If You Like This, Try That: Children's Books Edition, Part Two

Previously, I recommended five children's books to read if you enjoy the more popular titles like A Wrinkle in Time, Little House on the Prairie, or A Series of Unfortunate Events. If, however, you like fantasy books, here are a few suggestions of good children's fantasy stories. After all, C.S. Lewis said, "A children's story that can only be enjoyed by children is not a good children's story in the slightest."

If you like The Chronicles of Narnia, try The Door Within trilogy

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If you grew up reading The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis and you're looking for something similar in terms of genre and taste, you should read The Door Within trilogy by Wayne Thomas Batson. These books follow the adventures of Aidan Thomas as he travels to another world, fights a battle between good and evil, and learns deep truths about himself and life in general. Both series follow the same vein of fantasy and hold similar messages about life, friendship, and belief. Plus, there's a plethora of wonderful characters, magic, and excitement to discover.

If you like The Hobbit, try the DragonKeeper Chronicles

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While the plot of The Hobbit and Dragonspell (book one in the DragonKeeper Chronicles) differ, they hold a lot of similarities. There are crazy wizards, exciting adventures, and colorful cultures and people, in addition to the dragons! Both stories follow unlikely heroes as they embark on a quest that will test their mind and heart. If you love The Hobbit, give Dragonspell and the other books in the DragonKeeper Chronicles by Donita K. Paul a try.

If you like Percy Jackson and the Olympians, try the Seven Wonders series

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One of my favorite aspects of the Percy Jackson series by Rick Riordan is that it makes learning about mythology fun. The Seven Wonders series by Peter Lerangis does the same, only instead of mythology, you learn about the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. Both series include a ragtag group of special kids that essentially have to complete quests to save the world. Both series mix modern day with ancient history and myths. And both series are filled with hilarious moments, witty dialogue, and fun, exciting adventure! If you like Percy Jackson, check out the Seven Wonders and get ready for a wild ride!

If you like How to Train Your Dragon series, try the Wings of Fire series

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Fans of the How to Train Your Dragon series by Cressida Cowell will also enjoy the Wings of Fire series by Tui T. Sutherland. Both feature all types of dragons, excellent world-building, and loads of adventure. Just like there are several viking tribes in HTTYD, Wings of Fire features several dragon tribes and how they interact with one another. There are prophecies, dragon fights, and a wide range of characters discovering who they are. Basically, if you love dragons, you should read this series.

If you like Inkheart, try The Neverending Story

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I haven't read Inkheart by Cornelia Funke yet, but everything I know about it reminds me of The Neverending Story by Michael Ende. Both stories involve a connection to books, fictional characters, and the magic that is held within. While there are probably many differences between the two stories, I think that someone who likes Inkheart would enjoy reading The Neverending Story, and vice versa. All you have to do is pick up the book and turn the page.

What children's fantasy books would you recommend?

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If You Like This, Try That: Children's Books Edition, Part One

Madeleine L'Engle said that "You have to write the book that wants to be written. And if the book will be too difficult for grown-ups, then you write it for children." Sometimes people think that children's book are only interesting to children, but I believe that a good children's book can be enjoyed by any age. So if you're in the mood for a decent children's story but you've read all the well-known or more popular titles, here are a few other books to try.

If you like A Wrinkle in Time, try When You Reach Me

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A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle is known for its weird introduction to the genre of science-fiction, involving quirky characters, strange new worlds, and all types of interesting concepts and ideas. I've been told When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead has similar aspects, including time-travel. Both stories are about ordinary children who end up doing something extraordinary while on a crazy adventure. Sounds like my type of story!

If you like Number the Stars, try The Boy in the Striped Pajamas

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If you're looking for something historical and set during the Holocaust, both Number the Stars by Lois Lowry and The Boy in the Striped Pajamas by John Boyne are good choices. Both of these historical fiction stories follow different sides of the Holocaust and leave you with different feelings. If you read one, you will probably enjoy the other, and maybe reading both can help you understand more than one side of history.

If you like A Series of Unfortunate Events, try The Mysterious Benedict Society

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My favorite children's books are the kind that treat children like they are intelligent people. A Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket does this. So does The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart. Both stories involve mysterious circumstances, a devious villain, and plenty of puns and plays on words. If you like the cleverness of A Series of Unfortunate Events and the way the story centers around intelligent children, try The Mysterious Benedict Society. I think you'll be delighted by what you find.

If you like Ender's Game, try Invasion

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If you're looking for a story that involves aliens, gateways, and a lot of cool science-fiction technology, read Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card. Or Invasion by Jon S. Lewis. Both stories center around a boy who is introduced to other worlds through government programs and training. Swap virtual games with flying motorcycles and jetpacks, and the best parts of Ender's Game will shine through in Invasion as well.

If you like Little House on the Prairie, try Sarah, Plain and Tall

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If you enjoyed reading the Little House books by Laura Ingalls Wilder and you're looking for more books about pioneers traveling west and living on homesteads, read Sarah, Plain and Tall by Patricia MacLachlan. Both stories are set during similar time periods and in similar places of the country and they both include stories about school teachers. The stories a tad different with The Little House books focused on Laura's journey growing up, whereas Sarah, Plain and Tall focuses on learning to accept someone new and finding a family. Both, however, provide insight into another time period and another way of living, and that's something worth reading.

If you're looking for good children's fantasy books, stay tuned for part two!

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Eric Carle, the Abstract, and the Concrete

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Few people understand how hard it is to make a children's book. The challenge of a story geared towards the adult population is to create a compelling narrative that guides the reader through a host of emotions, culminating in a conscious or subconscious epiphany. And while that's certainly daunting (believe me, it is; I'm attempting that very thing for my Master's), the challenge of writing for children is doing those same things while keeping in mind the fact that you’re doing it to shape a consciousness, not just elucidate some moral or concept, abstract or otherwise.

Children’s books are as much a source of knowledge and wisdom as they are a source of entertainment. Hence books like Everybody Poops and Where Willy Went. While the adult world can laugh at the awkwardly juvenile way in which these subjects (defecating and insemination, respectively) are presented through the books, children, by virtue of having spent only so many years alive, don't yet have the framework with which to understand the gravity (or lack thereof) of such topics. It’s like beginning to watch Star Trek: The Next Generation and not knowing that Klingons used to be the bad guys in the first series of the show.

Bad hairstyle was the true enemy. (source)

But kids are champs at learning. Kids learn like it's their job, and, in a neurological manner of speaking, it is. The brain's plasticity during the first decade of life is phenomenal. In fact, very young children, as in less than a year old, learn at such a rapid pace that it literally keeps them up at night. Yes, when your six-month-old is wailing at 3:00am in the damn morning, it's because she literally can't handle all the information about the world that has been pouring into her mind.

“But she doesn't study anything,” says Joe McSuperignorant. “She doesn't read, she doesn't understand words. She's not even doing anything half the time.” Oh ye of little understanding, poor Joe McSuperignorant. Before the world brainwashed you into thinking that the only type of knowledge to be had was in the form of doctrinal factoids (i.e. “The sky is blue,” “two plus two is four,” “Draco Malfoy is a tool bag”), we still acknowledged that experience was its own form of knowledge. Unbridled, uncensored, pure experience. Moments of experience, rather than pages of book knowledge, are what one's world is first built out of.

This is where we get the saying “The burnt hand teaches best.” Nothing will get you to trust in the destructive power of fire more than touching the fire (the same goes for breakups). And for kids, especially young kids, like four or five years old, the whole world is a series of “fires” teaching them things through experience. Kids experience things, they experience them again, they see the patterns forming, and the world suddenly starts making sense.

Pictured: child absorbing pure knowledge from the universe. (source)

Enter Eric Carle, color wizard extraordinaire. Eric Carle's books do what a lot of children's books do; it's hard to say he does it best. Frankly, that question gets too subjective to have an answer. However, no one can deny that what he does in his books is very effective.

What is it that he does exactly? He merges the abstract with the concrete.

Do me a favor and go to your local children's library and take a look at the illustrations in the nonfiction books. Then take a look at the illustrations in the picture books. In case you're too busy or lazy to do that (which I totally am myself, ha!), you'll find that the non-fiction books very typically employ actual photos while the picture books use artist-drawn or painted pictures. Even some of the nonfiction books use drawn, abstract illustrations (a lot of the how-it-works books do that). Why is that? The nonfiction books are of the doctrinal factoid sort of knowledge. The picture books are more about a narrative.

That's a keyword here, 'narrative.' See, when a child first forms their concepts of the world, a narrative starts to take place. Children start to put two and two together (at some point, literally), and they begin to see the patterns, the invisible laws about how the world works. Gender norms, language, family life, even something as straightforward as gravity--children, over the course of their childhoods, put together these patterns, finding all the ways they can that life can take shape. Regardless of whether or not those connections made are good or not (google search gender roles and tell me what you find), they are made nonetheless. To use a Hindu metaphor, they blindly feel about the creature they have discovered on the path until, after feeling it out so much, they realize that it is an elephant.

"Wait, don't tell me...giant football?" (source)

Eric Carle's books help kids do that. Let's take his most famous story for example, The Very Hungry Caterpillar. The structure of the book is quite simple: this caterpillar is hungry and he spends most of the book progressively eating more to sate his insatiable appetite. The reader recognizes that the amount of food progressively increases all while it also changes color. Eventually the caterpillar gets sick from eating so much, creates a chrysalis within which to metamorphosize, and then becomes a butterfly.

And no child reading Carle's book will understand any of the process by which the caterpillar did this. Heck, words like 'chrysalis' and 'metamorphosize' are probably at least a decade off from being graspable words for the target audience. Still, something is happening here. The children are experiencing things.

The genius of Eric Carle is that his illustrations are right on the border between abstract and concrete. They're concrete because simple colors and shapes are used to convey objects. Before writing this article, I haven't seen that caterpillar in years, yet I could still visualize it, green beaded body and all. The food too is just as simplistic in its representation. Basic colors and basic shapes. They're so concrete they're nearly tangible.

At the same time the art style is very abstract. This caterpillar looks approximately 5% like an actual caterpillar, and the food isn't much better. Even the coloration is abstract, using Eric Carle's signature textured approach instead of solid colors. And the weird white background--what's with that? This story takes place in the middle of nowhere. It’s like those odd commercials; just floating in abstract white space, contextless, frameworkless.

"Where am I!?" (source)

But that's the genius! That's the magic! The child is learning to connect concrete things--shape and color--with abstract thinking--that unrealistic, worldless white space. And that... THAT is the basis for forming a grander meaning for one's life.

See, that deepest line between the dots waiting to be connected is what meaning life has. I won't dare argue what that meaning ought to be, or, in a metaphysical sense, whether or not there even is one. All the same, learning how to create a narrative for the world is a skill all of us need, even if that narrative is meaninglessness in general. Learning how to join the concrete and the abstract is what narrative, indeed what art, is all about.

If you want your kid to learn about caterpillars, check out a book on caterpillars. If you want your kid to have a fun, engaging story, check out a fun and engaging story. Your local children's librarian will know plenty. But if you want to imbue your kid with the mental faculties of combining abstract thought with concrete representation, you pick you up an Eric Carle book.

Do other books do this? Yes. Are there other ways of learning this same concept? Absolutely. But did Eric Carle do it well? Hell yes.

Hell yes.

Which of Eric Carle's books was your favorite? 

What other children's book shaped you growing up?

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Childhood Favorites: Books

It’s Children’s Book Week! Started in 1919, the week celebrates and promotes reading for children and teens. You can find out more about the event here.

Many of the books that shaped my love of reading as a child remain favorites to this day! There’s nothing quite like picking up a well-worn copy of a familiar story full of beloved characters. Here are a few of my favorites:

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Little Women by Louisa May Alcott

This is one of the first books I can recall almost making me cry. Despite being written well over a century before I was born, the March sisters and their adventures and struggles were easy for me to relate to. (And Teddy was totally my first bookish crush. *swoon*)

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The Ramona Series by Beverly Cleary

I’ve written a bit about Beverly Cleary’s books before on TFI, and the Ramona books are special favorites. It’s easy to relate to Ramona’s wishes, even if her plans often go awry, making her a character who remains as beloved today as when she first appeared over sixty years ago.

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Anne of Green Gables by L. M. Montgomery

Much like Ramona Quimby, Anne Shirley longs for adventure and acceptance, though her ideas rarely work out as she wants them to. But it’s fun to see the potential of the world through Anne’s imaginative point of view.

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The Chronicles of Narnia by C. S. Lewis

The heroes and heroines of Narnia all face different struggles in their adventures, but they grow because of them. I also love the sense of imagination and wonder that fills this series, especially in The Magician’s Nephew and The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe.

What are your favorite children’s books?

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10 Winnie-the-Pooh Quotes to Make Life Better

On January 18, 1882, A.A. Milne, creator of the Winnie-the-Pooh stories, was born in Hampstead, United Kingdom. Thus, January 18 is officially Winnie-the-Pooh Day. As a longtime fan of Winnie-the-Pooh (ever since I can remember I would watch the movie and show with my grandma), I re-read the original story collection and found the pages brimming with insightful quotes and inspirational delights. Here are ten quotes from Pooh and Co. that I found utterly delightful and worth sharing in celebration of this "silly old bear."

If you need a bit of motivation while performing your workout routine, Pooh has the perfect song to help you with your "Stoutness Exercises":

Tra-la-la, tra-la-la,
Tra-la-la, tra-la-la,
Rum-tum-tiddle-um-tum,
Tiddle-iddle, tiddle-iddle,
Tiddle-iddle, tiddle-iddle,
Rum-tum-tum-tiddle-tum.

Isn't it the cutest?

Pooh has a plethora of wisdom to offer for a bear with stuffing for brains, especially in regards to the most important question of the day. 

"When you wake up in the morning, Pooh," said Piglet at last, "What's the first thing you say to yourself?"
"What's for breakfast?" said Pooh

I, too, ask such important questions in the early hours of the time.

Piglet also has some life wisdom that we can all benefit from remembering.

Piglet: "It's so much more friendly with two."

Everything is better with a friend by your side. It's touching he has many wonderful friends to choose from.

Despite his gloomy outlook on life, Eeyore has a few reasonable words to contribute.

Eeyore: "Brains first and then Hard Work."

Without brains, the hard work just won't get done. I think we all need to make sure we have our brains in proper order before beginning a task.

Piglet reminds us that sometimes in life all you need is a hand to hold.

Piglet sidled up to Pooh from behind.
"Pooh!" he said.
"Yes, Piglet?"
"Nothing," said Piglet, taking Pooh's paw. "I just wanted to be sure of you." 

Doesn't it just melt your heart?

If you're feeling a bit downtrodden because of winter, Eeyore has an interesting perspective on the weather.

"It's snowing still," said Eeyore gloomily. 
"So it is."
"And freezing."
"Is it?"
"Yes," said Eeyore. "However," he said, brightening up a little, "we haven't had an earthquake lately."

Thanks, Eeyore, for looking at the bright side.

If you need a little wisdom about how to treat others, no matter who they are or where they come from, Pooh has the answer for you.

"You can't help respecting anybody who can spell TUESDAY, even if he doesn't spell it right."

Stories meant for children always seem to make simple, everyday things more important and thoughtful.

As a writer and lover of language, Pooh reminds me why I shouldn't get too frustrated when trying to write.

Pooh: "But it isn't easy because Poetry and Hums aren't things which you get, they're things which get you."

Truer words have never been spoken. Am I right?

Pooh also understands how it feels to put your thoughts into spoken words.

"Because when you are a Bear of Very Little Brain, and you Think of Things, you find sometimes that a Thing which seemed Very Thingish inside you is quite different when it gets out into the open and has other people looking at it."

I just love this line because, as an introvert, I highly relate to this moment. Who knew that a children's story simplifying ideas into "Thingish Things" could be so touching?

And the most important quote of all...

Eeyore: "A little Consideration, a little Thought for Others, makes all the difference."

Thanks, Eeyore, for you extraordinary wisdom. If only more of us were like you.

If you're looking for more Winnie-the-Pooh fun, here are more ideas to spend your day:

• Watch a Winnie-the-Pooh movie (or the Russian Winnie-the-Pooh episodes)
• Make a trap for Heffalumps
• Eat a smackeral of honey
• Read the original stories by A.A. Milne
• Play Pooh Sticks
• Go on an expedition to the North Pole

And remember:

"Where they go, and whatever happens to them on the way, in that enchanted place on the top of the Forest, a little boy and his Bear will always be playing."

All quotes and pictures from The Complete Tales of Winnie-the-Pooh by A.A. Milne, published in 1994 by Dutton Children's Books. 

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