Books that Teach

The Big Book of Girl Stuff by Bart King, illustrations by Jennifer Kalis
Who It’s For: Age 8 to 12
What It’s About: 320 pink, powerful pages with topics ranging from the dainty (how to build a compliment kit) to the indelicate (an entry on “why boys smell so bad”). Lots of how-tos, lots of food for thought.

Ed Emberley’s Drawing Book: Make a World  by Ed Emberley
Who It’s For: Age 4 to 8
What It’s About: One in a series of great entry-level drawing books by an award-winning author, Make a World shows kids how to draw more than 400 items—from wheelbarrows to witches, bulldozers to buildings, and much more.

Math Potatoes: Mind-Stretching Brain Food by Greg Tang, illustrations by Harry Briggs
Who It’s For: Age 8 to 13
What It’s About: Tang challenges young readers to think about mathematics in non-traditional ways, grouping sets of numbers rather than memorizing them and coming up with smart answers rather than easy ones. Problems are presented on spreads with rhyming verse and quirky illustrations. Where do the potatoes come in? For instance: “Can you add up these poor souls/For whom the bell already tolls?/In groups of ten you’ll hear their cries/Please, not cries/Please don’t turn us into fries!'”

The Kids Summer Games Book: Official Book of Games to Play by Jane Drake and Ann Love, illustrations by Heather Collins
Who It’s For: Age 5 and up
What It’s About: Is this the holy grail of summer “find something to do” books? Maybe. Let’s put it this way: capture the flag, juggling, card tricks, dominos, croquet, rumoli, comet ball, beach biathlon, and pickup sticks only scratch the surface on what’s inside.

The First Day of Winter by Denise Fleming
Who It’s For: Age 3 to 5
What It’s About: Save this book for the day the air conditioner quits. Told in The Twelve Days of Christmas-style, the reader is asked to dress a snowman with a different accessory—stick hands, birdseed pockets, salty-peanut toes—through ten days of winter. The paper-and-pulp illustrations are interactive.

How Do I Put It On? by Shigeo Watanabe, illustrations by Yasuo Ohtomo
Who It’s For: Age 3 to 5
What It’s About: A bear demonstrates the right and the wrong ways to put on shirts, pants, caps, and shoes. This book is out of print but available in libraries and from online bookstores. In 2006, The Children’s Book Council asked readers to name a book they would love to see reissued and this how-to guide ranked third.

How to Be the Funniest Kid in the Whole Wide World (or Just in Your Class) by Jay Leno and S. B. Whitehead
Who It’s For: Age 7 to 12
What It’s About: Highbrow it ain’t, but then the Tonight Show host never intended it to be. Full of puns, knock-knock jokes, and just plain wisecracking, it’s cornier than forty acres in Iowa. To wit: “Teacher: Use the word MOTIF in a sentence. Li’l Jay: My grandma wears dentures because she has no motif.” Ha! The book, which also includes Leno’s tips for forging a career in comedy, encourages kids to learn by watching, which is a lesson we can all get behind.

How to Draw Magnificent Mammals by Earl R. Phelps
Who It’s For: Age 8 to 14
What It’s About: This how-to art book hits on the four-step basics for drawing any mammal but also teaches much more complex features. Twenty mammals are showcased, ranging from the polar bear to the pipistrelle bat. Each entry is accompanied by a description of the animal’s behavior, habitat, and diet.

Sporting Events: From Baseball to Skateboarding (Which Came First) by Gabriel Kaufman
Who It’s For: Age 8 to 12
What It’s About: Gotta love the cover, with the chicken on an egg holding a football and soccer ball. In a nutshell—or eggshell—that’s what this book is about. Contrasting sports are featured together and readers guess which was invented first. The following page has the answer, plus a brief history of each sport.

I Can by Helen Oxenbury
Who It’s For: Age 1 to 4
What It’s About: A simple, effective concept helps toddlers develop their motor skills. Each page of this board book suggests something a child can do: I can run, I can kick, I can slide, I can bend.

Anno’s Counting Book by Mitsumasa Anno
Who It’s For: Age 3 to 6
What It’s About: With no text (just one number per page) Anno tacitly encourages adult and child to interact with simple watercolor illustrations that take kids from the number one through twelve—one illustrated story for each month of the year.

Kids Cooking: A Very Slightly Messy Manual by the editors of Klutz, illustrations by Jim M’Guinness
Who It’s For: Age 5 to 9
What It’s About: There are forty-five great and sometimes goofy recipes in this spiralbound manual, from applesauce to tuna wiggle sandwiches. The publishers note it’s printed on wipe-clean glossy stock “on the remote chance that anything gets spilled.”

Knitting (Kids Can Do It) by Judy Sadler, illustrations by Esperanca Melo
Who It’s For: Age 8 to 12
What It’s About: Entry-level knitting instruction at its best, with large typeface and illustrations. Learn the basics about how to cast on and purl and how to create eleven relatively simple projects, including a pompom scarf, a book bag, and a mini-purse.

The Look It Up Book of the Presidents by Wyatt Blassingame
Who It’s For: Age 9 to 12
What It’s About: With November 4 approaching, this book gets bonus points for timeliness. The highly regarded reference book was originally published in 1968 but features updates through Bill Clinton and George W. Bush. The questions engage young minds with such stumpers as: Which president appears on the $5,000 bill and who served only one month in office?

May I Pet Your Dog?: The How-to Guide for Kids Meeting Dogs (and Dogs Meeting Kids) by Stephanie Calmenson, illustrations by Jan Ormerod
Who It’s For: Age 3 to 7
What It’s About: Want your five-year-old to meet that border collie down the street, but both (the five-year-old and the border collie) are wary? Harry the dachshund shows the proper way to meet and greet unfamiliar dogs, always pausing first to ask the dog’s owner if the dog can be petted before getting too close.

My First Baby Games by Jane K. Manning
Who It’s For: 0 to 6 months
What It’s About: An illustrated collection of seven simple games new parents can play with their babies, including classics This Little Piggy and Pat-A-Cake. Parents bonus: The not-so-subliminal message via illustrations of sleeping pumpkins and houses that Baby needs her rest.