Picture Books

Review: Rabbi Benjamin’s Buttons by Alice B. McGinty

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rabbi benjamins buttons

Rabbi Benjamin’s Buttons by Alice B. McGinty, illustrated by Jennifer Black Reinhardt

In the fall, the congregation gave Rabbi Benjamin a vest in honor of the new year.  It was yellow with four bright silver buttons down the front and it was a perfect fit.  Rabbi Benjamin wore his vest to celebrate Rosh Hashanah, which also involved a lot of food.  Each family offered their own special food for the holiday, and Rabbi Benjamin’s vest was a lot tighter by the end.  During Sukkot, Rabbi visited each of the families and again had lots of food and his vest grew even tighter.  Until on the last day of Sukkot, one of the silver buttons popped right off his vest.  Chanukah came and Rabbi Benjamin ate lots of latke, and he lost a second silver button.  Spring came along with Passover, and the rabbi lost the last two buttons that had tried to stretch across his growing belly.  He was very upset about how he had ruined his special vest.  So he changed a few things.  He got out and moved more along with his congregation.  And when he tried on the vest for Rosh Hashanah, it was far too big to wear.  But don’t worry, Rabbi Benjamin had a loving congregation ready to help him again.

This book has a wonderful radiance about it.  The heart of the book is really the love felt between the congregation and Rabbi Benjamin.  He is unfailingly kind and giving as are they, perhaps a bit too giving when it comes to the food!  At the same time, the story is a smart and very enjoyable way for readers to learn about the various Jewish holidays throughout the year and the traditions associated with them.  The book has an index of the holidays at the end, including recipes for each holiday.  There is also a glossary of Jewish words.

Reinhardt’s illustrations also capture the loving community on the page.  Rabbi Benjamin almost glows on each page, not only due to his shining yellow vest but also with his popping and vibrant personality.  The diverse ethnicities of the congregation is also appreciated.

A cheery look at Jewish holidays and the bounty of friendship and community, this book will be appreciated by people of all faiths.  Appropriate for ages 4-6.

Reviewed from library copy.

Review: Sleep Tight, Little Bear by Britta Teckentrup

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sleep tight little bear

Sleep Tight, Little Bear by Britta Teckentrup

Winter is coming and Little Bear and Mommy Bear have been getting their den ready for the cold weather.  Soon it will be time for them to hibernate for the winter and wake up again when the warmth of spring comes.  Little Bear is excited about hibernating, but before he and his mother go to sleep, he has to say goodbye to all of his friends.  Little Bear goes to each animal, wishing them a good winter and they all wish him a good sleep and promising to watch over him as he rests.  As they return to their den, the snow is starting to fall and the winds are blowing cold.  Inside their den, it is warm and cozy and Little Bear is fast asleep before he can even finish saying goodnight to his mother.

First published in Germany, Teckentrup’s picture book celebrates community and diversity without ever using those words on the page.  It is clear throughout the entire book that the bear family is beloved in the woods.  While some of the animals, like Owl, are not so friendly, the others are warmly affectionate to Little Bear.  Many of the animals speak about watching over and taking care of the bears as they hibernate.  They also speak about how different the bears are from them and sometimes briefly say what they will do in the winter.  The messages are subtle and woven into this story about animals.

The illustrations are a strong mix of textured trees and animals and more simple elements that allow the textures to stand out on the page.  One of the first pages in the book shows the entire forest as well as the animals that the bears will be visiting before they hibernate.  It’s almost a map to the story and offer a peek into what will come.

A book about a friendly community of animals, this picture book is perfect for reading on chilly autumn evenings and ideal for a bedtime read.  It will also be a welcome addition to seasonal story times and units on hibernation.  Appropriate for ages 3-5.

Reviewed from e-galley received from NorthSouth and NetGalley.

Review: Kid Sheriff and the Terrible Toads by Bob Shea

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kid sheriff and the terrible toads

Kid Sheriff and the Terrible Toads by Bob Shea, illustrated by Lane Smith

The Toad brothers have taken over Drywater Gulch and are causing no end of trouble.  But then a new sheriff arrives in town, a kid in a white suit riding a tortoise.  He doesn’t have many skills with guns and has an early bedtime, but he does know all about dinosaurs.  He is hired on the spot.  And that’s right when the Toad brothers blow up the bank, rob the stagecoach, and jump someone’s gold claim.  The sheriff is quick to point out how each of the escapades involved dinosaurs, T-Rex and velociraptors.  It seems that the crimes will never be solved by this young sheriff, but soon his paleontological plans turn out to be just what was needed to capture some human bandits.

Shea clearly has great fun creating these characters, this town and this world of dinosaurs mixed with the Wild West.  He plays with language throughout, creating wonderful moments where the new sheriff rides – very slowly – into town on his tortoise.  Just the way the Toad brothers are introduced early in the book will show how fun this book is to read aloud:  “Why, those Toad brothers would steal your gold, kiss your cattle, and insult your chili.  Hootin’, hollarin’, and cussin’ all the while.”  You can’t read that without a drawl and huge grin.

Smith’s illustrations are equally fun.  Using a palette of browns, blacks and tans, he creates the world of Drywater Gulch on the page.  There is a great sandiness and grit to the illustrations, and he also plays with perspective and fascinating rock formations of the desert.  The wild characters are placed in this world, popping on the page against the gritty backgrounds.

A great read aloud, this picture book is silliness through and through with a western twang.  Appropriate for ages 4-7.

Reviewed from copy received from Roaring Brook Press.

Review: Ben Franklin’s Big Splash by Barb Rosenstock

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ben franklins big splash

Ben Franklin’s Big Splash: The Mostly True Story of His First Invention by Barb Rosenstock, illustrated by S. D. Schindler

Ben Franklin grew up the son of a soap maker and loved to spend his free time on summer days swimming in the river near his home.  In the time of his childhood, people just did not swim or wash regularly because they thought it would make you sick, so Ben was considered rather odd for the amount of time he spent in the water.  As he swam, Ben started to wonder why it was that fish swim so much better than he could.  And so Ben starts to come up with inventions that would help him swim like a fish.  First, he made swim fins for his hands out of wood and they did make him much faster, but they also made his wrists sore and tired.  The next invention was swim sandals, but they didn’t improve things much since they slid off his feet.  But Ben was not a quitter and so he took each defeat as a way to improve his idea.  After all, he was a scientist through and through.

Rosenstock sets just the right playful and rather silly tone with this biographical picture book.  She includes plenty of details about the society in the 1700s and how it was different from our modern one.  Using different fonts and repeating words, she also emphasizes the importance of trial and error in science and solving problems.  She also ties in the fact that this is how science works and how scientists learn things, along with a healthy dose of dedication and resolve.

The illustrations by Schindler are marvelous, cleverly covering up the more private parts of the naked swimming boy with splashes and waves.  They have a light-hearted quality to them and also a visual lightness that makes the book even funnier as they swim across the page.

A book to inspire children to try to solve problems they discover, this is a fresh and summery look at a boy genius at play.  Appropriate for ages 5-8.

Reviewed from library copy.

Review: The Cat, the Dog, Little Red, the Exploding Eggs, the Wolf, and Grandma by Diane and Christyan Fox

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the cat the dog little red the exploding eggs

The Cat, the Dog, Little Red, the Exploding Eggs, the Wolf, and Grandma by Diane and Christyan Fox

Cat is sitting and reading Little Red Riding Hood when Dog walks up.  Cat starts to explain the story of a little girl who wears a red cape, and then Dog interjects that he loves books about superheroes and asks about what powers Little Red has!  Cat tries to explain that it’s not that kind of book, but Dog continues to find new ways to tie in superpowers:  maybe a kindness ray, or a flying basket, or exploding eggs!  Then Dog tries to find ways to make the Wolf into a super villain.  Why doesn’t the Wolf just eat Little Red in the forest?  Why doesn’t he do more bad things and be a real super villain?  But as the dramatic ending of the real story arrives, it is Dog who thinks that the story might have gone a bit too far.

Perfect to read aloud, this picture book is written entirely as a dialogue between Cat and Dog with the occasional page from the Little Red Riding Hood story added in.  The debates between the two characters about the book are hilariously written.  Though very funny, Dog makes some valid points about the story line of the traditional tale and his superhero version would be great reading too.  The authors make the two voices of the characters clearly distinct from one another, something that takes skill when writing dialogue alone.

Done in black and white line drawings on white backgrounds, the loose feel of the illustrations suit the silly story perfectly.  Occasional bursts of color draw readers into the story being told and the cover of the Little Red Riding Hood book pops with red on the page. 

Funny and clever, children who know the original story will be delighted with this new twist on the tale.  Appropriate for ages 4-6.

Reviewed from library copy.

Review: Bluebird by Lindsey Yankey

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bluebird

Bluebird by Lindsey Yankey

Bluebird has never flown without the company of her friend, the wind.  She just can’t bring herself to try to fly without the wind’s help, so she sets off on a quest to find the wind before she flies.  There was no wind blowing the seeds off the dandelions, no wind lifting the kite to the sky, no wind rippling the willow leaves.  Heading into the city, Bluebird found that the newspaper pages weren’t being blown by the wind at all and even a balloon was being moved by a child rather than the wind.  Bluebird decided to look higher, but even from above the flags were drooping on the flagpoles and the sailboats were not racing.  Bluebird landed on a roof and wished deeply for her friend to return, and that’s when she noticed that she’d been flying for some time without the wind to help her! 

Yankey’s text captures both the wishing for what the wind does every day and also how things are without the wind blowing.  The contrast between what Bluebird knows the wind does and how things are when they are still is wonderfully written with simplicity and grace.  The entire book has a jaunty brisk pace that will remind readers of a good stiff wind blowing along the pages and moving the story along.

The illustrations in this picture book set it apart.  They are an amazing mix of collage, pencil, ink, block print and paint.  The result is a richness of styles that zing on the page next to one another and create a world that is unique.  Somehow those divergent components form a cohesion feel on the page that is mesmerizing.

A perfect read for a breezy day, this book will invite everyone to find the confidence to fly.  Appropriate for ages 3-5.

Reviewed from library copy.

Review: Tiny Creatures by Nicola Davies

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tiny creatures

Tiny Creatures: The World of Microbes by Nicola Davies, illustrated by Emily Sutton

There are tiny creatures all around us that do the most amazing things!  Microbes are too small to be seen by the human eye, but look through a microscope and you enter a world of them.  There are microbes like viruses that cause diseases or colds.  And there are others that are very good for our health and turn milk into yogurt and compost into dirt.  Microbes may be very small but their impact on our world and our lives is very big.  This book shows the huge impact they have and how much we need to appreciate them.

Davies has written very engagingly about microbes in this book.  When talking about something like microbes, the numbers can get too large to understand, but Davies nicely ties these huge numbers to others that make sense.  She shows how quickly a microbe can reproduce using the page of the book.  The entire book is cleverly done, exposing the facts about microbes in a friendly and approachable way.

The illustrations by Sutton show both the microbes and their effect on the world.  The pages with the tiny microbes are fascinating as one gets to see the different types up close.  The illustrations have a friendly charm about them that makes the subject matter even more fun to read.

A great book on microbes, this will encourage children to pick up a microscope and learn even more about these tiny little creatures.  Appropriate for ages 6-9.

Reviewed from library copy.

Review: Sequoia by Tony Johnston

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sequoia

Sequoia by Tony Johnston, illustrated by Wendell Minor

This is a poem about Sequoia, a giant and ancient tree and how he lives through the year.  As the seasons change, Sequoia opens his arms and gathers different things to him.  He gathers owls to him in the springtime when he is cloaked in green.  When fires come in the heat of summer, he gathers flames to him.  As the birds fly away in the autumn, he gathers one last crow.  In the winter, he gathers snow.  He also listens quietly and deeply to the nature around him and shares stories that he has gathered over time with the smaller cedars.  This picture book is a celebration of ancient trees and this one sequoia in particular.

Johnston uses repetition very skillfully in his poem.  It is enough of a structure to allow children to have something to lean on when reading, but the poem is also free too.  It’s a strong mix of structure and freedom that is perfect for a tree poem.  As the seasons change, children will see nature change as well.  There is a joy to this work, a dedication to preservation of trees like this, and a thrill in the wildness of nature.  Johnston uses gorgeous imagery throughout that further ties the wild to this tree and how he feels.

Minor’s illustrations are exceptional.  They carry the beauty of the verse to new heights as readers get to see the glory of this single sequoia standing so tall above everything else.  Yet Minor also makes sure that Sequoia is part of the nature around him.  The light is beautiful in these images streaming through the trees in beams, bright dawn on other pages, and the softness of twilight at others. 

A wild and beautiful poetic celebration of a tree, this book is less about the facts of sequoia trees and more about the experience of one.  Appropriate for ages 4-6.

Reviewed from copy received from Roaring Brook Press.

Review: The Farmer and the Clown by Marla Frazee

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farmer and the clown

The Farmer and the Clown by Marla Frazee

In a wordless picture book, Frazee captures what happens when a young clown falls off of a circus train and is rescued by a lonely farmer.  The desolate and flat landscape is unbroken until the bright circus train passes.  The farmer is clearly reluctant to take in the bright little smiling clown, but he does anyway, taking him by the hand back to his tiny house.  There, the two of them sit together, share a meal and eventually wash up and the clown washes off his face paint.  Now it is the little clown who is worried and sad, his smile removed with the water.  The farmer sits with him as he tries to fall asleep.  Along with the light of dawn, the farmer starts to cheer up the little clown with silly faces and antics.  Soon the two are living a mix of their two lives:  eggs are gathered and juggled, hard work is shared, and the two head out on a picnic together.  While on the picnic, they hear a train coming and it is the circus train filled with clowns.  But somehow, the ending is not sad as the little clown returns to his family and the farmer returns to his farm, both changed forever.

I’m not sure how Frazee manages to convey so much in a wordless format.  She uses symbolism, like the face paint for removing barriers, the connection of the characters through held hands, and their very different hats being removed and shared and eventually exchanged.  It’s lovely and heartfelt and very special. 

I’ve seen this book on a lot of people’s top book lists for the year, and I completely agree.  It’s a gem of a book that has such depths to explore.  The wordless format might imply a simple story, but here readers will find subtlety about friendship, caring for others, and building connections. 

A masterpiece of wordless storytelling, this is a radiant picture book made to be shared.  Appropriate for ages 2-6.

Reviewed from copy received from Beach Lane Books.