Start Your Engines!

Motors, engines, the roar of a bus, plane, or train. Kids love these sounds. They imitate them. And they love to hear about them as characters in books. When my daughter was 2, she brought me her book about Stubby the Tractor whenever I made a lap.

OTIS by Loren Long is another tractor book. The author/illustrator paired this lovable and loyal farm machine with a calf bawling for its mother. The combination hits just the right note of nostalgia for parents and the kind of warmth and comfort toddlers get from a favorite bedtime blanket.

What do your toddlers call their blanket?

Snuggle Book

Winter may be a gray time of year, but it can also be a cozy time. Snuggle under a quilt made by loving hands with a little reader or a very young listener and feel blessed.

ONE WIDE SKY: A BEDTIME LULLABY by Deborah Wiles is as wide as a yawn. Soft hues, warm words, and careful page turns will lull even the most resistant to quiet time. ZZZZ

Are you asleep?

Music, music, music.

Music surrounds us. But how much do we know about those who create it?

LIVES OF THE MUSICIANS and What the Neighbors Thought by Kathleen Krull, illustrated by Kathryn Hewitt, answers questions we'd never think of asking. Did you know Johann Sebastian Bach was thrown in jail because he wanted to quit his job? Ludwig Von Beethoven's favorite food was mac and cheese. Clara Schumann's concerts were so well attended that police were needed for crowd control. That might sound like "today" but it happened in the 1840's!

With an appeal to all ages, this book could inspire your family to start its own musical tour.

Or not.

Kathleen Krull has written other "Lives of..." books. Enjoy!

Veggies for Monsters

Halloween is over and NOW your little ones like monsters so much they want to BE them, all the time. And of course real monsters don't eat the green stuff that's good for them. What's a caring cook to do?

MONSTERS DON'T EAT BROCCOLI by Barbara Jean Hicks, illustrated by Sue Hendra, may start out on a note of "no!" but it ends with a second helping. Read it aloud with your toddler. Happy munching sounds should follow.

Did they?

Call of the Great Outdoors

I'm writing from Alabama in fall weather so glorious everyone wants to bolt from school and office and head for the woods.

ALABAMA MOON by Watt Key is one of those adventure and survival books boys will make time to read even if they say they don't like books. Middle school guys and girls (parents, too!) will not want to sleep until they find out how this one ends. Hint: start before lunch. Warning: you might be tempted to live in the woods until snowfall.

Frantic about Flu?

You can't watch TV without hearing concerns about flu, regular and H1N1. Parents are anxious, many distressed. If parents are upset, how could kids NOT be worried, too? Readers who've progressed from chapter books to middle-grade novels might be relieved to learn about the health crises their grandparents experienced--and survived!

BLUE, by Joyce Moyer Hostetter, is set in WWII. Ann Fay Honeycutt is 13 when her daddy goes to war and she steps into the role of "man of the house." Life develops its own routine of struggles. Then polio storms the Honeycutt household and a different kind of war erupts. A sequel, COMFORT, follows Ann Fay to Warm Springs, GA for polio rehabilitation. Both books celebrate the spirit of those who triumph over disabilities and demonstrate how hard times build strong people.

What kind of discussion will these books start at your house?

Overcoming Sugar Rush

Halloween isn't over 'til all the candy is gone. All that sugar adds energy (for the moment) to your little ones and you may need the energy but abhor the calories. What better way to work off the sugar rush than to act out a picture book. Here's one that leaves a sweet taste:

TREASURE by Suzanne Bloom.

Goose thinks Bear is taking him on a treasure hunt. They race, dig, and dive, but Goose decides there is no treasure. Bear sets him straight.

A favorite book is a treasure. What's yours?

Joan