10 Children’s Book Illustrators You Should Know: Tomie DePaola and Ingri & Edgar Parin D’Aulaire

As we end this series, I must say that narrowing my choice to only ten children’s book illustrators you should know is more of a difficult task than you might presume. I have at least three others I could recommend to you, but alas, I will keep to the ten I initially promised and provide you with one for whimsy and one for historical content to finish up.

First up, Tomie DePaola. Tomie Depaola was born in 1934 in Connecticut. He has illustrated and or written over 260 children’s books. His work has won numerous awards including the Newberry Honor Award and the Caldecott Honor Award as well as the Smithsonian Medal from the Smithsonian Institute.

I love Mr. Depaola’s childlike illustrations for their vibrant colors, their fun spirited appeal, and their friendliness. His autobiographical stories are my very favorite and are sure to tickle your funny bone! Here are a few for you to enjoy:


Ingri and Edgar Parin D’Aulaire were a husband and wife team who immigrated to America from Europe shortly after their marriage. They were both born at the dawn of the 20th century and both passed away in the 1980’s. Ingri and Edgar collaborated on the art and text of all their works including their incredible biographical accounts, one of which, Abraham Lincoln, earned them a Caldecott Medal. The couple traveled and studied extensively for their biographical accounts making these children’s books notable for historical context in addition to the stunning stone lithograph illustrations.




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10 Children’s Book Illustrators You Should Know: Garth Williams

If you grew up loving the Little House books, Stuart Little, The Cricket in Time’s Square, or Charlotte’s Web, then you’ve had the pleasure of knowing today’s illustrator, Garth Williams. Garth Williams, noted as one of the most important children’s book illustrators in American history, was born in New York City in 1942. He studied in London and then moved back to the states post war, ultimately closing out his time on earth in 1996 while residing in Mexico. He illustrated more than 80 books in his lifetime many iconic in American Children’s Literature. Here are some of our favorites:



Also, this book looks like a good read, I can’t wait to check this one out for myself!

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Ten Children’s Book Illustrators You Should Know: Jerry Pinkney and Paul Galdone


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Last week we took a look at Barbara Cooney’s whimsical illustrations highlighting her first in my series of Ten Children’s Book Illustrators You Should Know. Today I will introduce you to two more illustrators you and your children should become familiar with: Jerry Pinkney and Paul Galdone.

Jerry Pinkney, a native of Philadelphia, began illustrating children’s books in 1964. Since that time his pictures have graced the pages of over 100 books, and won numerous awards including the Caldecott Medal and five Caldecott Honor Medals to name just a few. His works are translated into over 16 languages and published in 14 countries. His internationally recognized body of work has educated and inspired children and adults the world over. He currently lives in New York with his wife, and author, Gloria Jean.

Here are a few of my favorite books illustrated by Jerry Pinkney:

 


Paul Galdone, originally born in Budapest, Hungary and later moving at the age of 14 to New Jersey lived from 1907-1986. Perhaps best known for his retelling and illustrating of classic fairy tales, he also illustrated nearly all of Eve Titus’ book series on Basil the Detective for which he won a Caldecott Award.  Read more about Mr. Galdone in his short autobiography here.

My favorite books illustrated by Paul Galdone include:

 



Jerry Pinkney and Paul Galdone are two children’s book illustrators that are staples in our home and two that you should know as well. Do you have favorites of these gentleman’s books? Happy and beautiful reading!

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Ten Children’s Book Illustrators You Should Know: Barbara Cooney

Picture books aren’t merely for the youngest children in our homes, they are for young and old alike. Over the next two months I will highlight ten of my favorite picture book illustrators, a few of which you may be unfamiliar with.

Today’s author/illustrator is the beloved Barbara Cooney. If you listened to my interview on the Read Aloud Revival Podcast (Listen here.) then you heard me swoon over the (unfortunately) unrelated Mrs. Cooney. Additionally, if you’ve perused my list of picture books highlighting orphans and celebrating adoption, you’ve seen many of Barbara Cooney’s works listed there. (Find the list here.)

This American writer and illustrator of 110 children’s books, which were published over sixty years, was the mother of four. Although she didn’t write an autobiographical account of her life, it has been said that Miss Rumphius, Island Boy, and Hattie and the Wild Waves are as close as she came to doing so. Mrs. Cooney received two Caldecott Medals for her work on Chanticleer and the Fox and Ox-Cart Man, and a National Book Award for Miss Rumphius. Her charmingly illustrated books have been translated into 10 languages.

Barbara Cooney is such a treasured illustrator on our shelves that it was hard to narrow down my favorite books that she either illustrated, or both wrote and illustrated; however, below are my top 12.

America and the world is a better place because of her contributions to children’s literature. Barbara Cooney is an illustrator that you should know and I hope you come to love.


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15 Christmas Picture Books to Celebrate the Season


Memories shared around favored Christmas books is one of our most beloved ways to celebrate the season. There are many things to see and do at Christmastime that involve activities outside the home, but books provide the perfect stay at home shared time which can take you back in time or to another location entirely. Books allow us to walk in other people’s shoes and experience life as they have. Be it the orphaned child, the homeless family, the shepherd boy, or an elderly woman seeking to catch a glimpse of Christmas magic, you and your family can enter their world and learn empathy and lessons to guide your own steps. Check a few of these out at your local library, favorite thrifted bookstore, or purchase them online at the links below and give them a try.

Her spirits, which had been high, fell a little as a sense of time touched her. How slowly it crawled and yet how fast it flew. She had been young and now she was old and the years between had vanished as though they had never been. ~Elizabeth Goudge, I Saw Three Ships





Stay tuned for our favorite Christmas chapter books later this week. But for now, here is one to get you started!


Merry Reading,

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Read Alouds to Celebrate the Fourth of July

My family had the chance to visit Pike’s Peak a few years ago during our Colorado vacation. It was a beautiful sight to behold the inspiration for the patriotic song, America the Beautiful. This week, as we celebrate the founding of our country and the men who pledged their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor to give the gift of freedom to us, here are a few books to provide inspiration and education. Happy Fourth of July to you and yours!


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12 Books to Celebrate Dad

He’s the wrestle champion, BBQ extraordinaire, advice giver, spiritual leader, firm foundation, trend setter, bread winner, shoulder to cry on. Yes sir, I am talking about Dad! It’s June and time to celebrate the fathers in our life. Below are 12 books that highlight dads and the special place they hold in the family, and in their children’s hearts.

A few ideas for sharing this particular stack of books:

  •  place these in a book basket and encourage your older, literate children to read them to your younger children
  •  have this special stack set aside for dad to read aloud
  • snuggle in close with your children and read them aloud yourself

In my own community, there are several families who will endure this day as they remember the man no longer here. A dear friend of mine wrote a post several years ago about her own family’s experience with Father’s Day soon after the death of her husband. If this sounds like someone you know, please pass this post along. Also, read it for yourself to see how you can help a family during this holiday. While these book suggestions below may not meet the needs of a family in such a situation, I may have one recommendation. Why not grab a copy and read aloud a stack of books, or a book, that your children’s father loved reading to them? Or maybe you could read a portion of his favorite book. I think this would be a nice way to remember the man and honor his memory even while acknowledging the huge loss.

For the dads still present with us today, we can’t wait to celebrate you! Here are 12 books to get started:

Danny’s dad takes him on illegal excursions (pheasant poaching), but this is a fun father/son story that you and your children won’t forget!

 

What books would you add to this list? Happy Father’s Day!

 

 

 

 

Purchase my book, Thirty Balloons: An Adoption Tale, on Amazon.

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Classical Conversations Booklist Cycle 1: Ancient History

Welcome all Classical Conversation families! Additionally, welcome to homeschooling families that use this list to supplement their ancient history study!

A few notes about the arrangement of books in this post:

  1. This booklist is a tool and not a checklist! Please use it to supplement your morning time routines or studies of CC memory work.
  2. My family will not read all these books listed each week. Instead, this will be a reference list for me to utilize in weekly book selections and in chapter book read alouds.
  3. The pictured links in the twenty-four week lists are my top suggestions for families new to Classical Conversations or with first year, abecedarian, students. I wanted to make this easy for you!
  4. The books are arranged in alphabetical order per week first by picture books, and then chapter books.
  5. Please leave any additional suggestions your family enjoys in the comments below. Thank you!

*All links below are affiliate links.

Week 1:


How Many Animals Were on the Ark?
Cabinet of Curiosities: Collecting and Understanding the Wonders of the Natural World
Karl, Get Out of the Garden!: Carolus Linnaeus and the Naming of Everything
The Seven Days of Creation
The Real Story of the Creation
The Real Story of the Flood
Adam and His Kin: The Lost History of Their Lives and Times
How to Think Like a Scientist: Answering Questions by the Scientific Method

Week 2:


The Assyrian Empire’s Three Attempts to Rule the World : Ancient History of the World | Children’s Ancient History
The Girl Who Drew Butterflies: How Maria Merian’s Art Changed Science
Mirror Mirror: A Book of Reverso Poems

Week 3:


Something From Nothing
Snow in Jerusalem (Albert Whitman Prairie Books (Paperback))
The Bronze Bow

Week 4:


Hosni the Dreamer: An Arabian Tale
Pyramid
The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World

Week 5:



Cleopatra
Exodus
Pagoo
Temple Cat
The Egyptian Cinderella
the How and Why Wonder Book of Sea Shells
Tutankhamun
Boy of the pyramids, a mystery of ancient Egypt;
The Golden Goblet (Newbery Library, Puffin)
Mara, Daughter of the Nile (Puffin Story Books)

Week 6:


Galileo and the Stargazers
The Hero and the Minotaur
The Librarian Who Measured the Earth
Archimedes and the Door of Science (Living History Library)
The Children’s Homer: The Adventures of Odysseus and the Tale of Troy
The Children’s Homer (Audiobook)

Week 7:

Augustus Caesar’s World
Beyond the Desert Gate
The Bronze Bow
The Cat of Bubastes: A Tale of Ancient Egypt (Dover Children’s Classics)

Week 8:


From Cone to Pine Tree (Start to Finish Second Series)
Gandhi
I is for India (World Alphabets)
Oh Say Can You Seed?: All About Flowering Plants (Cat in the Hat’s Learning Library)
The King’s Chessboard (Picture Puffin Books)
The Story of Little Babaji

Week 9:



A Single Pebble: A Story of the Silk Road
Kites
Lon Po Po: A Red-Riding Hood Story from China
Ruby’s Wish
The Curious Garden
The Empty Pot
The Magic Pillow
The Master Swordsman & the Magic Doorway: Two Legends from Ancient China
The Seven Chinese Brothers (Blue Ribbon Book)
Up in the Garden and Down in the Dirt
The House of Sixty Fathers
Young Fu of the Upper Yangtze

Week 10:



Grandfather’s Journey
In the Eyes of the Cat: Japanese Poetry For All Seasons
A Tree Is Nice (Rise and Shine)(Science)
The Tale of the Mandarin Ducks (Picture Puffins)
Today And Today
My Side of the Mountain (Puffin Modern Classics)(Science)
Pocket Guide to the Outdoors: Based on My Side of the Mountain
The Big Wave (Deals with death and religion-Excellent book!)

Week 11:


The Reason for a Flower: A Book About Flowers, Pollen, and Seeds (Explore!)
This is Rome: A Children’s Classic
Polycarp of Smyrna (Heroes of the Faith)

Week 12:


Genghis Khan (Illustrated Biography)
Marco Polo

Week 13:


A Boy Named Giotto
Sam and Dave Dig a Hole (Irma S and James H Black Award for Excellence in Children’s Literature (Awards))
Zomo the Rabbit: A Trickster Tale from West Africa

Week 14:



Anna Hibiscus (Set in modern day Africa, but a beautiful and loveable story series that will charm your readers!)
Anna Hibiscus (The audiobook is equally beautiful!)
A Rock Can Be (Millbrook Picture Books)
Bringing the Rain to Kapiti Plain (Rise and Shine)
King of the Wind: The Story of the Godolphin Arabian
Masters of the Renaissance: Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, and more

Week 15:



Around the World in a Hundred Years: From Henry the Navigator to Magellan
To the Top! Climbing the World’s Highest Mountain (Step-Into-Reading, Step 5)

Week 16:


The Corn Grows Ripe (Puffin Newbery Library)

Week 17:



Mufaro’s Beautiful Daughters: An African Tale (Picture Puffin)
Stories From Africa
A Long Walk to Water: Based on a True Story (Violent content that may be suitable for your older children; however, a lovely story of hope and restoration.)

Week 18:

Secrets in Stone : All About Maya Hieroglyphics

Week 19:



Adelita: A Mexican Cinderella Story (Turtleback School & Library Binding Edition)

Week 20:


Hallelujah Handel
The Snake Scientist (Scientists in the Field Series) (Geography)

Week 21:


Black Whiteness: Admiral Byrd Alone in the Antarctic (Science)

Week 22:


If You Were Me and Lived in…Peru: A Child’s Introduction to Cultures Around the World (Volume 12)
Lost City: The Discovery of Machu Picchu
My Name Is Gabriela/Me llamo Gabriela (Rise and Shine) (English, Multilingual and Spanish Edition)
Paddington (Geography)
Secret of the Andes (Puffin Book)

Week 23:


Chatter, Sing, Roar, Buzz: Poems about the Rain Forest (Poetry)
The Great Kapok Tree: A Tale of the Amazon Rain Forest
Victoria Goes to Brazil (Children Return to their Roots)

Week 24:

Additional Resources:

In studying ancient history, our children are exposed to many different religions and worldviews. A wonderful way to reinforce the Christian worldview within other cultural contexts and religions is through missionary biographies. Heroes Then and Now provide wonderful biographical accounts of missionaries in the countries we study in history and geography. If you are unfamiliar with this series, I would recommend this starter kit. It contains four missionaries in geographical locations we memorize this cycle and the fifth is Corey Ten Boom which you could use for geography;y and history study in Cycles 2 and 3.

You might also consider these two:

An action packed, science audio series we love in our home is Jonathon Park. Here is the first complete set; there are ten in all and we have enjoyed and learned so much from each and every one. This series reinforces the creation perspective and the effects of the world-wide flood.

Two excellent history resources that we used before include:


Story of the World, Volume 1 Publisher: Peace Hill Press (Audio Version)

For study of composers:

For a closer look at how children live in the countries found in our memory work this year consider this:

I am adding the Wilderking Trilogy by Jonathan Rogers after seeing a comment on the Classical Conversations Facebook Page that it is fantasy written allegorically to the life of King David. How exciting! So let’s say it fits shall we?  I have the first book already on my shelf and can’t wait to dive in. Also, listen to Sarah Mackenzie of the Read Aloud Revival speak with author, Jonathan Rogers about this series and his other works here.

Finally, this last book has been such a valuable resource not only in compiling this list, but in studying the world with our children on numerous occasions. If you don’t already own this book by Jamie Martin, you will want to add it to your library of books on books.

You can now purchase my book, Thirty Balloons: An Adoption Tale, on Amazon.

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Using Books to Cultivate a Heart for Orphans and Adoption

My passion for adoption started growing long before my adult years. It came as a result of the planting of the Holy Spirit, and it also came in the form of story. Books cultivate life experiences in a safe environment and develop compassion and sympathy, passion and purpose, in children prior to their ability to act on those feelings.

As we enter into the cooler, cozier days of November, it is a perfect time to introduce, or perhaps continue the narration of, stories to our children which cultivate a heart for orphans and adoption. There is a lengthy list at Good Reads and here are a few of my favorites to get you started. I tend to recommend these as read aloud books to be shared with the whole family in order to encourage dialogue. Not all of these books are serious, but they all prompt us to think about orphans and begin cultivating a heart for orphan care and adoption in our homes. As with all books we share with our children, please be sure and preview the content to make sure it is age appropriate and sensitive to the specific environment of your child’s history and emotional maturity.

Don’t have children of your own? That’s okay too! As C.S. Lewis stated, A children’s story that can only be enjoyed by children is not a good children’s story in the slightest.

Read Alouds for K4-3rd grade or older:


Read Aloud Books for 3rd and Up:

 

 

Older students (young adult):

 

One more that is on my to-be-read pile and was recently highlighted in this week’s episode of the Read Aloud Revival Podcast is:

Which books have you used to bring awareness of orphan care and adoption into your life and home? What books would you add to this list? I have always gravitated to books about orphans and in the coming weeks will unfold as much as I am presently allowed about our current adoption journey. Stay tuned!

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The Details: Nature vs. nature

Nature vs. nature

As we have discussed in the previous two posts, it is the job of Christians to first educate themselves on the worldviews of today so secondly, they can educate their own generation and those to follow. We must identify and question the secular, naturalistic worldview that is abundant in literature, music, movies, and all areas of study so that we can teach and proliferate the Christian, biblical worldview bestowed by God. In so doing, we will further the gospel movement and thus the great commission (Matthew 28:20)

What does this look like in everyday circumstances? I have written previous apologetic posts that I think would help to explain such methods (here and here), but I feel a recent example is profitable.

I deeply love classic literature. Texts rich in vocabulary and bursting with the arts are part of everyday blessings that I desire to give my children. A well-written book, be it fiction or non-fiction, is inspiring to the psyche, it enriches our lives, and shapes the culture.

One such gem of children’s literature is Kenneth Grahame’s classic tale, The Wind in the Willows. Prior to reading this text with my children, I had only read portions of this story; never the full text.

Aside from the rich vocabulary, the artistic descriptions of scenery, character, and plot, I began to notice an underlying belief system of the author. In the infamous chapter seven, The Piper at the Gates of Dawn, two of the main characters, Mole and the River Rat, have a religious experience filled with worship for, Pan, the Greek god of the wild…nature. As I was reading this chapter to my children–keep in mind I had no idea this was approaching as this was my first read–I recognized immediately that significant nature worship was being depicted. Not only that, but the word nature itself is capitalized throughout the text thereby attributing anthropomorphic, human qualities, to a non-human concept. To capitalize nature is to equate nature with a god-like being responsible for the world we see today. It is to equate nature to God and His creation.

wind in the willows

…then in the utter clearness of the imminent dawn, while Nature, flushed with fullness of incredible colour, seemed to hold her breath for the event, he looked in the very eyes of the Friend and Helper; saw the backward sweep of the curved horns, (The Wind in the Willows, Kenneth Grahame, emphasis mine)

Immediately, I used this as a teachable moment.

I reinforced the idea that people worship the created rather than the creator. Just as we talk about evolution as one way to help explain the world around us to the exclusion of God, they can in turn attribute deity to Nature. I explained that this doesn’t mean we can’t read this book or other books like it simply because of a different worldview. However, in reading such texts we should be aware of the underlying worldview and values from which the author is writing.

Making this chapter, or other literature with conflicting worldview narratives,  taboo may heighten such texts to forbidden fruit. Conversely, openly discussing worldviews and other religious beliefs with our children in an environment where questions are welcomed and answers provided or looked up together, equips our children to handle future questions independently.

The saying, the devil is in the details applies here. We can equip ourselves, our children, and peers to recognize worldviews in the details so that we can sharpen our understanding of worldviews held by others and speak the truth of the Bible and a Christian worldview into the everyday situations of life.

More to come on Friday!

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