Coming up on forum Olivia the pig corduroy the bear. These are some of the colorful characters that have captured kids' imaginations over the years and here's another . Bookstore owner an illustrator kids to share what makes a good kids' book we want to hear from you what are your children's book recommendations from the classics to fresh new titles That's next on form join us. Live from n.p.r. News in Washington I'm Janine Herbst and prison time for Army Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl who pleaded guilty to desertion and other charges for walking off his army base in Afghanistan in 2009 Bergdahl was then captured and held prisoner by the Taliban for 5 years the judge today also ruled he be reduced in rank to private and dishonorably discharged and forfeit pay N.P.R.'s Frank Morris has more from Fort Bragg North Carolina and says this isn't the end that's automatically appealed that appeal will go to 2 star general Robert Abrams Abrams can mitigate that sentence but he can't impose any harsher sentence then the dishonorable discharge the forfeiting a $1000.00 in pay and the stripping of Rick prosecutors had asked for 14 years in a tweet today President Trump called the sentence a complete and total disgrace for our country and to our military Islamic state has reportedly claimed responsibility for Tuesday's attack in New York City that left at least 8 people dead the terrorist group has not provided evidence for that claim N.P.R.'s Hansi Lo Wang reports u.s. Law enforcement is still investigating how the suspect allegedly radicalized the F.B.I.'s joint terrorism task force is continuing to look into any direct connections between say full o.c.e. Part of an ISIS on force an official say so far the evidence shows he allegedly acted as a lone wolf inspired by the terrorist groups online propaganda while the investigation continues New York police are preparing increase security for Sunday's New York City Marathon the race is expected to draw more than 2000000 spectators along the streets throughout New York City some runners say they're worried about their safety in light of Tuesday's attack the attack victims were honored on Thursday night with a candlelight vigil on the bike path where they were killed the city's placing temporary concrete barriers along the path to protect bikers and pedestrians on the long n.p.r. News New York the u.s. Economy added 261000 job. Obs last month and the unemployment rate fell slightly to 4 point one percent as N.P.R.'s Chris Arnold reports that's the latest word just out from the Labor Department $261000.00 jobs might sound like a lot but analysts were expecting a big number this month because a month ago the Labor Department reported a loss in jobs for September that was due to disruptions from hurricanes Harvey and Erma So this is actually a weaker gain in jobs than most were predicting for October on the up side though the past 2 months were revised higher to show more job gains as far as wages average hourly earnings were up just 2.4 percent from a year ago which is pretty sluggish economists have been watching the wage numbers closely and hoping to see Americans getting some more money in their pockets but this report doesn't show any relief from pretty anemic wage growth Chris Arnold n.p.r. News well Street is trading higher at this hour the Dow is up 35 points at 23552 the Nasdaq up 34 the s. And p. 500 up 6 this is n.p.r. News from Washington from k.q.e.d. News I'm Erica 3 more families are suing p.g. And e. In connection with October's deadly wildfires in northern California k.q.e.d. Peter John Schuler reports the 3 families from Mendocino County are just the latest in more than $100.00 people so far to bring complaints against p.g. Any They allege the utilities failure to maintain vegetation around power lines caused the fires to messy a Ruiz his wife and 2 children lost everything when they had to flee the wildfire approaching their Redwood Valley home it was very scary so we had to leave it. There was a. P.g. And e. Spokeswoman says the company is aware of the lawsuits and beyond that is focused on helping these communities rebuild and recover the cause of the fires that killed $43.00 people and destroyed thousands of homes is still under investigation Peter John Shuler k.q.e.d. News meanwhile an upcoming rain storm presents challenges to the fire recovery effort to Napa. Officials warned that the loss of vegetation caused by the wildfires could create runoff of ash and debris into watersheds County spokesperson Christie Jordan says Knapp is working on a long term plan to prevent this as the rainy season approaches but she says this weekend's forecast doesn't appear to pose a serious threat because this is the 1st rain since the fires much of the runoff will likely soak into the ground although the landscape will get wet large flows of debris and ass are not expected small amounts of as May washing to local streams or reservoirs but are unlikely to have significant health impacts in the north they did get some light rain last month that could see one to 2 inches of steady rain over the weekend America k.q.e.d. News support comes from Cal Performances presenting Mark Morris dance group than the hard knot December 15th through the 24th Cal Performances dot org Support for n.p.r. Comes from pro Quest partners with the u.s.c. Show a foundation to enable access to the visual history archive for helping students and researchers understand the impact of genocide through video interviews with survivors you can learn more at Procrustes dot com And by the listeners of k.q.e.d. While the National Weather Service is a week weather system approaching from the southwest will produce light rain for parts of the Bay area this morning more rainfall expected the softer known and tonight rain totals from the systems will be mostly light through the weekend there's a wonder storm warning in effect for the like top area today from k.q.e.d. Public Radio in San Francisco You're listening to forum I mean a camera it never ceases to amaze me that my kids will ask to hear a book 3 you did 4 times in one sitting ever have that experience tell us what those books are because in this hour form we're asking you our listeners to share books that you've noticed are popular with kids and your favorite children's books as well and the number to call them make your recommendations 866733678. 6 again 866-733-6786 You can also post them on our website www dot org slash forum on Facebook you can tweet them to us AK a.q. The forum and you can e-mail us at Forum at k.q.e.d. Dot org And we've reached out to our younger listeners to see what they'd recommend Let's hear a scene from Frank if you can lean on my radio wise in your favor because I think that. Now at least for me to flame you may makes. My think is not a book it can manage I miss rain here if I want it became a taxi that. Wasn't can you say my favorite perp is cannot feel funny. They are careful yet you say I love commercial bunny and have. Those are book recommendations from galley out in and San and we thank them for joining us and I'd also like to think our guests who are joining us for the hour Lauren Savage is the owner of the reading bug a children's book store and event space in San Carlos they also blog about kids' books at reading bug blog dot wordpress dot com Good morning Lauren savage in money also joining us is Amy Martin she's Children's Collection librarian at the Oakland public library Good morning Amy Martin good morning happy to be here thank you for being here and Christian Robinson is with us he's a children's book illustrator he illustrated the Newbery medal winning book last stop on Market Street about a boy who rides the bus in San Francisco with his grandmother he's a 2016 Caldicott honoree and also received the Coretta Scott King illustrator honor and has also worked with the Sesame Street Workshop at Pixar Animation Studios Good morning Christian Robinson. Morning thank you for being here as well well let's start with you Christian I want to hear what some of your favorite kids books are. Ok so 'd 'd well as someone who makes picture books today and has always thinking about them I can say growing up one of my favorite children's books and still today is titled Are you my mother by piece men. In what is it about that book in the pictures in it that that make it your favorite. Yeah I think it was the sort of the stories that you meant that I heard earlier that you just kind of keep picking up and looking out over and over I think I think as a kid the idea of being lost is very terrifying but are you being you know your loved one or your caretaker and I think I just obvious step with me so it was almost like that spear aspect that kind of kept bringing me back and then having the release of the end which I won't ruin. Well it was having. Yeah. Welker's you basement sharing that Lauren savage How about you so I have many as you can stop me any time but I pick something for almost age group that we focus on of the reading by you and starting with I here we are notes for living on planet Earth and that's by Oliver Jeffers just came out or just coming out this week and this is my new go to baby gift it's a beautiful book it is so poignant in his description of the world and all the different kinds of people in families that inhabit the earth and maybe even beyond He draws all these beautiful characters in all different colors all over the place I like how you say it's your go to baby gift because the holidays are right around the corner and books are great kids gifts I find yes yes and we're very excited too because Oliver Jefferson is coming to our store on December 2nd so they'll be signed copies for the go to baby gift which is great so many others but for picture books the lion inside by Rachel bright and her new one the koala who could these are rhyming books and I think rhyming is very important for kids especially starting at a very young age because it builds their confidence and you mentioned that they want to hear the same books over and over again and that's so true and when they start to hear those rhyming books I feel like they get into this rhythm and there is make this educated guess as to what's coming next in the story well picture books and since we're on that topic any Martin do you have any that you'd like to recommend Oh sure and I think one that is going to become one of my favorites The fear is accident by N.G.O.s who me. It is about an armadillo named Lola who steals her juice on a chair and immediately cries out that it's a catastrophe and runs away to the library which I love. And meets a bunch of other animals along the way who's had terrible accidents. I read this yesterday and I I just couldn't stop smiling it's a really beautifully illustrated book and talking about repeat readings you would else will know there are those books that you love reading over and over again and books that you never want to see again I think this is one that lends itself well to repeat readings both for kids and adults because there are so many funny new details to discover in the pictures the fact that pictures are such an important component of children's books or something that I feel like Chris Robinson you really illustrated I mean you're an illustrator but also you said growing up you really weren't much of a reader. I think you know children connect to books in different ways. And yet growing up I struggled learning how to read and really didn't connect with the story unless there were lots of illustrations and that's kind of how I engage that's how I almost how I felt most comfortable crime kind of following the story is that the pictures well we've got a lot of calls coming in so let me get to some of them right now all start with comma Rhea in Oakland am I saying your name right. Well what is your recommendation then why. As a child my favorite children's book was out in the Pussycat and as an adult my favorite children's book is My city is Oakland who writes My city is Oakland. Is actually my book. That was your last name cover you. L f t a win and tell us what what it has in it. So my city is Oakland it's a children's book that takes you through the city of Oakland through all of the historic locations and landmarks that pretty much no matter when you were born in Oakland you would be able to relate to it and remember those experiences as a child yes the need for children to really see themselves in books the Martin How significant is that for children in terms of connecting with with the story it's pretty crucial it's something we talk a lot about in Oakland public library we really emphasize diversity in the books that we choose Oakland is an incredibly diverse city and so we try to have representation on ourselves and you'll notice if you go into our branches that you will see a lot of black and brown skin children on the covers of the books that we have on display we really want our patrons to come in and see themselves. I like to a Christian Robinson had to say it's both about being slightly afraid of his favorite book as a child and also not being a big reader as a child and I think there's something noteworthy about books that inspire a little bit of fear because when I started thinking about what were my favorite books when I was a child the ones that came to mind 1st are the ones that scare me a little bit and I know one of my favorite books to read a lot of story time is Pierre by Maurice Sendak and the point of that book is kind of long it's very tiny and the point of that book that always grabs the audience is when the lion asked here if he wants to die something about that that fear that all children haven't experienced but is so rarely acknowledged in a children's book I think that's a pretty cool thing yes that is here is a great one and and also Maurice Sendak definitely has gotten a lot of press over the years but of course from where the Wild Things Are which always feels like a perennial favorite among parents well let's go next to Kevin in Danville Hi Kevin Hey are you doing great what would you like a great it's a great job and when I when I heard about the job on the phone for all my kids growing up I read them a book called. Randall island it's that kind of mythical i went where you have the combinations of like an animal and of plants and animals you have like a rank and you're in them. Birds and really fun riding 2 to really really great well while we're on the topic of animals let's hear from some more of our young listeners I think Fred is what I should get my jacket. Because. It has plenty rhymes and. My favorite book is encyclopedia because it teaches you a lot about what we're animals live what animals do. Well. Types of animals. And just like other things about. My name is me and in my favor of the work is that it is. Because it leaves me lots of lessons and they can't make me and learn people. It can't move they're like a parrot in the Mayberry should take it and then more of that it's my name was in my favorite book in line no in your job to. Me because. It is still myths and endings and so much happy endings. And Whately. Those are book recommendations from our media and I and full disclosure on my. Bomber of the topic of animals 1st of all they really seem to grab kids in a big way it's a question Robson do you have any animal books you want to recommend. Oh I love animals are one of my favorites is titled Let me buy Leo. And of an animal both that I was able to work on is titled Good stuff done by Calif which you. Tell me why really only is one of your favorite illustrators Christian. Hi I think he's just his eye specialist is very playful and as an illustrator it's also very kind of experimental like you can really see the materials he's using sometimes they'll use a dolly and make a print out of that or just all sorts of collaging and just mix media and I just love that play and that energy that you really see as work. Well Jessica writes I will forever love The Very Hungry Caterpillar and I think that was also a breakthrough or at least aircar was of a breakthrough illustrator because of his use of paper and so on so there's one and then we're getting a lot Jo Ellan recommends when Hitler stole pink rabbit by Judith Kerr a child's insightful experience of fleeing Germany in the time of the Nazis half magic by Edward Eagar and the Magician's Nephew by c.s. Lewis is my favorite of the Narnia series because it explains how Narnia came to be I am 68 and still love these books. And Laurel she's 9 she says I really like Wonder by r.j. Placed you know it's the story of a boy with a facial defamation Oh yes and the story is told from his perspective and then from lots of other people's perspective I like it because it is happy it's sad it's inspiring and it's funny it's a great book Wonder any thoughts on on wonder Amy or Lorne. Lorne just so you know wonder you know came out a couple years ago now and still going strong and there's the movie coming out everything else has it's you know. I really. This child has a different mission and and needs to be in. A real school and it's really hard for him to be accepted by others and I think you know being accepted does is what every child wants and there's there's so many books actually the wish trees another one about acceptance that might be a good one to talk about as well as told from the perspective of the tree and the tree actually talks and in this book there's 2 children who are living in a neighborhood a new family moves in and when that new family moves and not everyone's very welcoming and finding that acceptance and finding that place in life it's just such a hard thing to do and who would wish tree which was by Catherine Applegate and that's brand new it's a beautiful story and there's actually even some facts about trees that you might not even know about how they live and die and what parts of the tree are alive at certain times and but very interesting perspective to have the tree and then have the children be the secondary characters Well I mean Martin let's hear a few more from you sure actually one of the ones on my list is called when my birthday by Julie Foley an illustrated by Christian Robinson myself a tiny bit but it's a really beautiful book The illustrations to me evoke the The Golden Age of children's illustration back in the days of early Golden Books when we were seeing these really bright sort of flat colors paired with Matt backgrounds they're really beautiful and it's a very cheerful but 2. Completely different end of the spectrum that just this week I read a book that I think is going to be one of my favorites for the year and it's the 57 bus by dashes later this is a true story of a very a very tragic incident in Oakland in 2013 where 2 teenagers rode a bus together from both from Oakland but from very very different worlds within Oakland and their lives intersect in a very abrupt and violent way and are both changed forever one of the teenagers in the story. He is white and a gender and from an affluent family the other is African-American and has lived a life with a great deal of hardship and loss and in addition to the story which I'm sure many people around here recall. Duchesse later also goes into the intricacies of gender identity and how those how those things are coming out in ways that we've never really talked about for young people before and also about the racial differences and the class gaps that exist within a single city which I'm sure is true and not just of Oakland but of many cities well actually Michael Krasny interviewed the author Dr Slater a few days ago but what would you say what age group would you say this is the 7 best geared at Amy Martin I was thinking about this morning that it might be actually a good book for a parent and a young teenager to read together maybe to read side by side and discuss as they go along I think that there's a lot of language in the book that's really helpful both for talking about race and for talking about class differences and for for gender variance. And I think that it's something that a lot of people are really having to reshape their language around so I think it might be a great one for a parent and maybe a child who's who's 12 or a little older to read at the same time I enjoyed it terrifically as an adult and it was informative for me so I think really. Really maybe 12 on up. Well Christian Robinson the Martin mentioned in the book you illustrated wins my birthday and this book is about a diverse group of children you know bubbling over with excitement about their upcoming birthdays and as we talk about diversity I'm remembering something you said where you were you felt like books that focus explicitly on diversity can have an element of heaviness to it and I was wondering what you meant by that and how you address that. Yeah I mean so I mean I work in pictures and. And the way I see it like pictures are tools tools designed to communicate messages and ideas and so it's important for me as an illustrator of children's books to make sure that I'm communicating messages to children that empower them and you know make them feel validated and seen and like there that they matter. And so I'm definitely coming at illustrating with that perspective but I also I my eyes are reminded that I think of the day it has to be something that grabs kids that appeals to them. And I think. You know of course story has to play a huge role and connecting with them and resonating with them. And so. It was really almost think of it as me creating something that I think kids what might want but also something I feel they might need at the same time and we are getting more recommendations from listeners on the phone let's go next to Travis in Sacramento hi Travis. I think you. Were one of the book. It was. I love you thank you very. Pretty playful. Pictures are really good good for them. And then another both I wanted to mention since you guys are talking about issues and children's books why is my. P.t.s.d. . And how it relates to children. Well Travis thanks for those recommendations let's go to p.j. In Castro Valley Hi p.j. . Hey I just wanted to recommend a great a park 3 by Lynn Cherry It's a great story about a guy who goes into a forest to cut down the biggest 3 per financial gain and while he takes a nap because the tree is so large all of the animals come and visit him and then you tell him how it benefits them as an individual and how like as a community it's very important to them and when he wakes up he decides that it's not worth. It's worth more to the community than it is the him as an individual so the great bacteria is a favorite Well t.j. Thanks. Natalia she's 7 she says I love The Boxcar Children series by Gertrude Chandler Warner and they are orphans a living will box car they have to live on what they find I really love it because it has a lot of suspense and Daniel age 4 says locomotive is my favorite book it talks about trains. You know I love this because I wonder any Martin do you feel like. Adults tend to be focused on children's books or what makes a good children's book is having some kind of quality to it that has either a social justice quality or maybe a moral lesson we definitely encounter those adults in the libraries who want every children's book to come with a moral lesson and one thing that is common to children stuck is that they do tend to. They tend to have a arising positive value that comes out of the end whether that's a moral lesson or a funny joke or or a happy ending or a not happy ending but something uplifting about it it's one of the reasons I had that I really enjoyed reading children's book yes and in terms of your store Lauren Savage do you see that as well as a parent asking for something with a very particular mass Yeah sometimes in store for sure in fact I'm so we started this nationwide subscription box service so I get to hear from people all over the country which is neat is just not California and so it's reading by Box dot com And what we do there is we have everything is based by age and interest of the child and sometimes the parents will write to us and say we you know we definitely want books that will teach our children lessons and morals and I think that's really important I'm some will say they want something about girl power and that's a really big one especially here in California but also all over the world and actually one of those books is who he cracks the case that's a great series based on a real life 10 year old reporter and her name's Hill the list SIAC and I think in this age of 5 fake news and all everything going on the political climate something like this is really interesting this girl just comes out there and she's chasing after the news and it's really accessible for a lot of different ages I mean I think starting at age 6 for read aloud all the way up to each 10 Do you have other thoughts and you are not books that address our political climate that are directly we have seen quite a few of good releases come out and then one author that I'll mention local is my you know Gonzales right after the election he began reading a book called When a bully is president it is now out it's published it's in Oakland libraries and it is a bilingual book English and Spanish and it's talks in a very gentle and approachable way for even for very young children about what you can do when you see a person who's in charge of a country who is treating people very poorly talks about. Sort of endemic bullying that's been a part of our nation for a long time including oppression of people of color and native people it's one I would definitely recommend and I know that she has a couple others coming out very soon that are on similar topics any Martin is the Children's Collection librarian at the Oakland public library we're also talking with Lauren savage owner of the reading bug in San Carlos and Christian Robinson an illustrator who illustrated the award winning book last stop on Market Street among others have more of your recommendations for great children's books. I mean a kid this is. Here's what's coming up Monday on forum in our 2nd hour some 85 car break ins are reported every day in San Francisco according to police disco police chief Bill Scott will join us in studio to discuss how he intends to halt the rise in car burglaries and we'll discuss a recent vote on police use of tasers and take your questions for Chief Scott to listen to passion and join the discussion visit k.q.e.d. Dot org slash forum there subscribe to our podcast and for the latest updates on our programs and guests find us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter we're at k.q.e.d. For. Support for k.q.e.d. Comes from visit Napa Valley welcoming listeners back to the valley to celebrate the resilience of a strong community and encouraging all to experience the wine restaurants and hospitality that is Napa Valley more of visit Napa Valley dot com And by Will sabi was Sabi is next generation cloud storage for a broad range of applications including archives videos General Mixon more learn more it was somebody dot com. I'm Ira Flatow on the next Science Friday a look at the medicinal potential of deadly killers snails venom. And nature's talk to. Self employed scientist renting out your skills science in a big economy on Science Friday from n.p.r. I'm less than one half hour away Science Friday on k.q.e.d. Public radio starting at 11 it's from 11 o'clock to 1 pm today. My favorite book is cats the south because the monkey still had a cap so really funny because. The owner. Is Game conflict among kids or copy and he wants this cat to come back and that monkeys I can't kill them and then he caught these and until he kept on the ground then he picks up all of them and puts them on his head my favorite. Book that I've read is called Goose bumps laugh the world attack of the. Why it is so funny one part where this guy says. Sloppy year was going to slap you yes it's love as well and you always screw even though. Those are books suggestions from Joaquin and Alijah and we want to hear your suggestions as well we're talking children's books this hour we want to know which ones are popular with your kids and which ones are popular with you and maybe what you think makes a good children's book we're talking with Lauren savage owner of the reading bug a children's book store and event space in San Carlos and she has a blog reading bug blog dot wordpress dot com We're also talking with Amy Martin the Children's Collection librarian at the Oakland public library and Christian Robinson a children's book illustrator who illustrated last op on Market Street He's also a 2016 Caldicott honoree and received a credit Scott King illustrator honor and he's worked with Sesame Street Workshop and Pixar Animation Studios and we're talking with you our listeners Eric writes Once I was very very scared is especially good for kids who have experienced something scary and upsetting it features a bunch of cute animals that each respond to being scared in a different way and another listener recommends when I was really tiny My favorite book was Richard's. Sherry's What do people do all day I love the fact that each character had its own little personal life car the baker had a bread shaped one the worm had an apple shaped one etc and the way he drew the houses with the wall removed so that you could see into each room in you can post your favorites on our website be carried out org slash forum you can email them to us at Forum and take you Edi dot org You can post them on Facebook and on Twitter and you can call us at 866-733-6786 again 866-733-6786 extension 1 the line right now we have Sarah Wigglesworth she's a children's book buyer at green apple Books in San Francisco Hi Sara Wigglesworth Hi Mina says their 1st tell me what you look for when you buy a kid's book. Well I try to buy as diversely as possible I'm always looking at like art and the stories some books have like kind of a more meaning of life sort of. Appeal to them whereas some books are more about the story a couple examples so I'm good meaning of life books is Cynthia Rylan new book Life is really gorgeous about animals and kind of has a metaphor for going through life and I really like Julia Donaldson's new book Zog and the Flying Doctors which is just a fantasy book that has also a really good message about you know women and princesses being able to do more than just be pretty and. So what do you find is popular among the clientele a green apple. There's a lot of different things that are very popular right now one of the children who knows yet that I have. I think has been a really good thing is there's a lot of picture books that have that kind of a mixture of graphic novels and picture books so that each character has its own word bubble so that kids can see like who. Who's saying what So that's really cool . And you mentioned Ruth Bader Ginsburg for kids is one to our producer that that you want to highlight Yes our biographies you know resonating with buyers yes there's a lot of really cool biographies out right now and it's really. We have a couple of different Ruth Bader Ginsburg we have a Malawi and then there's also like you know some of our favorite heroes but also there's like lesser known histories like I have one about George Crumb who was the inventor of potato chips you know and so they're really cute and fun and they can kind of highlight the stories of like people of color and women that we might not get to hear usually you know and especially for kids who you know they get the presidents in school right but it's kind of cool to see our own heroes or people we we've never even heard about as adults you know you mention graphic novels I feel like I'm seeing a lot more of them both in the adult space and in the kids' space or the middle school space is that a trend you're noticing as well in terms of something that that parents and kids are getting into Yeah I'd love graphic novels personally and I think that you know a lot of parents feel worried that you know they want their kids to read chapter books at a certain age you know and that's great and definitely something to push for but you know when you turn 9 you don't just like. Grow out of pictures you know like you know picture books are often like set for age 3 to 8 you know but it's still really great to have that you know literacy can grow with graphic novels you know and I really like that will give us the one or 2 more recommendations for let you go. So one of my favorites right now is on a magical do nothing day by Beatrice. I'm going to mess up her last name but all among a model. And she's just really great and it's a fun one and. The a fun one for kids is the world's biggest fart. Raphael ordinances and that one has a little bit of a surprise ending and I hope you guys check it out well sir because we're thanks for joining us thank you Marina Well let's go next to more of our callers Carol in San Jose what do you want to recommend. Hi I want to recommend 2 books and they're both old grandmother and of course but in the 1st of them is of course wild things and the fun part about what I did with my sons who were fairly crazy and still are is when we get to the part where they have the wild rumpus we would have a while drunk I would say Ok opening opening time the front door flush the toilets turn on the Fossett open and the cupboards and find them and you know get out cans and bang them and just and this is to get them to go to sleep right. They loved it and you know the more of the things like Don's slam the door you know all that stuff how would turn what's lights off and on then you know look under couch cushions and so this went on you know like for some time in there so exhausted they all went right. So that's that's another way to look at wild rumpus But the other one is very seldom heard of it's called Jerome and I'm sorry I don't know the answer to the author but I think it's probably easy to time Jerome's a frog who believes himself to be a prince and nobody else believes him and he goes and he gets cast a son to him and he solves them all by logic and and finally they say my gosh movie really is a prince and he gets to live in a castle and these are the last lines and I can say any part of these words to my sons in their fifty's right now and they'll complete the line for you and he went to live in a castle that was green and summery and full of fly Carol thank you I can I can imagine how you sound when you read the books it's great to hear your energy and appreciate those recommendations let's go to Virginia and then as a hydrogen you. Although the books I wanted to recommend are ones that my kids who are now adults in their forty's and fifty's the Jolly Roger Bradfield books. Like pickle chiffon pie and Giants come in different sizes the flying hockey stick and the thirsty camel and they were all just such fun books with wonderful illustrations my kids love them. Especially my daughters they still want to read them to their children and another one that they really enjoyed was old black which by Wendy Devlin and I used to always change my voice for the different characters in the books so that's what they really like and they wanted me 3 records old black which so that they could play it for their children because they enjoyed hearing me use the different voices and another one that was good is the golden book of poetry. My one daughter is specially can have memorized most of the poetry in that book and loves to repeat it well you know one yes one from one more when I was young which is ancient history. Was called manners can be fun and I don't believe it's available but it was really cute and I loved it because the illustrations in it. Were like they were drawn by like a 4 year old. Well Virginia thanks for those recommendations and I should note that we'll put up a list of the books mentioned during the hour at our website k.q.e.d. Dot org slash forum we do need a bit of time to compose a list so we'll be happy we'll try to have it up to you by this afternoon so check on our Web site for that and let me go now to hope in San Francisco hi hope Hi Thank you for taking my call I just want to say certain books it's just amazing all the variety that's available nowadays I've just recently become a children's. Elementary school librarian and I've been enjoying reading the California Young reader nominees to the students and Christian Robinson has a book and that too called guest on artist great but I wanted to really recommend the book with no pictures especially since you guys are talking about of course the value of pictures there beautiful that are in books nowadays is amazing but the book with no features I'm sure a lot of your listeners are familiar with but if they're not it's just tons of fun to read aloud. It's by beginning of that and it's it's really the kids love it it's just as adults saying all kinds of crazy things like I have a blueberry pizza and I'm a monkey I self to read and it's really fun and I just want to mention 2 other books. One from when I was a kid a previous listener had mentioned Richard scary but I just really loved Richard's story like the town it was a really large you know when I was a kid I'd take it you know into bed with me and look at all the little pictures and lowly worm and I just love them even now just the other day I was in a store and I picked up a book about lowly Werman Those I think those pictures are amazing and finally when my son was little I used to read all of Kevin thank you books and I love them maybe people know the only plastic purse but when is a really cute story about a boy who won't give up his blanket and then he's going into kindergarten and he really won't give it up and finally they have a really fun solution for it so anyway thank you for your program well thank you hope for those suggestions and again you can call us at 866-733-6786 extension 2 make them and also you can e-mail us form a k.q.e.d. Dot org and post them on our website and on Facebook and on Twitter Christian Robinson we've heard your name come up a lot and I'm wondering if you could share with us a few illustrators that you particularly like that we should be you know on the lookout for as we shop for books oh yeah. Actually if you were mentioned to. The person I golden got mentioned life by simply a writer which is always rated by Brendan Wenzel who I love he actually won the Caldicott this year for his book they all saw a cat. And I love Beatrice a lotta who was also mentioned. Ngaio Fuji. You have to be so you know the Japanese American telestrator and I love her work because she was kind of one of the 1st to really showcase a really inclusive cast of kids and up and a picture book. I love of course as you Jacki it's been a woman Ari Paul Rand so many so many in this snowy day by as are Jackie it's made the top of your last and I'll be honest it's one of my favorites in part because I grew up in a very cold place in Newfoundland in so the snowy day was one of the few books that actually illustrated what my experience was of snow but I'm curious why it spoke to you Christian Robinson. Well I mean Ok so if I'm honest I didn't actually go up with that book and I only became aware of it afterwards. And I too grew up in California and never experienced you know until I was in my twenty's. So I think exactly the illustrations that appeal to me just love to play and his use of collage and patterns and it totally inspired me today. Lauren Savage we heard Sarah Bigglesworth talk about graphic novels and you had one on your list Yeah so I have also fair in middle school and this one is a really great one about friendship and courage and it's great for fans of the Babysitters Club Series tell them I actually read it does in graphic novel format they were originally written by Anna Martin and also if you're a fan of Jennifer home Jennifer home to the squish series of graphic novels for very young and she also has some great middle grade stuff out right now and but this one also very middle school is by Victoria Gina sent It's about a girl whose parents are working in a Renaissance Fair and she's going to begin training as a squire but she's also at the same time about to start public school she's been home schooled and she needs to learn how to be brave not only to be a squire but also to go to school and be accepted by others and it's a great story of friendship and learning about how to be kind to one another well I think Rick in Oakland has a graphic novel recommendation Rick. Thanks taking my call sure I want to recommend the Highland novels on the graph that the series of graphic novels like Judd Winick and they are there he writes them and draws them and I was become a big reader as a kid but most complex not really on appropriate for kids and these graphic novels are great my 3rd grade daughter just started picking them up my son's been reading them for years he's 12 and they're about friendship and loyalty they have a really diverse group of characters that are sort of casually diverse it's not diversity of the thing that's sort of brought up of an issue to be addressed it's got interventional rift insentient killer robots they're just great fun well Rick thanks for that Amy Martin explained about superheroes and comic books these days. Is sort of underscored here by this question from a listener who writes How do you know if a book is age appropriate for your child my 3 and a half year old life a lot of books intended for older kids the d.c. Superhero Girl series for example. Well that's a great question one thing that you can always do is ask your local librarian for suggest. Course I have to say that but it is true that with the research we get constantly about finding books for certain age levels on our website Oakland library dot org must kids you can find a section called great read and we actually have books by each group that we recommend and those come from a clean library and there's an emphasis on diversity within those lists that's great but I think that my direct answer to that question is that sometimes you just won't know the pencil start reading a book and either your child's interests won't stay or you'll see them start to have emotional reactions that are stronger than you feel is appropriate or healthy for them and at that point you can pause and you can save me they will do this on later. Soror writes why mosquitoes buzz in people's ears it is a West African tale that soars recommendation just in writes I loved reading anything from Mo Willems to my boys because the belly laughs coming from my 3 year and 4 year old sons will be with me forever Francisco writes My daughters Isabella and Danielle age 8 and 11 love all of author Mack Barnett's books both girls are reading Part 2 of the terrible 2 this is about 2 boys who have a prank war in school and my girls are just loving it Laura writes My son is 7 years old and he's currently immersed in the Spy School series by Stuart Gibbs we've read all of them together and he also listens to the audio books over and over he's on his 5th time now my 3 year old daughter loves the 3 wonderful books by Andrea Beatty ipac architect Ada twist scientist and Rosie revere engineer one of the things that I heard in from our callers you me Martin and also in some of these books is the importance of interactivity when you're actually reading them it feels like that is what stayed with people in terms of books that have really left an impression. Yeah I think that look they give children a chance to become involved in the telling of the story and have more of a chance to make an impression on their minds and I have a video on my phone that I saved for years and years of my nephew and his mother reading press here by I think it's pronounced and that's the book that is it's become a huge favorite in our libraries and with any kid I read it too it's each page has a series of dots and it says press here and kids will press a dot and then you turn the page and the Dot has changed of course to anyone who is old enough it's obvious that you're just turning the page in a different but to children it really is magic it's magic that these dots are growing and changing in the lights go out it's wonderful. Lauren savages there are you seeing a growing appetite for e-books or tat you know things on tablet as opposed to paper books not the kids for old I think that that's actually the nice thing about having a children's book store as opposed to a general starts a little bit harder I think for the adult side to sell them because you know when you're traveling I tend to pack you know big stack of books for my kids but for myself I might have a reader. Although not me really I actually like I like my job drugs and I like to hold them in my hand physically but I do see a little bit of a trend there that but I don't think I think you books have declined pretty dramatically they went up and then they went down but especially for kids they like to have that physical book too and I think that's really important for the interactivity just like the woman was saying about where the wild things are in creating that wild rumpus at home how fun is that and to make those those connections with your child and bonding when you're reading that way is so much fun I actually write books with music and music is a great way to keep them interactive while my my own book is dark and Goose let's dance the shameless plug Todd Hills wrote the book and I wrote the music for that and it's a great way to get kids dancing and jumping up and down and having fun with it and they really want to pick up that that physical book and see the pictures and touch the pages I also. Fine books a lot of on amount of Israeli have you her kids as well oh well that's your America and Santa Cruz Hi Erica Hi Thank you I'm a grandma and I have that 6 year old granddaughter who always was Uri but which I don't understand but they're hard to find you have any just suggestions for scary books Christian Robinson any scary books come to mind. Think this cable guy I love growing up was in it it's still pretty popular it's like it was like it's like a Sesame Street Golden Book thing and it's called like there's a monster at the end of a book and it's a Grover the monster that is Sesame Street somebody or anyone Yes Yes And then I say are a spoiler alert ends up being thrown for something I think I remember this one that's a good one for a 5 year old in Lawrence adage I have a great one actually by William Joyce it's called Ali's Odyssey and it's kind of this epic story about a 6 year old boy game belly and he has a stuffed animal Ali and the story is about getting kidnapped by an army of creeps and they're made from bits of trash so this isn't all out scary I would say I think when a kid says they're looking for a scary book they may not quite know what they're looking for like they don't want to be terrorized and have nightmares but this one has a little bit of a Tim Burton ask kind of feel to it very different from some of the stuff that William Joyce does and the tables get turned when the creeps actually kidnap the boy and the stuffed animal has to save the boy you know wow yeah well thank you for that Erica and April asks my daughter is in 3rd grade and struggles with reading most of her peers or reading chapter books just last night she said I just want to be able to read a chapter book I'd love to find an easy reader that is in the form of a chapter books about level one if that means anything to me Martin do you have any thoughts for April Oh I have a great one called The Cat and that is flat. By Andy Griffith it is the it's a big brown chapter book but the the words are very minimal and it's illustrated with cartoons it's hilarious it's a good one for kids who are developing their reading skills and I will say that the parent is absolutely not alone there are so many parents who see their kids struggling with reading I think that finding reading for fun for your family maybe you have a family reading night where you have popcorn and games and you read books out loud together introducing that element of fun can be really helpful in getting kids over the hump of a starting to read it may not improve her skills in terms of chapter books but it maybe if she's having trouble and acknowledging that she wants to read chapter books it means that she's starting to feel some negative feelings around it so I think that a family can do a great job by by countering the feelings of negativity and I'm not good enough by having reading in a positive fun setting Well let's hear next from Carrie in Livermore Hi Carrie Oh oh my gosh hi so I'm a grandmother and I have a 2 year old grandson and I am not I'm a not a rap afficionado but there's a great book series out there and the 1st book is how to and when my grandson was a teeny baby I just thought well I'm going to myself a little bit and I do it to a rap song like I'll start with. On the top health issue with the pop out face in this book the gloomy gloomy is all over the place. And he loves it and I threatened to put it on You Tube and My husband's just. But thank you but yes you're you're underscoring the importance of rhythm and rhyming in pacing in children's books thanks for that Kerry and Lateesha in San Francisco I Lateesha. Thank you my t.v. And I love. Yes thank you my friends and I love a movie in my pillow or really any book by local author for Heck get that for me it was the 1st time reading a book about someone from. My parents and the boat and he also grew up in the mission once he arrived so it was a really monumental story to see in a picture book that was bi lingual and he has published many books sense about food about a have a highly recommend any book or what have you get back think you think you have to see a let's go next to Karen in Berkeley Hi Karen. Hi Thanks for the opportunity I have a couple of recommendations one is Jim for Lisa's read aloud handbook as a mother 30 plus years ago I found that book actually went to a lecture he was giving and he did a fabulous job not only with lists of books that he has new editions out about but he also talks about the importance of reading aloud to your kids on a regular basis and I still give that book at baby showers on a regular basis it's just I think it's an inspiring read for young parents and then the 2nd thing is I always dition to print books use flannel board stories to tell stories to my kids as a teacher I used on a board and as a Peace Corps volunteer teaching English I use a lot of boards and it is a fabulous way to tell a story and get the kids involved in a really creative and interactive way so I just wanted to put that out there and it's great discussion about children's literature Well Karen thank you for that I appreciate it we've got Sally recommending pink Alicia's my kids want to hear it over and over again Jenny writes my possible all time favorite is open house for butterflies by Ruth Krauss and illustrated by Maurice Sendak whose Cross has a magical way of taking on talking on a child's level not talking down to them and a listener recommends a story of Ferdinand a book written during the Spanish Civil War about a ball that refuses to fight and just wants to smell flowers beautiful illustrations and. Deeply moving call for pacifism still moving for every former kid my family including a combat vet and Genevieve writes Dr Seuss is the sleep book and Maurice Sendak's In The Night Kitchen when I was a geeky kid I read the Children's World Book Encyclopedia volumes over and over well we just have a minute left I'd like to just go around our little room here and have each of you just make one last recommendation Lauren savage I'll start with you sure my favorite charge shrinks was my favorite when I was a little girl. And I got it signed my 1st signed copy of an author book when I was little. Martin how about you. I mean it's voiced by he next one and it is the debut novel friend Simon and Schuster is new in print salon read which is focused on Muslim authors and illustrators and this is a new when it came out just this year. It's a young girl Pakistani American Muslim girl dealing with a fight with her best friend and at the same time her family's mosque has been vandalized it's an important story for the way in Christian Robinson your recommendation your final recommendation. Book mistakes like Reno Lucan. As a young artist are many are young people we tend to get scared about being creative in putting ourselves out there but this book kind of lets you know that it's Ok to make mistakes and that you know good things can come from those mistakes Well Christian Robinson Martin Lauren Savage thank you so much to all of you for joining us and giving us your recommendations. And also thank you to our listeners for all of theirs and again we'll put up a list of the books mentioned during the hour at our Web site www dot org slash I need a Kim have a great. Funds for the production of forum are provided by the members of k.q.e.d. Public Radio and the Germanicus Foundation and the generosity foundation it's Science Friday coming up in just a minute after a Bay Area traffic update on Friday again what you're McConnell I did for the most part a very good traffic flow right now just the one big crash Highway one a one southbound at 12 and Santa Rosa looks like a signal or has the ramp from 100 south to eastbound 12 closed until about noon or 1215 and there is a new crash in the senator's mountains 17 northbound north of the summit might be blocking lanes Bay Bridge no back up Joe McConnell for Cutie thank you Joe his latest brought to you by a century Roland Plaza and support for k.q.e.d. Comes from 1440 Multiversity in the redwoods near Santa Cruz resenting the art and science of connecting mind body and emotion for Student Success conference January 12th 215th 1440 dot org slash mind body dash yet you're listening to k.q.e.d. a Family 88.5 San Francisco and family 89.3 North Highlands Sacramento I'm Dave Freeman It's 11 o'clock. From p.r.i. I'm Ira Flatow and this is Science Friday. Science is under attack on social media t.v. News and on Capitol Hill this hour Desmond Hellmann the head of the Gates Foundation is here to talk about how scientists in the media can do better in separating science fact from science fiction plus small snails that pack up big punch that m. Is actually a cocktail it's called Nature's God And let's talk to them what their toxic vitae holds for medical research and can you be a freelance scientist renting out your skills science in a gig kind of me all that and a new view inside an ancient pyramid after this. Live from n.p.r. News in Washington I'm Janine Herbst President Trump calls the sentence the judge has given both Bergdahl no prison time for walking off his army base and I think Ana Stan in 2009 a disgrace to the u.s. Military and the country the judge is giving Bergdahl a dishonorable discharge reducing his rank from sergeant to private and ordering the soldier to forfeit $10000.00 of his pay this after Bergdahl left his base and was captured and held by the Taliban for 5 years the 31 year old pleaded guilty to desertion and misbehavior before the enemy prosecutors.