The word "parent" is not just a noun. It's also a verb.
Madeline Finn is a young girl with a big white dog named Star. Is he a lab? Is he a Great Pyrenees? Does it matter? No. He is adorable, and so is she. Madeline is training Star to be a therapy dog. They practice meeting people, sitting still, and meeting other dogs. Then it’s time for Star’s first of three tests at the retirement home. He passes with flying colors.
Little e is a cute little letter who knows he is a hero; after all, he comes from a long line of distinguished Es.
Now if only he can prove it. He has his cape at home and dreams of being a hero, but at school no one pays him any attention. Probably because he doesn’t have much to say.
Violet Shrink, by Christine Baldacchino, and illustrated by Carmen Mok, is really a parents’ how-to manual masquerading as a children’s picture book, but not to worry, kids will appreciate it too.
William was a remarkable man born to parents who had escaped slavery. His parents made a gut wrenching decision to leave behind two boys in order to escape, a fact that haunted their freedom. William was the youngest of 17 children, two lost in the south. He grew up hearing the stories of his parents’ life in slavery and it propelled him to work towards the goal of abolition.
Arlo the lion is exhausted, but just can’t fall asleep. As he struggles to sleep, he meets Owl, who shows him a beautiful song that she sings when she has trouble sleeping. Can that help Arlo? Does the song help him relax and prepare himself for bed?
Primarily a lesson in friendship and patience, Will You Be My Friend? highlights the beauty and essential nature of simple play. Too often children are scheduled within an inch of their existence and play is abandoned in search of “more meaningful” activities. McBratney highlights how much simple play can accomplish in simple, unencumbered moments.
I want you to stop for a moment and imagine being a parent telling your eight-year-old that you’re about to send him on a journey that will take him to another country, mostly by foot, across hundreds of miles, across all sorts of terrains, in all sorts of weather, facing untold dangers, in search of a better life. Now imagine that you’re the eight-year-old.
I want more of this kind of book for my kids. Without making it mushy or unbelievable, Fajardo masterfully intertwines the stories of this precocious not-child and his not-adult brother into one of the sweetest narratives I’ve read in a long time. She allows them to be vulnerable and share a very tender bond that flies in the face of the machismo we’ve been told to expect, and to celebrate.
To say that 12 year old Santiago has had a rough life would be putting it mildly. His father out of the picture, his loving mom dead since he was 5, Santiago has bounced between the houses of his malicious and abusive relatives. His abuela, la malvada, is the worst. After being banished once again to her house, Santiago decides he would rather run away than return to her.