Here at Cincinnati Moms Blog, we are passionate about literacy and children’s books! (Not only do we all read to our children, but we’ve got one contributor who’s a children’s book author, one contributor who’s a reading teacher, one contributor who’s a consultant for an independent children’s book company, and two who work at a children’s book store!) We pride ourselves on choosing high-quality books for our children that are engaging and contain themes and topics that children both enjoy and need. We use books to empower, encourage, and educate our children, and we are pleased to share our favorite children’s books with all of you!
Picture Books
How the Library (Not the Prince) Saved Rapunzel
Rapunzel sits on the sixteenth floor of an inner city block, bored, dreaming and looking out at the rain. No one can rouse her from her apathy, not the milkman or the postman or the baker or her aunt ? or even the prince. But when at last a letter is delivered, it contains news that has Rapunzel on her feet again. She has a new job at the library! And suddenly her life is busy, sparkling, exciting and stimulating. -Amazon
Grace for President
DiPucchio and Pham are game gals. Explaining the electoral system to adults isn’t easy, but they make it understandable to kids. When Mrs. Barrington shows her class pictures of the presidents, energetic African American Grace asks, “Where are the girls?” Responding to Grace’s shock, Mrs. Barrington arranges for an election in which Grace runs against Tom, with each of the remaining students in the multiethnic class representing a state. It looks like popular Tom will win since the boys have the most electoral votes, so Tom just sits back while Grace advances campaign promises. When the votes are counted, Sam, representing Wyoming (where the first woman was elected to the House), throws the winning votes to Grace, because he “thought she was the best person for the job.” -Booklist
Betsy B. Little 
All those children who feel dwarfed in the grown-up world will enjoy the role reversal in McEvoy’s debut picture book about a kid with the opposite problem: she is too tall to fit in. Betsy, the young giraffe, is so tall that she even towers over her parents: “Why, even her dad / Had to look up at her.” Simple rhyme and bright playful illustrations with thick black lines show the young giant giraffe looking down at the treetops, her long legs stretching from her little skirt. Her height sometimes makes Betsy feel powerful, but it brings problems, too. She dreams of being a ballet dancer, but when she joins the class, her head hits the ceiling. Finally, she comes up with a solution that makes her feel free and accepted. Silly, triumphant fun for the klutzy and unnoticed. -Booklist
Dangerously Ever After 
Princess Amanita laughs in the face of danger. Brakeless bicycles, pet scorpions, spiky plants–that’s her thing. So when quiet Prince Florian gives her roses, Amanita is unimpressed . . . until she sees their glorious thorns! Now she must have rose seeds of her own. But when huge, honking noses grow instead, what is a princess with a taste for danger to do? For readers seeking a princess with pluck comes an independent heroine who tackles obstacles with a bouquet of sniffling noses. At once lovely and delightfully absurd, here’s a story to show how elastic ideas of beauty and princesses can be. -Amazon
Stand Tall, Molly Lou Melon
Molly Lou Melon may be tiny, clumsy, buck-toothed, and with a voice “like a bullfrog being squeezed by a boa constrictor,” but she doesn’t mind. Her grandmother has utmost confidence in her, and tells her at every turn to believe in herself. “Sing out clear and strong and the world will cry tears of joy,” Grandma says. But Molly Lou’s self-assurance is put to the test when she moves to a new town, away from her friends and beloved grandmother. During her first week of school, Ronald Durkin taunts Molly Lou Melon in the dull-witted but sharp-edged manner of career bullies, calling her “shrimpo” and “bucky-toothed beaver.” Our heroine barely flinches as she systematically sets out to prove herself, and Ronald Durkin ends up feeling pretty foolish. -Amazon
Not All Princesses Dress in Pink
This rhyming antidote to the many cloying princess books asserts that “Some [princesses] play in bright red socks that stink,/blue team jerseys that don’t quite fit,/ accessorized with a baseball mitt,/and a sparkly crown.” This is followed by spreads showing girls riding bikes, doing carpentry, and getting muddy while dancing with dogs in the rain—all while wearing their crowns. -School Library Journal
Rosie Revere, Engineer 
Young Rosie is always trying to solve problems with her inventions. Shy and quiet, she resists talking about her dream to become a great engineer when a favorite uncle laughs at one of the gizmos she designs especially for him. But when Great-Great Aunt Rose shows up for an extended stay sporting a red polka-dotted scarf à la Rosie the Riveter, she regales her niece with stories of her experiences building airplanes during World War II. She wistfully declares, “The only thrill left on my list is to fly!/But time never lingers as long as it seems./I’ll chalk that one up to an old lady’s dreams.” This is an itch that Rosie has to scratch, so she sets about designing a unique contraption to help her aunt take to the skies. Of course, it doesn’t turn out as planned, but Rose helps Rosie see that it was a success, despite its short air time. By the end of the story, Rosie is wearing the same polka-dotted scarf around her head. -School Library Journal
The Paper Bag Princess
Elizabeth, a beautiful princess, lives in a castle and wears fancy clothes. Just when she is about to marry Prince Ronald, a dragon smashes her castle, burns her clothes with his fiery breath, and prince-naps her dear Ronald. Undaunted and presumably unclad, she dons a large paper bag and sets off to find the dragon and her cherished prince. Once she’s tracked down the rascally reptile, she flatters him into performing all sorts of dragonly stunts that eventually exhaust him, allowing her to rescue Prince Ronald. But what does Prince Not-So-Charming say when he sees her? “You smell like ashes, your hair is all tangled and you are wearing a dirty old paper bag. Come back when you are dressed like a real princess.” (At least he has the courtesy not to mention that the princess’s crown resembles a dying sea anemone.) In any case, let’s just say that Princess Elizabeth and Prince Ronald do not, under any circumstances, live happily ever after. -Amazon
Willow
Miss Hawthorn’s room is neat and tidy, not a pencil or paintbrush is out of place. And that’s how she likes it. And she likes trees that are colored green and apples that are painted red. Miss Hawthorn does not like things to be different or out of the ordinary. Into Miss Hawthorn’s classroom comes young Willow. She doesn’t color inside the lines, she breaks crayons, and she sees pink trees and blue apples. What will Miss Hawthorn think? Magical things can happen when your imagination is allowed to run wild, and for Miss Hawthorn the notion of what is art and what is possible is forever changed. -Amazon
Chapter Books
Dara’s Clever Trap
Meet a cunning princess who is known for her brains, not her beauty. Dara uses her talent as an engineer to foil a wicked plot and save her husband in this Cambodian traditional tale. -Barefoot Books
Ivy & Bean
In this first book in Annie Barrows’ bestselling series, young readers will meet Ivy and Bean–a dynamic duo like no other. The moment they saw each other, Bean and Ivy knew they wouldn’t be friends. But when Bean plays a joke on her sister, Nancy, and has to hide quick Ivy comes to the rescue, proving that sometimes the best of friends are people never meant to like each other. Vibrant characters and lots of humor make this a charming and addictive introduction to Ivy and Bean. -Amazon
Anna Hibiscus
Early chapter books set in modern Africa about a middle-class family are hard to find in this country. Early chapter books that deftly handle the difficult issues of poverty, class, and economics are even rarer. Nigerian-born Atinuke’s series about young Anna Hibiscus and her large extended family do these things with grace and humor. Anna Hibiscus lives in “Africa—amazing Africa,” in a city of “lagoons and bridges . . . skyscrapers and shanty towns.” Her mother is from Canada, her father from Africa, and she has twin baby brothers, Double and Trouble. Each of the four chapters tells a complete story and, while presenting clear cultural differences, explores themes that are universal and child-centered. -Booklist
Pippi Longstocking
Pippi is an irrepressible, irreverent, and irrefutably delightful girl who lives alone (with a monkey) in her wacky house, Villa Villekulla. When she’s not dancing with the burglars who were just trying to rob her house, she’s attempting to learn the “pluttification” tables at school; fighting Adolf, the strongest man in the world at the circus; or playing tag with police officers. Pippi’s high-spirited, good-natured hijinks cause as much trouble as fun, but a more generous child you won’t find anywhere. -Amazon
Stella by Starlight
Coretta Scott King Award winner Draper draws inspiration from her grandmother’s journal to tell the absorbing story of a young girl growing up in Depression-era, segregated North Carolina. One frightening night Stella and her brother Jojo witness a meeting of the Ku Klux Klan, practically in their own backyard. This meeting is the signal of trouble to come to the black community of Bumblebee. The townspeople must come together to find strength and protection to face the injustices all around them. This is an engrossing historical fiction novel with an amiable and humble heroine who does not recognize her own bravery or the power of her words. -School Library Journal
