Picture Books

Review: The Night Children by Sarah Tsiang

| Tasha

Night Children by Sarah Tsiang

The Night Children by Sarah Tsiang, illustrated by Delphine Bodet

When night starts to come and replace daytime, you should run home quickly before the night children come out. They wear the shadows and chase the fireflies. They are the ones who etch the frost on your windows into delicate designs. They can be carried on the wind high above the rooftops and disappear when you try to glimpse them out your window. They scatter leaves on the yards and stretch webs across the doorways. They are the ones who steal parts of the moon each night too. But you, you awake at dawn just as they are disappearing. And you bring the light of the day with you. If you try hard too, you will see the last of the night children as you head off to school.

Tsiang’s prose here reads like poetry. She uses such strong imagery throughout that she creates a nighttime world filled with magical moments. In her gathering darkness “light spills in puddles on the pavement” and the leaves the night children scatter are “like toys on the lawn.” Each page has some special phrasing on it that adds to the wonder of this book. The writing is rich and surprising, just like the night itself.

Bodet’s illustrations take Tsiang’s imagery and brings it fully alive. The art is filled with a play of light and dark. The puddles of light glow on the pavement as actual puddles catch the last of the sun’s rays. Stolen pieces of the moon glow in small hands as the night children dance across the roof with their prize. When the day comes, the light is warm and bright, glowing on the page and filled with bright color. The night colors contrast with that, more rich and deep and mysterious.

A poetic and lovely book, this is a luminous bedtime story. Appropriate for ages 3-5.

Reviewed from digital galley received from Annick Press and Netgalley.

Review: Bob and Flo by Rebecca Ashdown

| Tasha

Bob and Flo by Rebecca Ashdown

Bob and Flo by Rebecca Ashdown (InfoSoup)

In a story perfect for small children starting daycare or preschool, this picture book shows how to make new friends and share. Bob really likes Flo’s pink bucket that she brought with her to school. When Flo is busy painting a picture, her bucket disappears. She looks for it everywhere. She notices that Bob has a new pink hat at one point. Then she sees him making a tall tower of blocks standing on something pink. She sees him playing a pink drum. And then at the playground, she finally spies her bucket by the slide. Bob is there too, stuck at the top of the slide. Happily, Flo knows just what to do to help and all it takes is a good pink bucket.

Such a simple book but told so very well. Ashdown perfectly captures the unique ways preschool children interact with one another, often playing alongside each other than right together. She weaves in the humor of Flo seeing her bucket over and over again and not recognizing it. That plays nicely against the creativity that Bob uses when playing with the bucket on each page. Toddler audiences will love spotting the bucket on each page spread.

Ashdown’s illustrations are cheery and bright. The sunny yellow background allows the grey and white penguins to shine on each page. The basic toys around them, evoke every preschool or daycare around. Then the penguins themselves have texture and patterns that give them personality and also make them seem more real and more childlike.

Perfect for returning to preschool in the fall, this picture book is just as much fun as a bucket. Appropriate for ages 2-4.

Reviewed from library copy.

Review: Billy’s Booger by William Joyce

| Tasha

Billys Booger by William Joyce

Billy’s Booger by William Joyce (InfoSoup)

This memoir in picture book format celebrates the creativity of a child destined to become an author. William has trouble at school. He wishes math were as much fun as the comics in the newspaper. He wants to play invented sports in gym instead of the normal ones. Notes are sent home from school. Then along comes a creative writing contest and William is very excited. He works and works on his entry. It’s title is Billy’s Booger and it’s all about a booger in his nose that gets super powers. But when the prizes are given out, Billy doesn’t win any of them, not even honorable mention. He is devastated and starts to act like everyone else. When he’s returning all of the book he used for research for his own book, he hears laughter in the library and heads over to investigate. A group of kids is reading his book and the librarian tells him that out of all of the entries in the contest, his is the most popular! He may not have won the actual prizes, but got something even better.

Joyce tells the story with a wonderful tone. He explains the earlier time when he grew up and children played outside rather than at playdates, when there were only three channels on the TV, and when funnies in the paper were a huge part of your day. It is a memoir about a kid who doesn’t quite fit into the school mold. It’s less about the grownups and how they dealt with him, though that is there in the background and more about him as a child and what he loved to do even then. It’s a testament to following your dream, to doing what you love and what you have always loved.

The illustrations are done in Joyce’s signature style, one that embraces vintage elements but also shines with a modern feel too. My favorite part of the book was the insert with William’s book in it. Happily, the pages are made from construction paper that feels so different in your hand. When I turned the page and saw it I cheered aloud. It is such a change from the finished and lovely illustrations in the rest of the book to move to these rougher drawings and paper. What an important element to embrace.

Fans of Joyce will love this glimpse of him as a child and it may inspire children to try their own hands at writing. Get this funny book out when creative writing projects are coming to help inspire really creative responses. Appropriate for ages 7-9.

Reviewed from copy received from Atheneum Books for Young Readers.

Review: Chooky-Doodle-Doo by Jan Whiten

| Tasha

Chooky Doodle Doo by Jan Whiten

Chooky-Doodle-Doo by Jan Whiten, illustrated by Sinead Hanley (InfoSoup)

A fresh little counting book, this Australian import combines numbers with a jaunty rhyme. One little “chooky” chick is unable to pull a big worm out of the ground, so another chick tries to help. Three of them pull and pull then, and the worm just grows longer and longer. Eventually there are six chicks pulling and not able to get the worm out of the ground. Rooster joins them and helps to pull. They pull and pull, bracing themselves on the ground, until pop! The worm lets go and gives them all a big surprise.

Each page asks “What should chookies do?” and leads into the page turn where another chick has joined in helping. The next page then starts with the number of chicks pulling, making the counting element very clear for young readers. The text is simple and has a great rhythm to it. This picture book could easily be turned into a play for preschoolers to act out, since the actions are simple. The reveal at the end is very satisfying and make sure you look at the very final pages to see the smiling worm still happily in the dirt.

The illustrations are done in collage, both by hand and digital. The textures of the papers chosen for the collage offer a feeling of printmaking too, an organic style that works well with the subject matter. The chicks have huge eyes and are large on the page, making counting easy for the youngest listeners. The bright colors add to the appeal.

A great toddler read aloud for units on farms, this picture book will worm its way right into your heart. Appropriate for ages 2-3.

Reviewed from library copy.

Review: The Sky Painter by Margarita Engle

| Tasha

Sky Painter by Margarita Engle

The Sky Painter: Louis Fuertes, Bird Artist by Margarita Engle, illustrated by Aliona Bereghici (InfoSoup)

Told in verse, this nonfiction picture book celebrates the life and work of Louis Fuertes. As a child, Louis loved watching birds and caring for them if they were injured. Even in his youth he started drawing and painting birds, despite the fact that his father wanted him to be an engineer. He kept drawing and painting in college, and learned to paint quickly and capture birds in action. At the time, the practice was to hunt the birds and then paint the dead bodies posed. Fuertes instead watched birds in life and painted them. Soon he was traveling the world to see different birds and paint them for museums, books and scientific record. Fuertes painted murals at the Natural History Museum and had a series of collectible cards with his paintings of birds on them. He helped make bird watching one of the most popular sports in the world by reinventing the way artists approached painting wildlife.

Engle speaks as Fuertes in her poems, giving him a voice to describe his own life and his own art. The book swirls like birds wings, moving from one colorful part of the world to another, delighting in the diversity of bird life everywhere. The format is rather like Fuertes’ work itself. She captures Fuertes in his real life, speaking as himself, traveling around the world, and then settling down to be the Bird Man in his old age. He is in his natural habitat throughout. Engle also captures the power of art and the importance of following the natural gifts you have.

The illustrations by Bereghici are bright with color and filled with birds. She labels each one, so that readers can learn about the different types of birds along the way. The book is filled with different habitats, even showing Fuertes underwater attempting to learn more about ducks so that he doesn’t have to shoot them. The illustrations of the birds are serious and detailed while there is often a playfulness to Fuertes’ image on the page.

A beautiful celebration of an artist who forever changed the way that birds and wildlife are painted. Appropriate for ages 7-9.

Reviewed from library copy.

Review: Fright Club by Ethan Long

| Tasha

Fright Club by Ethan Long

Fright Club by Ethan Long

Released August 11, 2015.

The night before Halloween, all of the monsters in Fright Club met for one last time to finalize their plans to terrify children. But just as they were about to begin showing their scary faces, a little bunny knocked on the door. The bunny asked to join Fright Club, but the monsters just laughed and sent the bunny away. The monsters went back to demonstrating their frightening faces, but none of them were actually scary at all. Another knock came on the door and it was a wolf insisting that critters be allowed into the Fright Club too and not be discriminated against. The monsters went back to practicing but then there was a pounding on the door. It was the critters with torches and signs, insisting that they were scary too. The monsters slammed the door and hid inside, waiting for them to go away. Instead of going away though, the critters got in and frightened the monsters, proving that they were ready for Fright Club after all. And it turned out that more frights meant a better Halloween night!

Long does great broad comedy in this picture book. The pace is fast and there are plenty of jokes combined with humorous action to keep it all moving briskly along. The kid appeal is also here with a Halloween theme as well as cute monsters who really couldn’t scare anyone without the help of the critters. The use of classic monsters like vampires, mummies, witches and ghosts makes for a book that has a classic flair as well.

The illustrations stick to a gloomy palette that adds plenty of atmosphere. Shadows and light are used very effectively, from the shine of the torches to the the monsters hiding in a room surrounded by light rather than shadow. The subtle use of color within that shadowy overall look really works well, almost popping against the grey darkness.

A Halloween treat, this picture book is much more fun than fright. Appropriate for ages 4-6.

Reviewed from ARC received from Bloomsbury Publishing.

Review: Boats for Papa by Jessixa Bagley

| Tasha

Boats for Papa by Jessixa Bagley

Boats for Papa by Jessixa Bagley (InfoSoup)

Buckley and his mother live together in a little cabin near the ocean. Buckley loves to explore the beach near their house, collecting driftwood to build little boats. One day he sends a favorite boat out to his father, whom he thinks about often. He decides that if the boat never returns that it means his father received it. The boat doesn’t come back. From then on, on special days, he and his mother send a boat off to his father. Buckley’s boats get better and better. Then on his birthday, Buckley forgets to put the note on his boat that says that it’s for his father and how much he loves him. Buckley heads inside to find paper for the note and discovers that his mother has been collecting all of the boats Buckley has sent to his father. So when Buckley sends his birthday boat out onto the ocean, he’s made one big change.

Bagley’s book grapples with some huge issues like grief and loss but it does so in a way that allows children to approach the situation at their own level. It never forces emotions onto the reader, instead making those emotions much more intense by having characters who internalize much of their grief. The use of boats to send a message is beautiful and moving in itself. The fact that the mother is collecting them, yet allowing her son his own grieving process is also very special.

The artwork in the book is done with pen and watercolor. It offers so much detail, creating a setting that is rich and warm. It suits the story so well, giving the reader a chance to realize on their own that the mother is also sad and grieving in her own way even while supporting her young son and protecting him. The natural setting is awash in watercolors, giving it flow and a luminous quality that lets light shine from the sky and ocean too.

Grief and loss are made beautiful and tangible in this picture book that offers such grace and nurturing. Appropriate for ages 3-5.

Reviewed from copy received from Roaring Brook Press.

Review: Dad’s First Day by Mike Wohnoutka

| Tasha

Dads First Day by Mike Wohnoutka

Dad’s First Day by Mike Wohnoutka (InfoSoup)

Oliver and his dad have had a great summer together, playing and doing so much. Now it’s time for Oliver to start school for the first time. Oliver is all ready and excited to go. But that first morning, Dad’s stomach starts to hurt. He’s nervous and when it’s time to leave the house he even hides from Oliver. But Oliver manages to get his dad to the car, though he drives to school very slowly. Once there, Oliver happily joins the class but his father starts to cry when it’s time for him to leave Oliver in school. Back home, Dad thinks a lot about Oliver and heads off to school to check on him. Through the door, he sees Oliver happily participating in class and realizes that they are both ready for school after all.

Wohnoutka takes the first day of school jitters and turns them on their head with this cheery picture book. The father in the book acts just like a child at times, adding to the broad humor in the book. Most of the time though parents will recognize their own feelings about a child entering school for the first time. It’s a great title to have conversations about how you and your child are feeling about school and the fact that you will both miss one another even when you are both ready to start school.

The illustrations are approachable and have a cartoony appeal. Dad in particular is a wonderful rendition of a middle-aged father. There is cause for celebration when you have a back-to-school book focused on a father who takes care of his child and then also cares so emotionally as well. The illustrations amp up the emotions and then take a humorous approach to keep the book sunny and silly.

A back-to-school book for the entire family, parents too, this picture book will have families laughing even as the first day of school approaches. Appropriate for ages 4-6.

Reviewed from copy received from Bloomsbury.

Review: Mr. Postmouse’s Rounds by Marianne Dubuc

| Tasha

Mr Postmouses Rounds by Marianne Dubuc

Mr. Postmouse’s Rounds by Marianne Dubuc

Released August 1, 2015.

On Monday morning, Mr. Postmouse loads up his wagon to delivery the mail. He goes from one home to the next, delivering packages that suit the needs of each recipient. There is a huge carrot-shaped package for the rabbits, nuts for Mr. Squirrel, a fancy shovel for Mrs. Mole, and some sweets for the ants. Each animal has a unique home from the long, long home filled with heat lamps for Mr. Snake to the watery home of the crocodiles and the underwater home of Mrs. Octopus. Each animal has a habitat and a space that is filled with details that children will love to take a close look at. This engaging look at the postal system is also a beginning way to talk about animals and their homes.

This French Canadian import has limited text, offering just enough to identify the animals and contents of some of their packages. The real delight here are the illustrations, filled with whimsy and detail, they offer a glimpse into a storybook world of animals and their homes. Drawn with fine lines, the illustrations have all of the detail of Richard Scarry with a modern feel. There are stories within the larger one, where a bird is wanted for theft, pigs are saving sheep from the wolf, and Little Red Riding Hood and Goldilocks appear.

This is a book to sit and pore over, enjoying the details and making up stories about the homes that you can see inside. Appropriate for ages 3-5.

Reviewed from copy received from Kids Can Press.