Skip to main content

Five Faves: Picture Books You Can Sing

By
 Lots of kids LOVE to sing! I do as well, which is why I love books that are set to popular songs or are variations of nursery rhymes. These authors and illustrators are very creative in how they change up these songs to create something familiar, yet different. My only problem is remembering to slow down so I don't sing too fast to enjoy the pictures!

Hush, Little Rocket
Written by Mo O'Hara
Illustrated by Alexandra Cook
New York: Feiwel and Friends, 2023. Picture Book.

It's hard to go to sleep without a good story to imagine. Set to the tune of "Hush, Little Baby," Hush, Little Rocket will help fill your little one's head with images of this rocket blasting off through the solar system. Making sure to introduce the different planets seen along the way, this is a great bedtime book for any future space explorers. Back matter gives more information about the solar system for those who are interested.

Twinkle, Twinkle, Winter Night
Written by Megan Litwin
Illustrated by Nneka Myers
New York: Clarion Books, an imprint of Harper Collins Publishers, 2022. Picture Book.

Warm up the chilly evenings with this book set to the familiar song "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star." Twinkle, Twinkle, Winter Night celebrates the cozy atmosphere of winter and all that makes the season magical. Curl up with your child to see if they can find all the different glowing lights in the darkest time of year.

Written by Kalee Gwarjanski
Illustrated by Elizabet Vukovic
New York: Doubleday Books for Young Readers, 2024. Picture Book.

There's more to farms than barnyard animals! Set to the kid-favorite "Old MacDonald Had a Farm," Miss MacDonald Has a Farm highlights all the things that grow on a farm, and all the work that goes into producing food. Whether it's a "weed-weed here" or a "pick-pick there," children will see that there's a lot that Miss MacDonald has to do to make sure her farm "E-I-E-I-Grows!"

The Rice in the Pot Goes Round and Round
Written by Wendy Wan-Long Shang
Illustrated by Lorian Tu
New York: Orchard Books, an imprint of Scholastic Inc., 2021. Picture Book.

Would you rather be on a bus or eating a delicious Chinese meal? I know my answer, but whatever you chose, this take on "The Wheels on the Bus" is sure to delight. The Rice in the Pot Goes Round and Round is a fun sampling of sounds, smells, and tastes that accompany a Chinese family making dinner. There is also explanations of food etiquette in the back of the book. 

The Rattlin' Bog
Written by Jessica Law
Illustrated by Brian Fitzgerald
Concord, MA: Barefoot Books, 2024. Picture Book.

This illustrated version of the traditional Irish folk song shows the biodiversity of the bog. Different plants and animals are highlighted in the cumulative verses of The Rattlin' Bog. It is fun to sing along and see if you can remember all the animals that were featured on earlier pages. If you're not familiar with this song, back matter includes sheet music and this book comes with a CD to help you learn the song.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Review: Alice with a Why

By
Alice with a Why By Anna James New York: Penguin, 2026. Fiction. 240 pgs. In 1919, in the aftermath of the first World War, Alyce is living with her grandmother in the English countryside. Her grandmother, also named Alice, tells Alyce (with a y) stories from her childhood adventures in a wonderful land filled with white rabbits and mad hatters. Alyce doesn't really believe the silly stories, she just misses her father who was killed in the war. One day, Alyce receives a mysterious invitation to tea, and subsequently falls into a pond where she is transported to Wonderland. Her grandmother, of course, is that Alice. Alyce is prompted by the Mad Hatter, Dormouse, and March Hare to seek out the Time Being and put an end to the war between the Sun King and the Queen of the Moon. Thus begins Alyce's adventure through Wonderland. I have a certain soft spot for the original story of Alice in Wonderland. It is one of my particular favorites and I often have a hard time reading new int...
Post a Comment
Read more

Review: A Strange Thing Happened in Cherry Hall

By
A Strange Thing Happened in Cherry Hall By Jasmine Warga New York: Harper, 2024. Fiction. 211 pages. A painting has been stolen from the Penelope L. Brooks Museum and sixth-grader Rami Ahmed is worried he's the main suspect. His mother works at the museum as the lead custodian and Rami spends a lot of time hanging out at the museum while she works. On the day the painting went missing, the only people there were the security guard Ed, the cleaning crew, and Rami. Then, a mysterious girl appears in the museum. She floats around from room to room and only Rami can see her -- and she looks exactly like the girl from the missing painting. To prove his innocence and help figure out who the floating girl is, Rami partners up with an aspiring sleuth at school named Veda and the two dive into unexpected situations as they try to solve the mystery. This is a cozy mystery that is focused mostly on characters and ambiance and only a little on the mystery itself. Don't read this book if yo...
Post a Comment
Read more

Review: The Factory

By
The Factory By Catherine Egan New York, NY : Scholastic Inc., 2025. Fiction. 306 pages.  Thirteen-year-old Asher Doyle has been invited to join the Factory, a secretive research facility in the desert which ostensibly extracts renewable energy from the electromagnetic fields of its young recruits. But Asher soon realizes something sinister is going on. Kids are getting sick. The adults who run the Factory seem to be keeping secrets. And the extraction process is not only painful and exhausting, but existentially troubling. Asher makes a handful of new friends who help him with an investigation that turns into a resistance, which turns into...a cliffhanger! The Factory is a page-turning sci-fi with multidimensional characters, an intriguing plot, and refreshingly straight-forward writing. Egan weaves in detail about climate crises and social unrest, making the story's dystopian setting feel rich and plausible. With its sophisticated themes and accessible storytelling, I would recomm...
Post a Comment
Read more