Books empower, save lives, bring solace to hopeless situations and enrich joyful ones. Such power deserves to be illustrated and celebrated. “The War That Saved My Life” is subtle in its fanfare. The protagonists are initially fearful of words and disdainful of people who use rich vocabulary. But their loving adoptive caretaker is gentle and steadfast in her own use of enticing language. She shelters the two abused war refugees with earnest compassion, which allows them to overcome their negative attitudes then grow as logophiles themselves. 

Kimberly Brubaker Bradley has crafted an engaging and beautiful illustration of how giving children tools for discovery, then exposing them to challenging words, empowers them to understand new words better than any vocabulary workbook ever could. We Jamie is first introduced to the word ‘bank’ and deduces its meaning through observation: ‘money store’! Listeners experience word-learning alongside Ada as she puzzles through ‘mollified’, ‘resolved’, and more.  

Unlike any of the books I’ve previously reviewed, “The War That Saved My Life” is not a picture book. It is not meant for toddlers. Readers tackle war relocation, verbally abusive adults and strategies for overcoming fear. Topics too weighty for kids under eight, but approachable for older kids through this happy-ending story. I’m including here for its incredible celebration of words and because I want all my friends to be listening to read-alouds LONG after they’ve learned to read themselves.

Enjoy! And let me know your thoughts on this lovely book.

September 24th, 2016, my cheeks nearly cracked from a day of joyous grinning! At The Princeton Children’s Book Festival , I met authors and illustrators of my favorite children’s books. I was surrounded by the greats, including David Ezra Stein, who was there with his son. He seemed surprised by my fan-girl thrill at meeting him and watching him autograph my book and said he was happy to know that it was proving to be such a valuable tool for me.

Interrupting Chicken, from Candlewick Press, is incredibly useful in both parenting and speech therapy! Interrupting is such a tricky topic, especially when you’re dealing with excited kids who want to share their ideas. This book provides a brilliant format for dealing with interrupting in a playful fashion. Adults are given the opportunity to express the frustration of interruption by voicing the father chicken as he struggles to be patient with he ebullient and creative daughter. I love using a growly, low and slow voice to contrast with the high-pitched energy I give the child. I love to pause and ask young listeners how they think the father chicken feels. They know what it’s like to be interrupted and can empathize with his irritation. We talk about it and come up with playful strategies for dealing with the issue, all in a playful, blame-free setting.

As an added bonus, Stein uses ‘involved’ and ‘stray’ in the short, simple text. These are two words that rarely enter my conversations with young children, so I know I’m getting a few extra ‘big words’ in their ears while I’m laughing and teaching about patience. Grab this one the next time you find yourself telling a kid to stop interrupting.