New Children's Books~ Review

Now that I'm building up my son's personal library, I spend a lot of time reading to him. Not only is reading to children a great way for parents to bond with their child, it also instills a love of reading in children, a gift that can last a lifetime. I recently had the opportunity to review three new children's books through Phenix & Phenix literary publicists, a firm that promotes books with a positive message.


The first, Feeding Penny Pig, is by Jeannine Fox, a grandmother and certified financial planner. Feeding Penny Pig is about a grandmother's gift to a beloved granddaughter (Lanie) of a unique piggy bank that loves to be fed pennies daily, so Lanie does chores to earn money to feed to Penny. Fox feels it is important to start teaching children to save money early, and that "grandparents are America's untapped secret resource. We're retiring, we adore our grandchildren and we want them to find success and happiness in life...." I couldn't agree more. My parents have become indispendable to me since my son was born and my own grandmother has gone out of her way to make new mommyhood easy for me. As my father says, being a grandparent is "Parent love times two" and more books about grandparents would be a great thing.

The book does not focus on one character, but rather flows from one to the next, starting with grandma shopping for a gift for her granddaughter, to meeting Penny Pig, gifting her to Lanie, and finally to Lanie and her relationship with Penny Pig. This book can be used by grandparents as a way to introduce children to the ideas of savings, chores, and allowance.



The second book is by Rima H. Corral, a certified elementary school teacher. She currently hosts her own award-winning education program on PBS, and wrote How Lil' Eddie Learns to Read for both children and parents, including tips for parents on teaching their children to read throughout this book. It's definately not a book for a child to learn to read from (not a beginner's reading book, it's rather advanced for a child), but rather a story to be read to a child. How Lil' Eddie Learns to Read is the story of a boy who received a book as a gift, and as a result wants to learn to read. His family helps him learn through different methods that are explained for parents who are looking for ideas on teaching their own child. There are many great tips offered throughout the book, such as:

* Show cards with pictures and words to your child for about five minutes daily, at least twice a day, as repetition and consistency are key,
* Encourage the whole family to take turns reading to your child, and allow the child to hold the book and turn the page as they follow along,
* Help your child become aware of the printed language everywhere- on billboards, food labels, in newspapers, etc. Read aloud and spell the words on street signs, stores, etc.

as well as many more useful ideas. This is a good book for a parent looking for ways to help their child learn to start reading before entering school, and encourage their love of reading in the process. A great bonus in this book is that it has pages for parents to teach directly from- a page of colors, a page of shapes, a page of the alphabet, and the book is beautifully illustrated by Gerardo Barraza.



The last book I was sent has become a favorite. I don't know if it's because of the Dr. Seuss-like rhythm (conjures up The Cat in the Hat for me) or because of the main character's sweet dependance on his dad (makes me think of my son and husband, or me and my dad), but I love reading this book to my son all the time. Written and illustrated by Mark Alden Johnson, I'm Up in a Tree is about a boy who climbed up a tree but doesn't know how to get back down, and receives advice from bees, birds and a cat on ways they think he should do it. The author's hope for children hearing this story is that they learn to reason, and decide what advice to take without being afraid to say no to advice they don't like. This book is at the reading level of six year old, but the story would be amusing if read to a younger child, and the reasoning skills ("Would you do that?") is appropriate for younger children as well.

Thanks to Phenix & Phenix for the opportunity to review these books.
DISCLOSURE OF MATERIAL CONNECTION: http://cmp.ly/2