100 Books Like Song of the Water Boatman and Other Pond Poems

Perhaps the soft spot I have for this book is because it’s another story about rescuing a wild animal and giving it a further chance.

Every day at the park, Theo makes sure the slow bird with the raggedy wing gets some of the birdseed he throws to the younger, quicker birds. But when a dog runs at the birds, Theo learns that old Pearl, as he names her, can’t fly. He saves Pearl and brings her home, and he and his grandma take care of the bird. Theo’s heartfelt concern allows Pearl to live the rest of her life out of danger, and she and Theo become close companions. But with animal friends, there will come a time to have to say goodbye...

Brian found a beautiful, little orange salamander in the woods and took it home. When his mother asks where it will sleep, Brian’s concern for making the salamander feel at home leads him to suggest how to keep it comfortable—by making the house more and more like the forest the salamander came from... 

With its thoughtful text and absolutely gorgeous illustrations, this book was a favorite in our home when my daughter was young.

I admire this lovely book for making a scientific concept both clear and inspiring to young readers. 

Many explains that we are surrounded all the time by many thousands of kinds of living things. Each one depends on others in a big, beautiful, complicated pattern—a pattern that also makes the world suitable for us. But in too many places we humans are breaking that pattern, and animals and plants are going extinct... Repeated readings will reveal new animals and plants in the colorful illustrations teeming with living things both familiar and exotic.

This is a gentle invitation to the world of insects, with tips on how to get to know some common ones and the strange things they do. Well, strange to you! Their lives may be different from ours, but they’re still interesting: wasps chewing wood to make paper, ants stopping to share the news with other ants, moths pretending to be leaves to hide from birds. But not all tiny creatures are insects, so which are and which aren’t are explained also. Every type of creature has its own story; keep your eyes open and you’ll be able to discover those stories and tell them to your friends.

A family moves through the darkness and isolation of depression and anger, two emotions that are part of their grieving the father’s death. Images and words of the natural world show the sadness and confusion of their feelings.  Finally the moment arrives when anger is fiercely expressed – why did you die, Dad?

Anger as part of grieving is often hidden – because how can one be angry at someone for dying?  All this pent-up emotion comes out in negative ways.  In The Pond, Nicola Davies effectively uses the metaphor of a pond as that well of anger – a dirty, dead, ugly, lifeless, and stinky pond.  Slowly the pond changes as family members pause, reflect, and express feelings.  The pond begins to fill with new life, even with tadpoles that Dad had once imagined.  Now the pond offers discovery, peace, and beauty, a place and a way for… show more.

I love nothing more than books that engage with the imagination of a child. Worlds of possibility are revealed when we allow our imaginations to lead us along. Ernest D. finds a new world inside his home pond. All it takes is a glance into the water for an adventure to unfold.

I also love how Kuefler doesn’t shy away from sophisticated language. It is great for vocabulary building. I adore books where I can explain those big words to the kiddos. It stretches my own understanding sometimes too as I grasp to find the best way to explain something. The pictures are mysterious and fantastical with a dark pallet that sets a complementary tone to the words. Let your imagination wander with Ernest D! 

Ryan Carroll is a young woman who has recently moved back home to rural Mississippi to live in her childhood home. A home where, as a young child, she became lost in the surrounding woods one winter night and was saved by a mysterious young man who was gone by the time rescuers were able to find her. All these years later, she finds she is irresistibly drawn to these woods.

I love it when a character can feel a calling to something, and they follow that instinct, which leads them to an epic adventure. One day, while she is taking a dip in a pond tucked back into the thick of these woods, she sees him, the boy who saved her. She soon learns that there is an entire secret world hidden in the woods surrounding her childhood home, and it’s not one populated by humans. Once this story… show more.

AKA a 4th book I wish I’d written, but not sure I could have pulled off the setting. 

Each floor of the Whippet Hotel is well… you judge. The floors may be haunted or have caves and ponds or a flying farm or just might be a giant pinball area where the couches act as flippers. That may be intriguing enough, but there’s also a missing owner plus the son of the caretaker (living in the more normal but ultra-cluttered basement) who is given a series of boxes that may help him save everything that’s important in his life. Within the wild and wacky, this is a book filled with heart.  

This powerful book normalizes the big, big feelings that, for many kids, might look like angry outbursts or meltdowns. The gentle rhyme and soft illustrations are great for elementary-age kiddos. The Boy with Big, Big Feelings is especially important for highly sensitive children, helping them see their strengths in a new light.

For too long emotions have been systematically suppressed at work.

In today’s highly competitive workplace where culture and leadership matters, embracing emotions is a competitive advantage for leaders and companies alike.

Maria’s book demonstrates why businesses should cultivate empathy and shares the winning traits of empathetic leaders who foster greater productivity and loyalty.