Children's Books March 2016

 Children's books are an occasional feature on my blog as I get a chance to read new books to my preschool grandchildren. Last week was a big week for grandchildren because of a sick granddaughter and two snow days with Grandma in charge. Here are the new books we read last week.

Welcome to the Symphony

by Carolyn Sloan; Illustrated by James Williamson

Workman Publishing     2015

My 3-year-old grandson was absolutely enamored with Welcome to the Symphony. This is a concept book that introduces children to an orchestra presentation of Beethoven's 5th Symphony using little mice to tell the story. Numbers on the page match a number on a sound panel. The child is able to match the picture of the instrument in the orchestra with the sound that the instrument makes. Davick loved it. He kept pointing to the instrument and playing the sound—over and over. He played the "daddy" string bass, the "mommy" cello, and the baby "violin," but he was particularly happy to play the timpani. Adela, who is 4, read the book with me one time and then she moved on to other things. Davick interacted with the book for about an hour.

This would not be an appropriate book for a library, because after about an hour, the batteries in the sound panel died. It is much better used in the home. I do think, however, that a music teacher would find great value in using this book prior to a visit to a symphony concert.

How Many Legs

by Katja Spitzer

Flying Eye Books     2015

Let's Go Outside

by Katja Spitzer

Flying Eye Books   2015

These are two simple little books that proved to be surprisingly interactive for my grandchildren. My granddaughter, who is 4, is learning her letters and numbers and she was intrigued by the simplicity of the words in the books.

She could read Let's Go Outside because there was only one word on the page and it matched the picture. I read it once, and then she read it to me.  

How Many Legs was fun for my 3-year-old grandson because he liked the counting. We read it two times, and then he carried How Many Legs around for the rest of the morning.

I think that I would use these books for bedtime books and for beginning readers. They are short and sweet, the pictures are fun, and the children seemed to relate well to them.

Putter and the Red Car

by Kate K. Lund. Illustrated by Ana Maria Velicu

Kate Lund, Publisher     2016

Putter and his family take a trip across the United States from Boston to Seattle. Simple illustrations and a simple story help children adapt to the idea of moving, or to the idea of a long car ride. Putter, the dog, gets bored and needs to run. The family sees some fascinating sites, and they arrive gratefully at their new home. 

Adela was only mildly interested in Putter and the Red Car, perhaps because we were trying to read it on a Kindle. It might have been more interesting in the paperback format. I think, however, that this is probably a marginal purchase, perhaps for a family planning a long trip. "Are we there, yet?"