What Are You Reading? 06/10/24

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? is a weekly blog hop co-hosted by Unleashing Readers and Teach Mentor Texts which focuses on sharing books marketed for children and young adults. It offers opportunities to share and recommend books with each other.

I can hardly believe we’re already well into June. Here in my province, the school year finishes at the end of June, so as you can imagine, there’s a buzz of excitement in the air as children count down the days until the start of summer holidays. I’ve been a busy bee visiting local schools to talk about summer programming at the library, but I always find time to share stories with my newly-minted 5 year old. Here are a few books we’ve read recently:

Turbo’s Special Delivery – If you’ve got a small child who only seems to have one speed setting – turbo! – this simple, straight-forward story of a truck who learns the value of taking more care might be just the thing. My son can affectionately be described as a tornado – he’s constantly in motion, which often means crashing into things and knocking them over. The damage is never intentional, he’s just so full of energy and life that he can’t help but move! Sometimes, though, you do need to be more mindful of your body, especially when you’re doing an important job or in a special place like a shop, and as with all life lessons, cheery stories with endearing characters can help make learning this a bit easier, or at least more interesting. The story is extremely straightforward and on the nose, but sometimes that’s exactly what you want. Perfect for any truck-loving little hurricanes.

Gigantic: The small whale with a big heart – The story, which is reminiscent of Rudolph the Red-Nose Reindeer and similar “you’re different, so I’ll make fun of you until your difference proves valuable” tales, is sweet, and the rhyming text works well, but it’s the artwork in this oceanic picture book that really shines. Rob Biddulph is a very talented illustrator, and his aquatic scenes burst with vibrant life. If you’re looking for a similar story I’d recommend the classic The Little Blue Truck, which uses a tighter, snappier text to share its “we might be small but we can save the day if we work together” message. Still, this is a beautiful book to look at, so I’d recommend checking it out if just for the artwork.

I’m Going to Build a Snowman – So, this is an odd book to be recommending in June, but I still love, love, love it so much, and for some reason I don’t think I’ve mentioned it here on the blog before. Whether you work with children or raise them, you’ve likely encountered the frustration that can arise when a project doesn’t turn out the way the creator envisioned. My son is a LEGO fanatic, but sometimes his brain is ahead of his motor skills, and he can’t manage to manipulate the small pieces to create the complex designs he dreams up. When the build doesn’t come out just right, the meltdowns can be intense. This extremely simple, wonderfully charming story reminds young readers that its the building process that really matters – as long as you have fun making whatever it is that you’re making, you’re a success! Some of the kids in my art programs struggle with perfectionism – “teacher, I can’t DO it!” is a constant refrain. Challenging this need for perfection is one of the reasons I emphasize process art in my workshops, because I want children to learn to embrace mess, imperfection, failure as natural parts of the creative process. If you’re having fun, you’re doing it right. Even if your snowman, like the one in this book, looks a little worse for wear. 😉

Do You Like my Bike? – My son is enrolled in two weeks of bike camp over the summer, so this entry in one of our favourite early readers series couldn’t have come at a better time. Hedgehog has an awesome new bike, but when he invites his friend Harry to try it out, Harry doesn’t seem interested. Harry is hiding a secret – he can’t ride without training wheels, and he’s afraid that Hedgehog will be too embarrassed to be seen riding with him! Hedgehog isn’t worried – everyone learns to ride at their own pace, and when Harry is ready, he’ll be riding on two wheels, too. This series has quickly become one of our favourites, and I (and more importantly, my newly-minted five year old) highly recommend them!

Who Needs a Checkup? Harry is nervous about his upcoming check up, so Hedgehog helps him build confidence with a bit a role-playing, which gives Harry a better idea of what to expect at the appointment. The story reminds me of the refrain in Daniel Tiger – when we do something new, we talk about what we’ll do, which references the power of knowledge when managing anxiety. When kids have an idea of what to expect, it can really help build confidence and manage some of the fear that can come with the unknown. Role-playing with children can be an effective and fun way to prepare them for a new experience. Another winner from the Hello, Hedgehog series!

After a chilly, rainy start to the month (the traditional Pacific Northwest “Junuary”), we’ve got clear skies, sunny days and warm weather in the forecast, and I couldn’t be happier. Bring on the lazy, hazy days of summer!

Have another wonderful week, fellow readers!