Check It Out

Books recommended for young readers by Susan Patron, senior librarian, Los Angeles Public Library:

Try reading aloud these books by writers who deeply understand what it’s like to be a child.

Babies and toddlers: “The Carrot Seed,” by Ruth Krauss.

A small boy does something no one else believes possible.

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Preschoolers: “Yo! Yes?” by Chris Raschka.

Two kids of different races: Will they ever get to be friends?

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Kindergarten: “Too Many Tamales,” by Gary Soto.

There’s only one thing to do when Maria loses her mother’s ring.

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First and second grades: “Song Lee in Room 2B,” by Suzy Kline.

Second grade sure is different with Horrible Harry and shy Song Lee in it.

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Third grade: “How to Be Cool in the Third Grade,” by Betsy Duffey.

Robby thinks being cool will save him from the class bully.

Storytime

Some of the books to be read on KCET’s “Storytime,” Monday-Friday, 8 a.m. and 1:30 p.m.

* “The Very Quiet Cricket,”

by Eric Carle.

From a tiny egg on a leaf, a cricket is born. Then, he must learn the secret to greeting other crickets. (Themes: determination, sounds, nature, identity.)

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* “A Mother for Choco,”

by Keiko Kasza.

A lonely little bird sets out to find a mother and finds an unlikely parent in Mrs. Bear. (Themes: family, differences, feelings.)

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* “Amazing Grace,” by Mary Hoffman.

When Grace decides that she wants to be Peter Pan in the class play, her friends tell her she can’t have the part because she is African American. However, she decides she will audition anyway. (Themes: uniqueness, differences, self-esteem.)