Contents
If reading is a great pleasure for your child, please him during the holidays with cute novelties that our literary reviewer Elena Pestereva has chosen. However, this selection will interest even those children and adolescents who are reluctant to open the book – such beautiful illustrations and fascinating texts are here.
“A handful of ripe strawberries”
Natalya Akulova. From 4 years old
The debut stories of Natalia Akulova about the life of a preschooler Sanya opened the children’s edition of the Alpina publishing house. Sanya is loud, active, inventive – they are called “kid”. Reading about it with a child, you will at the same time tell where children come from, how jam is made, plaster is applied and cows are milked. There is a sweet poignant lyricism of summer evenings in the stories. “What does strawberries smell like?” Sanya asks. “Andersen,” her dad says, “at the very least, Pushkin.” And my mother objects: “Not Pushkin at all. Strawberries smell of happiness.” (Alpina. Children, 2018)
“Kipper’s Calendar”, “Kipper’s Little Friends”
Mick Inkpen. From 2 years
Baby Kipper by British artist Mick Inkpen is friendly and smart. In early summer, he noticed that there were “many more living creatures with legs and wings than you can imagine” in the world, and began to find out the names of small owls, pigs, ducks and frogs. What was his name when he was very young? He learns quickly and also comprehends the world with friends – it’s more fun. There are three books about Kipper, they have a warm intonation, funny drawings and nice rounded cardboard pages. (Translated from English by Artem Andreev. Polyandria, 2018)
“Together with Polina”
Didier Dufresne. From 1 year
This series of books will help develop independence in children from one and a half years. Girl Polina teaches her doll Zhuzhu to brush her teeth, bathe, dress, cook a cake and do a lot of other useful things. There are eight books about Polina, all of them are collected in one set and written by a Montessori teacher, they have simple and understandable instructions for parents – start now, and by the age of 3 it will be easier to get ready for a walk and go to bed. (Mann, Ivanov & Ferber, 2018)
“Paddington Bear”
Michael Bond. From 6 years old
Paddington is a love child, like Winnie the Pooh. Alan Milne gave his bear to his son for his birthday. And Michael Bond to his wife for Christmas. And then he told her stories about this teddy bear, very smart and very stupid at the same time. Paddington came to London from Dense Peru. He lives in an ordinary Brown family with their children and a housekeeper, wears marmalade in the pockets of a blue coat and in the crown of a red hat, goes on city tours and vernissages, to the zoo and visits, is friends with the antiquary Mr. Kruber and loves the Old World. I’m reading Michael Bond stories with a 12 year old and I don’t know which of us loves them. But kids will love it too – Paddington is loved all over the world by several generations. (Translated from English by Alexandra Glebovskaya, ABC, 2018)
“To the cottage! History of country life»
Evgenia Gunter. From 6 years old
Remember, Lopakhin sold a cherry orchard for summer cottages? That’s when summer cottages came into fashion. With their appearance, the luxury of summer in nature went to employees, raznochintsy, students. Evgenia Gunther tells, and Olesya Gonserovskaya shows how libraries and musical instruments were transported for the summer, how fathers of families were met from the train, what baths are and why Soviet summer residents built houses 4 x 4 m, what is a “dacha of a kindergarten” and how summer cottages helped us survive in the hungry 90s. However, this is a children’s book, your child will learn how to make a whistle, a slingshot, a dugout and a bungee, learn to play gorodki and petanque, get ready! (Walking into history, 2018)
“The Big Book of the Sea”
Yuval Sommer. From 4 years old
Please offer this book to your child only if you have really chosen “by the sea” and not “to the country”. Because flipping through it without the ability to touch the jellyfish with your hands and look at the fish with your eyes is disappointing: it is very beautiful. Sharks and sea turtles, seals and whales, children’s questions and detailed answers, stunning illustrations – if not the sea itself, but take a trip to the local aquarium with this encyclopedia. You can also take her to the beach with you: she will tell you how and who we can meet there after low tide. By the way, The Big Book of the Sea is not only an encyclopedia, but also a game! (Translated by Alexandra Sokolinskaya. AdMarginem, 2018)
“50 steps towards you. How to become happier”
Aubrey Andrews, Karen Bluth. From 12 years old
Resources should be properly replenished in the summer so that in the winter there is something to spend and already be able to recover. Writer Aubrey Andrews and meditation teacher Karen Bluth have gathered under one cover the most powerful and simple practices of relaxation and concentration, self-observation, digital detox, visualization and much more. During the holidays, you can slowly master the poses of a cobra and a dog, learn how to cook energy snacks and anti-stress breakfasts, create a capsule wardrobe for yourself and review the best comedies. Give it to your girls and try to practice it yourself, the sooner the better: summer does not last forever. (Translated from English by Yulia Zmeeva. MIF, 2018)
“The Girl Who Drank the Moonlight”
Kelly Barnhill. From 12 years old
This fantasy, which The New York Times Book Review compares in atmosphere and artistic level to Peter Pan and The Wizard of Oz, and readers to Miyazaki cartoons, will captivate not only teenagers but also adults. At its center is the story of a witch with a good heart and her 12-year-old pupil, the girl of the Moon, endowed with magical powers. The book, in which there are many secrets, amazing destinies, love and self-sacrifice, captivates into its magical world and does not let go until the last page. It is no coincidence that it became a New York Times bestseller and received the Newbery Medal (2016), a prestigious literary award given for outstanding contributions to American literature for children. (Translated from English by Irina Yushchenko, Career Press, 2018)
Leo, 8 years old, read a book for us
“Nikita Seeks the Sea” by Daria Vandenburg
“Most of all in this book I liked Nikita himself – even though he does not look like me. Actually, it’s never the same. Nikita came to his grandmother’s dacha. On vacation. At first he was dissatisfied and wanted to go home to his parents to watch cartoons and play on the computer. At the dacha, he was unusual and uncomfortable. He even wanted to run away at night – but he realized that in the dark he would not find his way. Grandmother taught him to wash dishes, for example, and generally become independent. He washed it once, and the next he says: what, wash it again ?! He didn’t like it. But he had a good grandmother, in general, such a normal grandmother, a real one. As it should be in her role: she came up with a game about dragons so that he would wash the dishes as if playing. And in the end, Nikita began to do a lot of things himself. Grandmother told him about astronomy, showed him the stars from the roof of the house, talked about the sea, even went on a trip with him in search of the sea – she knows a lot, and it was really interesting to read. Because she talked to Nikita like an adult. And I already know how to wash dishes and ride a bicycle, I am independent. But I really want to go to the sea – to the Black or the Red! Nikita found his own, it turned out to be insipid, but magical.
Daria Vandenburg “Nikita is looking for the sea” (Scooter, 2018).