PICTURE BOOK - Extra Yarn by Mac Barnett

Illustrated by Jon Klassen
A Caldecott Honor Book

2012 Balzer & Bray

HC $17.99

40 pgs.

Goodreads rating: 4.08 - 13,707 ratings

My rating:  5

Endpapers a darkish sage green

1^st line/s:  "On a cold afternoon, in a cold little town, where everywhere you looked was either the white of snow or the black of soot from chimneys, Annabelle found a box filled with yarn of every color."

My comments:  Start with a great story....about yarn! ....and knitting! ... and doing for others! ... add great illustrations ... make the protagonist a YARNBOMBER! ... and you have one happy knitter/reader/picture book enthusiast .... me!    I've read this over and over, but this is the first time I've written about it.  I think I'll take it to my "stitcher's group" next week and read it aloud to them.  Good idea, huh?

Goodreads:  This looks like an ordinary box full of ordinary yarn.

But it turns out it isn't.

PICTURE BOOK - This Is Not My Hat by Jon Klassen

Illustrated by the author

2012 Candlewick

HC $15.99

32 pgs.

Goodreads rating: 4.20

My rating: 4

Endpapers:  The thick undergrowth of the ocean, seen in the last six-or-so pages (and shown below).

2012 CALDECOTT AWARD

1^st line/s:  "This hat is not mine.
                   I just stole it.
                   I stole it from a big fish."

My comments:  Wonderful illustrations - all underwater where it's BLACK - everything else is in grays, browns, beiges, and whites.  Well-earned Caldecott Award!  And such a fun, clever story.  A good one to read aloud to my class and have them write about what happened in the thick undergrowth, where the reader could not see the action.  All sorts of shenanigans could have gone on in there!

Goodreads:  When a tiny fish shoots into view wearing a round blue topper (which happens to fit him perfectly), trouble could be following close behind. So it's a good thing that enormous fish won't wake up. And even if he does, it's not like he'll ever know what happened...
Visual humor swims to the fore as the best-selling Jon Klassenfollows his breakout debut with another deadpan-funny tale.