Delving deeper into the bookshelf

When I started reading for myself, I discovered that I was a mythology junkie, and that my favorite form was the short story. Even now when I write, I tend to gravitate towards that form. So when I was growing into my reading habits I had:

The Usborne Princes and Princesses book. I loved this one, 'cause it had lots of role reversal tales. Clever Princesses were right up my metaphorical alley when I was a kid. It's no wonder I write about crusading women all the time. I think something of the spark of this book remained strong in me. And the illustrations are fun.

And speaking of strong princesses, there's always Munch's The Paperbag Princess. Another wonderful role-reversal tale, ignored in far too many lists of "children's classics".

On a more serious note, there's Promise of a New Spring a nature themed book on how to teach the Holocaust to children, gently. I like this book very well because it has soft watercolors and historical photos as well as one-color ink drawings, all of which do a good job of conveying history and loss. The page with the burning books is particularly affecting. Promise of a New Spring is by Gerda Weissmann Klein, and illustrated by Vincent Tartaro.

On the list of messages in children's books is Catundra, a book about obesity and friendship written so that the child can understand that sometimes both are difficult. The pictures are wonderful. I'm pretty sure that there were quite a few other books by this author, and when I find it again, I'll list them.