Picture Books

Review: The Night Before Christmas by Clement Clarke Moore

| Tasha

night before christmas

The Night Before Christmas by Clement Clarke Moore, illustrated by Christine Brallier

Following the classic Christmas tale, this version of the story is made special by the illustrations.  Brallier has created fifteen stained glass illustrations for the book.  They range from holiday mantles to close ups of the reindeer and of course Santa Claus.  Santa does not wear a red hat here but instead has the robes of an English Santa Claus.  It makes the feel all the more timeless and special. 

Throughout, Brallier has small touches that are worth finding.  I was entranced by her use of smaller mosaic pictures on the walls as art.  She also includes decorations on blankets and tassels as well as snowflakes in the snow and stars in the sky.  Though the art is done in such a hard medium, there is no feeling of the limitations put on the art by that.  In fact, the depth of color and the texture of the mosaic glass add much to the book. 

My only quibble would be that I’d love to have had an illustrator’s note at the end of the book about her process in creating the illustrations.  I’d love to have a sense of their scale.  Happily, details like this are available on the author’s blog.

A gorgeous new version of a Christmas classic, this one is worth sharing as a holiday treat.  Appropriate for ages 4-7.

Reviewed from copy received from the illustrator.

Review: The Nowhere Box by Sam Zuppardi

| Tasha

nowhere box

The Nowhere Box by Sam Zuppardi

George just can’t get away from his little brothers.  They follow him everywhere, even into the bathroom!  George has had enough.  So when he finds the box from the new washing machine, George builds himself a way to travel far away.  In fact, he goes to Nowhere.  Nowhere is wide open and empty, but George quickly fixes that by dumping things out of his box.  In no time at all, Nowhere is incredibly fun.  But wait, there are no dragons to fight and no pirates to sail the seas.  Perhaps there is room in this new space for a few more people to play.

Zuppardi takes a classic story of imaginative play and makes it rambunctious and fun.  George’s frustration with his younger brothers is tangible in the early pages as is the relief of being alone for awhile.  The story is simply told with a frankness and with the images and George’s own imagination carrying the tale forward.

The images are a huge part of what makes this book worth reading.  They have a similar energy level to the “No, David” books.  As the box becomes more of the story, cardboard is incorporated into the scenes, forming the ground and most of the objects.  The images are bright and bold, perfect for high energy kids.

A story of imagination and being an older sibling, this book will be enjoyed by any child who has loved a big box.  Appropriate for ages 3-5.

Reviewed from library copy.

Review: Bang by Leo Timmers

| Tasha

bang

Bang by Leo Timmers

Using only the word “bang” throughout, this nearly-wordless picture book is a humor-filled delight.  In a series of car crashes, one after another, the story is told.  It all starts with a deer who isn’t paying any attention, since he’s reading this book while driving.  Then comes the truck full of chickens driven by a pig.  Then a fashionable giraffe in an orange sportster.  A hungry alligator with a truck full of tires follows.  And more and more.  After each car enters the page, there is an enormous bang, and then each new car impacts all of the others in new ways.  Colors change, items move from one vehicle to another, and merry chaos reigns. 

Timmers fills his wordless book with wonderful details that make lingering on the pages a must.  You even start guessing from the introduction of the new elements about what will happen to the other vehicles in line.  The final fold-out page with all of the vehicles in a row is great fun to look at and makes for a grand finale.

Timmers’ art is quirky and bright.  The vehicles are all completely unique, formatted to fit the bulk of a pig, or the height of a giraffe.  The pages are filled with bright colors and lots of action.  As each new vehicle comes onto the page, there is wonderful moment before you know what happens.  This pacing is perfection and all thanks to the art.

Jolly and very funny, this is a picture book that children who enjoy vehicles or large crashes will adore.  Appropriate for ages 2-4.

Reviewed from copy received from Gecko Press.

Review: The Runaway Hug by Nick Bland

| Tasha

runaway hug

The Runaway Hug by Nick Bland, illustrated by Freya Blackwood

Lucy is all ready for bed and asks her mother for a hug.  When her mother jokes that is the last hug she has left, Lucy offers to borrow it and return it.  Lucy heads off to lend the hug to different members of her family, making sure to get it back each time.  Each hug is different, some tighter others smell like peanut butter.  When Lucy gives her dog a hug though, the dog runs off and Lucy is sure that she has lost her mother’s last hug forever. 

Bland and Blackwood make a great team for creating picture books.  Black’s tone is playful from the very beginning and one knows that this family is something special just from the way they speak to one another.  Throughout there is a sense of humor and an enduring affection for one another that permeates the book.  Bland also does a great job of keeping the book securely in Lucy’s point of view, so that readers know from the very beginning that Lucy is taking this last hug seriously.  There is no laughing at Lucy for this, rather it serves as the heart of the book and this imaginative play is celebrated.

Blackwood’s illustrations have fabulous soft lines that blur and flow.  Blackwood leaves some of her lines from sketching on the page, creating a sense of motion but also a feeling of the connected nature of the world right on the page.  She also adds to the warmth of Bland’s writing, her home that she places this family in filled with warmth, some clutter, and reality.

A beautiful pick for bedtime, just make sure you aren’t down to your last hug!  Appropriate for ages 2-4.

Reviewed from copy received from Random House Children’s Books.

Review: Big Snow by Jonathan Bean

| Tasha

big snow

Big Snow by Jonathan Bean

It is very hard to wait for the snow to come, as David discovers in this picture book perfect for the snowy season.  David is waiting for the snow to start, so he helps his mother bake cookies.  But then the flour reminds him of the snow so he heads out to check on it.  It’s fine and dusty in the air.  He heads back inside and helps clean the bathroom, but then is reminded of snow from the bubbles.  When he checks, there is more snow but it’s still light.  He helps his mother change sheets and is reminded of snow blanketing the ground, when he checks outside that’s exactly what the snow is doing!  Then it’s naptime, and David dreams of snow, lots and lots of snow.  Will his dream come true?

Bean creates a book not only about waiting for a big snow, but also about the different types of snow that arrive in the course of a storm.  It is a wonderful tribute to loving snow and wintry weather and hoping for the white to cover the barren landscape.  Bean cleverly ties in David’s reminders of snow with the level of snow outdoors.  Children will immediately get the connection and will enjoy watching the storm outside progress.

Bean varies the illustrations from close ups of David helping his mother and their cozy home interiors to distance images of their home and neighborhood as it transforms under the snow.  One can see the magic of snow happening firsthand.  I also love the humor of David disappearing to check on the snow, only the end of his scarf still in the room.  And bravo for Bean creating a family of color in a book that doesn’t have anything to do with race.

Even with the icy temperatures outside, this is a book that will get everyone looking forward to the next big snow.  Appropriate for ages 3-5.

Reviewed from copy received from Farrar Straus Giroux.

Review: The Tiny King by Taro Miura

| Tasha

tiny king

The Tiny King by Taro Miura

There once was a very tiny king who lived all alone in a big castle, guarded by an army of big soldiers.  He ate at a huge table with an enormous feast that he could never finish.  He rode a big horse that threw him off every time.  He had a big bathtub with a fountain.  But all of these things did not make him happy.  He slept alone in a big bed and could not sleep very well.  Then the tiny king married a big princess and they were very happy.  They had ten children and everyone was happy.  The soldiers were given a vacation, the castle was bright and busy, they finished the entire large feast, they all rode together on the big horse, everyone bathed together in the big fountain, and best of all, the king could now sleep soundly with all of them fitting perfectly in the big bed.

Miura is a graphic designer from Japan and he has created a book that is gorgeously designed.  His illustrations are big and bold, strong shapes popping with color against the solid backgrounds.  The backgrounds change as the tone of the book changes.  When the king is lonely, the backgrounds are solid black.  The page where he meets the big princess is white.  Then the pages where he has a family are bright colored.  Throughout, Miura incorporates pieces of paper with letters, writing, or stylized vintage objects making it even richer.

The story is a simple one, but also one that speaks volumes about how riches and power do not mean that you are living a fulfilling life.  It was not until love and people entered this tiny king’s life that he was happy.  Don’t expect a subtle storyline here.  It is too basic a book for that, one appropriate for very small children to enjoy.

The story of a tiny king with a big heart and huge amount of love to share is one that toddlers and young preschoolers will enjoy.  Appropriate for ages 2-4.

Reviewed from library copy.

Review: When the Beat Was Born by Laban Carrick Hill

| Tasha

when the beat was born

When the Beat Was Born: DJ Kool Herc and the Creation of Hip Hop by Laban Carrick Hill, illustrated by Theodore Taylor III

Clive had loved music since he was a child.  He lived in Kingston, Jamaica and loved to listen to DJs at the parties in his neighborhood.  He was too young to attend, but he watched them set up before the parties and dreamed of becoming a DJ himself.  When he was 13, Clive moved to New York City with his mother.  That was where he started to play sports and got the nickname “Hercules” due to his size.  He was soon known as Kool Herc.  When his father got a sound system, Kool Herc became a DJ at a party he threw with his sister.  Herc noticed that people loved to dance during the parts of the songs with no lyrics, so he found a new way of playing the records that extended that part of the song.  He started calling out the names of his friends in the crowd.  Soon he was creating the music that led to a new style of dance: breakdancing.  And that’s how hip hop was born.

Hill tells this story of a legendary DJ with a mix of straight forward tone and rhythmic writing.  There is nothing overt in his rhythm, just a wonderful beat that the entire book moves to.  Hill clearly ties DJ Kool Herc to the entire hip hop movement from the very beginning of his book through to the end.  He traces the connections and makes them clear and firm, just like Herc did with the connections to the giant speakers to get them to work.

The illustrations have a wonderful groove as well.  This is Taylor’s first picture book and I hope he does more.  His images have a wonderful richness of color without being dark at all.  They also merge strong graphic qualities into the images, making them really sing.

A great nonfiction picture book biography, this book will help fill in gaps in library collections and will speak to the history of the music kids are listening to right now.  Appropriate for ages 7-9.

Reviewed from library copy.

Review: The Tree Lady by H. Joseph Hopkins

| Tasha

tree lady

The Tree Lady by H. Joseph Hopkins, illustrated by Jill McElmurry

Kate Sessions is the woman who made San Diego into the green city that it is today.  She was a pioneering female scientist who grew up in the forests of Northern California.  After becoming the first woman to graduate with a degree in science from the University of California, she moved to San Diego to be a teacher.  San Diego was a desert town with almost no trees at all.  So Kate decided to change all of that and began to hunt for trees that survive and thrive in a desert.  Soon trees were being planted all over San Diego, but that was not enough for Kate who then worked to fill entire parks with her trees and gardens.  Kate Sessions was a remarkable woman who helped San Diego become the great city it is today.

Hopkins takes a playful approach to this picture book biography.  From the beginning he uses a format that ends each new event in Kate Session’s life with “But Kate did.”  Not only does this create a strong structure for the story, but it shows Session’s determination to not be swayed by what others thought was possible.  From the beginning, she was a unique person with a unique vision.  It is that vision and her strength in the face of societal opposition that made her so successful.

McElmurry’s illustrations add a beauty to the book.  She captures the lush green of the California forests and then allows readers to experience the transformation of San Diego from a barren desert to the lush green of Session’s many trees.  She also shows all of the hard work that it took to make that transformation possible.

Sessions will be a newly found historical figure for most of us, and what an inspiration she is!  Appropriate for ages 4-6.

Reviewed from copy received from Beach Lane Books.

Review: Fossil by Bill Thomson

| Tasha

fossil

Fossil by Bill Thomson

Thomson, author of Chalk, returns with a book that once again mixes fantasy with photorealistic art.  In this picture book, a boy is walking along the water with his dog.  He finds an interesting rock but then trips and the rock goes flying and breaks open revealing a fossil inside.  As he picks it up and discovers the fossilized fern inside the rock, ferns start to grow around him.  His dog digs up another rock and when the boy breaks that one open, a huge dragonfly comes to life.  The dragonfly lands on another rock and readers will see the claws on the fossil before the shadow appears.  With his dog in danger, the boy has to think fast about how to save him. 

Done in a wordless format, Thomson’s art is the real draw here.  His photorealism makes for images that are worth lingering over.  He also uses unique perspectives throughout the book, such as the image on the cover.  The books has the universal appeal of a sandy shore littered with large stones and drenching sunlight.  That same sunlight somehow becomes threatening once the dinosaur appears, almost spotlighting the danger and creating deep menacing shadows.

Vivid and beautiful, this book offers a dynamic take on fossils and prehistoric life.  Appropriate for ages 3-6.

Reviewed from library copy.