A Book a Day

I Spy Fly Guy!

2012-02-10T22:50:00.000-08:00

I don’t find many books for first readers to be charming. Dull and sincere come to mind. Authors are certainly limited by vocabulary choice, and sure dogs and cats are great friends, but there are other choices out there. For example, there is Fly Guy.

Yes, there is a little boy with a pet fly. The boy’s name is Buzz -- Fly Guy has no trouble saying his name. The two of them are great friends and they even look alike with their matching googly eyes.

In I Spy Fly Guy! the drama unfolds around Fly Guy getting lost at the dump. How will Buzz ever find his pet in the fly equivalent of Times Square on New Year’s Eve? The books are sweet and funny and have personality to spare. When we spy Fly Guy on the shelf, we take him home with us.

Our Tree Named Steve

2012-02-09T22:09:00.000-08:00

What’s not to love about a giant tree that holds your swing, your underwear, your hammock and your paper lanterns. This love letter to a tree named Steve is permeated with the warmth of home and family from the shady vantage point of their frontyard tree.

The household of five moves in when the children are young, and the tree is a focal point of their childhood and family life until the final storm. As I’ve mentioned in an earlier blog, I can’t get through this book without crying. Each time I read the line “…this time we couldn’t save him.” I choke up. The book is written as a letter from the father to the children explaining that when they come home from Grandma’s, Steve won’t be there.

David Caltrow’s illustrations in this book are saturated with a green light that says sun filtered through Steve. But one of my favorites is a nighttime scene of mom and dad dancing in the lantern-lit evening as the kid’s peek out from their tent beneath the tree.

Though things end sadly for Steve, it’s not for any lack of love or appreciation. Sometimes things just happen.

The Flying Bed

2012-02-08T22:32:00.000-08:00

And now for something completely different. It’s much longer than the average picture book, it’s fantastical and a wee bit frightening. The Flying Bed tells the story of a down-on-his-luck Florentine baker and his wife whose new bed soars to life at night and helps secure their fortune. As in all good fairy tales, there’s a promise to be kept and if that promise is broken, the consequences severe.

The paintings in this book are fantastic – the tiled rooftops, the bridges over the Arno, the sumptuous pastries, the ornate bed flying over misty hillsides. They are to be savored like the fragrance of the baking bread.

This would be a perfect book to read on a rainy day, waiting for the next batch to come out of the oven.

Chicka Chicka Boom Boom

2012-02-07T21:09:00.000-08:00

I’m not a big fan of alphabet books; how many novel ways are there to present letters that are truly interesting to kids? Which is why I think Chicka Chicka Boom Boom is brilliant. Yes, it’s an alphabet book, but these letters have pizazz. They are on a mission to climb to the top of the coconut tree.

They end up – yes the letters – with stubbed toes and skinned knees in terrific verse and bright and bold graphics.

This book is zingy and zippy. The YR summed it up nicely, “Chicka Chicka Kaboom!”

Chimp and Zee

2012-02-06T22:24:00.000-08:00

The map of Jungletown in Chimp and Zee would sell any pint-sized explorer on their adventure. Follow the mischievous monkeys down the river in the banana basket and see where they end up.

If only they would listen to Mumkey and not monkey around! But then what fun would that be.

With catchy repeats, “Up popped Chimp, up popped Zee!” this book is fun to read and even more fun to look at with its vibrant colors, pictures of jungle animals selling goods in the market, and wonderful monkey treehouse.

Half a World Away

2012-02-05T21:29:00.000-08:00

Half a World Away packs a lot into a brief and bittersweet story of two very young friends separated by a move. Amy and Louie build towers as high as the sky, they beckon each other with a special call, and cross rooms or climb through fences to be together.

In reading this book, you hope that every child has that wonderful experience of special friendship. And when that friendship must end, you ache for their special bond as Amy moves away.

The illustrations are great contrasting that magical world of early childhood when the children are together with the vast indifference of the world that separates them when they are apart. The splashes of red that unite them – stripes in Amy’s stockings and Louie’s bibbed shorts – are a hopeful touch in the grey and brown grownup world. And though there is no happy reunion, there is a remembering.

Stormy’s Hat

2012-02-03T20:28:00.000-08:00

I like a tale of historical fiction and Stormy’s Hat is a great one for kids. It’s the story of the husband and wife team that came up with the first railroad cap – the ubiquitous blue and white striped hat with the pouf on top.

In the book, Stormy tries out a host of hats his friends recommend, finding each has its own set of problems – the pressman’s paper cap catches fire from sparks, the fireman’s leather hat proves heavy and hot. When Stormy finally settles down and talks to his wife Ida, she designs the perfect hat for him. Others on the railroad eventually clamor for one of their own. The rest, as they say, is history.

Kimmel’s engaging enactment of the origin of the railroad man’s cap is accompanied perfectly by U’Ren’s cheerful illustrations of rosy-cheeked Ida and an oft-perplexed Stormy. They’re a great couple, particularly after Ida admonishes Stormy to listen to what she has to say – that if he would just talk to her like he’s been talking to his friends she could help. And she does.

Bad Bear Detectives

2012-02-02T20:36:00.000-08:00

Bad Bear Detectives is a bit of a peculiar book with two rogue polar bears on the hunt for the thief of a load of Italian blueberry muffins (see what I mean about peculiar). If you enjoy quirks and characters, you’ll be sure to fall for Irving and Muktuk even if they are “not to be trusted.”

I’m also a fan of Captain Hare who arrives on the scene with a lively, “Paws up … You are suspected!” The book is full of great lines like this from author Daniel Pinkwater.

Illustrator Jill Pinkwater gives the captain the air of a bunny that’s been around the block, while her Irving and Muktuk done in shaggy outlines almost appear as cutouts placed on the colorful backgrounds.

I’d be remiss not to mention that this is just one of a series of Irving and Muktuk adventures. I’m also a big fan of Irving and Muktuk: Two Bad Bears in which they try disguising themselves in a series of costumes to get at their heart’s desire … more muffins of course!

How I Learned Geography

2012-02-01T19:32:00.000-08:00

The YR’s face lit up when he saw the cover of How I Learned Geography again. Though there’s a sad element to the book with the boy and his family having to flee their home and go hungry, that’s not what the YR recalled. He remembered the wonder of the map and the boy whose imagination let him soar.

This is just such a terrific tale on so many levels. How rich can come from more than money in a bank. How we feed ourselves with more than just food on a plate. How it’s possible to transform the bleak with color and courage – in the father’s case – to make an unpopular decision because you know that in the end it will turn out right.

Ugly Fish

2012-01-31T22:59:00.000-08:00

It’s a fish-eat-fish kind of world out there and if you don’t believe me, pick up a copy of Ugly Fish. This book is hilarious. The pictures are funny, the dialogue is funny, and the plot is funny.

It’s short, but it sure ain’t sweet, which is what makes it so wonderful. After gobbling up all his prospective playmates, Ugly Fish is feeling a little lonely. He regrets his hastiness. He’s thrilled when the blimp-sized Shiny Fish shows up in his tank.

Ugly Fish is about to find out that what goes around comes around.

The Birthday Presents

2012-01-30T21:53:00.000-08:00

I love this tale of friendship that highlights good intentions. The humor in this book is a little more sophisticated, but kids will like it even if they don’t quite get it the first time around.

Thinking about Rabbit asleep in a dark burrow, Hedgehog tries to capture moonlit water in a bottle as a birthday present for his poor buddy. In the brilliant daylight, Rabbit considers how awful it must be for his nocturnal friend the hedgehog to sleep in the bright and wide open field. He packs Hedgehog a tin of coziness.

Neither gift has the expected result, but the unexpected consequences are even better.

The two critters are very appealing, and they are definitely center stage. The illustrator sticks to a very earthy palette during the day scenes and a great blue-hued night. The YR was particularly fond of the images of Rabbit’s burrow, but then again who doesn’t like a good burrow?

Tom the Tamer

2012-01-29T21:30:00.000-08:00

Tom the Tamer is a great topsy-turvy story where the child tricks his father into getting over his fear of the outdoors and the living things that populate it. Not only does Tom help his dad, he gains a welcome audience and companion.

There is one scene in this book that cinched it for me. Let me set the stage. Tom has tamed squirrels to fly on a trapeze and taught snails to use a trampoline, but his father won’t come outside to see the show. Tom learns to be very sneaky in introducing still life (and I do mean life) performance art into the house. The YR quite agreed with my favorite thinking it was pretty hilarious to have the grownup unknowingly relax in a polar bear chair.

“It’s a little bit furry,” said Tom’s father. “Other chairs aren’t half as furry.”
“That’s why this chair is so much nicer,” said Tom. “Try it!”

The illustrations are terrific with a soft wash of colors and loose drawings of classic elements like a playroom with a cozy fireplace, three window seats and the comfy new chair, or the barrel under the rainspout in the exterior view.

I’d like to spend more time with Tom, and luckily by the end of the book, so does his father!

Sometimes I Like to Curl up in a Ball

2012-01-28T21:11:00.000-08:00

For a blend of rhyme and illustrations that cannot fail to appeal to the youngest of the YRs, get yourself of a copy of Sometimes I Like to Curl up in a Ball.

The little wombat is exceedingly cute and he is accompanied by a host of other friends from down under. The images have a wonderful clarity and the verse is simple and simply delightful.

This little guy is your toddler personified, getting messy, screaming loud and jumping as high as he can. Rest assured, when he finally runs out of steam he will return home where its “cozy and small” to curl up with his mother in a snuggly ball.

I Stink

2012-01-27T21:10:00.000-08:00

In the early years, there were very few books read repeatedly. I can count on one hand the number of books that I could quote from page after page. This is one of those books.

I Stink!

“Whooo-whee do I ever!” Follow this garbage truck on his rounds through the city while he picks up an alphabet soup full of trash including ugly underpants and zipped up ziti with zucchini. Watch him mash it, smash it and plop it onto a barge.

The muddy colors and, I’m no art critic, messy drawings emphasize that we’re talking about trash – trash and a trash-talking (though not too nasty) garbage truck.

I would also be remiss not to mention several other McMullan books in this vein, including I’m Bad! This tale features a young dinosaur who keeps getting foiled in his attempt to secure a four-legged meal.

These funny and feisty characters appeal to kids and adults alike, and are absolutely best read out loud. Who could resist adding their own spin to a line like, “Without me? You’re on Mount-Trash-o-Rama, baby!”

Winter Is the Warmest Season

2012-01-26T22:17:00.000-08:00

Winter Is the Warmest Season is a cozy fire and steaming cup of cocoa of a book. The child in the book presents perfect logic as to why he believes winter is the warmest season from puffy jackets and fuzzy boots to animals burrowed in dens deep below the snow cover.

The illustrations are perfectly matched with the sentiment in their rich colors of deep pinks, turquoise, orange and cobalt blue, and bold shapes and strokes.

The juxtaposition of winter and warm is very appealing to a child – they get the humor in this wink to reason. For extra fun, argue against the boy’s assertion and listen to your child jump to his defense.

***

On the artist's website, she has a teacher's guide with great discussion questions. This is an activity from the guide that seemed like fun: Draw a picture of a house, tree or school four different times but change the season in each portrait. What details will you add? Why? What colors will you change?

Bear Snores On

2012-01-25T21:01:00.000-08:00

Bear Snores On is adorable. It’s a fun story of a bunch of little woodland critters making themselves at home in a bear’s cave while he sleeps through the party. There’s an amusing turn of events when the bear finally wakes up. Is he a tough, scary brute, or really a disappointed marshmallow?

The illustrations of bear with his newfound friends are cozy and loving without being saccharine. These animals are cute, but on the more realistically drawn end of the spectrum versus the stuffed animal look. The illustrator doesn’t crowd the images rather focuses on the animals, their poses and expressions; she varies this intimacy with views of the lair in the forest like the two-page spread of the snowstorm, the glowing entrance to bear’s lair, and the black silhouettes of animals dancing.

The wonderful pictures are accompanied by verse that is tight and spot on:

Mouse squeaks, “Too damp,
too dank, too dark.”
So he lights wee twigs
With a small, hot spark.

There are several sequels to this great picture book, but you’ll have to wait until December to read about my favorite. (Did I just give it away?)

Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening

2012-01-24T23:48:00.000-08:00

I’m not saying it’s an original choice, but Robert Frost’s Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening is one of my favorite poems. Combine that with Susan Jeffers’ terrific illustrations and you get a picture book that will hopefully stir something within your child.

Jeffers’ story within a story depicts the sleigh driver leaving a bundle of food for the forest animals and finally driving off into a whiteout. The pictures are a delicate black and white with a soft splash of color in the driver’s coat and scarf. Their delicacy goes nicely with the haunting words.

There are several poems or songs that I think work really well as picture books and this is one of them. Of course, how can you go wrong with lines like:

The woods are lovely, dark and deep,
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.

The Snowy Day

2012-01-23T21:47:00.000-08:00

I attended a writer’s conference session a few years ago in which an editor presented 10 of her favorite picture books. She went through the list and some I knew, while others were unfamiliar. She then announced, “The Snowy Day.” Never heard of it, I thought (remember this was before I became a parent when I read solely for my own pleasure). Then she held it up.

The boy in the red snowsuit with the pointy hood! Of course I knew The Snowy Day. Who could forget the little boy’s journey into the snow – making tracks, sliding down hills and whacking trees? Who could forget those beautiful illustrations and their use of color, pattern and form to serve up buildings, gingham and bedposts?

The mother makes a cameo on one page, which is a wonderful expression of parenting as he recounts his adventures while she helps him with his wet socks. But it’s truly a boy’s adventure – reinforced by that final image of him and his friend framed by two enormous mounds as “they went out together into the deep, deep snow.”

The Big Snow

2012-01-22T20:53:00.000-08:00

In keeping with yesterday’s winter theme, today I’m going to talk about a classic: The Big Snow. There’s no complicated plot here just a story of the woodland creatures reading the signs that winter is coming and preparing themselves for the long, difficult months ahead.

I’m a sucker for forest animals, and the illustrations in this book are beautifully done from the tones of the ring-necked pheasant to the black and white elegance of lacy snowflakes and a scampering squirrel.

It’s not fast-paced or funny, rather a sweet story – especially when the little old man and little old lady in the stone house put out food all winter long for the animals during the long cold winter. I learn a little from reading this book about which animals hibernate and what birds might not fly south, but more importantly it makes me feel the miracle of the changing seasons.

The Missing Mitten Mystery

2012-01-21T23:03:00.000-08:00

With winter weather hitting much of the country in the past week, it seems perfect timing for The Missing Mitten Mystery. This fun romp over snow-covered hills and valleys has a little girl retracing her steps from a day of play. Annie finds her friends’ sweater, boots and sock, but not her own red mitten.

The fun kicks into high gear when she imagines what could have happened to her mitten and how nice it would be to grow and harvest a crop from a mitten tree. I particularly like the mix of illustrations in this book from the colorful and happy mitten tree to the panorama of indigo-tinged snowy hills under the setting sun.

Though we don’t have much call for mittens in San Diego, any kid can appreciate the trail of lost items. That bin at school is full after the first week of class! But that’s not where the mitten shows up – the eventual unveiling is much more heartfelt.

Imagine a Day

2012-01-21T00:03:00.000-08:00

Imagine a Day is a book that could have been done without words as Rob Gonsalves’ stunning paintings are the centerpiece. Are you walking a picket fence or taking unimaginable risks high above the town, swinging or soaring? That said, Sarah Thomson has done the images justice with her beautiful words.

imagine a day . . .. . . when the peace of a forest
and the strength of a mountain
become a cathedral
for your heart.

Living in California, the pictures in the book make me long for the East Coast with its red brick houses, leafy streets and copper roofs oxidized to a distinctive green. There’s a longing stirred for more than location though – adventure, magic, super powers and mystery are among other secret heart desires imagined in these days.

Steal Back the Mona Lisa

2012-01-19T22:45:00.000-08:00

With crooked crooks, cool gadgets and exotic locales, Steal Back the Mona Lisa has to be one of our all-time favorites.

Jack’s just a kid, but he has a mission. Steal back the Mona Lisa from the crooks who have taken it from the Louvre. Crooks who end up piloting his plane, spiking his drink, and making him wear the most foolish of mustaches.

The images are charming with their pop-eyed people, cliché costumes (trench coat for Jack and stripes for the crooks), and simple renderings of classic landmarks. I love Meghan McCarthy’s illustrations and have definitely sought out her other books of true (or at least a kernel of truth in the Mona Lisa case) stories rendered in her distinctive style. The young reader enjoyed her version of Balto so much that he named a stuffed bear Balto, and I’m looking forward to reading McCarthy’s Seabiscuit together this weekend. Or am I?

Scaredy Squirrel

2012-01-18T23:03:00.000-08:00

Scaredy Squirrel is one of the cutest darn critters that’s come around since Winnie the Pooh. The infamous bear’s Achilles’ heel was a pot of hunny, while Scaredy Squirrel’s is the fear of the unknown and tarantulas and poison ivy and sharks …

Well strap on your emergency kit with your child and prepare for the worst only to discover hidden secrets (is that an oxymoron?) about yourself.

When I first read this book, I had the sense of a fresh breeze in picturebookland. The clean illustrations and humorous, spare text added to that feel. Find you love Scaredy Squirrel and are sad that it’s over? Not to worry there are now several wonderful sequels.

Life getting too overwhelming? Take Scaredy’s advice and play dead for a couple hours. You’ll come away feeling refreshed, much as you do after reading this book.

Mama Loves

2012-01-17T21:41:00.001-08:00

There’s no story to Mama Loves. It’s a sweet series of illustrations and stanzas describing a mother’s activities with her various children and her favorite things: rivers and rope swings, tin cookie cutters, rain boots and rain hats…

The book is a terrific reminder of the joy in all the little things in life, and as a parent, to slow down and delight in the moment.

The illustrations are warm and cozy, and it’s a great conversation starter with your child regarding which activity would be your favorite. It’s a hard choice, but mine would have to be:

Mama loves
apples in autumn.
Sidewalks and leaves.
Sweaters and pumpkins
and walking
with me.

Otto Grows Down

2012-01-16T21:12:00.001-08:00

We have no sibling rivalry to worry about here, but that’s no barrier to enjoying the story of a boy who wishes his sister away. As time starts going backward, Otto sees a slow undoing of meals, artwork and even what takes place in the bathroom – eew! Luckily Sussman doesn’t go into detail, just planting the thought is enough to capture the young reader.

As Otto slips from five to four to three, his vocabulary diminishes and he tries to repeatedly undo his original wish to no avail. Can he turn back time (or should I say turn forward)? No spoilers here, you’ll have to find out for yourself.

There’s several great “lessons” in this book – be careful what you wish for being one of them – though it just reads like a really, fun tall tale.

Flotsam

2012-01-15T22:10:00.000-08:00

The cover of this book is a little fishy, but don’t be deceived. It’s no simple fish tale. Please take it home and discover the mystery within.

A little boy finds a camera on the beach and runs to get the film developed at a seaside store. He recovers a series of fascinating and fantastical pictures. Wonders of the ocean are revealed along with the camera’s history. With the help of a magnifying glass, he realizes he is not the first child to have found the camera and ensures he will not be the last.

There are no words in this book; they would be superfluous. All the reader needs is an ability to delight in the absurd.

A Train You Never Saw

2012-01-14T22:13:00.000-08:00

I’ll have to admit that A Train You Never Saw grew on me. I wasn’t immediately captured by the words or pictures. It grew on me because someone insisted I read it night after night, and that was rare in our household. My young reader was never someone who requested the same book over and over. In fact, I would get a little pint-sized sneer for suggesting it. “We already read that one.”

I eventually grew fond of the offbeat lines – Hoo-RAY! Hoo-ROO! Hoo-RAH! – then I started to look forward to certain pictures (the rainbow train in the land of ice and snow) and picking which train we’d like to take that night. Then one of our bedtime rituals for awhile was describing what kind of special cars we’d add on to a train.

In our storytime language we'd describe a book of this length as a “shorty,” but it had legs. As did a few of the trains.

Madeline and the Gypsies

2012-01-13T21:32:00.001-08:00

“In an old house in Paris that was covered in vines, lived…” You know the rest. The rhymes are simple and sometimes amusingly shoehorned to fit. The little girl is plucky and the illustrations are Picasso-esque (before he went too abstract).

The question is – which of the Madeline books is your favorite? It’s a close tie for me between Madeline and the Bad Hat and Madeline and the Gypsies. The gypsies win though because of the sheer drama of it all: the storm and crisis on the Ferris wheel, the playing hooky from real life as gypsy kids, the Gypsy Mama and the crystal ball, and most of all, being sewn inside the lion costume. How did the poor kids pee?

I like Bemelmans’ stories, which are a little more edgy than a lot of today’s picture books. How often do you see little boys like the Bad Hat building guillotines for the cook’s chickens? And Madeline’s words to Pepito after he was attacked by the dogs and covered almost completely in bandages, “It serves you right, you horrid brat, for what you did to that poor cat.” Isn’t it great when a heroine doesn’t mince words?

The Wizard

2012-01-12T22:38:00.000-08:00

In many picture books the wizard is kind and bumbling, or if they start out mean something melts them by the end of the tale. Not so in Jack Prelutsky’s The Wizard. This impressive figure high up in his stone tower is regal, rotten and irredeemable.

My young reader loved the incongruity of the broken down medieval tower in the midst of suburbia. The details and quality of the illustrations were terrific – I can still picture the richness of the swirled piece of chalk.

The poem as simple story is fun to say out loud as the wizard transfigures various objects. We found ourselves spouting, “Begone from here!” with glee. So remember, “Should you encounter a toad or lizard, look closely, it may be the work of the wizard.”

Mirette on the High Wire

2012-01-11T21:12:00.001-08:00

Mirette on the High Wire is a tantalizing glimpse into an alternative life that a child shapes for herself. Mirette helps her mother run a boardinghouse that attracts performers of all sorts, including the great Bellini. A former high-wire walker, Bellini has lost his nerve, while Mirette, enchanted with the wire, begins to learn the craft.

She’s an unlikely, uninvited apprentice. Nonetheless, Bellini relents in the face of her determination and starts to teach her the fine points of wire walking. Ultimately, Mirette will help him face his fears while launching her own career.

Details in the images from copper pots to parquet floors and especially the clothing convey Paris in the late 19th century. But it’s Mirette perseverance and passion that make the final impression.

The Pumpkin Blanket

2012-01-10T23:13:00.001-08:00

When Clee is born, a beautiful patchwork quilt appears and no one knows where it came from. The Pumpkin Blanket is her close friend until she comes of age to sacrifice its individual pieces to save the garden pumpkins from a frost.

The paintings in this book of the rural northern landscape are beautiful, from the barren trees to the Northern Lights. I love the way the landscape changes outside Clee’s cozy bedroom window while she snuggles and plays under her quilt of rich roses, brilliant sun and sunflowers, and changing skies.

The text also helps to paint the story, “The stars sewed the pieces of Clee’s blanket back together with pin-prick threads.” This is a bittersweet tale reminding me of the lyrics to The Byrd’s song, “There is a season - turn, turn, turn.”

The Searcher and Old Tree

2012-01-09T21:17:00.001-08:00

As previously stated, we’re partial to raccoons in this family so The Searcher and Old Tree combined two of our favorite things: raccoons and trees. This is a sweet simple tale of a raccoon kept safe while a storm rages. He sleeps through the savage wind, rain and lightning while Old Tree, steadfast and strong protects him.

The quizzical look on the raccoon’s face the next morning as he views the aftermath of the storm, including his friend’s broken branches, is wonderfully expressive. And unlike Our Tree Named Steve, the tree makes it through (more on that terrific story in a future blog).

While all the books I talk about in the blog are ones we really like, I have to say the young reader and I love The Searcher and Old Tree. I should also mention that David McPhail has numerous other picture books, including The Teddy Bear, during which I may have cried even harder than while reading Our Tree Named Steve.

Space Station Mars

2012-01-08T22:04:00.000-08:00

Oh what a joy to be a boy. The Clubhouse books are set in retro time when mom was home with the baby and family vacations involved many children jammed into a station wagon.

Space Station Mars is our favorite tale of Danny, his brothers Mike and Bobby, and their gang of friends. I love the dorky space helmets made out of cardboard boxes and the dorky visiting kid with the radio in the oatmeal can who joins the gang in their search for extraterrestrial life. And the grand finale with the painters/aliens and rock was quite exciting for the young reader.

These books make you wish you still had a clubhouse somewhere with broken chairs and a stub of a candle. They also make you wish that there were still neighborhoods where kids played outdoors in unsupervised fits of imagination and adventure.

In the Night Kitchen

2012-01-07T18:42:00.001-08:00

There’s something weird and wonderful about In the Night Kitchen, a young boy’s dream of saving the morning cake by flying in a bread dough plane into the Milky Way for … milk, of course!

When I saw the images of giant beaters and baking supplies that make up the skyline, I immediately knew that I had seen and loved this book as a kid. There are very few books that I can say that about (another being the little boy in the pointy headed, red snowsuit – I’ll talk about that one another day).

Everyone knows Maurice Sendak’s Where the Wild Things Are, and it’s also a brilliant, night-time dream of another world. You knew the but was coming though, but there’s something about the inky sky of the night kitchen and the weird triplet bakers that really captured my imagination as a child, adult and mother.

Note: The YR picked Wild Things as his favorite between the two, “Because it’s all foresty and cool, and his bedroom turns into a forest … jungle!”

Press Here

2012-01-06T22:06:00.000-08:00

I couldn't pass Press Here by at the American Library Association annual conference. I had already “spotted” it and been enchanted, when I revisited. The woman beside me remarked that she thought there would be lights or sound if she pressed the yellow spot. She missed the “point”!

The beauty of this book is that it’s people powered – just paper, spots and action. Want to see how it works, you’ll have to get a copy and press here
.

Out of the Ocean

2012-01-05T21:40:00.000-08:00

Many parents know Debra Frasier’s On the Day You Were Born, which is a wonderful book. But for me, her Out of the Ocean is even better. Perhaps because I grew up on an island and went to the beach every summer, it really rings true for me. A simple tale of the expanse of water, sand and sky that is the beach, combined with the magic of discovering what the water will bring to you.

Our beaches are pretty picked over here (though we did find the coconut at Torrey Pines one day!), but I remember as a kid on the East Coast finding colored shards of beach glass. Frasier captures the wonder of that experience, “Green and brown are easy to find, but blue, that’s special, and red, the rarest of all, can make you run all the way home just to show someone you found it.”

There’s a very lyrical quality to the text that works for adults and children. “But my mother, she keeps asking for things that are too big to carry home. Sun. Water. Silver moonlight…”

The images are a terrific blend of bold graphics with strong colors and shapes, and actual photographs of booty from the beach. There’s also a great Ocean Journal at the end of the book that goes into detail about the things you might find such as sea turtle tracks, and plants and trees near Florida’s oceanfront.

We’ve been reading this for years, but the cool thing is that the YR (age 6) can now read it to me.

Those Darn Squirrels and the Cat Next Door

2012-01-04T20:29:00.001-08:00

Great googley-moogley this is a fun book, and not just because you get to say great googley-moogley (and continue to find yourself saying it for days). You also get to jointly proclaim “Those darn squirrels!” at least a handful of times and secretly wonder at where the author came up with the name Fookwire. I think he’s just trying to trip us parents up somewhat like the squirrels.

Those Darn Squirrels and the Cat Next Door is a sequel to the equally pleasing Those Darns Squirrels in which we were first introduced to these rodents who plan capers like the crew from Hogan’s Heroes. Muffins, the evil cat next door, doesn’t stand a chance.

Scrawny Cat

2012-01-03T19:42:00.000-08:00

Our young reader summed up Scrawny Cat perfectly, “It’s happy and sad because the scrawny cat doesn’t have a home and then it does and the girl loves him and its name changes from ‘Get out of here!’ to Skipper.”

The illustrations are beautiful, and even the allergic-to-cats mother of our young reader thought scrawny cat was a pretty sympathetic character (unlike tomorrow’s cat who’ll get what he deserves!). Our YR was able to read this book on his own, albeit with some coercing on the part of his mother as it was longish for him.

I do have a few questions though about the mysterious woman who crashed on the rocks and built a little house there. Was she shipwrecked and unable to get back to the mainland? If so, how did she get all those building supplies or was she a carpenter as well as a sailor?

Dodsworth in ... New York, Rome, Paris, London

2012-01-02T22:01:00.001-08:00

Can I talk about a book a day? A children’s book that is. Let’s find out!

I’m a day late for my first 2012 entry, but I’ll start with a series (so it's really four books) that my age 6 son and I have enjoyed immensely featuring Dodsworth and the duck, duck being the real star (see Q&A with a young reader below). We started out with New York and then moved on to Rome and Paris, and just got the London book. My son can read these though finds them longish so alternate (I read one page, he reads the next) works well for us.

They’re fun for me because I recognize the landmarks from my travels and the stories are engaging, and they’re fun for my son because he knows that duck is going to spice things up. Should duck be allowed to play darts in a London pub? (We all know he likes to throw things.) Definitely not! Should duck be given access to Euros at the top of the Eiffel Tower? Duck is trouble but of a mild and well-intentioned sort. (Unlike some other books where you’re thinking, really? Does the author really want my child to find this ill-mannered and ill-willed character funny?)

Dodsworth is a badger (I think) and the other characters are of a four-legged ilk, with no bearing on the story at all. Lovely pictures and great text-to-picture ratio for beginning readers – also has chapters which is nice if your reader is a little too tired to do the whole book at once.

Q&A with a young reader

Q. Why do you like these books?
A. Because the duck.

Q. What about the duck?
A. Because he's funny.

***

Frazier had, “I’m listening.” So I’ll try to figure out a tagline of my own.

You are the custodian of your child’s imagination. Let’s get messy! (Okay, not that one…)