A few picture books made it onto this month’s recommendations! I have always enjoyed picture books even though I don’t recommend them very often, but this month I read three that I enjoyed so much I wanted to share them. I don’t think there are many, but, as always, note that the following may contain spoilers:

A Child’s Calendar, by John Updike, illustrated by Trina Schart Hyman – This Caldecott Honor book is beautifully illustrated with poems for each month of the year, told from the point of view of children who live on farms in the United States. As fun as the poetry is, I found myself spending quite a bit of time staring at the illustrations and smiling at the personality of the youngest child, and I kept asking myself why I hadn’t ever read this book before.

Brother William’s Year: A Monk at Westminster Abbey, by Jan Pancheri – This picture book is so sweet and very informative. It is set in the 1300s and is a month-by-month first person story of the head gardener monk at Westminster Abbey. There are a couple of recipes included and some history on Westminster Abbey at the end of the book.

Silver on the Tree, by Susan Cooper – The fifth and final book in The Dark is Rising Sequence was not what I had expected for the last book in the series and, sadly, was not one of my favourites. The reader meets up once again with Simon, Jane, and Barnabas Drew, as well as Will Stanton and Bran Davies; it is made very clear who Bran is. Merriman is not featured much in the first three quarters of the book, but his presence is still felt. Be aware that there are a few times when characters take the Lord’s name in vain and swear. There were a couple of scenes early on regarding racism that were difficult to read and seemed a bit out of place when regarding the Sequence as a whole, although I do understand after some reflection why they were most likely in the story. Regardless of these criticisms, I do think the book would make a good read aloud and fodder for discussion. Over all, The Dark is Rising Sequence has made me excited to finally get around to reading more Arthurian legend.

The Family Read-Aloud Holiday Treasury, selected by Alice Low, illustrated by Marc Brown – This fun anthology is full of poetry and short stories by numerous authors for a number of holidays and special times of the year, including Rosh Ha-Shanah, Canada Day, Chinese New Year, and Book Week.