I’m teaching literature this year in a program for homeschool kids. The most challenging group is the fourteen six-and-seven-year-olds. Reading levels in the group are so varied that I’m focusing on excellent picture books, and they are loving it. More than half of these kids were in last year’s five-year-old class, so I can’t rerun…
Author: Diane Pendergraft
Old Ironsides
“The story is told that one British sailor cried out in desperation, ‘Look, her sides are made of iron.’” Her sides were not made of iron. However, “Once planked inside and out, Constitution’s hull would be a solid wall of wood almost 2 feet thick,” covered with copper sheeting. “She is a frigate and the…
Lois Lenski’s “Small” and “Little” Books
I remember . . . The silence of the imposing building gives me chills. Maybe kids don’t really belong here. But look! In this room, everything is just the right size for me. Shelves are loaded with books, but I can reach all but the very top. Oh, my! Kid-sized tables with little round stools…
Little Old Bear
“Once upon a time there was a little old Teddy bear. He was so old that he had lost his fur and his eyes and he was not the handsome little bear he had once been. “The children he had played with had grown up and gone away, and so he lay in a dusty…
Patsy and the Pup
Patsy’s mother thinks almost five years old is too young to take care of a puppy. But one day, a sweet pup follows Patsy all the way home. Patsy hopes she can keep him. Unfortunately, the mailman knows the pup belongs to old Mrs. Murphy in the pink cottage on the hill. Mother sends Patsy…
The Ring and the Fire
C.S. Lewis said some of his earliest stabs of joy came from tales of “Northernness.” For a time, he was obsessed with Wagner’s Ring. Northernness pervades J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings trilogy. Despite my love for the works of these two authors, I hadn’t bothered much about Norse mythology. But, Clyde Robert Bulla’s…
Down Down the Mountain
“Never in their lives had Hetty or Hank had a pair of shoes . . . They each wanted a beautiful shining pair that sang, ‘Creaky–squeaky–creaky–squeaky,’ every time they walked.” It’s fun going barefoot in the summer, but in the winter snow, their feet get blue with cold. When they ask their mammy for shoes,…
We Were Tired of Living in a House
This delightful picture book had me laughing on the first page, before I read a single word! Who hasn’t seen this exact look on the face of a child who has absolutely “had it?” “So we packed a bag with sweaters and socks and scarves and mittens and woolen caps.” The cat and dog follow…
Jenny and the Cat Club
I didn’t know, until I was looking for information about the author of The Fire Cat, that Esther Averill wrote a series of cat stories. In 1944, she published her first story about the cat, Jenny Linsky, Jenny and the Cat Club. In a note From the Author in a 1973 edition, Averill says: “Yes,…
The Fire Cat
Fire Cat by Esther Averill is a Level 1 Beginning Reader in the HarperCollins “I Can Read” series. It was first published in 1960. The fire cat’s name is Pickles. Pickles wants to do something big, but there is nothing big to do in the old yard where he lives, so he chases other cats….
More Frances the Badger Books by Russell Hoban
Bread and Jam for Frances is my favorite Frances the Badger book, but that may be because it was the first one I read. I love all the little songs she makes up about food. A Birthday for Frances, Best Friends for Frances, and A Bargain for Frances complete the Frances series. All six Frances…
Julie of the Wolves
Julie of the Wolves is a title I have often seen on lists of good books for children. It seems to be recommended for children starting in about fifth grade. Because there is a perpetual controversy surrounding this book because of a “rape” scene, I wanted to know for myself what all the hubbub was…
Let’s Learn About Mushrooms
This book is a charming example of how to teach science to children with stories, pictures, and hands-on activities rather than textbooks. I know mushrooms are fungi, but I’ve never done much mushroom study, so they really are rather mysterious to me. One thing I appreciate about books like this is that they provide enough…
Mr. Pine’s Purple House
“Mr. Pine lived on Vine Street in a little white house.” Which was fine. But there were fifty identical white houses on Vine Street. Mr. Pine just wanted to be able to tell which house was his. He has an idea! He plants a little pine tree in his front yard so his house will…
Sammy the Seal
Published in 1959, Sammy the Seal was the third book Syd Hoff wrote for the “I Can Read” series. The plot is much like Danny and the Dinosaur. Sammy the seal lives in the zoo, but he is sad because he wants to go see what it’s like outside. He has been a good seal,…