Gentle Books for Gentle and Not-So-Gentle Kids

Uncategorized 1 Minute

My favorite books run the gamut from gentle (Wind in the Willows, The Borrowers) to brutal (House of the Scorpion, Unwind). One type comforts; the other makes me think. If it’s comfort you or your beginning reader craves, might I suggest the Bed and Biscuit series by Joan Carris? I’m eagerly awaiting the third book now. Yep, even bought it in hardback.

Welcome to the Bed and Biscuit takes place in a vet’s office. The narrator is an intelligent mini-pig aptly named Ernest. His best friends are a Vietnamese mynah who likes to answer the veterinary office phone and a cat who looks after the widowed doctor.

The human characters are comfortable, too, but this book’s biggest draw is the author’s genuine affection for animals.  Animal lovers will feel right at home at the Bed and Biscuit.

Published by sharonedgemartin

Sharon Edge Martin is a reading specialist, poet, and writer whose work has appeared in such magazines as Family Circle, Oklahoma Today, Outside, True West and in Michael Bugeja’s The Art and Craft of Poetry. She writes a weekly essay for Oklahoma Observer and is a frequent reader in Oklahoma’s spoken poetry scene. Her first picture book is Froggy Bottom Blues (2017). Her first full length book of poetry is Not a Prodigal (2018). When she isn't teaching poetry workshops or presenting at schools, you'll find her on the farm with her artist husband, a dog, two cats, and a couple dozen chickens.

Published

2 thoughts on “Gentle Books for Gentle and Not-So-Gentle Kids”

    1. Welcome to the Bed and Biscuit may be out of print, but there are a few used copies out there. Wild Times at the Bed and Biscuit is available, and Magic at the Bed and Biscuit comes out in January. They are from Candlewick.

      Like

      Reply

Leave a comment