five fun fiction books for friday

Happy day-after-Thanksgiving!  Are you stuffed?  (HA!)  Do you want nothing more than to lie down and read a book, but your kids are climbing all over you?  Well, if you had one of these five picture books at your fingertips, you could entertain your kids for a little while at least, all without having to leave your horizontal position on the couch!

Let's take a look at five more Cybils nominees in the fiction picture book category that the kids and I are enjoying:

1.  Chester's Masterpiece by Melanie Watt -- A book about a book character taking over the creation of the book with the dialogue taking place between said character and the real author through funny notes.  Sound confusing?  Trust me, it works-- it's funny, and it's "meta," which seems to be totally cool these days.  I haven't read any previous Chester books, but I know now that I want to find more at the library next week!  Parents and children will share lots of laughs with this one.

2.  Bats at the Ballgame by Brian Lies -- Oh how we love these books!  I'm a huge fan of the rhythm, and the illustrations are full of small details to notice in wonder.  These bats are as people-like as possible, and for a family with a strong love for baseball like mine (well, at least 2/5, with another 2/5 getting there), this is a beloved book.  I love that it came out in the fall, deep into the baseball season.

3.  Mostly Monsterly by Tammi Sauer and illustrated by Scott Magoon -- This is a cute one about a little monster girl whose behavior doesn't completely fit the bill for a typical monster.  Sometimes, she likes to bake.  And pet kittens.  That part cracks me up!  While I like this one well enough, the kids have gone ga-ga over it, and we've read it again and again and again.  Although it's full of monsters, thankfully it's not Halloween-specific like some books, making it a fun read any time of year.

4.  The Churki-Burki Book of Rhyme by Gita Wolf and illustrated by Durga Bai -- The cover of the copy that I have is much more inviting than the one on Amazon shown here, and I think more fitting for the story of two sisters in an Indian village going about their day of work and play.  The story is somewhat disconnected, page spread to page spread, but somehow it all works for me, at least.  I think it's an attractive book to expose children to other cultures and environments.

5.  Don't Let Auntie Mabel Bless the Table by Vanessa Brantley Newton --  Okay, the book that I have in hand is titled "Auntie," even though the image from Amazon shows "Aunt."  Weird.  Either way, this is a fun story of a Sunday dinner ready to be eaten by a diverse group of folks... well, after Auntie Mabel's long-winded, but very heartfelt blessing, that is.  I'm not the praying or blessing type, but I do adore the whole feeling of this book.  Even while it revolves around a prayer and mentions the Lord, it's not religious in a specific denomination kind of way, making it accessible to a wide variety of folks.



For more fun picks, check out the list of picture books that have been nominated for the 2010 Cybils Award.


Always happy to share a book,