Books That Everyone Can Enjoy

Surely you have favorites. Share them with men and I will add them to this article or begin a new article dedicated to contributors.

Choosing outstanding books for children can be daunting. There are many books that have a catchy title and great art work but the story line is weak. The author of children's books often will lead you in the right direction.

David Shannon, Robert McLoskey, Janette Sebring Lowrey, Dr. Seuss, Tedd Arnold, Cheryll Willis Hudson, June Sobel, Roald Dahl and E.B. White are just a small number of the writers of children's books that have a story line that is engaging and some are cleverly illustrated. The ones that are not illustrated with pictures have been so carefully written that the mind pictures children can make of them bring the characters off the page and into their lives.

Selecting just the right book, the one that will be gently loved for years, can be daunting. Unless books are recommended by friends, family, or are ones you read and know about, you can spend hours in books stores pulling book after book off the shelf. Until at last, you find just the right book for your children or for the child within each of us. These choices will help you narrow the selection field.

Discover these authors of books that kids love to read over and over. They also love to hear these books read aloud.

David Shannon, author and illustrator, has given us a number of books that children enjoy hearing and reading many times.

Some of his works are:

• No, David
• A Bad Case of the Stripes
• How I Became a Pirate
• David Goes to School
• David Gets in Trouble

No, David tells a tale of the naughty things that David (Shannon) used to get scolded for as a child. He says he was always hearing, no, no, no. Tracking mud in the house, breaking plant pots, and jumping on the bed were a few of the things he liked to do. Sound familiar? Kids immediately love this character. Along with your child, discover these authors of children's books. You both with fall in love with books all over again.

The old saying 'you can't judge a book by its cover' may not always be accurate. You can tell by looking at its cover that A Bad Case of the Stripes will totally captivate the imagination. It has that little something that makes you wonder and eager to know the story. It is engaging from beginning to end.

One morning Camilla finds she is covered in stripes. As the story evolves and her need to rid herself of the stripes heightens, new twists and turns keep us wanting to know more.

Experts of one kind or another are consulted and none of them can 'fix' her. At last a little old lady saves the day. You must read the story to find out how the bad case of stripes was solved

The lovely lesson revealed in this story is to never be afraid to be yourself.

Make Way for Ducklings written by Robert McLoskey; The Poky Little Puppy written by Janette Sebring Lowrey.. these are two stories children never tire of hearing.

Robert McLoskey:

Mr. McLoskey is an interesting character himself. He suggests that he never really thought of himself as a writer. He originally was illustrating and would stick a word in here and there. Then it evolved. He makes it sound easy!!

Make Way for Ducklings is a page turner from beginning to end and all ages can enjoy it. The 'oohs' and aaahs' as the children see the detail in the illustrations makes it even more fun to read aloud. Surprisingly to some, the illustrations are not brightly colored. They are simple but exquisitely drawn images that invite the reader in to the story. This will become a book children will read and reread.

Janette Sebring Lowrey:

Ms. Lowrey wrote a number of books published by 'a Little Golden Books'. I remember sitting on my Momma's lap and listening to the stories night after night. The Poky Little Puppy is just a sweet little story primarily about a naughty little puppy who, unlike his siblings, finds it difficult to mind his Momma. Lovely lovely tale.

When reading Horton Hatches the Egg, it is impossible not to fall in love with the main character, Horton. He agrees to 'baby sit' an egg while the Momma goes on vacation. Horton perches himself on a fragile-looking tree to take care of watching over the egg.

It rains. It 'lightninged'. It thundered. It snowed. Horton remained. While the Momma was away doing whatever she wanted, Horton was still there, on his perch because as you will find, 'an elephant is faithful, one hundred percent.'

Could there be a lesson here? No matter. It is one Dr. Seuss book you will be glad you have on your shelf.

Horton Hears a Who is another one of his books you will wish to have in your child's collection. A few years ago it was made into a movie. Again, I dragged my then 13 year old grandson off to watch it with me. I do not think he was enchanted by it to the degree I was, as a matter of fact, I know he was not, but he did not complain too much.

I am very protective about books being made in to movies. This one in my view was done well and maintained much of the integrity of the storybook version.

Nothing, however, replaces reading and sharing this book.. Horton, our fluffy, warm-hearted elephant, establishing a relationship with a tiny village of beings he discovers on a flower, is magical. Sometimes I think I think that word is over-used but in this case it just worked.

I was in the Tennessee several summers ago and there among the wildness of a forested area was THE flower from 'Horton Hears a Who' fame...it was captured and now follows me.

Share this lovely book and the DVD with your loved ones...but please, share the book first.

Cheryll Willis Hudson has written a number of books that bring the African American experience to children. A few of them are:

• Afro-Bets 123 Book
• Good Morning, Baby
  
• Good Night, Baby
• Compiled with her husband: How Sweet the Sound: African-American Songs for Children
• Let's Count, Baby

She and her husband formed the publishing company, Just Us Books, which has done quite well. it is said to be the front runner in publishing music and children's books which capture the African American experience.

Read more: Cheryl Willis Hudson (1948-) Biography - Personal, Addresses, Career, Member, Writings, Sidelights - Books, African, American, and Children - JRank Articles http://biography.jrank.org/pages/1608/Hudson-Cheryl-Willis-1948.html#ixzz26fuLmCTw

It seems that just when we think no one could possibly come up with another interest-catching way to deliver the abc's to our children, we find there are many we may not have discovered.

Afro-Bets is presented in a novel way....there are six main characters who twist and turn into the letters of the alphabet.

Cheryl Willis Hudson has written many books for children which carry her heritage into the hands of all of our children. Children are engaged by her writings and you will be too.

June Sobel enjoys creating pictures with words. She has given us a number of books including:

• B is for Bulldozer: A Construction ABC
• The Good Night Train

An interesting point about B is for Bulldozer is that her son is fascinated with heavy equipment. She could find no book that was on topic so she wrote this one.

Shiver Me Letters another of her books is a tale of pirates who head out to find the letters of the alphabet. Colorful and filled with adventure, children quickly hop on board as this book is read.

Tedd Arnold is an author and illustrator who has published over 60 books. Some of the favorites are the big-eyed characters that are in Fly Guy and many other books he has given us.

He is supposed to be a writer of children's books but if you select one of his books to read you will enjoy them as much as any child. He will bring the child back out of you.

I had the distinct pleasure of meeting Tedd Arnold. He came to our county in Florida on two different occasions to share his books with children in our schools. He came to our school in the forest to bring the characters off the pages and into our minds and hearts.

The children listened intently as he told how he had decided to write the stories, where his ideas and inspiration had come from for his work. We were then treated to hearing him read his own words from a few of his books.

You will giggle and laugh out loud as you may find yourself and your children on some of the pages of his books.

Tedd Arnold. If you know this name, you know how much fun his books are. Most if not all of hsi characters have the distinctive, ping pong ball-like eyes!!

It is too difficult to select one book of his that is my favorite. Parts and More Parts are two in which he finds the humor in many expressions we use such as 'crack me up.' His illustrations capture the humor of these expressions cleverly and completely fixes the image in our heads.

Other fun books are:

• No Jumping on the Bed
• Green Wilma
• Ask Annie
• Fly Guy

I had the distinct pleasure of meeting Tedd Arnold. He came to our county in Florida on two different occasions to share his books with children in our schools. He came to our school in the forest to bring the characters off the pages and into our minds and hearts.

The children listened intently as he told how he had decided to write the stories, where his ideas and inspiration had come from for his work. We were then treated to hearing him read his own words from a few of his books.

You will giggle and laugh out loud as you may find yourself and your children on some of the pages of his books.

As you know the few books mentioned here are only a tiny fraction of choices you can make for sharing literature with your children.

Hopefully, if you do not select one of these, you will make a trip to a book store and spend time browsing in the children's section. Be prepared to stay and take your time. There are so many new and old favorites waiting to be discovered and enjoyed.

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