book reviews for Thursday, December 6, 2001:
Are you looking for some great gifts? Books are always a perfect gift for everyone on your shopping list! Here's a book that is full of some of the very best stories from the 20th Century - "You Read to Me and I'll Read to You", with selections by Janet Schulman. In 1998, Ms. Schulman assembled a compilation of stories called "The 20th Century Children's Book Treasury". The stories in that selection were outstanding picture books from the previous seven decades and were geared for younger children. She has now created a similar book with outstanding stories that have more words and fewer pictures. There are longer stories that can take longer than one sitting. And there are stories that will take a very short time to read. All of these outstanding selections will be enjoyed by your 5 to 8 year old. Some of the stories are easy enough, depending on the ability of your child's reading level, that they could read some of the story out loud as well. The most important part of this outstanding compilation is that these stories are excellent read-alouds. This is the kind of book that can easily be kept by your child's night stand and read from every single night. It would also be a perfect traveling book when on trips or just when driving in the car. (Every family should always have a book or two in a car because you never know when you might have to wait for someone, have a car problem, or worse, an accident. You can easily distract a child and help the time go by with a book on board.) Some of the selections from the book are: "Catwings" by Le Guin, "The Magic Finger", by Dahl, "Horton Hatches the Egg", by Seuss, and "Blue Moose", by Pinkwater.
Another outstanding compilation of stories for gift giving is "The Complete Adventures of Curious George", by Margaret and H.A. Rey. This particular book celebrates Curious George's 60th anniversary. The stories are all about a spunky little monkey who is always getting into trouble. He manages to touch things that never should be touched. He seems to always be getting lost, making a mess, or breaking something fragile. But Curious George is so cute that one can't help but smile and read on as his adventures are always interesting and funny. The first story in the book is about how the man in the large yellow hat captures George in Africa and brings him to America. George, of course, has many calamities along the way. And, once in America, the calamities don't stop. Each story in this new compilation is placed chronologically, according to when the story was first published. The print is large and easy to follow, and the pictures are all bright and engaging for young children. The introduction at the beginning of this new book is very interesting as it tells about how this Jewish couple (the authors) barely escaped the Nazi's as they fled on bicycle across the French border. This book will probably become very well worn because children will want it read to them again and again!
One of my very favorite author/illustrators has a brand new compilation of stories out just in time for Christmas. "Christmas Treasury", by Jan Brett, is full of wonderful tales of the northern countries. Her bright and colorful pictures reflect these northernmost lands. She has compiled seven of her most cherished stories in this collection. For example, you'll find "The Wild Christmas Reindeer", set in the North Pole, "Trouble with Trolls" describing the snowy landscape of Norway, and "The Hat" with a setting in Denmark. Even though these are stories with few words, the pictures and the tales are truly a treasure for any family to enjoy.