Rock 'N' Roll Mole - Carolyn Crimi

Illustrated by Lynn Munsinger
Dial Books for Young Readers (Penguin) 2011
HC $16.99
32 pages
Rating:  4
Endpapers:  Violet-blue
Title Page:  Mole being followed by the three chicks that adore him"
Illustrations:  Big, bold, colorful, fun

1st sentence/s:

Mole had a rock-and-roll soul,
He woke up each morning yelling,
"Let's rock the house!"

Mole is ultra-cool -- his strut, his leather jacket, and his shades all prove it.  And hi music is great.  But...he can't perform in front of an audience.  He gets stage fright. 

Then his best friend, Raccoon, puts on a talent show and Mole has to come to his aid....

Cloud Dance - Thomas Locker

Voyager Books, Harcourt, 2000
Paper $7.00
32 pages
Rating: 5
Oils on canvas

On one page a gorgeous oil painting of sky and foreground. On the facing page, one beautifully-written sentence of explanation

"Nighttime clouds/with silver edges/shimmer in the moonlight."
"High, wispy clouds/race/in the autumn wind."
Mmmmmmmm, mmmmm. Love it all.

The paintings and the writing are equally gorgeous. The book ends with an information page about clouds.

Check out Mountain Dance and Water Dance, too!

The Jungle Grapevine - Alex Beard

for: Kids who love intelligent vocabulary (quench, drought, bellowed, slithered, distress, ruckus, prowl.....)
Abrams, 2009
$16.95
40 pgs.
Rating: 5
Endpapers: Map-like drawing of the animals, the watering hole and their relationship to it

An offhand remark by Turtle to Bird begins a series of miscommunications (much like the game of TELEPHONE) somewhere in Africa. See what happens when Gazelle, Hippo, Crocodile, Elephant, Wildebeest, Zebra, Lion, Snake and Flamingos join in. Filled with humor, African animals, alliteration, and great illustrations, this book sure won my heart!

The illustrations and font are different in a really good way - cleverly crafted, the watercolor painting goes to the side edges of the page, but a thick line frames the majority of the illustration. This makes it look like the painting is actually slipping off the page. The font looks like printing. It really works.

There's an interesting author's note at the end.

Bubble Trouble - Margaret Mahy

Illustrated by Polly Dunbar
Pub 2008 in UK, 2009 in US
$16.00
Rating: 5
Endpapers: Blue, Green, White Bubbles in the sky

"Little Mabel blew a bubble, and it caused a lot of trouble...
Such a lot of bubble trouble in a bibble-bobbly way.
For it broke away from Mabel as it bobbed across the table,
where it bobbled over Baby, and it wafted him away."

Page after page of adventure, rhyme, and rhythm, as the entire town starts to chase after the baby floating in the bubble. Nineteen four-line stanzas. What a perfect production for a class to practice tongue-twisting, alliterataive, rhythmic verse. For MY class to practice, to memorize, to perform. I can't wait!

The illustrations are definitely cute and go well with the story, but it's the words that grabbed me here.....words to love (especially the verbs....) bobbed, bobbled, wafted, quibble, dribble, reeling, bellowed, groveled, babble, hobble, squable, tattered, tartan, gabble, gibbering, goggling, vanish, hovel, cavorting, aloft, huddled, grapple, topple, clambered, nefarious, plunged, gargles, quiver, drivel, shrivel, wilt, swivel, divested, dumbfounded, rebounded, prattle. Wowee!