Thursday, March 10, 2016

Books for smart children

I love to read a lot of children books, not only in foreign languages as a way to improve my vocabulary, but because not few of them have interesting parenting advices and ideas. As I have lots of them on my Kindle and did not read or review such genre for a long time, last night I took the brave decision to go through some of the most interesting ones. 
All these books can be read in less than one hour.
Here are my evaluations:

5-star books

Lola the Mermaid and the Splish Splash Olympics is a poetry book about a mermaid who trains for the splish splah olympics. At first, things are not going well, but with perseverance and the big help of her little friends, she succeeds and get the gold. The illustrations are beautiful as it is the message of being resilient and getting used with the failure as a way to succeed and keep improving yourself. It can be read for kids from 5 years old on. 

Hana is a monkey learning to make the difference between good and evil, to become independent and make choices. The illustrations are beautiful and the message of the story too: learn to say 'no' and do not follow wicked peers. At the end of books, there are couple of explanations about Japanese culture and some suggestions of questions for discussing the book. It works for children between 6 and 9 years old.

Plant the seeds of courage in your children from an early age. Let them dream but also help them to find the way to accomplish their dreams. I love the message of this book and the beautiful illustrations too. It suits children in the primary school ready to conquer the world. At the end of the book there is a short discussion about how to avoid let other people put your down and how to discourage negative thinking. 

4-star books

There is such an encouraging message for children faced with the skepticism and 'realism' of adults...'oh...that's no problem that's one I can solve'. 'Because when I imagine...' What else do you need when you just want to live in your dreams? The illustrations are beautiful too although I found the colours a bit too strong. The book is recommended to 5 year old children or less.

Recommended for 7 plus year old, this book features women who dare. Anika received a remote control as birthday present, which can help her to time travel: 'Starting tomorrow press one button each day and you will have the most amazinh week of your life'. And what a week it is: every day she meets a courageous woman that was ahead her time: the equality rights fighter Rosa Parks, Marie Curie, the first US woman to go to medical college Elizabeth Blackwell, Margaret Thatcher, Sally Ride the first US woman in space, the marine biologist Rachel Carson and Oprah Winfrey. It helps girls to understand their unlimited potential and understand that there are no social or political limits for knowledge. Although I enjoyed the writing and the message, I was a bit disappointed about the illustration, as the images are too much the work of the computer programs for my taste.

I loved so much the illustrations of this book, although I found sometimes the text a bit too long. Molly McGent living near Lake Michigan is very unhappy with her parents who keep telling her what to do and especially what not to do. She goes out in her secret monster land - after all, she is half-monster too -  meet some of them but some can be really frightening. The conclusion: 'monsters are cool, but I know I am not ready to be one!'. Time to put on the side her dreams to move out of the home. It is a book for 6 years or more, teaching children about how to learn accepting social constraints and respect their parents. 

Such a funny picture book! Addressing 3 year old and a bit more, it is everything about candies that this smiling dog wants...all the time and everywhere. Easy to read and understand while chewing your candy!

Maggie Mouse cannot sleep even after testing all the classical tricks - sheep counting including. Her mother come to help and check carefully every corner of the room without finding any monster. Green light for sleep then! It is a nice rhymed story that goes well and help children between 3 and 5 to trust and rely on their parents. Was a bit disappointed about the illustrations though, too mechanical for my taste.

3-star books
Easy picture rhymed book, acceptable illustrations and a stubborn dog who is hiding. Can keep some very active boys around for a couple of minutes.
Maybe this is just the October edition and there could be more interesting and appealing characters and stories. The drawings are nice, but the message is sometimes either too creepy or too horror to like it. Or just the text says some nonsense without making it a longer story. Books, including children books, are just a matter of taste after all. 

I really loved the illustrations, and the story makes sense, but somehow, did not impressed me to tears. It may help children to go straight on the path to a better pot training but it can be just one of the many means to do it. Did not expect some sophistication or more simplicity, just felt that there could be much better stories around. 

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