Long before I became a Java developer, I was an underling manager for a certain humongous book store chain. All of us underlings had the usual "managerial" type duties - training new hires, opening/closing the store, handling irate customers. We also had to take ownership of a certain section of the store, keeping it relatively straightened and orderly. I was assigned the Children's section, which was like a death sentence at first. When you're in your early 20s and don't have any children of your own, you tend to find it rather difficult fielding questions from parents: "Can you recommend a few books for an advanced 7-year old?" "I need a gift for a 4-year old classmate of my son's." "What's the reading level of 'The Lion, The Witch, And The Wardrobe'?"
In time, I became pretty knowledgeable about children's books, and today, my daughter is the proud owner of many of the ones I absolutely loved, either as a child myself, or as a bookstore clerk. Here are a few gems:
- Knitting Nell, by Julie Jersild Roth. A little girl who loves to knit teaches her friends and family about the joys of charity knitting. A good read for the 6- to 8-year old set (Baby A.K. likes it, too. She likes how Nell knits in the bathtub.).
- Smitten, by David Gordon. A (left) mitten and a sock who have lost their respective mates find comfort and friendship in each other... even when they're smelly. Check out what happens after Mitten becomes unraveled in a bizarre subway accident. Great for ages 2 - 102.
- Goodnight Moon, by Margaret Wise Brown. You just can't find a better bedtime book than this. Beautiful in its simplicity, with adorable illustrations. Look carefully for the knitting reference in this one.
That's all I've got for now. Baby A.K. is, once again, rather unwell, and has escaped from her room 3 times already with a bad cough and chills. Come to think of it, I've got a bad cough and chills, too...
1 comment:
We read a really good children's book yesterday called Archy the Flying Dolphin. It's such a good book, my son wanted to read it right after we finished. I said only this once, and then after that we can only read it one time. He was a little pouty about it, but loves the book and tries to read it over and over by himself! Such a cutie!
It's a really great book, hope you check it out!
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