John Burningham, author and illustrator
London: Jonathan Cape, 1977
22 pp
Age: 3 and up
Interests: pirates, seashore, boats, treasure
Also by this author: Mr. Gumpy’s Outing, Where’s Julius?, Avocado Baby, Borka
Come away from the water, Shirley
06 May 2011 Leave a comment
in Books, books 3+ Tags: adventure, beach, boats, ocean, pirates, strong girls, treasure
Eloise
06 May 2011 Leave a comment
in Books, books 5+ Tags: bad behavior, cities, New York, strong girls
subtitle: A Book for Precocious Grown Ups
Kay Thompson, author
Hilary Knight, illustrator
New York: Simon & Schuster, 1955
65 pp.
Age: 5 and up (read full review: some may find content alarming!)
Interests: New York, hotels, room service, strong girls, bad behavior
Caps For Sale
06 May 2011 Leave a comment
in Books, books 2+ Tags: folktales, monkeys
subtitle: A Tale of a Peddler, Some Monkeys and Their Monkey Business
Esphyr Slobodkina, author and illustrator
New York: HarperCollins, 1968 – originally published 1940
40 pp
Age: 2 and up (also good for beginning readers: 6+)
Interests: monkeys, folktales
All Join In
06 May 2011 Leave a comment
in Books, books 2+ Tags: music, poetry
Quentin Blake, author and illustrator
London: Jonathon Cape, 1990
27 pp.
Age: 2 and up
Interests: poetry, music, songs, noise
Also by this author/illustrator: Mister Magnolia, Clown
The Snowman
06 May 2011 Leave a comment
in Books, books 3+ Tags: Christmas, Magic, night, seasons, snow, winter
Raymond Briggs
London: Puffin, 1978
30 pp
Age: 3 and up
Interests: Christmas, winter, snow, magic
By the same author/illustrator: Father Christmas, Fungus the Bogeyman, UG: Boy Genius of the Stone Age, and books for older audiences: When the Wind Blows, and Ethel and Ernest
The Quangle Wangle’s Hat
04 May 2011 Leave a comment
in Books, books 2+ Tags: poetry
GREENAWAY MEDAL WINNER – 1969
Edward Lear, author
Helen Oxenbury, illustrator
Essex: Springbourne Press, 1969, 1985
30 pp
Ages: 2 +
Interests: poetry, nonsense, animals
Muppet Treasure Island (1996)
04 May 2011 Leave a comment
in movies 4+ Tags: action, adventure, boats, pirates
Rated: G
Length: 99 min.
Age: 4 and up. Commonsense Media sez: 6 +
Scary Factor: usual pirate fight scenes, though no blood; pirate attack on tavern a little alarming (though interjected with funny business)
Also: human character dies at beginning of heart attack, after drinking excessively (no drunken muppets though)
Interests: pirates, ships, muppets, adventure
Next: The Muppet Show TV series, or movies: The Muppet Movie, The Muppet Christmas Carol, etc.
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The Iron Man
04 May 2011 Leave a comment
in Books, books 7+ Tags: dragons, robots, sci fi, space
aka: The Iron Giant
by Ted Hughes
London: Faber and Faber, 1968
62 pp, 5 chapters
Ages: 7 and up (could be read to younger children, though space creature is pretty scary)
Interests: sci fi, robots, space, dragons
The Magic Pudding
03 May 2011 2 Comments
in Books, books 5+, Classics Tags: Australia, fighting, food
also known as: The Magic Pudding: being the adventures of Bunyip Bluegum and his friends Bill Barnacle & Sam Sawnoff
Norman Lindsay, author and illustrator
Sydney: Angus & Robertson, 1918
reprinted by Mineola, NY: Dover, 2006
137 pp; 4 chapters (or ‘slices’)
Ages: 5 and up, though vocabulary is a little difficult (chapter book)
Interests: animals, Australia, magic, food, fighting
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Treasure Island (1950)
03 May 2011 1 Comment
in Movies, movies 5+, Old Movies Tags: action, adventure, boats, British history, pirates
(Disney live-action)
Rated: PG (US & video rating in Canada)
Length: 96 min.
Age: 5 and up. Commonsense Media sez: 7 +
Scary Factor: lots of adventure, threatening situations too numerous to count; sword battles, shooting, mutiny; Jim fights a pirate and is wounded before he shoots the pirate in the face
Also: much drinking of rum (only by adults)
Interests: pirates, action, adventure, ships, islands, treasure, British history
Next: other pirate films Captain Blood, The Sea Hawk; books Treasure Island, Kidnapped, Robinson Crusoe
Rarest Kind of Best 