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Outdoor Books for Summertime Fun
By Holly E. Newton
Summertime
is a great time to read to your 4- to 8-year-old children as you
enjoy the great outdoors. Here is a list of some fun, and funny,
picture books to read out loud under a shady tree.
Click to Buy
 The
Mixed-Up Rooster, by Pamela
Duncan, is a fun read-aloud about a rooster, Ned, who just
can’t seem to wake up the hens at dawn with his cock-a-doodle-do.
He says, “I’m just not a morning bird.” So the hens fire
him and hire another rooster who can crow when the sun rises. But Ned
ultimately saves the day when he spots something creeping up to
the henhouse. The vivid paintings, beautifully illustrated by Megan
Lloyd, bring each animal to life and help liven the story as Ned
is about to become a hero.
Click to Buy
 And
while we’re on the subject of farm animals, here’s a funny
bovine story that begs to be read aloud. Dooby Dooby Moo,
by Doreen Cronin, and illustrated by Betsy Lewin, is another
hilarious story about the famous barnyard collaborators who decide
to enter themselves in the county fair talent contest. (Their previous
book, Click Clack Moo: Cows that Type, won the Caldecott
Honor in 2001.)
Farmer Brown
detects something is amiss with his animals when he hears musical
sounds coming from the barn late at night. But day after day he
sees nothing unusual with his farm. Each day the animals practice
and practice as the big day for the contest gets closer.
Cronin has
each set of animals practicing a different song with their farm
sounds, making this the perfect and fun read-aloud. The cows are
practicing “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star.” The text reads,
“Dooby, dooby dooby moo. Dooby moo, moo, moo, moo, moo.”
As you read, or sing, each part of the animals singing their song
in their language, the words fit the music making this book fun
and funny to read aloud! The artwork fits perfectly with the story,
and Lewin draws each animal with a comic zest and ability!
There must
be something funny about cows because here’s one more book on the
subject. Manny’s Cows: The Niagara
Falls Tale, written and illustrated by Suzy Becker, is full
of funny antics by young Manny and his cows.
It begins
with Manny hating the last day of school because everyone in class
tells where they are going for summer vacation. When the teacher
asks Manny what he is doing for the summer, he states, “Well,
you can’t exactly go on vacation when you have five hundred cows.”
But he begins to dwell on where he could go and take his cows along
with him. He decides that Niagara
Falls would be the trip to take for his troop of cows and lines
up food, milk pails and buses for all 500.
The trip
becomes an adventure full of hilarious dilemmas that include rest
stops that become long due to the lines for the cows waiting to
use the ladies' restroom and spilling and breaking items in the
gift shop. The illustrations are as hilarious as the text as you
read about Manny and his funny cows. The premise is unique and
hopefully more stories will come from talented Becker.
Click to Buy
 Mrs.
Crump’s Cat, by Linda Smith,
is a delightful tale about a lonely woman who finds a cat on her
doorstep one rainy day. She exclaims that she has “no use for
a cat” and shoos it away. But before the door slams all the
way closed, the cat sneaks in and finds that Mrs. Crump has placed
a log on the fire. So the cat warms up in front of the fireplace,
making Mrs. Crump decide that when the cat is dry she will send
it away. But each time she attempts to do so, she finds that she
can’t. This little ball of fur has wormed itself into her heart
and made her much happier while doing so. David Roberts has beautifully
illustrated each page making the reader enjoy and peruse the
page, especially the inside of the store that has the look of a
time long ago.
Click to Buy
 Mars
needs Moms!, written and
illustrated by Berkeley Breathed, is an unusual look at moms from
the planet Mars. Milo is sick of his mom making
him eat all his broccoli and taking about the trash. He thinks
she’s a “summer-stealing, child-working” mom. But his opinion
is about to change when Martians kidnap him to Mars where there
are no moms. The story is a hoot and the illustrations are
even funnier making this a book that’s sure to be read again and
again!
Sometimes
you just need a book to take along on trips to the store or to visit
relatives and that book needs to be long enough and good enough
to capture your little one’s attention for the entire trip. Animal
Tales is a Little Golden Book Collection that is filled
with some favorite stories that youngsters adore. Some of the nine
tales include: “The Saggy Baggy Elephant,”” The Big Brown Bear”
and “The Kitten Who thought He was a Mouse."
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© 2007
Meridian Magazine. All Rights Reserved.
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