Kids' Picks: Bad Kitty and Poor Puppy

Last week Children's Classics had a "dog" theme. During the brainstorming process, I kept thinking about the following books. They were written in 2005 & 2007, so they can't be considered classics. However, they definitely fall under the Kids' Picks category in our home!

Author and illustrator: Nick Bruel
Publisher: Roaring Brook Press (Macmillan)

Bad Kitty is the story of a cat who flips out when his owner runs out of the usual cat food and Kitty must eat healthy food. Upon receiving this news and seeing the assortment of vegetables, Kitty goes on a rampage. Once his owner is able to properly restock the pantry, Kitty is in heaven again, and becomes "Good Kitty" long enough to fix all the things he did wrong. The story line is hysterical, the illustrations are colorful and descriptive, and Bruel finds a way to get through the alphabet 4 times!

1. Healthy Food: Asparagus, Beets, Cauliflower, Dill...and 22 other equally unappealing vegetables.
   
2. So she: Ate my homework, Bit grandma, Clawed the curtains, Damaged the dishes, and so on.
   
3. Tastier things arrive: An Assortment of Anchovies, Buffalo Burritos, Chicken Cheesecake...
4. Restoration: Apologize to Grandma, Bought me new Toys, Cleaned her Cat box....down to Z.

Kitty is so good that at the end of the book she is rewarded with a "new friend", Puppy. Needless to say, Puppy enjoys Kitty's company much more than the reverse! "Kitty doesn't want to play with him. Poor Puppy."

So puppy has to...

• Play by himself: 1 Airplane, 2 Balls, 3 Cars...all the way to 26 Zoo Animals
• Dream about playing with Kitty: Apple Bobbing in Antarctica, Baseball in Brazil, Checkers in Canada (Timothy loves all the different countries)
  

In Poor Puppy, there is a sub-plot with a toy mouse that your child can find in every illustration starting with "15 Old Cat Toys He Found Under the Sofa". So clever! We have the paperback versions, but there are also hardback, and even this cute "Cat Nipped Edition".

This sequel to Bad Kitty came out last year...

Bad Kitty Gets a Bath came out in 2008, and we haven't read that one yet. Bruel decided to make it a low-level chapter book so that this series is growing along with its readers. We bought these when Timothy was 3, and he has gone from enjoying the silliness to reading them himself. He will love this new book that puts him in the reading "driver's seat".

Click here for a detailed description of it, along with some excerpts.
Click here for an interview with the author about this book.

For more Kids' Picks, head over to 5 Minutes for Books.

Kid's Picks: How BIG Is It?

Every Monday, Timothy's class gets to visit the school library and check out a book. This week Timothy brought home How Big Is It? written by Ben Hillman and published by Scholastic. I've never seen him so excited! He wanted to read it in the car all the way home, he wanted to read it when we got home, and then he wanted it to be the 1st of our 3 books we read before bedtime.

This is a clever book that shows the size of various objects or animals around the world, and compares them to another known object so that we get an idea of how big it is. For example, the giraffe, being 17.3 feet tall, is shown standing in a living room with it's neck & head in the upstairs bedroom above it. Timothy's favorite page is the tarantula! Yuck! The picture shows the tarantula spanning a dinner plate (12 inches). When I asked him why that was his favorite, he said, "Because it's scary." Of course.

Other books in the "Fun Science Series" include How Strong Is It?, How Fast Is It?, and How Weird Is It? Scholastic says this book is for ages 7-10. It's easiest to see excerpts of all the books by clicking here.

For more Kids' Picks, please visit 5 Minutes for Books.

Kids' Picks: Brush Mona Lisa's Hair

Brush Mona Lisa's Hair is one of the books from the Touch the Art Series. Each page showcases amazing art from the Renaissance to the Baroque. In this clever book, there are textured items in each painting that young kids can touch and interact with. Both of my kids love this book, but Samantha can not get enough.

Sam, why do you like this book?

Because it has a girl, and I'm a girl! (insert big beautiful smile)

I think she also likes popping the hair bands on The Birth of Venus and blowing the feathers on the wings of the angels in Sistene Madonna. In this book art becomes personal. When my kids see the Mona Lisa one day, they will already feel a connection to her because they have brushed her hair!

The last 2 pages of the book have a thumbnail of each painting along with a paragraph to explain its significance in our art history. If art from a different period of time interests you more, there are three other books in the series.

For more Kids' Picks, visit 5 Minutes for Books.

Kids' Picks: Madam President

Mom: Timothy, tomorrow is the inauguration of President Elect Barack Obama. Do want to read Madam President?

Timothy: Oh yes, yes, yes, alright, yes!!!!

Author and Illustrator: Lane Smith
Copyrighted: 2008 (I don't think we've ever read a book this new!)
Publisher: www.hyperionbooksforchildren.com
Author website: www.lanesmithbooks.com

A government-themed book seemed appropriate for today, but how many of those could I find that would actually be a Kid's Pick? Well, this one sure is! We may even have to own this story of a little girl who is President of her own world. She has executive orders to give, babies to kiss, and school lunches to veto. Timothy's favorite page is President Katy's cabinet members, which include Mr. Potato Head for the Secretary of Agriculture and a piggy bank for the Secretary of the Treasury.

I'm slowly being introduced to children's literature, but you will know Lane Smith from James and the Giant Peach & The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs. The "feel" of the book reminded me of Mo Willems, so I giggled when I found this. With President's Day just around the corner, this would be a simple and enjoyable way to introduce government concepts to 4-8 year olds. Both Washington and Lincoln are spotted in the book in various ways. And for any of you homeschooling moms, the publisher has this 9 page "Event Kit" which looks like a ready made lesson plan to me!

For more Kids' Picks, visit 5 Minutes for Books.

Kids' Picks: Nick Jr. Book Club

Since Timothy started Kindergarten, 2 things have happened:

• His ability to read increases every day!
• His desire to read increases every day!
  

We ordered the Nick Jr. Book Club from Scholastic several years ago (as I know tons of people did since I've seen those little backpacks everywhere). I don't think we finished the series, but we do have around 10 of them.

About a week ago, Timothy slept in so late one morning that Dan had to go wake him up. Timothy was asleep with these books all around him! He had pulled each one of them off his shelf and read them for who knows how long. Dan asked him how he was able to do it, and Timothy answered nonchalantly, "I have my nightlight".

For more Kids' Picks, go to 5 Minutes for Books.

Kid's Picks: The Hat by Jan Brett

Mom: Timothy, what is your favorite Jan Brett book?

Timothy: The Hat

Mom: What do you like about The Hat?

Timothy: It has a border trim!

So I have some work to do on the whole "interview" process, but Timothy's pick is a great one! This is a wonderful book. Brett's illustrations are intricate and beautiful. Not only that, in all her books she creates a "border trim" of drawings that actually have their own story line! In The Hat, the pictures in the border give you a snapshot of what is coming (which is great for building prediction skills in young children)! It's so fun and all her books are like this! These border trims will also show you other "subplots" of the story. It's remarkable how she weaves the story and pictures together! She's extremely talented.

You can get a list of Jan Brett's books on her website, which is packed with activities and information. And since it's almost Christmas time, I thought I would point out these two books: Gingerbread Baby and Gingerbread Friends. The cover nor the description do the books justice. You have to see them for yourself!

For more Kids' Picks, head on over to 5 Minutes for Books.