Ages 0-4

Kitchen Dance

/ Sara Gentry 
Side by side with stacked plates they glide.
My father twirls my mother by one hand.
Laughing, she spins into his arms,
then out again, like a yo-yo on a string.

And so two children spy on their parents as an evening kitchen clean-up turns into a celebration of love and family. Maurie J. Manning has created a beautiful testimony to family love in her lyrical and exuberant Kitchen Dance.

Here are three things I like about this book:

  • The story is a beautiful glimpse of an ordinary moment, made extraordinary. Love oozes from the pages – between husband and wife, parents and children.
  • Manning’s artwork is glorious – full of color and color. In particular, I love the facial expressions on every page.
  • Though not a rhyming text, Manning’s writing is rhythmic. Readers will feel like they are swaying to the music and part of the dance.

Kitchen Dance is a beautiful family read-aloud, particularly for children ages 3-7. It would be a wonderful choice for a bedtime read.

I Got the Rhythm

/ Sara Gentry

I thought of a rhythm in my mind…

And so begins a young girl’s celebration of dance, music, and rhythm . I Got the Rhythm inspires kids to express their inner selves to connect with others in their community.

Here are three things I like about this book:

  • Author Schofield-Morrison’s text encourages readers to experience the rhythm with all their senses. Kids will want to clap and snap right along with the young dancer in the pages.
  • Morrison’s buoyant illustrations add another layer of liveliness. I love the diversity of characters and wide range of vibrant colors.
  • The strong sense of community in this book demonstrates how we can lift others up while at the same time being true to ourselves.

I Got the Rhythm is a great read-aloud for ages 3-6. For extra fun, kids could act out the motions as they happen in the book, ending with a big group dance party when the book is finished.

The King of Kindergarten

/ Sara Gentry

As school gears up again, there’s no denying this year will be a challenge for everyone, since no one is quite sure what pandemic schooling will look like. I imagine it’s even more daunting for new kindergartners who may already be tentative about starting school for the first time. Though The King Of Kindergarten walks through a typical first day before Covid-19 precautions were put into place, I imagine many young readers will still find comfort in its pages, and every little bit helps!

Here our three things I like about this book:

  • Author Derrick Barnes’ prose is simple, yet elegant, giving readers a better understanding of our regal protagonist. By using a second person POV, kids will feel like they are the King of Kindergarten, starting school for the first time.
  • Vanessa Brantley-Newton’s illustrations are sophisticated and layered, yet the overall mood is child-like. I love the wide range of color.
  • The joyous tone will make kids excited to go to school. There are games to be played, lessons to be learned, and new friends to be made.

The King of Kindergarten is a wonderful addition to the collection of first-day-of-school picture books. It shows a welcome diversity of children and adults, all of which are happy to learn and eager to make friends with each other. I recommend this book for all soon-to-be kindergartners.

Beautiful Ballerina

/ Sara Gentry

As more attention is given to racial equality, many book enthusiasts have created lists highlighting works by black authors, illustrators, and poets. While it is important to read books about the shameful atrocities of our nation’s past, we cannot limit our reading experience of the black community to slavery and Jim Crow laws. Children should be able to find books that feature black children doing the things many children love to do.

Beautiful Ballerina is such a book, celebrating young black dancers. Poet Marilyn Nelson’s lovely, lyrical verse matches with Susan Kuklin’s expressive photographs of young dancers from Dance Theatre of Harlem.

Here are three things I like about this book:

  • Nelson’s words are as graceful as the ballerinas pictured. I love her repetition of “Beautiful ballerina, you are the dance.”
  • Kuklin expertly captures photographs of ballerinas in motion, which I have to believe is not easy to do, especially in children who may not have quite achieved the body control of adult dancers. The solid color backgrounds accentuates the dancers’ presence, beautiful poses, and long lines.
  • Although Misty Copeland’s success has opened doors for young black ballet dancers, there is still a lingering stigma black girls don’t fit the profile of the ideal ballerina. This book turns that ridiculous notion on its head.

Beautiful Ballerina is a celebration of grace, strength, and beauty and makes one marvel at how ballerinas do what they do. My own ballerina loved this book. I recommend this book for all readers, and it will especially inspire young female dancers (alas, there are no male dancers in this book) between ages four to ten.

Is 2 A Lot?

/ Sara Gentry

I love numbers, patterns, and all things mathematical. (Which is a good thing. I studied math for ten additional years after high school!) I find that picture books incorporating math can be hit or miss, but I love the ones that do it well, especially those that present complex concepts for young readers in unique ways. Is 2 A Lot? (written by Annie Watson and illustrated by Rebecca Evans) does a fabulous job of conveying how numbers take on even greater meaning when we attach units to them.

While driving to their destination, Joey has a lot of questions for his mommy. To kick things off, he wants to know if two is a lot. Mommy’s answer is thoughtful. “Well, two is not a lot of pennies… but it is a lot of smelly skunks.” And so begins the journey to determine how much is a lot.

Watson has written a clever text that is beautifully structured and maximizes the effect of page turns. Evans’ illustrations are full of life, with some of the action scenes including multiple panels, as in a comic book.

Is 2 A Lot? is an excellent choice for kids ages 3-7. The beauty of this book is that while it is centered on a mathematical principle, it doesn’t come across as a book on math. I think kids would enjoy this story as a supplement to a classroom math study, but equally as a bedtime story.

Underwear

/ Sara Gentry

Bare bear is missing something… his underwear. His dad points out it’s over there, on the chair. This premise – the evergreen battle of parents trying to get their kids to bed – kicks off Jenn Harney’s comical picture book, Underwear.

With an ongoing rhyming scheme that seems to include all words rhyming with “bear,” Underwear is fun to read aloud. The pre-bed synopsis makes it a great choice to read before tucking your own kids into bed, with one caveat: all the giggles may have the opposite effect you wanted and make it more difficult for your kids to snuggle into their covers. It’s worth it.

We read this book multiple times in my house, and it garnered laughs each time. Harney’s illustrations add another layer of humor and energy to the clever text. If you’re looking for a quick and funny picture book to enjoy with little ones, I recommend Underwear. I suspect the target audience is ages 2-6, but don’t let that stop you from enjoying it with older kids, because Underwear is entertaining for all ages.

The Book With No Pictures

/ Sara Gentry

This book makes kids laugh. Hysterically. Or maybe that’s just mine. Over the last week, the best part of my day has been reading this book to my kids before bedtime. I think multiple readings have only increased the giggles, since my kids laugh in anticipation of what they know is coming next. For me, this makes The Book With No Pictures by B. J. Novak a worthy addition to our home library.

I love how this book promotes the importance of words in the most jubilant, undidactic way. It’s a great read aloud for children of all ages, for the littlest will giggle uncontrollably and even teens will be hard pressed not to smile. TIP: An exuberant performance is sure to bring the most laughs, which makes it most fun for the reader!

Knuffle Bunny

/ Sara Gentry

I admit it. The first time I read Knuffle Bunny: A Cautionary Tale by Mo Willems, I thought the book had received too my hype. Fun? Sure. But a modern children’s classic? I wasn’t convinced.

Fast forward a few years. I decided to re-visit Knuffle Bunny, and I also read Knuffle Bunny Too: A Case of Mistaken Identity and Knuffle Bunny Free: An Unexpected Diversion . Maybe I needed the full trilogy experience. Maybe it was the way my son asked me to read all the books again and again. Maybe it was the way the final Note to Trixie gave me all the feels. This time there was no doubt in my mind: the Knuffle Bunny books are indeed modern classics.

The first, Knuffle Bunny: A Cautionary Tale, introduces us to Trixie, her parents, and of course, her beloved Knuffle Bunny. Trixie’s toddler antics ensue when she accidentally leaves Knuffle Bunny in the laundromat, but lacks the verbal skills to tell her parents. The second, Knuffle Bunny Too: A Case of Mistaken Identity, introduces us to Trixie’s classmate and fellow toy bunny lover, Sonja. Trixie and Sonja fight over who has the best bunny, but after an inadvertent switch leaves each with the wrong bunny, they have to come together in order to be reunited with their own Knuffle Bunnies. The third and final installment, Knuffle Bunny Free: An Unexpected Diversion, takes Trixie, her parents, and Knuffle Bunny on a trip to Holland. Trixie is excited to see her grandparents, but devastated when she realizes she left Knuffle Bunny on the airplane.

The Knuffle Bunny books are funny yet poignant. I intend to gift them to newly expecting parents, as I think they belong in that special class of children’s books that are equally meaningful to parents as they are entertaining to kids. I enthusiastically recommend these books for kids ages 3-6, though don’t be surprised if the older kids still laugh and the adults fight back nostalgic tears.

Teach Your Giraffe to Ski

/ Sara Gentry

Great Spotties! Is that a GIRAFFE on the ski slopes?

The premise of a giraffe learning to ski is funny, for adults and kids. In Teach Your Giraffe to Ski (written by Viviane Elbee, illustrated by Danni Gowdy), a boy is trying to teach his giraffe the proper way to ski. But Giraffe doesn’t want anything to do with the bunny hill – he’s ready for the big, scary slopes! The boy will have to muster his courage if he’s going to catch and save his giraffe.

Teach Your Giraffe to Ski is certainly a fun choice for skiers and giraffe-lovers, but the underlying theme of overcoming fear make it a good read for a broader audience as well. Enjoy this book during the winter months, snuggled with your kids, while laughing at the antics of fearless (and often clueless) Giraffe as he learns to ski.

Blue

/ Sara Gentry

Stunning paintings, brilliantly placed cutouts, and the perfect thirty-two words make  Laura Vaccaro Seeger’s Blue one of my favorite pictures books of all time. Following in the style of her picture book Green, which won a Caldecott Honor, Seeger takes it one step further by adding an underlying plot of great emotional depth. I marvel at her ability to tell the life story of a boy and his dog over seventeen spreads, with minimal text. The result is profound and poignant.

I highly recommend this picture book for children and adults of all ages. Blue is a particularly good choice for anyone mourning the death of a pet. Younger children will appreciate the cleverness of the illustrations and cutouts, and at the very least, will learn to recognize various shades of blue. Older children will likely grasp the subtle plot and deeper feelings permeating through the book. I also recommend Green by the same author, though it is more about the colors and illustrations and does not have the same weight of the newer Blue.