10 Books for Young Children from the Ottawa Public Library
/The Ottawa Public Library is back to share more engaging book selections for young kids. This month’s post is by Xiao Feng Xing, Librarian, Youth Collections at the Ottawa Public Library.
2020 was a difficult and challenging time for everyone, especially for young children. COVID-19 has turned their world upside down. They haven’t been able to go to the library, attend programs, play with their friends, or visit family. Let’s hope some of these book suggestions will bring a bit of joy to children and help them get through this pandemic.
1. LIFT by Minh Lê and Dan Santat
https://ottawa.bibliocommons.com/item/show/1227916026
I’m pretty sure that most kids like to push elevator buttons. I remember when my son was young and I took him to the library for a program, he snuck out of the room to play with the elevator buttons, going up and down in the elevator just to have some fun.
The character in this picture book is a little girl and her name is Iris.
Iris loves to push the elevator buttons in her apartment building, but she doesn’t like it when her younger brother presses them instead of her. In an act of rebellion, Iris pushes all the buttons and breaks the elevator. She takes the discarded buttons home and presses them. Magically, the buttons open a magic world, sometimes the jungle, and other times outer space. Iris realizes that sharing this discovery and adventure with her younger brother could be a wonderful experience. Beautiful art enhances this uplifting story that encourages children to share the world of magic with their siblings and friends.
“Imagination will often carry us to worlds that never were. But without it, we go nowhere.”- Carl Segan
2. The Blue House by Phoebe Wahl
https://ottawa.bibliocommons.com/item/show/1227858026
Leo lived with his dad in an old blue house next to a tall fir tree. Even though the house was in very bad condition, at least it was theirs. When they found out that their house was going to be torn down. Leo and his dad were disappointed that they would need to leave a place that both of them loved so much. When they moved into a new house, it felt empty, but they coped with this hardship. They drew a picture of the old blue house on the wall, and little by little, familiar objects began to appear in the new house. With each passing day, the new house was becoming theirs. This is a lovely story of a single father and his son, who hand in hand, go through difficult moments and experience many emotions. This book can help teach children how to cope with difficult times, such as the current pandemic.
3. Our little kitchen by Jullian Tamaki
https://ottawa.bibliocommons.com/item/show/1246127026
Our Little Kitchen is a tiny, small place, just big enough, so squeeze in and make space. In this lively, rousing picture book from Caldecott Honoree Jillian Tamaki, a crew of resourceful neighbours comes together to prepare a meal for their community. One person’s power is small, but as they work together, they change the community and show kindness to the people around them who are struggling due to different reasons. This book will warm the hearts of children by showing what it means to be nice and to help the neediest persons in their community.
4. My best friend by Julie Fogliano and Jillian Tamaki
https://ottawa.bibliocommons.com/item/show/1206799026
New York Times bestselling author Julie Fogliano, and Caldecott Honor winner Jillian Tamaki, come together to tell a delightful story of first friendship. One girl thinks of some sweetly earnest and visually stunning criteria to judge that she has found the best friend. Together, they pretend to be ducks and pickles. They laugh and swing together. There are so many ways that this little narrator knows that she has found the best friend. They draw each other; they play together and laugh together. The sweet and slightly surprising twist at the end of the story, is that they don’t even know each other’s names, or if they will see each other the next day. The art on every page is dynamic and creates a sense of energy throughout in the book.
5. I Talk Like A River by Jordan Scott and Sydney Smith
https://ottawa.bibliocommons.com/item/show/1246086026
“What if words got stuck in the back of our mouth? What if they never came out the way you wanted them to?” Canadian poet Jordan Scott tells a powerful, uplifting, honest, and sincerely personal story, with a very internal voice, about his stuttering problem. “But I can’t stop thinking all day about my bad speech: all those eyes watching. My lips twist and twirl. All those mouths giggling and laughing. I feel a storm in my belly; my eyes fill with rain. My dad sees that I am sad and pulls me close; he points to the river and says “See how that water moves? That’s how you speak.”
This invigorating, gate-fold illustration, with a young boy in the shimmering, cleansing and refreshing water, transforms deep internal change into a light-filled moment. The young character feels less alone and opens his mind to think about his speech in a new way. Beyond the problem of stuttering, this book really encourages children to embrace who they are.
6. If You Come to Earth by Sophie Blackall
https://ottawa.bibliocommons.com/item/show/1246087026
This book was written by two-time Caldecott medal winner Sophie Blackall. If You Come to Earth is a book about a child writing a letter to a visitor from outer space, explaining our world. If You Come to Earth explains what you need to know: where our planet sits in the solar system, the fact that it’s made of land and water, mountains and plains, cities and towns; that the people who live here come in all shapes and sizes, that we love each other, that we get cold and hungry; that we are always learning and always busy, and that we are not alone; that we share our planet with creatures in the sea and animals on the land and birds in the sky; that we make music and art, and mistakes; that that we tell stories in many languages. This book reflects the diversity of our world. It is the book that brings us together and encourages us to take care of the planet and each other. Every Monday for six weeks the author sat in a second-grade classroom in Brooklyn with 23 kids who helped her figure out how to explain the world to a visitor from outer space.
7. I Am Every Good Thing by Derrick Barnes and Gordon C. (The creators of Crown: An Ode to the Fresh Cut )
https://ottawa.bibliocommons.com/item/show/1246080026
The confident Black narrator of this book is proud of everything that makes him who he is. His curiosity, his creativity, his bravery, his kindness, his sense of humor and fun, his ability to get up again when he gets knocked down.
This book will inspire children who may feel marginalized and help them to see all the good things they have in themselves. The positive and supportive text of this book clearly and powerfully demonstrates the knowledge that all Black children are worthy and deserve to be loved for who they are.
8. Snail Crossing by Corey R Tabor
https://ottawa.bibliocommons.com/item/show/1206675026
A slow and steady snail saw a plump cabbage on the other side of a wide road and was determined to cross the road to get it. The snail was cabbage bound! Nothing could stand in his way – not even a speeding van. But then the kind-hearted snail stops to help a colony of ants from drowning in a heavy storm – he offers them tea and safety inside his shell. Then he’s back on his way, scooting along the road, when a hungry crow wants to eat him. The clever snail uses evasive maneuvers to get away from the cow, but the spinning makes him dizzy and he ends back where he started instead of the other side of the road. Luckily, his new ant friends carry the cabbage from across the street for him. This book is a lovely tale of determination, kindness and friendship.
9. I Dream of a Journey, by Akiko Miyakosh
https://ottawa.bibliocommons.com/item/show/1206774026
“People from all over the world come and go at the innkeeper's little hotel. He enjoys meeting them, and many even become his friends. Only, sometimes, when he goes to sleep at night, the desire to travel far away himself wells up inside him. He dreams of packing a big bag and journeying wherever he pleases, from one unfamiliar town to another. He imagines stopping to visit friends and having wonderful and unexpected experiences. The innkeeper continues to go about his daily routine at his hotel, but, someday, he is sure, he will explore the world.”
We’re all dreaming of journeys this year. This book starts out black and white and then slowly the colours begin to bloom on the page. The topic will resonate with children, especially this year, with many of them anxious to set off on a journey themselves, once COVID-19 is under control.
10. The Barnabus Project by Terry Fan
https://ottawa.bibliocommons.com/item/show/1249907026
Barnabus lived in a secret lab. He was half mouse and half elephant. The lab was full of perfect pets and hidden beneath a perfectly ordinary street. In a world of perfect pets, Barnabus is not quite perfect and is marked as a failed project. His pal Pip the cockroach tells him about the outside world: “Green hills and trees all the way to the sky, lit with their own stars”. In fact, they’re just high-rise buildings with lights. Because the Green Rubber Suits (the staff working at the secret lab) recycle all failed projects, Barnabus and all his failed project friends must escape very soon. Nothing is impossible, and his dreams of freedom lead him and his misfit friends on an adventure to find freedom and a place where he and his friends can finally be accepted for who they are. This book will appeal to young children and help them learn to be proud of who they are.
