Picture Book Roundup - Fall 2019 requests

Here are three new books that have something for every young family and busy caregiver.

If you cannot see the slide show below, you can see it on Riffle [https://www.rifflebooks.com/list/296267]or read ALL of my reviews on my LibraryThing account.

 

• Thanks to Penguin Workshop for my review copy of Across the Bay by Carlos Aponte. A little boy in Puerto Rico misses his dad who lives "across the bay."
• Thanks to Silver Dolphin Books for my review copy of Margaret Wise Brown 5-Minute Stories by Margaret Wise Brown.Eight stories by a beloved author are collected in one book designed for reading in 5-minute increments. 
• Thanks to G.P. Putnam's Sons for my review copy of Five Minutes (That's a lot of time) (No, it's not) (Yes, it is) by Liz Garton and Audrey Vernick.A little boy comes to understand that the length of five minutes is highly subjective. 

More images and "look-ins" below.

An image from Margaret Wise Brown 5-Minute Stories ©

An image from Margaret Wise Brown 5-Minute Stories ©

There's a Dinosaur on the 13th Floor - a review

There’s a Dinosaur on the 13^th Floor

By Wade Bradford

Illustrated by Kevin Hawkes

A smartly dressed bellhop, old-fashioned phones, and the slicked back hair, pince-nez, and bow-tie of Mr. Snore set up the retro atmosphere of this book on the first pages.  Mr. Snore’s immediate need is also quickly apparent,

“Welcome to the Sharemore Hotel,” said the bellhop.

“You must be Mr. Snore. Let me show you to your room.”

“The sooner the better,” said Mr. Snore.

“I am very” —YAWN—“sleepy.”

But, alas, Mr. Snore is destined to have a long night before he finally finds a place to rest his head—and his hysterically large nose!  On each floor, Mr. Snore finds himself  paired with an unsuitable roommate, prompting continued calls to the ever-cheerful bellhop.

The generous 10x11 size of this book is the perfect showcase for this delightful high-rise hotel and its unusual occupants.  Over-the-top illustrations are a perfect complement for often understated, but droll dialogue,

“How do you feel about bees?” asked the bellhop.

“The same way I feel about spiders,” said Mr. Snore. 

“Please skip the sixth floor.”

The expressions of creatures and humans are priceless, popping in bright acrylics and ink.  Even with the spoiler in its title, There’s a Dinosaur on the 13^th Floor will still surprise you!  

A Q&A with Wade Bradford and Kevin Hawkes is available on the Candlewick Press site.

My copy of There's a Dinosaur on the 13th Floor was provided by LibraryThing Early Reviewers.

Feet, Go to Sleep - a review

Welcome to the final stop on the Barbara Bottner blog tour for her latest book, 

Feet, Go to Sleep, illustrated by Maggie Smith and published by Alfred A. Knopf.

Fiona has spent the day at the beach and now it's time for bed.

"Time to say good night," said Mama.
"I'm not ready!" said Fiona.
"You've had a long day.  You must be tired, from your head to your toes," said Mama.
"Maybe just a little tired...."

This may be a bedtime story, but Maggie Smith's bright illustrations are richly colored and full of life. 

"Toes, go to sleep!" said Fiona.
Toes were for gripping flip-flops on the way to the beach.
Toes were easy.  They went right to sleep."

The illustrations feature bright and bold depictions of Fiona's earlier daytime activities, while the pajama clad Fiona is contrasted in a smaller inset box, growing wearier with each page until she is finally and peacefully asleep against a backdrop of evening blue.  Feet, Go to Sleep is an attractive combination of enjoyable and practical.

Although I was traveling, and did not have time to submit interview questions to author Barbara Bottner, she was kind enough to answer one question for me.  As a Jersey Shore gal, I was curious if Feet, Go to Sleep is based on any particular beach - perhaps one of Ms. Bottner's favorites. Bottner enjoyed frequenting Jones Beach on Long Island as a teenager, however, the location of Fiona's activities are not based on any specific beach, In fact, the book's location was added after the first draft. I have actually (succesfully) used the relaxation technique in Feet, Go to Sleep many times, although I've never needed it after a day at the beach. For me, a day at the beach is a relaxation technique in itself.  Ah, that salt air!

Previous stops on the blog tour include:

Feet, Go to Sleep by Barbara Bottner

Blog Tour Schedule

5/12 Booktalking #kidlit

5/13 GoodReadsWithRonna

5/14 Wrapped in Foil

5/15 Teaching Authors

5/16 Big Hair and Books

5/18 Frog on a Blog

5/19 Chapter Book Chat

5/20 In Bed With Books

My copy of Feet, Go to Sleep was provided by the publisher.

The Snatchabook blog tour

Thanks to the interns at Sourcebooks, I'm excited to be a part of The Snatchabook blog tour. The Snatchabook is a skillfully rhymed bedtime story featuring the cutest little villain, a Snatchabook. The illustrations are cheerful but nuanced, and will offer many details to discover as the book is shared again and again.  It's sure to be a bedtime favorite.

The Snatchabook's author, Helen Docherty, has graciously accepted an offer to answer a few questions.

Lisa: The Snatchabook has put me in a lighthearted mood, so here are a few lighthearted questions!
 Snatchabook is such a cute name.  Was it the seed that started the story, or did it grow from the story?

Helen: The idea of a book thief came to me first, and it was while I was trying to find the right name for him that the character and the story started to form in my mind. At first I wasn’t sure what he would be like, or what to call him, so I played around with names; the book cruncher? The book snatcher? These seemed to suggest quite a menacing character, which wasn’t at all what I wanted, so I tried inverting the words - and that’s when the Snatchabook was born. As soon as I had named him, an image started to form in my mind of a pitiful, lonely little creature who just needs someone to read to him – hence his desire to steal books, which symbolize to him the joy and warmth of sharing a story at bedtime. So I guess you could say that the name and the story came together.

Lisa: Helen, did you leave Thomas (Docherty) alone to illustrate the story as he imagined it, or could you not resist giving suggestions? (I know that I would have a hard time resisting!)

Helen: To be honest, it would have been impossible to resist, given that we see each other all the time (or at least that’s my excuse)!  Actually Tom was more than happy to discuss the development of the characters and the setting with me – it was a very collaborative process, and we had lots of fun discussing how the Snatchabook and Eliza would look. Of course, he added many visual details that I could never have dreamed up, all of which greatly enhance the story. He always asks me for feedback at every stage of the illustration process, just as I read him my stories and seek his advice. It’s great to have a critical eye / ear available around the clock!

Lisa: What were your favorite bedtime stories when you were young?

Helen: There are too many to choose from! Some of my best early memories are of being read the Winnie the Pooh stories and being convulsed with laughter. I also loved a series about a panda pajama case called Ponder, the My Naughty Little Sister stories and a Norwegian series by Anne-Cath Vestly about a little girl called Aurora and her family. Favorite picture books included The Bear’s Winter House (by John Yeoman and Quentin Blake), The Giant Jam Sandwich (by John Vernon Lord and Janet Burroway) and The Grinch Who Stole Christmas. I was a huge fan of Russell Hoban’s Frances books, too. Luckily, I managed to hang on to most of my favorite books from childhood, and it now gives me enormous pleasure to read them to my own kids. I hope I can keep doing that for as long as possible.

(The Snatchabook has apparently snatched all of Helen's favorites!)

Lisa: How wonderful will it be when your children can read The Snatchabook to their children?  You don't have to answer that one.  I think I can imagine!

Helen: Our five year old daughter Lucia read it to us the other day – or rather, to the gorgeous Snatchabook puppet that Pippa Curnick at Alison Green Books (our UK publishers) made for us. Lucia is just learning to read, but she knows the words almost off by heart. So that was a very special experience indeed!

Lisa: Such a fun story.  I can't wait to try it out in story time at the library! Thanks so much for the opportunity to chat with you,


Visit The Snatchabook's website to snatch up an Educator's Guide and Activity Kit.


My copies of the Snatchabook were provided at my request by NetGalley and Sourcebooks.

Picture Book Roundup: Books about books edition

Emily Gravett and Suzy Lee - You can't go wrong with these two illustrators' books about books! Both are "novelty books." One features a "burned" hole in the back cover. (Is that the smell of dragon breath?). The other features books within books.

• Gravett, Emily. 2013. Again! New York: Simon and Schuster.

Cedric, a baby dragon, pesters his mother to read his favorite bedtime story again, and again, and again! Cedric's favorite book (about Cedric the Dragon) is included in the fun, and the words change every time his mother reads it.  When mom finally falls asleep, exhausted, baby dragon gets a little too hot-tempered!   Emily Gravett has a unique sense of humor. Expect funny with a surprise ending!

• Klausmeier, Jesse. 2013. Open this Little Book. San Francisco: Chronicle. (Illustrated by Suzy Lee)

Here's a book about a little red book about a little green book about a little orange book, well ... you get the idea. Kids will love this one!

Picture Book Roundup - August edition

It's been a while since I've done a picture book roundup. Here are three - one funny, one fun, one sweet.  Enjoy!

• The funny one

See a preview at the publisher's site

Vere, Ed. 2012. Bedtime for Monsters. New York: Henry Holt.

Do you ever WONDER if somewhere, not too far away, there might be ... MONSTERS?

This book may be reminiscent of  "Going on a Bear Hunt," but you won't be going anywhere; a monster may be coming to hunt you!

And as he crosses the gloopy, schloopy swamp
GLOOP GLOOP SCHLOOP
do you think he's imagining just HOW GOOD
you'll taste all covered in ketchup?

Bright and fresh and silly!  I love it.

• The fun one

Baker, Keith. 2012. 1-2-3 Peas. New York: Beach Lane.

A follow-up to the popular LMNO Peas, I like this one even better. The digitally rendered and definitely adorable peas count their way to 100 in rhyming fashion.

Eleven to nineteen - skip, skip, skip!
Twenty peas cutting - snip, snip, snip!

While it can be read quickly for fun, it's worth savoring to find and enjoy each delightfully quirky pea (can you find the one singing in the shower?) and note the great details.  How do peas travel when in a rush?  In a Spea-dy Bus, of course.

More peas, please!

• The sweet one

Kraegel, Kenneth. 2012. King Arthur's Very Great Grandson. Somerville, MA: Candlewick.

I want swordplay! A struggle! A battle to the uttermost, and if you will not have ado with me, tell me who will!

So says brave and diminutive Henry, who sets off for adventure astride his trusty donkey, Knuckles. He encounters a Dragon, a Cyclops, a Griffin, and a Leviathan. They are no match for him at swordplay, but at chess? Perhaps.  Simple pen and watercolor illustrations are a bright and cheery mix of naive and cartoon styles of painting; pairing perfectly with this story of five utterly guileless characters destined to become friends. Enchanting!

I just noticed that each of these was illustrated by the author, or authored by the illustrator.  Whichever way you slice it, great talent.

May picture book roundup

I am in the midst of transferring from one branch to another, and I now have two desks overflowing with great new books!  Here are a few:

Gibbs, Edward. 2011. I Spy with my Little Eye. Somerville, MA: Templar. (Candlewick)

That big (almost 2.5"), yellow, circular eye on the cover is actually a hole - an oh, the things we can spy through that hole!  On a predominantly white spread with an eye on the left page and a circle of blue on the right, we read,

I spy with my little eye  ... something that is blue. "I am the biggest animal in the world."

Turn the page to find a richly colored blue whale, which due to some artfully placed curlicues, manages to appear realistic and at the same time, fanciful.

I'm a BLUE WHALE.

Each featured animal unfolds in the same manner.  The rear cover of the book features a hole for your own little eye to go spying! Colors, animals, guessing - this book has it all!
Edward Gibbs is listed as a "debut artist."  What a debut! This one's dynamite!

Tusa, Tricia. 2011. Follow Me. Boston: Harcourt.

From the book jacket, here is the description of the art,

The illustrations in this book were done using an etching process with monoprinted color.  The text type was set in Prin.  The display type was set in Rats and Carrotflower.

(Rats and Carrotflower? - love that one!)  What this means to me is a softly-colored book with fanciful drawings outlined in etched brown lines.  The color sometimes spills out of its intended (?) perimeter in much the same way that the young protagonist spills out of her swing and floats and flies through the breezes, "lost in small, green, happy music."  She invites the reader to follow her through all of nature's colors, "deep into brown, into the bright white of yellow, into orange that slips into red."   From the illustrator of In a Blue Room, another beautiful book!


Johnson, Lindsay Lee. 2011. Ten Moonstruck Piglets. Ill. by Carll Cneut. Boston: Clarion.

All in a scramble,
all ready to gambol,
ten moonstruck piglets
on a midnight ramble.

Through the mud wallow,
beyond the wide hollow,
leapfrogging piglets
in turns lead and follow.

It's all fun and games until the moon goes behind a cloud!  But not to worry - Mama's coming.  These sleepy-eyed, wrinkly little runts are irresistible!

Where Ten Little Piglets is filled with amusing detail, this next book features uncomplicated simplicity ... (but in both books, you can count on mom to the rescue!)

February picture book roundup

Here are a few of my recent favorites - mostly silly

• Bardhan-Quallen, Sudipta. 2011. Chicks Run Wild. Ill. by Ward Jenkins. New York: Simon & Schuster.

The Caterpillow Fight (Candlewick 1997) was(is) an old favorite of mine.  This is a similarly silly tale of siblings who run amok after Mama has tucked them in for the night. Of course, these aren't caterpillars, they're chicks.  Mama gets increasingly angry after each time she checks in on them,

Wings on hips, she warns those chicks, "No more games and no more tricks!"
One quick peck for each sweet child,
she slams the door . . .
those chicks run wild!

In the end, Mama beats them at their own game.  The illustrations are bright and cheerful and funny. The chick in the over-sized black frame glasses is a riot all by himself!

Illustrator, Ward Jenkins, offers a great preview and some bonus material on his site.  Check it out!

• Czekaj, Jef. 2011. Cat Secrets. New York: Harper.

This meta fiction picture book is funnier than its trailer. (see below) The cats discover the readers of the book and attempt to verify their identity,

It has come to my attention that someone other than a cat may be reading this book.

Shame on you.

Hey, you!  Yes, you! You don't look much like a cat!

None but cats are allowed to read Cat Secrets!

Cat Secrets by Jef Czekaj -- Book Trailer from HarperTeen on Vimeo.

• Dormer, Frank W. 2010. Socksquatch. New York: Henry Holt.

A tiny quirky book about Socksquatch, a monster in search of his socks.  Few words,

Flowers tremble.
Trees quake.
Socksquatch lumbers.
...
Got sock?

with hilarious illustrations in a style reminiscent of your funniest grade school pal's drawings. Funny!

And last, but certainly not least, my only serious pick today, the absolutely perfect, Little White Rabbit.

• Henkes, Kevin. 2011. Little White Rabbit. New York: Greenwillow.

Little White Rabbit is beautifully illustrated in a way that is deceptively simple.  The illustrations are clearly understandable, yet convey and invoke a child-like wonder and imagination.  The text is simple and calming.  This is pitch-perfect picture book.  I can't wait to read it aloud at my next storytime!

Activities to accompany Little White Rabbit.

The Boy and the Moon

Carroll, James Christopher. 2010. The Boy and the Moon. Ann Arbor, MI: Sleeping Bear Press.

In simple black text, on a stark white page, we learn that

It was midnight

when a small boy, with his dog and  teddy bear, opened the door to reveal a glimpse of a van Gogh-inspired evening sky.

With a crescent moon high in the sky, the boy and dog, along with an owl, a rabbit, a frog, a chicken and a flower, cavort beneath an apple tree under a magical sky. When the moon becomes stuck in the apple tree, it is the brave young boy who devises a rescue plan.

The narrative is simple, yet compelling,

They howled at the moon, they howled at life, and they howled with all the things in the night. But that night was dusky dark and the moon got stuck in a tree.

and infuses the reader with the power of possibility,

Then the boy had a thought, a delicious thought, a bright, ripe, red thought.

The painted illustrations, full page and double-spreads, are a mix of magic and realism.  The texture of the boy's thermal pajamas is visible, while at the same time, we can view the swirling evening sky through the soles of his bare feet. The moon's life-like craters receive the same attention to detail as her many expressions. All are painted in the the dusky blue palette of a midnight sky.

Sure to be a bedtime favorite, The Boy and the Moon is a magical adventure. Highly recommended.

The Boy and the Moon is author/illustrator James Christopher Carroll's first children's book.  I look forward to seeing what's next.

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