What My Child Is Reading–April 7, 2012

Happy Easter and Passover! As we celebrate both (in a secular manner), this week was dominated by Easter and Passover books.

I brought The Story of Jesus by Andrea Skevington from the library because I liked how the book weaved the main points from four Gospels into some sort of chronological story. I was planning to read Easter week stories, but Anna insisted that we have to start from the beginning, and we didn’t even get to Easter yet. Instead I told her Easter week stories every night during our “cuddle time” just as last week I was telling her Passover stories.

The story in Passover: Celebrating Now, Remembering Then is pretty simple except the opening page giving an overview of what exactly is being remembered. The real reason we both liked this book is gorgeous illustrations by Karla Gudeon. Each page is a fold which shows a part of Passover celebration and then unfolds into a picture from ancient times. Very clever design that teaches young children the basics of this holiday. Age - 3+

I wanted to read How I Learned Geography by Uri Shulevitz just by looking at its cover. It didn’t disappoint. Interestingly, most of the story technically happens in the Soviet Union during the WWII where young Uri takes his mind away from hunger and cheerless surroundings by traveling the globe in his imagination. Anna didn’t necessarily get the message, but she enjoyed the story just the same. Age - 5+

The Little Red Pen by Susan Stevens Crummel/Janet Stevens was also a choice based on the cover. The story is quite fun and will appeal to adventure-loving kids. It’s also a good story to discuss the value of teamwork and believing in one’s abilities. In the beginning of the story characters are not on their best behavior, but this changes as the story unfolds. All ends well, of course, otherwise the book wouldn’t have made it on Anna’s list of favorites. Probably 5+ based on length and content.