Books Your Kid Should Read

Olivia
by Ian Falconer
2001

The Olivia books have quickly become such classics that they hardly need reviewing on this site, but since they are currently among our favorite books, I had to talk about them. Firmly in the Eloise tradition of miniature heroines, Olivia is a confident, imaginative, strong-minded little piglet, who reluctantly puts up with her younger siblings (most of the time) and keeps her parents on their toes with her antics. In the first book, we follow Olivia to the fine art museum and witness her love of Degas and her disdain for Pollock (she does a quite credible pollock-esque mural on the wall when she gets home, just to show that she can. A time-out understandably ensues). We enjoy her wardrobe variations; her love of playing dress-up, her amazing skills at sand-castle building, and the way she turns a lovely pinky color after a day at the beach. This is one of those delightful picture books where the text and the illustrations are equally well crafted, and work in tandem to create Olivia's vivid worlds. Kids will see Olivia as a kindred spirit, and parents will instantly recognize the tired-but-affectionate look on Olivia's mother's face as she tucks her exhausting daughter into bed. "You wear me out, but I love you anyway," she tells Olivia. "I love you anyway, too," Olivia responds. Truer words were never spoke.

The Wicked Enchantment
by Margot Benary-Isbert
1955

So, it's a new year, a new president (yay!), and you're looking for something new to read to or with your kids. Here's a book that might be a little hard to find, but is well worth the hunt. Translated from the original German, Wicked Enchantment tells the story of a girl named Anemone and her dog Winnie, as they embark on a sort of feminist modern-day Cinderella/adventure story. Intrigued? Anemone's dear father has just remarried after the death of Anemone's mother, and in true fairy-tale fashion, the stepmother and her son, Erwin, are terrible additions to the family. Erwin terrorizes all the family animals and shifts the blame to Anemone whenever he's caught out, but (of course) no one will believe that Anemone is suffering from anything other than jealousy. Finally things get so bad that Anemone lights out for her Aunt's house across town, a utopian abode where cats and mice live peacefully together and everything is more magical than it at first seems. With the help of her Aunt, Anemone disguises herself and her dog as a young boy and sets out to determine just what the heck is going on with her new relations. What she uncovers is an evil plot that threatens the entire village of Vogelsang, and forces Anemone to draw on all her intelligence, courage, and common sense (qualities she fortunately possesses in abundance).

This is a book I found by chance at a public library sale when I was in my teens; I picked it up because it looked like it might be interesting, and the book was soon a family favorite. If you're looking for well-written fiction centering around strong, interesting female characters, this book will be right up your alley.


Interested in this book? Get more details or make a purchase at the bookstore.

Everywhere Babies
by Susan Meyers
Illus. Marla Frazee
2001

This board book was just introduced to me by a friend, and I immediately loved it so much I had to put it on this site. Everywhere Babies is a simple rhyming book enumerating the many activites and accoutrements of the baby set, from how they get carried, to how they get fed, to how they play and make friends. The language is rhythmic and repetitive in a way that preschoolers and babies alike will find soothing (every day, everywhere babies are born, every day everywhere babies are carried, etc.), but as with many of the best board books, it's the illustrations that truly make this story special. Frazee's images are chock full of character and life, and she clearly knows her way around a baby. From the priceless expression on the face of the baby learning to walk to the true-to-life exhaustion of the breast-feeding mama, these pictures will ring true for the whole family - and each page is crammed with lots of activity. Even better, to this tree-hugging liberal mama's mind, is the wonderful diversity of families depicted in the book. Gay families, straight families, black and white families, multiple generations and single parents - they're all represented here, and in a way that celebrates different family arrangements without ever being preachy or PC. A wonderful, loving book that would be a great addition to any toddler's library.

Ballet Shoes
by Noel Streatfeild
1936

If the only way you've ever heard of the Shoe books by Noel Streatfeild is from Meg Ryan's mention of them in You've Got Mail, boy have you been missing out. Ballet Shoes, the first of the books, is the story of Pauline, Petrova, and Posy Fossil, three orphans who are found and sent home to London as unusual souvenirs by Matthew Brown, an elderly and eccentric geologist. Pauline is a survivor of a shipwreck, Petrova is from Russia, and Posy arrives with only a pair of ballet shoes (her mother's) in her possession. The three are placed in the care of Matthew's niece, Sylvia, while he goes off on his endless travels. Soon enough the money runs out, and Sylvia must take in boarders and find a way to educate the three girls so they can care for themselves once they are of age. And so they are sent to The Children's Academy of Dancing and Stage Training, where Pauline quickly discovers her talent as an actress, Posy comes into her dancing heritage, and Petrova ... well, Petrova finds her own route. Streatfeild worked in the theatre for many years before becoming a writer, so the rendering of the training regimen, backstage life, and performing arts in general all ring true. This was one of the first books that gave me insight into the seriousness and legitimacy of a life in the arts - the rigor of it, the discipline, and the commitment it takes as well as the magic and joy it can confer. The three central characters are great role models, young women who take charge of their own destinies and are always there for each other despite disparate origins and very different personalities. And the rendition of 1930s London is vivid and memorable - a wonderful way for kids to enter into a different historical era. Many other Shoes books would follow (Theatre Shoes, Dancing Shoes, Party Shoes, Family Shoes, etc.), but I think it's always good to start at the beginning. (The books all have different settings and characters, but the Fossil girls have cameos in several of them.) It was also apparently made into a movie last year starring Emma Watson (Hermione Granger from the Harry Potter films) - which looks pretty good. But read the book first!

The Diddakoi
by Rumer Godden
1972

Rumer Godden is on my top ten list of the all-time best children's book authors around, so it's a shame that she's known primarily in the States as the inspiration for Demi Moore's and Bruce Willis's daughter's name. (No, really: that's where they got it.) Godden, a British author, wrote books for children and adults from the 1930s all the way until her death in the late 1990s, but her best stuff for kids (in this blogger's opinion) was published in the 60s and 70s. The Diddakoi, which won the Whitbread Award, tells the story of Kizzy Lovell, a gypsy child whose world is turned upside down when her beloved grandmother dies and she's force to leave her traditional lifestyle and start attending regular school as a ward of the county. Godden has a real feeling for culture clashes of this kind, and Kizzy's story is treated with sensitivity and affection. Godden's distinctive style really draws the reader into the story, making it feel immediate and vital: Kizzy's spirited (and often downright naughty) defense of her gypsy ways; the courage of the single woman council member who defends Kizzy and provides a safe haven for her; and the cruelty of Kizzy's schoolmates in the face of Kizzy's "otherness," are all beautifully rendered. It's a wonderful book for learning something about a vanishing culture, but Kizzy's story will resonate with anyone who knows what it feels like to be stranded in a new place, feeling scared, unloved, and unwanted.

Meet the Austins
by Madeleine L'Engle
1960

If I had to pick the one author who was most important to my teenage years, it would have to be Madeleine L'Engle. Reading her books always made me feel less awkward, less nerdy, less of a weirdo for having an artistic, academic family or being interested in big questions about life and death, love and morality. L'Engle reassured me that I wasn't the only one out there like myself, and that the teen years were just a brief episode in my life story. L'Engle's time trilogy books (starting with A Wrinkle in Time) are better known - and they're wonderful, too - but her books about the Austin family (there are four more novels after this one) have their own homey appeal. Daughter Vicky, who's 12 years old in Meet the Austins, is a sympathetic narrator of sibling squabbles, family crises, and her own rocky road through early adolescence. L'Engle has a true ear for dialogue and personality, and the Austin family manages to be extraordinary and endearing without ever being cloying or precious. I first read the book in the early 1980s, some twenty years after its original publication, and didn't find it one bit out of date. I suspect the same could be said for today's readers: sure, you might have to explain what a "phonograph" is, or why none of the kids have cell phones, but the situations and relationships are as timely now as they've ever been.