Countdown of My Favourite Children's Books: #'s 7, 6 & 5

This is the continuation of the countdown I started last week. A recap of the first three:

10. The Berenstain Bears Series

9. Where the Wild Things Are

8. Matthew's Midnight Adventures

7. Princess Smartypants (Babette Cole): In the same vein as the Paper Bag Princess this is a book about a Princess who doesn't fit the stereotype. Babette Cole is definitely an author worth reading and has produced many other storybooks (which may or may not all be suitable for children). This particular story is about a Princess who everyone wants to marry. She makes each potential suitor complete some very difficult tasks. Definitely one that will make students laugh.

6. Love You Forever (Robert Munsch): If this story doesn't make you cry, the story behind the story will. A few years ago I had a music class where we talked about this book. It originally started as a song which was written by Munsch after he and his wife had two babies born dead. The song was written to those two babies. Astute fans of Robert Munsch will notice that his regular illustrator (Michael Martchenko). This is because the book was seen as a book for adults and not a book for children (though many children do enjoy it). More information about the book can be found here.

5. The True Story of the Three Little Pigs (Jon Scieszka): Another great author who has written several great children's books. I choose this particular book of his to highlight because it was the first one of his I read and it absolutely blew me away (no pun intended). This is the classic story of the Three Little Pigs as told by the wolf. So simple yet such a great idea. Similar to Princess Smartypants in that it is a fractured fairy tale (my how many of those made my top 10) but very different. This can be used in so many ways in a classroom.

Tune in next week to find out what books 4 and 3 are!