I adore this book. This young boy goes out one day to explore the smallish pond out front of his house and a whole new world opens up to him. Brilliant with beautiful illustrations. I can’t wait to read it to students!
29 days of book love…
Tag: illustrations
Picture Book Frenzy
I went to the library and picked up a so many delightful picture books off the shelf my bag was packed. I usually think I have to be with my friend Tina to overfill my bag but I guess I’ve proved that I can do it all by myself!
I was looking for ideas for school. The collection at my school library is still new to me so I go to the public library to look at the new shelf to see if it is worth buying and maybe it will work its way into a lesson plan.
That’s what happened with Monsters Love School by Mike Austin. What a delightful picture book. I read this to all my kinder and first grade students. It covers the exciting part of going back to school as well as the fears in a fun Muppet-kind of way. We compared monster’s school experience with their own here at Hansen. The illustrations are filled with color and the writing is all over the page. We all loved Ms. Scribble the art teacher with her very clever head of hair. Please Mike Austin bring us more Monsters…they could love Halloween, or Winter, or the playground. Anything. Monsters and students say “more, more, more!”
I also loved Dog Days of School by Kelly DiPucchio and Brian Biggs. Charlie does not like going to school (we all know someone just like this right Groovy Girl…) because he is tired of all the work. One Sunday night Charlie wishes he were a dog so he could stay home and lay around instead of face another week of school work. The next morning Charlie’s done the “freaky friday” thing and is laying on Norman’s dog bed instead of in his own. Norman gets ready for school and Charlie stay home to sleep with adorable results. This will have everyone wishing they could trade places just for one day. An interesting side fact-Brian Biggs is from Little Rock, AR. He also has a a series out called Everything Goes.
Arlo Rolled by Susan Pearson and Jeff Ebbeler; Arlo is a pea and he doesn’t want to be eaten; he wants to grow up. He escapes from his pod and rolls through the yard finding bugs and slugs and dogs until he’s exhausted. While he takes a nap something marvelous happens to him. This is a perfect spring book to talk about plants and how they grow. It also makes a fun anytime read aloud with a lot adventure for one cute little pea.
Creamed Tuna*Fish and peas on Toast by Philip Christian Stead; Amazing illustrations, funny story. Kids will think it is funny. I wanted him to try the creamed tuna fish and peas on toast first before discarding it; it’s just the mother in me. I was hoping he’d end up liking it like green eggs and ham. Nope. Didn’t happen that way but the layered illustrations and the bird antics make it worthwhile anyway. Philip’s website has some beautiful and free music for your listening pleasure.
Little Lola by Julie Saab and David Gothard; Lola starts her day with a to-do list and the last thing on the list is to have an adventure (as every day should). Heading off to school for the day her adventure is perfect until she spots a mouse in the classroom. Hilarious. I hope to see more of Little Lola as she has the right attitude that will have little ones thinking. Brand new husband and wife illustrator/writer team.
If you buy for a school, for yourself, for your lovely grandchildren-any of these would be amazing additions for reading over and over again.
What did you read this weekend?
Three note-worthy picture books for you to enjoy!
We checked these three out recently and I thought they were worth sharing.
The ABC’s of Yoga by Teresa Anne Power (2009); Each letter has more than one pose assigned to it so the “D” page has “dolphin” and “do nothing” pose together. Each direction rhymes and we found most of the poses on our favorite children’s yoga site, Namaste Kid. Sample:
Frog
Squatting
With my feet apart wide,
I am a frog
With a big underside.
Bringing my arms
Inside my knees,
I jump up and say
“R-r-r-r-i-b-b-i-t!”
On the count of three.
Millie and the Big Rescue by Alexander Steffensmeier (2012); Millie the cow plays hide-and-seek with her barnyard friends until one day she gets herself stuck up a tree. She’s found the best hiding spot of all and nobody can find her! With cute results all the animals (and the farmer) join Millie in her clever spot. I noticed there are two other Millie books; Millie waits for the mail and Millie and the snow that look equally as funny!
Catty Jane Loved to Dance by Valeri Gorbachev (2013); This was Groovy Girl’s favorite and I love Mr. Gorbachev’s work. Catty Jane loves to dance and has been dancing since she could walk. Eventually her mother signs her up for dance class at Mrs. Herron’s Dance Academy. Mrs. Herron informs her that it “takes a lot of practice” to become a ballerina. Her friends host a dance party but she thinks they are silly and don’t really know how to dance. She overhears their fun though and decides dancing together is far more fun.
All three of these books were checked out from my public library and are now overdue. Luckily next week is Library Week and I can take in cans of food to pay for my many fines! Love your library.
It's Spring Break here!
So I went to the library. And found lots of picture books. And found out that Iowa has a new picture book award category for preschoolers as a cool way to encourage reading before you get to school. What a novel idea, don’cha think!
We did not take a glamorous trip. We are doing something far more exciting; taking out (gross carpet) and putting in (wood floor) into our family room. This is a much needed DIY project for us as we can’t live with the yuckiness of this carpet anymore. Not one more day. It’s out the door now and we’ll be on to step 2 pretty quick here.
In the meantime there are library books to talk about:
I love vacations by Anna Walker (2011); Sweet little stuffed toy character takes us on a seaside vacation sharing all that is best about the sand, the surf, and a good friend. Adorable illustrations and easy sentences on each page, making it a perfect book for young readers.
Theo’s Mood by Maryann Cocca-Leffler (2013); It is Mood Monday in Theo’s class and he just cannot tell Miss Cady how he feels. Several children give him suggestions and then Theo is able to put into words how he does feel about becoming a new big brother over the weekend! Sweetly told and a perfect way to introduce mixed feelings about a new sibling. Simple sentences and postcard-sized words inside show emotion words, making this perfect for young readers.
Matilda and Hans by Yokococo {Yoko Shima} (2012); Matilda and Hans are the exact opposite of each other and Hans is always getting into trouble. Matilda saves the day though when Hans goes to far. This is perfect book to reach for when your toddler is causing trouble; we all have little trouble-makers living inside us. Bold illustrations and a very quick read.
David Macaulay, Toilet; How it works (2013); Easy reader nonfiction gives the facts about how that porcelain bowl and our sewer system really works. With a glossary at the end and great illustrations this book is a perfect way to introduce the toilet and David Macaulay’s work to young kids. I learned a few things about this essential tool but still no easy way to keep the dang thing uber-clean.
These were only the top of the pile and they were all perfect for about the same age range. I don’t have any of these at my school library (it is sooo hard to keep up!) and I will have to add them to my list for next year’s order.
Happy Spring Break reading.
Picture Books delight! (quick they're overdue!)
Ollie the purple elephant by Jarrett J. Krosoczka (2011).
The McLaughlin children have always been promised that if they came across a purple elephant they could keep it and one day while strolling in the park they do! “”Well… a promise is a promise,” said Mr. McLaughlin and the children ask Ollie to come home with them. Everyone’s happy except the family cat, Ginger. Ginger hates Ollie and plots with the downstairs neighbor Mr. Puddlebottom to get rid of Ollie. Their plan works and Ollie is sent off to perform with Mr. Puddlebottom’s cousin’s circus! Will the McLaughlin family ever see Ollie again…? The illustrations are lively with bright vivid colors. Watch this short video of Ollie by Random House.
Otto Carrotoo by Chiara Carrer (2000).
Otto muses about his rabbit siblings and their quirky habits. His sister will only wear red shoes and his brother is obsessed with his blue roller skates. Otto isn’t obsessed with anything until he decides one day to eat only carrots; carrots for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, carrot soup, carrot pizza, carrot cake…he eats so many carrots he doesn’t pay attention to his appearance until his brother and sister start munching on his carroty ears. He swears off carrots and switches to spinach! What will Otto look like after too much spinach? Great for sharing food stories with children. Maybe if Otto loves carrots and spinach, picky eaters might give them a try-but just a little. Too much of even a good thing can be bad. The illustrations in this one are funky collage pages that will appeal to children.
I had a whole big beautiful bag of picture books to read and these were the top two favorites. The entire bag was a day (or two) overdue. Yikes. So today took them back and paid my $10.00 fine! How do I so easily let that library date escape my mind? Any tricks to remembering to return books on time…?
Please share.
Girl Power picture books
Groovy Girl read all these picture books the first two days we had the bag home from the library. Me, well, it has taken me over two weeks to read all of them and I had to renew them once in order to write about a few of them.
1. The Queen of France by Tim Wadham, ill. by Kady Macdonald Denton (2011); Rose wakes up and “feels royal” so she plays dress up and goes to look for her mother dressed regally. Using her imagination her parents play along as Rose changes from the queen to Rose and back again. A seemingly simple tale of love and acceptance, Rose demonstrates one can be a girl with many sides. Denton draws Rose with a Ramona-like haircut in amazing watercolor illustrations. Click here for an interview with Tim Wadham. Hooray for first time author Wadham, a fellow librarian, with this picture book.
2. Not All Princesses Dress In Pink by the mother/daughter writers Jane Yolen & Heidi E.Y. Stemple; ill. by Anne-Sophie Languestin (2010); Similar message in this one with quirky digital illustrations. Each page shares how princesses can play soccer, baseball, wrestle with a dog, dance in the rain, break their nails while planting a garden of pumpkins (of course), and my favorite, escape a stony tower using all their cool girl power, using a ladder like monkey bars. I like Denton’s illustrations better but the message of this one is equally strong: whatever you choose to be you can still wear your sparkly crown!
Happy Sunday and wear your crown with pride!
Imaginary Friends
As my Groovy Girl emerges as a stronger chapter book reader we pick out less and less from the picture book section of the library. Luckily, she is her mama’s girl ‘cuz last week at the library she went right to the NEW section and picked out a bag’s worth of books.
Here’s the catch though; she no longer wants me to read her picture books (it’s degrading somehow?) so she reads them and pulls the ones she thinks are “peaceful reader”-worthy!
Here are her first three picks:
Erica S. Perl; Julia Denos
2010
Little Ida, who wears the cutest outfits to school, takes her space lunch box and her best/beast friend, Dotty. Dotty is a large cow-like creature with big pinkish-red polka-dots led by a blue string. Others in the classroom have imaginary friend animals with them as well but as the school days progress these students start leaving their “pets” at home. Ida can’t give up her friend Dotty and Dotty won’t let Ida give her up either. Just as Ida’s about to lose faith she finds out a very special secret about her teacher, Ms. Raymond! Dotty would make a wonderful read-aloud to students at school or home. Extra points for the polka-dot end papers!
Nobody
Liz Rosenberg; Julie Downing
2010
“When George awoke early one Sunday morning, Nobody was up and about.” This simple play on words will have children smiling as George and Nobody make a mess here and there around the house as they make a very funny “feast” in the kitchen. George’s parents wake up and he acknowledges that “nobody” has been at work helping him. Cute illustrations that will help kids understand this funny word twist.
Everything but the Horse;
A Childhood Memory by
2010
Love this book. Love her illustrations. Sweet Holly recounts how her parents purchase a run-down old farmhouse and how exciting it was to live there with a wild array of animals. She envies the older neighbor girls as they ride their horses down the gravel lane. Holly creates an imaginary horse friend to share the barn. When her birthday rolls around her mom tells her to run to the barn to find her gift, which she is able to ride right out of the barn! Great memories and one that will have girls panting for their own ponies.
What picture books have caught your eye this week?
Friday Feature-Book Lover's Books
Today I have three books about one of my favorite subjects…books. Books about books! Two are new finds and one is a favorite. I would love to hear your favorites!
1. Miss Dorothy and Her Bookmobile (2011) by Gloria Houston; ill. by Susan Condie Lamb
This hardcover just came in my Scholastic order and I knew from the cover I was going to like it. Miss Dorothy loves books and people at a young age and she decides to become a librarian. Her dream is to be the librarian at the “fine brick library just like the one where she checked out books in the center of the town square in her hometown in Massachusetts.” She goes to library school at Radcliffe, graduates and gets married. Her husband wants to live on a farm in the Blue Ridge Mts, far away from her hometown. Her dream changes but she still becomes a librarian, sharing books with lots of mountain people. The illustrations are beautiful, capturing the Appalachian countryside with great color. I read it aloud to one class and they were quiet and thoughtful by the end. It is based on a true story from the author’s recollections of Miss Dorothy’s bookmobile.
2. The Wonderful Book (2010) by Leonid Gore
I love many of Gore’s books-they are quirky. This one is no exception. Several animals find a book in the forest and invent ways to use the object. Rabbit makes it into a house, bear makes it into a hat and the mice use it for table. When a boy comes upon the book and begins to read it the animals find out the true purpose of the book. As the animals nestle down to listen to the story it reminds me how many children automatically tuck into your side as you begin to read. Very charming!
3. Miss Smith’s Incredible Storybook (2003) by Michael Garland
If you haven’t experience Miss Smith’s fabulous storybook you need to find it at your library. She is a funky brand new teacher and she takes the boredom out of any day by reading from her amazing book. While she reads (and students eyes get big as saucers) the stories come alive and suddenly the characters are next to the kid’s in class. A perfect way to illustrate how our imaginations work as we read! When I read this aloud last week one student said “Mrs. Holt, you need to get a book like THAT!”
What new treasures have come alive for you this week?
Happy April Fool’s Day! I played one great trick on a class and was delighted to pop back in to their classroom and say “April Fool’s”-they laughed and laughed!!
Friday Feature from the Fair; part 2
Here is a quick list of fantastic picture books from our Scholastic Book Fair!! Think great stories + illustrations of beauty!
My Forever Dress by Harriet Ziefert (2009). “My grandma is magic!” [Love that sentence!] “She takes an old dress and makes it new with a snip here, a stitch there, some buttons and bows, and loving care. I call it my forever dress, because it will last forever, and ever, and ever. I think that’s magic, don’t you?” The relationship between the grandmother and granddaughter is one of shared love and respect as they work to create different outfits using the same dress. Perfect for burgeoning eco-friendly fashionistas as well a good example in reduce, reuse, recycle!
Chalk by Bill Thompson(2010). Simple sidewalk chalk is the key element in this magical wordless book when three children venture out on a rainy day to the park. Discovering a bag of chalk hanging from a jumping playground dinosaur each child in turn creates a visual masterpiece that comes alive, right up out of the sidewalk. I loved sharing this with classes from Kinder-second grade and watching their faces light up as the first girl’s drawing of a sun becomes real. The illustrations are so well done my students were able to tell the story as we paged through it. Many had never experienced sidewalk chalk before but they knew it was chalk. So now I know when the weather warms up we will be decorating our school sidewalks…
The Curious Garden by Peter Brown(2009). Liam, on one of his many walks through his dreary city, finds a patch of a color up by the abandoned railroad tracks. He transforms himself into a gardener as the plants happily respond, flourishing under his care. Students loved watching the city come to life with living things- plants, and flowers as well as other gardeners. The first picture of the “dreary” city makes a great comparison when you flip to the second to last page-same view, better place to live. It brought the meaning of the word “dreary” to LIFE!!
I’m always shocked when almost a whole week has gone by without blogging. My Lenten plan is to be more authentic with my family-to be there. Even as I go through my day blogging ideas zing and ping through my brain. Plus…I’ve had a busy week and it is (or will be in one hour)Spring Break! I am heading to Little Rock to see my friend, V as she steps out for her directorial debut for the play, For Colored Girls Who’ve Considered Suicide When the Rainbow is Enuf by Ntozake Shange. (my review of this choreopoem) I am so excited to be there and we have so many other fun things to do and I am hoping and praying it will be warm-I need a little sunshine. Everyone could use a little more sunshine…
Namaste…
Feature Friday
I have three picture books to feature today because I fell in love with them just this morning! It is the month of love so I give you three books you shouldn’t live without…
1. The Circus Ship by Chris Van Dusen (2009)
I’m not a fan of the circus-the kind that uses animals to entertain so I wasn’t exactly sure how I was going to feel about this book, until I read it of course. It is a delight! It rhymes. When a storm ruins the ship the captain saves the the mean and greedy circus boss, Mr. Paine, who chooses to leave the animals behind to save his own. The animals swim to an island beach, taking refuge with the local people, who are at first scared and then learn to love having the animals around. The circus animals win their freedom from the demanding circus boss through a great hide and seek scene. The illustrations are larger-than-life beautiful and it is loosely based on a real event. 5 stars
2. “I have a Little Problem,” said the bear by Heinz Janisch and Silke Leffler (2007)Bear wanders in to town to get help but noone listens to his problem. The inventor, the tailor, the hatter, the doctor, the street vendor, the eye doctor, the shopkeeper, and the shoe maker all jump to their own conclusions. Noone even listens to what it is until bear meets a curious fly outside of town. In my storytime hour children didn’t get the big picture but I know a little girl at home who will understand and love it. The illustrations are whimsical and kindergarten students loved the repitition. 5 stars
3. the cow loves cookies by karma wilson and marcellus hall. (2010)
I’ve come to expect great things, usually rhyming things, from Mrs. Wilson as she is the author of The Bear Snores on series of books. This one didn’t disappoint. All the other animals on the farm eat what the farmer gives them-the horse loves hay, the chickens; chicken feed, the pigs love their slop but the cow…she gets special treatment. Students loved learning why the cow loves cookies…because she shares her milk with the farmer and he shares his cookies. Milk and cookies go so well together. I wish I had some for my lunch today! 5 stars
What ever you do today, ENJOY!!
If you need a picture book-these 3 will not disappoint.
Peaceful Reader 