The Buffalo Storm by Katherine Applegate, illustrated by Jan Ormerod.

Hallie is a brave girl who isn’t afraid of anything except storms, but she must gather all of her courage to face the new challenge in her life, the Oregon Trail.  Hallie, her mother and her father leave behind her beloved grandmother and travel the Trail by oxcart facing dangers on the way.  Hallie is told by her grandmother about the buffalo that she will see on her travels, and Hallie does find herself having a very intimate encounter with a buffalo calf before witnessing the wonder of the buffalo stampeding past. 

Applegate has created a book that is a poetic journey along the Oregon Trail.  Her use of a blend of poetry and prose creates a way for children to really feel the drama and scope of this sort of adventure.  There is no way that this could have been done with straight prose.  Ormerod’s art adds much to this book as well, her use of quilt squares surrounding the text on each page, her evocative images of storms and the prairie, and her use of scale showing the amazing space through which Hallie and her family travel.  And yet Ormerod’s art and Applegate’s words remain personal and direct, not losing themselves into the prairie, but reflecting the immediate area the family find themselves in.  Adrift on the prairie, but not lost. 

There are few books where after reading them aloud, you get to have a talk with children moved to near tears by the power of the words.  This was one of them where I truly got to talk with my children about the impact words can have, the impact great art in a book can have, and the wonder that is a great picture book.  Let’s hope you all get to have that chance with the children you live or work with.  It is a powerful moment.

Highly recommended as a historical picture book appropriate for ages 6-10.  This is not the right book to read to a restless preschooler.  Older children in elementary school will understand the poetry of the book far better than younger children.

Class Two at the Zoo by Julia Jarman, illustrated by Lynee Chapman.

Sometimes books need to be shared simply because they are wonderful fun, and that is the case with this book.  If you are looking for something deep, meaningful, or cultural, keep on going.  But if instead you want a book to complete a storytime full of wiggly kids or just something great to put smiles on small faces, this is the book for you.

Class Two went to the zoo on a field trip.  They see all sorts of the things at the zoo, described in a rollicking rhyming style.  But they also DON’T see what the anaconda is up to.  The snake slowly creeps up behind the children and then starts eating them!  One by one.  It isn’t until little Molly notices what’s going on that everyone is saved and they all emerge wonderfully goopy from the snakes mouth.

The text of the book is rhyming and fun.  The pacing is delicious with a slow build up and then a frenzy of kid-munching in the middle.  The art adds so much to the book as the snake eats the children in different ways and you can see child-shaped bulges in the snake as he moves to the next child. 

I guarantee giggles, groans and gasps when you share this with children.  Appropriate for ages 4-6.  A wonderful choice for preschool story times as the closer.