As a parent, teaching your child how to deal with death can be a difficult thing. It’s a hard concept to teach most children. If you are lucky, the first taste your child will have with death will be when they have a pet that dies. While, this is hard on children it does teach them something about what it feels like and how to move on after their trusted friend is gone.

This is what The Forever Dog helps to teach kids. The author, Bill Cochran came up with the idea for The Forever Dog when he lost his special friend, a Golden Retriever named Mo. The result is a beautiful book that offers an important message for children. While Cochran is new to writing books for children, the illustrator, Dan Andreasen, has contributed art to several different children’s books, such as Little House on the Prairie.

The Forever Dog deals with Mike and Corky. When Corky is brought home, Mike falls in love with him instantly. Despite the fact that no one knows what kind of dog Corky is, Mike loves him anyway. In fact, Corky and Mike loved one another so much they did everything together. Corky would even sleep on Mike’s head each night.

The two friends were inseparable. Wherever Mike went, Corky was in tow. Friendships like this are rare, but they made them seem natural. It only made sense when Mike and Corky created their forever plan. It was decided that the two would be together forever. For a long time, things with the forever plan were going perfectly.

However, good things can’t last forever and one day Corky gets sick and is taken to the vet. Mike is sad, but when he finds out that Corky is never coming home his sadness turns to anger. When Mike’s mother finds out why Mike is angry, Mike is taken through his memories and is taught the most important lessons about death.

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Bear on a Bike by Stella Blackstone with pictures by Debbie Harter offers a cute story about a bear on a bike. A little boy chases the bear on the bike and before you know it, the two are going on an adventure. The first stop they make is the market where they look at fruits and flowers. Next comes some time on a raft, where they travel through the forest. Later, a train takes them to the beach, and then the bear ends up on a boat. He also ends up in a rocket, on an island, and in a castle.

This is a perfect story book for young children and makes a great naptime book as it is not too long. Children love the story of the child looking for the bear and seeing the adventure unfold with each passing page. This is definitely a cute story for the younger ones in the bunch.

If you your children are learning to read this would be one of the books they would be comfortable going through. They might not make it on all the words, but they would certainly be comfortable with the majority of them.

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Follow Me, Mittens is an I Can Read book series book that is published through Harper Collins Children’s Division. Written by Lola M. Schaefer, Mittens is an adorable little kitten who is about to go on an adventure. The story is incredibly simple, but when taking into account that it is for first readers it is right on track. The majority of the words will be simple enough for a child that is learning to handle on their own. This is excellent because it will boost their confidence with reading and make them want to read more.

Ms. Schaefer was a school teacher prior to writing the books for readers that she has published. It is obvious by looking at the book that she has a good grasp on showing children how to gain a joy for reading. Had it been a traditional book, not one for learning to read, I might have said it was lacking, but due to the circumstances I think the average child will do fine with this book.

After reading through the book I can safely say that the art was my favorite part of this volume of Ms. Schaefer’s work. The art, created by Susan Kathleen Hartung, is simply amazing. The pictures offer clear lines, vibrant colors, and a mesmerizing quality to them that so many book drawings lack. Some of the pictures even have a watercolor feel to them that is not only pleasing to the eyes for grown-ups; it is also captivating to children. This is wonderful because at this age, the better the pictures are the more interested the child will be in viewing the book.

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As a child life can be hard. Parents will teach their children to celebrate their differences, but their peers often pick on them for whatever makes them different. To a child, this can be devastating as they all want to fit in. The Boy who Grew Flowers is a heartwarming and beautiful about how being kind is really the more important trait a child can have.

Rink and his family live high up on Lonesome Mountain. As they are the only family there all the other kids like to ignore Rink because he and his family are definitely the strange sort. The teacher leaves Rink in the back of the class and won’t even talk to him. Despite all that, Rink is still a good kid that looks forward to living each day.

Rink is special and has a gift that, while odd, is definitely one of beauty. When the full moon appears Rink grows flowers from his body! This makes him horribly different though he is not ashamed. One day, he meets a girl who is beautiful and kind. He likes her immediately, but the other kids tell her all about why Rink is worth avoiding. Little Angelina’s courage and honor is inspiring as she befriends Rink anyway.

This story has a lovely message from beginning to end. It is absolutely perfect for kids in Kindergarten to as high as the 3rd or 4th grade. Jen Wojtowicz is the first time author of this marvelous book. Before writing, she was (and still is) an artist who also teaches art to people with disabilities. This heartwarming story was created by Ms. Wojtowicz for her brother who has autism. It was her way of showing that people need to try a little harder to be accepting in order to remove some of the suffering that plagues us on a daily basis.

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Any kids that do not like the dark will love this book. For starters, all they need to do is press the moon on the cover and it will light up brightly like the moon and provide them with a night light. If they are sleepy when the light is pressed it should stay on until they fall asleep. Also included with this hardcover book is a lullaby CD that is sure to get younger kids in a sleepy sort of mood.

When it comes to the book, the story is as adorable as you would expect a Carebear story to be. The story might relate to the child that is having the book read to them. Bedtime Bear is reading a story to Friend Bear so that she can go to bed.

However, after the story Friend Bear discovers that she cannot sleep! She gets a drink of water, is tucked in with the help of Bedtime Bear, and then when Friend Bear learns it’s too late to read another story, she asks if they can turn on a light. Bedtime Bear offers to light up the moon, which you can do to thanks to this great book.

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As a child, my favorite books were written by Shel Silverstein. I remember when I bought a book of his poetry at the school book fair. I carried that book with me wherever I went. I used to read the poetry and laugh and wish that I was the people in his stories.

A few years back, our son discovered the same book of poetry that I once had and he loved it. He requested that we buy all of Silverstein’s books. I suppose that is the sign of a good author. Someone with such timeless appeal that a decade or two later they are still able to delight people with their words.

The Giving Tree is a book that was around when we were kids. In fact, most of the kids that I knew had a copy back in the 80s. Now, Harper Collins has introduced an anniversary edition that just goes to show that if your children do not have a copy of their own, now is the time to get them one.

For those of you unfamiliar with the story, it is a simple story with just about one line per page. The opposing page has a corresponding picture to go with the text. The story is about a tree and a little boy. The tree loves the boy and the feeling is mutual. The boy goes to visit the tree each day. He picks up her leaves and uses them in games of imagination. He climbed her, swung around on her branches, and would even eat her apples if he got hungry.

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