Stunning Children’s Books We Love
“There are many little ways to enlarge your world. Love of books is the best of all.” – Jacqueline Kennedy
My world must be ginormous because the book love is big here, ha! I have some beautiful ones to share with you today. I’m so excited! I hope you’ll love them too…
The Lost Words
This book is a beauty, and the story behind it makes me treasure it even more.
In 2007, the new edition of the Oxford Junior Dictionary decided to cut a number of words relating to nature. The dictionary’s guidelines state that it must reflect “the current frequency of words in daily language of children”. There was much opposition to this decision, and a number of authors united in a campaign to have the words reinstated, one of them being Robert Macfarlane.
And so, ‘The Lost Words’ was born. A spellbook, to conjour back the words that were once part of children’s everyday vocabulary. For how can children understand, imagine, or care for the natural world if they don’t have the words to describe it?
I adore it!
Stunning illustrations to accompany stunning words.
Each word is accompanied by a ‘spell’.
We drink hot chocolate in the garden and read our spells.
“The earth extends an invitation to us, to connect, to restore an ancient relationship. We will become truly alive when we accept this invite and nurture the bit of the wild that runs through our veins.” – Lucy AitkinRead
This is Sadie
My kids love Sadie! Especially Miss 2. She brings me the book and says ‘it’s my best friend Sadie!’
Sadie is a girl who loves to read and make up stories. Her stories can take her anywhere she wants to go.
I agree with Miss 2, you just want to be Sadie’s friend! She’s funny and adventurous and inspiring and full of ideas and imagination! She can do anything, and she makes you feel like you can too.
The Illustrated Compendium of Amazing Animal Facts
I knew Miss 9 would love this one. We read it for ages just last night and couldn’t stop laughing. Did you know that goats have different accents depending where they’re from? What? Ha! Or wait, what about that the original name for a Butterfly was a Flutterby? That totally makes more sense! Did you know that baby elephants suck their trunks for comfort? Awww
Each page has funny or weird or gross or fascinating tidbits of information so you can just pick it up and flip to anything you fancy! It’s fantastic. Most of the things I had no idea about. I don’t want to spoil them all but did you know crocodiles can live without food for up to 3 years? THREE YEARS!!!! What the?
This is so fab for the animal lovers out there.
AND there’s also ‘Animals of a Bygone Era‘ which is just the same but about animals that are extinct that you never knew existed! I got that one for my dino lover Miss 7.
Yellow Kayak
I really like this book! It’s beautiful!
The book is mainly rhyming two-word phrases, and it’s a joy to read! If my kids want to read this one over and over then that’s fine with me, ha!
The story of a boy and his giraffe friend who set off in a yellow kayak for an adventure. It’s so dreamy!
I think the pictures speak for themselves. How beautiful is it? Just a delight people. A DELIGHT!
Pandora
Oh Pandora. It starts off a little bit heartbreaking but then ends up to be about hope, love, making the best of your situation, and how you can effect change. A heartwarming story.
“Pandora lives alone, in a world of broken things. She made herself a handsome home, from all that people had left behind, but no one ever came to visit.”
Until one day a little bird needs her and she nurtures it back to health.
A beautiful story about connection, hope, and healing.
Moon
I got this book with Miss 4 in mind who is currently very interested in the moon. She asks to get the telescope out and look at it, and has lots of questions. I remember the other girls wondering about the moon and stars at the same age, I think it’s a common interest.
A lovely rhyming book that shows the moons phases and how it changes through the month.
Return
You might recognise this one, the final installment in this trilogy of wordless books. The previous two, Journey and Quest, are loved by the kids.
The illustrations are stunning as usual! The girls love that they don’t need to be able to read to tell the story.
I won’t spoil the ending, but if you enjoy wordless books then these are a must have.
Look Up
Another book for those interested in the stars, which Miss 7 is in particular. I love reading them stories of strong women, and this one is about Henrietta Leavitt an astronomer who was the first person to discover the significance of a star’s brightness.
I love how it starts with her as a child, wondering about the sky, just like my girls do.
The book talks about how as a woman working in the observatory she was expected to ‘work, not think’. Her job was only to record, measure, and calculate. But, she knew she had a mind and wanted to use it! She measured but she also took notes and discovered patterns. She kept studying in her spare time.
Henrietta’s discoveries were the first that allowed astronomers to measure the distance between the Earth and faraway galaxies.
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What books are you or your children loving lately?
Comments
Our nearly 3 year old asks us to read Malala and the Magic Pencil over and over. And I am delighted every time she brings over Mrs. Mo’s Monster (I make the monster a girl).
Lovely post!! These all look incredible!! Thank you 😊
Thanks for the excellent recommendations, and the surprising story regarding “The Lost Words.” I feel the Oxford Junior Dictionary may be measuring the wrong source: public school kids. The kids here still use otter, acorn, and raven on an almost daily basis. It puts me in mind of the story related by Colin Ward of a 4 year-old in Norway who frequently purchased fish for the family across town independently, and how Ward contrasted that to Piaget’s data stating that children below the age of 7 could not reason geospatially. Piaget was, of course, researching public school kids.
Hi, I love reading your posts about your books. Do you tend to look for books relating to the particular interests which your children have. I’d also be interested to know where you find your books? Thanks.
This so is exciting!!!! Thank you for these. I can’t wait to purchase these over time.. especially after babe isn’t as into ripping books but I may consider getting one even before.
Hi Sara, I’m looking for one book. I think I saw it on your blog but I can’t find it now. Maybe I am mistaken. So it’s fairy tales that you can read from the top of the page down or from the bottom up and they still make sense. Do you know this one? Thank you!
I do! It’s called Mirror Mirror 😊
I just love your blog.