I got to hold my second picture book today (I'm the author)! The first in the series is daytime-themed, and they contrast so beautifully next to each other. Sandra Attema-Welte is the illustrator, and she did *such* an incredible job. I'm SO excited!!
On a lark, I started reading The Hobbit to my son at bed about a month and a half ago. Didn’t expect him to be able to sit through it with no pictures, but lo and behold, we just finished it last week. Obviously he’s too young to grasp it all, but if you ask him to tell you the story he can give you the major plot points and character names like Bilbo, Golem, Thoren, Smaug, Gandalf, etc. (you wouldn’t believe how cute it is to hear a 2.5 year old say “Thoren Oakenshield”).
Looking for something new to see if we can catch lighting in a bottle twice. Ideally something fantastical but light. Dragons, knights, wizards, that sorta thing. Something around the same reading level (or a bit below) as The Hobbit would be perfect.
Finally got the official copy of my 2nd children's book I wrote/illustrated 🥹❤️ So incredibly excited! 🥰
Edited to add: it releases 9/1 🥳
Looking for good, age-appropriate books for kinders to discuss wants, not needs and equity in the classroom. We want to address the “that’s not fair” when other kids get fidgets or specialized seating. So far it’s been hard to find a picture book that covers it all!
As the title says, I need recommendations for books on thankfulness or even better if it’s Thanksgiving themed. This is for a group of kids kinder-2nd grade. Preferably something Christian themed or at the very least not political at all. A somewhat quick read as well, nothing longer than 10 minutes.
Hey folks, I like to find and purchase old vinyl records that have absolutely no recording of their media anywhere online. Today, I ripped and uploaded a video of the first ever (as far as I'm aware) vinyl audiobook of Sammy The Seal, a pretty classic mid-century children's book. Never been on this sub before, so if this isn't the place for this, feel free to remove my post! I'll link the video to this post in case anyone is interested in hearing it themselves, you're likely to be the first people to hear it in decades. Sammy The Seal Audiobook on Vinyl
Background: My 3 year old son goes to an all-boys pre-school. My wife runs her own counselling business, I'm in construction. My wife has been full-time stay-at-home mum for the last 2 years (after returning to work 7 days after birth and burning out and regretting missing his first year of life). It doesn't help that my job is a physical job that he can relate with (hit a nail with a hammer) while hers (like a doctor by for the brain... but not actually the physical brain) is much harder to explain to a 3 year old
We saw a female neighbour head to work this morning, LO asked where she was going. I told him she was off to work. He replied "girls don't work, daddies work". I tried to correct him, then realise he's not only reflecting what he sees but also the messaging of a lot of books we read to him (mum involved in domestic duties, daddy working). While we'll be mindful of our messaging, we're looks for book recs to help us support this. We want to start now, especially as he'll be attending an all-boys school down the track.
Tl;dr: I'm not looking for books about dads at home doing laundry and playing with their kids (i do that already), or about books with great female MCs doing traditionally female things (Gymnastica Fantastica comes to mind), I'm looking for books about women, women in occupations, women going on big adventures fighting literal dragons (ala Paper Bag Princess)
I feel like teaching phonics + early reading has created a mini archive in my brain that's sole purpose is to store children's book dialogue loool
I think Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! by Mo Willems is probably the one seared into my brain the most. I’ve read it with kids like infinite times by this point, so I’ve accidentally memorized an embarrassing amount of it 😭😭 There are certain pages where I don't even have to look at them anymore, my brain just knows exactly what comes next.
and honestly, now that I'm thinking about this more, I probably know a solid chunk of Mo Willems books by heart at this point with how much I’ve read them with and to my students 😂 they're always fan favorites and I'm reading em so often, I could probably do a bunch of Elephant & Piggie dialogues from memory and even read a few pages of the books blindfolded hahahaha
I suppose this is just one of the side effects of reading the same books to kids over and over again, but I never really thought about how much children's literature I've probably accidentally memorized until I had to read the story again yesterday and knew every beat loooool.
This is probably just what happens when you spend enough time reading children's books, I'm sure there are plenty other educators/librarians/parents out there who have a few books unintentionally, permanently etched into their memories too!!
Earlier this year I shared a few previews of my Halloween search-and-find book here, but I never posted an entire spread because I didn't want to spoil too much. Now that Halloween season is getting closer, I thought it would be fun to finally share one complete page.
This spread takes place in a zombie-filled graveyard, where the Graveyard Keeper is hosting a spooky party. Your challenge is to find the host and all the hidden objects on the list. Every inch of the illustration was drawn by hand, and I hid lots of little jokes and details throughout the scene.
I'd genuinely love to know what you notice first—or whether you can actually find everything without giving up. 😄
I'm happy to answer any questions about the illustration, the creative process, or the book itself. Have fun searching!
My 8 year old used to love bedtime stories but lately getting them to sit down and read independently for 15 minutes a day feels like a constant negotiation. We tried physical reward charts on the fridge but the excitement wore off after a week. Between screen time competition and school requirements, how are you encouraging genuine children reading habits at home?
What started as a tribute to a friend who lost their battle to depression led to me being encouraged to publish the story.
The Sunshine Kid has a sun atop his head and wherever he goes he spreads joy and laughter. But sometimes the sun turns into a storm. The Sunshine Kid hides his storm away not wanting others to see. Eventually he learns that he can lean on friends even on the cloudiest day.
Check it out!
Link to hardcover https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-sunshine-kid-kelly-schwan/1151086044?ean=9798234113566
Link to paperback https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0HFF2VHXY/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0
My kid is turning six soon. I’m looking for a timeless illustrated hardcover book to gift her that she’ll enjoy as a kid and keep as an adult.
Some ideas: Shel Silverstein poetry collection, Dr. Seuss anthology, a collection of fairy tales. She would love anything with especially beautiful illustrations and/or humorous prose.
If possible, I’d love to gift her a book that has diversity of cultures, races, bodies and abilities, family structures, etc. I’d also love to discover some published in the last 20 years (not just repeating what I knew as a kid).
Looking for your favorite books that DON’T include tantrums/characters saying they hate things/throwing things/etc. My toddler is pretty mild mannered, but very quickly picks up on new concepts and starts repeating things they learn in books, even if the goal of the story is to show how they’re not supposed to have tantrums or misbehave or whatever.
I understand they’re teaching moments and all that, but would like to have more stories where I don’t have to explain why we don’t throw food out of the grocery cart or why we don’t tell our mother “I hate meatloaf”.
Multiple Llama Llama stories include this, Grumpy Monkey, the “How Do Dinosaurs” series, some Kevin Henke books, and random other stories we’ve picked up from the library include this concept. There are many, many stories we enjoy that don’t include this but trying to add more options to the list as well.
I am an aspiring children's book author. I want to be more well-versed in child development and education before publishing my first book to ensure my stories are able to genuinely resonate with children and aid in teaching important skills/lessons.
In general, what are the elements of a story (even in a TV show) that experts suggest taking into account? Or, as a parent, what do YOU personally look for? What differentiates a regular children's book versus something you recommend every parent reads to their children?
In other words, if you could make your ideal children's book, what would it include?
Feel free to list anything; it can be illustrations, character dynamics, storytelling style, how the4 characters handle conflict, etc.
I know stories are nuanced, and there is not a singular checklist of items that constitute a great book, but I'm hoping to gather as much feedback as I can from both experts and parents alike. Any resources would be awesome too!
Hi everyone! I recently published my first book, a Christmas-themed middle-grade story about two boys: a bully who has only played the role of king in every school nativity play, and a new transfer student who becomes the target of that bullying. Enter a new drama teacher, who completely flips the script, changing the boys' world upside down, and the story explores how the two will handle the chaos that ensues. Besides being a writer, I'm a huge reader, and I totally judge books by their covers and blurbs. I hired an illustrator to design the cover and worked hard to make it look like something that I would actually pick to read myself.
I'd love to know your thoughts on the cover and the blurb. Specifically the following:
You can find the book in both paperback and Kindle versions on Amazon. You can also find it on Goodreads if you need more information.
In my hometown, the river has flowed through generations, carrying with it the stories, memories and spirits of the people who have lived along its banks. Because of this, pottery made from the river’s alluvial clay feels more than simply handmade, it carries something deeply spiritual and unique.
Basically the title.
My daughter and son are 4-year-old twins and are taking ballet class and are going to be in The nutcracker. I'd like to find a picture book that we can read together To get them excited.
Most of the books that I've been able to find about ballet have only girls in them.
The ones that have a boy in the book are about being the only boy in ballet class. I don't want my son to think that it's weird for him to do ballet class since this is the activity that he chose to do. (Plus, his ballet class has three boys).
I feel like books about being the only boy are creating problems that don't exist for us yet but I would like a book that has some male representation.
The plot isn't as important since they are four. Even if it's a book about a girl who does ballet but there are boys in the background in her class that would be fine.
Thanks, I know this is kind of specific.
How long did it take you to get your book out? From first notes/draft all the way to publishing day. I just realized I wrote my first book about 4 months ago and feel like it’s been forever (22 pages, 2 lines per page). A friend is illustrating and I’m so thrilled with everything going on, but I feel like there’s no real end in sight. Maybe I’m being unrealistic!?
With the school year officially starting back up (😭😭😭😭) I'm trying to put together a list of good, FUNNY books I can use during some of my early read alouds with my younger students ((:
I'm a phonics + early reading educator working with kids in the the K - 3 age range, and I really like having some books ready that are just genuinely more than anything FUN to read with the kids, especially during those first couple weeks when everybody is still getting comfortable with each other!!
I feel like getting the kids laughing during reading time is such an easy/free way to help them start associating books with actually having a good time, and it helps some of the shyer kids loosen up a little too + it's honestly just fun trying to figure out what kind of humor each student has LOOL
Always a funny start to the class discovering which kids will laugh at literally anything and which ones are sitting there with the most serious straight face imaginable the entire story 🗿
So here I am asking to find out: what children's books have gotten the most and/or biggest laughs out of your kids/students?? I'm especially looking for ones where you can read it aloud to a group of kids and pretty much guarantee at least ONE of em is gonna lose it from laughter lol and hopefully others follow suit
also bonus points if it's somehow a book that actually manages to be funny enough to make you (the adult) laugh or chuckle along with them 😂 I've found this much more rare but it occasionally happens and I always appreciate being able to appreciate the humor in it with the kids too
I'd rly love to hear what y'all recommend!! I'm always trying to add more books to my mental list of noteworthy childrens books lol, and especially right now I'm looking for some that can help make those first few weeks of reading time feel extra fun and less intimidating