If you are looking for cool kid’s books try”
“Else-Marie and Her Seven Little Daddies”

I discovered it when I was working in a children’s bookstore many years ago. I was already a fan of Charbonnet’s “Boodil, My Dog” about a little girl and her demented bull terrier (Well, aren’t they all?). But this book was wondrous strange. So Heather has two mommies, eh? Pfffft. Try seven daddies, especially when those daddies are each about a foot tall. It’s a terrific book. You’ll have to turn up a copy secondhand, but it is sooooo worth it.

Other obscure out-of-print gems include “The Rinky Dink Cafe” which is a hilarious read aloud with plenty of slapstick and bouncing rhymes and an opportunity for the reader to experience their inner Mel Blanc. And it’s a Thanksgiving story! Margaret Mahy’s “17 Kings and 42 Elephants” reads like a fantastic drum concert, if you and your daughter enjoy that kind of book. We sure did. And we like sailing ships and pirates, so we were suckers for Richard Adam’s “The Ship’s Cat” which is also in verse. 

Don’t neglect Beatrix Potter and don’t settle for any reinterpretations. You want the originals, they are BRILLIANT. When my son was your daughter’s age, his favorite was “The Tale of Mr. Jeremy Fisher”, the last line of which never failed to make him break into a belly laugh. I was partial to “The Roly Poly Pudding” which never failed to make me break into a belly laugh.

If you want a great message and wonderful illustrations with lush Thiebaudesque California light and color, try to find a copy of “The Araboolies of Liberty Street.” And I was quite taken with the illustrations in “No Star Nights” which was about growing up in a steel mill town. We LOVED kid’s books. 

Ah, kids’ books… there are so many wonderful ones.