Intend to Read List

The following are the children's novels and pictures books that I intend to read:

• Parvana's Journey by Deborah Ellis

• Mud City by Deborah Ellis  

After reading " The Breadwinner " by Deborah Ellis I got very much interested into destiny and life of the main character, Parvana, her family and friends. I was completely immersed in Afghan society under Taliban rule that I wanted to know much more about the changes that have occurred  in Afghanistan and the changes that are still under way. I wanted to know more about that type of patriarchal society and what were the forces that made such strict rules for women.Not only that. I became curious to learn what happens in one society so that fundamentalism gains control over it.

• "Tales of Wisdom and Wonder" by Hugh Lupton ( author) and Niamh Sharkey ( illustrator)

Last year while I was trying to find various children's books for my daycare children I came across Barefoot  Books publisher. It was a whole new discovery of wonderful selected books with outstanding illustrations that kept attention of my children. I used their sing along books  and after seeing how children loved them I decided to explore other titles from the same publisher. I was always drown by the Old Celtic tales and legends and I thought explorations of old legends and stories from other cultures might bring special charm to the teaching children literature and at the same time expanding their knowledge about far away countries and cultures.

• "The Giving Tree " by Shel Silverstein ( author and illustrator)

 Once I came across the online version of this book and it was very interesting. It told the story of relationship between the child and the tree. I actually never read it fully but I remembered the title of if as something very special for children.

• "The Gigantic Turnip" by Aleksei Tolstoy, Niamh Sharkey ( illustrator). As child, mother read to me short stories by Chekov and I saw a lot of Russian cartoons that were very creative and imaginative, so while I was exploring Barefoot books I came across this Russian children story that I thought would be worth getting to know.

• "Communication" by Aliki ( author and the illustrator)
• "Feelings" by Aliki
• "Manners" by Aliki

When I was listening to the presentation of one group of students on the author study Aliki came to my attention and since then I wanted to explore the works of this children's author. I am curious how did the the authos presented the ideas of communication, nice manners and feeling to children.

• " The Color of My  Words"by  Lynn Joseph

One of the students had to present this children's novel in our class and I am now interested to find out more about it.

• "A Dog's Life" by Ann M. Martin;

After reading "Everything for a Dog"by the same author and getting introduced into the life of its main character stray dog Bony and its sister Squirrel I got interested into reading a book that is dedicated to his sister Squirrel.

• "Gossamer" by Lois Lowry; After reading " The Giver" by the same author I got really interested into Lowry's portrayal of the future societies.  Thrilled by the idea of Giver, special individual who keeps the whole collective memory of the community I wondered about the purpose and character of the Little One from the "Gossamer". I see from the review that the Little One that passes dreams. I wonder in what kind of futuristic society she lives and what are the rules there.
• "Babushka Baba Yaga" by  Patricia Polacco;  I can recall Baba Yaga as some character from the folk and fairy tales I read as a child.  They all have moral lesson. After reading "Babuska's Doll" I got interested into Russian folk tales for children from which Patricia  Polacco gets her inspiration.

• "Tomorrow's Children" by Isaak Asimov; I always loved science fiction as a child. My father was reading short stories by Isaak Asimov, but I was too young to understand them. I did read one short story by Asimov but I cannot remember which one was it. While watching Cosmos documentary series by Carl Sagan, I read his autobiography and found out that it was Isaak Asimov who described  Sagan as one of only two people he ever met whose intellect surpassed his own. If I was to explore science fiction for children then I definitely wanted to read novel by such celebrated author and genius. 

• Sophie's World by Jostein Gaarder;  I heard about this novel from a friend. Read the reviews and saw that it is a story of little girl on the quest to get to know history of philosophy. Exploration of philosophy from  the child's perspective immediately caught my attention.
• Zlata's Diary: A Child's Life in Sarajevo by Zlata Filipovic; I knew that Sarajevo was under siege during the civil war in Bosnia. I knew of suffering people underwent during that siege. I wanted to learn about war that took the best years of young generations that were growing up in the 80s. Three years of war seem short but in real life it feels like eternity. I was lucky not be in Sarajevo during the civil war but would love to read about experiences of its citizens during devastating war in Bosnia.
• Number the Stars by Lois Lowry. It only seems natural that I was always interested in the history and suffering of  Jewish people in the WWII. My grandmother's family was lucky to survive Bergen Belzen concentration camp in Germany.  A lot of my grandfather's family was killed by the Croatian Ustashas that collaborated with the Nazis in the WWII.
• Built to Last by David Macaulay; One group of students had author representation on this author. Some of the books that they showed in the classroom drew my attention. This book is also recommended on the web site Reading Rockets for parents and teachers in the reading lists under topic Science.
• The Tree is Older Than You Are; Poems and Stories from Mexico by Naomi Shihab Nye
• Is This Forever, or What Poems and Painting from Texas by Naomi Shihab Nye - I went to some of the web site that were dedicated to this author and I listen to few of her poems. It got me very interested in further exploring her work.

• "Actual Size" by Steve Jenkins
• "Never Smile at a Monkey" by Steve Jenkins
• Biggest, Strongest, Fastest" by Steve Jenkins
• "Life on Earth: The Story of Evolution" by Steven Jekins

During one of the presentations in the class I had an opportunity to hear about his book "Actual Size". Then I went and explored his web site and the books he has written.  I like the unusual perspective of his books, the way things are presented and illustrations. I am very eager to read all of his books.

• "The Three Pigs" by David Wiesner

• "Art & Max" by David Wiesner

While I was searching the picture books in Barnes and Noble David Wiesner books cought my attention and I also remember one of the students talking about his works  and lovely illustrations.

• "The Invention of Hugo Cabret" by Brian Selznick. I saw this book at the lectures and saw some students carrying it. I got interested at it also when I saw it on the shelves of Barnes and Noble book store.