of his concerns over the marketing tactics used by Nestlé in their promotion of infant formula (as reported in Mothering's January 7, 2008 news bulletin. Show your support for Sean's decision by purchasing When a Monster Is Born for a child you love.

When I Get Little

Dog on Fleas's When I Get Little is a delightfully eclectic array of unique tunes tasting of bluegrass, Cajun, World, and straightforward rock. The album includes some real treasures, including The Coo Coo, which boasts exotic balafons and djun-djun drums; the ragtimey Moonsong; and the folksy, a cappella Honeybaby. (Dog on Fleas, 2006; www.dogonfleas.com) -Reviewed by Melissa Chianta

Where's Mom's Hair: A Family's Journey Through Cancer
by Debbie Watters with Hayden and Emmett Waters, is an upbeat, honest account of Debbie's chemotherapy treatment from her son's perspective. Sophie Hogan's black-and-white photos depict the family's verve and determination, fromm the big buzz-cut party before chemo to the hair-growing-back bash at the end. Ages 7 to 10. (Second Story Press, 2005)

Where Willy Went
by Nicholas Allan. Little Willy is a sperm—one of 300 million sperm who live, hip to thigh, so to speak, inside Mr. Browne. They're all fine swimmers, and they're all quite literally about to swim for life, to a "beautiful egg" inside Mrs. Browne. Aided by a chastely abstracted but nonetheless accurate map of the human reproductive system, Willy, (poor in math but a fine swimmer) and his innumerable siblings set forth. Our hero wins, "Hurrah!" From thence, predictibly, something quite wonderful grows in Mrs. Browne's tummy—a happy baby named Edna, who, precisely like Willy, will be no good in math but able to swim like crazy. Where Willy Went is a merry way to learn about the facts of life.

Win-Win Games for All Ages: Cooperative Activities for Building Social Skills by Josette and Ba Luvmour (New Society Publishers, 2002) Ages6 and up.

Winged Migration: The Junior Edition by Stephane Durand andGuilluamePoyet (Chronicle Books, 2004) Ages 8 and up.

With Love, to Earth's Endangered Peoples by Virgina Kroll (DawnPublications, 1998) Ages 9 and up.

 

Pre-Teens and Teens

33 Things Every Girl Should Know About Women's History: From Suffragettes to Skirt Lengths to the E.R.A. edited by Tonya Bolden (Crown Publishers, 2002) Ages 10 and up.

Buddhism by Philip Wilkinson (DK Publishing, 2003)

Boys Will Put You on a Pedestal (So They Can Look Up Your Skirt): A Dad's Advice for Daughters

by Philip Van Munching, is an astute, very funny, and, in most cases, on-target guide for teen girls on some important topics: body image and bullies, sex and romance, grief and letting go. (Simon and Schuster, 2005)

Dahling, If You Luv Me, Would You Please, Please Smile by Rukhsana Khan (Stoddart Kids, 1999) Ages 12 and up.

Daughters of Another Path: Experiences of American Women Choosing IslambyCarol L. Anway (Yawna Publications, 1995) Ages 14 to adult.

Draw Insects by Doug Du Bosque (Peel Productions, 1998) Ages 8 and up.

The Gun Lake Adventure Series by Johnnie Tuitel and Sharon Lamson (Cedar Tree Publishing, 2000) Ages 8 to 12.

Spirit Animals by Victoria Covell (Dawn Publications, 2000) Ages 12 to adult.

What Everyone Should Know About Islam and Muslims by Suzanne Haneef (Library of Islam, 1996) Ages 15 to adult.