The Kid was camping for half of August, so I'm combining these two months.
1. Runny Babbit by Shel Silverstein - I had never read this "billy sook", which is a collection of poems in which the first letters of many words are swapped. The Kid read it twice through, once enjoying the sounds, and again to "translate" it.
2. The Watcher: Jane Goodall's Life with the Chimps by Jeanette Winter - a great picture book biography focusing on the determination and patience of Jane Goodall, ending with talk of her work on preserving habitat.
3. The Monster That Grew Small retold by Joan Grant - a retelling of an Egyptian tale about conquering fears by facing them.
4. The Rich Man and the Parrot retold by Suzan Nadini - a Persian folk tale about greed and possessions, with a parrot who communicates ingeniously in order to find his freedom.
5. Rimonah of the Flashing Sword adapted by Eric A. Kimmel - a North African version of Snow White, this was nothing like any other Snow White story I've ever read. I detest the piles of helpless women in fairy tales, who are all beautiful and completely selfless but have no spunk, and Snow White is among the worst of these. But this one is a complete badass. Absolutely awesome.
6&7. The Boy Who Painted Dragons and The Girl Who Drew a Phoenix by Demi - these Chinese tales are both about young people who pass through trials to gain virtues in their pursuit of amazing artwork. Phenomenally illustrated.
8. Snow in Jerusalem by Deborah da Costa - a tale about two boys who are taking care of the same stray cat, one in the Jewish Quarter and one in the Muslim Quarter of Jerusalem.
9. Rainbow Soup: Adventures in Poetry by Brian P. Cleary - a nice find. This introduces several poetic devices and styles of poems and then has several fun, whimsical examples of each. An incredibly approachable introduction to poetry terms.
10. Behind the Mask by Yangsook Choi - An awesome Halloween picture book that is not the usual fare, with a Korean-American as the main character.
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