Classic children’s books of the month

Each month, WORLD’s print magazine highlights recent children’s book releases that we hope will help families navigate selections at the library while also giving parents and grandparents suggestions of books to add to their own home bookshelves. Sadly, many of the review copies that have crossed my desk over the past few years are what I would term eye candy: books lacking substance or engaging storytelling, and all too often reeking of an agenda. As libraries continue to add new selections to their catalogs, it’s important to remember timeless picture books and middle grade reads so they won’t be overshadowed by fleeting trends. This new online series of book reviews will invite a variety of reviewers sharing good stories that they enjoyed either as children themselves or as parents reading aloud to their children.

Harry the Dirty Dog

Gene Zion
First Published 1956

“Harry was a white dog with black spots who liked everything, except … getting a bath.” And thus begins Harry’s hilarious exploits to avoid the bathtub. Margaret Bloy Graham’s line drawings follow Harry as he runs away from home and visits a construction site, the railyard, a dog park, and a coal chute. By the end of his day, he is no longer a white dog with black spots but rather a black dog with white spots. Hungry and tired, Harry finally decides it’s time to go home to his family. But instead of a joyful reunion, his family doesn’t recognize him and Harry must find a way to prove it’s really him. Young children who enjoy the satisfying conclusion may also like the three other books in the Harry series: No Roses for Harry!, Harry and the Lady Next Door, and Harry by the Sea. Ages 2–6

Are You My Mother?

P.D. Eastman
First published 1960

A mother bird leaves her nest to find food for her soon-to-hatch baby, but she doesn’t make it back before the little bird emerges from his egg. The young bird immediately begins looking for his mother. When he doesn’t find her, he decides to go look for her and along the way he meets several animals who might be his mother. “Are you my mother?” he asks each one. None of them are, so he runs on, past a car, boat, and plane, until he spots a “big thing” that snorts. He is convinced this must be his mother and climbs eagerly into its bucket only to realize too late that this is not his mother. Although the little bird is at first frightened, the Snort turns out to be his rescuer, and mother and baby are reunited at last. Ages 2–4

The Story of Ferdinand

Munro Leaf
First published 1936

The 2017 big-screen release of Munro Leaf’s classic work propelled the story of Ferdinand back into the limelight, reminding a new generation of parents about a book that has been on home bookshelves for decades. With Robert Lawson’s understated but detailed pen and ink illustrations anchoring the story plot, children root for the sensitive bull who wants nothing more than to spend an afternoon under his favorite cork tree smelling flowers. An unfortunate incident with a bumble bee, however, leads to a misunderstanding that lands Ferdinand in a bull ring facing a matador. While the crowds are expecting a bucking bull, Ferdinand simply sits, smelling the flowers adorning the hair of ladies in the stands. While some critics may argue against the book due to touchy messages (such as pacificism and animal cruelty), any such controversies will go over children’s heads as they enjoy the story simply for itself. Ages 3–6

A Fish Out of Water

Helen Palmer
First published 1961

This amusing book is based on a short story called, “Gustav, the Goldfish,” which Palmer’s husband Theodor Geisel (better-known as Dr. Seuss) first wrote and illustrated for a 1950 issue of Redbook magazine. Palmer teamed with illustrator P.D. Eastman to turn the story into an early reader book featuring a boy who buys a fish named Otto. The salesman Mr. Carp warns the boy, “When you feed a fish, never feed him a lot. So much and no more! Never more than a spot, or something may happen! You never know what.” The boy fails to heed that warning, however, and Otto the fish begins growing, and growing, and GROWING! As fast as the boy finds a container big enough for the fish, Otto outgrows it again. When the neighborhood pool fails to contain Otto, the boy desperately calls Mr. Carp for help. All is set right in the end, and the boy learns an important lesson about following directions. Ages 3–6