I remember reading The Spirit of St. Louis when I was high-school-aged and really enjoying it, despite its 500+ pages. Even though Lindbergh's primary topic in writing it was his historic first flight across the Atlantic Ocean, he managed to capture the monotonous moments of flight but also included enough other stories of his life that it wasn't boring.

Flight reminded me of the more dramatic and interesting parts of Lindbergh's book, since it is a narrative of that flight distilled for children. The book focuses on the long flight, bit by bit, emphasizing the difficulties, the solitude, and the length of time that Lindbergh had to stay awake in order to complete the flight. You feel like you're flying right along with him, and celebrating with him too when it's all over. The grand, expressive illustrations really aid in the drama of the story. Some children are quite fascinated by airplanes, so this particular bit of history can be very eye-opening, especially as it focuses more on the man in the cockpit rather than the machine itself.

There is no map in the book, so it might be helpful to read with one on hand if this is being used for school, since several different places are named. 

Scrounged From: A local book sale

Format: Hardcover
Author: Robert Burleigh
Illustrator: Mike Wimmer
Pages: 32
Content Advisory: None

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The Polar Express, by Chris Van Allsburg, is probably the first thing that comes to mind when I think "classic Christmas picture book." I grew up with this book's quiet imagery of light and shadows, and was captivated by the mysterious nature of this train that just shows up at a boy's door on Christmas Eve.

Even after years of knowing how the story goes, I still feel the disappointment in the boy's voice as he talks of losing his present, and his relief at receiving it again the next day.

While I enjoyed the music in the movie adaptation, I don't think it did the book justice -- the book really captures the wonder and anticipation of Christmas, as well as the sadness of loss and the joy of rediscovery.

Scrounged From: A Christmas present when I was two years old

Format: Hardcover
Author/Illustrator: Chris Van Allsburg
Pages: 32
Content Advisory: None

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Book Scrounger's note: The following is a guest review by Doug, a.k.a Professor Puzzler:

I just wrote a book review for Little Beaver and the Echo; this is another book that I absolutely love the pairing of text (by Sherri Duskey Rinker) and illustrations (by Tom Lichtenheld). As a matter of fact, in Goodnight, Goodnight, Construction Site, I would say that I like the illustrations more than the text. Don't get me wrong, I do like the text -- although there are some rhythmic stumbles in the poetry that caught me off-guard the first couple times I read it. But when I'm reading this book to my kids, I'm barely paying attention to the words I'm reading, because I'm looking at all those delightful illustrations.

The use of color is great, and in particular, the illustrator used different tinted papers for the various "times of day" illustrations, which resulted in all the daytime pictures, all the sunset pictures, and all the nighttime pictures each having the appropriate color warmth to them, because each shared a base color.

The story (which isn't really a story; there's no real plot to the book) focuses on the activities of five construction vehicles: a crane truck, a cement mixer, a dump truck, a bulldozer, and an excavator. Each machine (you can see the excavator in the picture here) has its own unique personality and facial features. Each vehicle has a section of the book, ending with the vehicle snuggling up for a good night's sleep after a long day's work. After each section, the book ends with a couple pages of wishing the team a good night.

If you have young children who are fascinated with construction vehicles, you should not be without this book!

Scrounged From: Amazon, for our four-year-old

Format: Hardcover
Author: Sherri Duskey Rinker
Illustrator: Tom Lichtenheld
Pages: 32
Content Advisory: None

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The Goodnight Train is a charming bedtime book that we have been reading to our 13-month-old son quite often since he got it for his first birthday. 

It tells the simple story of a train setting off from its station with some children in tow, who appear ready for bed, but not quite ready to sleep yet. It starts off slowly creeping up a hill like a roller coaster, and then whooshes right down, past several interesting sights, before eventually slowing down again and bringing the children safely back to the station, snug in their beds, and ready to sleep.

The story is written in rhyme, which is particularly fitting for a book about a train, because it sets a very believable rhythm, especially when accompanied by the various "train sounds" that the reader is encouraged to make. I always find myself reading the fast parts quickly and with a lot of rhythm, and then slowing down and stretching things out as it gets toward the end, which I think is due to some well-crafted poetry and attention to detail.

Speaking of details, the illustrations are quite charming as well. It seems that each time I read it, I notice some new little part of the picture that I hadn't seen before -- be it the mermaid applying her night cream in the river under the bridge, or the porter sitting on the last car holding a sign that says "on break," or the squirrel in his tree opening up the fridge to find a midnight snack. 

These humorous bits add different layers to the story, and make it about more than just a train. Though the train and children are well illustrated too, and will certainly help the reader to experience the fun of being a child whose bed has become a train car on a wild pre-bed ride. 

Scrounged From: Amazon.com

Format: Board book
Author: June Sobel
Illustrator: Laura Huliska-Beith
Pages: 28
Content Advisory: None

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