Friday's Five: Children's Book Recommendations

It's been a good long while since I posted a list of children's books -- guess we've been too busy reading (and everything else) to write about them.

Pippi and I are off to the library this morning to get some new reads -- hopefully less "Barbie Rock Star" and more of what you'll find on today's list. Here, in no particular order, are some of our latest favorites from library (plus one from a friend) that have been keeping us all entertained:

1. Big Smelly Bear by Britta Teckentrup: Bear stinks and he doesn't care. But when a friend tells him the truth, he discovers that getting clean isn't all bad.
2. The Yawn Heard 'Round the World... by Scott Thomas and Tatjana Mat-Wyss: Always smart to read a bedtime story about yawning. This one has fun illustrations and a great rhythm to it as a little girl's yawn gets passed around the globe.
3. A Confused Hanukkah: An Original Story of Chelm by Jon Koons and S.D. Schindler: I realize it's not Hanukkah season, but this one is still funny. And having grown up in a very Jewish neighborhood, I like sharing this story with my kids.
4. Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse by Kevin Henkes: Lilly loves her purple plastic purse, her sparkly glasses and her shiny quarters more than anything. So much so, that she gets in trouble with her favorite teacher and learns a tough lesson in the process.
5. Bertil and the Bathroom Elephants by Inger Lindahl and Eva Lindstrom: This funny book appears to be out of print, but is still available at the library. Who knew that Bengali bathroom elephants liked to eat raisins, cause trouble and listen to jazz?