Hellobee

Amy Krouse Rosenthal’s heart wrenching, yet beautiful essay, “You May Want to Marry My Husband” drew in four and a half million readers online and captured so many of our hearts. She passed away on Monday at the age of 51 from ovarian cancer. When I first found out about her poor health and prognosis, I was so heartbroken because she is one of my favorite children’s authors and such an inspirational person.

Rosenthal has written 28 children’s books as well as adult books, including two memoirs, which are now on my list of books to read. She is a short filmmaker (check out The Beckoning of Lovely Story) and has also been a contributor to the TED conference (7 notes in life) and to NPR. This past week I was reading, listening and watching her work and was stirred by the way she approached life and the small moments in life; I highly recommend checking out her work! I enjoy reading her children’s books to my kids because her writing is clever and sweet and I sense a lot of love woven through her books when I read them. She truly is a gift to readers young and old.

Little Pea, Little Hoot, Little Oink
Illustrator: Jen Corace
Hardcover, 36 pages
Recommended Age Range: 4-7 years
My Recommended Age Range: 3+

Lil’ Pizza enjoys the three “little books” and finds them laugh out loud funny. Little Pea is a pea that has to eat candy for dinner each night even though he dislikes it. Little Oink is a pig who wants to be clean and tidy even though his parents always want him to make a mess. Little Hoot is an owl who dislikes staying up late, but their house rule is to stay up late and play. The three books are written in a similar style, and it’s funny for little ones to understand how the animals don’t do things exactly the “right” way.

This Plus That
Illustrator: Jen Corace
Hardcover, 40 pages
Recommended Age Range: 4-8 years
My Recommended Age Range: 6+

A sweet and delightful read of how adding this to that can make something special (leaves plus hot soup equals fall). It also includes some things do not equal things (blaming plus eye rolling does not equal sincere apology).

Duck! Rabbit!
Illustrator: Tom Lichtenheld
Hardcover, 40 pages
Recommended Age Range: 5-8 years
My Recommended Age Range: 4+

This was the first book that I have read of Rosenthal’s. In this book, there is a debate going on, is the picture a duck or a rabbit? The two unseen readers continue to give their reasons why they are correct, and the book will continue to leave you wondering.

It’s Not Fair
Illustrator: Tom Lichtenheld
Hardcover, 40 pages
Recommended Age Range: 4-8 years
My Recommended Age Range: 5+

Lil’ Pizza doesn’t know to use the phrase “it’s not fair!” just yet but this book would be a useful book to help start conversations about life not always being fair. In this book, there are different scenarios that show that life is not always fair.  There isn’t really a “solution” of any kind in the book but that’s true to life, wouldn’t you say? The book mixes in some playful scenarios as well as inanimate objects that may not see a situation as fair.

Yes Day!
Illustrator: Tom Lichetenheld
Hardcover, 40 pages
Recommended Age Range: 4-8 years
My Recommended Age Range: 3+

Can you imagine a day that the answer to anything you ask is “yes”? Lil’ Pizza loved reading this book and has asked a few times already when she can have a “yes day” (I’m still trying to figure out how to respond to her question!). It’s a playful book and the illustrations are equally important when reading this book.

I Wish You More
Illustrator: Tom Lichtenheld
Hardcover, 40 pages
Recommended Age Range: 3-6 years
My Recommended Age Range: 4+

A beautiful book filled with sweet wishes that can touch the hearts of readers of any age. The beauty in a lot of the Rosenthal’s books are that they can be so simple, sweet, and heartfelt.

The OK Book
Illustrator: Tom Lichtenheld
Hardcover, 40 pages
Recommended Age Range: 4-8 years
My Recommended Age Range: 4+

This book is an encouragement to readers that it is OK to just be OK and that the process of figuring out what you may be great at is part of the fun. The character looks like a stick figure, but is also the word “OK” flipped in different ways doing the activities mentioned. It was a great read for Lil’ Pizza to remind her that it takes time to develop skills and that she doesn’t have to feel like she has to excel at an activity from the start.

Friendshape
Illustrator: Tom Lichtenheld
Hardcover, 40 pages
Recommended Age Range: 3-5 years
My Recommended Age Range: 3+

A simple book describing what friends are. I love that Rosenthal is so creative and can use shapes to explain how wonderful a friend can be.

Wumbers
Illustrator: Tom Litchtenheld
Hardcover, 40 pages
Recommended Age Range: 4-7 years
My Recommended Age Range: 6+

This book is filled with words mixed with numbers to challenge and delight readers in a playful way. A fun book for school-age kids to enjoy cre8tive wordplay!

Exclamation Mark!
Illustrator: Tom Lichtenheld
Hardcover, 56 pages
Recommended Age Range: 5-8 years
My Recommended Age Range: 4+

This is a cleverly written book about (!) who didn’t like standing out in the crowd of the other punctuation marks.  It’s a story about discovering himself and the great potential he has within himself. I love how the author can take a book about an exclamation mark and make it a meaningful story.

Spoon
Illustrator: Scott Magoon
Hardcover, 40 pages
Recommended Age Range: 2-6 years
My Recommended Age Range: 2+

Spoon is starting to feel jealous of his other utensil friends who seem to be able to do a lot more exciting things than him, like knife who is “so lucky! He gets to cut, he gets to spread.” It turns out the other utensils see all the cool things that Spoon gets to do that they aren’t able to either. Spoon comes to accept and realize that he is indeed special. Again, the author is able to deliver an important message in a playful, clever and humorous way. One of our favorites!

Chopsticks
Illustrator: Scott Magoon
Hardcover, 40 pages
Recommended Age Range: 4-8 years
My Recommended Age Range: 4+

This is a companion book to Spoon. Chopsticks have always been inseparable, doing everything together until one day, one of the chopsticks snapped doing a fancy culinary trick. The pictures and clever writing are so fun and the author leaves us with a great message that “being apart had made each of them even stronger” and now they are strong independently and even stronger together.

Plant A Kiss
Illustrator: Peter Reynolds
Hardcover, 40 pages
Recommended Age Range: 4-8 years
My Recommended Age Range: 4+

This is a simple book with minimal words on a page but a much bigger message (like many of Rosenthal’s books) that sharing good things with others instead of selfishly having it for yourself will produce even greater joy.

Little Miss, Big Sis
Illustrated by Peter Reynolds
Hardcover, 40 pages
Recommended Age Range: 4-8 years
My Recommended Age Range: 4+

This would be a sweet book to get for a soon to be big sister. It shows how Little Miss grows into her role as big sis.

One of Those Days
Illustrator: Rebecca Doughty
Hardcover, 32 pages
Recommended Age Range: 4-8 years
My Recommended Age Range: 4+

This is a great book to help explain to your child that everyone has “one of those days.” The book goes through examples of such days, including “Nobody’s Listening to You Day,” “Feeling Left Out Day,” and “Say the Wrong Thing Day.” The author ends the book by gently reminding the reader that even those days end and a new day awaits.

Bedtime For Mommy
Illustrator: Leuyen Pham
Hardcover, 32 pages
Recommended Age Range: 3-5 years
My Recommended Age Range: 3+

Parents and their child will easily relate to this book which is written with the roles reversed – the child is putting her mom to bed. We found this book pretty hilarious because of the familiar bedtime requests that parents experience with their little ones.

The Wonder Book
Illustrator: Paul Schmid
Hardcover, 80 pages
Recommended Age Range: 4-8 years

This was one of the few books I didn’t have a chance to read, but it sounds like a fun one. It’s not a story but more of a collection of word games, poems, stories, palindromes, and random observations.

Cookies: Bite Size Life Lessons, Christmas Cookies: Bite-Size Holiday Lessons, Sugar Cookies: Sweet Little Lessons on Love, One Smart Cookie: Bite-Size Life Lessons For The School Years And Beyond
Illustrator: Jane Dyer
Hardcover, 40 pages
Recommended Age Range: 4+ years
My Recommended Age Range: 4

I love Bite Size Life Lessons! Rosenthal explains the meaning of words such as cooperate, regret, content, pessimistic, optimistic, envy trust and patience through the act of making and eating cookies. She explains such complex words with such wonderful examples. “Honest means, I have to tell you something. The butterfly didn’t really take the cookie – I took the cookie. Courageous means, it was not easy for me to tell you that I took the cookie, but I took a deep breath and made the words come out.”

Out of the “cookies books” she wrote, I’ve read this original one and the Christmas Cookies (such a sweet Christmas book to add to your holiday book collection) but I plan to purchase all the cookies books. Rosenthal has a way with words and helps even the youngest readers to understand words such as perseverance, gratitude, gracious, joy, hope, and peace.

 

Al Pha’s Bet
Illustrator: by Delphine Durand
Hardcover, 32 pages
Recommended Age Range: 3-5 years
My Recommended Age Range: 3+

Al Pha challenges himself to put the newly invented 26 letters in order upon the king’s request to all the people. Lil’ Pizza found the clever wordplay throughout the book funny.

I Scream! Ice Cream!: A Book of Wordles
Illustrated by Sergio Bloch
Hardcover, 40 pages
Recommended Age Range: 5-8 years
My Recommended Age Range: 7+

This is a clever and silly book of wordplay which includes some obvious ones like “i scream/ice cream” to some more challenging ones like “sorry, no more funnel cakes/ sorry, no more fun . . . elk aches.”

That’s Me Loving You
Illustrator: Teagan White
Hardcover, 40 pages
Recommended Age Range: 3-7 years
My Recommended Age Range: 3+

This is such a beautifully written book that is a gentle reminder that the child’s significant adult, whether together or apart, is always present. This is great for any child, whether it is for a child being on his own for his first day of school or a parent going on a work trip. It would also be a beautiful book for a child who has lost a significant grown up in his life.

Awake Beautiful Child
Illustrator: Gracia Lam
Hardcover, 32 pages
Recommended Age Range: 1-5 years old
My Recommended Age Range: 4+

This book is written in three word “ABC” phrases and follows the day of children from the morning they wake to the time they go to bed. I love the illustrations and the creative word choices used throughout the book.

Uni the Unicorn
Illustrated by Brigette Barrager
Hardcover, 48 pages
Recommended Age Range: 4-8 years
My Recommended Age Range: 3+

This is a favorite of ours.  It is about a unicorn named Uni who, unlike the other unicorns, believes that little girls are real. Uni doesn’t allow the opinions of the other unicorns to sway her own belief. There is also a little girl, who believes that there is a unicorn out there waiting just for her. It is a sweet story about friendship and believing in the unknown.

.  .  .  .  .

I know there are some more children’s books that she has written that will come out in the future including Uni the Unicorn and the Dream Come True (a sequel to Uni the Unicorn) and I can’t wait to read all of them.

What is your favorite book by Amy Krouse Rosenthal?