Bee-bim books!

Can we read? No. 124

Happy Thursday, folks. I’ve got some excellent titles for you today, as well as an ask:

If you’re willing to share this newsletter with someone else who might enjoy it — other caregivers who are interested in raising readers, the people who educate, take care of, coach, or otherwise support your children, even your frenemies, because frenemies deserve good books too — please do.

(Thank you. You’re wonderful.)

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Bee-bim Bop! by Linda Sue Park, illustrated by Ho Baek Lee (2005)

This review first appeared in issue No. 22

In this fast-paced, highly rhythmic rhyming tale, the reader bounds along with a little girl and her mother as they shop for and prepare bee-bim bop, a popular Korean dish with many variations, for their family dinner.

The little girl’s energy is infectious and the playful sense of urgency here not only carries the story, but makes it wildly fun to read aloud. “Hurry, Mama, hurry, gotta shop shop shop! Hungry hungry hungry for some BEE-BIM BOP!”

Lee’s illustrations fit the narrative perfectly, showing us every moment and movement in this home so clearly full of warmth and love. All the work comes to an end when the multi-generational family (it’s implied that grandma lives here) sits down for lovely togetherness and a meal.

The level of obsession this title reached in my house once upon a time (interest seems to begin at 2yo and never abates) was totally unprecedented, and is one of the exceedingly rare books that I have never, not once, tired of reading 2398989 times, maybe because it has brought a smile to my kids’ faces — and mine — every single time.

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Something Special by David McPhail (1988)

This review first appeared in issue No. 22

Long-time subscribers will know that David McPhail is my all-time favorite and I’ll read any book of his, on any topic. In Something Special he is at his best: adorable illustrations of a raccoon family, all of whom are talented — “everyone in Sam’s family could do something special” — except Sam.

His sister Sarah excels at piano, his sister Flo kills it at baseball, his brother Eugene is a 1980s computer kid. His dad is a great cook, his mom his gifted at carving wooden birds, his Grandma makes knitting look easy, even the dang dog can balance a bone on his nose. Sam tries on his family’s talents — he tries other things too — but eventually he grows despondent at his lack of “something special,” as anyone would. Finally, in a tender moment with his mother in her workshop, Sam discovers to his surprise that he has a knack for painting.

McPhail’s incredibly gentle and understanding handling of this sore spot of a topic makes this an especially long-lasting title, in my mind — haven’t we all, at some point, struggled to find our “thing?” When will this not apply? It touches a deep longing inside all of us for a passion and a purpose, no matter our age.

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Child of the Universe by Ray Jayawardhana, illustrated by Raul Colón (2020)

In a note at the back of this lovely book (Colón’s warm colored pencil illustrations are gorgeous), the author writes, “Child of the Universe attempts to highlight the deep and enduring links — both physical and poetic — between the universe and us, and to nurture a sense of wonder about the great beyond,” and it does exactly that.

Combining the lightest of scientific information — “The iron in your blood, the calcium in your bones, are made up of stars that lived long ago” — with poetic words and images, Jayawardhana, an astrophysicist, manages to connect the vastness of the universe to the preciousness of one child in this tender, lyrical title, perfect for sending little ones off to sleep (or to give at a baby shower, especially when you want to show up with a book no one else will bring).

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Appleblossom the Possum by Holly Goldberg Sloan (2015)

This gentle but entertaining story is a little hard to summarize, but what do I do here, if not try? A family of Shakespearean actor possums (just go with it) are pretty good at avoiding humans and other dangers, until one day… one of the possum siblings ends up inside a house, with a little girl who is deeply invested in keeping her, and a dog who is absolutely not. Two of the lost possum’s brothers plan a daring rescue, and her long-lost father shows up, and throughout it all there is a lot of action and chaos, and just the right amount of suspense to keep early elementary listeners engaged and into it, but not scared. (This is an important feature in my family.)

There are a few metrics I use to gauge a read-aloud:

1. How much do I enjoy reading it? Does the language flow? At any point do I think to myself, I am so amazing at reading aloud, I should really look into an audiobook career? 😂

2. Does this book make any of us laugh out loud?

3. Do my children beg to read it, or keep reading it (and does my youngest scream and cry when we have to stop to go to sleep)?

4. If there is a possum in the story, is it named something so unbelievably cute you cannot even? (See: Appleblossom. APPLEBLOSSOM.)

This one met all these criteria, which should tell you more than I could if I continued to describe it. It’s a solid, crowd-pleasing read.

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Poem Runs: Baseball Poems and Paintings by Douglas Florian (2012)

If you’re looking for a fun read for baseball season (I had to ask my husband when that begins, FYI), look no further. Yes, I will continue encouraging you to read poetry with your children forever — here’s why — and yes, I will sing Florian’s praises for the same length of time because he really is outstanding.

Is this Florian’s best collection ever? No. I reserve that designation for his many books about animals and insects (some of which I’ve reviewed, among others). But his signature energy — compounded here by his illustrations created with gouache watercolors, oil pastels, colored pencils, and pine tar (pine tar!) on paper bags — is clever and entertaining no matter the topic. And if you have a kiddo whose Venn diagram sets intersect at poetry and baseball, this one’s for you.

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Thanks for reading today!

Sarah