The perfect book doesn’t exist. Instead, we have books that are perfect for specific moments.
We can discover these books by serendipity, by recommendation, or — for lucky souls such as yourself — on the penultimate page of Northeast Ohio Parent magazine.
Culled from a decade of parenting and 36 years of reading, I present the perfect children’s books for five moments.
The book: Tuesday by David Wiesner
The moment: They want to read you a story… and they don’t know how to read.
Tuesday tells the story of an army of amphibians that inexplicably fly through the air one Tuesday. (By the way, these are not militant frogs. That’s just the word for a group of frogs or toads — army. Now you know.)
The story charms and the illustrations are so lovely that they won Wiesner his first of three Caldecott Medals. But here’s the crucial detail: This picture book only has six words. Everything else is award-winning pictures and flying frogs.
It’s the perfect book for a 2- or 3-year-old to narrate to you. This not only satiates their demand to take a turn reading, it empowers them to tell a story on their own.
By the way, Tuesday isn’t the only (almost) wordless picture book on our shelves. I also love Wonder Bear by Tao Nyeu, Chalk by Bill Thomson, and Jerry Pinkney’ The Tortoise & the Hare.
The book: We Don’t Eat our Classmates by Ryan T. Higgins
The moment: They get in trouble at school
We Don’t Eat our Classmates is about
Penelope Rex, a young tyrannosaur with a single bad habit. She can’t resist the urge to taste her scrumptious classmates. (It’s not her fault that humans are delicious.)
Penny struggles with impulse control — a common issue for the kindergarten crowd (and older.) When your children have their own problems with self-control, Penny can be a useful model. Most importantly, We Don’t Eat our Classmates is more fun than pedantic, so your kids can understand the moral without sitting through another lecture.
I don’t know about you, but my “serious talks” have a lower success rate than teaching through comedic carnivores.
The book: City Dog, Country Frog by
Mo Willems and Jon J. Muth
The moment: A loved one has died
No magical book is going to make your child feel better about losing mee-maw or their pet. However, the right book can help them understand what’s happening.
City Dog, Country Frog is written by Mo
Willems and painted by Jon J. Muth. That’s basically a two-person Avengers of children’s literature. Willems is the man behind The Pigeon, Knuffle Bunny, and Elephant & Piggie books.
Meanwhile, Muth created the stirring Stillwater books, including Zen Shorts and Hi, Koo!
Their book tells the story of a friendship between the two titular animals. Spoiler: The frog doesn’t make it to the end. However, instead of depicting this as a tragedy, the dog understands this as part of life thanks to some froggy wisdom he’s picked up from his friend.
The story is divided by seasons, which helps kids understand that every friendship is a season in our lives. Once again, City Dog isn’t a panacea. Your child will still miss whomever they’ve lost. And that feeling is OK! It’s part of life too.
The Book: The Berenstain Bears and
Too Much Pressure by Stan and Jan Berenstain
The Moment: Your kids have just watched you melt down
You started sobbing — not just crying or tearing up. It was a deluge from your eyeballs, and your children saw the whole thing.
Too Much Pressure is the rare children’s book that’s FOR kids but ABOUT the parents. Namely, it’s about how mounting pressures leave Mama Bear crying in her car in front of her cubs. If that sounds familiar, it’s because the Berenstain Bears could be surprisingly human.
It explains how adults can only handle so much. And sometimes we break too.
We’re constantly reminded to empathize with our children. (And we should.) Too Much Pressure helps your kids empathize with you when you’ve had a bad day.
The Book: The Sneetches and Other Stories by Dr. Seuss
The Moment: You’ve refused to buy your children something expensive
For my generation, it was Starter jackets and Jordan 12s. For them, it’s a PlayStation 5 or new iPhone.
In both cases, it’s just another “star upon thar.”
