Because our city is pretty cold and our house is under construction, my family is itching for adventure. With the Omicron surge we haven’t felt comfortable traveling just yet, so yea are leaning on books to take us on adventures in our minds. We have found this stack of books is helping us consider adventure in traditional and non traditional ways and hope you like them!
Where is My Pink Sweater by Nicola Slater is an incredible board book. Readers follow Rudy, who has lost his favorite pink sweater, as he follows a thread through his house until he finds the sweater- in a place he definitely wouldn’t have thought to look. As he looks for the sweater, Rudy finds all sorts of animals in his home in groups in descending numbers, giving this incredible book opportunities to practice counting groups, counting down, and naming animals.
Our favorite page is the llama pajama disco party- which I may borrow as a theme for a party sometime soon!
Charles Trevino and Maribel Lechuga’s Seaside Stroll has minimal text, but ALL the words start with the letter S. I was blown away by how well Trevino is able to tell the story using just “S” words! It was fun to talk about the sound as well as consonant blends with my youngest kid as we read this one. She didn’t even know we were “learning” at that time because the story is so engaging. She was thrilled with the idea of a beach in winter- an adventure all it’s own- and when the kid’s doll falls into a pool of water, the DRAMA was felt. As a caregiver I appreciated the calm ending as the kid sleeps in a snuggly room with a beautiful view of the beach just out the window.
Based on real life events, Goodnight Astronaut is the story of how astronaut Scott Kelly let his childhood dreams of adventure bring him and hiss twin brother to experience many real life adventures. Beginning with cruises and camping as kids to flying jets and living in submarines to training for space flight deep under water and eventually going to space, it was inspiring to my kids that two people could fit so much adventure into one lifetime. The ending page spread with real photos of Kelly’s experience were really engaging for them (they spent 20 minutes reading and talking and explaining about the Kelly brother’s adventures!).
We really loved considering how adventure in childhood could lead to dreams and eventually real-life dreaming. As a caregiver I (usually) love thinking about how the things we do with our kids can shape their future!
The Aquanaut by Jill Heinerth and illustrated by Jaime Kim is also based on the author’s life. In it, Heinerth draws incredible parallels between her imaginary play as a kid to her experiences becoming an aquanaut in real life. M y kids had never heard of an aquanaut before, and this first glimpse was so fun for them. It inspired them to build a cave (out of chairs and blankets and pillows) to explore as they might an underwater cave.
The Girl and the Wolf by Katherena Vermette and illustrated by Julie Flett is a beautiful, empowering story of a girl who gets separated from her mother one day as they. are picking berries in a field. Shortly thereafter the girl encounters a wolf, who helps her to lean into her intuition during what could be a scary moment. Rather than telling her what to do, the wolf asks her what she should do next and reassures her when she says she doesn’t know.
I was so inspired by this strategy that I started trying to ask my kids and my students what they think the next right thing is when they’re facing a choice or a challenge. It has been really helpful to hear what they’re thinking in these instances!
As always, the links here go to my Bookshop store. Should you choose to purchase a book through my shop I’ll make a small commission. Thank you!