God's Dream

by Archbishop Desmond Tutu & Douglas Carlton Abrams

This book is about children wondering what God dreams about. There are many wonderful things that the children come up with that his dreams are of. It is not only teaching children good values and such, but it is a great multicultural book as well. It talks about children being friends with children who have “different mommies and daddies or live in different faraway lands.” The pictures are wonderful, they show different ethnicities, religions, and cultures.

I really enjoyed this book. It is a great way to bring religion into the classroom, because it is not only referring to one religion but many. The pictures show children from several different cultures and backgrounds. This book sends a great message to children and they will learn a lot about life from it.

Edwina

Edwina, the Dinosaur who didn't know she was Extinct
by Mo Willems

I recently found this children's book and absolutely loved in. In this book there is a dinosaur, Edwina, who lives in a town where everyone knows her and adores her--except for one boy. This boy is angered for some reason by Edwina, and wants to prove to everyone in the town that dinosaurs are extinct. At the end of the book, Edwina finds out that she is really extinct, but she does not care at all, and just keeps on living her life. I love the ending. I'm not really sure what children can learn from this book, I just thought that it was great.

Mama, Do you Love Me?

A book that I recently read is called "Mama, Do you Love Me?" by Barbara M. Joosse. I melted when I read this book. It is about an mother and her daughter who are eskimos. In this book the daughter asks the mother if she loves her. The mother responds every time with each different scenario that she will love the daughter no matter what. This book is very cute and is definately a must read. It also is also a great multicultural informational book. The book introduces new words to children and in the back of the book the new words are explained and described.

Ish by Peter H. Reynolds

This book is about a young boy named Ramen who loves to draw until his older brother makes fun of one of his drawings. From then on Ramen does not like any of his drawings and just crumbles them up and throws them away. One day Ramen finds out that his younger sister has been saving all of his “bad” drawings and has been hanging them up in his room all of this time. From then on Ramen keeps drawing everything that he sees. All of their titles ending with “ish” because they are not exactly what he tried to draw, but "vaseish" or "chairish". This book is very inspiring for young children because many children get frustrated in activities involving art because they think that their work is not good enough or special, but this book is a great example that their work is special. It is a great way to teach children that it is okay not to be “perfect” and to be independent with their skills. It can also help to spring children’s imagination to be more open to drawing and such. I definately reccommend everyone to check out this book it is worth reading and finding more out about it.

Ladybug Girl by David Soman and Jacky Davis

This is a book that I thought was very cute and is now one of my favorite children's books. A young girl, named Lulu is told by her mother that she has to make her own fun for a day. The mother has too much work to do around the house and such that she does not have any time to play with her, and her older brother refuses to let Lulu join in his fun. She calls herself “Ladybug Girl” because she decided to wear a ladybug costume that day. Throughout the day Lulu and her dog Bingo find many things to do inside and outside the house. Despite just being by themselves, they end up having a great day. This book is great especially for young girls that can relate to Lulu's situation. It can help children understand their independence and not rely on others to have a good time. It is also a great book for teaching diversity in the way of showing that girls can be adventurous just like boys are shown more to be. I definately reccomment checking out this adorable book when you get a chance.