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Children’s Book Spotlight: Hattie, Get A Haircut!
By metropolitanmama | March 23, 2008
Books are fun and entertaining (in our house, we like them even more than toys). They are also useful for sparking your child’s imagination and for preparing your child to learn how to read. Finally, books can also be extremely helpful in teaching “life lessons” to kids. Reading about “issues” that affect your child’s life (potty training, manners, bedtime, going to the doctor, etc.) can be a great way to calm your toddler’s fears and to answer questions that might be floating about in their little minds.
If you have a little girl who needs a haircut, but who is frightened by the thought of it or who is just plain obstinate about the whole thing, then you might want to consider reading Hattie, Get A Haircut!, written by Jenna Glatzer and illustrated by Monica Kendall.
Hattie, Get A Haircut! (Moo Press, 2005) stars Hattie, a blonde-haired preschooler who says that she will, “never, no way, NOT AT ALL, let someone cut [her] hair!” In the story, Hattie falls asleep and dreams that her hair grows longer and longer until poor Hattie can’t play or even see through her bangs - and animals eventually take up residence in her hair! When she wakes up, Hattie tells her parents that she does indeed want to get her haircut, after all - and the experience ends up being fun (she even gets to donate her hair to a child who needs it).
The book has rhyming text (I love rhyming text!) and fun illustrations. There are between 2 and 8 lines per page. It’s probably ideal for the 2-6 age range, but littler ones and older ones will likely enjoy it too.
What’s your favorite children’s book that teaches a “lesson”?
Topics: childrens books |
March 23rd, 2008 at 4:41 am
MANY MANY BOOKS! Can’t name them all..Reminds me of a blog post I need to do on my favorite women athletes in childrens books.
March 24th, 2008 at 12:44 am
Going with the “hair” theme, there is a great book called Melissa Parkington’s Beautiful, Beautiful Hair. It is about a young girl with beautiful hair who wants to be known for something she does rather than something she is(her hair). Her great accomplishment turns out to be donating her beautiful hair to kids who need wigs.
March 24th, 2008 at 3:45 am
I love all of the Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle books, each chapter teaches you something my fav is the radish cure that teaches you to take a bath
March 24th, 2008 at 3:41 pm
My favorite “lesson” book probably isn’t as deep as most of the comments you’ll get. But when I was a kid I loved “The Monster at The End of This Book.” I always got such a kick out of the fact that the scary thing Grover got so worked up over was actually himself. It taught me not to take things quite so seriously.
March 24th, 2008 at 9:49 pm
When we were expecting our 2nd, my then-2-yr old really enjoyed the “I’m a Big Brother” book, by Joanna Cole. I think it really helped him prepare for what it would be like to have a baby around, and how he could help.
March 25th, 2008 at 8:34 pm
Well, we don’t have too many “lesson” books yet, but I do like “What’s Up with King George? A VeggieTales Story about Helping” and “What’s Up with Lyle? A VeggieTales Story about Kindness”.