Wen 丨 Mao Macarol
Most children will love stories with magical elements. If we can make good use of our children's interests, the effect of reading will be doubled.
Recently, a mother asked, before the child is old enough to read Harry Potter, is there a recommended magic book list? As a book-recommendation maniac, I immediately came up with this list of magic books that little Harry Potter fans will also like.
Accept this edition for kids who love the wizarding world.
01 Witch Ninth
Grandma Witch
Suitable age: 4-8 years old
Tommy De Parra, America's most prolific children's writer and illustrator, is also America's most popular writer and illustrator. A series of picture books featuring the magician Stregga Nona is loved by children aged 4-8.
This picture book, arguably the Harry Potter of the picture book world, tells the story of a magic therapist living in southern Italy.
Grandma Witch is amiable, like the kindest grandmother of children, who can help the villagers treat headaches, get rid of warts, and help girls find true love.
Although the book was once banned for its supernatural elements in picture books, in fact, the author's focus is not on magic, but on love.
In the same series of picture books, every time you encounter danger, you rely on the three flying kisses of the witch grandmother to save everyone. Love can save everything, and that's what the author wants to convey.
02 Meg and Mog
McGonagall the Witch and Mog the Kitten
Suitable age: 2-5 years old
Back in the 1970s, children's writer Helen Nicoll and illustrator Jan Pieńkowski created the Witch McGonagall series of magical stories that have since become timeless classic picture books.
In this series of picture books, there are three main characters: McGonagall the Witch, Mog the Kitten, and an owl. The magic of the little witch Mog is very ordinary, so it makes a lot of jokes, and it forms this series of funny magic stories.
In this picture book, McGonagall the witch takes the kitten Mog to a Halloween party, only to accidentally turn the other witches into rats because McGonagall's spell does not work.
The stories in the book are vivid and interesting, and the illustrations are wonderful. There is also an English animation of the same name, the evaluation is also very high, interested can find a child to see.
03 Winnie the Witch
Winnie the Witch
Suitable age: 3-5 years old
Witches and black cats seem to be standard in the wizarding world. In this equally classic witch Winnie, the main two characters are Winnie the Witch and Wilbur the Black Cat.
It was this black cat that began the story of this picture book:
In Winnie's black castle, Wilbur falls asleep on a black couch, and Winnie accidentally sits on a cat. To avoid stepping on the black cat again, Winnie took out her wand and shouted a spell at Wilbur: ABRACADABRA!
Wilbur turned into a green cat.
But no matter what color the cat turns into, it will bring trouble.
To make Wilbur happy, Winnie recited the incantation again, not only restoring Wilbur to its original form, but also turning the castle into color. Now, never step on Wilbur again!
This classic witch series, there are currently 18 books out.
American teachers often bring this series of picture books to the classroom, and they evaluate this series of picture books and say: Every child should have at least one book on the shelf.
04 Room on the Broom
"Witch Broom Row Seat"
Suitable age: 3-7 years old
Julia Donaldson, author of the picture book Gollum Cow, which we are familiar with, created more than 180 children's books in her lifetime. It is said that for every $100 a picture book bought by the British, 40 yuan is spent on Donaldson's book.
In "The Witch's Broomstick Row", it tells a magical story of friendship and family affection, and the witch's cat has become a ginger striped cat.
As you can see from the title of the book, this is a prosody picture book. The text in the book is beautifully rhymed, and the text is arranged in a very characteristic way, which is suitable for reading aloud.
The adaptation of the anime of the same name was nominated for the 2012 Academy Award for Best Animation.
This heart-warming story, in addition to eliminating the stereotype that "witches are evil", also allows children to learn to help each other and be grateful in the story.
05 The Incredible Book Eating Boy
The Incredible Book-Eating Boy
Suitable age: 4-8 years old
The creator of The Incredible Book-Eating Boy is the well-known Northern Irish artist Oliver Jeffs, who created picture books for the Crayon Strike Day and the Lost and Found series (the cute penguin and the little boy).
This book fulfills our ultimate dream when we were in school:
Eat the book and the knowledge will enter the brain.
Jeffs even drew a diagram:
Half of the books that boy Henry ate went to his head and half to his stomach.
After eating the book, the boy knows what to feed the little fish, can play crossword puzzles in his father's newspaper, and even becomes smarter than the school teacher!
However, as he ate more and more books, faster and faster, Henry began to lose his mind, and the knowledge in his mind was a mess.
After giving up eating books, Henry found that reading slowly felt so good. Moreover, although the speed is a little slower, as long as he keeps watching, he can still become the smartest person in the world.
This unique picture book collaged with retro style, full of whimsy, guides children to truly fall in love with reading. Mao Mama's team highly recommends that you borrow it from a picture book library or library at least once.
06 Harold and the Purple Crayon
"Aro has a color pen"
Suitable age: 4-8 years old
This American version of Ma Liang's story has been selected as one of the "100 Picture Books Everyone Should Know" at the New York Proclamation Library, and a selection of 447 children's books from the world in Japan.
The anime of the same name, based on this book, has also won many awards.
A mother once asked a soul question: the whole picture book is just a baby painting and playing, why is it so classic? Open the book and take a look, and you'll know:
Aro, who didn't want to sleep, wanted to go for a walk in the moonlight. So, he took out a purple paintbrush and drew a crooked moon; Aro drew an apple tree and a dinosaur to guard the apple tree, but Aro was startled; The trembling brush in his hand drew waves, and Arrow fell into the sea...
It turns out that the world in the eyes of children is so colorful, and their imagination is richer, unrestrained, and nonsensical.
I would say that there is no reason not to read this book.
07 Chalk by Bill Thomson
Incredible Chalk
Suitable age: 3-7 years old
One rainy day, three children found a bag of magic chalk at the entrance of the amusement park.
The girl drew a sun with yellow chalk, and the sun immediately glowed dazzlingly, the rain stopped, and a great sun appeared in the sky; The other girl couldn't wait to draw butterflies with chalk, and the butterflies immediately flew up from the ground.
The boy picked up the green brush and, before being stopped, drew a large dinosaur. The dinosaur stood up and roared as he chased the three children.
The boy who hid in the amusement park quickly picked up the chalk and drew a raining cloud. It did start to rain outside, and the raining dinosaurs also turned back into green chalk foam.
The three children put the chalk back where they were and went forward.
This wordless book full of magical charm is also particularly realistic, and at first glance it will almost be mistaken for a real photo taken. Illustrator Bill Thomson says that for each illustration in the book, he takes 60-120 hours to complete.
If your child likes wordless books, don't miss this book
08 The Magic Finger
Magic Finger
Suitable age: 7-9 years old
Finally, I would like to recommend a children's book by Roald Dahl's Magic Series.
An 8-year-old girl living in the British countryside, her family lives near her home, the Greg family, a neighbour who loves to hunt.
One day, the girl saw Greg and his two sons coming home with the slain deer. The girl warns them not to hunt, but is teased by the Greg family.
The girl angrily pointed her finger at the Greg family.
In the morning, something magical happened.
The Greg family turned into birds, and their home was occupied by a flock of human-sized ducks, who had to nest in trees for the night.
The next day, the Greg family found that the ducks were holding shotguns and aiming them at them in the trees. Greg pleaded with the ducks not to shoot and promised never to hunt critters again.
The ducks left, and the Greg family changed back to their original state.
The story is very roald Dahl's style: there are few warm reasoning sessions, but direct lessons to present the content.
The painting style is a bit dark, but it is very popular with children.
For younger children, we can read to them as bedtime stories in sections; For older children, this book is a good choice for independent reading.
Epilogue:
Why is it important to read magic picture books to your child?
Because stories with magical elements, like imaginative games, stimulate brain activity and expand intellectual development, allowing children to see the infinite possibilities of the world.
Arthur Charles Clarke, one of the three great science fiction writers of the twentieth century, whose science fiction works are mostly based on science, and many of the predictions in the novel have become realistic, and even the geostationary satellite orbit is named "Clark orbit".
He said this:
No advanced technology can be distinguished from magic.
By reading a picture book with magical elements to your child, you will not only open up new worlds for him, but also bring him the whole universe with infinite possibilities.
So, at least try to read magic picture books and magic stories to your child once.
| Mao Mama team
Edit | Mao Mama team
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