Here are 100 books that Behold the Bold Umbrellaphant fans have personally recommended if you like
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Many people are intimidated by poetry. For a big part of my life, I was too. So much of the poetry I had been exposed to was either indecipherable or irrelevant to me. Then I discovered some poems that I loved—accessible poems about subjects I related to. I started collecting poetry books, by both adult and children’s poets. Eventually, I was inspired to write poetry of my own. Today, I’m a poetry advocate, recommending my favorites to anyone who shows interest. The satisfaction I get from poetry boils down to this: When I read a good poem, I think to myself, “Wow, I didn’t know words could do that.”
After writing 14 children’s books about art appreciation, I decided to try my hand at children’s poetry. When I read this collection of haiku by Jack Prelutsky, it was a revelation. Each poem is a first-person description of an animal, full of rich, unexpected language. By writing in first-person, Prelutsky broke one of haiku’s cardinal rules. But it worked—and inspired me to write my own collection in the first person as well. Here’s one of my favorites poems in his book:
Raucously we caw.
Your straw men do not fool us.
We burgle your corn.
Seventeen haiku composed by master poet Jack Prelutsky and illustrated by renowned artist Ted Rand ask you to think about seventeen favorite residents of the animal kingdom in a new way.
On these glorious and colorful pages you will meet a mouse, a skunk, a beaver, a hummingbird, ants, bald eagles, jellyfish, and many others. Who is who? The answer is right in front of you. But how can you tell? Think and wonder and look and puzzle it out!
A creature whispers:
If not for the cat, And the scarcity of cheese, I could be content.
Many people are intimidated by poetry. For a big part of my life, I was too. So much of the poetry I had been exposed to was either indecipherable or irrelevant to me. Then I discovered some poems that I loved—accessible poems about subjects I related to. I started collecting poetry books, by both adult and children’s poets. Eventually, I was inspired to write poetry of my own. Today, I’m a poetry advocate, recommending my favorites to anyone who shows interest. The satisfaction I get from poetry boils down to this: When I read a good poem, I think to myself, “Wow, I didn’t know words could do that.”
This anthology of concrete poems (also known as shape poems) is a direct influence on my own book. For anyone who loves concrete poetry, or wants to know more about it, A Poke in the Eye is indispensable. Each poem is by a different poet, and each approaches the form in their own way, which got me excited about trying it myself. I do have to say, while I love the mixed collage-style illustrations by Chris Raschka, it made me want to create my own concrete poetry book without supporting illustrations. In my mind, a concrete poem is its own illustration.
"These aren't poems to read aloud, but to look at and laugh at together, with young children and especially older readers, who will enjoy the surprise of what words look like and what can be done with them." — Booklist (starred review)
Concrete poems startle and delight the eye and mind. The size and arrangement of words and letters can add or alter meaning — forming a poem that takes the shape of crows that fly off the page or becoming a balloon filled with rhyme, drifting away from outstretched hands. Here, in a single extraordinary volume, are thirty poems…
Many people are intimidated by poetry. For a big part of my life, I was too. So much of the poetry I had been exposed to was either indecipherable or irrelevant to me. Then I discovered some poems that I loved—accessible poems about subjects I related to. I started collecting poetry books, by both adult and children’s poets. Eventually, I was inspired to write poetry of my own. Today, I’m a poetry advocate, recommending my favorites to anyone who shows interest. The satisfaction I get from poetry boils down to this: When I read a good poem, I think to myself, “Wow, I didn’t know words could do that.”
When I first became interested in children’s poetry, I found a seven-book series by James Stevenson—all self-illustrated, and all with titles containing the word “corn.” I loved everything about them, including his loose pen-and-ink illustrations washed with watercolor. His style seems effortless, with unique and relatable observations on everyday scenes or objects. A lot of poetry feels like it’s trying too hard. Stevenson taught me the power of not letting the effort show. Here’s a perfect example:
There’s a yellow chair
at the junkyard gate.
Sometimes an old guy sits there
just to make sure
nobody swipes a crane.
The author of Popcorn amasses a collection of short poems with titles such as "The Morning After Halloween," "Dumpsters," and "What Frogs Say To Each Other."
Many people are intimidated by poetry. For a big part of my life, I was too. So much of the poetry I had been exposed to was either indecipherable or irrelevant to me. Then I discovered some poems that I loved—accessible poems about subjects I related to. I started collecting poetry books, by both adult and children’s poets. Eventually, I was inspired to write poetry of my own. Today, I’m a poetry advocate, recommending my favorites to anyone who shows interest. The satisfaction I get from poetry boils down to this: When I read a good poem, I think to myself, “Wow, I didn’t know words could do that.”
I love wordplay, and Douglas Florian is a master. His poems are short, fun, and well-crafted. He also illustrates his books, in a style that is sketchy, childlike, and textural. When I need a bit of lighthearted inspiration for my own poetry, Florian always delivers. He has written dozens of books, but his book about summer called Summersaults captures the essence of his style. Here’s a delicious sample:
"A Summery"
June: We seeded.
July: We weeded.
August: We eated.
What do you like about summer?Mountain hikes? Picking cherries? Curve balls? Ice cream cones?
What do you not like about summer?Blackouts? Bee swarms? Thunderstorms? Ninety degrees?
However you answered, Douglas Florian will convince you that summer is great. His poems and pictures add up to the best vacation imaginable -- and it is one you can have at any time of the year. A companion volume to the highly praised Winter Eyes,Summersaults proves that Douglas Florian is a poet for all seasons.
As a kid, I used to pretend I had unique powers, and I always wished it was real. So, stories including magic/powers give me a little taste of that. When the main character is in a learning setting, I get to see that magic is used more often, and I learn about the magic system and the world alongside the MC. Plus, I am a teacher by day, and it is cool to see how the education differs in those stories. Lastly, I have always been fascinated by mythical creatures and the cultures they come from, and I enjoy any story with them included.
This book was the first time I saw elements and mythical creatures mentioned together, and I grew up loving both. Although I read this as a kid, I still think about this series frequently.
The main character is unique because she is a companion to all mythical creatures and regular animals instead of just one type, and I found that super cool. The descriptions and storyline of her power made me wish I had it, too. I liked how many mythical creatures I got to read about in this book, and it helped spur my interest in them even more.
I also like it when the MC in books is oblivious to the magical world but gets dragged into it because I get to learn about it alongside them.
When Connie is sent to live with her aunt, she knows it's going to be one more place where she doesn't fit in. But soon she realises how wrong she is. The seaside town is full of adults and children who have strange links to creatures. It's the heart of the secret Society for the Protection of Mythical Creatures, a group of people sworn to ensure that mythical beasts are kept safe. Normally the creatures and their chosen humans work in harmony. But something abnormal is happening here. The Sirens, who for generations have kept their deadly song to themselves,…
Ancient mythical animals are all around us in words and images. Following the transformations of such animals through literature and art across millennia has been my passion since the early ’80s. It was then, after years of writing and teaching, that I became intrigued by a winged and fishtailed lion figure on an antique oil lamp hanging in my study. That hybrid creature led me to the eagle-lion griffin and my first published book, The Book of Gryphons. I have followed a host of mythical beasts ever since. My most recent book, The Phoenix: An Unnatural Biography of a Mythical Beast, was published in a 2021 Chinese translation.
I love this lavishly produced 2013 book. It overarches my other recommended “best books for following mythical beasts through time.” Titles of early chapters—“What is an Imaginary Animal?” “Every Real Animal is Imaginary,” and “Every Imaginary Animal is Real”—encompass the book’s interplay between nature’s animals, imaginary ones, and human beings.
Open Imaginary Animals anywhere to get a glimpse of its variety and scope. Boria Sax’s interdisciplinary, learned, and conversational text sweeps across folklore, legends, myths, and natural history of worldwide cultures from antiquity to today. Accompanying art, much in color, spans a Lascaux cave painting and a photograph of a human-looking robot; throughout are fantastic creatures in paintings, early natural history engravings, and other pictorial forms.
As Dr. Sax writes, “Imaginary creatures can be overwhelming in their multiplicity.”
Tales throughout the world generally place fabulous beasts in marginal locations - deserts, deep woods, remote islands, glaciers, ocean depths, mountain peaks, caves, swamps, heavenly bodies and alternate universes. Legends tell us that imaginary animals belong to a primordial time, before we had encompassed the world with names, categories and scientific knowledge. This book traces the history of imaginary animals from Palaeolithic art to the Harry Potter stories, and beyond. It shows how imagined creatures help us psychologically, giving form to our subconscious fears as 'monsters', as well as embodying our hopes as 'wonders'. Nevertheless, their greatest service may be…
I have always been shy and overthink new experiences, so I typically just don’t do whatever it is. I hate that about myself, but I struggle to overcome it. That’s why the werewolf has always fascinated me. The wolf knows no fear, either of people or experiences. The wolf is freedom from all the constraints of human society, and to be able to call up the wolf, transform, and leave all the expectations of humanity behind and live free, relying on your instincts, is very appealing to someone who doesn’t like crowds or cities or answering to a boss at work.
As research, I read a lot of books about werewolves. Some were bad, some were decent, and some were too academic. This one was, in the words of Goldilocks, just right. I loved that it was written in a language anyone could understand and that it wasn’t focused on just one geographic location or culture.
Douglas presents everything from Greek mythology to Norse, Japanese, American Indian, and others. He keeps his personal commentary to a minimum and presents the reader with much information. I see this book as a primer for understanding just about everything about the shapeshifter in legend and literature. If the fiction author has done his/her job well, the shapeshifter will have roots in something Douglas has told us about.
Most people know about werewolves only from the fevered imagination of some Hollywood scriptwriter. But where did the image of a mild human transformed into a snarling animal come from? Why is the terrible change supposed to take place at the full moon? And why should silver bullets be supposed to lift the curse brought on by a dreadful midnight encounter? This book is about the history of one of our most potent symbols. It ranges from early Palaeolithic animal cults to modern psychiatric wards. It examines lycanthropy in Classical Greece and Ancient Egypt, in Celtic, Norse and even Christian…
As an amateur sleuth, I’m always intrigued by the structure of mysteries and the characters who solve them. Every remarkable story has a mystery at its core. Tales where the whodunnit drives the tension are my favorite, though. I’ve dissected countless stories from Sherlock Holmes to Phryne Fisher, breaking them down until the books have literally fallen apart. Thank goodness for e-readers! I’ve found that my favorites revolve around the magical, the witty, and the vivacious women who know how to distract with words while they pull prints off your cup. Those are the sleuths I want to write about often–and wish I could have a cocktail with!
Helena is typical at the start of her journey. She doesn’t know of magic or anything odd about life. And it’s this start and subsequent growth through the course of this first book that makes her a delightful character. She uses a little intuition, confidence, and a heaping of observational skills, picking up context from other people in her new job as a caretaker for an old magical bookstore. And with that information, she stands up for herself, fills her own desires for growth, and becomes a valuable asset to the magical war around her.
Helena Davies just wants a job that will get her out of her parents’ basement. Instead, by the end of her first day at Abernathy’s Bookstore, she has a dead boss in the basement and the news that she is now a part of an endless magical war.
Abernathy’s is the world’s only living oracle, and Helena is now its custodian. Without any training, she must navigate her new world and find a place for herself within it. But there’s still a murderer on the loose—and Helena might be next on his list.
I’m a military veteran who has read science fiction and fantasy since the second grade. After reading everything on my parent’s bookshelves, everything in the school and public libraries, I had a teacher recommend I become an author. I love stories about strong-willed individuals standing up for what they believe in and changing the world. I have a master’s degree in engineering, a love for well-built things and taking stuff apart to see how it works, and a fascination with people and how they behave. In addition to writing, I am an avid gamer and a dabbler in a variety of things, from metalworking to hiking.
I love how this book has it all: action, adventure, romance, and humor in spades. From the opening words, the snarky humor hooked me. I picked up the book, wanting to dislike it, and the author won me over from the first page.
I love that the bad guys are bad, the good guys are (mostly) good, and people have to make hard decisions not just to survive but to save the world.
The first time I realized I'd fallen in love with the sea was when I was seven years old watching Flipper. Growing up in Canada, I longed to trade my snow shovel for a snorkel. Years later, I received my Bachelor’s in English and moved to the Florida coast with my Marine-Biologist husband, where the humidity curled my hair, iguanas blocked my parking spot, and real dolphins swam beside our boat. I wrote Sea of Kings so kids could take home the magic of the Caribbean. You can find my free writing tutorials on YouTube under HopeFullHappenings.
Josephine Against the Sea was a new find for me since it debuted in 2021, but I instantly connected with the trouble-maker main character. Josephine is desperate to keep her father from finding love after her mother dies, but when a vengeful sea creature tries to steal her father's heart, she must use her talent to save him before it's too late.
I loved learning about Josephine's Caribbean culture living in Barbados. It was also intriguing to read how Shakirah Bourne tackled a mother's death and its effects on the father, as this is a struggle my own characters face in my book.
Meet Josephine, the most loveable mischief-maker in Barbados, in a magical, heartfelt adventure inspired by Caribbean mythology.
“A heart-wrenching adventure with big laughs and well-earned surprises.” --Kirkus Reviews, Starred Review
Eleven-year-old Josephine knows that no one is good enough for her daddy. That's why she makes a habit of scaring his new girlfriends away. She's desperate to make it onto her school's cricket team because she'll get to play her favorite sport AND use the cricket matches to distract Daddy from dating.
But when Coach Broomes announces that girls can't try out for the team, the frustrated Josephine cuts into…
