Julius

Julius
Written by Angela Johnson
Illustrated by Dav Pilkey
Recommended for ages 3-6 

We've already taken Julius back to the library, but I'll tell you what I remember about it.

I remember that Julius, an enormous Alaskan pig, was given to Maya by her grandfather, who lives in Alabama (but winters in Alaska). Maya and Julius have a lot to learn from each other and accept about each other at first--like manners (for Julius) and appreciating jazz music (for Maya). In the end, they become devoted friends.

I remember the vibrant illustrations, and I remember the sweetness of friendship existing between Maya and Julius, who are so cartoonishly different. Friendship isn't necessarily about being the same--it's about learning from each other and enjoying each other's differences.

Julius is available from Amazon; click on any of the Amazon affiliate links in this post.

An Awesome Book!

Yep, that's really the title of this book--An Awesome Book! And it is awesome.

This book is all about dreams and imagination. Dreams about things like rocket-powered unicorns and musical baboons, as opposed to dreams about furniture or matching silverware. There are only a few words per page, and it doesn't have a ton of substance, but I'm all for any book that encourages creativity and personality.

I love that this book was originally written by the author for his son. I love the whimsical illustrations. And I love that it's inspired me to dream a little bigger. Awesome, indeed.

An Awesome Book!
Written and illustrated by Dallas Clayton
Age range*: 2-6
My rating: 5 stars [out of five]

*Age ranges are very flexible.

Full disclosure: The books reviewed here are books that I own or that have been checked out from the local library. Some links in this post are Amazon Affiliate links.

The Emperor of Absurdia

[Update: I'm required by the new FTC guidelines to tell you that this post includes Amazon Affiliate links. I choose these books myself, from the local library or my own bookshelf.]

We loved this one. It was recommended to me by a good friend, who has excellent taste in kids' books. We've already taken it back to the library, so my memory is a little fuzzy, but I think I can get the main idea across here.

The Emperor of Absurdia is basically what it sounds like--it's about a little boy who lives in a funny, absurd land. It begins, "The Emperor of Absurdia was having the most extraordinary dream. All of a sudden he woke to the hoots of the sky fish nibbling the umbrella trees." (I looked that up. Haha.) He soon discovers that he's missing his snuggly scarf, so he hunts all over Absurdia for it. He also encounters creatures like dragons and a pointy bird with a pointy-sounding squawk. Good fun.

At the end of the day, the little emperor tumbles into bed--don't worry, he found the scarf--and on the last page, you can see that he's woken up as an ordinary boy whose bedroom has some familiar-looking elements in it.

Kids'll love this one. The younger ones might not totally follow what's going on, but I think they'd still enjoy the detailed pictures and the silly--ahem, absurd--adventure of the young Emperor of Absurdia.

The Emperor of Absurdia is available from Amazon.com
Written and illustrated by Chris Riddell
Age range: 4-7 (Age ranges are very flexible.)

One

This book isn't very long, but it has a lot of concepts packed into it. That can be a good thing or bad thing--or both--depending on the book. Sometimes too many concepts makes a book too busy, and the story gets lost. That doesn't happen here, though.

One is about Blue. [You can see him there, on the cover.] Red, who is also a dot, comes along and tries to bully Blue. The other colors aren't sure what to do, until One [as in the number one] comes along and shows the colors how to stand up for themselves.

So, reading this book to your child, you can talk about colors, numbers, and social issues like bullying, tolerance, and so on. Or whichever concept fits your child's level. Little Boy already knows colors and numbers, so we talked a little bit about the social stuff. I didn't think the book's message came across as too heavy-handed or sappy, like some children's books do.

One
Written and illustrated by Kathryn Otoshi
Age range*: 2-6
My rating: 4 stars [out of five]

*Age ranges are very flexible.

Full disclosure: I don't receive any compensation for reviewing children's books--the books are usually just checked out from the local library.

Elmer

Elmer is an elephant. An elephant who looks different.

All the other elephants love Elmer because he does silly things to make the other elephants laugh. But Elmer gets tired of being the "funny one." So he goes into the jungle, finds some elephant-colored mud, and spreads it all over himself.

When he gets back to the elephant herd, no one notices him at all. He looks just like everyone else. But then something funny happens, and the other elephants figure things out. The end of the story is fun--but I'll leave that for you to discover.

So this is a story about being different and being yourself. It's a good message. I'm not sure that younger kids will really get the message unless it's explained to them, but they'll definitely like a crazy-colored elephant.

Elmer

Written by David McKee
Age range*: 3-6
My rating: 4 stars [out of five]

*Age ranges are very flexible.

Full disclosure: I don't receive any compensation for reviewing children's books--the books are usually just checked out from the local library.

Whoever You Are

I read once (somewhere) that children need to be taught about why people are different. If parents ignore the issue, kids are left to try to figure it out on their own--and trust me, they notice differences.

So sometimes I'll check out a book like this. A lot of them are a little too poetic or touchy-feely for Little Boy to understand, but this one is simple. Straightforward. The message is that whoever you are, wherever you are, we all have similarities and differences.

I think Little Boy is getting it. We'll see.

Whoever You Are

Written by Mem Fox
Age range*: 3-6
My rating: 4 stars [out of five]

*Age ranges are very flexible.

Full disclosure: I don't receive any compensation for reviewing children's books--the books are usually just checked out from the local library.