Picture Books

A Garden for Pig

| Tasha

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A Garden for Pig by Kathryn K. Thurman, illustrated by Lindsay Ward

Pig lives on an apple farm where they grow lots and lots of apples.  And what does Pig get to eat?  Apples, apples, and more apples.  Mrs. Pippins owns the farm and she makes all sorts of apple dishes for pig to eat, but he is sick of apples all the time.  What he really wants to eat are vegetables!  So Pig breaks into the vegetable patch and begins gulping down squash, seeds and all.  When Mrs. Pippin finds him in the garden, she is not happy.  She ties Pig up.  When she catches him trying to break the rope, she shuts him in his pen.  Though Pig tries to escape, he can’t.  But he is determined not to eat any more apples!  Pig notices the next day that his pen looks a lot like a garden.  And after digesting the squash, he has the seeds he needs to make one.

Thurman’s words are simple and have a jaunty rhythm to them.  There are wonderful sounds woven into the book that children will enjoy mimicking.  Pig’s determination and tenacity as well as his creative solution to the problem add to the appeal.

Ward’s collage and cut paper illustrations have a warmth to them.  This is accentuated by the use of fabrics that offer a texture to the images.  In the apple orchard, there are words on the paper that make up the leaves: apple recipes.  The illustrations are large enough to read to a group.  And goodness knows, the poop event at the end will be a hit!

A friendly and warm introduction to gardening in an organic way, this book is a happy addition to gardening story times.  Appropriate for ages 3-5.

Reviewed from copy received from Kane Miller.

Also reviewed by:

Sweet Moon Baby: An Adoption Tale

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Sweet Moon Baby: An Adoption Tale by Karen Henry Clark, illustrated by Patrice Barton

This is an adoption story that takes a more fairy tale approach.  In China, perfect baby is born.  However, her parents don’t have enough food for themselves and worry about the future of this tiny baby.  So they put trust in the moon and send their baby away down the river.  On the journey, several animals help that baby.  While she sleeps, she is carried by a turtle, flown high by a peacock, sheltered by a monkey, and guided by a panda.   On the other side of the world, a family is waiting for a child.  While they wait, they prepare for her.  They create a garden, plant trees, build her a room, and fill it with pretty things and lots of books.  They know she is there, but where?  They travel long distances following the moon’s path.  And when the moon paths of the baby and the family meet, so do they.

So often adoption books are about the concrete steps taken from one family to the next.  It is a pleasure to read a book that is whimsical and magical about adoption.  Clark’s writing celebrates the connection between child and new family while paying homage to the birth family as well.  The entire book is suffused in a gentle beauty that allows anyone reading to know immediately that this is a joyous tale. 

Barton’s illustrations are particularly fine.  From the first two-page spread of the new baby and her bright-eyed beauty, the illustrations are captivating.  They have a subtle humor to them as well as a soft touch that matches the tone of the book.  Done in sketches and then digitally, the images have interesting textures.

A very successful fairy-tale telling of the adoption story, this book may not answer the questions of how an adoption takes place, but it does speak to the magical nature of love.  Appropriate for ages 3-5.

Reviewed from copy received from Knopf Delacorte Dell.

Up and Down: High Flying Friendship

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Up and Down by Oliver Jeffers

Jeffers continues his story of the friendship between a boy and penguin in this fourth book about the boy.  The boy and the penguin are great friends.  They do everything together.  But when the penguin decided that he had to learn to fly, he knew he had to do it on his own.  The boy tried to help, looking up information and trying to connect the penguin with flying experts.  But when the penguin figures out a solution, he heads off immediately to make it happen.   The boy had no idea where the penguin went.  The penguin finds himself alone and lost, unable to get in touch with his friend.  When the boy discovers where the penguin is, the question is whether he will be able to reach him in time to see his friend succeed or fall. 

This book is written with the same charming simplicity of the earlier books.  There is such a gentle and loving spirit to these books.  Yet they still have a spirit of adventure and surprise.  The friendship between the two characters is strong and true, supporting one another even if the other friend needs to do something on their own.  This is a touching story of real friendship.

Jeffers’ illustrations are done in the same style as the earlier books in the series.  They are done in a modern style that is infused with warmth from the charm of the characters and the bright colors. 

A fitting follow-up to Lost and Found, this book will appeal to fans of Jeffers and to new readers as well.  Appropriate for ages 4-6.

Reviewed from copy received from Philomel Books.

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Tiny Little Fly: A Delight of a Book

| Tasha

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Tiny Little Fly by Michael Rosen, illustrated by Kevin Waldron

British Children’s Laureate Michael Rosen has created another delight of a picture book.  Readers follow the adventures of Tiny Little Fly as he buzzes past some impressive animals.  Great Big Elephant tries to catch the fly, but even with all of his tramping and crushing, the fly flies away.  When Tiny Little Fly lands on Great Big Hippo’s ear, the hippo tries to catch him by rolling and squashing.  But the fly flies away.  Even Great Big Tiger, who swoops and snatches at the fly with his pay cannot catch the fly.  Told in a wonderful rhyme with plenty of noise and fun, this book will be right at home in any toddler story time.

Rosen’s verse here is filled with a sense of fun and playfulness.  The repetition in the book gives it a wonderful pace and gait that is a pleasure to read aloud.  Each large animal takes two winks at the fly, then tries in their own way to catch it with plenty of ruckus.  Thanks to the simplicity of the story and the attraction of the large animals, I can see this being made into a felt board story very easily.  It would also convert well into a little play acting with parents or teachers.

Waldron’s illustrations are simple but sophisticated.  They have a mix of timelessness and modernism that is charming.  His use of a natural-feeling background rather than stark white makes for a warm feel throughout the book.  Waldron combines several techniques in these illustrations from ink drawings to paint.  For reading aloud to a group, Waldron’s illustrations work well thanks to their large size.  Additionally, he allows children to guess what the next large animal will be, adding to the pleasure of sharing the book aloud. 

An ideal story time pick, get this one for any insect, tiger, elephant or hippo story time you are planning.  Heck, it’s good enough to use time and again for any reason at all.  A guaranteed hit with the toddler and preschool set.  Appropriate for ages 2-5.

Reviewed from library copy.

Big Belching Bog: A Quiet Exploration

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Big Belching Bog by Phyllis Root, illustrations by Betsy Bowen

Through this picture book, readers get to explore the wonders of a bog.  Root uses free verse to invite readers deeper into the bog, discovering the plants and creatures that live here.  Small moments of life in the bog are captured in the poetry, sights and sounds are shared and wondered at.  The book and the bog have a graceful slow pace that make one take ones time and savor.  And through it all, there is something coming, something to look forward to, something that only we might witness.  This small touch of foreboding makes the book all the more pleasurable to read.  A book for children who love nature, animals and plants, this is a rich look at the quiet bog.

Root’s verse works as if it is small poems on each double page spread rather than one long poem that runs the length of the book.  These small pieces of verse make the book more readable and allow the reader to see the tiny pieces of the bog which in turn make up the whole.  This is a book that encourages you to slow down, linger, listen and watch so that you really understand the place that you are.  The book ends with details about bogs and the animals and plants seen in the book.

Bowen’s illustrations are woodcut prints that have great deep colors and thick lines.  A hermit thrush travels through each page with the reader, often cocking its head in a thoughtful way.  The illustrations capture the beauty of the bog and also that swampy feeling, the tug on your boots, the dampness that surrounds you. 

Both verse and illustrations work as a celebration of the bog, inviting readers to visit and discover the surprise themselves.  Appropriate for ages 4-6.

Reviewed from library copy.

Me, Frida: Intensely Beautiful

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Me, Frida by Amy Novesky, illustrated by David Diaz

2011 Pura Belpre Honor Book for Illustration

Opening this book is like opening a treasure box filled with images that are deep, fiery, passionate and intensely beautiful.  This is the story of Frida Kahlo and her travel to San Francisco alongside her husband, artist Diego Rivera.  Rivera was hired to paint a mural for the city, but Frida was restless as he started work on it.  As Rivera spent longer and longer hours working, Frida was left alone in a a foreign country and big city.  She didn’t speak much English and knew almost no one.  So Frida began to explore the city on her own, allowing the things she loved to be the focus.  And in the process, she found her own voice and her own artistic vision.  She was no longer silent, but instead a vivacious beauty who would show the world what she was capable of.

Told in simple words by Novesky, this book captures the situation Frida found herself in with clarity.  The author also revels in Frida finding herself and her art, her explorations and her self awareness.  It is a celebration of more than Frida Kahlo.  It is a celebration of women artists of all sorts.  Diaz’s illustrations are done in acrylic, charcoal and varnish on linen.  The combination of media give the illustrations an amazing depth of color that is beautifully saturated at times and light and airy at others.  Just the use of drips in the illustrations is beautifully done.  The drips become age, emotions and trees.  They add a wild beauty to the images that suits the subject well.

A beautiful picture book about an amazing artist, this was surely worthy of the Pura Belpre Honor Award.  Appropriate for ages 7-9.

Reviewed from copy received from Abrams Books for Young Readers.

Also reviewed by TheHappyNappyBookseller.

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The Fox in the Dark

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The Fox in the Dark by Alison Green, illustrated by Deborah Allwright

Rabbit runs home, frightened that there is a fox chasing him in the dark.  He makes it home safely, but then he hears a Rat-a-tat-tat! at the door.  Who could it be?  It’s a duck who is also being chased by the fox and needs a safe place to be.  Rabbit lets Duck in, sharing his burrow, blanket and bed.  But just then another knock comes at the door.  This time it is Mouse.  Another knock and it’s Lamb.  All of them scared of the fox in the dark.  And then another knock comes at the door.  This time it’s the fox in the dark! 

A combination of dynamic writing and energetic illustrations makes for a stirring read that will have children guessing the entire way through.  Green offers young listeners plenty of rhythm and rhyme that is rambunctious.  It also builds up the drama and tension.  The book reads aloud very well and is sure to have preschool audiences in rapt attention. Allwright’s illustrations play a lot with light and dark, offering deep underground shots of the burrow that is filled with pools of yellow lamplight.  The moods set by this use of dark and light really add even further to the dynamic nature of the story.

Recommended for preschool story times, this book would also make a great Halloween read due to the tension built up.  It would make a great breather from witches and ghosts that time of year.  But don’t wait until then to share it with children!  Fit it into any story time featuring rabbits or foxes.  Appropriate for ages 3-5.

Reviewed from library copy.

Not Me!: A Jolly Mess of a Book

| Tasha

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Not Me! by Nicola Killen

Messes and small children go together in this book.  Someone has been making a series of messes, but when each child is asked, they reply with a merry “Not me!”  Readers will immediately know the truth though, because the clues are there to tie that mischievous child to the mess that surrounds them.  Add in one small dog, and the messiness is complete until it’s time to clean up…

A book with only a few words per page that focus more on the visual cues than on the words themselves.  The text asks who has made that specific mess and then has the reply of the child denying that it was them.  The repetition makes for a rollicking pace that is great fun to read aloud and is perfect for even the smallest of toddlers.   Killen’s illustrations are done in mixed media with a combination of stencils, collage, and stamping.  The effect is sweet and jolly.  She uses primarily pastels with bright pops of primary colors. 

This is a book that children will love and will ask to have read to them again and again.  Who wouldn’t want to read it?  Not me!  Appropriate for ages 1-3.

Reviewed from copy received from Egmont.

Also reviewed by The Book Chook.

The Firehouse Light: A Timeless True Tale

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The Firehouse Light by Janet Nolan, illustrated by Marie Lafrance

This is the story of the 100-year-old centennial bulb in Livermore, California.  The bulb was originally put into a wooden shack that contained fire fighting equipment for the city.  The bulb was moved from the shack to the firehouse and was never turned off.  It shined while horses were readied.  The lightbulb shined as cars replaced horses.  It shined as fire engines got bigger and better.  It shined as volunteers were replaced by paid fire fighters.  It shined on and on.  When a new firehouse was built in 1976, the bulb stopped shining as it was moved to the new firehouse.  There was a lot of tension about whether the bulb would light again after the move, but it lit and continues to shine. 

Nolan has structured the book in a winning way that allows young readers to understand the passing of time in tangible ways.  They will see the horses at first, then the cars, the record players and then the televisions.  Her prose appears lengthy on the page, but reads aloud readily.  The use of repetition to start each new decade helps reinforce that time is passing in decades.  Lafrance’s illustrations have a timeless feel to them that will take readers back to vintage picture books.  The style works well here with the emphasis on history and the amazing longevity of a small bulb.

A nonfiction picture book that celebrates history and a small, lovely accomplishment.  This book will work well in a unit on community helpers, offering a unique perspective on the history of firefighting.  Appropriate for ages 5-7.

Reviewed from library copy.