Picture Books

Owly & Wormy: Friends All Aflutter

| Tasha

owlyandwormy

Owly & Wormy: Friends All Aflutter by Andy Runton

The popular Owly graphic novels make their picture book debut with this colorful new story.  Owly and his best friend Wormy want to make friends with some butterflies.  So they plant a milkweed plant, hoping to attract some.  All they manage to attract are some bugs that are definitely not butterflies and that are munching on the milkweed leaves.  Owly and Wormy make friends with the bugs instead until one day the bugs have to leave.  Now Owly and Wormy are left alone.  They wait and wait for their friends to return.  When they eventually do come back though, Owly and Wormy don’t recognize them!

Runton’s friendly and funny Owly graphic novels are some of my go-to graphic novels for younger children.  This new book makes the Owly stories available to even younger readers.  With the wordless format, this is a book that will appeal to children just about to become readers themselves. 

Add the bright colors to the illustrations and you have a very appealing book that is about friendship and metamorphosis.  The cartoon-like illustrations filled with smiling faces large and small are very friendly themselves.  The illustrations run from two-page spreads to smaller more graphic-novel-like images that read as panels.

This book takes graphic novels to the youngest readers and introduces them to a friend that they can share adventures with for years to come.  Appropriate for ages 4-6.

Reviewed from copy received from Simon & Schuster.

Pick a Pup: A Celebration of Dogs

| Tasha

pickapup

Pick a Pup by Marsha Wilson Chall, illustrated by Jed Henry

Sam is all set to pick out his puppy from the animal shelter.  But he’s not sure how he will know which puppy is the right one for him.  His grandmother assures him that he will figure it out.  On the way to the shelter, Sam visits other dogs.  Which kind does he want?  Does he want a lazy dog?  A playful dog?  A pedigreed, fancy dog?  How will he ever know which pup to choose?

Chall has created a book that celebrates the process of not only getting your first dog but also selecting one from a shelter.  While the book begins in a fairly usual way, when it comes to the variety of dogs Sam meets on his walk, the book really takes shape.  Each dog is celebrated and understood to be the right fit for that specific person. 

Henry’s illustrations help in the celebration of the dogs, keeping all of them friendly, approachable but distinct from one another in both looks and attitude.  The soft and bright illustrations offer just the right tone for the book.

A celebration of dogs and animal shelters, this book would be a great addition to a dog unit or storytime.  It’s also a perfect pick for a Read to a Dog program.  Appropriate for ages 4-6.

Reviewed from copy received from Simon & Schuster.

Pirates Don’t Take Baths

| Tasha

piratesbaths

Pirates Don’t Take Baths by John Segal

Some piglets hate, hate, hate taking a bath.  In fact, this little pig NEVER wants to take a bath again.  So he decides to become someone who never takes a bath.  Like a pirate!  But his mother points out that he gets seasick.  So the little pig decides to be a cowboy until his mother reminds him that cowboys sleep on hard, cold ground.  How about an Eskimo, well they eat things like blubber and liver.  The piglet goes from one idea to the next, his mother giving reasons why it isn’t a good option.  Until finally, he decides to become a treasure hunter who searches for treasure – under water!

Segal has created a book that nicely mixes avoiding baths and different types of jobs.  He infuses the entire book with humor that keeps it moving quickly forward.  The relationship between the young pig and his mother is also a pleasure to read.  Book design helps in reading the book aloud by having the mother’s comments in italics. 

Segal’s art, done in pencil and watercolor, plays white space against fully colored pages to great effect.  Reality of the mother and child is done against a white background while his fantasies of different jobs are done in full color backgrounds.  The illustrations have strong edges and the watercolor gives a softness that is very appealing.

A fun look at avoiding baths through imagination, this book is appropriate for ages 3-5.

Reviewed from copy received from Philomel Books.

Without You: Fractured Friendship

| Tasha

withoutyou

Without You by Genevieve Cote

The pig and bunny from Me and You return in this second book about their friendship.  After pig accidentally dumps bunny’s items out of a wagon, the two of them decide they can no longer be friends.  They list the things that they will happily do apart from one another from cooking to reading to painting and music.  Then they realize that things are indeed much more fun together.  Food tastes better, colors are brighter, and music is sweeter.  This celebration of the ups and downs of friendship will resonate with children.

Cote  has written this book in a fresh engaging first person style where the two characters take turns talking in their own voices.  The lack of any framing statements makes for a very engaging book that is a pleasure to read aloud, changing between the two distinct voices of the characters.  The illustrations echo the same freshness with their pastel palette, light lines and free form colors. 

A great choice for friendship story times, this book’s springtime colors will also make it a natural fit for any spring story time.  Appropriate for ages 3-5.

Reviewed from copy received from Kids Can Press.

Also reviewed by Young Readers.

The Honeybee Man: The Beauty of Bees

| Tasha

honeybeeman

The Honeybee Man by Lela Nargi and Krysten Brooker

On a quiet summer morning, Fred heads to the roof of his home in Brooklyn where his bee hives are.  With his cup of tea, he spends time with the bees, thinking about the honey they will make for him.  He imagines flying like a bee and looking for nectar.  He encourages the young bees to have courage on their first flights.  He celebrates the older bees as they throw themselves into the air, some stopping to land on his sleeves first to greet him.  He knows they will return full of nectar that then will be made into honey by others in the hive.  At the end of August, Fred harvests the honey from the hives, resulting in golden jars of sweetness that he shares with his neighbors.  This is a book about communities large and small, interwoven together.

The language in this book is lovely and evocative.  It is a book that creates small moments of celebrations.  Here is a passage of Fred’s morning in July greeting the bees:

Fred inhales the smells of a summer city morning: maple leaves and gasoline and the river and dust.  He turns to the tiny city and inhales its smaller, sweeter smell – a little like caramel, a little like ripe peaches.

All of the senses are filled with the experience of urban bee keeping in this book.  It is packed with these sensory moments.  The language is poetic and beautifully detailed.

The mixed-media illustrations have a whimsical feel to them.  Just as the book itself does, they celebrate Brooklyn, urban life, and the bees.  There is a homey, warm feel that is often lacking in books about cities that is a pleasure to see.

Celebrate bee keeping, city life, and community with this book.  Appropriate for ages 4-7.

Reviewed from copy received from Random House.

Clementine: A Book of Big Dreams

| Tasha

clementine

Clementine by Sebastian Loth

Released May 1, 2011.

Clementine is a snail who loves anything and everything round.  She loves tires and balls, but most of all she loves the roundness of the moon.  So she decides that she is going to head to the moon.  Her best friend Paul, a worm, helps her come up with a plan on how she will get to the moon.  They try a trampoline first, with poor results.  The slingshot doesn’t do any better.  Then they decide to try a rocket!  And Clementine discovers that she has been connected all along to something amazingly round and magnificent.

The writing in this small picture book has a depth that is surprising and delightful.  Written in longer paragraphs than many picture books, the text remains completely readable and enjoyable for preschoolers.  It is because of the length of the text that the ideas can be explored fully. 

Loth combines his poetic language with stunningly simple illustrations.  The illustrations play beautifully with light and dark as well as motion.  Opening with Clementine sitting near oranges, they also play with color and shape.

The result is a book that speaks straight to the dreamer in all of us.  Appropriate for ages 4-6.

Reviewed from copy received from NorthSouth.

Monkey Truck: Ingenious Mash Up

| Tasha

monkeytruck

Monkey Truck by Michael Slack

Whenever there is trouble in the jungle, Monkey Truck races to the rescue!  He saves small lizards from crushing elephant feet.  He rescues big hippos from a shrinking and muddy water hole.  He grinds gears to get the job done with his truck bed filled to bursting.  He is Monkey Truck!  Fueled by bananas and always ready to go, he is the hero of the jungle.

This book grew on me once I got into the story.  It has a frenetic pace that toddler will enjoy immensely.  It also obviously has its own screwball humor from the premise alone!  That humor is really what makes this book work so well.  From fart jokes to bouncing stacks of muddy hippos, there is plenty of laughter to be found here.

The book has been printed on thicker pages, making it an ideal transition book for toddlers from board books to picture books.  This is clearly a book that is meant for very young children who just might demand why they can’t have a monkey truck of their very own!

If you do a toddler story time at your library or work with a toddler group, this is a book that will really work when shared out loud.  Be prepared to mash your animal sounds with engine noises and your young listeners will be sure to enjoy it!  Appropriate for ages 1-3.

Reviewed from copy received from Henry Holt.

You can check out the wordless trailer for the book below:

Also reviewed by:

Hide and Squeak: Bedtime Fun

| Tasha

hideandsqueak

Hide-and-Squeak by Heather Vogel Frederick, illustrated by C. F. Payne

Daddy Mouse chases Mouse Baby around the garden and through the house trying to get him to head to bed.  Mouse Baby hides in the kitchen, in the bathroom, and the living room with his father right behind.  Until finally, Daddy manages to grab his tail just before he runs off to a new hiding place.  The pace of the fast-moving book changes to a slow bedtime story as Mouse Baby is tucked into his matchbox bed.  This is an adorable bedtime story with just enough running and romping to keep it lively and fun.

Frederick’s writing incorporates repetition and rhyme.  Daddy Mouse has a rhyme he says again and again in the book, making this a great choice for small children:

Mouse baby, mouse baby,

where can you be?

I can’t see you.

Can you see me?

It’s time for bed.  It’s time for sleep.

No more time for hide-and-squeak.

The tone of the entire book is playful with the added fun of a chase and hide and seek.  Payne’s illustrations have a nice timeless feel to them that adds warmth to the book.  They also have the added charm of coming from a mouse-high perspective that children will enjoy.  The relationship of father and child is highlighted in both the illustrations and the text. 

A great bedtime pick, this book just may become a favorite night time read for your family.  Appropriate for ages 2-4.

Reviewed from copy received from Simon & Schuster.

Also reviewed by:

Small Saul

| Tasha

smallsaul

Small Saul by Ashley Spires

The author of Binky the Space Cat returns with a brand new character for us to enjoy!  Small Saul is not your regular pirate type, but he has known since he was small that he wanted to spend his life at sea.  When the Navy turned him down because he was too short, Saul enrolled in Pirate College.  Even in college, he didn’t fit in.  He was great at singing shanties and less good at sword fighting.  He wasn’t rough or tough, but he excelled at swabbing the deck.  Finally, he had his pirate diploma and headed for the docks.  But his time at sea was not what Small Saul expected and definitely not what the pirates on The Rusty Squid were ready for!

Spires infuses the entire story with puns, pirate humor and just plain fun.  Her writing is meant to be read aloud with its natural pacing.  The broad comedy also makes this book ideal for sharing with a group.  The illustrations continue the humor of the text with Saul’s wide-eyed glasses, his diminutive size, and the rather blank faces of the pirates.

Nicely, the book is not just humorous, it also has a strong message at its heart.  It celebrates differences between people that can first be seen as problems and then are seen as treasures.  It’s a message worthy of pirate gold.

This is one pirate book that will not be walking the plank any time soon.  It’s ideal for any pirate-themed story time and will appeal to even elementary-aged children thanks to its humor.  Appropriate for ages 4-6.

Reviewed from copy received from Kids Can Press.