Selecting best books for kids no easy task
With the endless number of children's books available at libraries, bookstores and online, it's a challenge to know which ones are the real cream of the crop. That's been my job for 25 years, and I take that job very seriously.
So, too, do your local librarians. As you read this column, take note of “Librarian's Choice,” which features local libraries in a regular rotation. Your librarians have carefully selected books they recommend as excellent choices that youths will really enjoy.
In addition to this column, further ideas on the best books for children can be found on this column's companion website, www.greatestbooksforkids.com.
Expose youths to the best that children's literature has to offer, because the child in your life deserves nothing but the best.
The following book is available at favorite bookstores.“The Giant Jam Sandwich” written and illustrated by John Vernon Lord with verses by Janet Burroway, Houghton Mifflin, 30 pages; read aloud: age 2 and older; read yourself: age 6 to 7.One hot summer day, the village of Itching Down had a big problem on their hands when four million wasps flew into their town. There was a lot of stinging going on, and the villagers held a meeting to try and decide what to do.Fortunately, Bap the Baker came up with an excellent idea: make a giant strawberry jam sandwich and trap the wasps in the sticky mess!Everyone sprang into action to help create the largest jam sandwich in the world. Teamwork and clever thinking resulted in a very successful (and amusing) result, leaving Itching Down free from wasps forever.Rhyming, clever text and hilarious illustrations combine to make “The Giant Jam Sandwich” pure delight in every regard.
Library: Butler Area Public Library, 218 N. McKean St., ButlerLibrary Director: Lori CampbellYouth Services Librarian: Peter BessChoices this week: “Froggy's Sleepover” by Jonathan London; “Girls Hold Up This World” by Jada Pinkett Smith; “The Secret Garden” by Frances Hodgson Burnett
The following books are available at favorite bookstores.“Taka-chan and I: A Dog's Journey to Japan” by Runcible, as told to Betty Jean Lifton, photographs by Eikoh Hosoe, The New York Review of Books, 2012, 64 pages, $16.95 hardcover; read aloud: age 4 and older; read yourself: age 8 to 9.First published in 1967, it is most fortunate The New York Review of Books has selected this treasure for a second printing.Runcible (a dog) narrates his extraordinary adventure that begins on the beach in Cape Cod. Runcible was happily digging a deep hole in the sand when he discovered a long dark hole in front of him. Unable to turn around, he pressed forward. Exhaustion had almost taken its toll when suddenly he emerged from that tunnel to find himself on a beach in Japan.It was there he met a young Japanese girl, Taka-chan, who shares her terrible fate of being held prisoner by the Black Dragon. In order for Taka-chan (and now, Runcible as well) to be released, Runcible is tasked with finding the most loyal person in Japan and place a white flower at the person's feet. With Taka-chan by his side, the two have until sundown to succeed in their mission or forever be prisoners of the dragon.Filled with adventure, bravery and strong themes of loyalty, friendship and honor, this selection is nothing short of magical.“Infinity Ring, Book One: A Mutiny in Time” by James Dashner, Scholastic, 2012, 192 pages, $12.99 paper-over-board hardcover; read aloud: age 8 and older; read yourself: age 8 and older.On sale Aug. 28, this is the first book in a seven-book series that incorporates historical events, time travel and an online game component where players can take on the role of the book's main characters, and all of this is wrapped-up in the riveting plot that history is broken, and it must be fixed.Best friends Sera Froste and Dak Smyth have found the key to time travel — the Infinity Ring. Suddenly they are swept through time, recruited by a secret society that needs them to fix the “Great Breaks” in history that caused events to go off course. If they can't fix the breaks, it could mean disaster for all of civilization.Hang on to your seat — this one guarantees a breathless ride.Nationally syndicated, Kendal Rautzhan writes and lectures on children's literature. She can be reached at her website: www.greatestbooksforkids.com.
