I’m busy working on the second Moonbow newsletter, but in the meantime, I thought it would be fun for us to get to know each other. I want this newsletter to be a community, and I’m excited to learn and discover things about children’s books from YOU! Let’s start with an easy opener question:
What is your all-time favorite children’s book? (Bonus points if you also tell us why you love it.)
I can’t pick just one! Some of the most important books in my life were picture books: The Snowy Day, Corduroy, Miss Nelson is Missing, Strega Nona. I’ve talked about this before but I have immigrant parents and English isn’t their first language, and they didn’t really know that they should buy us books and read them to us. These were the first books I remember being read to us in school and they completely changed my life and opened up my whole world. My kid is a little scared of Miss Nelson is Missing, ha!
I also talk about this one a lot but one of my favourite contemporary kids’ books is Birdsong by Julie Flett (lovely, contemplative, a reminder of the cycles of life). It’s basically perfect, as far as I’m concerned. I love to think about all the talented Canadian women working in kids’ books these days, ha (Julie Flett, Julie Morstad, Isabelle Arsenault…).
I absolutely adore 'Fortunately' by Remi Charlip. The book was published in 1964, and still holds up. I've read it for my nieces and nephews many, many (many) times. There's no great lesson to be learned (or at least that I've been able to unpack) and it's such a simple narrative/concept but its humor has stood the test of time. I have so much fun reading it to them because it always delivers belly laughs.
I will always be forever in love with Littlest Family’s Big Day and This is Sadie, because those two books were instant favorites and both illustrators Emily Winfield Martin and Julie Morstad can do know wrong and create magical worlds that children want to be in. Chirri and Chirra also achieves creating the perfect magical realm that my child loves to follow along to. Frog and Toad series will also have a special place in my heart because of how much my child loves their dynamic. I am about to write an essay on this because I can’t pick one ha! Other honorable mentions- The Night Kitchen and anything by Sendak, Piggy in the Puddle, I want my Hat Back, Leo a Ghost Story, Strega Nona, Mushroom Fan Club…
Apr 10, 2022·edited Apr 10, 2022Liked by Taylor Sterling
Where the Sidewalk Ends was delightful to me as a kid and made a lasting impression on me. The poems were so funny and fantastical! I know it sparked my love of poetry. Dogger by Shirley Hughes is my favorite children's story, being able to relate to the main character losing his favorite toy, it was really touching and heartwarming to me. (And on the topic of Shirley Hughes, Out & About is one I discovered as an adult and really love). Best of all I love Hunger Valley by Edward S. Fox, published in 1965. It's best for older children/very young teen. Unfortunately it's out of print, very likely due to the content, but it's a badass, dark, gritty survival story that takes place in Donner Pass. My mother in law has her copy from her childhood, but I've never been able to find a copy of my own. Still holding hope that I get ahold of one someday!
When my husband was growing up he was part of a children's book club that mailed him new books every month. His parents saved nearly all of them and I just adore them. Bunya the Witch, Sylvester and the Magic Pebble, Phil the Ventriloquist and Animal Cafe are a few of my most favorites from that collection. They're so fun to read to our kids today. I also love The Book about Moomin, Mymble and Little My - it's such a fun adventure story. And I have to mention a few board books like Close Your Eyes, the sweetest story about a mama + her cub and the illustrations are just beautiful, and Jamberry, which we as a family love to sing to a silly tune we made up. (Also there are so many fun recos here - I can't wait to go through them all!)
My son is one, this is a board book biased answer... The one from my childhood collection I'm reading him most is The Snowy Day (but only on snowy days). We also read a lot of Hungry caterpillar and brown bear. Newly discovered favorites are The Little Blue Truck and Feast for Ten. Feast for Ten had a sureal nostalgia during of 2020-2021, but I love how subtle it is for a counting book.
I loved Dr Seuss as a kid, but I find I do not like reading all those tongue twisters out loud as an adult. :-/
I have two favorites that have stuck with me since childhood. 1)Miss Rumphius by Barbara Cooney. I think initially I was fascinated by this lifestyle of traveling and seeing far off lands but then ending up living on a cliff overlooking the sea amongst oodles of flowers. I think it planted the seed for loving moody beaches, and we now live in Portland ;). As I’ve grown older I always search for books illustrated by her because I think they’re so beautiful. I’ve even found a signed one at a second hand shop! 2) The Napping House by Audrey Wood. This one I fell for because I think it always gave me a sense of peace and security in the simplicity of a quiet home with a grandmother and pets that (obviously) loved the child. I still have copies of both these from when I was young, and this one you can tell got me through adolescence because there’s a smear of purple sparkly nail polish on the front. I also loved that this one took place in a rainy pastel blue world, so again, no wonder I ended up in the PNW! But both of these came with me to college for whenever things felt too overwhelming or scary and now I have them for my girls :).
As an elementary & middle school Librarian, it is soooooo hard to choose!! The ones from my childhood are constants -- A Chair For My Mother, The Jolly Postman, Brambly Hedge, Frog & Toad, In the Night Kitchen, any illustrated by Trina Schart Hyman or Steven Kellogg, Outside Over There...I love that I get to share them with more kids!
The Giving Tree. As a kindergarten teacher this is a must when talking about friendships and boundaries…. And I always warn the kids that I may cry at the end, which I often do. And honestly everything by Shel Silverstein is geared towards relationships; e.g. The Missing Piece
Anything by James Marshall!!! His stories are so full of imagination and life. Any of the early Mercer Mayer books….his hand drawn art is so intricate. My favorites are One Monster After Another and Liza Lou and the Yeller Belly Swamp. William Steig is another great favorite, particularly Solomon the Rusty Nail. I love how he doesn’t shy away from danger!
My favorite *right now* is Welcome to The Bunny Planet by Rosemary Wells. It's kind of a funny book because it's fairly long AND mixes bunnies/fantasy with real quotes from real people about rabbits. I love it because in Summer of 2019, we listened to the audio recording a lot. I was pregnant at the time and the book (and particularly the audio) takes me back to that time in the most lovely and nostalgic way. It was something I put on when the kids needed to sleep but I was too tired to read - I still find it calming and comforting.
"Far beneath the moon and stars, twenty light years south of Mars, spins the gentle bunny planet. And the Bunny Queen is Janet..." <3
This is a tough question! There are so many books that are neatly tuck away into different categories of my brain: beloved when I was a kid, beautiful text, inspiring illustration, books I've fell in love with as an adult, books that my kids and I both adore ... The categories are endless.
I'll go with one that one is living in my brain a lot lately: The Little Island by Margaret Wise Brown and Leonard Weisgard. For the first two-thirds of the book it feels very a rather straightforward story about life on a little island. Then there's this page turn where things go off the rails when this kitten shows up. There's this illustration of the kitten leaping and looks bigger than the island that just melts my mind. It's so weird, the scale is so off, and it works perfectly. Then the island and the kitten are talking to one another ... and it just lasts for a few spreads. It's this strange hiccup in this story that is so magical and on point. I feel like so many people would edit that out, or be tempted to change the story to center around the kitten ... or have all the animals talking or something. I just love it so much.
What I would give to have a conversation with MWB about this story! And Leonard Weisgard too!
Oh man this is such a tough question but I love anything by Shirley Hughes (beautiful depiction of simple childhood) , Alexandra day (Carl can teach us all a lot) , Nikki McClure (illustrations and also enforces simple relationships with the nature and world around us), and new author Emily Winfield Martin (illustrations are beyond and taps into a magical sensibility) .. if I had to pick a favorite right this minute though, it might be my friends Frog and Toad. They are funny, depict friendship in the best and sweetest of ways, and tackle issues we could all use a little help figuring out like using willpower to stop eating cookies (or not). ❤️
I can’t pick just one! Some of the most important books in my life were picture books: The Snowy Day, Corduroy, Miss Nelson is Missing, Strega Nona. I’ve talked about this before but I have immigrant parents and English isn’t their first language, and they didn’t really know that they should buy us books and read them to us. These were the first books I remember being read to us in school and they completely changed my life and opened up my whole world. My kid is a little scared of Miss Nelson is Missing, ha!
I also talk about this one a lot but one of my favourite contemporary kids’ books is Birdsong by Julie Flett (lovely, contemplative, a reminder of the cycles of life). It’s basically perfect, as far as I’m concerned. I love to think about all the talented Canadian women working in kids’ books these days, ha (Julie Flett, Julie Morstad, Isabelle Arsenault…).
I absolutely adore 'Fortunately' by Remi Charlip. The book was published in 1964, and still holds up. I've read it for my nieces and nephews many, many (many) times. There's no great lesson to be learned (or at least that I've been able to unpack) and it's such a simple narrative/concept but its humor has stood the test of time. I have so much fun reading it to them because it always delivers belly laughs.
I will always be forever in love with Littlest Family’s Big Day and This is Sadie, because those two books were instant favorites and both illustrators Emily Winfield Martin and Julie Morstad can do know wrong and create magical worlds that children want to be in. Chirri and Chirra also achieves creating the perfect magical realm that my child loves to follow along to. Frog and Toad series will also have a special place in my heart because of how much my child loves their dynamic. I am about to write an essay on this because I can’t pick one ha! Other honorable mentions- The Night Kitchen and anything by Sendak, Piggy in the Puddle, I want my Hat Back, Leo a Ghost Story, Strega Nona, Mushroom Fan Club…
Gonna have to go with a classic - Where the sidewalk ends by Shel Silverstein. Loved it as a kid, still love it as a grown up kid.
Where the Sidewalk Ends was delightful to me as a kid and made a lasting impression on me. The poems were so funny and fantastical! I know it sparked my love of poetry. Dogger by Shirley Hughes is my favorite children's story, being able to relate to the main character losing his favorite toy, it was really touching and heartwarming to me. (And on the topic of Shirley Hughes, Out & About is one I discovered as an adult and really love). Best of all I love Hunger Valley by Edward S. Fox, published in 1965. It's best for older children/very young teen. Unfortunately it's out of print, very likely due to the content, but it's a badass, dark, gritty survival story that takes place in Donner Pass. My mother in law has her copy from her childhood, but I've never been able to find a copy of my own. Still holding hope that I get ahold of one someday!
When my husband was growing up he was part of a children's book club that mailed him new books every month. His parents saved nearly all of them and I just adore them. Bunya the Witch, Sylvester and the Magic Pebble, Phil the Ventriloquist and Animal Cafe are a few of my most favorites from that collection. They're so fun to read to our kids today. I also love The Book about Moomin, Mymble and Little My - it's such a fun adventure story. And I have to mention a few board books like Close Your Eyes, the sweetest story about a mama + her cub and the illustrations are just beautiful, and Jamberry, which we as a family love to sing to a silly tune we made up. (Also there are so many fun recos here - I can't wait to go through them all!)
My son is one, this is a board book biased answer... The one from my childhood collection I'm reading him most is The Snowy Day (but only on snowy days). We also read a lot of Hungry caterpillar and brown bear. Newly discovered favorites are The Little Blue Truck and Feast for Ten. Feast for Ten had a sureal nostalgia during of 2020-2021, but I love how subtle it is for a counting book.
I loved Dr Seuss as a kid, but I find I do not like reading all those tongue twisters out loud as an adult. :-/
I have two favorites that have stuck with me since childhood. 1)Miss Rumphius by Barbara Cooney. I think initially I was fascinated by this lifestyle of traveling and seeing far off lands but then ending up living on a cliff overlooking the sea amongst oodles of flowers. I think it planted the seed for loving moody beaches, and we now live in Portland ;). As I’ve grown older I always search for books illustrated by her because I think they’re so beautiful. I’ve even found a signed one at a second hand shop! 2) The Napping House by Audrey Wood. This one I fell for because I think it always gave me a sense of peace and security in the simplicity of a quiet home with a grandmother and pets that (obviously) loved the child. I still have copies of both these from when I was young, and this one you can tell got me through adolescence because there’s a smear of purple sparkly nail polish on the front. I also loved that this one took place in a rainy pastel blue world, so again, no wonder I ended up in the PNW! But both of these came with me to college for whenever things felt too overwhelming or scary and now I have them for my girls :).
As an elementary & middle school Librarian, it is soooooo hard to choose!! The ones from my childhood are constants -- A Chair For My Mother, The Jolly Postman, Brambly Hedge, Frog & Toad, In the Night Kitchen, any illustrated by Trina Schart Hyman or Steven Kellogg, Outside Over There...I love that I get to share them with more kids!
The Giving Tree. As a kindergarten teacher this is a must when talking about friendships and boundaries…. And I always warn the kids that I may cry at the end, which I often do. And honestly everything by Shel Silverstein is geared towards relationships; e.g. The Missing Piece
Anything by James Marshall!!! His stories are so full of imagination and life. Any of the early Mercer Mayer books….his hand drawn art is so intricate. My favorites are One Monster After Another and Liza Lou and the Yeller Belly Swamp. William Steig is another great favorite, particularly Solomon the Rusty Nail. I love how he doesn’t shy away from danger!
My favorite *right now* is Welcome to The Bunny Planet by Rosemary Wells. It's kind of a funny book because it's fairly long AND mixes bunnies/fantasy with real quotes from real people about rabbits. I love it because in Summer of 2019, we listened to the audio recording a lot. I was pregnant at the time and the book (and particularly the audio) takes me back to that time in the most lovely and nostalgic way. It was something I put on when the kids needed to sleep but I was too tired to read - I still find it calming and comforting.
"Far beneath the moon and stars, twenty light years south of Mars, spins the gentle bunny planet. And the Bunny Queen is Janet..." <3
This is a tough question! There are so many books that are neatly tuck away into different categories of my brain: beloved when I was a kid, beautiful text, inspiring illustration, books I've fell in love with as an adult, books that my kids and I both adore ... The categories are endless.
I'll go with one that one is living in my brain a lot lately: The Little Island by Margaret Wise Brown and Leonard Weisgard. For the first two-thirds of the book it feels very a rather straightforward story about life on a little island. Then there's this page turn where things go off the rails when this kitten shows up. There's this illustration of the kitten leaping and looks bigger than the island that just melts my mind. It's so weird, the scale is so off, and it works perfectly. Then the island and the kitten are talking to one another ... and it just lasts for a few spreads. It's this strange hiccup in this story that is so magical and on point. I feel like so many people would edit that out, or be tempted to change the story to center around the kitten ... or have all the animals talking or something. I just love it so much.
What I would give to have a conversation with MWB about this story! And Leonard Weisgard too!
Oh man this is such a tough question but I love anything by Shirley Hughes (beautiful depiction of simple childhood) , Alexandra day (Carl can teach us all a lot) , Nikki McClure (illustrations and also enforces simple relationships with the nature and world around us), and new author Emily Winfield Martin (illustrations are beyond and taps into a magical sensibility) .. if I had to pick a favorite right this minute though, it might be my friends Frog and Toad. They are funny, depict friendship in the best and sweetest of ways, and tackle issues we could all use a little help figuring out like using willpower to stop eating cookies (or not). ❤️