Give her the River

Text: Michael Dennis Browne

Illustration: Wendell Minor

Year: 2004

Publisher: Pocket Books, London

Age: 4 and above

No. of Pages: 40

ISBN:  978 0 74348 986 1

This exceptional picture book reminds me of the several “I love you” books that articulate a parent’s love for their child(ren). While the others use simple words and are apt for very young readers, Give her the River – A father’s wish for his daughter (Yes! That’s what the cover says) is a poetic expression of a father’s desires for his little one. It uses the analogy of a river to explore the beauty of the world. It’s a poignant rendition of love - that special love that only parents can feel.

I loved this book, because it captures the essence of happiness by teaching a child to appreciate the world around her. That will stand her in good stead for life!

The words are tender and the beautiful paintings, elevate the book to a whole new level.

Excerpt

Give her the river at dawn,

when it shines,

when the swans are gliding. 

Billy Goats Gruff – Read it yourself

Retelling: Fran Hunia

Illustrator: John Dyke

For Ages: 4 - 5 years

No. of Pages: 38 pages

Publisher: Ladybird Books, UK

Year: 1993

This simple full-color illustrated book is a story about three goats who encounter a troll. The story introduces commonly used words repetitively to help little children read.

On a personal note, I was not too thrilled with the illustrations. The troll looked really scary; so did Big billy goat Gruff and also a tree! The children and I hurried through the book just once and were glad to return it to the library.

Excerpt

The billy goats Gruff want to go over the bridge for some grass.

Trip, trap, trip, trap, trip trap.

Little billy goat Gruff is on the bridge.

Up jumps the troll.

He says, I want to eat you up. 

The Yellow Trumpets

Author: Enid Blyton

Year: 1926

Publisher: Award Publications, London

Age:  4 and above

No. of Pages: 40

ISBN:  978 1 84135 161 2

It's Enid Blyton time again and it’s one of those books with a surprise at the end. This time, it’s about daffodils.

Meet Pinkle and Flip, two hard-working and industrious elves who make trumpets by night and sell them by day.

One day, however, their ambition carries them just too far.

How the elves connect to daffodils, well, that’s the surprise! :-)

Excerpt

It was the baby trumpeters blowing their trumpets.

The older fairies didn’t mind at first. They liked the babies to amuse themselves and have fun. They put up with the noise and laughed. 

No Clean Clothes

Author:  Robert Munsch

Illustrator: Michael Martchenko

For Ages: 6 and above

No. of Pages: 28

Publisher: Scholastic Canada

Year: 2006

Another delightful read from the Munsch-Martchenko duo about Lacey. One morning, she finds herself without any clean clothes and has to resort to a shirt that says “Kiss me – I’m perfect.” The rest of the book follows her through the eventful day.

Excerpt

She ran downstairs and yelled, “Mom! Mom! Mom! Why didn’t you wash my clothes?”

“Lacey,” said her mother, “I would WASH your clothes if I could FIND your clothes!

 “You hide them under your bed!

“You lend them to your friends!

“You leave them in the backyard!

‘Hicks!’ Carrot has a Hiccup!

Author: Arleen

Illustrator: Lilli Messina, Wikipedia

Year: 2008

Publisher: Pelangi Books, Malaysia

Age: 3 and above

No. of Pages: 24

ISBN:  978 9 83002 998 6

Meet Carrie, a little girl and Carrot, her kind dog who has orange fur.

One day, while playing, Carrot, hears a strange sound, “Hicks!” She tries all kinds of tricks to get rid of it until she runs out of ideas.

She’s finally offered a bowl of carrot juice and the strange sounds disappear.

She hears them again when her beloved Carrie gets back from school. She offers Carrie the remaining juice in her bowl.

Other titles in this series include:

• Carrot Loves Carrots
• Carrot Goes to School
• Carrot Gets Lost
• ‘Click!’ Carrot Poses for the Camera

Excerpt

Suddenly, ‘Hicks!’

Carrot is surprised.

She stops playing and wonders.

“What is this sound?”

Then, ‘Hicks! Hicks!’

Smelly Socks

Author:  Robert Munsch

Illustrator: Michael Martchenko

For Ages: 6 and above

No. of Pages: 30

Publisher: Scholastic Canada

Year: 2004

This is a humorously illustrated story featuring Tina’s hunt for that perfect pair of socks. When she finds it, finally, she refuses to take them off until her classmates are forced to take action.

A must-read. :-)

I must admit, I was a tad concerned about introducing the children to Tina – someone who’s messy, stubborn and doesn’t change her socks. But then, at the end of the book, the children do realize it does no good to wear socks for ten days!

Excerpt

After Tina wore her socks for ten more days, a whole flock of Canada geese flew over her house and dropped right out of the sky from the smell.

Two moose walked through her yard and fell over from the smell.

Ducks, raccoons, and squirrels fell over when she walked to school. 

The Story of Jesus

Illustrator: Chris Rothero

Year: 1992

Publisher: Award Publications, London

Age: 2 and above

No. of Pages: 24

ISBN: 978 1 84135 034 6

This “See and Say Storybook” is a fantastic way to get young ones to read even if they don’t know letters, yet.

The book uses images instead of words for a specific set of nouns which are then “read” by the little ones.

The story of Jesus features angels, manger, Joseph, Mary and many other familiar words that the child can call out as parents read the rest of the text. Loads of reading fun! :-)

Other titles in this series:

• Noah and the Ark, Review here
• Moses in the Bulrushes
• Daniel in the Lions’ Den
• David and Goliath
• Jonah and the Whale
• Joseph and his Brothers
• The Story of Jesus
• Stories Jesus Told

Wanda’s Washing Machine

Author: Anna McQuinn 

Illustrator: Jan McCafferty

For Ages: 2 – 5

No. of Pages: 16

Publisher: Little Tiger Press, Great Britain

Year: 2005

This is a delightful book about a little girl Wanda, her mum Wendy and their washing machine, Walter.

Wanda is a messy eater and Walter helps clean her clothes. The story revolves around Wanda’s food messes and Walter’s cleaning up. There’s a pop-up game attached to the book. Unfortunately, since I had a library copy, the game was nowhere around.

Excerpt

On Wednesday, she spilled watercress soup and watermelon juice down the front of her woolly white pullover.

“This is a job for Walter,” said Wanda’s mum, and she put the washing on.

“Eat dirt!” shouted Wanda. And that’s just what Walter did.

It’s Mine!

Author: Tracey Corderoy

Illustrator: Caroline Pedler

Year: 2012

Publisher: Little Tiger Press, London

Age: 4 and above

No. of Pages: 24

ISBN: 978 1 84895 482 3

There just won’t be enough books for little ones on sharing. :-) This book from Little Tiger Press is outstanding, though.

The object in question is a furry little tiger toy, which is soft to touch, on the pages too!

Baby Bear loves Rory, his striped toy and finds it hard to share it with his friend, Lulu. Mummy arrives to make peace and takes them to the park. After some time of playing by themselves, which is no fun at all, they realize, it is fun to share and play with each other,  after all.

Excerpt

Slowly, Baby Bear held out another toy for Lulu.

“But I don’t want him,” Lulu frowned. “I want Rory.”

“Why don’t we go to the park?” smiled Mummy. “I’ll bring Rory along with me.”

“OK,” mumbled Baby Bear and Lulu.