What We’ve Been Reading: Infusing the Everyday with Fantasy and Imagination
All of these books encourage kids to use their imaginations and to think about their worlds in a different way, combining fantasy elements with items they encounter in reality.
Encourage children to think and wonder by asking questions to deepen the reading experience, and follow up on the concepts and ideas later when the child is playing. For example, if you read Dragons Love Tacos, talk about dragons at dinner or encourage the child to be a dragon and eat pretend spicy tacos. What happens if you take this action, or what would happen if the character in the book had done this instead?
And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street
by Dr. Seuss
- 5 stars
It feels strange to “rate” anything by Dr. Seuss since so many are classics. This is a good book for a child around 3 or 4 learning to imagine. Point out the differences between each page and how the “story” of what the narrator imagines changes. A child a bit further along, maybe 4 or 5, may be able to have a discussion with you as well about why the narrator chose not to go with any of those stories but instead with the boring truthful story.
by Adam Rubin — 5 stars
Fantastic for getting my daughter to engage with imagination. She understands salsa and tacos since she eats them. Combining these normal items with the fantastical creature of dragons was a sort of mental “ah-ha!” moment that encouraged her to combine other mundane and fantasy items in her imaginative play. You’ll never be able to find a book that pleases everyone, but this is certainly worth trying for most kids.
by David Soman and Jacky Davis — 4 stars
With a simple plot, the book highlights the things that the little girl loves to do, like swinging and playing superheroes with her friends. These are all very simple concepts, but the presentation seems to encourage children to be themselves and enjoy childhood. Absolutely, go dress-up like a ladybug and get on the swing! Be in your costume and just play with your dog in the backyard! That’s awesome, and if you want to do it, child, you absolutely should; there is no shame in being a child, using your imagination, or doing what you want because it makes you happy and isn’t harming anyone else.
The Berenstain Bears: When I Grow up by Mike Berenstain -
3 stars
By no means is this a bad book, but I gave it 3 stars instead of higher because it’s so simple that except for being in the Berenstain Bears series, it could be easily missed in the pile of other books that introduce kids to jobs and what adults can do for a living. Brother and Sister Bear learn about a lot of different kinds of jobs that they can have, and it’s useful to pause on pages to look at the various jobs being described. I liked that the illustrations seemed aware of gender issues and had female representation in some jobs that might be considered historically male-dominated and male representation in some jobs historically female-dominated.
Curious George Goes to the Hospital
by Margaret H. A. Rey — 5 stars
Kids understand going to the doctor even if they’ve never been to a hospital, so this is a way for them to understand what may happen in a hospital as well as to encourage their imaginations. George gets into all sorts of trouble, but he gets into fun trouble oftentimes, even making a little girl in the hospital laugh who had been so sad. What other things could George do? What sorts of things would you, the reading child, like to explore in a hospital if you could? What else could we do that may make us sick enough that we may have to go to the hospital (George swallowed a puzzle piece)? These are easy questions to extent just reading the book into a deeper conversation as you’re reading together.
