What to Do When You're Sent to Your Room

Written by: Ann Stott and Stephen Gilpin

First line: My name is Ben.

Why you should read this book: Here's a creative catalog for kids who have trouble entertaining themselves. Sent to his room for feeding his broccoli to the dog, Ben details the ways he appeases his parents and passes the time during his punishment, with realistic and imaginative efforts. A little tongue-in-cheek, lots of fun.

Why you shouldn't read this book: You don't want your kids to have fun while they're being punished.

The Secret Circus

Written by: Johanna Wright

First line: Somewhere, deep in the city of Paris, there is a circus that is so small and so secret...only the mice know how to find it.

Why you should read this book: It's pretty much standard as far as what you'd expect from a mouse circus, but there's plenty of visual delight in the story of a bunch of weirdly fat mice going to a circus where a single kernel of popcorn is a great snack, and a pussy cat stands in for the lions in the ring. Lots of delicious silliness for kids in a high-interest book that focuses on the secret nature of the action. Good for reading aloud to the youngest listeners.

Why you shouldn't read this book: You refuse to take your kids to the circus.

Stella's Starliner

Written by: Rosemary Wells

First line: Stella lived in a house by the side of the road.

Why you should read this book: Like many of Wells's stories, this one takes a sensitive look at conflicts that carry meaning for small children; I've seen stories that tackle racism and bullying, but I think this is the first one that touches on class issues. Stella, a little fox, lives in a mobile trailer with her mother and father, and has everything she needs, and loves her little house, until some jerky weasels suggest that living in a trailer means she's poor. Stella is understandably upset about this assessment, but, as the trailer is mobile, all her problems vanish when her dad hooks it up to the truck and drives it to another part of the country, where the kids are nicer.

Why you shouldn't read this book: You wish you could hook your house up to a truck and out-drive your problems.

Yuvi's Candy Tree

Written by: Lesley Simpson and Janice Lee Porter

First line: I escaped on a donkey in the dark.

Why you should read this book: A fictionalized account of the real-left journey of a Jewish girl from famine-stricken Ethiopia fleeing to a Sudanese refugee camp and then to her ultimate destination, the land of Israel. She dreams of food, bread and candy, as her family is beset, again and again, by thieves and thirst, and imagines sweets growing from trees when she reaches Jerusalem. To her delight, in Israel she learns that "juicy and sweet" oranges grow by the side of the road, and that you can eat as many as you want, because "they grow back."

Why you shouldn't read this book: You think people should just die where they are instead of immigrating someplace more prosperous.

Vagabonding: An Uncommon Guide to the Art of Long-Term World Travel

Written by: Rolf Potts

First line: Not so long ago, as I was taking a slow, decrepit old mail steamer down Burma's Irrawaddy River, I ran out of things to read.

Why you should read this book: If you've ever thought, "I should sell my house, quit my job, and spend the rest of my life bumming around the world," this book can help you fantasize/visualize what that might look like. It's a fast read, beginning and punctuating every chapter with quotes from modern vagabonds and profiles of historical ones (like Walt Whitman and Henry David Thoreau), and concluding with a list of print and online resources for the topic of each chapter. Detailing the difference between tourists and vagabonds (i.e. "real" travelers), and offering instructions for leaving the old life behind to taking up a new existence of open-minded freedom on the road, this is a fast read.

Why you shouldn't read this book: Indoor plumbing. Clean sheets. Central air conditioning.

Hereville: How Mirka Got Her Sword

Written by: Barry Deutsch

First line: Mirka liked her stepmother, Fruma, well enough.

Why you should read this book: A thoroughly modern perspective on the fairy tale/fantasy narrative, featuring a smart, sassy heroine who's willing to stand up for what she thinks is right and wants the freedom to pursue adventure. The fact that she's an Orthodox Jew living in a completely insular community places a certain framework around her story but never limits or artificially distorts the honesty of the tale. Behold the power of creative argument, and its magical worth in getting kids in and out of trouble.

Why you shouldn't read this book: You never drop a stitch.

Melody: Story of a Nude Dancer

Written by: Sylvie Rancourt

First line: This isn't the beginning and it's not the end, but somewhere in the middle with Melody getting started on stage.

Why you should read this book: A cult classic never before available in English, these collected comics are considered the first autobiographical Canadian graphic novel. Melody is young, pretty, headstrong, and without any marketable skills, so when her lying, stealing, cheating, drug-dealing, thief, loser boyfriend decides she should dance naked to support both of them, she cheerfully goes along. It's a slice-of-life story with no true beginning or end, just a series of vignettes about the adventures of an optimistic girl who keeps trying to do the right thing.

Why you shouldn't read this book: Despite the vast quantities of sex and nudity, it's not an especially sexy book.

Some Monsters Are Different

Written by: David Milgrim

First line: Some monsters are afraid.

Why you should read this book: Using simple, repetitive language, it describes various qualities that monsters (standing in for little kids) might possess, while assuring the reader that those qualities' binary opposites are also normal. Whichever end of the spectrum on which we fall, we're all wonderful, this book assures us. Short and sweet.

Why you shouldn't read this book: You think you can knock your kids into conformity.

John Henry: An American Legend

Written by: Ezra Jack Keats

First line: A hush settled over the hills.

Why you should read this book: A seamless, straightforward retelling of the classic American tall tale of John Henry, the man who could do the work of six men and dared to race, and beat, the steam engine, though it meant his death. Hearkening back to an era where an honest day's work was honored, it's a piece of Americana that might be overlooked by today's cell-phone using toddlers. Great story for kids learning to work with their hands and for parents wary of too much dependence on technology.

Why you shouldn't read this book: You fear that any celebration of the power of the worker will turn your kids into baby socialists.

The Three Little Wolves and the Big Bad Pig

Written by: Eugene Trivizas and Helen Oxenbury

First line: Once upon a time, there were three cuddly little wolves with soft fut and fluffy tails who lived with their mother.

Why you should read this book: A sly take on an old story, this fractured fairy tale recasts the wolves as wonderful creatures with excellent building skills, harassed by a pig who doesn't know how to make friends or blow down bricks or concrete, but can swing a sledgehammer, operate a jackhammer, and detonate dynamite. The ending is a surprise, too.

Why you shouldn't read this book: The vilification of pigs disturbs you.