Catching up on picture books

 

These picture books somehow managed to evade review over the past year, and I’m not sure how. After all, the book basket isn’t that big! Both were published by Chronicle in 2020.

theme: family, friendship, read-aloud

For the youngest listeners (from 3-5):

Mabel: A Mermaid Fable, by Rowboat Watkins 

What was weird about Mabel wasn’t her mustache.

Turns out her entire family had mustaches. Nope, having a mustache wasn’t the problem. NOT having one was! Poor Mabel. She tried to make a mustache out of everything she could think of – but no luck. And then she meets a friend – an octopus named Lucky who fit his name except for one thing… he didn’t have eight legs. That didn’t matter to Mabel. They had fun together, playing and exploring and doing the things friends do.

What I like about this book: The idea of mustaches on merfolk is funny, the problem with being the odd one out isn’t. I love Mabel’s attempts at creating a mustache, and her easy acceptance of Lucky. And I love the illustrations. But I mostly love the way she learns to accept herself. 

Oh, and I love the nudibranchs, too.

For the “older” crowd (5-8):

Everyone’s Awake, by Colin Meloy; illus, by Shawn Harris 

The crickets are all peeping.

It’s time for folks to be sleeping, but in this house, Everyone’s Awake! Dad is baking bread. The mice are playing cards. Mom’s tap-dancing and brother’s juggling kitchen plates.

What I like about this book: It’s fun to read aloud, with rhymes and humorous happenings. The pages are bright, with simple, bold illustrations. And as the night goes on, the attempts to stay awake get crazier and crazier.

Beyond the Books:

You may not find any mermaids in the ocean, but you will find nudibranchs, or sea slugs. Learn more about them here. The photos are stunning.

If you’re planning to stay awake all night, make sure you have some games to play. Here are six games and all you need is one deck of cards.

Today we're joining Perfect Picture Book Friday, an event where bloggers share great picture books at Susanna Leonard Hill's website. Review copies provided by the publisher.

Don't Hug Doug

 

Don't Hug Doug: (He Doesn't Like It) 
by Carrie Finison; illus. by Daniel Wiseman 
32 pages; ages 3-7
G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers, 2021

theme: hugs, individuality
 

You can hug a pug. You can hug a bug.
 
You could probably even hug a porcupine… ve-e-ery carefully. Just don’t hug Doug because he doesn’t like it! Even though Doug is a seriously no-hug type of guy, he likes you. Just not hugs.
 
What I like about this book: I love the illustration showing what Doug thinks about hugs: too squeezy and squashy. I love that Carrie Finison shows the great diversity of things that Doug likes. She then shows other ways that Doug lets his friends know that he likes you. Turns out Doug is a master of high fives. But here’s the point – and it’s important: everybody, including your cat, gets to decide for themselves whether they want a hug or not.

Beyond the Books:
 
Do you like to be hugged? Or would you rather not be hugged? Are there some people you let hug you and others you don’t?
 
Draw a picture of what you think about hugs. What are the things you like – or don’t like – about hugs?
 
How do you show your friends that you like them? Do you do high fives? Fist bumps? Jump-twirls? Elbow tags?
 
Today we're joining Perfect Picture Book Friday, an event where bloggers share great picture books at Susanna Leonard Hill's website. Reviewed from a copy provided by the publisher.

Putting the focus on photographers

Two books about photographers, contemporaries of each other. One captured light and rocks and trees, the other focused her sights on factories, buildings, and people. One grew up in the west, the other in the east.

Antsy Ansel: Ansel Adams, a life in nature
by Cindy Jenson-Elliott; illus. by Christy Hale
32 pages; ages 5-9
Henry Holt, 2016

theme: nonfiction, biography, art

Ansel was antsy. He never walked - he ran.

He loved being outside - exploring the beach, feeling the wind and salt spray. He didn't fare well trapped in the classroom, but thrived when his father decided to have him learn at home.
When Ansel was 14, he visited Yosemite Valley and fell in love with the light. His parents gave him a camera, and the rest is history. He traveled far and wide taking photos of national parks, and his photos were featured in Life magazine and galleries.

What I like about this book: It is fun to read. Author Cindy Jenson-Elliot delves into her collection of action words to show this young man who couldn't sit still. Run-leap-scramble... off he goes with his camera! I also like the back matter, where she tells more about this iconic photographer. Ansel Adams spent a lot of time studying his subject matter, waiting for the right light to capture it.

Girl with a Camera
by Carolyn Meyer
352 pages; ages 10 - 14
Calkins Creek, 2017

Margaret Bourke-White was born in 1904 - two years after Ansel Adams - in New Jersey. She wasn't popular, and felt unsure of herself, yet knew she would do something great. She spent her youth exploring the outdoors, collecting snakes and bugs, and thought she might become a herpetologist (someone who studies reptiles and amphibians). Then she discovered photography. And the beauty within buildings, from factories to sky scrapers. She knew she wanted to make her living shooting photos.

This fictionalized account of her life draws on Margaret's own writings, as well as archival material and yearbooks. It reads like an adventure, as we read about Margaret's adventures as a photo-journalist for Life magazine: trips to Russia, capturing factories and farms, and a nearly-didn't-make-it trip to the arctic. Author Carolyn Meyer had done a ton of research, and it shows.

Both Ansel Adams and Margaret Bourke-White documented World War II. Ansel took photos of ordinary life in the Manzanar War Relocation Center (Japanese internment camp) in California. Margaret was the first female war correspondent and photographed German forces invading Moscow. At the end of the war she photographed the liberation of the concentration camp at Buchenwald.

Beyond the Books:
Take a camera on a walk with you and take pictures of buildings or trees or rocks or people... whatever interests you. Try taking photos in different light - different times of day - and from different angles.

Explore this gallery of Ansel Adams photos.

Explore this gallery of Margaret Bourke-White photos.

Today is PPBF (perfect picture book Friday), an event in which bloggers share great picture books at Susanna Leonard Hill's site. She keeps an ever-growing list of Perfect Picture Books. On Monday we'll be hanging out on Marvelous Middle Grade Monday with other  bloggers over at Shannon Messenger's blog. Hop over to see what other people are reading. Review copies provided by publishers.

Leaping Lemmings and Missing Bears

Leaping Lemmings!
by John Briggs; illus. by Nicola Slater
32 pages; ages 3-7
Sterling Children's Books, 2016

Would you jump off a cliff just because everyone else is doing it? Larry wouldn't. He is different than the other lemmings. Larry is adventurous: he goes sledding with puffins and when other lemmings eat moss (a pretty normal lemming thing to do) Larry orders pepperoni pizza.

And when that fateful day arrives and all his friends are running to the edge of the cliff, Larry comes up with a way to save them from their demise.

The Bear who Wasn't There
by LeUyen Pham
40 pages; ages 3-6
Roaring Brook, 2016

The author of this book would have you believe that Bear is the star of this book, and has gone missing. But clever Duck knows that Bears are unreliable. If you want some one reliable, you should get a Duck.

"How about I tell you a nice duck story?" he asks.

Meanwhile everyone else is looking for Bear. Is he behind the door that says "Private. Keep Out"? Oops! You should not have opened that door. But if Bear is not around, who is leaving all those muddy bear tracks? You know things are getting silly when the illustrator has to holler for all the animals to show up for roll call.

 Still, the question remains: if Bear isn't there, where is he?

Both books are perfect antidotes to gray early March days when we're caught between the seasons. If you're looking for some beyond-the-book activities, check out these lemming activities from a an earlier post. Want another animal story? Head over to Archimedes Notebook for a true story about a fox.

 Review copies and ARCs provided by publishers.

A Spy Called James - Black History and the American Revolution

A Spy Called James: the true story of James Lafayette, Revolutionary War double agent
by Anne Rockwell; illus. by Floyd Cooper
32 pages; ages 7-11
Carolrhoda Books, 2016

We know the names of those leaders who led our emerging country through the Revolutionary War: Washington, Marquis de Lafayette, Franklin, Jefferson... But, as Anne Rockwell writes, "America would not have won independence without the courage of thousands of people whose names never became famous."

One of those people was James, enslaved by a farmer named William Armistead. James had heard that an enslaved man could win freedom by fighting for the colonies, so Armistead allowed him to join Lafayette's army. Under orders, he dressed in tattered clothing and presented himself to Cornwallis and Benedict Arnold as a runaway slave. He would gather information and sneak it back to Lafayette.

James was so good at "serving" Cornwallis that the British general asked him to spy on the Americans. And so James began the dangerous job of being a double agent.

The war officially ended in 1783, but for James there was no victory. While blacks who served as soldiers were granted freedom, James's work as a spy didn't earn him that reward. Eventually Lafayette heard about this gross injustice and wrote a letter to the US government. James adopted the last name Lafayette and became a farmer.

There is great back matter, including a note in which Rockwell mentions that, as a free black man, James bought slaves to work his farm. I wanted to know more...

A thicker, heavier volume includes stories of more black men and women who played a role in America's Revolution:

Answering the Cry for Freedom
by Gretchen Woelfle; illus. by R. Gregory Christie
240 pages; ages 9-12
Calkins Creek, 2016

Gretchen Woelfle has gathered 13 stories of little-known African American preachers, writers, soldiers, organizers, and enslaved workers. Some escaped to freedom with the British; others fought for freedom at home.

Stories include James (the spy), poet Phyllis Wheatley, Ona Judge who was owned by Martha Washington, and John Kizelle who escaped to Nova Scotia and later worked to end the slave trade in Africa. After reading these stories you'll ask: Why haven't we heard about these courageous people before?

On Monday we'll join the roundup over at the Nonfiction Monday blog where you'll find even more book reviews. Review copies provided by publishers.

Lost Socks, Tiny Toads, and Sleepy Bats

I want to share these before the holidays... because they're just plain fun to read.

Odd Socks
by Michelle Robinson; illus. by Rebecca Ashdown
32 pages; ages 3-6
Holiday House, 2016

If you've ever lost a favorite sock and spent hours or days searching for it, then this book is for you. Suki and Sosh are a sock couple - in human terms we'd call them a "pair". They have a good life playing in the park, on the beach, even drying on the clothesline.

"I love hanging out with you," says Sosh. At the end of the day they curl up together in the drawer. When Suki starts to unravel, her days are numbered - and one night she doesn't come back to the sock drawer. So Sosh sets out to find her.

Not only is this fun to read aloud - whoever thought a story could be told from a sock's point of view? - you might be inspired to gather unmatched socks and make some puppets.

Teeny Tiny Toady
by Jill Esbaum; illus. by Keika Yamaguchi
40 pages; ages 4-7
Sterling Children's Books, 2016

On a perfectly normal day, Teeny and her mom are minding their own business when, "Help!"
Mama is toad-napped and stuck inside a bucket. Teeny hops as fast as she can to get her brothers to help her. They are big and strong; surely they can rescue mama.

They try one thing, they try another... and then those great big toady brothers end up in the bucket with mama. Now it's up to Teeny, the tiniest toad of all, to figure out how to get them all out of that bucket. Fortunately, she is inspired by leaves swirling on the wind, and comes up with a plan!

Good Night, Bat! Good Morning, Squirrel!
by Paul Meisel
40 pages; ages 4-8
Boyds Mills Press, 2016

Bat needed a new home. There's no room in the barn (too crowded!) or in a hollow log (bats are too stinky, says skunk). Finally he finds a cozy home up in a tree - a clump of leaves with a small opening. There were even twigs he could hang from.

But when Squirrel wakes up she is not happy to find Bat. "This is my home," she says. But Bat isn't listening because he's fast asleep. Z-z-z-z-z-z. So Squirrel leaves a note. Bat misinterprets the note - and over the next few days Squirrel and Bat leave notes for each other. "Leave my house," writes Squirrel. OK, Bat thinks, and collects leaves to add to the house. Then he writes, "I leaved your house." It escalates until Squirrel tells Bat to get lost. And they each go their own way ... until they realize that they liked having a friend. A warm, satisfying ending that will make you wish you'd fixed a cuppa cocoa before reading this to your kid.

Review copies from the publishers.

Books for Goodnight Reading

I'm always on the lookout for some goodnight stories, and these new books are a perfect fit.
themes: bed time books, counting, families

A Number Slumber
by Suzanne Bloom
40 pages; ages 2-5
Boyds Mills Press, 2016

The soft textures of the illustrations in this reverse counting book feel so cozy - they just want to make you curl up with a cup of cocoa and pull on a fluffy quilt.

First lines: What do you do to get ready for bed?
Do you brush your teeth? Have a story read?

What I like about this book: Suzanne Bloom gives us the inside scoop on things other sleepyheads do before bed. In alliteration...."Ten terribly tired tigers tiptoe to their beds" ... and rhyme. "Nine normally nimble newts rest their sleepy heads."

What fun! I promise you will be yaw-aw-awning by the end of the book.

It is Not Time for Sleeping
by Lisa Graff; illus. by Lauren Castillo
40 pages; ages 4-7
Clarion Books, 2016

First lines: When I've munched and crunched my last three carrots (except for one I fed to Jasper), Mom takes my plate. "It's been a good day," she says.

What I like about this book: The kid is NOT ready to go to bed. First, dishes have to be washed. It is not time for sleeping.

Then it's time for a bath. Then pj's.... in a cumulative fashion the kid enumerates the things that must happen before it is time for sleeping.

Beyond the book:

Create some alliterative lines about sleepy-head animals that are ready to go to bed. Maybe cats, or teddy bears, or dogs, or sheep.... or unusual animals that live in your back yard or in the garden. Alliteration is when the words begin with the same sound.

What are the "things that have to happen" before you are ready for sleeping?

Read a goodnight story to your dog or cat, or maybe a grandparent.

Find some goodnight poems to say before bedtime. One favorite is Star light, star bright / First star I see tonight / I wish I may, I wish I might / Have the wish I wish tonight.

Today we're joining PPBF (perfect picture book Friday), where bloggers share great picture books at Susanna Leonard Hill's site. She keeps an ever-growing list of Perfect Picture Books.  Review copies from publishers.

Space Boy and the Space Pirate

Space Boy and the Space Pirate
by Dian Curtis Regan; illus by Robert Neubecker
40 pages; ages 5-10
Boyds Mills, 2016

Last year we met Space Boy when he blasted off to rescue a cat. Now he's off on another adventure - to rescue his cousin, Sasha, who's been kidnapped by a space pirate.

"Wake up!" he yells to his trusty crew, and they blast off, headed to Planet Zorg. Where they find the evil space pirate who is forcing Sasha to ... play dolls? Space Boy tries to negotiate a hostage release but the pirate steals his space ship, leaving him stranded. Will he ever get back to earth? Will he be able to rescue his cousin? Will he be late for dinner?

This adventure story, accompanied by comic book-style artwork, celebrates the power of pretend play. You may want to have some extra boxes hanging around in case your young space cadet decides to build a ship of her own.

Check out the space-related activities here. Review copy provided by publisher.

Summer I-Like-To-Reads

Got some just-getting-to-read-on-their-own kids looking for some summer reading? Here's two new books from Holiday House. These easy to read stories are are written in simple language that will appeal to newly independent readers.

 Drew the Screw
by Mattia Cerato
24 pages; ages 4-7

Drew's a simple guy. He lives in the workshop and hangs out with his friends: cross-cut saw, hammer, pliers. Each of them has a job. Pencil draws, tape measures. But what do you do? they all ask Drew.

Throughout the book, the boy is building something. We never see it until - finally! The boy gives Drew a job!

A Hole in the Wall
by Hans Wilhelm
32 pages; age 4-7

"A dog saw a hole in the wall. What was in it? Another dog!"

Dog can't wait to tell warthog and lion and all his other friends. They can't believe it. A hole in the wall with a dog? Of course, each animal has to go see for itself. But when warthog comes back, he reports that dog is wrong. There was no dog in the hole - it was a warthog!

If this tale sounds familiar, it is. Hans Wilhelm was inspired by "A Fable" written by Mark Twain. Wilhelm includes Twain's tale and adds his own moral about expectations, mirrors, and stories.

Review copies provided by publisher.

Rainy Day Reading

Rainstorms are part of summer. Sometimes they are gentle, pattering drops on the leaves and roof. Other times thunder crashes, lightning flashes, hail bounces. Here are a couple of books to read on a stormy day - one new, one old.

Safe in a Storm
by Steve Swinburne; illus. by Jennifer A. Bell
32 pages; ages 3-5
Cartwheel Books (Scholastic), 2016

This is a fun and imaginative good night story that is perfect for a rainy night. It features animal characters that comfort their young ones during a storm.

When the storm rumbles loudly and the sky turns to ink,
Snuggle close, my little mole. Touch noses, warm and pink.

Each spread features a different animal - duck, wolf, sloth - and each illustrated in their natural habitat. The other cool thing is that the storm becomes more intense as you move through the book, then fades as you reach the end. The last spread features a collie comforting her pup. Review copy provided by publisher.

When the Rain Falls
by Melissa Stewart; illus by Constance R. Bergum
32 pages; ages 4 - 8
Peachtree Publishers, 2008

Inside clouds, water droplets budge and bump, crash and clump. The drops grow larger and larger, heavier and heavier until they fall to the earth.

When it rains, most people run inside and wait for the storm to end. But where do the animals go? Melissa Stewart shows how birds stay dry, where mama fox and her kits take cover, and what bumblebees do when they're caught in a shower. She reveals the rainy day secrets of animals that live in forest and field, in luscious and lyrical language. From my bookshelf.

One Day ... The End

One Day, The End ~ Short, Very Short, Shorter-than-Ever Stories
by Rebecca Kai Dotlich; illus by Fred Koehler
32 pages; ages 4-8
Boyds Mills Press, 2015

theme: imagination, adventure

opening: For every story there is a beginning and an end, but what happens in between makes all the difference.

Remember when you were a kid and you told silly stories like: One day I went for a walk. The End? Here is a book full of such stories... but with a difference: the stuff that goes in between One Day and The End is shown in illustrations.

For example, the first story starts: "One day... I went to school. I came home. The end." Less than a dozen words (go ahead and count 'em; I'll wait.). The artwork tells a much fuller tale: following a cat, racing to get to class before the bell rings, a lab experiment gone awry, an ice cream truck....

What I like LOVE about this book: It leaves so much room for storytelling and imagination, but provides a visual framework for that imagination to run wild. I like that it has the main character in each story doing things, and that there are other "characters": dog, cat, teachers, other kids, parents. I especially like the last story: "One day... I wanted to WRITE a BOOK. So I did. The End."

Beyond the Book: Really? You have to ask?

Write your own story. Get a huge piece of paper. At the top (or at one end) write "One Day". At the bottom (or at the other end) write "The End". Now fill in the middle with words or pictures. It's your story - you can tell it any way you want to.

Draw your own illustrations for the stories. Starting with "One day I went to school. I came home" - what sort of things would you draw to show this story? And do you have to stick to the truth or can you imagine silly things like Dr. Seuss did in his classic, And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street?

Tell silly short, shorter-than-ever stories around the dinner table. Or around a campfire, or sitting on the sofa or before bedtime. That's how the author, Rebecca Dotlich got started. She was babysitting her young grandson and after a long and busy day he asked her to tell him a story. She was tired, so she said, "One day, I lost my dog. I found him. The end." That made him laugh and laugh - and ask for more.

Today is PPBF (perfect picture book Friday), an event in which bloggers share great picture books at Susanna Leonard Hill's site. She keeps an ever-growing list of Perfect Picture Books.  Review copy from the publisher.

Is That a Cat?

Is that a Cat?
by Tim Hamilton
32 pages; ages 4-8
Holiday House, 2015

The cat wants another cat to play with. Looking out the window he sees what looks like a cat's tail.

But no - it's the handle of an Elf's umbrella. And the elf is looking for some rain so he can test his umbrella. Look... droplets of water falling from the sky. Could it be rain?

Nope. It's a bear crying on the roof. Crying because he lost one of his boots. But wait! could that be his lost boot over there?

Nope. But welcome to this crazy story where everyone is looking for something and just when they think they find it, they discover it's something different. It is one wacky chain of events that just might inspire youngsters to look at their world with a bit more imagination. But wait! Isn't this the same author who, just last spring, had us hunting for pirates?

Review copy provided by publisher.

Click

Click!
by Jeffrey Ebbler
32 pages; ages 3-6
Holiday House, 2015

It's time to go to sleep. Yawn.

Click. With a pull of the chain, the lamp turns off and the room goes dark.

But wait! What's that? A noise? a drip, drop, dripping noise coming from somewhere down the hall. Maybe down the stairs.

It sure is hard to get to sleep with all that noise. Never fear because there's a hero on the loose. A hero who, with a tip, tap, click, click will find that leaky faucet and tighten it so the drip, drop, drip stops. Ah-h-h. Now we can roll over and...

But wait! What's that flap? Rustle? Creak? Never fear. Click is here.

What I love about this Nearly Wordless Book: Jeffrey's bold illustrations. And the bird-like lamp that goes wandering about the house, light shining from his belly to illuminate the way. This is just plain fun to read, and you'll never see your reading lamp in the same light again.

Review copy provided by the publisher.

Owl Boy

Owl Boy
by Brian Schatell
40 pages; ages 4 - 8
Holiday House, 2015

Al loves owls. They're all he can think of! The walls of his bedroom are plastered with pictures and posters of owls. The books on his dresser are all about owl. There's even an owl on his bed - it's stuffed, but still... an owl.

When his mom serves meat loaf Al responds, "Owls eat mice." When his dad suggests he go outside to play in the sun, Al explains that owls are night creatures.

When Al goes to camp he decides to look for owl nests. And he meets owls! Everything is hunkey dorey until the owl catches two mice: one for himself and one to share with Al. Suffice it to say that Al learns a lot about himself - and being an owl - that night.

Here are a few activities to share with your owl-loving kids:

• All about Owls ~ from life history to sound recordings and even a few live "bird cams" from Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Check it out here.
• Recycle toilet paper tubes and paper towel tubes into owls. Directions here.
• A maze for young owl-lovers here.

Review copy provided by the publisher.

This ORQ. (he cave boy.)

this ORQ. (he cave boy.)
by David Elliott; illus. by Lori Nichols
40 pages; ages 3 & up
Boyds Mills Press, 2014

I love the way this book begins:
"This Orq.
He live in cave.
He carry club.
He cave boy."

Spare language that cuts right to the chase. You won't find adverbs floundering around on these pages; adjectives neither. On the other hand, that's what the pictures are for, right?

Orq has a pet. A woolly mammoth. It's a cute little guy, but it grows fast. And it's not housebroken. Worse yet, it smells, and Mother kicks it out of the cave.

Like any kid, Orq figures he can get his mother to love his pet mammoth if only mammoth can learn some tricks. If you've ever tried to impress a friend - or parent - with cute pet tricks, you already know that this is a sure way to have things run amok. In the end, the mammoth saves the day. I won't say how; suffice it to say it involves a saber-toothed tiger.

This is a great story for any kid who has brought a stray home and pleaded with parents to "let it stay".  And it's just plain fun to read. Pair it up with How to Wash a Woolly Mammoth for a double-dose of the sillies, or delve into some nonfiction for a study on ice age animals. Review copy from publisher.

If you had your Druthers.....

When I was growing up, I often heard my mom ask, "If you had your druthers, what would you do?"

I guess I'd read this book!

Druthers
by Matt Phelan
32 pages; ages 5-8
Candlewick Press, 2014

theme: families,  imagination

opening: It was raining. And raining. 
And RAINING.
"I'm bored," said Penelope.

That's when Dad asks Penelope the same question my mom always asked. And Penelope responds: What are Druthers? Once she finds out , she decides she'd rather go to the zoo than sit around the boring old living room on a rainy day. Dad helps her out by pretending to be a gorilla. She'd rather be a cowboy, or a pirate captain ... and as they play the toys begin to cover the floor until all of them are spread across every conceivable surface.

What I like about this book: It's fun. It's silly. I love that the dad engages with his kid - that he gets on the floor and plays. This is a wonderful book to read on a rainy day. Or a snow day. But be careful, because kids will discover, like Penelope, that if they had their druthers it would rain/snow/sleet tomorrow.

Beyond the book:
Make a list of all your druthers. Some folks go beyond list-making and compose entire songs, like this one from the musical, Li'l Abner.

"If you had your druthers" is an idiom. Idioms are phrases that have a special meaning beyond what the words themselves mean. For example: a penny for your thoughts. You wouldn't really buy a thought for a penny.... but it's something you might hear people say. Or they might talk about a book being "food for thought" - though they wouldn't really eat the pages. What are some of the idioms you hear in your neighborhood? You can find more idiom examples here and here.

Write your own story that uses an idiom. Or make a cartoon. Or just play around with it and see where it takes you.

Today is PPBF (perfect picture book Friday) over at  Susanna Leonard Hill's site. She keeps an ever-growing list of Perfect Picture Books.  Review copy provided by publisher.

Bug on a Bike

Bug on a Bike
by Chris Monroe
32 pages; ages 4-8
Carolrhoda, 2014

theme: friendship & sharing

"It's time to go now!" said the bug on a bike. "I better ride over and get Lizard Mike!"

So bug - a ladybug (minus 2 legs but it's fiction; who's counting?) straps on his awesome helmet-with-holes-for-antennae and starts pedaling. "Where are we going?" asks Mike.
"It's a surprise!" says Bug.

And the two of them ride off. Along the way they pick up more friends: a toad, ants, butterfly, dog... they even interrupt a pickle doing strength-training who seems OK with the idea of setting down his weights and following along.

Where are they going? Bug won't say. All we know is they're not there yet - until they go uphill, down dale and wind through the forest.

I won't tell you where they end up - that would ruin the surprise. But I will say it's fun! And worth the ride.

What I like about this book: it's fun and silly and the illustrations are full of things to look at. Like toad's stash of gummi-flies and the carpenter clams busy working on their boats. I love Bug - even though he's two legs shy of an official insect... but I love the long bike-pedaling legs and the green hi-tops that complement the black-dotted red shell.

It's also written in rhyme - which makes it great fun to read aloud. And also very silly... because what rhymes with pickle?

Beyond the book: Bug's friends use different modes of transportation: bikes, skateboards, roller skates, even flight. If you went on an adventure with your friends, how would you travel? Around here we'd probably use sleds and ice skates - what about where you live?

Now think about the non-humans that live in your neighborhood. If you went on an adventure, who (or what) might tag along? And where would you go? Make a map - make it as silly as you want to.

Where do bugs go in January? Depending on where you live, they could be frozen bug-sicles under the snow, or sipping papaya nectar. Find out where your bugs are hanging out for the winter. Also find out where toads and pickles spend the winter.

Today is PPBF (perfect picture book Friday) over at  Susanna Leonard Hill's site. She keeps an ever-growing list of Perfect Picture Books.  Review copy provided by publisher.

Send for a Superhero!

Send for a Superhero!

By Michael Rosen; illus. by Katharine McEwen

40 pages; ages 3-7

Candlewick Press, 2014

It’s bedtime and Dad is reading Emily and little Elmer a story. It is, in fact, the very book we are reviewing, and it features two very bad villains: Filth and Vacuum. And today’s the day they will destroy the world!

Dad reads a comic-book version of the story in which Brad Forty, a very nice guy, must act fast. Because Vacuum guy is sucking all the money out of the banks, and Filth guy is polluting muck and slime along the beaches. He texts the Mayor a warning.

The Mayor sends for Steel Man, but he is no match for the Two Terrible Villains. So the Mayor sends for Super-flying-through-the-air-very-fast man. But he is not fast enough.

When the Mayor exhausts his list of superheroes, Brad says, “send for Extremely Boring Man!” Who is (yawn) very (snore) boring… and Dad thinks his little ones are fast asleep. “Oh No, we’re Not!” shouts Emily….. they want another chapter.

This is the perfect book for kids who love superheroes - even the less-than-super heroes. Best served on a rainy day with a side order of drawing paper and colored pencils and bath-towel-capes.

Review copy provided by publisher.

Alone Together

Alone Together
by Suzanne Bloom
32 pages; ages 2 - 5
Boyds Mills Press

Who can resist big white fluffy bear? Especially if you're very-talkative fox? I love the opening:
Where's Bear?
     Over there.
Alone?
     Sometimes, Bear likes to be alone.

Yes indeed, sometimes Bear does like to be alone contemplating his navel, spinning his top, enjoying the quiet. That's OK, because Fox is going to join bear so they can both be alone. Except...

... Fox is insatiably curious and wants to know why Bear is alone. Is he sad? mad? lonely? And would he mind terribly if Fox is alone with him? But Fox is .... Fox, and if Bear wanted some quiet alone time - well, let's just say that he should have found an empty page in another book.

What I love about this book: the art. the silliness of it. the universal desire for some quiet space, and the just-as-universal tendency to impose on that quiet space. But most of all, the bond of love between the friends.

Beyond the book: How can you share some quiet time with your friend? Maybe you could sit on a couch together reading books, or one person could read and another person draw. Think of other ways you can share a space but be alone with your own thoughts for awhile, and not be bothered by noise from other people (or TVs or radios or cell phones)

Today we're joining PPBF (perfect picture book Friday), an event in which bloggers share great picture books at Susanna Leonard Hill's site. She keeps an ever-growing list of Perfect Picture Books.  Review copy provided by publisher.

Ziggy's Big Idea

Ziggy's Big Idea
by Ilana Long; Illus. by Rasa Joni
32 pages; ages 5-9
Kar-Ben Publishing, 2014

Morning is Ziggy's favorite time to think up new ideas. He invented a Ziggyball - square, so it won't roll into the street. He invented stilts for his teacher - because the Rebbe is so short. But... they didn't work out so well.

Then one morning Ziggy comes up with an idea for the baker. See, the baker makes wonderful buns, but sometimes they're not quite done in the middle. And Ziggy thinks he's got the solution: get rid of the center.

OK - so maybe this isn't exactly how the bagel came to be, but this is such a fun story, wonderfully illustrated, complete with a bagel recipe at the back an a cool fact about bagels in space.

So, how many kinds of bagels are there, anyway? Here's a list of various flavors I've come across:
Blueberry bagel
Cheddar Cheese bagel
Chocolate Chip bagel
Cinnamon Raisin bagel
Cranberry bagel
Egg bagel
French Toast bagel
Garlic bagel
Jalepeno bagel
Maple syrup bagel
Oat bagel
Onion bagel
Poppyseed bagel
Potato bagel
Pumpernickel bagel
Pumpkin bagel
Rye bagel
Salt bagel
Sesame bagel
Spinach bagel
Sundried Tomato bagel
Wheat bagel

If you've seen other flavors, leave a comment and I'll add them to the list.
And here's the book trailer for Ziggy's Big Idea