Our Favorite Books: Kids

What is an industrious African hat seller to do when he wakes and finds that all but one of his hats are now on the heads of monkeys scattered in the tree above him? Our family has read this story over and over, never tiring of seeing the hat seller’s creative solution.

These cards are not a “book”, but each one has a picture and information about a wonderful place in the world. Our family has enjoyed (and still enjoys) spreading the cards out and finding which places we have been to, and which places we are still dreaming about.

The adults in our home love this book as much as the kids. A panda named Stillwater meets three siblings and tells three different “zen” tales with simple yet powerful messages--forgiveness, the perception of luck, and the destructive force of resentment.

When a greedy and selfish raja (Indian ruler) rewards a clever girl for returning some rice that she had found, she asks for one grain of rice, doubled in amount every day for an entire month. The king laughs at this seemingly meager request. Our family loved reading about how that one grain of rice multiplied over and over, to become an amount that astounded the king, as well as us!

This book is a true treasure. It tells of one small boy who was brave enough to tell the truth, even though it was painful, and was rewarded beyond his dreams.

Rich in historical detail and beautiful photographs, this book gave us a better understanding of the Terracotta Warriors before we traveled to China. While the book is intended for older kids, the adults in our family enjoyed it too.f

Little Leap Forward is an 8-year old boy who lives in Beijing when the Cultural Revolution begins. We read this chapter book with our 7-year old son before we visited China, as a gentle introduction to the hardships and upheavals that the people suffered through during those tumultuous years.

This book provided our kids with a wonderful introduction to the Forbidden City. It presents a brief history of the palace city, with short chapters about some of the colorful residents, accompanied by many photographs. Geared toward older children, the in-depth content will capture the attention of adults too.

Confucius was a revolutionary thinker who traveled through China about 500 B.C., spreading words of wisdom, such as, “Don’t worry when people fail to recognize your merits. Worry when you fail to recognize theirs.” This fascinating book provides details about the life and teachings of Confucius. Although intended for older children, it has enough substance to appeal to adults.

The character of Ferdinand the bull is a favorite in our family. Ferdinand is a gentle bull who would rather sit and smell the flowers than learn to fight. He maintains his sweet, nonviolent character even in the midst of a bull ring in Madrid. This wonderful story about being true to yourself is accompanied by recognizable scenes from southern and central Spain.

We bought this book for our kids before our first trip to Spain. Simple and easy to read information is presented about the history, geology, people and festivals of Spain, accompanied by colorful photos.

Antoni Gaudi was a creative genius who had a huge influence over the architecture in Barcelona. This excellent book explores his fascination with the organic shapes in nature, and shows how he included those shapes in his building designs.

While not necessarily a “kids’ book”, our children love it. Miniature in size, it has photos of almost 300 paintings and sculptures in the Prado Museum in Madrid. We shared the photos with our kids, bit by bit, in the months coming up to our trip to Madrid. When we finally toured the Prado Museum, our kids were really excited when they recognized a piece of art that was in the book. The book is also small enough to pack when traveling, and we still play searching games with it—e.g., “Can you find a man with a ruffled collar?”

This wonderful book tells of a small boy, Salvi, who has a magical adventure that begins when he lifts up a portion of the water along the shore and discovers a key. We love the imaginative artwork of Salvador Dali, and this book is a family favorite.

This oversized book has large photos of various pieces of artwork in the Louvre, including Egyptian sarcophagi, Greek and Islamic ceramics, Roman tile mosaics, Gothic stained glass, Brussels tapestry, and a host of European paintings. Readers must then locate specific snippets of imagery within each work. What a wonderful way to get people to focus on the details! Our kids really enjoyed the “treasure hunt” aspect of this book. For each artwork, there is also a special section in the back of the book that presents historical details, as well as an answer key hidden under a flap.

This story tells of two Sudanese children who must walk long hours every day. Salva is an 11-year old boy who is fleeing his village after fighting erupts in 1985; he is walking to find safety in a refugee camp far away. Nya is a Sundanese girl in 2003 who walks 8 hours each day to fetch a bucket of water (sometimes full of mud) for her family. The book flips between the past and present, telling pieces of each child’s story in turn. The two threads, however, connect in an uplifting conclusion.

When Elizabeti’s mom has a new baby, Elizabeti looks around and finds a perfect rock to wrap up, love, feed and burp. All is well, until the rock disappears, and we ultimately find that Elizabeti’s sister unknowingly used the rock for the cooking fire. Set in Tanzania, this lovely story made our kids think about the concept of “toys” and how children in other cultures might play with different things.

Our family read this book over and over when the children were younger. Each page has a different rain forest animal, as well as a flap that hides another animal. The touch-and-feel textures are beautifully integrated into the drawings, and were a big hit with our kids (especially the sticky anteater tongue).

Follow the journey of a sloth as it slowly moves through a rain forest, passing by a variety of creatures, such as howler monkeys, toucans, a poison-dart frog, an anteater, fruit bats, capuchins, leafcutter ants, and more. The short sections of text contain a lot of information, accompanied by colorful illustrations.

Our family read this book together before we visited Roanoke Island, on the Outer Banks of North Carolina. It provides an in-depth look at the history of the colony and offers a plausible explanation of what might have happened to the missing colonists. Although intended for older children, the book will also satisfy adults who are curious about the Lost Colony.

We read this children’s book with our kids before visiting Colonial Williamsburg and were surprised at the wealth of information presented. In question and answer format, the book covers topics such as housing, clothing, forms of payment, keeping food fresh, the use of tobacco, what children did for fun, punishments for people and children, and why the colonists were angry at the British.

We bought this book during a visit to Washington D.C., and our 7-year old son was fascinated with it. The book describes events that occurred before and during the American Revolution, and presents the contrasting viewpoints of both George Washington and King George III. There are also colorful drawings and cartoons to keep the mood lively.

This story of a teenage girl slave in New York at the beginning of the American Revolution is well-written and riveting.

The sequel to “Chains,” this story is told from a teenage boy’s perspective. He fights for the nation’s freedom as a soldier in the Patriot’s army, and then he has to fight for his own personal freedom after he is recaptured and enslaved by his former owner.

Presented in question and answer format, this book provides an amazing amount of detail about life as an American slave. Some of the questions covered are: Why did slavery start in America? What if your father belonged to another slave owner? Why weren’t slaves allowed to read and write? Could you be made a slave even if you were free? and What happened during the Civil War? Slavery may be a difficult concept for kids to understand, but the author has done an amazing job of providing answers in a straightforward and honest manner.

For those curious about the Underground Railroad, this book answers many questions, such as: How did the Underground Railroad get its name? Where would you first go when you ran away? Was everyone in the North against slavery? What happened if you were caught? and What would you do when you became free? This important part of U.S. history is presented in a manner that children (and adults) can easily understand.

This book tells of a girl and her brother Be Be who took an imaginary journey on the Underground Railroad in the Sky. The train conductor was Harriet Tubman, a real hero who escaped from slavery and then led hundreds of others to their freedom. The overnight stops in the book are based upon actual places where slaves found sanctuary on their hard journey north to Canada.

This beautifully written and illustrated book is a suspenseful story of a young man’s nighttime quest for safety on one part of the Underground Railroad. The animals and insects in the forest come to his aid, and the story is told from their perspective. Highly recommended!

This true story is about a boy named Henry who grew up, fell in love, got married and had two children. But Henry was a slave. One day, his wife’s owner sold her and the children, and Henry is heartbroken. He dreams of being free, and creates a plan under which he mails himself to freedom in a wooden crate.

This is the tale of a brave, 6-year old girl who became one of the first children to break the color barrier in a formerly all-white elementary school in New Orleans in 1960. In her own words, Ruby tells how she and her family faced the intense hatred day after day, and how she managed to survive the difficult year of first grade.

This book presents answers to some of the common questions that rangers hear while working at Yellowstone Park. We read this book before visiting the park, and our kids loved the fact that they knew so much about the park already—such as why the burned tree trunks were not being removed. As an added feature, the illustrations are done in black and white so that children can color them.

This well-written mystery centered around the controversy between people who support the reintroduction of wolves into Yellowstone Park, and local ranchers who claim that the wolves will kill their cattle. The tantalizing suspense kept us turning the pages!

This gem of a book is told from the perspective of Thomas Blue Eagle, a Sioux boy who leaves the great plains and attends the Carlisle Indian School, an actual school in Pennsylvania that existed from 1879 to 1918. The text and drawings are presented as if they were done by Thomas in a ledgerbook. Our family has read this book over and over. It is a wonderful story, well-researched and beautifully presented.

For kids who want to understand what it was like to travel west in a covered wagon along the Oregon Trail, this book covers a wide range of issues, including why people wanted to travel west, what was a wagon train, dangers along the way, how to create a fire without wood, Indian encounters, and more.

We read this book with our kids before visiting the Great Salt Lake. It has easy-to-read text and engaging photos that provide basic information about this fascinating body of salt water.

In the Pacific Northwest, a boy is lost at sea during a storm and winds up in a supernatural world with giant beings, until he finally wishes himself home. The story text is simple, and the illustrations are rich and full of symbolism.

This gentle story tells of a lonely man named Alejandro who lived in the desert. He created a garden that attracted a parade of different animals—squirrels, rabbits, birds, rats, and even a desert tortoise. When he realized that they were coming for the garden’s water, Alejandro labored to make a water hole that would serve many more desert animals, including deer, skunk, wild pigs, and coyote. Wonderful watercolor drawings, with a beautiful lesson on giving and receiving.

This delightful Cherokee story tells how the dark side of the world received sunshine, and how the buzzard and the possum suffered permanently from the sun’s burning hot flames during their attempts to steal it.

We read several children’s books about Hawaii’s volcanoes before our journey to the Big Island, and this one was our favorite. With clear text and interesting photographs, it gave our kids a good foundation of knowledge about Hawaii Volcanoes National Park and made our actual visit there much richer.

Using the Alaskan Exxon Valdez oil spill as an example, this book discusses the harmful impact of the oil on wildlife, and the different methods to clean up the spill.

In our travels, we visit a lot of museums with historical artifacts. This book allowed us to see how an archaeologist uncovers both artifacts and information about people who once lived in a particular area.

Follow the tale of Barbar and his wife as they transform an abandoned railway station into an art museum. On opening day, they reveal their impressive collection of masterpieces—works of art in the “real” world, with elephant characters substituted for people. Our kids are familiar with many of the actual artworks, and they love being able to compare those with the “elephant” artworks in Barbar’s museum.

We loved this beautiful story of two friends: Toot, who sets off on a journey around the world, and Puddle, who stays home and relishes the sweet joys of everyday life.

Edward is a rabbit who begins an involuntary journey that teaches him how to feel love. Beautifully written, and at times heartbreaking (be warned), it is one of those rare books that we will always carry in our hearts.

We have read this book repeatedly since our kids were tiny, and it is still a favorite. Follow the tale of a greedy king who is wealthy beyond imagination, but miserably unhappy. When he tries to force the quiltmaker to give him one of her beautiful quilts, she tells him that he must first give away all his possessions. He starts little by little and discovers the true joy in giving.