One of Caleb's favorite books to read right now is
Verdi by Janell Cannon. He has good taste, it is a great book for kids! When we read books I always make a point to read who the author and illustrator are and I'm always impressed by the ones where the author and illustrator are the same person. Usually, one side or the other is superior - that is, either the story is great and the pictures are elaborate scribbles or the story is lame and the pictures are art. But Cannon's books are the whole package. In
Verdi, the story is a fun, Peter Pan-like tale with a python who doesn't want to grow up as the main character. The pictures are vivid and the snakes look real, but in some of the pictures they are behaving pretty unnaturally!
We also have her book
Stellaluna, which is about a baby bat who is separated from her mother and raised by a family of birds.
Stellaluna is also filled with beautiful illustrations and I love the expressions on the faces of the animals! Both of these books would be interesting to a much older child than Caleb. I remember reading
Stellaluna to the first graders I taught.
