Top 5 Reads for Auntie’s Day!
Written By Savvy Auntie Staff Writers
By Carolyn Danckaert, www.amightygirl.com
These top picks are all about Aunties and their nieces! Celebrate Auntie’s Day on July 28 by enjoying some of these wonderful stories about relationships and personal development with your Mighty Nieces!
1. Jennie’s Hat by Ezra Jack Keats (Ages 3-7)
Jennie’s favorite aunt is sending her a new hat, and Jennie is sure it will be beautiful. But when the box arrives, the hat inside is very plain. She had imagined a wonderful hat with big colorful flowers and even tries to make her own hat from a straw basket!
Jennie is almost ready to give up on her dream when she receives a fanciful surprise from some very special friends...
Ezra Jack Keats’s timelessly charming illustrations will leave nieces and aunts wishing for a dream hat of their own!
2. Ramona Forever by Beverly Cleary (Ages 7-11)
From the minute that Howie Kemp’s “rich” Uncle Hobart arrives from Saudi Arabia, things are off to a rousing start. There are new beginnings and discoveries and two very special surprises – one surprise is big and one is very little.
It’s a time of change for all the Quimbys; a time of new joys and little sadnesses, too. There are new worries – Mr. Quimby is worried about finding a teaching job; Ramona is worried they may have to move if he does; and Beezus is worried about her teenage complexion. The theme of Romana’s aunt getting married is also very central to this tale!
And through it all, Ramona, a grown up third-grader, remains a sometimes pesky, sometimes brave, sometimes beautiful, but always wonderful Ramona – forever!
3. Aunt Isabel Tells a Good One by Kate Duke (Ages 3-7)
Penelope and her Aunt Isabel make up an exciting bedtime story about the adventures of Prince Augustus and Lady Penelope.
An entertaining way to introduce children to the elements of storytelling while providing an impetus for their own creative endeavors. – School Library Journal
4. Just Us Women by Jeannette Caines (Ages 3-7)
“No boys and no men – just us women,” Aunt Martha tells her niece. And together they plan their trip to North Carolina in Aunt Martha’s brand-new car. This is to be a very special outing – with no one to hurry them along, the two travelers can do exactly as they please.
Warm, cheerful pictures illustrate this story of a black little girl planning a long car trip with her favorite aunt. The text’s unhurried rhythm reinforces the sense of their relaxed companionable journey. – School Library Journal
5. The Quiet Place by Sarah Stewart (Ages 4-8)
When Isabel and her family move to the United States, Isabel misses all the things she left behind in Mexico, especially her aunt Lupita and hearing people speak Spanish. But she also experiences some wonderful new things – her first snow storm and a teacher who does not speak Spanish but has a big smile. Even better, Papa and her brother Chavo help her turn a big box into her own quiet place, where she keeps her books and toys and writes letters to her Aunt Lupita. As she decorates and adds more and more on to her quiet place, it is here that Isabel feels the most at home in her new country while she learns to adjust to the changes in her life.
Set in the 1950s and told through Isabel’s letters to her aunt, Sarah Stewart and Caldecott Medalist David Small have created a charming and unforgettable young heroine who will win the hearts of nieces and their aunts in this story of immigration and assimilation.
For books that celebrate relationships between Mighty Girls and all types of special people in their lives, visit A Mighty Girl's "Relationship" section. Happy Auntie’s Day!
Carolyn Danckaert and Aaron Smith live in Washington, D.C., with their four nieces and a nephew nearby. They are very excited to launch their latest labor of love, A Mighty Girl.
Published: July 23, 2013