Book Recommendations, Summer Vacation

It’s officially summer and I hope many of your are thinking about, and planning(!), your vacations! My pick for a book about summer vacations is Goldfish on Vacation by Sally Lloyd-Jones and illustrated by Leo Espinosa. This is a true story about a city fountain being the temporary home of New York City’s pet goldfish population! I love this one because the children never actually leave the city, but just having their goldfish go on vacation is enough to bring so much excitement to the summer!

The big question in my house is “How do they know they got the right goldfish in the end?” My answer is “They just know their fish.” If you want to know more, you’ll have to read the book!

A quick note about the author and illustrator links I’ve been including: They are worth visiting! The illustrators’ especially have beautiful pictures up on their homepages and it’s been so fun to see all the different styles and subjects. Also, Sally Lloyd-Jones’ site in particular has a lot of good resources for parents and children!

Book Recommendation, World Ocean Day

I missed World Ocean Day yesterday (June 8), but I thought I’d post this today anyway! This is my 7-year-old son’s current favorite book. It’s very funny and has lots of interesting facts about sharks.

Misunderstood Shark: Friends Don’t Eat Friends by Ame Dyckman and Illustrated by Scott Magoon.

This is actually a sequel to Misunderstood Shark, which we have not read yet, but I imagine is just as good!

Book Recommendation, Just a Favorite

This is one of my absolute favorite children’s books. My kids like it, too, but I’m not even sure they get how clever it is. It makes me laugh every time!

If you are a fan of fairy tales and humor and beautiful artwork, you need to pick up this book!

The Princess and the Pig by Jonathan Emmet. Illustrated by Poly Bernatene.
(Check out both of their websites, they are great!)

Book Recommendation, Pentecost

To be honest, I was going to recommend this book this week even if it wasn’t Pentecost this coming Sunday (May 23) because it is one of my absolutely favorites. Not only is it just beautifully illustrated and wonderfully written, but it tells the story of the most beautifully family, of my family, the worldwide church. So the fact that it coincides with Pentecost makes it even better!

Pentecost on the church calendar marks the beginning of the early church. It is when the Holy Spirit descended on the early church leaders and they were able to tell all about Jesus in all different languages! As my friend, blogger, and writer Tamara Murphy says,

“At Pentecost, we get to act out with our everyday lives what the Holy Family embodied at Epiphany, the good news that the gift of Christ is for all people. All of the longing, doubt, grief, and the sins of the world we held up in the dark nights of Advent and Lent, all of the bright hope and relief that resurrected to life with the Risen Christ is channeled into this great movement of Spirit and Church at Pentecost.”

If you want to know what that means, then pick up this book. It is excellent, it is beautiful, and if you are a Christian, it is about your family, too.

God’s Very Good Idea by Trillia J. Newbell
(The other books in this series are amazing, too.)

Book Recommendations, Dinosaur Day

Did you know that National Dinosaur Day is celebrated twice annually, on May 15 and June 1? I guess that’s just how important the dinosaurs are (were?)! So in celebration of this important day, I am recommending some of our favorite dinosaur children’s books.

All the Dinotrux books, by Chris Gall

How to Catch a Dinosaur, by Adam Wallace

Bang! Boom! Roar! A Busy Crew of Dinosaurs (not pictured), by Nate Evans

These are just a few of the great children’s books on dinosaurs. Do you have any to recommend?

Book Recommendations, Mother's Day

Because I love children’s books so much, I thought I’d add a weekly feature to my blog on book recommendations for kids and parents, while trying to keep the books relevant to the times and season as well!

This week, I’m featuring one of my favorites to buy for new moms:

I Love you, Stinky Face by Lisa McCourt and Illustrated by Cyd Moore.

Now it’s your turn, what are your favorite books featuring a mother’s love?

This book is one of my son’s favorites (and mine!) because it is so silly and so heartfelt. What could be more normal (and more beautiful) than a son dreaming up all kinds of scary creatures and a mother’s reassurance of unconditional love?