Mog, the Forgetful Cat, by Judith Kerr, Harper Books, 1970.I seriously loved this book. Although I'm wondering why I never heard of it until now. I lived in England from the late 70s to the early 80s, and, although I was a little old for picture books by then, I did read to my younger sister. She would have loved the heck out of this book. Well, at least I discovered the book in time to give it to my son. He read it last night to his Mog Cat, and I was allowed to listen. Occasionally, he even showed me some of the delightful illustrations. Now I quite agree with him: We need more Mog Books!
Dawn of the Century, 1900 - 1900, Time/Life Books, 2000.
I have NO idea why my in-laws gave this book to my son for his eighth birthday -- except that he likes photography, and history, and geography. OK, maybe I do know.
The black and white photographs in the book are phenomenal. And my little boy loved seeing how people lived a hundred years before he was born.
Mog in the Dark, by Judith Kerr, Collins Picture Lions, 1986.
Despite having lived in England for a few years during my youth, and then, much later, growing up to be a children's librarian, I wasn't familiar with Mog books. At least I wasn't until last year, and that infamous, glorious Sainsbury advert. I was so in love with Mog from the advert, I had to buy my own Mog the cat. Then my son wanted one. And one thing led to another and to this book.
Even though this book isn't the strongest outing for Mog the cat, my son still loved it. I suspect, however, he will love the ones he is getting for Christmas even more.
Clara and the Bookwagon, by Nancy Smiler Levinson, illustrations by Carolyn Croll, HarperTrophy, 1988.
This book is delightful, from the sweet story to the absolutely charming illustrations. There is even a hefty dose of humor in it, for those who know where to look for it. My second grade son used this book as a study in comparing and contrasting -- it worked quite well.
Stepping Stones -- Peter Pan, based on story by J. M. Barrie, adapted by Cathy East Dubowski, Random House, 1991.I love J. M. Barrie's Peter Pan -- both the play and the story from the play -- but this version is not at all like J. M. Barrie's Peter Pan. Yes, it does tell the story of Peter Pan and Neverland, but in such a plain and dull way that all of the magic and intrigue is sucked out of the book. Also, the illustrations verge on creepy.I will say, however, that this version of the Peter Pan story may be slightly easier or beginning readers to read -- slightly. If you do use this book, make sure to follow it up with the more exciting original version.
The Original Adventures of Hank the Cowdog, by John Erickson, Puffin Books, 1999.
Full disclosure: I didn't buy this book. A friend of mine bought this book and three others for my son. But she bought them because she remembered how we used to read them out loud and laugh at them at work. (Oh, we were both children's librarians, so it wasn't as weird as it sounds.)
This book was pretty darn funny. I'm not sure that my son caught all of the humor, but a few times he laughed out loud, and he understood the plot. Good enough for me.
Volcanoes! Mountains of Fire, by Eric Arnold, illustrated Doug Knutson.
This book is a decent introduction to volcanoes. The text is written at a second grade level, and the illustrations are all drawings. It gives examples of a couple of different volcanoes, but really doesn't delve into the properties of the Earth's crust or how volcanoes are formed.
If you want to, er, dig a little deeper, check out a volcano book from the adult section of the library.
