2008 Notable Books for Children

FIVE 2008 NOTABLE BOOKS FOR CHILDREN

Nothing

By Jon Agee

The story begins by showing Otis, an antique dealer cleaning his store after selling everything in it. A customer, who is one of the wealthiest ladies in town, appears in his shop and asks what he has to sell. He simply states, nothing and this deranged woman states that she needs to buy nothing. She gives Otis a big old check and he quickly load nothing into the trunk of her vehicle. He is really unsure of what is happening. Soon the whole town wants to buy nothing and they need to make room for it, so they sell their old items to Otis. This is a really funny book that can be appreciated by young students.

First the Egg

By Laura Vacarro Seeger

This little book caught my attention as soon as I saw it at the book fair held at my school. I quickly picked it up and was impressed by what I saw. The books begins with the chicken and egg dilemma. It has a bunch of cause and effect pictures that is sure to capture the attention of Pre-K and Kinder students. I loved the colorful pictures and the relationships between the subjects. For instance Seeger shows a picture of a seed and then a flower: a tadpole and then a frog. I really enjoyed this lovely book and I know children will enjoy it too.

Good Enough To Eat

By Brock Cole

This tale begins with the introduction of a skinny homeless girl who doesn't even have a name. She lives in a village full of selfish people who are annoyed by her presence. One day an evil ogre comes to town and demands a bride. Of course the townspeople throw the young homeless girl to him. He denies her three times, but then offers her an opportunity to gain a dowry from the townspeople. She gains a sword and gold and finally the ogre deems her good enough to eat. She quickly kills the ogre and gains her freedom. Now all the townspeople want to be her friend, but she quickly turns her back on them. I loved this little story. This girl is a scrapper and is able to survive any situation. I would have liked the pictures to have been a little more vibrant, but they were still pretty good.

A Good Day

By Kevin Henkes

This adorable tale of four creatures, a bird, dog, fox and squirrel is really quite appealing. These creatures begin their day badly. The bird loses a feather. The dog's leash gets caught in the fence. The fox loses his mother. The squirrel loses her nut. These animals are certainly not having a fun day, but it is soon to change. It is a nice way to let children know that sometimes things may not begin with a bang, but better things are bound to come, you just have to focus on the positive. I really enjoyed the colorful drawings in this story.

Fred Stays With Me!
By Nancy Coffelt

This book revolves a wonderful story line and offers an equally appealing set of illustrations. Fred, the dog, is absolutely adorable. This poor girl must shuffle herself back and forth between her divorced parents. Along with her comes Fred, whose bad habits are not appreciated by the girl's parents. The young girl is insistent that Fred must continue to be with her and she tries to get rid of his bad habits. This book is such a sweet read, I know I will use it in read aloud this year.