What would you do with a cardboard box??

I'm not talking about packing, although that's something I've been doing an awful lot of lately. I'm talking about using your imagination - something I find kids these days don't do enough of. What would happen if you put away the TV, the video games, the toys that do all the work for the kids, and just gave them a good old cardboard box?

Not a Box by Antoinette Portis is about just this. In this very simple and appealing picture book, a rabbit is repeatedly questioned about why he is sitting in, or standing on, or wearing, a box. Each time he explains that it is not actually a box. The accompanying pictures show him driving a race car, climbing a mountain, putting out a fire in a building, and so on. As the book progresses, the rabbit becomes less patient with the person questioning him, which gives the reader (you!) a wonderful opportunity to play it up a little bit. (Lose your patience, get a little loud!)

What I love about this book is that it gives you the opportunity to then give your child a cardboard box to play with...without them looking at you like you're insane! How much fun would it be to watch them be creative and come up with their own scenarios for this box? A little imagination can go a long way, and this book is perfect for sparking a little bit of imaginitive fun.

If you find you and your child like this book, you may want to check out Not a Stick, which is almost exactly the same, except the bunny is a pig and the box is a stick. And what kid wouldn't want to play with a stick?

It would be hard not to like Ida B...

Ida B...and Her Plans to Maximize Fun, Avoid Disaster, and (Possibly) Save the World by Katherine Hannigan is just as fun, quirky, and charming as the title makes it sound. I picked this one up a few months ago at the library, but because I chose such a huge stack that day, I didn’t actually get around to reading it before it was due back. Shortly after I returned it, the professor in my middle school lit class mentioned it as a book definitely worth reading, and I figured that meant it was time for me to grab it once again. I’m so glad I did.

This is the story of Ida B, a fourth grader who is fun-loving, so happy I think it better to call it joyous, and very quirky. She has to have a schedule, she eats the same things every day at the same time, and she talks to the apple trees in her family’s orchard. And they talk back. Strange, I know. The first few chapters really focused on this, and I was a little worried about where the story was going to go… but I’m really glad I stuck with it. In fact, by the end of the book, I almost wanted to try to go talk to the trees in my backyard! (Ok, maybe not really.)

Ida B just loves life while she is home-schooled by her mom, but then her mom gets cancer. Not only do her parents not have enough time or energy for her anymore, but they sell some of their land (along with her beloved apple trees) to get money to pay for treatments, and they send her back to school. Ida B transforms from a happy-go-lucky kind of gal, to a hard-hearted, angry, and mean girl.

Over the course of the story, Ida B learns a lot about herself, her relationships, and life in general. The story has a happy ending – Her mother heals from the cancer (so no worries about that conversation) and she learns to be happy in school. She learns that it’s ok to be happy – even if things don’t work out exactly as planned.

There are a few things that were really great about this book. The language is fantastic. The way the author describes Ida B’s feelings is sure to make even the youngest reader (or listener) understand exactly what she’s going through. For example, when Ida B hears that they are selling her trees and sending her to school, her heart begins to shrink and gets smaller and smaller until it is a sharp, black stone that is small enough to fit in the palm of her hand. The author also uses phrases to “name” things in the book that are really quite hilarious. School is “that Particular Place of Slow but Sure Body-Cramping, Mind-Numbing, Fun-Killing Torture”. (Don’t worry… Ida B ends up with a fabulous teacher who shows her, and your child, that school can actually be a wonderful place.) The school bus is “the Yellow Prison of Propulsion”, and when Ida B has a great idea, it is her “Golden and Supremely Important Nugget of Wisdom”.

The other thing I thought was really great about this book was that it handled several really heavy, serious topics in a light, funny way. It deals with cancer, being a new kid, and dealing with anger, but it is in no way a really heavy or depressing book.

It’s always important to talk about a book as you’re reading it, and once you’ve finished. I don’t mean asking simple questions to see if your child “got it”, but really having conversations. This book lends itself really well to discussions about illness, and how it affects all members of a family. It’s also a great way to discuss the “mean” kid in school, and the fact that s/he probably has some bad stuff going on at home, and is just having a hard time dealing with the sadness or anger that comes along with it. It could also lead to an interesting debate on home-schooling vs. traditional schooling.

I would recommend this book for kids in grades 3 through 6. I think it could appeal to both boys and girls, even though the main character is a girl. (Boys usually don’t like that, but I think they could probably make an exception for this book.) It would be great for a child who knows someone with cancer, who is starting a new school, or really for anyone who is feeling angry over something, and might be struggling to deal with it. You could just hand it to your child to check out on their own, but I think it would make a great book to read aloud as well.

Good Ol' Shel

I am surprising myself that I’m going to start with poetry, because I’m definitely more of a story girl, but these are books that I have read over and over again, and have found that children of all ages love. I also think they’re a great place to start if you want to try reading aloud to your kids, because they are just so easy (and fun!) to read.

When I think of poetry, the first person that comes to mind is Shel Silverstein. I remember my kindergarten teacher reading his poems to the class, and it was my favorite time of the day. You have probably already heard of A Light in the Attic, Where the Sidewalk Ends, and maybe even Falling Up. (If you haven’t, you should definitely check them out.) But did you know that a new book of Shel’s poems have been released? His family found and published them. It’s called Every Thing On It, and the moment I heard about it, I knew I had to have it.

After reading the first poem in the book, I knew I was going to love it. Well, I guess I knew that before I even opened it, but you’ll see what I mean.

YEARS FROM NOW

Although I cannot see your face

As you flip these poems awhile,

Somewhere from some far-off place

I hear you laughing – and I smile.

Does that not give you chills? I mean, this brilliant man is no longer with us, and he’s still giving us these poems. Ok, maybe you’re not quite as excited about it as I am, but I promise you won’t be disappointed with the book.

Another of my favorites from Shel is not a book of poems, like the ones mentioned above, but a long poem turned picture book. A Giraffe and a Half is funny from beginning to end, and will have children of all ages laughing. The illustrations of what the child in the book does to this giraffe are just as funny as the words themselves, and are sure to send your kids into a laughing fit. A suggestion for reading… Try to read each page in one breath. This means you will have to read quickly, with a rhythm, and you’ll probably be running out of breath by the end. Reading it this way makes my kids laugh hysterically.

One more book that I feel must be mentioned here is The Giving Tree. Unlike most of his other works, this book is not funny. It is the story of a tree that loves a boy. The boy grows older and needs the tree less and less, but the tree continues to do everything it can for the boy. Parents will recognize this as the story of a parent and child, but children (who usually don’t make this connection) love it as well.

If you’d like to hear Shel read some of these poems himself, you can buy the A Light in the Attic CD. I found that I really enjoyed Shel’s voice and style of reading, and in fact, I didn’t even mind when my kids insisted on listening to the 39 poems on the CD over… and over… and over…