Picture Books

Mad at Mommy: Beautiful Anger

| Tasha

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Mad at Mommy by Komako Sakai

Released in October 2010.

A new book from the creator of The Snow Day, this book offers an accurate portrayal of child anger. 

Little Bunny is very angry at his mommy.  And he is more than willing to tell her exactly why.  She sleeps late on Saturdays.  She never lets him watch cartoons.  She always yells for no reason.  She is always telling him to hurry up and then not hurrying herself.  She always forgets to do the laundry.  She told him he can’t marry her when he is older.  So he’s decided to run away.  For a moment or two.

Sakai has created a very spare and minimal picture book.  The use of texture and roughness in the illustrations complements the frustration of Little Bunny.  Originally published in Japan, the book does feel different than American picture books, especially in its illustrations. The subject matter is universal.  The book is told in the child’s voice, which Sakai captures winningly.  The complaints are offered as a list, one to the next, as if they are occurring to him as he speaks.  The effect is a rather dynamic feel to the book, leaping from one idea to the next.

A beauty of a book that will make a great contrast to other anger books like When Sophie Gets Angry – Really, Really Angry by Mollly Bang and Mean Soup by Betsy Everitt.  Appropriate for ages 3-5.

Reviewed from copy received from Scholastic.

Chicken Big: Huge Laughs

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Chicken Big by Keith Graves

A fractured version of the classic Chicken Little story, this book is big on chickens and big on humor too.  A huge chick is born on a tiny farm in an itty-bitty coop.  When the chick hatches, the chickens try to figure out what in the world it is.  It’s big, even enormous, so it must be an elephant!   That theory only lasts until an acorn falls on the head of one of the chickens and the big chick eats it up rather than running in fear.  If it eats acorns, then it must be a squirrel!  When rain starts to fall and the chickens panic again, the big chick lets them shelter under his wings.  Well, if he keeps them dry in the rain, he must be an umbrella!  Their theories get more and more outrageous as the book continues.  It culminates with a showdown with a sneaky fox that finally convinces the foolish chickens what the big chick actually is. 

Graves writes with such great comedic timing and wonderful surprises that children will be in stitches listening to it.  The very silly chickens are a treat to read aloud, because they are so very idiotic.  The smallest chicken is the really funny one, who offers the various guesses as to the chick’s identity.  Always with a stout and definitive declaration. 

Graves’ illustrations add to the hilarity.  He uses a mix of frames and full page illustrations.  The combination is dynamic and modern.  Often the chickens and the big chick speak in speech bubbles, lending asides that are very clever and funny.  This is a book that has a feeling of mischief and mayhem about it.  It reads wonderfully aloud and will be sure to capture attention that may be wandering in story time.  It’s a perfect final story time book to get them hooked again.

A hilarious take on a classic, this book is perfectly designed and vibrantly original.  Appropriate for ages 5-10.

Reviewed from copy received from Chronicle Books.

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Piglet’s Picnic: Yummy Fun

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Piglet’s Picnic by Jessica Souhami

On a sunny day, Piglet posted a note about a picnic by the river, just bring your favorite food to share.  She headed off to the river with her friend Mouse.  Both carried covered baskets with their favorite foods in them.  Some crows fly up with a bundle, two frogs come with promises of something crunchy.  Dog arrives with a newspaper packet and two sheep bring a knitted bag.  It was then time to open the parcels of food.  But as each is opened with a flap that the reader gets to open, the other animals are disappointed to see what is there.  Luckily they all brought enough for each of them to each their favorite food, the food they brought.

This friendly and fairly predictable story has plenty of toddler appeal.  Small children will enjoy opening the parcels with the flaps as well as the surprise of the final foldout page that shows the entire picnic laid out.  Nicely, different concepts are layered in the book unobtrusively with numbers and addition as new animals arrive.  Souhami’s cut paper illustrations are bright and bold enough to show nicely to a group. 

A simple story perfect for toddler story times or sharing with your own small child.  Appropriate for ages 2-4.

Reviewed from copy received from Frances Lincoln Children’s Books.

Dust Devil

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Dust Devil by Anne Isaacs, illustrated by Paul O. Zelinsky

This companion book for the wonderful Swamp Angel is filled with the same tall tale antics of the first.  Swamp Angel grew too big for the state of Tennessee, so she had to move to the wide open spaces of Montana.  Unfortunately, the sun woke her too early so she plucked some mountains and placed them around to create some shade, making the buttes of Montana.  But her biggest problem was finding a horse that she could ride.  They were too small to carry her.  Then a huge storm came across the state, kicking up dust and sucking the roof off of her barn.  Swamp Angel jumped onto the storm and rode it until it turned into a horse that could strike lightning with its hooves.  When Backward Bart and his Flying Desperadoes enter the state, Swamp Angel and her horse, Dust Devil, have to combine their strength and size as well as a secret weapon to bring them to justice.  A wild stampede of a story, this is a tale worthy to follow in the huge footsteps of the original.

Isaacs has a wonderful time with the language of tall tales, using words that dance and whirl, immediately placing readers on familiar ground but amping it up to a new level.  Her description of the jail is worthy of note as a great example of her word play: “single-starred, double-barred, triple-guard jail.”  Isaacs’ story is completely jam-packed with Angel being a tall tale heroine.  She exemplifies everything readers want in adventure.  Isaac also adds a punch of humor to the book from the rollicking words she chooses to the villains themselves.  Backward Bart speaks his sentences in reverse-word order, which will have children listening very closely to be the first to decipher what he is saying. 

Zelinsky’s illustrations are done in oils on cedar, aspen and maple veneers.  This gives the illustrations a great framed effect that is rustic and perfectly suited to the story.  Zelinsky enjoys playing with perspective in his illustrations, offering views that intensify the size of Angel and Dust Devil.  The illustrations have a timelessness that is very appealing.

Swamp Angel is a girl who will give Paul Bunyan a run for his money, just as Dust Devil stands up well to Babe, the Blue Ox.  This brand new tall tale heroine stands tall among giants.  Appropriate for ages 5-8.

Reviewed from copy received from Schwartz & Wade Books.

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Art & Max: Another Wiesner Winner

| Tasha

Art & Max by David Wiesner

I always approach a new Wiesner book with huge expectations.  I mean, this is the three-time Caldecott medalist!  I guarantee this will not disappoint, no matter how high your expectations are.

Arthur is quite a painter.  He does portraits of lizards as they pose for him.  Max wants to learn and Arthur is willing to teach him.  The first step is Max figuring out what to paint.  Arthur grandly suggests that Max could paint him.  So Max does exactly that, with deep blue and bright yellow, he paints Arthur right in the face.  Arthur gets cross and bursts free of his paint-filled skin only to find that the colors have stayed and now his skin is chalk and pastels.  When a blowing fan won’t fix it, Arthur takes a drink of water to feel better.  It erases his color, leaving just a line drawing behind that Max quickly unravels.  Now it is up to Max to figure out how to get Arthur back.

Wiesner’s only text in this picture book is Arthur and Max’s dialogue with each other.  The illustrations really tell the story.  Wiesner has a great sense of comic timing from the first spurt of paint onto Arthur all the way through to Max rebuilding him in a very simplistic style.  The moments are ones that will have young readers and listeners laughing out loud.  As they are enjoying the story, they are being taught about the way that different media react, work and appear.  It is a very skillful and clever introduction to art styles and formats. 

Exceptionally, the book is also about creating art yourself.  It is about a painter with his own distinct style working with a younger artist.  It is about restraint meeting freedom.  About creativity and letting loose and what happens when you do.  It is a book that has many layers, several of them from paint.

A colorful, dynamic picture book that embodies what it is also conveying.  This picture book needs to get in the hands of your art teachers, children who enjoy art, and anyone looking for a good laugh.  Appropriate for ages 4-6.

Reviewed from copy received from Clarion Books.

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It’s a Book – Subversive and Smart

| Tasha

It’s a Book by Lane Smith

This is signature Lane Smith in every possible way.  A donkey and a gorilla sit in a living room together.  The donkey has a laptop, the gorilla has a book.  The donkey is puzzled by this book.  How do you scroll?  Does it blog? Where is the mouse?  The gorilla answers again and again, “No, it’s a book.”  Finally, the donkey gets the book in his hands and refuses to give it back.  The gorilla stands up to leave, heading for the library when the donkey offers to charge it when he’s done.  All leading up to the final line: “You don’t have to… It’s a book, Jackass.”  This is like a long lead up to a perfect punch line. 

I shared this book with my sons, aged 9 and 13.  They both adored it.  They got the references to blogging, video games, charging and mice.  By the final line, they both had huge grins on their faces and both looked rather slyly at me to see if I had realized what I had said.  Then we all laughed and read it again. 

Smith has created a book that will be enjoyed by adults and older children.  Young children will not get the references to the technology and will not get the punch line.  So let’s not waste time discussing whether that last line is appropriate for  preschoolers or story times.  The entire book is not for them. 

Smith’s wonderful art is modern, sleek and yet has a timeless quality to it.  It is ideal for this mashup of technology and books.  The day I got it in the mail, I took it to one of our staff luncheons.  It was read aloud, everyone loved it.  I’m going to have it tucked with my things for the upcoming state library conference.  They will all enjoy it.  And I expect plenty of the same looks my sons gave me and plenty of laughter too.

A picture book for adults and older children, this is one to read aloud to librarians and teachers rather than the other way around. 

Reviewed from copy received from Roaring Brook Press.

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Ballet for Martha: Bravo! A Beautiful Performance

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Ballet for Martha: Making Appalachian Spring by Jan Greenberg and Sandra Jordan, illustrated by Brian Floca

This is the story of how three great artists came together to create a classic American ballet.  Aaron Copland’s music inspired the original story and dance of Martha Graham and then in turn Isamu Noguchi created the minimalist sets.  All of these have become iconic so it is a pleasure to understand how the three collaborated on the creation, each drawing from the others ideas but also adding their own to make an ever more powerful ballet.  This picture book manages to capture the arc of creativity and also the ideas behind the ballet itself.

Greenberg and Jordan have somehow managed in so few words to tell two stories.  They reveal both the story of the collaboration between the creators of the ballet and also the story of that the ballet itself tells.  The text also gives insight into the design elements of the sets, the simple power of the music, the creative process of choreography.  This is truly a look at what it takes to be a master composer, choreographer and artist.  The text invites the reader in, explains the elements and leaves one in awe.

Floca’s watercolors are alive and vivid.  They offer a real look at the costumes and sets but also offer stirring glimpses behind the curtain and into the artistic process.  His use of color is subtle yet strong, really allowing the original creativity of the collaboration to shine.

Highly recommended, this book is a breathtaking look at a ballet.  Appropriate for ages 6-9.

Reviewed from copy received from Roaring Brook Press.

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Roslyn Rutabaga and the Biggest Hole on Earth

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Roslyn Rutabaga and the Biggest Hole on Earth by Marie-Louise Gay

Roslyn woke up in the morning knowing just what she was going to do that day.  She was going to dig the biggest hole on earth in her backyard.  Over her breakfast of carrot flakes, she told her father about her plan and he thought it was a good one.  She just had to be back for lunch.  Roslyn careful chose the perfect spot for her hole.  But when she started digging there, a worm complained that she was digging up his front yard and should dig somewhere else.  She moved near the fence but then a grumpy mole stuck his head out and complained that she was digging up his bedroom.  She moved near the lilac bush and started digging again.  She dug until she found what she thought was a dinosaur bone!  But the dog that had buried it came and told her that she was digging up his stash of bones.  Roslyn gave up.  She lay in the bottom of the hole.  Just as she was despairing, her father arrived with carrot sandwiches to lift her spirits.

This book captures a child’s view of the world where the obstacle is not the big idea but the small hurdles on the way to fruition.  Gay has written a book about a child with plenty of ideas and energy who is supported by a loving adult.  Roslyn is told along the way by everyone except her father that the hole will never be that big, that she will never dig to the South Pole, that she should give up.  This is a lesson in perseverance that very nicely concludes before the goal is reached.

Gay’s illustrations are delightful.  Done in mixed media, they have a wonderful texture to them that is used to great effect to be the underground portion of the illustrations.  Complete with rough tears, the paper really captures the grit of the dirt.  Gay has also filled the dirt with small touches: worms, carrots, missing socks, leaves, and rocks.  It is a pleasure to pore over the illustrations to find the “treasures” underground.

A charming story that will inspire readers to follow their heart no matter what other say, this book is appropriate for ages 3-6.

Reviewed from library copy.

Elsie’s Bird: Prairie Perfection

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Elsie’s Bird by Jane Yolen, illustrated by David Small

Elsie had lived in Boston all of her life.  She loved its curving streets, the horses hooves clopping on the roads, and she loved the birds that sing.  She even sang their songs back to them.  But after her mother died, her father decided to head west to Nebraska.  The two of them took a train out west, accompanied by Elsie’s new canary named Timmy Tune.  When they reached Nebraska with its wide open prairie and silence, Elsie was overwhelmed by the vastness around her.  She stayed in their sod house, only Timmy Tune bringing a smile to her face.  Then one day when her father was gone, she accidentally left Timmy Tune’s cage door open and he escaped outside.  Now Elsie had to decide whether to stay safe indoors or entre the overwhelming prairie to save her friend.

Yolen’s verse here is exceptional.  She captures Elsie’s feelings honestly, managing even in the format of a picture book to show Elsie’s perspective rather than tell it.  When Elsie discovers the beauty of the prairie for herself, the words descriptions of the noises she hears are crystalline and wondrous.  Yolen’s use of the lack of sound to impart the way that Elsie is overwhelmed is very well done.  Readers themselves will hear the sudden clamor of sounds as she realizes that the prairie is far from empty. 

Small’s watercolor illustrations are filled with movement, whether it is a moving train or blowing blades of grass.  He captures the wind, the vastness of the prairie and the mood in each illustration.  As Elsie enters the prairie, the images of the tall blades of grass that threaten her safe return are dark, tangled and mysterious.  Then when she realizes the beauty of the prairie, the sky opens wide and bright and the grass is bedecked in blooms.  His illustrations are truly married to the story, managing to capture in pictures what Yolen has written with sounds.

Highly recommended, this is a book that has great historical interest and a superb story line.  Appropriate for ages 5-7.

Reviewed from library copy.

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