What Is Your New Favorite Book?

When buying books for young children, I tend to return to the classics again and again. Let's face it; you can never go wrong with stories like Blueberries For Sal by Robert McCloskey or Caps For Sale by Esphyr Slobodkina. However, that said, I am always looking for newer gems at the library or at one of my favorite bookstores. When I'm in Washington, DC, that would be the Politics and Prose Bookstore on Connecticut Avenue, and in Brooklyn, you can find my granddaughter and me at the Greenlight Bookstore on Fulton Street.

On a recent visit to Florida to visit my brother, John, I came across my new favorite book while browsing in the gift shop at the Marie Selby Botanical Gardens in Sarasota. Lola Plants A Garden by Anna McQuinn is the sweet tale of a child who loves reading a book of poems about gardens with her mother. Her favorite poem is “Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary”, one of my favorites as well. Lola and her mother decide not only to plant a garden, complete with silver bells and cockle shells like the one described in her favorite poem, but they make a Mary Mary doll to go with it.

You and your child will be delighted by the whimsical and colorful illustrations. You may even be inspired to plant a garden. And you can make a book about it, bake cupcakes to celebrate it and invite friends over to share the garden and the treats - as Lola and her mother do.

Not only will this lovely book teach young children about the act of planting seeds, but it prompts a conversation about patience and waiting for the plants to grow and the care it takes to tend a garden. A great way to pass the time and to extend and enrich the experience is to do the activities described in the book.

And, of course, including friends in the experience along with a sweet treat, is icing on the (cup)cake...excuse the pun.

Please send along your favorite children’s book titles, we promise to promote them!