Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Parenting and Advocacy vocabulary question

Something I always like for little people is poetry--you could try some Jack Prelutsky or Michael Rosen, or there are nice collections like the Oxford Book of Verse for Children, or Robert Louis Stevenson's Child's Garden of Verses. Some nice picture books of a single poem are "Mr Ferlinghetti's Poem" (with gorgeous woodcuts by David Frampton) and "Crossing" (Philip Booth, with beautifully nostalgic artwork by Bagram Ibatoulline). (Edited to add: another one your nature-lover might like is "Butterfly Eyes" by Joyce Sidman--beautiful Beth Krommes artwork, and every poem a riddle!)

The Beatrix Potter books are lovely on so many levels--and the vocabulary is quite advanced in some of them. Kenneth Grahame's "Reluctant Dragon" is available in several picture book versions; try for an unabridged one--lots of wonderful words in this one!

Some other picture books with both very nice pictures and somewhat more complex vocabulary than some kids' books:

James Thurber, Many Moons
Tim Wynne-Jones, Zoom at Sea, Zoom Away, Zoom Upstream
Chris Wormell, George and the Dragon, Two Frogs, The Sea Monster
Jon Muth, The Three Questions, Zen Shorts
Barbara Reid, The Party, The Golden Goose
Jacqueline Briggs Martin, The Lamp, the Ice, and the Boat Called Fish
Quentin Blake, Mrs. Armitage books
Ogden Nash, The Tale of Custard the Dragon
Brian Wildsmith, Jungle Party, The Miller, the Boy, and the Donkey
Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler, The Snail and the Whale, A Squash and a Squeeze, Charlie Cook's Favourite Book
Allan Ahlberg, It Was a Dark and Stormy Night, Burglar Bill
[Edited to add: Donna Jo Napoli, Albert (for your birdlover!)]

Hope some of these will appeal to you and her--

peace
minnie