PICTURE BOOK - Maya's Blanket / La Manta de Maya by Monica Brown

Illustrated by David Diaz

2015 Children's Book Press (Lee & Low Books\
$17.95 HC
24 pgs.

Goodreads rating:  4.1 - 124 ratings

My rating: 5

Endpapers:  Dark aqua fabric with "stitched" purple butterflies

Illustrations:  Bright and dark, completely filling the page with no white!  Heaven!

1^st line/s: "Little Maya Morales had a special manta that she loved very much."

My comments:  Another extra-special picture book to love.  And when it starts out with a quilt (or a blanket or manta in this case) made by a child's loving grandmother (abuelita), is bilingual, and is also illustrated by the incredible David Diaz....well, need I say more?  The rich illustrations that spread completely across the page from edge to edge in deep purples, greens, aquas, are wonderful.  The story, based on the Jewish folktale about Joseph and his overcoat, if great fun with repetition that isn't boring.  And in these days of recycling, re-purposing, and DIY, this "hidden" theme takes on new importance. Two thumbs up!

Goodreads:  Little Maya has a special blanket that Grandma stitched with her own two hands. As Maya grows, her blanket becomes worn and frayed, so with Grandma s help, Maya makes it into a dress. Over time the dress is made into a skirt, a shawl, a scarf, a hair ribbon, and finally, a bookmark. Each item has special, magical, meaning for Maya; it animates her adventures, protects her, or helps her in some way. But when Maya loses her bookmark, she preserves her memories by creating a book about her adventures and love of these items. When Maya grows up, she shares her book Maya s Blanket/La manta de Maya with her own little daughter while snuggled under her own special blanket. Inspired by the traditional Yiddish folk song Hob Ikh Mir a Mantl ( I Had a Little Coat ), this delightful bilingual picture book puts a child-focused, Latino spin on the tale of an item that is made into smaller and smaller items. Maya s Blanket/La manta de Maya charmingly brings to life this celebration creativity, recycling, and enduring family love."

The Twelve Days of Springtime - Deborah Lee Rose

A School Counting Book
illustrated by Carey Armstrong-Ellis
2009, Abrams Books for Young Readers
32 pages
$15.95
Endpapers:  Lime/springtime green
Title Page:  Colorful, four of the students outside playing just after a rain shower

"On the first day of springtime, my teacher gave to me . .
. . . a garden to water carefully."

There are eight kids in the class, each with their own separate personalities.  Their outfits and activities change as each day passes.  The teacher's facial expressions are great - they always react to what the kids are doing.  We watch a couple of aquariums in the classroom change as the days pass, one with caterpillars, the others with tadpoles.  There's so much to see in each illustrations, Ella and I poured over each one.

At the back, the artist described how she created the illustrations, first sketching, then outlining in pen and ink, then painting with gouache and detailing with colored pencils.  Very cool book.

The Mangrove Tree - Susan L. Roth & Cindy Trumbore

Planting Trees to Feed Families
collages by Susan L. Roth
2011 Lee & Low Books, Inc.
32 pgs.
endpapers:  collage of Eritrean countryside/seaside
title page:  collage papers with one mangrove tree
illustrations:  collages of lovely textured papers with one big photo (of Dr. Gordon Sato)

"By the Red Sea,
in the African country of Eritrea,
lies a little village called Hargigo.
The children play in the dust
between houses made of cloth,
tin cans, and flattened iron.
The families used to be hungry.
Their animals were hungry too.
But then things began to change . . .
all because of a tree."

Scientist Dr. Gordon Sato planted mangrove trees on the shores of the Red Sea, because they survive in a very salty environment. He taught the women of the villages to fertilize and grow them.  Goats and sheep thrive on eating the leaves, so the animals flourished.  Dry mangrove tree branches make great fuel, there's more meat to cook and milk to drink, and the roots of the plants harbor sea creatures, so that fishermen are finding their hauls more plentiful.  What a wonderful collaboration!

"This is Gordon
Whose greatet wish

Is to help all the fishermen
Catching their fish,
To help all the children
With dusty feet,
To help all the shepherds
Who watch goats and sheep,
To help all the women
Who tend the seedlings ---
By planting trees,
Mangrove trees,
By the sea."

Plant a Mangrove Tree -- Feed a Family
The Manzanar Project
P. O. Box. 98
Gloucester, MA   01931

Love it!  Ella says, "I liked the book because it told how the mangrove tree could help families in Africa."

Flora's Very Windy Day - Jeanne Birdsall

Illustrated by Matt Phelan
Clarion Books, 2010
$16.00
32 pages
Rating: 4
Endpapers: a great lavender/lilac

These are great illustrations. Outlined minimally in ink, then watercolored and pasteled, Matt Phelan puts such movement into his pictures. I love Crispin's hat, its long tassel flying out behind him. It amazes me how an artist can flick a line of black onto paper and create expression on a face, a movement of the wind...

Flora's little brother Crispin is driving her crazy. It's a windy autumn day, and their mother shoos them outside for some fresh air. Although Crispin's driving her crazy she doesn't complain , but she is glad her mother puts on his regular boots while she has her "super-special heavy-duty red boots" which will keep her safely anchored to the ground. But when a great gust of wind scoops us Crispin, Flora kicks off her boots to go after him - to save him.

This is a cute story about young siblings and the idea that no matter how crazy they might drive one another, they're still brother and sister. A I read, I thought about sharing the story with Ella who now has a baby brother. I wonder if the idea of the wind picking her up and flying her into the sky - through the clouds and all the way to the moon - might scare her just a bit. I've looked for a mention of this possibility in other reviews, and found some really interesting ones. (Boy, there are some great blogs and bloggers out there.)

Here are a few of those reviews: Kids Lit, The Washington Post, Katie's Literature Lounge (includes an activity), Brimful Curiosities (includes a spinning flyer and other books about the wind!), and Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast, which includes an interview with Jeanne Birdsall.

Matt Phelan's Website
Jeanne Birdsall's Website
(I copied this idea from a blog I read today. It's a good one. I'm bad.)

We Planted a Tree - Diane Muldrow

Illustrated by Bob Staake
A Golden Book (Random House) 2010
$17.99
32 pages
Rating: 4.5
Endpapers: white with stick ad circle trees of different colors

Quote on the copyright page: "When we plant trees, we plant the seeds of peace and seeds of hope." -- Dr. Wangari Maathai, 2004 Nobel Peace Prize laureate

Two families plant trees - one in a city (very close to a major bridge) and one in a desert habitat in a very different part of the world. These two families reappear throughout the book as we see trees growing all over the world - Japan, Paris, New England, Central Park, Africa - and watch the families change and grow as the trees do.

The illustrations are cool, somewhat cartoonish and filled with hints of the setting...great to examine closely.

Excellent book.

Mama, Is It Summer Yet? - Nikki McClure

Abrams Books for Young Readers, 2010
$17.95
32 pages
Rating: 4
Endpapers: Red with white strawberry vine paper cuts

Two page spreads
Left page: solid color with the words, "Mama, is it summer yet?"
Right page: A black & white cut paper illustration on pale yellow.
Then, two pages with the simple response. For example:

"Not yet, my little one.
But the buds are swelling.
Soon new leaves will unfold."

The illustrations are black and white cut paper on a pale yellow with accents of the solid color from the previous page. They tie together beautifully and are quite lovely. I love the look.

Every four pages become a different color - green, brown, purple, yellow, pink, and then red when summer finally arrives. The book is simple and beautiful.

Lousy, Rotten, Stinkin' Grapes - Margie Palatini

Illustrated by Barry Moser
Simon & Schuster, 2009
$15.99
32 pgs.
Endpapers: Grape-purple
Attractive cover

This retellling of the famous Aesop Fable "Sour Grapes" stars the wily fox PLUS a bear, a beaver, a porcupine, and a possum. Fox plans and plans, but his attempts to reach the grapes high in a tree (are the vines using the branches to twine around?) are futile. He interrups each of the animals as they are about to share a much easier way to reach the grapes, because he feels he is much more wily and sly than them. Wrong....of course.

The illustrations are lovely: Barry Moser.....need I say more? The story is a little repetetive and drawn out for me, but I think young kids would, for the most part, enjoy the repetition. A nice addition to an Aesop collection....but not vital.

Ocean's Child - Christine Ford & Trish Holland

Illustrated by David Diaz
Golden Books/Random House
2009
$15.99
Rating: 4.5
Endpapers: Aqua/lavender batik

This gentle bedtime, good-night story is swathed in batik. The backgrounds (from edge of the page to edge of the page) are batiked. Some of the animals are batiked. Batik is a special kind of fabric created with wax resist. It's my favorite fabric - it's beautiful.

Each two-page spread ends with a similar soft chant. For example:

Safe and snug in his leafy bed,
Baby otter is rocked to sleep.
To ocean's child we say good night.
Good night, little otter, good night.

In this way we also say good night to walrus, dolphin, whale, polar bear, puffin, sea lion, orca, albatross, seal....baby and child.

Mmmmmm. A lovely bedtime book.