Babs' favorites:

I read King of the Wind in the fourth grade, along with Louise Rankin’s Daughter of the Mountains, and still remember them as two of the best books I’ve ever read. I was inclined towards stories of courage, loyalty, and other countries/cultures, and these two had all three: King of the Wind takes place in Morocco and England, Daughter of the Mountains in Tibet and India. I vaguely remember liking Kurt Wiese’s illustrations for the latter, and nobody could ever forget Wesley Dennis’s full-color horse paintings!

As a longtime K-12 remedial/enrichment reading teacher, I grew increasingly attached to some of the Caldecott Award winners and honor books: I loved the art work, the underlying values, the wonderful use of language, the sense of wonder, and, in many cases, the implied or outright humor. Make Way for Ducklings, written and illustrated by Robert McCloskey, is a case in point. I also like books about nature, so Byrd Baylor’s The Desert Is Theirs, a Caldecott Honor book illustrated with elegant simplicity by Peter Parnall, is another favorite (the yellow book on my lap).

When I began writing book reviews for the Wyoming Senior Citizens newsletter several years ago, I decided that many seniors were probably grandparents and/or caretakers of young children, so that convoluted thinking gave me an excuse to add reviews of one or two children’s books each month! I continued to scour libraries I visited to find new favorites, and that’s how I found Fox’s Dream, written and illustrated by Tejima. I also found a book stunningly illustrated by Jamichael Henterly, so I looked for some others of his, and found a Christmas carol he’d illustrated about Good King Wenceslas, a (real) king of Bohemia --- a new favorite! Officer Buckle and Gloria is a recent accidental discovery, both heartwarming and funny.

~ Babs Kruse, CWC Library Assistant