playing

Susan Laughs

old in rhyme, this story follows Susan through a series of familiar activities. She swims with her father, works hard in school, plays with her friends, and even rides a horse. Lively, thoughtfully drawn illustrations reveal a portrait of a busy, happy little girl with whom younger readers will identify. Not until the end of the story is it revealed that Susan uses a wheelchair.

Snow Bears

Three little bears love to pretend and a Mommy Bear loves to play along. “But where are my baby bears?” Mommy Bear asked. “I don’t know where we are,” said the biggest snow bear. When Mommy Bear comes to look for her baby bears, she finds three snow bears instead. They don’t look quite like her bears, but they do like to slide down the snowy slope and throw snowballs, just like her bears do.

You And Me, Little Bear

Little Bear wants to play, but Big Bear has things to do. So they decide to do them together. They fetch wood and water and tidy the cave, but Big Bear still has things to do, so Little Bear has to go off and play on his own. Finally Little Bear’s wish comes true and the day has an idyllic ending.

King Jack and the Dragon

Jack, Zack, and Caspar build a castle fort, then spend a day fighting dragons and beasts, but at day’s end giants carry away first Sir Zack, then Caspar, and King Jack is left to face night creatures alone.

Come and Play: Children of Our World Having Fun

Come and Play features 32 photographs of children from everywhere. China, Japan, Greece, Wales, Morocco, Oman, Texas, New York, and many more. Each photo is beautiful, thought provoking, and accompanied by lines of children’s poetry that will amuse young readers, and cause adult readers to reflect and laugh as they see the images through children’s eyes. The photographs span the last fifty years; while the children who wrote about them are a diverse group between the ages of 5 and 11.

Mokie and Bik

Twins, Mokie and Bik, live on a boat  docked somewhere in Australia. They are looked after by a nanny because their father is away at sea and their mother is an artist. Mokie and Bik are always underfoot or overboard. The twins play on the beach with their dog, help a fisherman unload his catch for the day, and enjoy energetic games of hopscotch on the deck of the boat.

Hopscotch around the World

All you need is a rock, some chalk, and a friend to join in the funHopscotch has been played throughout history in nearly every country in the world. From Alaska to Aruba, Italy to India, Bolivia to Brooklyn, here are nineteen versions of this classic game. Complete with rules, patterns, and interesting facts, this is an unrivaled look at a timeless, universal game of childhood.