The Twin Princes by Tedd Arnold.

Tedd Arnold has long been one of my favorite authors for children.  He captures the rumpus and joy of childhood in his spiraling art and child-friendly language.  In this new book, he has created a medieval story where twin princes vie for the chance to be king.  One brother, Fowler, is a real villain who cheats at everything.  His brother, Henry, is the hero of the story: good to everyone, honest and caring.  The story pits the two against each other in a race with a twist.  Add to the twist the fact that it is a riddle for the children reading the book to solve and you have a winner of a book on your hands!

With puns galore, his usual accessible artwork, and mysteries and twists, this book will fly off the shelves.  Add to it the medieval theme, and you have a book that can be used in many, many storytimes and units.  Friendly and easy enough for kindergarteners, I could see sharing this with older elementary as well due to the great puns and the riddle. 

The Chicken-chasing Queen of Lamar County by Janice N. Harrington, pictures by Shelley Jackson.

This first-person picture book is about a little girl who chases Big Mama’s chickens even though Big Mama has told her not to.  She has one favorite chicken in particular, Miss Hen, who always manages to just escape her hands.  Try though she might, she can’t lay a finger on Miss Hen, though she gets temptingly close.  Feathers fly, squawking is heard, but no hen.  Then Miss Hen seems to disappear and hide very quietly.  When she is finally found, she has a surprise of her own.

This book is amazing.  The voice of the first person is strong and individual.  The charm of the storyline cannot be easily summarized because it is so simple, but the voice lends it a richness that makes it much more than a simple story.  Add to that the collage and paint art of Jackson and the book is taken to yet another level.  I loved the fact that the different hens are made up of all different types of paper and that action is captured so amazingly in the illustrations.  They not only support the story, but add even more action and movement to it.

Add this one to your chicken storytimes, but realize that it is about so much more.  It could easily be used in a unit on responsibility or just for a treat for children.  Remember to read it aloud, because the language of the book calls for it.  Lovely.  One of the best of the year.

Reviewed by Fuse #8 in March.

I’d Really Like to Eat a Child by Sylviane Donnio, illustrated by Dorothee de Monfreid.

Achilles is a little crocodile with a big appetite, for children.  His mother brings him bananas to eat, but he really would rather have a child.  His father tries to tempt him with a huge sausage, but Achilles is having none of it.  They both make him an enormous chocolate cake, but Achilles cannot be turned away from his taste for a child.  Then Achilles finally sees a child by the river!  He creeps up, sharp teeth and all, but the child is not scared and calls him “cute” and “scrawny.”  She grabs him, tickles him and throws him in the river.  So Achilles runs home, calling for food so that he can eventually grow large enough to eat a child.

What a treat!  A book whose very title will have children gasping and surprised.  Then the ending where the girl is not threatened at all by the crocodile is marvelous.  It is pure fun from start to finish. 

Share this one in units about nutrition and eating, just for a fun break.  Or add it to your crocodile storytime for preschoolers.  I guarantee children listening to every word after you just read the title alone.

Hiromi’s Hands by Lynne Barasch.

Told from the point of view of Hiromi, this picture book explains how her father became a sushi chef in  Japan after years and years of training.  He then moved to New York and eventually opened his own sushi restaurant.  Hiromi grew up respecting Japanese traditions, but quickly became fascinated with her father’s work.  She became his apprentice, despite the fact that traditionally girls are not allowed to work with sushi.  Her true story of hard work, determination and respect for tradition is inspiring.

I really enjoyed this picture book.  It is paced perfectly for reading aloud and children will be fascinated by the long years of work that it takes to make sushi.  The illustrations are simple but compelling, showing the varieties of fish and sushi and demonstrating the pride with which they are created.

In fact, you may find yourself with children’ interested in actually trying sushi for the first time!

At the Firefly Gate by Linda Newbery.

Henry and his mother and father move from London to a small village in Suffolk.  Henry worries that he won’t make any friends and that he will be bored as can be compared to his life in the big city.  The first night that he spends in his new room, Henry sees glowing fireflies at the end of the garden and a shadowy figure standing there looking at him.  As Henry meets people in the village, he forms a close connection with an elderly lady who lives next door.  Dottie seems to recognize Henry and Henry finds himself dreaming and experiencing things that are the memories of a man killed in World War II who was Dottie’s fiance. 

The book is a magical juxtaposition of history, dreams and real-life childhood.  Henry is a winning protagonist who is down-to-earth but experiencing amazing things.  His counterpart and neighbor, Grace, is equally as well drawn as a sulky teen with a soft side she rarely shows.  And the wonderful character of Dottie makes us all wish to enter the garden and spend some time playing Scrabble and having afternoon tea.

Recommend this to boys who enjoy World War II stories, but also to kids who like historical fiction.  With its meshing of history and modern life, it will also be a good bridge book to introduce children to historical fiction.

The Scallywags by David Melling.

David Melling is unparalleled for cartoon antics caught in picture-book form.  I love that his illustrations invite children in, surprise them, get them giggling and make them see that reading can be a very silly thing to do.

In his new book, Melling has told the story of a family of wolves who are lazy, inconsiderate, messy, and rude to the point where the rest of the animals decide to no longer include them.  The wolves decide that they are too messy and rude and set out to change themselves.  First, they spy on the other animals to find out what they should change.  But could the wolves take the change too far and become too obsessed with manners and politeness?

Wonderful laughs are in store for children and families reading this book.  Like most of Melling’s work, this one is a better lap-read than group-read, because the humor is in the illustrations.  The final illustration of the entire group posing for a picture after a food fight is priceless.

365 Penguins by Jean-Luc Fromental and Joelle Jolivet.

I know, I know! There is a plethora of penguin books out on the market right now.  But this one is different than all the rest and well worth sharing.

On New Year’s Day, a knock on the door brings a package with one penguin in it.  The package also has a note: I’m number 1. Feed me when I’m hungry.  No sender’s name is on the package.  The next day the postman brings another box with another penguin and so on.  The book goes through the family trying to organize the penguins into piles, the months and days of the year, and the math of feeding the many penguins.  By the end of the year, there are 365 penguins in the house and the entire house is covered in fish.  But finally the family discovers who has been sending them the packages!

This book is a lot of fun with illustrations that are both modern and have a 70s vibe.  The illustrations add a lot to the story, especially when showing the futile attempts to organize the penguins neatly.  Children who enjoy math will like this book.  Even children in middle elementary will enjoy it because it has such a good sense of humor.  I would recommend not reading it aloud to a group.  The pictures have small details that are fun to examine.

Chicken Joy on Redbean Road by Jacqueline Briggs Martin, pictures by Melissa Sweet.

This book is pure fun, especially when read aloud.  In fact, if you try to read it silently, I bet you will read aloud just to feel the words dance on your tongue. 

This is the story of a blue-headed rooster who crows the farm awake every morning.  He also crows along with the music of Joe Beebee which sometimes comes floating down the road.  But when the rooster gets the chicken measles, he loses his crow.  Mrs. Miser Vidrine, who owns the farm, sees a rooster without a crow as useless and starts to think about stewing him for dinner.  But a brave chicken, Miss Cleoma, works up a plan with the rest of the flock to get the roo’s crow back. 

Music is used in the story not only as a central theme and a road to salvation, but also in the texture and tone of the writing where rhythm and repetition work together to make the entire book shimmy.  Some of the writing is especially lovely, like this description of what happens when the rooster crows: 

“That call made the skies pinker, the corn crunchier, and the morning glories more glorious.” 

Whew!  What a sentence!

Add this one to your stack of great read alouds that can be pulled out at any time.  It will work well for chicken, farm and music themes. 

Princess Pigsty by Cornelia Funke, illustrated by Kerstin Meyer.

Funke, author of the deep and dark Inkheart series for older children, also writes fantastic light-hearted picture books. 

In this picture book, Funke tells the story of Princess Isabella who doesn’t want to be neat and clean any longer!  In fact, she is tired of being a princess altogether.  After she throws her crown in the fishpond and refuses to retrieve it, her father the King sends Isabella to the kitchens to work until she reconsiders and fetches her crown.  Isabella loves her time in the kitchens getting messy and learning new things.  When she refuses again to get her crown back, she is sent to live in the pigsty.  Again she takes to her new surroundings, loving the mess and smell and pigs.  Her father must find another way to get her to reconsider.

Now I know how people who read books to children select them.  They open the cover and look at how much text is on each page.  If you do that with a Funke picture book, you will not pick them up.  Please, look past that seemingly large amount of text and given them a try even with preschoolers.  Funke’s prose is fast moving, funny and a treat to read aloud.  There are no dull moments, no wasted words, because she uses words to offer a deeper and more enjoyable story. 

Recommended for reading aloud to preschoolers through first graders.