Duck Soup by Jackie Urbanovic.

There is sort of a fowl (not foul) trend happening today.  Remember last year when all the books were bunny books?  Well this year may be the year of the bird. 

Returning to the world of Duck at the Door, Max the duck is creating his own soup recipe for the first time.  When he heads out to the garden for an herb, his friends come in and wonder where he is.  The soup smells fantastic and they think about eating some, until it occurs to them that Max has fallen in the soup and been cooked.  They call into the pot for him, beg him to grab the spoon, and finally pour the soup through a strainer and down the drain.  Max returns from the garden to find his soup gone, his friends relieved and realizes that it is best that he did not end up making duck soup.

There are two winning components of this book.  First is the art of Urbanovic, which is humorous, cartoony, and charming all at once.   All of the animal characters have their own personal vibe that comes through not only in the text but in the art.  Even better, this charming art is big enough and vibrant enough to be used with quite a large group.  The second winning component is the pacing of the book.  It begins with a slow savoring of soup, a litany of soups that Duck has made before, and a pondering of how to improve the recipe.  The friends sidle in happily, but then the panic sets in and the pace reaches a breakneck speed.  The relief is expressed in the pacing too as they all sit down to a soupless supper. 

This is one for the story time pile.  It shouldn’t be saved for duck or bird story times, but instead it should be pulled out whenever children may get restless.  The humor only improves with additional readings.  Highly recommended for a great laugh for 4-6 year olds.

Blue Goose by Nancy Tafuri.

Farmer Gray goes away and Blue Goose, Red Hen, Yellow Chick and White Duck decide to paint the farm.  Duck paints the fence white.  Chick paints the flowers yellow.  Hen paints the barn red.  And Goose paints the roof blue.  Then they start mixing colors to get purple, orange, green, etc.  Farmer Gray returns to his bright colored farm, and then in the evening Blue Goose paints a wash of blue over everything as it turns dark. 

It was that final touch of painting twilight over the farm that took this book to another level for me.  I loved the repetition of colors for the smallest children, the mixing of colors with the new color obvious to the eye of a child, and the richness of the hues being used.  Tafuri’s skill with simple lines in a picture book is evident here.  Her illustrations burst from the pages, larger than life and with so few lines of text that the book is almost read in pictures alone. 

Highly recommended, as are most of Tafuri’s books, for toddler storytimes about colors.  Children as small as two will enjoy spending time with these barnyard friends and chatting about colors and animals.

Woolbur by Leslie Helakoski, illustrated by Lee Harper.

Woolbur is his own sheep.  He wants to run with the dogs, doesn’t want to have his wool sheared, experiments with various wool styles, and dyes himself a deep blue.  After each experiment, his parents fret and fret, while his Grandpaa tells them not to worry.  Finally, his parents reach the end of their patience and insist that he act just like the rest of the flock.  Woolbur thinks and thinks about this and comes up with his own rebel solution.

This book is a joy to read aloud.  There are refrains from scene to scene.  Woolbur says “Isn’t it great!” whenever his parents express their concerns.  The illustrations also make the book a pleasure.  The expanding nature of Woolbur’s wool, his glee at being a different color, and finally his puzzling through his parents need for him to be “normal.”  And what a perfect message to share with children.  That it is OK to be different, to try new things, to experiment, to express yourself. 

High recommended for sheep story times and for those about self expression.  A great way to start talking about being different, or to explain to your younger child why his teen sibling suddenly has pink hair.

Ms McCaw Learns to Draw by Kaethe Zemach.

Dudley wasn’t very good at schoolwork.  He had trouble paying attention and it can take him awhile to learn new concepts.  When he didn’t know how to do his work, he doodled.  His new teacher, Ms. McCaw, took the time to explain new concepts to him, over and over again if necessary.  The whole class thought that Ms. McCaw knew everything until one day she tried to draw a face on the board.  She tried and tried, but finally gave up.  But Dudley wouldn’t let her, and volunteered to teach her how to draw a face.  He patiently did it again and again until he covered the entire board and then asked Ms. McCaw to try.  And she did it!

Zemach has created a wonderful picture book where there is real teaching and learning happening for both students and teachers.  It speaks to everyone having their own strengths and weaknesses, the need for people to try hard to learn new things, and the ability for students to be educators.  The illustrations are friendly, bright and winning, especially the many faces that Dudley draws as examples on the board. 

Recommended for classes to talk about why not to tease people about their abilities and to talk about their own strengths and weaknesses.  Appropriate for ages 5-8.