by Jon Klassen
Candlewick Press, 2011
33 pp.
Age: 3+
Interests: animals, mystery, crime and punishment, bears and rabbits
Also by this author: This is Not My Hat
Talking about children's books and films. Useful information for parents.
30 Jan 2013 3 Comments
in Books, books 3+ Tags: animals, bad behavior, bears, crime, mystery, rabbits
by Jon Klassen
Candlewick Press, 2011
33 pp.
Age: 3+
Interests: animals, mystery, crime and punishment, bears and rabbits
Also by this author: This is Not My Hat
30 Jan 2013 Leave a comment
in Books, books 2+ Tags: animals, dealing with change, family, separation
text by Audrey Penn
illustrations by Ruth E. Harper and Nancy M. Leak
Tanglewood Press, 1993
30 pp.
Age: 2+
Interests: animals, family, raccoons, school, dealing with change, separation
24 Jan 2013 Leave a comment
in Books, books 6+, Classics Tags: bad behavior, fairies, Magic, nature, religion
by Charles Kingsley
originally published in 1863
144 pp.
Age: 6+ (read to)
Interests: fairies, magic, animals, nature, religion, bad behaviour
Next: other Victorian fairy stories – The Magic Fishbone (Dickens), The Princess and the Goblin, The Cuckoo Clock, Alice in Wonderland
23 Jan 2013 Leave a comment
in Books, books 7+, books 9+, Canadian books Tags: adventure, animals, Canada, cats, dogs, pets, wilderness survival
by Sheila Burnford
Hodder and Stoughton, 1961
127 pp. – 11 chapters
Age: read to – 7+ independent reading – 9+?
Interests: pets, cats, dogs, wilderness, adventure
Next: 1963 Disney movie The Incredible Journey
18 Jan 2013 1 Comment
in Books, Gender Differences, Issues, Television Tags: strong girls
I don’t watch much tv these days (who has the time?), but here’s a list of current TV shows with Positive Girl Role Models from Commonsense Media.
My six-year-old is in turns fascinated and mystified by the world of teenagers. She loves to mimic their catchphrases, and even tries on their ‘world weary attitude’ for size. Her classmates are starting to pay attention to teen pop stars and other young celebrities. One problem with this is that so much tween and teen media is rife with girl vs. girl antagonism, gossip, rivalry and catfights. It takes some effort to find shows in which girls are thoughtful, nice, loyal and true friends to each other. And that show girls who have interests other than boys and the mall.
We may have come some distance in media depictions of women. At least we can see women in a variety of non-traditional careers now, but there still remain insidious stereotypes about how girls treat each other and these still need to be turned upside down. And don’t even get me started on the depiction of women in comic books and computer games…
We’ve still got a long way to go, baby.
See also: Commonsense’s list of Strong Female Characters in Books.
And on this blog, type “strong girls” into the search box above to see my list of great female characters in books and movies.
17 Jan 2013 3 Comments
in Books, books 4+, books 7+, Classics Tags: adventure, boats, circus, horses, ocean, pirates, royalty, toys, travel
Adventures of the Little Wooden Horse
by Ursula Moray Williams
originally published by George G. Harrap & Co. Ltd., London, 1938
253 pp. – 19 chapters
Age: (read to) 4+ ; (independent reading) 7+
Interests: horses, toys come to life, travel, adventures, pirates, circus
by the same author: Gobbolino the Witch’s Cat, The Further Adventures of Gobbolino and the Little Wooden Horse
11 Jan 2013 Leave a comment
in Books, books 6+ Tags: crime, fairy tale updated, wolves
The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs
text by Jon Scieszka
illustrations by Lane Smith
New York: Viking Penguin, 1989
28 pp.
Age: 6+
Interests: twisted fairy tales, crime and punishment, wolves
Next: The Three Pigs by David Wiesner (another weird take on the story); The Adventures of the Dish and the Spoon by Mini Grey (a modern rewrite of a nursery rhyme with lots of crime and violence)
Also by this author and illustrator: The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales; Squids Will Be Squids; Math Curse; Science Verse
10 Jan 2013 Leave a comment
in Books, books 6+, books 9+ Tags: adventure, birds, boats, camping, country life, island, maps, nature, siblings, strong girls, wilderness survival
by Arthur Ransome
London: Jonathan Cape, 1930
363 pp.
CARNEGIE MEDAL WINNER – 1936
by Arthur Ransome
London: Jonathan Cape, 1936
433 pp.
Age: (read to) 6+, (read independently) 9+
Interests: boats, sailing, camping, adventures, summer vacation, maps, exploring
28 Nov 2012 Leave a comment
in Books
I just keep coming across these things…
Quill & Quire – Books of the Year 2012: Books for Young People for 5 great titles (2 picture book and 3 chapter books)
Kids Review Books for Kids, from the National Post – I love these reviews. So direct and straight to the point!
Canadian Children’s Literature Award Winners for 2012
And a big batch o’ books from Pinterest.
There. Now you can get your Christmas shopping done!
27 Nov 2012 2 Comments
in Books

Title plate of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (not the cover, it’s the interior title page), 1900 Wizard (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
The blogger Maple Leaf Mommy (aka Deanna) is a hardcore fan of the original Wizard of Oz books. We’ve only read the first and most famous (see my review of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz here), but if you’d like to learn about the other Oz books, check out her commentary and book list. She’s even included links to free electronic versions; since the books are largely in the public domain, they can be found for free online.