No! That’s Wrong! by Zhaohua Ji and Cui Xu.

When the wind snatches a pair of red lacy underpants off of a clothes line, a rabbit discovers them.  He immediately decides that the underpants are a hat with perfect holes for his ears.  He then heads through the woods and other animals try on the underpants as a hat.  It isn’t until he meets a donkey who proves that they are underpants and should be worn on the other end that the rabbit wears them correctly, but his tail doesn’t really fit into them and the other animals ask him why he’s wearing a hat that way.  So he returns to his original way of wearing the underpants as a hat.  The endpapers feature animals wearing all sorts of people clothes in unique ways.

How can you go wrong with a book about underpants being worn wrong?!  You can’t!  It is universal child humor, as proven by the Chinese author and illustrator.  One aspect of the book that I love is that there is a grownup, sensible voice at the end of each two-page spread that speaks in vain.  The illustrations are great fun, enhancing the tone of the words.  In fact, I dare you not to giggle at the crocodile wearing the underpants.

Recommended for reading to only a few children at a time, so that you don’t lose control of a larger group.  Some of the pages have more detailed drawings which will work best for small groups to giggle at.

If a Monkey Jumps Onto Your School Bus by Jean M. Cochran, illustrated by Jennifer E. Morris.

This book is published by Pleasant Street Press, a new small press publishing children’s books whose first books were released in December.   I wanted to point this out, because I think it is so important that we start looking beyond the large publishers for quality books.

This book is structured as a guide book for what you should do if the animals break out of the local zoo and start heading your way.  And what should you do?  If a hippo appears offer her pancakes and tea.  Let the lion drive the carpool.  And just get out of the elephant’s way as he rounds the bases.  The book is filled with humor and situations that children will enjoy.  The juxtaposition of zoo animals and their everyday routines will get children engaged and laughing along.  To add to the fun, try to spot the monkey on each page.

Cochran’s jaunty rhymes contribute to the spirit of fun and move the book along at a romping pace.  Morris’ art is vivacious, colorful and very child-friendly.  The docile animals add to the fun without creating any worry at all for children, even the grinning alligator is friendly. 

Share this one for storytimes on any zoo animal, but especially monkeys.  The rhyming is fun to read aloud and the illustrations will project well to a group.

Nature’s Paintbox: A Seasonal Gallery of Art and Verse by Patricia Thomas, illustrated by Craig Orback.

Wowza.  This is a great book of poetry for children! 

The book moves as a single poem throughout the seasons, rhyming and rhythmic and capturing with clarity each season.  The book also combines an understanding of art with the verse, moving from medium to medium to evoke each season as pure and distinct from the others.  Winter is done in pen and ink, spring in pastels, summer in watercolors and autumn in oils.  And each illustration shows why that is true in the same way as the dazzling poetry does.  While I enjoyed the poetry throughout the book, I am filled with amazement and wonder at the autumn section where Thomas’ verse gets as voluptuous and full as the season itself.  The book begins with spare verse about winter, slowly developing throughout the year until autumn arrives and the boundlessness of the season, the colors is almost overwhelming.  Colors are described as “redorangepurplebronzeindigogoldgreen.”  And you know just what she means.  It is a joy to read, to dance along with these words and these illustrations through the year.

Highly recommended as a read aloud.  You won’t be able to read it to yourself anyway when you reach those colorful words in autumn because they beg to be read aloud and come to life.  Add this one to your seasonal story times or units.  Plus it can be enjoyed by art classes looking at different media where children understanding the seasons already can relate.  Children aged 6-9 will enjoy this best of all.

Apples and oranges:  going bananas with pairs by Sara Pinto.

Pure silliness in a very appealing package, this book will offer groans of delight.  Each page offers a pair of objects and asks how they are alike.  You then turn the page to find the strange reason they are alike.  And yes, there are always always obvious reasons, but those are never the ones given in the book.  So here’s one for you:

How are a starfish and an octopus alike?  Give up?  They both don’t knit.

The book goes on and on like that, much to the delight of children it is shared with.  In fact, they will begin to make their own outrageous guesses as to how the items are alike, creating a really interactive experience for them.  The cacophony when shared with a class will be joyous and fun.

The illustrations by Pinto are friendly, funny, and continue the silliness onto the page.  They are the perfect match of line drawings featuring nicely drawn animals and objects and also a silly vibe after the page is turned. 

Sure to be a hit with children, especially if you as a reader play it deadpan and serious.  Children have to be a certain age to get the joke, so I’d recommend sharing this one with ages 6-8.