What a fun week!
Did ya see that Rhino?! Yes, there was a rhinoceros in ReadTheSpirit—in our interview with singer-songwriter Carrie Newcomer. Rhinos fit into one of her most playful songs.
And rhinos are a bridge to our story today, because Candlewick Press, a global hub of creativity in children’s literature, has two new books out this week all about our planet. More about that in a moment!
For our Jewish friends, this week families all around the world are recalling the heroic story of Queen Esther—because Purim is coming. To learn more about the Fast of Esther and the Purim story, click here to read Stephanie Fenton’s “Spiritual Season” column for this week.
I know that around our Home Office, Jewish day schools are planning parties, making masks, getting out noise makers to hiss and boo at the bad guy in the Esther story. One school, I’ve heard, is collecting boxes of pasta to use as noise makers—then will donate them to a local food bank. What a cool idea!
Meanwhile, spring is just around the corner in the Northern Hemisphere (we’ve got readers way down South, too, we know). And Candlewick already is greeting spring with these two terrific books for kids and the adults who love them.
“LET’S SAVE THE ANIMALS: A Flip-the-Flap Book” I’m both a parent and a life-long collector of pop-up and flap books from around the world. I know from countless hours of reading such books to kids that eyes grow wide, mouths open—and small hands reach out to help us “read” these stories.
Over and over again, of course.
One thing I like about “Let’s Save the Animals” is that often the “flaps” are not immediately obvious on these pages. The paper stock and the inks are matched so perfectly that occasionally I had to do a double- and even a triple-take to see where to “lift.”
The story is simple: Page after page, we discover animals from more than one perspective. We see the rhino both walking through the grassland—and wallowing in the mud.
There’s even a good range of wildlife to accommodate your kids’ “favorite” animal. The book includes: elephants, rhinos, tigers, polar bears, pandas, penguins and butterflies.
CLICK HERE to order a copy of “Let’s Save the Animals: A flip the flap book” from Amazon.
“HOW THE WORLD WORKS: A Hands-on Guide to Our Amazing Planet” Once again, I can see the popularity of this book a mile away. Flip open the “Water Cycle” pop up page (shown in detail below) and anyone within eyesight of this book will gather around for a closer look.
This book is aimed at a little older range of children than “Let’s Save the Animals,” but my experience in half a century of reading with kids is this: Readers of every age love colorful, creatively designed books. You can’t help but start flipping the pages and the flaps in “Animals,” no matter how old you are.
Similarly, readers will immediately start flipping flaps, popping up 3D models and even unfolding carefully tucked-away paper surprises like “The Big Bang.”
As a lover of Pop Up books—and because my own children loved them so much—this would be my immediate springtime choice for fresh reading with kids.
CLICK HERE to order “How the World Works: A Hands-On Guide to Our Amazing Planet” from Amazon.
PLEASE TELL US WHAT YOU THINK:
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free and you can cancel it any time you’d like to do so. The Planner
goes out each week to readers who want more of an “inside track” on
what we’re seeing on the horizon, plus it’s got a popular “holidays”
section.
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(Originally published at https://readthespirit.com/)
