The Crown on Your Head by Nancy Tillman

I bought this beautifully illustrated book with my daughter in mind.  Since the Fall of 2012 Sophia has been extremely interested in all sparkling, shimmering and princess things.  She has also come to pretend and believe that she is a princess.  This has at times become for her a competitive exercise in which she has to be first and better than everyone.  In "The Crown on Your Head" Nancy Tillman speaks to her child/any child about the crown on her/his head and explains how everyone is special in their own way.  I hope her message that "No one's is brighter, no one's is duller" will sink in with Sophia and that she will come to recognize her own inner beauty without having to rely on being a princess to be special.  As soon as I bought this book I knew it was also perfect to share with one of my English language learners.  He had told me that he believed he would never do anything right in his life.  And I wanted to tell him he was wrong in a way that was kind, sensitive, and nurturing.  This book was perfect for the occasion.  Not only it is a great read aloud for children ages two through ten,  but it also contains language that is simple and poetic.  Its message, that we must all believe in ourselves, is one that cannot be shared often enough.  We can all benefit from noticing and reminding each other of the beauty we carry around!

The Green Book by Jill Patton Walsh

The Green Book is about the journey of a group of Earthlings who must escape their dying planet.  They leave Earth on an outdated spaceship in search of a new planet where they may be able to settle and start a new life.  Some of my fourth grade students felt that the book was too simple, short, and lacked development.  They wished the book had described what happened to the inhabitants of the new planet in more detail.  Although some of my students felt unsatisfied by the time they finished the book, reading it provided us with a variety of learning opportunities.  We were able to discuss space travel, causes of a dying Earth, the making of a perfect planet, and so much more!  It is a thought-provoking book highly pertinent to discussions of environmental responsibility on Earth and beyond.  I highly recommend this book for classroom use where great discussions may take place!

Brian Wildsmith's Bilingual Board Books

When I first started reading to my daughter Sophia, I purchased a series of board books by Brian Wildsmith that are written in both Portuguese and English.  The books offer simple, colorful illustrations accompanied by verbal descriptions in both languages.  I found these simple books excellent in helping my children develop vocabulary for colors, different types of animals, opposites, shapes and sizes.  The books are offered in a variety of languages including Spanish, French, German, Italian, Vietnamese, and Chinese.  I read these books to both my children quite a bit until they were about twenty months. They also read them by themselves and enjoyed them quite a bit.  If you are considering exposing your child to more than one language, these are great little books to help you get started.

The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane by Kate DiCamillo

Edward Tulane is a porcelain rabbit doll that embarks in a series of unexpected and unwanted adventures through which he learns important lessons in life.  Edward's most important discovery is understanding the meaning of love and friendship.  This book is a sweet addition to any library: Kate DiCamillo offers readers a beautiful gift in her storytelling.  It is a lovely book to be read with children, at home or in the classroom.  I found this book so touching that I am planning to include it in my curriculum. 

Someday by Alison McGhee and illustrated by Peter H. Reynolds

Someday is a lovely picture book in which a mom talks to her daughter about many of the life events the daughter will someday go through.  When I first read this sweet book with tenderhearted illustrations, I cried as I imagined my own daughter growing up and becoming her own person in the world.  My daughter, on the other hand, had a very different reaction to the book.  She was fascinated by the illustrations and the characters' actions.  She 'read' it many times and took it to bed with her as she worked out in her mind how the little girl became a big girl and then a woman.  I am not sure she has figured out that the woman becomes older and older.  But Someday helped introduce the idea of change and growth.

A Long Walk to Water by Linda Sue Park

In A Long Walk to Water author Linda Sue Park tells two stories of hardship that take place at two different time periods in Southern Sudan.  Salva's story, based on a true story, begins in 1985 when as a schoolboy he is separated from his family because of the war between the Islamic government and the Southern Sudanese.  He begins his long journey to escape the violent conflict and to be reunited with his family again.

The second story begins in 2008.  It is the story of a girl who has not known life without the hardships of fetching water from a distant source.  Not only are Nya's own education and life possibilities limited due to her responsibility for securing the family's water, but also the life of her brother is almost lost to water-born disease.

A Long Walk to Water reminds us how lucky we are to have easy access to water.  It also shows us how we can be part of the solution in bringing about a better world.  The lives of many can be easily saved by making small donations to Salva's www.waterforsudan.org or other organizations like www.wateraid.org or www.water.org.  My students were certainly inspired and got involved in being part of the solution.

The Cat in the Hat

My son absolutely loves this book.  I must have read it at least a hundred times.  Every time I read it I think about something new.  The rhyming and repetition are great for little ones.  But what I think makes my toddler really interested in the book is the fact that he can add new words to his expanding vocabulary.  I read the book in English and we talk about it in Portuguese.  Every time I read it, he finds something new to point to and says the new word he learned.  He is so proud of himself when he succeeds. 

My daughter also loves reading the book, but for different reasons.  I get to test her comprehension of the story in English.  But, she also gets a chance to practice saying some sentences in Portuguese.  The Cat in the Hat is not just about learning new words or reading comprehension.  It gets the kids thinking about when their room and house are messy and what is the right thing to do when mom is not home.  I am not sure how I feel about the sense of fear the Fish instills in the children by constantly asking about what would Mother do if she knew.  That is another aspect of parenting I am still trying to work out.  But for now, we will keep reading this classic almost every night!