BookCarousel

A Camping Spree with Mr Magee by Chris Van Dusen

2006-12-08T09:05:00.000-08:00

A Camping Spree with Mr. Magee
by Chris Van Dusen
Ages: 4-8
Topics: Camping, wildlife, adventure

Cheerful Mr. Magee and his little dog Dee, pack up the camper and "hit the road" for a camping trip in the mountains. "There's nothing like camping," a jubilant Magee tells Dee:

The views are fantastic! There's hardly a sound.
Aside from the wildlife, there's no one around"

Their campsite certainly offers a spectacularly colorful sunset view, and the companions enjoy a happy evening cooking hotdogs and marshmallows over a campfire and enjoying the serene view of the surrounding mountains, brook, and waterfall.

It's soon time for bed and, while the duo snuggle down in carefree repose, they are visited by a large bear with poor eyesight, but a good nose for marshmallows. In his quest for sweets, the bear manages to unhitch the camper and send it rollin' down the mountain and straight into the brook,

Dee and Magee both started to quiver,
As faster and faster they headed downriver.
But just when they thought they'd fall over the edge...
Their camper got stuck on a rock at the ledge.
So there they were, stranded, Magee and his pup,
On the top of the waterfall, fifty feet up!

Luckily for the camping pals, the nearsighted bear comes to the rescue, mistaking the hitch for ...no, no...I'm not going to give away the creative resolution of this entertaining story!

This is one of those rare children's books that is as appealing to the adults reading aloud as it is for the excited children listening to the story. As you can tell from the quote above, this book has a wonderful read aloud pace, magically reminiscent of Clement Moore's The Night Before Christmas, yet decidedly modern and tongue-in-cheek, with a dash of superhero hyperbole. These elements also translate to Van Dusen's vivid gouache illustrations.

Magee's world, rendered in 50s retro style, has an ordered and idyllic brightness to it, from Magee's perfectly trimmed and mowed backyard and spotless camper to the symmetrically consistent fir trees of the wilderness. All the illustrations convey a buoyant optimism and symmetry, even in the most dire circumstances (as the duo float down the river and end up looking over the waterfall, their hair stands on end reflecting the shape of the fir trees around them). Magee's thick glasses, plaid shirt, and sneakers suggest a nerdy character, but when the situation knocks a golden hair or two out of place, the glasses seem Clark Kentish, a superficial geeky detail covering a noble interior. Dee is the perfect wordless companion. His long ears speak for him: they fly behind him with carefree aplomb as the couple drive out in the convertible, stand up on end in the more nail-biting moments, and gently hang by his side when all is serene.

The illustrations include wonderful details - a very-surprised raccoon watching the camper hit the water, the spilled salt and pepper and cheesy placemats in the rescued camper - and grandiose, brilliant landscapes that really draw the reader in with amazement.

This lively and funny story conveys a rare enthusiasm and will bring wide-eyed excitement and twinkling eyes to both girls and boys, before returning them to a perfectly ordered world. So if you're looking for that perfect gift, I suggest A Camping Spree with Mr Magee and Van Dusen's other wonderful books.

Chris Van Dusen also wrote and illustrated two other wonderful books, Down to the Sea with Mr Magee and If I Built A Car, which I also highly recommend. Chris is also the illustrator of Kate DiCamillo's popular Mercy Watson books. You can find out more about Chris and his books at his website.

Kidogo by Anik McGrory

2006-09-19T10:14:00.000-07:00

Kidogo
by Anik McGrory
Ages: 3-6
Topics: being small, elephants, independence

"Kidogo lived in a world that was vast", a beautiful land of huge moutains, endless savannah, tall trees, and flooding rivers. Kidogo, a tiny elephant, needs help from his larger family members to reach the leaves on the acacia trees and get across the river. But Kidogo doesn't want help, not does he want to be "the smallest". So he sets off alone to find "someone in the world who was just as small as he."

Kidogo keeps thinking he's found a fellow-sized friend, seeing the giraffe's head behind a bush, a hippo's eyes and ears on the river, a lion's tail peaking out from grass, but eventually gives up. But then, while determindly giving himself a dust bath all by himself, he notices he's surrounded by tiny animals that he can help.

A very sweet story, children will love Kidogo's pluckiness and the warm humor that washes through the brilliant watercolor and pencil illustrations. The story is told in gentle poetry and the African land is beautiful and mesmorizing.

Kidogo means "something small" is Swahili.

Anik McGrory spent time living in East Africa while working with environmental groups and drew on that experience for this story. She is also the author of Mouton's Impossible Dream and has illustrated several other children's books.

Farfallina & Marcel by Holly Keller

2006-07-31T12:27:00.000-07:00

Farfallina & Marcel
by Holly Keller
Ages 4-8
Topics: friendship, growing up, change

Farfallina, a charming caterpillar, meets the equally delightful Marcel, a gosling, in a rain storm. The two creatures become instant friends, playing hide and seek and going for rides out on the pond. "But one day, Farfallina was not herself." She climbs up a tree to rest. "I'll wait for you," Marcel called. Poor lonely Marcel waits as the bottom of the tree for weeks, but Farfallina doesn't appear. Finally, he gives up. When Farfallina wakes up with her "beautiful new wings", she has no idea how long she's been asleep and waits for Marcel by the tree. When he doesn't turn up, she flies off to the pond to look for him, but is disappointed to find only a "large, handsome goose". Both creatures hang out by the pond and eventually start a conversation. The goose gives Farfallina a ride around the pond on his back and when she tells him her name, the two realize they are old friends, just a little more grown up.

Everything about this book is delightful - the characters, the watery illustrations, the beautiful wording. Farfallina and Marcel have the cheeriest faces and their friendship is a beautiful example of consideration. When they play hide and seek, Farfallina hides on the ground because she knows Marcel can't climb and Marcel hides nearby because he knows Farfallina moves slowly. The telling of the story is full of freshness:

The rain fell all morning.
It splattered on the pond
and splashed on Farfallina's leaf.
She found a dry spot and ate it.
"Hey" said a little voice.
"You're eating my umbrella."

The illustrations also convey an outdoor freshness in gentle washy greens and blues, with bright spots of orange, red and purple.

This engaging, quiet book about friendship and transformation will charm both children and adults and you won't find a more endearing lesson on metamorphosis.

Holly Keller has written and illustrated over 30 of her own books including Horace and many written by other authors. The word "farfallina" meaning little butterfly was the starting point for this story.

What A Pair! by Megan McDonald

2006-06-30T10:19:00.000-07:00

What A Pair!
by Megan McDonald
Illustrated by G. Brian Karas
Ages: 4-8
Topics: pairs, friendship, dress-up

In this charming book, best friends Ant and Honey Bee are invited to Cricket's costume party. Having been Pilgrims the last two years in a row, Ant is determined to come up with exciting costumes this year. Honey Bee is less enthusiastic and suggests he'll go as a bee or an anteater. Ant is not amused, but then has a great idea:

"I know. Let's be a pair."
"I'll be the pear and you be the stem," said Honey Bee.
"Not that kind of pear!" said Ant. "A two-things-that-go-together kind of pair."

Ant starts looking round the house, noticing things in different rooms that go together: peanut butter and jelly, toilet paper and toilet, washer and dryer. They decide to go as a washer and dryer, cut and decorate two very large boxes, and put on their costumes:

"BLUB! BLUB!" said Ant, just like a washer when it washes clothes.
"BUZZZZZZ!" said Honey Bee, just like a dryer when it's done drying.
"We make the best washer and dryer!" said Ant.
"We make the best pair!" said Honey Bee

As they make their way to the party, the friends bump into other partygoers:

"Look! Two dice!" said Beetle.
"No, it's a couple of ice cubes!" said Fly

Despite their clever sound effects, no one can tell what they are. Dismayed, bad turns to worse when it starts to rain and soaks the friends' costumes. But Ant and Bee use their creativity and end up having very cool costumes by the time Cricket opens the party door.

Children will enjoy following the "coming up with ideas" elements of this story and the puns and humor that appear throughout this jolly tale. Ant and Honey Bee are very affable characters and their bantering manner is very amusing. Karas's scratchy illustrations are childish and entertaining - two favorites include Honey Bee's imitation of an anteater and Ant running away scared and the two friends in their costumes side-by-side happily making their washer and dryer sound effects. A real charmer!

Megan McDonald is the author of many children's books including the popular Judy Moody series. She has also written many popular picture books including Beetle McGrady Eats Bugs!.

G. Brian Karas is a very gifted children's book illustrator. He also illustrated Muncha! Muncha!Muncha!

Hit The Ball Duck by Jez Alborough

2006-05-27T09:04:00.000-07:00

Hit The Ball Duck
by Jez Alborough
Ages 3-6
Topics: baseball, problem-solving, teamwork

Here's a great picture book that will appeal to the tiniest baseball fans! In Hit the Ball Duck, Duck, Goat, Sheep, and Frog go to the park to play baseball. On the first pitch, Duck

"swings the bat - they hear a SWOOSH!
Then with a C-R-A-C-K the ball goes WHOOSH!
Up and up and up it flies.
"Catch it Sheep!" the pitcher cries.

But the ball gets stuck in a tree. The friends suggest various ways to get it down, but Duck decides to use the bat to knock it down:

SWISH goes the bat. But where does it fall?
On a branch in the tree. Now its stuck like the ball.

When Duck spies the glove, his friends try to stop him, but up it goes too. So Frog, who was "much too small" to catch, comes up with a team-building solution to retrieve their equipment and even catches an out!

This picture book does a great job of telling a story that's non-stop action! It's rhyming couplets and lively style will keep the attention of very young children and its use of onomatopoeic words (words that sound like the thing they describe) in large bold fonts makes this a great read aloud story. Duck is a very recognizable child - full of enthusiasm, all action, anxious to be the leader- and Frog, the brains of the group, is an amusing little hero (he carries the huge cooler out of the car while his friends say he's too small to catch).

The illustrations are brightly colored and the pages include a wide variety of rectangular vingettes, both horizontal and vertical, that keep the action flowing and keep the single park scene visually interesting. The friends are often oversized and step outside the illustration's lines. (Alborough uses this oversizing very cleverly in the last two panels so that Frog and Duck seem to be the same size.) The animal friends are goofy and rambunctious and will make children laugh.

A great little book for your favorite little slugger!

Jez Alborough has written and illustrated many wonderful children's books including Hugand My Friend Bear. There are many other Duck books including Duck's Day Out and Fix It Duck.

Stars Beneath Your Bed: The Surprising Story of Dust

2006-04-30T09:03:00.000-07:00

Stars Beneath Your Bed: The Surprising Story of Dust
by April Pulley Sayre
Illustrated by Ann Jonas
Ages: 4-8
Topics: dust, earth science, history

Stars Beneath Your Bed takes the potentially mundane subject of dust and cleverly connects it to the color of sunrise and sunsets, King Tut, the dinosaurs, the solar system, butterfly wings, and rolling zebras, to name just a few. The narrative is written in simple free verse:

Old dust stays around.
Dust that made King Tut sneeze is still on Earth.
It might be on your floor.
That dusty film on your computer screen
might have muddied a dinosaur.

Sayre has done an excellent job of choosing informative dust examples that will strongly appeal to children and combine the familiar with the dramatic, "the smoke of burning toast,/ ash from an erupting volcano", a dog shaking off dirt and meerkats digging in the savanna. The brief text is boldly illustrated with double-spread watercolors that are full of (dusty) action. The vibrant colors will draw children in and the familiar and exotic elements provide plenty for children to comment on. Of course, the title dust example, of stars or bits of Mars or comets making up the dust under the bed, is perhaps the most appealing and visually dazzling! The book follows the timeline of a day, starting with sunrise and ending with sunset, the sun is present in each double-spread and moves across the sky, providing a nice visual unity to the geographically varied landscapes.

The concept of dust scattering light is gently touched on in the free verse narrative and there's a two page detailed explanation of Dust and Sunsets for older children (and adults) at the end of the book. An inspired introduction to earth sciences for the very young, this wonderful book will trigger a whole new series of connections between a child's daily life and the world and universe around us.

April Pulley Sayre has written over 50 children's books about science and nature including Dig, Wait, Listen: A Desert Toad's Tale, an Outstanding Science Trade Book for Children and Our Amazing Continent books.

Ann Jonas has written and illustrated children's books including Color Dance and Round Trip, an ALA Notable Book and New York Times Best Illustrated Book.

Jack and the Night Visitors by Pat Schories

2006-04-22T09:04:00.000-07:00

Jack and the Night Visitors
by Pat Schories
Ages: 2-5
Topics: dogs, aliens, robots

In this wordless picture book, Jack, a little white dog with orange spots and an attentive manner, and his purple p.j. -clad companion, the boy, are visited one night by a spacebus of tiny aliens. The aliens, who look like tiny robots with antenna, are friendly and scamper into the bedroom and immediately set to playing with all the little toy cars, trucks, and superheroes. But the visitors have arrived hungry, and Jack and the boy get them a large bowl of dry cereal, which really delights the aliens and builds trust between them and the boy. Alas, the boy wants to keep one of the visitors and captures him in a large glass jar, which causes a horrible commotion. Happily, Jack is there to rescue the little guy and send the travelers off on their way.

The illustrations clearly tell this simple story, making it a great "independent" book for young children, while having plenty of details for older children to point out. Below is the illustration where the alien communicates hunger.
As you can see, Jack and the boy are visually connected: they are together in every scene, the boy's orange hair is the same color as Jack's orange spots, and the two often share the same expression. The illustrations are mostly double page spreads, but there are also some vingettes (for example, getting the cereal). Children will delight in the bright illustrations, strong sense of pace and action, the familiar and appealing characters.

While I think this is an excellent picture book, I do have a peeve about the front cover. As you can see, the illustrations and characters are darling, but the cover completely fails to communicate this. Also, unless you're familiar with the previous Jack books or carefully read the front jacket, you might easily think that the boy is Jack, rather than the dog. There are two previous Jack books, Breakfast for Jack and Jack and the Missing Piece. Pat Schories is also the illustrator of the Biscuit books by Alyssa Satin Capucilli.

Third Carnival of Childrens' Literature at Semicolon

2006-04-03T22:30:00.000-07:00

It's the Third Carnival of Childrens' Literature, hosted by Semicolon. As April is National Poetry month, this carnival has poetry as its theme.
BookCarousel submitted The Snail and the Whale.
Many thanks to Sherry for putting this carnival together. Enjoy!

My Monster Mama Loves Me So by Laura Leuck

2006-03-30T10:10:00.000-08:00

My Monster Mama Loves Me So
by Laura Leuck
Illustrations by Mark Buehner
Ages 2-6
Topics: mothers, love, monsters

In this brief, bright tale a little monster tells readers how he knows his monster mama loves him:

When I wake up, she tweaks my nose,
tickles all my pointy toes,
combs the cobwebs from my bangs,
and makes sure that I brush my fangs.

Preschoolers will shriek with delight at the bug-filled cookies, the beastball games, and little monster's bedroom pets (spiders, bats, mice, snakes) that are all part of this loving monster-and-child relationship. There's plenty of mother-child activities they'll relate to including reading by the fire on a rainy day, going for a stroll in the park, and listening to Mama sing a lullaby to help them sleep. The three-eyed, three-legged, four-armed monsters (handy on the jungle gym) are really quite sweet-looking, so there's no need to worry about a younger child being scared. In fact, in this story, the regular kids are the "scary things" that "wave their arms and scream and shout"!

This rhyming story makes a perfect read-aloud choice for preschoolers — there's plenty of great moments for anticipatory pauses. The story is short, the language, simple, and the activities, familiar, making this a good choice for very young children. The story ends with the monster being lulled to sleep, so choose this one as a goodnight story.

The painted illustrations are bright and witty and make the most of the monsters differences, while providing familiar details. For example, the illustration of the mama monster combing her son's hair really emphasizes the monster's extra limbs (he's sitting on a 4 legged stool), but also has a familiar spray bottle, comb, and brush. Older children will enjoy pointing out the details: lots of spiders hanging here and there, the spider fabric on the rocking chair, the one-eyed dog, the skulls on the headboard.

And, of course, monster mamas everywhere will enjoy the appreciative nature of this tale.

Laura Leuck has written many children's picture books with similar themes including My Beastly Brother, Jeepers Creepers: A Monstrous ABC, and My Creature Teacher.

Mark Buehner has illustrated many wonderful picture books including Snowmen at Night, It's a Spoon, Not a Shovel, and Superdog: The Heart of the Hero, all written by his wife, Caralyn Buehner.

The Snail and the Whale by Julia Donaldson

2006-03-22T10:47:00.000-08:00

The Snail and the Whale
by Julia Donaldson
Illustrated by Axel Scheffler
Ages: 4-8
Topics: snails, whales, adventure, big/small

A sea snail who lives on a small rock near a harbor has an "itchy foot". She slithers a message "Ride wanted around the world" on the black rock and her message is answered by:

A humpback whale, immensely long,
Who sang to the snail a wonderful song
Of shimmering ice and coral caves
And shooting stars and enormous waves.

So the snail climbs onto the whale's tail and off they journey . They see penguins and icebergs, volcanoes, underwater caves, and experience sunny climes and huge thunder storms. The snail "gazed and gazed, amazed by it all,/And she said to the whale, "I feel so small .

Then one day, the whale loses his way and is "beached in a bay". The tiny snail must get help for her mighty friend. She slithers a note on a school blackboard to raise the alarm and saves her friend.

This charming and poetic tale of the value of even the smallest creatures will delight children, as will the beautiful and amusing illustrations. There's lots of humor to keep adults entertained (the strict teacher turns "pale" when she finds a snail on her blackboard, the irritation of the other snails on the rock with itchy foot's constant movement) and also an effective environmental message (the whale loses his way because he is overwhelmed by the noise of a speedboat race.) The poetry is lilting and varied and never awkward.

The illustrations are bright and vibrant. All but four pages are ocean scenes and Scheffler does a terrific job creating very varied ocean scenes in pencil, crayon, and ink with beautiful watercolor skies. The facial expressions on the snails and other animals will make you laugh and there's lots of tiny details to make this a book you'll come back to again and again.

Julia Donaldson is the author of several excellent children's picture books including Room on the Broom and The Gruffalo.

Axel Scheffler has illustrated many children's books and also illustrated Donaldson's Room on the Broom and The Gruffalo

Fly, Little Bird by Tina Burke

2006-03-20T12:04:00.000-08:00

Fly, Little Bird
by Tina Burke
Ages: 2-5
Topics: birds, nature, friends

In this almost wordless book, a little girl and her dog are out picking flowers when they find a brightly colored little bird hiding in a flower bush. "Fly, little bird" the girl says, but the little bird doesn't know how to fly. So she puts the bird into her flower basket and takes him home. She makes the bird a little bed of leaves in her room, gives him food and a bedtime story. The three friends engage in all sorts of fun activities - painting, camping, and pretending to be rockstars. And the bird grows and learns to fly.

One morning the little girl wakes up to find the bird gone. She charges outside with a butterfly net, dog bounding behind her. She looks all over for the bird until she hears his song: he's found birds like himself to fly and play with in the trees. The girl sees how happy he is. "Fly, little bird." she says.

This sweet story about friendship is told (almost) exclusively by the cheerful, bright, pencil and watercolor illustrations. The characters are round and bounding, and strongly communicate a sense of childhood excitement and wonder. Their expressions are exquisite and easy to read (the dog is especially wonderful). Burke uses the bird's color to firmly place him in nature with the green leaves and red flowers, foreshadowing the story's end. There's lots of white space in the book giving it a clean crisp feel. The illustrations' format is pleasantly varied to include full page scenes and close-ups, vingettes (which are mostly used to show the indoor scenes), and double-page spreads that show bounding movement.

A wonderful story to teach younger children about loving and letting go, and the difference between domestic and wild animals.

Tina Burke worked for Walt Disney Animation for six years. This is her first picture book.

Food for Thought by Saxton Freymann

2006-03-14T09:15:00.000-08:00

Food For Thought
by Saxton Freymann and Joost Elffers
Ages 2+
Topics: basic concepts, fruit, vegetables

Food for Thought is a uniquely illustrated preschool concept book. It covers shapes, colors, numbers, letters, and opposites in a highly entertaining way. Freymann illustrates his books with glossy color photographs of highly imaginative sculptured animals and people made entirely from vegetables and fruits. His great talent is creating recognizably human expressions on oranges, peppers, radishes, bok choy, strawberries, and mushrooms and creating understandable interactions between the characters.

All of Freymann's creations are magical and young children will have tons of fun learning their colors, letters, numbers and counting with this book. Here are some of my favorites illustrations to whet your appetite: Number 2 is illustrated with two chicks (a yellow squash and a red pear) hatching out of their shells (white onions); Seven fish are bok choy and other vegetable fish floating in the ocean;"O" is for Owl (made from two artichokes);"Q" is for Queen whose body and gown is made from bok choy, her head and headress is a leek.

The most entertaining part of the book is the opposites section, particularly the mushroom people who gleefully illustrate up-and-down on a seesaw, and the mushroom snowman roasting a marshmallow over a fire of mango to illustrate hot and cold.

This book is really amazing and would make the perfect gift for any young child.

Saxton Freymann and Joost Elffers have collaborated on several children's books with their signature food sculptures including How Are You Peeling?, Dr Pompo's Nose, and The Lonely Seahorse.

Secret Seahorse by Stella Blackstone

2006-03-10T12:30:00.000-08:00

Secret Seahorse
by Stella Blackstone
Illustrated by Clare Beaton
Ages: 3-6
Topics: seahorses, ocean creatures

In this simple tale, an unseen narrator sees a "secret seahorse deep down in the sea." She tries to swim along with the seahorse as he swims past coral reefs and "flickering fishes", but he is too fast and disappears from sight. The narrator asks the octopuses "where he might have gone", passes by a mermaid and an ancient shipwreck. Finally, she finds herself outside the seahorse's secret cave and is welcomed in.

This sweet poem's regular rhythm and meter make this book a great choice read-aloud choice for preschoolers. The narrative lulls along like lapping waves, even the text is presented in gently waved format. Each line of this undersea journey has its own delightful and unique double-page illustration. The artwork here is truly impressive as the illustrations are "prepared in antique fabrics and felt with sequins, buttons, beads and assorted bric-a-brac." The illustrations are layered felt with neat blanket stitch edges, buttons and sequins become fish eyes and scales, and there are wonderful jelly fish made from lace and brocade. Beaton uses flower fabric and basic stitchery to great effect. The clever, old-fashioned artwork will delight both adults and children.

There's also a hide-and-seek game in this book - can you find the hidden secret seahorse in each spread?

The book ends with educational information on coral reefs and "seahorse secrets", and names and provides a brief description of each illustrated creature. A beautiful book.

Stella Blackstone has written many wonderful books for young children including the Bear series, the Cleo the Cat series, Island in the Sun and Zoe and her Zebra. Read my review of Blackstone's Bear in Sunshine.

Clare Beaton illustrated children's programs for the BBC for eight years and now has illustrated over 50 children's books.

Blackstone and Beaton have collaborated on several other books including I Dreamt I Was a Dinosaur, Who Are you, Baby Kangaroo? and There's a Cow in the Cabbage Patch.

Carnival of Children's Literature, No. 2: A Coney Island Adventure!

2006-03-06T09:12:00.000-08:00

Not to be missed: The Carnival of Children't Literature, No 2: A Coney Island Adventure! hosted by Susan at Chicken Spaghetti.

Come one, come all and read all about it!

Nacho and Lolita by Pam Munoz Ryan

2006-03-02T10:17:00.000-08:00

Nacho and Lolita
by Pam Munoz Ryan
Illustrated by Claudia Rueda
Ages: 5-10
Topics: birds, migration, love, transformation

A mysterious pitacoche bird named Nacho lands in a mesquite tree in the arid San Juan Valley.

" Rare and majestic, he heralded the sunset with whistling songs and carried the colors of the world in his feathers."

Nacho surveys the land around the Mission San Juan Capistrano, where all seems drab and colorless "except for Nacho". Nacho draws crowds of people as he sings and spreads his beautiful colored wings, which pleases him , "But what good was it when he had no other bird with whom to share his joy?"

As Nacho watches the busy people prepare for the March feast of St. Joseph, he hears about the swallows who migrate to the Mission, arriving on the day of the feast. Nacho is intrigued and spends the morning watching the swallows arrive. He particularly notices a little bird name Lolita, who makes her nest in the chapel belfry. Nacho sings to the swallows, helps them build their nests, and feed and protect their young, "especially Lolita's". He even gives Lolita one of his feathers, which magically changes into a blue hibiscus. The two are always together until "a September gust brought a message with the wind", it's time for the swallows to migrate to South America for the winter. Lolita wants Nacho to go with them but he is too big to fly that far. Lolita must leave or die ,

"Go," he told Lolita. "We will meet in our dreams."

Nacho's heart aches. He must find a way to attract the swallows back to the Mission next summer. So he plucks his feathers and plants them all around the mission which swells with beautiful flowers, creeks, and orange trees. His plan succeeds and Lolita returns to him.

"I no longer have my beautiful colors," he said,
"To me, you will always be splendid," she said.

This magical book overflows with beautiful poetry and tender moments. Nacho is a wonderful protagonist; vain, but steely honest in his self-appraisal, his loneliness, his longing for family. Rueda's highly-textured pencil illustrations capture Nacho's "regal" stature, while his face shows his underlying loneliness, vulnerability, and desire to help others. The transformation of the Mission from barren to heavenly is beautifully done.

This folktale provides a unique and very memorable way to introduce the concept of bird migration! So much more than that, the story, characters, and art will make this heartfelt book a treasure you will want to return to again and again. Don't miss the author's note at the back that talks about the folktale and myths that formed the book and much more.

Pam Munoz Ryan lives forty minutes from Mission San Juan Capistrano and is an award-winning author of more than twenty-five children's books including Mice and Beans, When Marian Sang and Amelia and Eleanor Go for a Ride.

Claudia Rueda grew up in Columbia and now migrates between California and Columbia with her family. She has illustrated several children's books including I Know an Old Woman and The Eency Weency Spider

The Yellow Balloon by Charlotte Dematons

2006-02-28T09:59:00.000-08:00

The Yellow Balloon
by Charlotte Dematons
Ages: 5+
Topics: Geography, history, geology

This wordless picture book follows a yellow balloon as it drifts through dramatic and diverse landscapes including cities, jungles, mountain ranges, agricultural lands, deserts, seascapes, airspace and the icy poles. In the tradition of the I Spy books, the game is to search for the yellow balloon in each double-paged landscape, while noticing the myriad of clever and imaginative details. The landscapes include both realistic and imaginative elements (witches on brooms, Santa and his reindeer, Mary Poppins, flying carpets) and combine scenes from different time periods and different continents together. In the agricultural scene, there's modern farming with motorized equipment and an English riding school next to a medieval castle with men in armour fighting with swords and a scene of American Indians on horseback with teepee villages.

This book is completely absorbing and will be enjoyed by adults as well as children. The ariel-view painted landscapes are rich and full of action, and searching through the details is irresistible. While no set story is offered, the book does track from day to night. There's a nice balance of the cheeky, day-to-day, and less happy details of human life (the storybook characters, the painter in his studio, the logging scene at the edge of the jungle). This wonderful book provides an ideal stepping off point to talking with children about art, history, geography, and different cultures, while spotting and sharing more familiar details.

Charlotte Dematons is Dutch and is the author of Let's Go! (which takes a similar approach following a young boy on an errand), Worry Bear and Looking for Cinderella.

Mrs Biddlebox by Linda Smith

2006-02-20T12:40:00.000-08:00

Mrs. Biddlebox
by Linda Smith
Illustrated by Marla Frazee
Ages: 4-8
Topics: determination, overcoming difficulties

One dreary morning Mrs Biddlebox wakes up on the wrong side of her bunk:

The birds gave her a headache,
There were creakies in her chair.
A breeze blew dank and dreary
And mussed up her hair.

She slams the door on the morning and has a breakfast of bitter tea and hard crumpets, while she tries to figure out what to do. Then, with great determination and spunk:

I will cook this rotten morning!
I will turn it into cake!
I will fire up my oven!
I will set the day to bake!

Mrs Biddlebox (and her goose sidekick) get busy gathering "up the gloom". She grabs dirt and shadows, fog, and rays of sun, and even "rolled the sky like carpeting" and puts it all in a big pot. She makes a dough, bakes it for the rest of the day, then eats "a merry slice of cake" and then ends up eating the whole cake! Well-fed and cozy, she watches the stars and then falls asleep.

This imaginative and magical story of the witchy Mrs. Biddlebox making something good out of gloom is both dark and funny. There's no denying the reality that we all wake up on the wrong side of the bed and feel crummie. The dramatic swirling pencil illustrations support the rhyming text by starting out very dark --with the fog swirling in the window and the background almost completely dark. The scenes lighten as Mrs Biddlebox grabs at the gloom and there's a great scene of Mrs B. twirling fog onto her broomstick "like spaghetti". The drawings featuring Mrs B. making the dough with extreme gusto and dancing around the oven are hilarious, set against a white background, the gloom is gone and everything seems merry and light. Children and adults will be entranced by the intense and clever illustrations, the punchy narrative, and the determination of the very memorable Mrs. Biddlebox to get rid of the gloom.

Mrs Biddlebox came from author Linda Smith's battle with cancer. She died in 2000, but left behind this wonderful and uplifting story. She also wrote When Moon Fell Down.

Marla Frazee is the illustrator of many children's picture books including Harriet!You'll Drive Me Crazy! by Mem Fox. Her new board book Walk On: A Guide for Babies of All Ages is due out this spring.

While Mama had a Quick Little Chat by Amy Reichert

2006-02-17T09:10:00.000-08:00

While Mama Had a Quick Little Chat
by Amy Reichert
Illustrated by Alexandra Boiger
Ages 4-8
Topics: parties, phone calls, attention

The phone rings and it's Uncle Fred. But it's also time for Rose to get ready for bed - so Mama asks Rose to brush her teeth and wash her face while she's on the phone.

"But, Mama...," Rose sighed, "how long will you be?"
"Not long," Mama promised. "Hurry, let's see
if you are able to do all that,
before I finish my quick little chat."

No problem thinks Rose, but then the doorbell rings, and the trouble begins. "Four muscley men" are at the door with party supplies. Rose politely tries to interrupt her Mama to ask what to do, but Mama is still on the phone "In a minute, " said Mama. "I'm just about through". So in come the muscley guys with tables and chairs and giant balloons and set up a party room. As soon as they're gone, the door bell goes again and a crowd of guests arrive:

"Wait there!" begged Rose. "My mom's on the phone!"
"Don't worry, "they said. "We'll be fine on our own."
"MAAAAAAAAMA!!!" Rose roared. "I need you right now!"
"I'm busy, " said Mama. "You'll manage somehow."

So Rose greets the guests, helps the waiters serve "tiny hot dogs/and cream-cheese swirls and big pretzel logs", becomes the magician's assistant, fills in for a missing drummer in the band and, with plenty of help from her new friends, gets the guests out, the place cleaned, and gets into bed:

It's hard to believe, but Rose did ALL that,
before Mama had finished her quick little chat.

Mama is pleasantly surprised to find little Rose asleep in her bed. "Good girl, Rose" she whispers.

This far-fetched, whacky story is extremely entertaining. The narrative rhyme and rhythm is top-notch, the story and language build together to a crescendo, and the little redheaded Rose rises courageously to every challenge. Children will laugh all the way through this one and will relate to little Rose's increasingly agitated attempts to get her mother's attention.

The watercolor illustrations are dramatic and unique. There's a strong Retro flavor to them, particularly to Mama who wears a high-necked, prim shirt, has pin like legs and feet, and talks on an old-fashioned black dial telephone. Some of the guests look like twenties flappers and the waiters are reminiscent of Edwardian footmen. The old-fashionedness makes the chaotic scene all the funnier. The party dancing scene with the jazz band is a spectacular double-paged illustration. Here's one detail from it, Rose drumming her heart out:

The party scenes are mostly double-paged spreads. In contrast, in the scenes where Rose is trying to get Mama's attention, the characters are illustrated separately in vignettes, Rose in the top half of the page and her Mama on the phone below. The vingettes are in pale blues and yellows, with the two characters flaming red hair and red slippers providing a visual spark, and emphasizing both the contrast and likeness between them. This repeating visual format also supports Rose's increasing frustration as she goes from politely trying to get her mothers' attention to screaming furiously.

A great read-aloud choice, this irreverent and witty tale will provide enjoyment for the whole family. And parents will have a chuckle (and think twice!) next time they say "just a minute".

Amy Reichert is a mom and a phone person who can do many things - "all while having a quick little chat!"

Alexandra Boiger studied graphic design and started her career in animation. This is her first children's book.

Big Week For Little Mouse by Eugenie Fernandes

2006-02-16T10:05:00.000-08:00

Big Week For Little Mouse
by Eugenie Fernandes
Illustrated by Kim Fernandes
Ages: 2-5
Topics: birthdays, opposites, days of the week

Little Mouse has a week to get lots of work done. Each day, she helps Mother Mouse with a different chore. On Monday, she helps clean the house:

On Monday Mouse does many chores.
Washing windows. Mopping floors.
Buckets empty. Buckets full.
Shine and polish. Push and pull.

On Wednesday, she picks flowers, on Friday, she decorates hats, and on Sunday she hangs balloons and waits for her friends to arrive. When they finally arrive, all the hard work pays off as everyone has a great time at her party:

Oh, what a week!Oh, what a day!
All her friends have come to say,
"We like parties at your house..."
"Happy Birthday Little Mouse!"

The story is told in rhyming couplets and reinforces the days for the week and opposite concepts. Each day of the week has its own set of to-dos and demonstrates pairs of opposites, the hats being decorated are "plain" and "fancy", the flowers are "short" and "tall", and my favorite:

Jelly's messy. Cheese is neat.
Lemons are sour. Berries are sweet.

The days of the week and opposites are all in bold text and the text is very simple making it a good choice for beginning readers. While the narrative is awkward at times, children will enjoy identifying the opposites, the daily count down to the event, and guessing what the big event is. Parents will appreciate Little Mouse's positive attitude towards doing her part and helping with chores.

What makes this book outstanding is the artwork, which is "rendered in Fimo, a pliable modeling material." The care and detail here is amazing and will fascinate both children and adults. There are numerous textured layers of the clay and the clever indentations and use of buttony shapes creates a 3-D effect that really invites the reader into Little Mouse's world. The fur on all the animals looks almost real and children will want to touch the illustrations. The clay is particularly effective at creating a sense of moving liquid, the sloping pails of water, the jelly dripping off a cracker, the spatula in the bowl of frosting. There's hundreds of little details to spy -- the wizardy curtains, Little Mouse's grey teddy, the patches on her blanket, the spilling glue, the thread spool stool, the shiny peacock feather in her hat-- in this sweet teapot house world. This book will make you want to bring out the playdough and try out a few tricks.

Eugenie and Kim Fernandes are a mother and daughter team and have also collaborated on two other mouse books, Busy Little Mouse and Sleepy Little Mouse, and Little Toby and the Big Hair. Eugenie Fernandes is also an illustrator and has illustrated numerous children's books including Wake Up, Groundhog! by Susan Korman and Everything Grows by Raffi. Kim Fernandes is one of the foremost three-dimensional illustrators. She wrote and illustated Zebo and the Dirty Planet and illustrated A Visit from St. Nicholas (Story by Clement C. Moore "Twas the night before Christmas"). She has also written a book called Gifts to Make with Crayola Model Magic.

2nd Carnival of Children's Literature Announcement

2006-02-16T08:44:00.000-08:00

Chicken Spaghetti is hosting the 2nd Carnival of Children's Literature. Posts on the topics of children's books, poems, and plays can be submitted (one per person) for this editor's choice carnival event. Due date for submission is March 3rd. For more details, go to Chicken Spaghetti.

If you missed the First Carnival, you can read submissions at the host's site, Here in the Bonny Glen.

Storm Is Coming! by Heather Tekavec

2006-02-13T09:23:00.000-08:00

Storm Is Coming!
by Heather Tekavec
Illustrated by Margaret Spengler
Ages: 3-6
Topics: animals, farms, weather

The old farmer tells his dog "'Storm is coming! We'd better get the animals safely in the barn!'" Dog springs into action and rounds up the sheep barking that "'Storm is coming!'". The sheep head for the barn and warn Duck who, in turn, tells the herd of cows, who join in the stampede. Cat, who was napping in the barn, wakes up and asks what all the noise is about. "'Storm is coming!'" the animals tell the cat "'And who is Storm?'"the Cat meowed. The animals all look at each other and then decide Storm must be very big, mean, and scary. "'Wake me when he gets here'" says the Cat and goes back to sleep. The frightened animals wait for Storm to arrive but only see the sky turn dark, the wind blow, and the sky flash - all good things to keep Storm from finding them. Then suddenly, they hear a "thump, thump, thump" coming towards the barn ...but it's only the old farmer telling them its safe to come out.

This clever story makes a delightful read-aloud that preschoolers will love. There's lots of repetition, familiar animals, excitement and humor. Younger children will laugh at the sheeps' bleaty dialog "he must be-e-e very sca-a-ry" and older children will be amused by the animals misunderstanding of Storm. The suspense is strong enough to hold the attention without being scary and the Cat's kick-back attitude provides welcome relief after the other animals' panic. In addition to the educative value of describing the characteristics of a storm, there's also Dog's imaginative and optimistic take on how these characteristics are beneficial: the rain will cover their tracks, the lightening will blind Storm, the thunder will scare Storm away. These potentially scary things all become a protective cause for celebration.

Spenglers' pastel illustrations are bright and exciting and really move the story along. Each double-paged ilustration faultlessly supports the narrative, whether it depicts a big outdoor scene of all the animals rushing to the barn or close-ups of the animals nervous faces. Spengler has an uncanny ability to make her simple animal faces and eyes very expressive. Her animals are winsome and whacky -- hiding their eyes, celebrating wildly, scratching their heads -- rounded and soft.

Storm Is Coming! provides a great marriage of art and narrative that will entertain both children and adults. I also recommend What's That Awful Smell?, another story with the animals from Storm Is Coming! in which the misguided animals try to get rid of an awful smell in the barn.

Storm Is Coming! was Heather Tekavac's first published book. A former preschool teacher, Tekavac lives in British Columbia with her family. She has also written another story about the farm animals from Storm Is Coming! called What's That Awful Smell? .

Margaret Spengler has a B.F.A and has illustrated many children's picture books including Clickety Clack by Rob and Amy Spence (read my review) and the Dawdle Duck books by Toni Buzzeo.

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USPS Favorite Children's Book Animals Stamps

2006-02-13T07:34:00.000-08:00

The USPS has released some wonderful Favorite Children's Book Animals postage stamps. Characters include The Very Hungry Caterpillar, Wilbur (from Charlotte's Web), Fox in Socks, Maisy, Wild Thing, Curious George , Olivia, and Frederick (Lionni's). Want to buy some? You may want to order them online. I had to go to two post offices -- the first had sold out, and I got the last one from under the glass at the second!

Guji Guji by Chih-Yuan Chen

2006-02-11T15:57:00.000-08:00

Guji Guji
by Chih-Yuan Chen
Ages 4-8
Topics: family, identity, adoption, being different

Mother Duck hatches four eggs and each baby has its own distinct personality. Guji Guji is rather odd-looking and much bigger and stronger than his siblings. But Mother Duck loves all her children the same " no matter how quick they were, or what they looked like". One day, three nasty crocodiles show up and make fun of Guji Guji for "walking like a duck". Guji Guji hears them and replies "'I am not walking like a duck, I am a duck.'" The crocodiles laugh and point out that he looks and smells just like them and that their shared qualities are perfect for catching and eating "fat, delicious ducks". The crocodiles then tell Guji Guji he must lead the ducks to the bridge the next day so they can eat them "because we are all crocodiles, and crocodiles help each other." After some soul-searching and careful thinking, Guji Guji comes up with a clever solution that takes care of his family.

This is a great story about family, loyalty, acceptance, and identity. Although the overriding topics are serious, there's plenty of humor and funny moments to keep a balance. Mother Duck doesn't notice the large egg that rolls into nest because "She was reading." The corresponding illustration shows a bespectacled Mother Duck, perched on an enormous egg, reading a book with a baby duck hatching on the cover. The illustrations that show Mother Duck teaching her children new skills are hilarious -- the duck family all have their noses in the air with self-satisfied expressions and the illustration that shows Guji Guji as bigger and stronger than his siblings shows him riding a bicycle and pulling a cart with the rest of the family effortlessly up a hill. The illustrations are ink and watercolored drawings in muted greens, browns, and greys with rich blue, orange, and red details. The backgrounds alternate between white, black, and grey creating a strong day and night background rhythm.

Guji Guji's dark moment is moving "'Is it true? Am I a bad crocodile too?'" but his humor quickly returns when he admits that he is neither a bad crocodile nor a duck. He goes on to save the day and continues to live with his adoptive family. An exceptional book for both children and adults - everyone should read this book. A great choice to read aloud and discuss differences with kindergarteners/1st Graders.

Chih-Yuan Chen is an award-winning author who lives and works in Taiwan. Guji Guji was inspired by the story of an adopted friend who grew up looking "different". Chen hopes his story will help children "learn to accept different people and things, and see the world with broader views and minds". Chen's other books include On My Way to Buy Eggs and The Best Christmas Ever.

Friday's ...Meme Day - A Children's Lit. Meme

2006-02-10T12:53:00.000-08:00

There's a children's book meme out there asking your favorite 3 children's series, books, and characters. Go to Big A Little A and have your say!

Maisy Goes to the Library by Lucy Cousins

2006-02-10T11:59:00.000-08:00

Maisy Goes to the Library
by Lucy Cousins
Ages 1-5
Topics: libraries, books, reading

Maisy goes to the library because she "loves to read a book in a nice, quiet place." Today, she's looking for a book on fish. While she's looking, she notices that "There are lots of other things to do at the library" like using the computer, listening to music, making "copies of your favorite picture", and looking at fish in the aquarium. Maisy finds a nice sparkly book about fish by the aquarium and sits down to read it when friends Cyril and Tallulah arrive and start goofing around. Then it's storytime -- the Ostrich reads 'There was an old who swallowed a fly' and soon everyone is laughing and making animal sounds. After storytime, the friends check out their books and go out to play. Maisy finds a nice quiet spot to read her book.

This simple book is a great introduction to the library for little ones. The library is a cheerful place for sharing books and participating in cool activities-- there's no dusty shelves or 'Silence' signs here. Cousins' illustrations are simple: thick black-lined drawings with a strong use of primary colors, including the backgrounds. Their brightness and clarity make them perfect for younger children. All the preschool animal friends are good-natured, well-behaved and having a wonderful time.

Lucy Cousins has written many, many Maisy books --all on simple subjects that are part of a young child's day-to-day life. I've never read one I didn't like! Some favorites include Maisy at the Fair, Maisy's Bedtime, Merry Christmas Maisy, Maisy's Easter Egg Hunt, Maisy's Seasons. Cousins is a mother of four and also wrote Hooray For Fish!

Bear In Sunshine by Stella Blackstone

2006-02-09T09:48:00.000-08:00

Bear In Sunshine
by Stella Blackstone
Illustrated by Debbie Harter
Ages 1-4
Topics: weather, play, bears

Bear In Sunshine is one in a series of Bear books for very young children by Stella Blackstone and Debbie Harter. This simple book shows Bear having fun in different kinds of weather--playing in the water as the sun shines, singing and doing a Gene Kelly impersonation in the rain, flying his kite in windy weather, and building snows-bears in the snow. The narrative rhymes (two quatrains followed by an ending couplet make up the entire narrative), and each line has a double-page illustration. The story ends "Whatever the weather, come snow, rain or sun,/Bear always know how to have lots of fun!". The book then has a double-page illustration of the weather associated with the four seasons.

The cheerful, vibrant illustrations are stunning and a combination of "watercolor, pen and ink, and crayon on thick watercolor paper". Harter's playful cartoonish drawings deliver a strong sense of movement and manage to seem simple while providing lots of wonderful details. The bulky bear's fur is lovingly detailed (and his own bear even more so), there's literary and nighttime details on one page including the cow jumping over the moon, a white rabbit/march hare, sheep to be counted in the distance, and the dish and the spoon are there too, copying Bear. The details are then framed with simple curlicue clouds and childlike suns and moons. The double-page format allows Harter to provide a big sense of space for her bulky bear characters and each page includes plenty of animal friends. The illustrations will strongly convey a sense of delight and fun to very young children and there's plenty of humor to keep older children amused.

Other recommended books in the Bear series include Bear At Home--told in rhyming couplets, this book teaches the function of different rooms in Bear's house -- and Bear In a Square, which encourages the reader to find the shapes in the story. I've just discovered there's also Bear On A Bike, about travel, which looks great - stay tuned on this one!

Stella Blackstone has written many wonderful books for young children including the Bear series, the Cleo the Cat series, Island in the Sun and Zoe and her Zebra.

Debbie Harter has illustrated many children's book including the Bear series, Herb the Vegetarian Dragon, and many others. If you love the art here, follow her link to Barefoot Books and you'll also find you can purchase prints, cards, and wrapping paper with Harter's artwork.

Mister Seahorse by Eric Carle

2006-02-07T08:53:00.000-08:00

Mister Seahorse
by Eric Carle
Ages 4-8
Topics: fish, fathers

It's time for Mrs Seahorse to lay her eggs. Mr. Seahorse offers his assistance and Mrs. Seahorse lays her eggs "into a pouch on Mr. Seahorse's belly". " 'I'll take good care of our eggs,' said Mr Seahorse, 'I promise.' " Mr. Seahorse then drifts along, passing by a number of disguised fish, and having conversations with other fish fathers who are tending their eggs in their own unique way including Mr Stickleback, Mr. Tilapia, Mr. Kurtus, Mr. Pipefish and Mr. Bullhead. As Mr. Seahorse meets each of the other fathers, he has an encouraging word for each of them. It's then time for Mr. Seahorse's babies to hatch and swim off to lead their own lives.

This unusual picture book has some wonderful features. First of all, it will teach children and adults fascinating (and amusing) facts about how these father fish guard and nurse their eggs and young. All the father fish have a unique way of carrying their eggs --Mr. Seahorse in his belly pouch, Mr. Tilapia in his mouth, Mr. Kurtus has the eggs stuck on his head! Mr. Seahorse's meetings with the father fish are alternated with camouflaged fish that are hidden behind an acetate sheet, painted with seaweed, reeds, coral, and even a rock, that you can flutter and look behind. This feature is great for both reading aloud and independent reading.

Children and parents will adore the signature collages of Eric Carle, which he creates by painting and patterning tissue paper to make the brilliant, colorful seahorses and fish. Carle uses a white background with wavy lines to create the ocean backdrop to the story, which provides a crispness and brightness to the seahorses and other fish.

A wonderful story about fatherly love and fish behavior, this latest book of beloved Eric Carle will fascinate children and parents.

Eric Carle is an award-winning author and illustrator. He authored The Very Hungry Caterpillar and illustrated Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? by Bill Martin Jr.

Bailey Goes Camping by Kevin Henkes

2006-02-05T10:49:00.000-08:00

Bailey Goes Camping
by Kevin Henkes
Ages 2-5
Topics: camping, siblings, home

Bruce and Betty are bunny scouts and are off on a camping trip. But younger brother Bailey has to stay home because “he’s too little to go”. Bruce and Betty tell him not to feel bad because camping is not “that great” and then proceed to list all the wonderful things they will be doing – eating hotdogs, living in a tent, swimming, fishing, roasting marshmallows. Bailey is upset and inconsolable until Mama explains that Bailey can do all those wonderful camping activities “right here at home.”

This gentle book makes a great bedtime story. The illustrations of the rabbit family are pencil and watercolor in soft pastel hues and appear in centered boxes with large amounts of white space around them. In half of the illustrations, bunny ears, feet, and toys extend beyond the box creating a subtle “stepping out of the picture and into your home” effect. The text is simple and repetitive –the list of camping festivities is repeated three times and makes up the greater part of the book –making this a good choice for younger children. The emotion is straightforward—Bailey looks completely dejected for the first half of the book, particularly as his older siblings dance in celebration as they list all the wonderful things they’ll be doing. He then looks tremendously happy and cute as he eats hotdogs, swims in the bath with sunglasses, and roasts marshmallows over the stove in his red-striped PJs.

Parents will enjoy the cozy family scenes – the bunny parents are clearly very engaged with their youngest child. On the last page, Bailey falls asleep “under the stars”, making this a sweet end to an active day.

Kevin Henkes is a Caldecott winning author and illustrator who has written many wonderful children's books including Kitten's First Full Moon (Caldecott winner 2005), Chrysanthemum, and Wemberly Worried.

Muncha! Muncha! Muncha! by Candace Fleming

2006-02-03T16:44:00.000-08:00

Muncha! Muncha! Muncha!
by Candace Fleming
Illustrated by G. Brian Karas
Ages 3-6
Topics: gardening, rabbits, vegetables

For some time, Mr. McGreely has dreamed of "growing yummy vegetables, and of gobbling them all up." He decides that this spring is the time to plant "Lettuce! Carrots! Peas! Tomatoes!". He can't wait to eat them. Then, one night, three hungry bunnies find his garden and "Muncha! Muncha! Muncha!". Mr McGreely is angry to find his veggies nibbled, so he builds a "small wire fence" to keep the bunnies out. The cheerful bunnies "hurdle' the fence easily, so Mr. McGreely builds a tall wooden fence. The bunnies tunnel under the fence so he digs a moat, and eventually builds "a huge, enormous thing" - a grey-stoned tower - which eventually stops the bunnies. But, the bunnies hide out in his vegetable basket and... "Muncha! Muncha! Muncha!".

This story has great ingredients for both younger and older children. There's lots of repetition to anchor younger children - "when the sun went down and the moon came up" means the bunnies are coming, the increasing anger of Mr. McGreely (first he's angry, then really angry, then really, really angry) and extensive use of onomatopoeic words (words that sound like the thing they describe) : "muncha! muncha! muncha!" , "tippy-tippy-tippy", "scratch! scratch! scratch!" etc. It's also a cummulative story - first Mr. McGreely builds a wire fence, then a wooden fence around the wire fence, then a moat around the wooden fence, and then, of course, the bunnies have to swim, tunnel, and hurdle the various obstacles in their way. Older children will appreciate Mr. McGreely's increasing effort to protect his veggies and on-going optimism about his latest barricade, the funny rabbit names (the culprits go from bunnies, to "flop-ears", "puff-tails" , and finally "twitch-whiskers") and Mr. McG's "jiggly, wiggly victory dance".

The illustrations are scratchy and scribbly pencil drawings colored with paint, mostly muted greens, yellows, and greys. The drawings of Mr McGreely are reminiscent of the sketches of a 12 year old. There's a cheeky humor throughout the book --the three rabbits sneakily watching Mr. Mc G's daytime barricade activities, Mr. McGreely dreams of a carrot while the bunnies raid. There's also a lot of scale humor--Mr McGreely's giant mouth when he gets really, really angry, the size of the barricades compared to the veggie garden being protected, the giant moat being filled by a small garden hose.

Adults will also appreciated the pro-vegetable and gardening storyline. After all, the battle being fought here is over yummy vegetables!

Candace Fleming is a historian who has written a number of children's books including A Big Cheese For the Whitehouse, Ben Franklin's Almanac, and Gabriella's Song.

G. Brian Karas has illustrated over 50 children's books including Ten Little Mummies, Atlantic, and Sleepless Beauty.

Clickety Clack by Rob and Amy Spence

2006-02-02T09:31:00.000-08:00

Clickety Clack
by Rob and Amy Spence
Illustrated by Margaret Spengler
Ages:2-6
Topics: trains, animals,
ISBN:0-14-056829-8

"A little black train goes down the track.
Clickety clack, clickety clack.
A red caboose is in the back
Of the little black train going down the track.
Clickety clack, clickety clack."

In this cumulative story, the little black train picks up an unlikely crowd of passengers including, "talking yaks", acrobats, "a troupe of ducks", and "two big packs" of stomping elephants! The passengers are having a great time, singing and dancing together on the increasing crowded and chaotic train, until two mischievous mice set off fireworks and give Driver Zach a "headache attack". If they don't "pipe down", Driver Zach warns, they'll "head right back." So the passengers all change their ways and put a smile "on the face of Driver Zach."

As you can tell from the quote above, this story has a great train-like pace which makes it a dynamite read-aloud story. The rowdy passengers are strongly reminiscent of a group of preschoolers and children will relate to the 'excitement followed by the need to calm things down' storyline. The vibrant painted illustrations with charcoal outlines create a rounded, slightly smudged world that also shines. Spengler uses a unifying rounded crescent shape throughout the book - the yaks horns, the acrobats hats, the elephants trunks and tusks, the ducks beaks, the sack - to support the up-and-down movement of the the train journey and the story's lively rhythm. There's a lot of humor in the quieting down scenes, the toddler ducks are looking right at the reader and shooshing, the mice hide out in a sack, and there's clear collaboration between all the passengers as they calm down. Although this seems like a train book, the focus here is strongly on the passengers and their interactions.

This was the first picture book for Amy and Rob Spence and also for illustrator Margaret Spengler. Spengler has gone on to illustrate a number of children's books including Dawdle Duckling and Ready or Not, Dawdle Duckling by Toni Buzzeo, and Storm Is Coming! and What's that Awful Smell? by Heather Tekavec.

The Very Busy Life of Olaf and Venus by Pierre Pratt

2006-01-31T09:35:00.000-08:00

The Very Busy Life of Olaf and Venus
by Pierre Pratt
Ages 0-4
Topics: places, animals
ISBN:0-7636-1390-8

Car is one of four board books that describe the busy life of Olaf the elephant and Venus the mouse. In this story, the friends hop in the car, a cheery red convertible, and take a ride to the beach, naming objects and animal pals as they go.
The four books share a common format: the left page has a single word (all nouns) and there's an illustration of the named item with a white background. The right page has the item in a complete scene with Olaf and Venus, who are interacting with the item in some way (pointing to the sun, waving to a bird, spashing in the sea). The format is a great way to help younger children learn vocabulary, leaving no room for confusion as to what item is being labled. The format is also great for children who are just starting to sightread.

The brightly colored illustrations clearly convey Olaf and Venus's 'joie de vivre' in everything they do. There's instant charm from the big difference in size between them and they make all their activities seem exciting, whether they are going to the beach, shopping for shoes, or simply having a snack.

The other books in the series are Home, Shopping, and Park. Here's a spread from Shopping that shows the page layout - the book shop is their last stop:

In Home, Olaf invites Venus over to his place to share a cheese dinner and a sleepover and in Park, the friends take a picnic to the park. The four books are all wonderful and would make a wonderful gift set. They're also in a 6..25 x 6.25 board book format, just the right size for little ones.

Pierre Pratt grew up in Montreal and has won many awards for his wonderful children's book illustrations. He uses oil pastels and acrylic for his illustrations.

Where Is the Green Sheep? by Mem Fox

2006-01-30T10:52:00.000-08:00

Where Is the Green Sheep?

by Mem Fox
Illustrated by Judy Haracek
Ages 1-5
Topics: sheep, opposites, pairs
ISBN#:0-15-204907-X

In this simple book, we find pairs of sheep with both opposite and associated traits. For example, there's the thin sheep and the wide sheep, the swing sheep and the slide sheep. The book is structured in two sets of rhyming couplets, then the repeated question, "But where is the green sheep? The book's ending asks listeners to "turn the page quietly" and the green sheep is found fast asleep.

The book provides an amusing vehicle to introduce and reinforce some basic and familiar adjectives to very young children. The simple line-drawn sheep are winsome and wacky and clearly demonstrate the trait described. There's lots of white space in this book giving the illustrations a clean, open feeling. The ink-drawn sheep are beautifully enhanced with bright watercolors - the gleeful sheep in the bubble bath is a standout. There's also enough details in the illustrations to keep the book interesting as children grow older - the animals looking out the train windows, and the finale sheep page where the sheep are engaged in a variety of exciting activities.

Mem Fox is a literacy consultant and has written many children's picture books including The Magic Hat and Koala Lou. Judy Horacek is an author and cartoonist. This is her first picture book.

Read the review of The Magic Hat.

Buy Where Is the Green Sheep? from Amazon.com

Shall I Knit You a Hat? by Kate Klise

2006-01-29T10:24:00.000-08:00

Shall I Knit You a Hat? A Christmas Yarn
By Kate Klise
Illustrated by M. Sarah Klise
Ages 4-8
Topics: Christmas, gifts, friends, hats, knitting, animals
ISBN: 0-8050-7318-3

A blizzard is due to arrive on Christmas Eve and its going to snow until it “reaches the tallest tips” of Little Rabbit’s ears. Little Rabbit doesn’t want to get too cold so Mother Rabbit offers to knit him a hat. “’Yes, please,’ said Little Rabbit. ‘A Christmas hat, just for me.’ Little Rabbit loves his hat and suggests that they make hats for all their friends as Christmas presents. Little Rabbit designs the exotic hats, but their friends aren’t so sure about them… until the blizzard sets in.

This winsome tale is a wonderful exploration of friendship, generosity, and individuality. The rabbit mother and child are oddballs who respect their friends’ individuality and their own. The acrylic illustrations are charming and cozy for the most part and quite hilarious at times. The cozy indoor scenes include the dinning room illustration with plates on the wall with springs of evergreen and the final illustration of the rabbit mother and child on their red sofa and are warm reds and yellows. The funny illustrations include those in which the rabbits secretly measure their friends for their hats and one scene in which all the friends gather together with their new hats on with Little Rabbit holding up a mirror saying “See how beautiful you look?” The outdoor scenes are bright blues and white and feature a wonderful animal market. This book is fabulous in a quirky way and would make a wonderful Christmas gift that will charm way beyond Christmas Day.

The author, Kate Klise, and the illustrator, M. Sarah Klise, are sisters. They have previously collaborated on illustrated novels for children but this is their first picture book.

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A Pipkin of Pepper by Helen Cooper

2006-01-28T14:32:00.000-08:00

A Pipkin of Pepper
by Helen Cooper
Ages 4-8
Topics: Friendship, cooking, being lost
ISBN#0-374-35953-9

In this sequel to Pumpkin Soup, Squirrel, Cat, and Duck run out of salt for their delicious soup and have to go shopping in the City. Duck’s never been to the City before and is both frightened and excited by all the shops and towers. Then he sees the pepper store and has a great idea – wouldn’t pepper be a delicious addition to the soup? While Duck dreams of pepper, his friends continue on to the salt shop, and Duck finds himself lost in the city. Fortunately, a kindly mother Hen takes care of Duck and helps him find his friends … with a little help from six police dogs with megaphones

The story addresses the common childhood fear and experience of being lost and reminds how to avoid this predicament (hold on tight) and what to do if you find yourself lost (stay where you lost contact and wait). While the solution will seem over the top to adults (the Hen calls 911 and six police dogs with megaphones search the city for Cat and Squirrel, then fly them home as they’ve missed the last bus), the drama will make sense to young children and provide them with a comfortable resolution.

The three friends have a caring, quarrelsome relationship that is as warm and winning as the autumnal illustrations. The pink-blue exotic City is a striking departure from the little white country cabin and pastoral landscape of Pumpkin Soup. The illustrations provide wonderful details to share – the ‘try pepper today’ message on the back of the bus taking them to the city, the white city rabbit with a large pocket watch, and a lost and crying Duck’s reaction to being offered a packet of pepper to cheer him up: “WA?”.

Helen Cooper was a music teacher before she started writing children’s books. She has won two Kate Greenaway Medals for Pumpkin Soup and The Boy Who Wouldn’t Go to Bed and was short-listed for her book Tatty Ratty.

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Read review of Pumpkin Soup

Mr. Gumpy's Outing by John Burningham

2006-01-27T12:38:00.000-08:00

Mr. Gumpy's Outing

by John Burningham
Ages 2-6
Topics: animals, boating
ISBN#: 0-8050-0708-3

Mr Gumpy has a boat and lives on the river. One day, he goes out in his boat and picks up many friends along the way. Before they can come aboard, Mr Gumpy clearly states a “rule” for each animal he picks up – the rabbit can only come if he doesn’t “hop about”, the pig if he doesn’t “muck about”, the children, if they don’t “squabble”. Everything is wonderful until all the animals do what he asked them not to do and splash...the boat tips. This turns out not to be a big problem – everyone lies on the bank to dry in the sun and then head back to Mr. Gumpy’s for tea.

Younger children will quickly learn the order of the animals and join in the telling of this repetitive, mild-mannered tale. The cheerful illustrations are mostly ink crosshatch drawings, interspersed with watercolor -painted line drawings. Muted colors capture a nostalgic feeling of a sunny day on the river and the tea scene is especially charming.

John Burningham is British and won the Kate Greenaway (the British equivalent to the Caldecott) for Mr. Gumpy’s Outing. He also wrote a sequel, Mr. Gumpy’s Motor Car, and many other children’s books.

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Big Al by Andrew Clements

2006-01-26T13:54:00.000-08:00

Big Al
by Andrew Clements
Illustrated by Yoshi
Ages 4-8
Topics, fish, friendship, appearances
ISBN#:0-88708-075-8

Big Al has a problem – he’s really big and scary looking. Although there isn’t a nicer fish in the sea, Big Al can’t make a friend because all the other fish are afraid of him. He tries to disguise his size and looks, but nothing seems to work. One day, a fishing net captures the smaller fish and Big Al’s size allows him to save the day.

This story has a strong confidence-building message as Big Al realizes that he is unique, valuable, and special just as he is. When the important moment comes, Big Al forgets himself and his problems and acts. The other fish learn to appreciate Big Al despite his frightening looks, reminding that you can’t judge others solely on their appearance.

The striking underwater illustrations by Japanese artist Yoshi were created by combining painting and batik on silk. Big Al really is an unattractive brown puffy fish, surrounded by bright red, yellow, and orange fish.

Andrew Clements, a former teacher, writes picture books, early readers, and novels for middle graders. Big Al was his first book. He also collaborated with Yoshi on a sequel, Big Al and Shrimpy.

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Eric Carle's Animals Animals

2006-01-24T10:16:00.000-08:00

Eric Carle's Animals Animals
by Eric Carle
Ages 2-10
Topics: Animals, poetry
ISBN#0-399-21744-4

This book is an illustrated collection of short poems about a wide range of animals and insects. The selection includes a number of haiku poems, funny poems like The Birthday Cow by Eve Merriam ("Happy Mooday to you") and Yak and Long Gone (about dinosaurs) by Jack Prelutsky, and poems by Rudyard Kipling, John Gardener, and Shakespeare.

This book is a great way to gently introduce your child to poetry. All the poems are short and Eric Carle's illustrations are rich and visually exciting. (Carle creates his fabulous collages with tissue paper that he paints with acrylic paint. He then adds texture and cuts and combines the papers to create his pictures.) The alternation of funny and silly poems with the haikus and more literary poems creates a happily varied rythmn and sustains interest. Younger children will be fascinated by the bright pictures and language play. Older children will stay interested with some of the more unusual animals like the narwhal and the platypus. The books conveys a respect for all the world's animals and would make a wonderful gift a child could enjoy for years.

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For more information on Eric Carle, visit his website.

For a great book on Carle's picture book art, see The Art of Eric Carle

Caps For Sale by Esphyr Slobodkina

2006-01-23T13:55:00.000-08:00

Caps For Sale: A Tale of a Peddler, Some Monkeys and Their Monkey Business
By Esphyr Slobodkina
Ages: 3-6
Topics: monkeys, hats
ISBN: 0-201-09147-X

A hilarious tale of a peddler who carries the caps he sells in a tall tower on top of his head and calls out “Caps! Caps for sale! Fifty cents a cap!” One morning sales are non-existent so the peddler takes a walk in the country and falls asleep under a tree, taking care to keep the caps on his head secure. When he wakes up, he finds he only has his own cap on his head. He looks all around for his caps only to find on every branch of the tree sits a monkey with a cap on his head. Then follows a very amusing sequence as the peddler tries to get his caps back from the monkeys.

It’s hard to imagine anyone not liking this classic picture book, which has been in print for over fifty years and sold hundreds of thousands of copies. The resolution of the peddler’s problem (he gets so mad he throws his hat down and the monkeys copy him) is very funny. There’s lots of action and repetition to hold the interest of younger children and the language is simple enough to make this a good story for early readers. Don’t miss the enjoyment of sharing this classic with your children. A great read aloud for a group of younger children.

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Pumpkin Soup by Helen Cooper

2006-01-22T09:26:00.000-08:00

Pumpkin Soup
By Helen Cooper
Ages:4-8
Topics: soup, cookery, friendship, cooperation
ISBN: 0-374-36164-9

Cat, Squirrel, and Duck live together in a cabin deep in the woods. There they make the best pumpkin soup you ever tasted. Each friend has his own specific role in the soup preparation. They cook together, play music together, sleep together and live in harmony. Until, Duck gets Squirrel’s soup spoon and announces “Today it’s my turn to stir the soup.” Squirrel and Cat are furious and there’s a “horrible squabble” and Duck decides to leave. “You’ll be back” the Cat yells “after we’ve cleaned up.”. But, Duck doesn’t come back and Cat and Squirrel are left to consider how much they miss their dear friend (who eventually does return to stir the soup and create a big mess).

A wonderful story about friendship and cooperation, children and adults will love the warm, cozy illustrations. A great read aloud story.

Helen Cooper has won two Kate Greenaway Medals for Pumpkin Soup and The Boy Who Wouldn’t Go to Bed. She has written a sequel to Pumpkin Soup called A Pipkin of Pepper.

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The Magic Hat by Mem Fox

2006-01-20T09:12:00.000-08:00

The Magic Hat
By Mem Fox
Illustrated by Tricia Tusa
Ages: 2-5
Topics: hats, animals, wizard, magic

A magic hat appears in town “without any warning at all”. It lands on the heads of various town people and turns them into exotic animals until a wizard arrives “with a sign that said: STOP!” The animals are turned back into people “dazed and confused/ Watched by a crowd that was highly amused!”. The wizard skips off with the “fabulous hat/That made all the magic – wherever it sat!”

This light, magical story has a sweet refrain “Oh, the magic hat, the magic hat!/It moved like this and it moved like that!” that’s fun to read and builds predictability right into the story making this a perfect picture book for younger children, who will quickly learn which animal comes next. The pen and watercolor illustrations are playful, bright, and larger-than-life and dominate the text. They provide visual clues on which animal will next appear (for example, the grocer who is turned into a baboon is juggling bananas). The pictures are full of happy children, in fact, all the townsfolk are merry and depicted as a warm, close community.

Mem Fox , Australia’s most highly regarding picture book author, has written 29 picture books including Time For Bed, Koala Lou, and Possum Magic. She is a literacy consultant and also the author of Reading Magic, for parents of very young children.

Tricia Tusa is the author of Maebelle’s Suitcase, Camilla’s New Hairdo, and Bunnies in My Head (which features drawings by young patients at the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center). She is also the illustrator of many other picture books including Mrs. Spitzer’s Garden and How to Make a Night. She lives in Houston, Texas.

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Little Cloud by Eric Carle

2006-01-19T08:55:00.000-08:00

Little Cloud
By Eric Carle
Ages 1-4
Topics: clouds
ISBN:0-399-23191-9

Little cloud trails behind the other clouds. He soon finds himself alone and changes into a sheep, an airplane, a shark and other shapes. The repetition of “little cloud changed into a…” encourages children to look at the picture and provide the label. Then follows a little information about the item pictured, “Little Cloud liked the way the trees never moved and stayed in one place.” Eventually, the other clouds call Little Cloud back to join them, then the clouds become “one big cloud” and rain.

The illustrations are hand –painted paper collages and are all white/blue clouds on a blue sky background with the exception of two pictures that include “the houses and the trees”. The simplicity of the cloud collages will allow the youngest children to focus on the object being described and encourage older children to try their hand at copying.

A great-read aloud rhythm, younger children will want to hear this one over and over again. It’s also fun for them to look at this one independently and label.

Eric Carle is the author and illustrator of some of the most popular picture books for young children including The Very Hungry Caterpillar, The Very Busy Spider, and Today is Monday. Carle, a graphic designer, started his children’s book career illustrating Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? By Bill Martin. Carle creates his collages using painted tissue paper that is pasted onto cardboard. For more information on Eric Carle, visit his website.

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Here Come Trainmice!

2006-01-18T14:44:00.000-08:00

Here Come Trainmice!
By Wong Herbert Yee
Ages: 1-4
Topics: trains, mice
ISBN:0-395-98401-7

A charming introduction to train terminology for the very young, the cheery rhyming and rhythmic language and bright colorful pictures will make this little board book a favorite. Each page introduces a new train word – track, conductor, tickets, caboose – and the mouse illustrations are adorable, with many details to explore (the guitar on the baggage cart, the mouse getting a free ride on the freight train). Adults will enjoy sharing this book not only because of the snappy rhythm, but also because of the amusing rhymes (“’Tickets, tickets, if you please.’” Dining car is serving cheese.”). Don’t miss this gem!

Wong Herbert Yee is the creator of 18 children’s books including the Fireman Small books and Big Black Bear.

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Russell the Sheep by Rob Scotten

2006-01-18T13:16:00.000-08:00

Russell the Sheep
By Rob Scotton
Ages 4-8
Topics: Sheep, Sleep
ISBN#: 0-06-059849-2

This charmer is about Russell, a sheep who can’t get to sleep. He tries lot’s of things to get to sleep from making it really dark to sleeping in the hollow of a tree. He eventually settles on counting things, including “six hundred million billion and ten” stars. Even that doesn’t work! Russell eventually does get to sleep –can you guess how?

The illustrations for this book are outstanding and will appeal to both adults and children. Russell is a fluffy, squarish sheep with a long blue and white striped sleeping hat and wide-eyed expression. He is always accompanied by an unnamed frog companion, who adds a lot with body language and facial expressions. The sheep, when they do sleep, sleep on their backs with four legs straight in the air. All the scenes are in a twilight blue/purple/green color scheme which is very dreamy.

Rob Scotton is one of Britain’s leading illustrators for a variety of products, but this is his first picture book.

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I Will Never Not Ever Eat a Tomato by Lauren Child

2006-01-18T08:58:00.000-08:00

I Will Never Not Ever Eat a Tomato
by Lauren Child
Ages 4-8
Topics: fussy eaters, food, siblings
ISBN 0-7636-1181-3

Charlie’s little sister Lola is a mighty fussy eater. While waiting for dinner, Lola lists all the foods she doesn’t like and won’t consider eating. So Charlie has to come up with some inventive ideas to make familiar foods seem more appetizing: “Oh, this isn’t mashed potato…this is cloud fluff from the pointiest peak of Mount Fuji.” and “These are not carrots. These are orange twiglets from Jupiter.” The mixed media illustrations are fascinating and effective at creating a bright, familiar and very modern child’s world for the flat, line drawn characters. Child creates collages of line drawings, photographs, and wallpaper that really work together - a photo of a bowl of peas being prodded by Lola’s drawn hand, photo tiles on the back of the otherwise drawn kitchen. The text layout is also interestingly varied, with bolds, capitalization, different font sizes and layouts that mirror the illustrations (the text forms a mountain for the Mount Fuji text).

In addition to the entertaining approach to picky eating, this book will also help build a child’s food vocabulary. There’s a nice combination of predictability (Lola’s questioning each food item) and surprise (Charlie’s clever recharacterizations) which will make this appealing to younger children. The layout of the text and illustrations also encourages new readers to practice their sight –reading skills (“I don’t ever eat carrots” is written on five carrots, text is frequently widely spaced making it easier to read.). The relationship between the feisty Lola and the understanding Charlie is a unusual in that it is warm and trusting and shows children solving problems by using their imagination.

Lauren Child won the Kate Greenaway Medal (the British equivalent of the Caldecott) for this book. She has written several more Charlie and Lola books including I Am Too Absolutely Small for School and I Am Not Sleepy and I Will Not Go to Bed. Child is also the creator of the Clarice Bean books.

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Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown

2006-01-16T12:38:00.000-08:00

Goodnight Moon
By Margaret Wise Brown
Illustrated by Clement Hurd
Ages 1-4

This classic goodnight story features a little rabbit in his “great green room” labeling the items he sees and saying goodnight to them all, including the pictures on the walls (the three bears and the cow jumping over the moon) and the moon which he can see through the window. The illustrations alternate between scenes of the brightly colored room and black and white illustrations that focus on the item being labeled. The familiar items, rhyme and repetition (many things are “little”), the varied rhythm, and the warmth and brightness of the illustrations will appeal strongly to the youngest children. There’s plenty of details in the room for older children to notice (the toys on the bookcase, the fishing rabbits picture).

This cozy book is the perfect bedtime book to share with your young child. The rhyme and pace are wonderful to read aloud. The cheerful illustrations are perfect for children who are just starting to look at books independently.

About the author:

Margaret Wise Brown (1910-1952) was a teacher and editor who wrote over 100 books for younger children including Big Red Barn, The Runaway Bunny and The Color Kittens. She is best known for Goodnight Moon.

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