The King of Kennelwick Castle

The King of Kennelwick Castle

Colin West

pictures by Anne Dalton 1990

This type of rhyming is called a cumulative tale (I'm a nerd so I find this so interesting!).  It's when the story is told in a chain, each line being repeated and built on the last.  The House that Jack Built is another example.   Sometimes these can be fun to read, and sometimes they're just tedious!  I like the pictures in this one.  And don't worry, you find out what's in the bundle the boy is carrying to the king in the end!

Of Swans, Sugarplums, and Satin Slippers

Of Swans,  Sugarplums, and Satin Slippers

Ballet Stories for Children

Violette Verdy 1991

illustrated by Marcia Brown

Today is Charlotte's first day of ballet class.  She's very excited.  We have her black leotard, pink tights and ballet shoes all ready.  This summer we read this book over several nights at bedtime.  After each story we looked up the ballet on youtube and watched some of the dances.  I think that really made it come alive for Charlotte.  The stories included The Firebird, Coppelia (which I think was Charlotte's favorite and the ballet we saw performed was amazing), Giselle, Swan Lake, and the Nutcracker of course.

The Random House Book of Poetry for Children

The Random House Book of Poetry for Children

selected by Jack Prelutsky 1983

illustrated by Arnold Lobel

It's no surprise that I LOVE poetry.  Someday I would love to publish a handpicked collection of all the poems that we've enjoyed as a family.  There are so many wonderful selections out there that I've posted about before:

Silver Pennies

More Silver Pennies

Poems

This book was particularly appealing to me because I'm a fan of both Arnold Lobel and Jack Prelutsky.  The poems included tend to be short and most of them are humorous or silly.  And with fun illustrations on every page, it's easy to engage younger children.  

Other books by Arnold Lobel:

Owl at Home

Lucille

Past Eight O'Clock

Since they share a room often Madeleine will listen to the books I read to Charlotte.  And the other way around.  Last night Madeleine read to us a very funny Edgar Allan Poe story she found called "Loss of Breath".  I had no idea Poe wrote humorous stories and this one was pretty outrageous!  (I don't think Charlotte got much out of it though.)

I'm quite partial to Joan Aiken and I thought this was a perfect bedtime book (it's even called Goodnight Stories).  Starting while we were on vacation in Illinois, we read one every night.  Madeleine listened for a few nights and thought that some were better stories than others.  ("Oh, Can Ye Sew Cushions?" was in my opinion the very best one.)   But each of them has that mixture of magic and  feel of Dickens that is particular to Aiken (Leon Garfield and Roald Dahl as well).  

Past Eight O'Clock

Goodnight Stories

Joan Aiken

pictures by Jan Pienkowski

The fantastic silhouettes of Jan Pienkowski are scattered throughout the book.  Each story is based on a lullaby and includes some rhyming verses. 

There was one thing about their house that they didn't know.  Every year, on a special day in winter, when the sun shone upon one particular spot on the floor in one particular room- if somebody- just at that moment- happened to be singing a special note of a special song- then, something might happen. 

More books by Joan Aiken:

The Wolves of Willoughby Chase

The Moon's Revenge

Other books illustrated by Jan Pienkowski:

Christmas

Two of Everything

Two of Everything

Lily Toy Hong 1993

This was a cute Chinese fable.  (The illustrations started to grow on me).  A poor farmer and his wife discover a large copper pot that multiplies anything that is put into it.  There's the potential for disaster, but comedy ensues and it all ends up all right.  

We Help Mommy

Another sweet Eloise Wilkin book about how a little boy and his sister help their mother throughout the day.

We Help Mommy

Jean Cushman 1959

illustrated by Eloise Wilkin

Charlotte saw this little clothes tree and wanted it so badly!  I think my mom played with a little clothesline set when she was a girl.

(Charlotte loves how she illustrates the bedrooms.)

Other books illustrated by Eloise Wilkin:

Baby's Christmas

We Like Kindergarten

My Big Book of the Outdoors

Ballad

Ballad

Blexbolex

Here is a neat book with graphic appeal.  The story is odd and hard to explain (and there's something about it that reminds me a little of  13 Clocks by Thurber.)

This sort is about a child who goes home from school along the same road every day and how his small world suddenly becomes enormous.  It's a story as old as the world- a story that begins all over again each day.