Children's Book of the Week: 4

Okay, I've calmed down a bit after our miserable day yesterday, and have found a reason to blog. It's another Children's Book of the Week! This is one of Audrey's favorites:

You're Different and That's Super
by Carson Kressley

This book may look kind of silly. Well, it is kind of silly, and it's written by Carson Kressley, the tan, blonde man of "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy" fame. Yep, he wrote a children's book. The book is a little bit humorous, I don't love the illustrations, but the message is a good one, and it's a funny idea. This is the story of Trumpet, who lived among horses, and was ostracized and teased for being a little different. When he turns one year old, he starts growing a horn, and even though he's really a unicorn, his friends tease him even more. One fateful day, the barn catches fire and the horses inside are doomed until Trumpet arrives, unlocks the door with his horn, and instantly becomes a hero. He's finally accepted because of his difference, and that, I believe, is a good lesson for my little ones to learn.

Find this book here!

Children's Book of the Week: 3

We're in cowboy mode around here. After a weekend at the rodeo, Audrey's week of learning about Texas history at school, and our planning for her impending birthday at the ranch, we're almost all tuckered out. But not yet. This week's book is one of my favorites in our collection. It's a compilation of stories about

The Brave Cowboy
by Joan Walsh Anglund.


"Once there was a cowboy. He was strong and brave. He was not afraid of coyotes. He was not afraid of mountain lions. He was not afraid of ornery rustlers."

This charming little book was originally published in 1959. The author based the little boy on the adventures her own 3-year-old would imagine. The stories follow the brave cowboy through his day as he has imaginary adventures with Indians, wild animals, and outlaws. He is drawn in a simple black line-drawing style, and the red illustrations represent the brave cowboy's imaginary world. He must bravely defend himself against bandits, wrestle rattlesnakes, and rescue stagecoaches and fair maidens.

You may remember this book from when you were little. I'm pretty sure I do, or maybe it's just the style of Anglund's drawings that take me back. Either way, this book is one we treasure. It's a perfect little glimpse into the mind of an independent little boy and the way he imagines himself to be. Check it out here!

Anglund also wrote Cowboy's Secret Life, Cowboy and his Friend, and The Cowboy's Christmas. They're kind of hard to find, but if you hunt a little, you'll come across one for your family!

Children's Book of the Week: 2

Abe Lincoln: The Boy Who Loved Books

by Kay Winters

"In the wilds of Kentucky, 1809, a boy was born. His mother called his Abraham, his last name was Lincoln. His bed was made from corn husks, his covers, skins from bears. His cabin built with logs from towering trees."

This book is new to our library, and I actually got it from the school's ever-popular Scholastic Book Order (of which we receive 4 per month). Again, always hard for me to pass up purchasing books, especially at a discount! If a book can teach and entertain at the same time, it gets a double nod of approval from me. My kids love to read fiction and non-fiction, which is how they've learned all they know about sharks, the solar system and Egypt! This book is told as a story, but you can talk to your children how it is real, and they will forever know that Abraham Lincoln was a good and honorable man. This book not only has beautiful, simplistic oil paintings as illustration by Nancy Carpenter, but teaches children about Mr. Lincoln, one of the greatest men of all time.

"As Abe grew, he talked to travelers--heard where they'd been, where they were going. He saw their world was wider than his own. His ideas stretched. His questions rose. His dreams were stirred."

This simple narrative follows Abe as he grows up, as his family moves, and his mother dies. It shows us how he eventually went "from the wilderness to the White House," as he learned that "it was unjust to own another," that "words could change the way folks thought," and as he discovered the "power of words and used them well."

Now you know why it's one of my new favorites. You can get this absolutely beautiful book here. I'm clicking over to Amazon right now to check out the other books by Kay Winters.

Children's Book of the Week: 1

I've decided to copy one of my blogging idols, Design Mom, and feature a children's book each week that we have enjoyed in our home. I buy books like I buy milk, so we have children's books coming out of our ears. I have so many favorites, some from my childhood, and some we've recently discovered. So get out your Amazon wish list, and take some notes!

This is my all-time favorite children's book, and my mom and sister both share my opinion that it is perhaps the sweetest book ever written.

Bear by Himself
by Geoffrey Hayes

"There are times when a bear has to be alone with himself. To think his own thoughts and sing his own songs."

Bear is so content to be alone, his daily actions are so simple ("smelling the rain, listening to the quiet"), and so endearing, that you will find yourself, when you have come to the end of the story, with a little tear in your eye and a compulsion to go back to the first page and read it again. I'm serious, it's that good! When I was young, Stephanie and I would check this book out from our little library over and over again. The bear looks strikingly similar to her cherished bear friend, Nosy Nosy, and I think we both secretly hoped that if we checked this little book out enough times, eventually they would just let us keep it. I found vintage copies of the first printing for me, my mom, and sister. The photo above is of the newer printing, and although it is cute, the original (1976) is just pencil drawings with hints of green watercolor splashed in all the right places. Perhaps it's the memory of reading it with my mom as a child that makes it so special to me, but this one is a must for every children's library!