Picture Book - Together We Grow by Susan Vaught

Illustrated by Kelly Murphy
Endpapers:  Front:  storm coming as animals head to the barn

                     Back:  Outside after the storm with clear skies

2020 Paula Wiseman/Simon & Schuster

HC $17.99

32 pgs.

Goodreads rating:   3.79 - 284 ratings

My rating:  4

1^st line/s:  "Lightning gash!  Windy lash!"

My comments:  Great illustrations, wonderful message, "meh" rhyming text. This might have been more fun as a wordless book (sorry Ms. Vaught...)  And a family of foxes are the protagonists!

Goodreads:  From award-winning novelist Susan Vaught comes a poignant picture book that celebrates inclusivity, acceptance, and the importance of rebuilding a community in the wake of disaster.

Lightning gash!
Windy lash!

A storm drives all the farm animals indoors except for a lonely fox family. The barn isn’t their home. But where will they go for safety?

This stunning picture books explores themes of acceptance and belonging:
Large or small,
Short and tall,
There is room,
There is room,
There is room
For us all.

Picture Book - Cyril and Pat by Emily Gravett

Illustrated by the author

2018, Great Britain Simon & Schuster

HC $17.99

32 pgs.

Goodreads rating:  

My rating:  5
Endpapers: solid bright yellow

1^st line/s:  "Lake Park only had one squirrel,
all alone and sad (poor Cyril).
Until the morning he met Pat,
his new best friend, a big gray ..."

My comments:Great story and great illustrations!!  Written mostly in sets of couplets and full of humor with lots to look at in each illustration.  And what a great message - you can be friends with ANYONE!!!

Goodreads:  Cyril is the only squirrel in Lake Park, and he's very lonely. Until one day he meets Pat – Pat the big, grey . . . other squirrel. Cyril and Pat have lots of adventures and fun together and Cyril is so pleased he's made a friend. But everyone is adamant that Cyril and Pat simply cannot be friends, and they soon reveal why: Pat, as the reader has known all along, is actually a RAT!
          But Cyril's life turns out to be a lot duller and quite a bit scarier without Pat by his side, and in the end the two friends learn that some things are more important than being the same, or listening to others.          Cyril and Pat is a richly colourful, rhyming romp through the park from the CILIP Kate Greenaway Medal-winning Emily Gravett. 

Picture Book - Pippa's Passover Plate by Vivian Kirkfield

Illustrated by Jill Weber

2019, Holiday House

HC $17.99

32 pgs.

Goodreads rating:  4.26 - 87 ratings

My rating:  3
Endpapers:  simple line drawings of Passover and Jewish-related items (red on peach)

1^st line/s:  'Hurry, scurry, Pippa Mouse, .
washing, scrubbing, cleaning house.
Passover starts at six tonight,
Seder meal by candlelight."

My comments:  The story is cute, rhyming, and fun!  But other than cleaning the house and talking about the Seder plate in general, the book tells nothing more of Passover.  It's written for very young kids, but even for Jewish kids, there's not very much about Passover or even why you'd need a seder plate.  And I have one huge unsolved question - how did the Seder plate get in the water?
     I also love the alliteration of the book title!

Goodreads:   An irresistibly adorable mouse tries to find her Passover plate before sundown when the Seder begins in this colorful Jewish holiday story.
          An enchanting mouse scours her cozy, miniature home for her Passover Seder plate with no luck. Sundown is near and the Passover celebration will begin soon. Pippa Mouse must venture out and be brave to ask a cat, a snake, and an owl for help. To her surprise not only are the animals helpful in tracing her plate to the pond, they become her Passover Seder guests. A spread at the end of the book shows the Passover plate with its six essential symbolic items: zeroah (a roasted bone), beitzah, (an egg), maror and charoset (bitter herbs), chazeret (mortar or paste), and karpas (a spring vegetable). 

Picture Book - A Camping Spree with Mr. Magee by Chris VanDusen

Illustrated by the author

2003, Chronicle Books, San Francisco

28 pgs.

Goodreads rating:  4.36 - 1055 ratings

My rating:  5!!!!

1^st line/s:  “Early one morning at 7:03,

     Mr. Magee and his little dog, Dee,

Packed up the camper and hitched up the load.

     Hopped in the Rambler and then hit the road.

They drove to the mountains, far from the sea,

      For two nights of camping (or possibly three).”

My comments: Perhaps I love this VanDusen as much as Circus Ship (which has been my all-time favorite for the past couple of years).  Great, funny story, rhyming BRILLIANTLY, with just the coolest illustrations ever.  SO Maine!  I couldn’t love a picture book more!  Full of adventure and humor, a bear, trying to get at the yummy marshmallows, disconnects the camping trailer from the car and down the  hill the camper plunders…into the river and towards a waterfall!

Goodreads:  Mr. Magee and his trusty dog, Dee, are enjoying a peaceful camping trip when all of a sudden they find themselves plunging down a mountain and teetering on the edge of a huge waterfall! How will they find their way out of this slippery situation? Chris Van Dusen, the creator of Down to the Sea with Mr. Magee, has filled this new adventure with charming illustrations and a playful, rhyming text. A fun read-aloud for children (and adults!) on campouts or snuggling at home!

PICTURE BOOK - The Little Chapel That Stoody by A. B. Curtiss

Illustrated by Mirto Golino

2003, Old Castle Publilshing, Escondido, CA

out-of-print but still available used
available at Bosler Library

32 pgs.

Goodreads rating:  4.56 - 121 ratings

My rating:  4

  

1^st line/s:  
"Around the Chapel
     of Old St. Paul
Blow the dancing leaves
     of the coming Fall.
In the morning breeze
     they leap and fly
Beneath the towers
     that scrape the sky."

My comments:  So perfect for middle grades, this summarizing of the events of 9/11, in rhyming poetic form, is a nice addition to 3rd - 5th grade classrooms.The rhyming is quite clever and hardly ever seems forced, the illustrations are beautiful, and the pre-history as well as the events that accompany this hard-to-discuss-with-kids day are all very good.

Goodreads:  Beautifully illustrated book tells of the historic chapel less than 100 yards from the Twin Towers that miraculously survived on 9-11. Firemen hung their shoes on the fence and raced to help the people in the towers: Oh what gallant men did we lose/Who never came back to get their shoes. The story of terror overcome by courage and bravery that teaches us no one is too small to make a difference.

Christmas Storytime at the Library

I read three books aloud to preschoolers today, I chose ones with three different animals as protagonists. Then we glued sequins for ornaments, drew garlands with glitter crayons, and topped the pre-cut green construction paper tree with a sticky star.  Very cute, and manageable for little hands.  I had eight books to choose from and the ones I chose were big hits:

Merry Christmas, Merry Crow
by Kathi Appelt
Illustrated by Jon Goodell
2005, Harcourt, Inc.

     "Wind's a blowin'
Sky's a snowin'
     Where's this feathered
               fellow goin'?"

The crow glides through each double-page spread, collecting all sorts of tinsel and trinkets he finds laying around, to decorate a tree for all his flying friends.  Gorgeously illustrated, with no white edges (I love edge-of-page to edge-of-page illustrations), the continuous snowfall and merry Christmas shoppers and carolers make this a happy, fun book to share with kids.
     Goodreads rating:  3.93 - 87 ratings

Stowaway in a Sleigh
Written and illustrated by C. Roger Mader
2016 Houghton Mifflin

"It was the darkest hour of night when Slipper heard strange footsteps in the house."

Well, of course she went to investigate, and discovered Mr. Fuzzy Boots...and crawled into his now-empty cozy red bag. After she was whisked away to the North Pole where she made new friends, Santa made a special trip back to Slippers' house to return her.  My little listener was at first a little distressed when she realized that Slippers might not be able to get home again, but enjoyed the story and the illustrations greatly.  Again the gorgeous illustrations covered each entire double-page spread from edge to edge and accentuated the story superbly.
     Goodreads rating:  4.15 - 161 ratings

Bear Stays Up for Christmas
by Karma Wilson
Illustrated by Jane Chapman
2004, Margaret K. McElderry Books, Simon & Schuster

"The day before Christmas,
snuggled on his floor,
Bear sleeps soundly
with a great big snore."

Bear has such a tough time staying up once his friends awaken him for Christmas...it is time for his "big sleep" after all, but when it comes time for them to doze off on Christmas Eve, he has a wonderful time preparing surprises for them to find in the morning.  A very cute story, again with many double-page spreads.  Three winners today!
     Goodreads:  4.28 - 6,938 ratings



   

PICTURE BOOK - Aunt Olga's Christmas Postcards by Kevin Major

Illustrated by Bruce Roberts

2005, A Groundwood Book, House of Anansi Press, Toronto & Berkeley

Out-of-print

32 pgs.

Goodreads rating: 3.91 - 22 ratings

My rating: 4.5

Endpapers: Red striped background with collage of antique Christmas postcards

Illustrations:  Facsimiles of oodles and oodles of vintage postcards.  Drawings of Aunt Olga and the little girl look like pen and ink and watercolors.

1^st line/s:  "Great-great Aunt Olga is ninety-five.  She calls herself a nonagenarian!  We all think the world of her."

My comments:  This is a wonderfully special book for me.  It's about Christmas and poetry and aging and familial grandparent-type/child relationship.  Its about memories and art and poems that both rhyme and don't rhyme.  There's quite a bit of text, but not so much that snuggling with a child older than a toddler and a gingerbread cookie wouldn't remedy!

Goodreads:  Anna’s great-aunt Olga has collected Christmas postcards all her life. She’s ninety-five, and many of the cards are very old. The holidays are the perfect time for Aunt Olga to share her postcards and her memories with her favorite niece. Decked out in red, Aunt Olga is ready for fun as she teaches Anna how to write her very own Christmas rhymes. Written with warmth and humor, this lovely story is a perfect starting point for discussions of the “olden days”, as well as a charming introduction to the joys of collecting.

PICTURE BOOK - 20 Big Trucks in the Middle of the Street by Mark Lee

Illustrated by Kurt Cyrus

2013 Candlewick Press

HC $15.99

32 pgs.

Goodreads rating:  3.84 - 393 ratings

My rating: 4

Endpapers" Bright rusty red

1^st line/s:  "One ice-cream truck selling everything sweet
Breaks down and blocks the middle of our street."

My comments:  I've been reading picture books at storytime at the library to toddlers...and this book would be loved by many of them!  I have some toddler boys who have a difficult time paying attention when they even HEAR a truck go by on the street below.  Rhyming (though the rhythm is off in a few places) and great illustrations by Kurt Cyrus, along with the opportunity to count trucks...all the way up to 20...make this a great, fun read.

Goodreads:  If you’re a little boy on a bike, an ice-cream truck on your street is always a welcome sight. But what if it the truck breaks down and blocks the mail truck behind it (now there are two), not to mention a third truck carrying hay? One by one, trucks of all types and sizes and functions are sure to pile up behind, offering ample opportunity for ogling — and counting. And maybe the boy’s idea for putting one of the trucks to good use might even save the day!

PICTURE BOOK - The Longest Night: A Passover Story by Laurel Snyder

Illustrated by Catia Chien

2013, Schwartz & Wade Books

HC & price

32 pgs.

Goodreads rating: 3.84 - 102 ratings

My rating: 4

Endpapers:  Front: Very dark blue sky
Back:  Light Blue morning sky

1^st line/s:  "Every morning with the light
Came another day like night."

My comments:  This is a Jewish story, read and interpreted by a non-Jew, but a non-Jew who worked in a Hebrew Day School for 12 years and loved to learn all the stories and traditions of Judaism.  This story is written in couplets, with lovely rhythm in most places.  It tells the story from the point-of-view of a Jewish slave girl through the plagues and parting of the sea.  The language is beautiful, and when slowly and digested I loved it.  I was not a fan of the illustrations, and I hate saying that, but they were what I call "vague" illustrations.  Not abstract, but with a sense of abstractness.  I love abstract painting, but I like more detail in my picture books.  Personal preference, apologies to Ms. Chien.

Goodreads:  Here's a picture book for all Jewish families to read while celebrating Passover. Unlike other Passover picture books that focus on the contemporary celebration of the holiday, or are children's haggadahs, this gorgeous picture book in verse follows the actual story of the Exodus. Told through the eyes of a young slave girl, author Laurel Snyder and illustrator Catia Chien skillfully and gently depict the story of Pharoah, Moses, the 10 plagues, and the parting of the Red Sea in a remarkably accessible way. 
          "Evocative and beautiful... flawlessly evokes the spirit of the Old Testament story," raves Publishers Weekly in a starred review. This dramatic adventure, set over 3,500 years ago, of a family that endures hardships and ultimately finds freedom is the perfect tool to help young children make sense of the origins of the Passover traditions.

BOARD BOOK - Llama Llama Hoppity-Hop by Anna Dewdney

Illustrated by the author

2012 Viking/Penguin Young Readers

$5.99 - 7 pgs.

Goodreads rating: 3.89 - 441 ratings

My rating: 5 stars

My comments:  I've not read many board books in my time, and I read this one during our Baby Time at the library this week.  It's absolutely delightful!  Rhyme and rhythm.  Easy actions that kids can do as they read along (hop, jump, thump, touch, tap, clap, stretch, bow and hug!) Perfect.  Simple, sweet, and oh-so-rhythmic. Gotta find some more Llama Llama books!

Goodreads:
Llama Llama TOUCH!
Llama Llama TAP!
Llama Llama Red Pajama
CLAP, CLAP, CLAP!

Can you move like Llama Llama? Watch Llama hop, stretch, touch, and tap in this third board book by Anna Dewdney. Then you can do it, too!

Winter is For Snow - Robert Neubecker

Illustrated by the author

2013 Disney/Hyperion

HC $16.99

32 pages

Goodreads rating: 3.49 (41 ratings)

My rating: 4.5

Endpapers:  White with lots of pale blue snowflakes

Title Page: The same illustrations as the endpapers, except the background is pale, pale blue and the snowflakes are white.  The preceeding page is cool - 9 windows, 3/3, with various stages of a snowstorm.

Illustrations:  Really cool - every inch of the page is covered (much of it with.....snowflakes!)

1^st line:  Winter is for snow!    No.

My comments:  Ah - this is a good one!  A happy brother who loves the snow and everything surrounding it, and a grumpy sister who doesn't care for it at all - until the end.  Their words are in different colors (blue and read) and the four-line stanzas all gently rhyme.  Super book!

Goodreads: In a rambunctious ode to everything winter, two siblings explore a snowy wonderland . . . and end up in the cozy warmth of family. Delve into Robert Neubecker's expressive and rejuvenating illustrations that celebrate snow and the coziness of friends and family at home. Only Robert Neubecker's magic touch could make kids love winter this much.

POETRY - Autumnblings - Douglas Florian

Illustrated by the author
2003, Greenwillow Books (Harper Collins)
HC $15.99
TPPL 811.54
48 pgs.
Goodreads rating: 3.95
my rating: These are really super poems, I like them hugely! (4.5)

Endpapers:  Bright orange
Title page:  2 x 3 tangerine-colored rectangle of a boy somersaulting
in the leaves.

29 poems about Autumn and the time leading up to winter and colder weather.  This includes lots of poems that can be used as examples of poems that kids can write:

WHAT I LOVE ABOUT AUTUMN

Apple picking
Frisbee flicking
Falling leaves
Bracing Breeze
Flying kites
Cool crisp nights
Trick or treat
(Sweets to eat)
Pumpkin pies
Clear blue skies
Fireplaces
Relay races
Football games ---
I love that autumn has two names.

WHAT I HATE ABOUT AUTUMN

Summer's done
Not much sun
Back to school
Air's too cool
Winds that gust
Rains that rust
Chilly nose
Woolen clothes
Birds don't sing --
I hate that autumn's far from spring.

AWE-TUMN

When summer's seams
Have come undone,
Then greens to reds
And purples run.
A palette falls
To forest floor,
And autumn leaves
Leave me in awe.

BIRDS OF AUTUMN

Woodpecker,
Chickadee,
Crow,
And Owl.
Screech owls screech
Horned owls scowl.
Starling,
Sparrow,
Cardinal,
Jay.
Guess the others
Flew away.

WHAT TO DO WITH AUTUMN LEAVES

Kick them.
Catch them.
Pick them.
Snatch them.
Romp them.
Stomp them.
Hurl them.
Heave them.
If you want to,
Even leave them.

I Call My Grandma Nana – Ashley Wolff

Illustrated by the author

2009, Tricycle Press

24 pages

HC $15.99

Rating:  Well, I have to say I love it!

Endpapers:  front, brown “bag” paper, with a large name tag that says underneath:  I call my Grandma ________________ and everyone can see/ that I love spending time with her/ and she loves being with me.

Back cover:  a list of grandmother names from around the world (again, on the brownish paper bag-looking background)

First line/s:

“My grandmother from China

Is visiting today.

Class, please welcome Nai-Nai,”

Said Miss Alexandra May.

The story, in lovely rhyme and rhythm, goes on to have each of many kids introduce their grandmothers and tell what they call them:

“Abuelita is my Grandma.

She’s teaching me to sew.

The doll we’re making

    Looks like me---

Blue dress, black braid,

     White bow!”

or

“My Mamie likes the hummingbirds.

I always look for jays.

I carry her binoculars

On our bird-watching days.”

                (I love this one, my kids called their paternal grandmother, my mother-in-law, Mamie…)

In all, fourteen children tell about their grandmother in a four-lined quatrain.  What a great model for a writing lesson!

This is the second Ashley Wolff book I’ve read in as many days.  It’s time to check her out a little more thoroughly.  I know I’ve read her books before, but it’s time to really examine her retinue!  Ashley Wolff lives in San Francisco, California.

Alphabet Bird Collection - Shelli Ogilvy

Illustrated by the author
Sasquatch Books, Seattle; 2009
$16..95
ages 3 up
56 pages
Endpapers:  Dark, deep slate blue
Book design:  Beautifully laid out.  Double page spreads.  No white.  Each spread is a different background color:  mustard, burgundy, blue, black, plum, peach clay.... Square pages.  Bordered illustration on one, couplet, short explanation, and "how the bird's song sounds" on the other.  I admit, though, the song part didn't sound like bird songs to me -- my singing and pronunciation must be off.

Magpie:
Mischievous and strikingly loud,
A group of Magpies make a noisy crowd

Quetzal:
In a Guatemala forest's early morning light,
Spy a Quetzal, colorful and bright.

Extension idea:  Create pages for our study of local birds when studying Arizona

King Hugo's Huge Ego - Chris VanDusen

Illustrated by the author
Candlewick Press, 2011
HC, $16.99
40 pgs.
Rating:  4.5
Endpapers:  Yellow with darker yellow crest/shield with a slightly darker "H"
Title Pages: Full page illustration (a castle atop rolling green hills)

"Long ago, when people spoke
with words like "thou" and "thee,"
there lived a king named Hugo
who was only three foot three.

And though this mini monarch
stood no higher than an elf,
his ego was enormous --
he thought highly of himself."

Rhyming a b c b
Alliteration
Rhythm
Great vocabulary

Favorite illustration:  Tessa (a sorceress), after being bumped into the river, is grubby, shoeless (a dog is sticking out from under her haystack), she has a bedraggled frog on her head and a turtle on her rear....

Incredibly haughty King Hugo is poxed by a farm girl and his head grows and grows...and grows each time he brags.

Tree Ring Circus - Adam Rex

Harcourt Inc., 2006
"the first book he's written"
$16.00
32 pages
Rating: 4.5
Endpapers: Thick, vertical two-tone yellow stripes

"One seed in the ground,
three miles out of town.
One dark little rain cloud,
then two clouds,
then three.
One fast-growing trteet where the seed used to be."

And ok, what a tree. As more and more animals -- and a clown -- perch in the tree, we see a traveling circus arrive. Now eight cages of circus animals get loose and join the tree-sitters. What happens next made me snicker out loud.

The way that Adam Rex illustrated the chanting, rhyming verse of all the animals together is a sight to behold.

"a cat who climbed up but can't find her way down,
3 chipmunks,
two sparrows,
a whopping big bee,
five mice and a raven
all live in the tree."

Late for School - Steve Martin

Illustrated by C. F. Payne
Grand Central Publications, 2010
Comes with a cd: $17.99
32 pages
Rating: 2/4(illust.)
endpapers: pale pink spongy look

This rhyming story doesn't rhyme well or have a great rhythm that I could get into. Some of the plot seems forced to make the rhyme. The plot is also a bit old -- hurrying to school only to find it's Saturday (I guess I've read Shel Silverstein too many times). I LOVE Steve Martin as an actor, but I didn't enjoy his short novel Shopgirl and I didn't enjoy this. I didn't get to hear the cd, since I read this at the bookstore, so that may be the redeeming factor. The written word just doesn't do it for me.

However, the illustruations are fun and funny - C.F. Payne captures great facial expressions on our exceptionally large-eared protagonist.

Ling Cho and His Three Friends - V. J. Pacilio

Illustrated by Scott Cook
Farrar Straus Giroux, 2000
Looks like it's out-of-print
Library: picture book section
32 pages
Rating: 3.5
Endpapers: 4

This is a longish story told in couplets. The couplets are wonderfully rhythmic, use great words (fertile, entrusted, summon, reap, grueling, resolution, poverty, annual, depart, meager, transport, envision, destined, ...) and is full of alliteration. It's a tale of friendship and honesty. The illustrations are great at close examination, but would look blurry and washed out if read aloud and a listener was even a short distance away.

This would make a great reader's theater or choral reading for an older class.

Note: I took it from the library to read because i thought it might apply to my unit on China. And although the illustrations are about Chinese people, it could apply to any group of farmers that celebrate the harvest.

"In the wondrous land of China, many years ago,
There lived a wise and kindly man, a farmer names Ling Cho.
Together with his wife and sons, in fertile fields he'd toil;
Their lives entrusted to the land, true servants of the soil."

Not All Princesses Dress in Pink - Jane Yolen & Heidi E. Y. Stemple

Illustrated by Anne-Sophie Languetin
Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2010
ages 3-6
$15.99
32 pages
Endpapers: gold

Written by the prolific Jane Yolen and her daughter, the story is told in rhyming couplets. We see many, many girls - none wearing pink - but all wearing sparkly crowns.

"Some princesses break their nails
planting flowers into pails,
driving dump trucks, moving dirt,
dressed in an extra-large hand-me-down shirt.

......and a sparkly crown."

Bright, full page illustrations with no white and a particularly nice font (called Family Cat). However, I don't care for the cover. Does that scream "pick me up?" Not for me.

I wonder how many books Jane Yolen will write or cowrite in 2010?

That Cat Can't Stay - Thad Krasnesky

Illustrated by David Parkins
Flash Light Press, 2010
$16.95
32 pages
Rating: 5
Endpapers: blue with cat scratches, perhaps? Hard to say!

In this rollicking, rhyming story, a cat-hating dad gets saddled with first one, then two...three...four...FIVE cats...that all come to the family in different ways.

Cute, cute, cute.

The illustrations - watercolor over pen and ink - are a riot, especially the dad, a plump guy who always wears short and horizontally striped short sleeved shirts. And the cats. Oh, yeah.

This one's a real winner. I want to read it aloud - to my class, to my grandkids, to my friends....

What a great picture book to read along with Hate That Cat (Creech).