Parent Book Recommendations April 2007
By Sandy Meagher

To read Sandy Meagher's article Birds of a Feather click here

Children naturally love rhythm and rhyme. Whenever there are some disagreements among my visiting grandchildren we easily direct their attention to music and rhyming words. And what music they create! We have a lot of fun reading and singing with the book On Top of Spaghetti by Paul Brett Johnson (Scholastic, 2006, ISBN: 0-439-74944-1). We sing and march around with our instruments and even prepare spaghetti and meatballs for dinner. The recipes are on the cover. A book that helps with making your own instruments is Making Music by Ann Sayre Wiseman and John Langstaff (Storey Publishing, 2003, ISBN: 1-580-17512-0). We had a lot of success with "Kitchen Things That Ring & Ping."

My three sons, Paul, Matt and Tim, are great dads and one of their favorite books is The Daddy Goose Treasury: Stories from Favorite Nursery Rhymes, as told to Vivian French (Chicken House, 2006, ISBN: 0-439-79608-3). Their children are enthralled by the fanciful stories that accompany the classic nursery rhymes. The stories address questions such as "Why did the Dish and the Spoon run away together?" and "Why did Humpty sit on that wall?" Lots of fun – preschoolers could predict these answers and the stories would be the resolutions.

The laughter of children is priceless. When I read aloud Mabel O'Leary Put Peas in Her Ear-y by Mary Delaney (Little, Brown, 2005, ISBN: 0-316-13506-2) the smiles and giggles are wonderful. There is always a chorus of "Read it again! Read it again!"

We are expecting three more grandchildren – what excitement! Preparing Paul, Anne and Tess for the arrivals is an important job for all. Teachers, childcare workers, grandparents, religious education teachers and babysitters all need to know someone new will be in a child's life. So many times books can help. There are some very special ones that I have found. A book with spare text and beautiful illustrations is Welcome, Precious by Nikki Grimes (Orchard Books, 2006, ISBN: 0-439-55702-X). In Mama Outside, Mama Inside by Dianna Hutts Aston (Henry Holt, 2006, ISBN: 0-805-07716-2), a human mother and a baby bird prepare for the birth of their babies. This lovely story is a natural for the arrival of spring and a new child.

Of course, children need reassurance that there is enough loving to go around. They are also unsure of what will happen in their lives. Simple stories can help them understand that there will be some changes – crying, feedings – but Mom and Dad will be there for them. I enjoyed using My Daddy by Susan Paradis (Front Street, 1998, ISBN: 1-886-91030-8). Dads' roles are so important when a new baby arrives. Not only do they help care for the newborn but they are also really needed by the siblings to talk to, play with and love them. Loving children is a lifelong commitment, but what better one could there be?

To read Sandy Meagher's article Birds of a Feather click here

Sandy Meagher is the Library Department Chairperson and School Librarian in the Wayne Highlands School District, Honesdale, PA.

April, 2007, Vol.37, No.7