Sing a book

One of my favorite songs from Sesame Street is "Sing," written by Joe Raposo.

"Sing.
Sing a song.
Sing out loud.
Sing out strong."

You have that song in your head now, don't you?

I sing songs with my son all the time, and I also sing books. Just about any picture book can easily be turned into a song. I find it to be a great read aloud technique, and we both enjoy the experience. The tune is completely irrelevant, I make up something new every time I sing.

Books that have worked well as songs (for us, at least) include:

• Freight Train by Donald Crews
• Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? by Bill Martin Jr. and Eric Carle
  
• Good Night Moon by Margaret Wise Brown
• Big Dog Little Dog by P.D. Eastman
  

...and too many others to count.

Singing was particularly effective when my son was a baby, and I used to sing all of his longer board books to him. It also worked well when he was an antsy toddler. He still likes it now, even though he's older, and every night he'll tell me which books he wants me to sing.

I think I have a terrible voice, and I'm quite shy about using it normally, but my son doesn't mind no matter how off key I am. I tried singing my made-up musical version of Freight Train in a storytime last week, and to my surprise, it actually worked quite well. I'll have to try it again.

If there's a small child in your life, try singing them a book. Just remember, as the wise people at Sesame Street would tell you:

"Don't worry that it's not good enough
For anyone else to hear.
Sing
Sing a song."

Book Reviews

Looking for reviews of children's books? Look no further than the Children's Book Review wiki. It was created by the indefatigable Kelly Herold of Big A little a, who may be one of the most busy and productive people I've ever met. The wiki contains a wonderful and rich variety of blog reviews from all over the kidlitosphere.

I just put up all the reviews I've ever posted on Wizards Wireless on the wiki. There aren't that many... because I tend to make lists and general comments about books instead of writing formal reviews. But, I was surprised to see that I've written 15 reviews so far... I thought it was far fewer than that.

One of the most rewarding parts of reviewing for me has been connecting with authors. If the book has been published relatively recently and I can find an e-mail address, I will frequently send authors links to my blog reviews. And, every one of them has written back, which I find amazing. I have to admit, I felt like a rock star when I got return e-mails from Susan Patron and Mordecai Gerstein only a few weeks after I started blogging.

I'm in awe of bloggers who write reviews regularly (and sometimes even every day!), such as Betsy at A Fuse #8 Production, Jen at Jen Robinson's Book Page, Tasha at Kids Lit, Jules and Eisha at Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast, Abby at Abby (the) Librarian, Laura at Library & Literary Miscellany... and, ummm... everybody but me.

I've rounded up all the reviews I've written thus far (see the list below). Looking at the list, I notice that I seem to favor titles that contain exclamation points!

Books for Babies and Toddlers

• Freight Train by Donald Crews
• Fuzzy Fuzzy Fuzzy! by Sandra Boynton
• Orange Pear Apple Bear, by Emily Gravett
• Tickle the Duck! by Ethan Long
• The Toolbox by Anne and Harlow Rockwell

Picture Books

• The 20th Century Children's Book Treasury edited by Janet Schulman
• The Baby Beebee Bird by Diane Redfield Massie, illustrated by Steven Kellogg
• Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! by Mo Willems
• How to Make an Apple Pie and See the World by Marjorie Priceman
• Knuffle Bunny by Mo Willems
• The Man Who Walked Between the Towers by Mordecai Gerstein
• Shhhhh! Everybody's Sleeping by Julie Markes, illustrated by David Parkins
• When Dinosaurs Came with Everything by Elise Broach, illustrated by David Small
  

Juvenile Fiction

• The Higher Power of Lucky by Susan Patron
• Rules by Cynthia Lord

Want to contribute your reviews to the Children's Book Review wiki? Take a look at this post on Big A Little a to see how to do it.

The 20th Century Children's Book Treasury

In the comments of this post about Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel, Anamaria of Books Together mentioned The 20th Century Children's Book Treasury: Celebrated Picture Books and Stories to Read Aloud, edited and compiled by Janet Schulman.

It's one of my favorite books. I can't believe I left it out of my post about books to give to babies, because I give it as a baby gift all the time.

It's a compilation of picture books, which doesn't seem very extraordinary. After all, there are a lot of compilations. But what makes this one so special is the books that are included. Just about every classic picture book is in this book, including: Good Night Moon, Where the Wild Things Are, Curious George, Madeline, The Story of Ferdinand, The Snowy Day and Make Way for Ducklings. And the more recent books are in there too, like Chicka Chicka Boom Boom and The Stinky Cheese Man. Plus, the book includes early readers like Frog and Toad and Amelia Bedelia, and books for babies such as Freight Train, and Ten, Nine, Eight. All together, there are forty four books in one (relatively small) volume. It's just terrific.

Why does this particular collection contain so many crown jewels of children's literature? Well, I have a theory about that... and it has to do with the editor. The name of the woman who put this book together is Janet Schulman. She's a giant in the children's publishing industry and was the Editor in Chief at Random House for a number of years. Plus, she was Dr. Seuss' last editor. I think that she had the muscle and the connections to pull a book like this together and to get the rights to all the classics in a way that no one else could. Or at least, that's my theory.

Now, if you check out the reviews on Amazon's page for this book, you'll find that lots of people love it, while others don't care for it. The main complaint is that the book compresses too much. And that's true. None of the text is abridged, but pictures are jammed in next to each other to conserve space. For example, the entire text and the illustrations of Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good Very Bad Day appear on two pages. That's it. Just two pages.

So, purists may not enjoy it. But, I think the book is great for other reasons and that's why I give it as a gift. It's a terrific resource to help parents remember classics from when they were little.... and to introduce them and their kids to new books they may not know. If there's a book you or your kids fall in love with, you can always purchase the original, un-edited version.

Also, it's wonderful to travel with. Think about it... you can pack forty four individual picture books, or just one book that contains them all. One more advantage to this book: it contains an age index. There are recommendations for all age levels, which makes it easy to select an appropriate story. And, there are terrific bios of all the authors and illustrators in the back of the book.

For more about the book and to see samples, head over to Random House's website about The 20th Century Children's Book Treasury.

And, if you're curious, here's a list of all the picture books (listed alphabetical by title) contained in this fantastic compilation:

• Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good,Very Bad Day by Judith Viorst, illustrated by Ray Cruz
• Amelia Bedelia by Peggy Parish, illustrated by Fritz Siebel
• Bedtime for Frances by Russell Hoban, illustrated by Garth Williams
• The Berenstain Bears and the Spooky Old Tree by Stan and Jan Berenstain
• A Boy, a Dog and a Frog by Mercer Mayer
• "The Cat Club" by Esther Averill
• A Chair for My Mother by Vera B. Williams
• Chicka Chicka Boom Boom by Bill Martin, Jr., and John Archambault, illustrated by Lois Ehlert
• Curious George by H. A. Rey
• D.W. the Picky Eater by Marc Brown
• "The Elves in the Shelves" by Joan Aiken, illustrated by Jan Pienkowski
• First Tomato by Rosemary Wells
• Freight Train by Donald Crews
• Good Night, Gorilla by Peggy Rathmann
• Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown, illustrated by Clement Hurd
• Guess How Much I Love You by Sam McBratney, illustrated by Anita Jeram
• Harry the Dirty Dog by Gene Zion, illustrated by Margaret Bloy Graham
• I Am a Bunny by Ole Risom, illustrated by Richard Scarry
• I Hear, I See, and I Touch by Helen Oxenbury
• "In Which Pooh Goes Visiting..." by A. A. Milne, illustrated by Ernest H. Shepard
• "The Letter" by Arnold Lobel
• Madeline by Ludwig Bemelmans
• Make Way for Ducklings by Robert McCloskey
• Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel by Virginia Lee Burton
• A Million Fish...More or Less by Patricia C. McKissack, illustrated by Dena Schutzer
• Millions of Cats by Wanda Gág
• Miss Nelson Is Missing! by Harry Allard, illustrated by James Marshall
• Owen by Kevin Henkes
• Petunia by Roger Duvoisin
• "The Sneetches" by Dr. Seuss
• The Story of Ferdinand by Munro Leaf, illustrated by Robert Lawson
• The Story of Little Babaji by Helen Bannerman, illustrated by Fred Marcellino
• The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats
• Stellaluna by Janell Cannon
• Stevie by John Steptoe
• "The Stinky Cheese Man" by Jon Scieszka, illustrated by Lane Smith
• The Story of Babar by Jean de Brunhoff
• Swimmy by Leo Lionni
• Sylvester and the Magic Pebble by William Steig
• Ten, Nine, Eight by Molly Bang
• Titch by Pat Hutchins
• The Tub People by Pam Conrad, illustrated by Richard Egielski
• Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak
• Whose Mouse Are You? by Robert Kraus, illustrated by Jose Aruego

Go check it out. And give it a look the next time you need a book for a baby (or for yourself).

How to buy a book for a baby

What do you get for the baby who has everything?
A book.

I think books make the perfect present for any occasion... but I love finding just the right book for a new baby. And I have a perfect track record. Not one baby has ever complained.

How do I choose a book for a baby who I haven't even met yet? I have a number of methods. Here are some things I think about:

Is this a first baby? A twin? The third in a family?
This is a very important consideration. For a first baby, I make the assumption that the family probably doesn't already have a lot of children's books and I'm helping them to build their library. I'm more likely to get classic books in this situation. For a second or third baby, I tend to get newer books that have been published since the first or second baby was born. For twins, I would get two different books, because they are two different babies.

What books do I love?
I think about books I loved when I was growing up. Not all of them are still in print, but those that are make wonderful gifts. Those books mean so much to me and when I give one of them as a gift, I feel like I'm giving something magical to a new baby.

I think about the books that my son loves. The ones he's asked to read over and over and over. The ones that work every time. I give those books because I know they work and I want to share that special secret with another parent.

What books are other people likely to give as gifts?
It's usually a pretty good idea to stay away from Goodnight Moon, The Very Hungry Caterpillar, Brown Bear, Brown Bear, Pat the Bunny and Where the Wild Things Are. These books are almost always given at baby showers. The exception to this is if the baby has already been born, and you know for a fact that no one else has given these books.

Is the family likely to own classic children's books?
If the family doesn't have an existing library of children's books, then I'll get books such as Mike Mulligan's Steam Shovel or Harry the Dirty Dog. These are classics, but are less likely to be given by other people than Goodnight Moon. If you have friends who are extremely prolific readers and whose houses are filled with books, I'd recommend giving them recently published books that they are less likely to already own.

Is there a profession or location that is special to the family?
If one of the parents is an architect, then Andrea Beaty's Iggy Peck, Architect would make a perfect gift. Know someone from Brooklyn, New York? Give them Mo Willems' Knuffle Bunny which is full of wonderful pictures of Brooklyn. But don't go overboard with this. It's better to get a good book for a child than to hunt for a mediocre one that fits their exact situation. A child who has a dog will still enjoy Kitten's First Full Moon.

If the baby has already been born, is there a book that features their name?
I've met children named Eloise, Olivia, Angelina and Max. Clearly there are obvious book choices for those kids (although I'd ask the parents if they have the book or the series already- someone else may have had the same idea.) But lots of other great book feature children's names, such as Doctor Ted, A Bad Case of the Stripes (Camilla), or Matthew A.B.C.

What age is the book appropriate for?
If the intention is to get a book for the baby, then I'll go with a board book. It's durable and can withstand a baby's tough love. Touch and feel books are also a great idea. On the other hand, if I want to help develop their library, there's nothing wrong with getting a hardcover book they won't be ready for until they're older. I can never decide and I think there's value to both kinds of books. I'll frequently give a mixture of board books, longer picture books and chapter books.

What's your price range?
Hardcover picture books are typically about $17. Board books are typically about $7. Paperbacks are typically about $6. (These prices vary from book to book... I'm just trying to give you a general idea).

$15: Get one paperback and one board book... or get one hardcover book that you absolutely love (and go over your limit a little).

$20: Get a combination of paperbacks and board books. That way you can give three books for the same amount you'd spend on one hardcover picture book.

$35: Get one hardcover book (because they do last longer and some fantastic books aren't available in paperback), a paperback and a board book.

$50: Get a hardcover gift book such as a beautifully illustrated Mother Goose collection, Winnie the Pooh, or Charlotte's Web. Those are in the $22 range (depending on the version, of course). Then I'd get a classic paperback novel such as Mr. Popper's Penguins or The Phantom Tollbooth, a paperback picture book and a board book.

Obviously, you can mix these combinations up. My main goal is to get as many wonderful books as possible for the amount of money I'm planning on spending. I also like to give a range and variety of books, so I think it's nice to have both board books and and early chapter books.

Keep a record of the books you give.
You don't have to keep a record of every book you've ever given. But if you're giving books to a child that you'll probably be giving lots of gifts to, it's a good idea to keep track so that you don't give them the same books you gave last year. For example, I have an Excel spreadsheet with a list of all the books I've ever given to my niece. It only takes a minute, and that way I'm not giving her Goodnight, Gorilla every year. As she gets older and her library gets bigger, the spreadsheet becomes more useful.

Do you have any recommendations for specific books?
Such a tough question! For me, so much is dependent on the considerations I mentioned above. Every baby gift I give is completely different. But that being said, here's a list of ten books that I love to give to new babies. All the books listed below could be given to either a boy or a girl.

My favorite books to give as gifts:

• Animal Crackers: A Delectable Collection of Pictures, Poems and Lullabies for the Very Young by Jane Dyer. A superb collection of poems and nursery rhymes. The pictures are beautiful and the rhymes are short enough to keep children interested.
• Cars and Trucks and Things That Go by Richard Scarry. A classic transportation book featuring every conceivable type of vehicle and the never ending search for Goldbug. This book can be used at every age.
  
• Fuzzy Fuzzy Fuzzy by Sandra Boynton. A perfect book for babies. It's a touch and feel board book with irresistible pictures. See my review here.
• Kitten's First Full Moon by Kevin Henkes. A new picture book that already feels like a classic.
• Knuffle Bunny: A Cautionary Tale by Mo Willems. A funny and fantastic read aloud. See my review here.
• The Man Who Walked Between the Towers by Mordecai Gerstein. My favorite picture book and a wonderful book for children to grow into. See my review here.
• The Monster at the End of This Book by Jon Stone, illustrated by Mike Smollin. Hysterical and memorable and one of the best read aloud books I know.
• Mr. Popper's Penguins by Richard and Florence Atwater. A classic early chapter book. This book was read to my mom when she was in first grade and I remember when she read it to me. It's a wonderful and timeless story about a man with a troupe of performing penguins.
• Officer Buckle and Gloria by Peggy Rathmann. Just what a picture book should be. A wonderful story with terrific pictures and characters.
• Shhhhh! Everybody's Sleeping by Julie Markes, illustrated by David Parkins. The perfect last story before bed, with lush and punny illustrations. See my review here.

Need more book recommendations? See these posts about great books to re-read, my favorite picture books when I was a kid, and 100 books your child should listen to before starting school. I also have more of my favorite books listed on the sidebar of this blog.

And, be sure to check out Becky's wonderful and informative post at Young Readers about how to give the gift of books.

Above all, pick books you love. It doesn't matter whether you've loved them for a long time, or if you just fell in love with them in the bookstore. The child you give them to will love them for years to come.

In Training?

Do you have a little boy (or girl) in your life obsessed with trains? Here are a few of my favorite books about trains... keep in mind these are all pretty basic and recommended for babies and toddlers.

I Love Trains! by Philemon Sturges and Shari Halpern: this is a very simple, very colorful book. It has a good rhythm and is easy to read aloud. This pair has collaborated on several other books including I Love Trucks and I Love Planes.... but I Love Trains is my personal favorite.

Trains by Byron Barton: even simpler than I Love Trains! and it's been issued both in paperback and as a board book. If you like this book... check out Barton's other wonderful books including Trucks, Boats, and My Car.

Freight Train by Donald Crews: one of my very favorites. I wrote more about it in this post.

Trains by Anne Rockwell: more of a non-fiction book than the ones mentioned above, but it still works well for young kids. Probably more of a toddler book than a book for babies.

The Little Engine That Could by Wally Piper: you're reading right over this one, aren't you? Of course you know about this book, you don't need me to tell you about it. Well, maybe you don't know about a wonderful new version with illustrations by Loren Long. I think it's absolutely beautiful- and really enhances the story. Some people fall in love with it at first sight (like I did) and some people don't like it because it's not the one they grew up with. Give it a try... see what you think. And if you do like it... check out this wonderful page on Loren Long's website that features several sketches for the book along with the finished artwork.

Got any other good train book recommendations? (There are an enormous number of books published on this subject.) Let me know.... write them in the comments section of this post. I'm always looking for new easy books about trains (at least, my son is).

Shhhhh! Everybody's Sleeping

This is a new book (published in 2005) that feels like a classic. It's a perfect last book before bedtime. It shows people in a variety of professions sleeping (much more interesting than it sounds)... with the hint that if everyone else is sleeping, shouldn't you be?

Julie Markes' text is simple and rhythmic, yet not over-

complicated or overdone... and it works really well for babies and toddlers.

David Parkins' illustrations are so creative and inventive... as well as warm, bright and inviting. Also, the pictures make me laugh... the grocer is sleeping on a "bed" on lettuce, the farmer's pillow is a sheep, the librarian has a lamp made out of books, etc. I see something new every time I read it.

This book makes a fantastic baby gift.

Freight Train

This classic concept book, published in 1978, still works every time I read it (which is at least once a night). Donald Crews' bright, simple and artistic book is a surefire hit with little boys (and anyone else who is obsessed with trains). It has a rhythmic easy-to-read text and the illustrations are wonderful... he makes the reader feel as if they are really watching the train go by. My favorite pages are the last three: "Moving in darkness, Moving in daylight. Going, Going.... gone." It's one of the few concept books (not including alphabet books) that has received a Caldecott Honor. I like the hardcover and paperback versions the best because the pictures are nice and big... but the board book is a good option if you have a baby in your life. No illustrations were harmed to make the board book, and the text works well for babies.

If you've read the book as often as I have, you may be curious what the numbers and letters on the black tender and steam engine mean. 1978 (on the tender) refers to the year the book was published... and N & A (on the steam engine) are the initials of Donald Crews' daughters Nina and Amy.

There's a companion book (which is only published as a board book) called Inside Freight Train. You can literally pull the train cars apart and see what's inside. I like this book, but it gets damaged easily (the flaps don't pull apart that well)... and I think the original works better. But Inside Freight Train is a great choice for babies and toddlers learning about books because it's fun for them to play with.

Whichever version you find, this is a classic waiting to be discovered.

Orange Pear Apple Bear

This recently published book is a wonderful addition to the list of great books for babies.

It only has FOUR words (five, actually- if you count the last page)... all of which are in the title. It's incredibly creative and the pictures are so humorous and expressive. The words are all easy words that little kids can recognize. So many books for babies are overly complicated and wordy- but this one is just right. This is one of the few books that I think would convert into a fantastic board book.. plenty of white space and the pictures are centrally located on the page. More importantly, the target audience for this book is babies- who will shred the hardcover edition... so a board book would really be helpful. That being said, it can also be appreciated by older readers.... my three year old LOVES this book. Kudos to Emily Gravett for creating something so wonderful and accessible.... I hope it will become a classic.

But, really, I fell in love with the bear (and you will too).