Picture Books

When You Meet a Bear on Broadway

| Tasha

When You Meet a Bear on Broadway by Amy Hest, illustrated by Elivia Savadier

When you meet a bear on Broadway, you stick out your hand and ask them to stop.  Then you politely ask what his business is there.  He bursts into tears saying that he has lost his mother.  The two of you think of how to find her together.  Then you look uptown.  And downtown.  Along the river.  Until you find a forest where the bear climbs a tall tree and shouts for his mother.  But will a mama bear be able to hear him in the middle of a bustling city?

Though the styles are very different, this has the feel of Laura Numeroff’s If You Give a Mouse a Cookie feel.  It is the short lines and the repeating phrase of “When you meet a bear on Broadway.”  Hest takes this form and creates a book about being lost, being helped, and being found.  There is never any sense of panic about the child helping the bear.  It is far more of a problem solving book about what to do when you find a bear on a city street. 

The book has a nice bit of old-fashioned whimsy about it though the setting is modern.  Savadier’s illustrations contribute to this with their gentle lines and watercolor washes.  The little girl and the bear are often the only bright color on the page, magnifying their relationship rather than the largeness of the city itself.

Funny, quiet and very satisfying, this book would be nice paired with any of Numeroff’s If You titles.  It also offers a nice change of pace for any bear-themed stories.  Appropriate for ages 3-6.

Reviewed from library copy.

Also reviewed by A Patchwork of Books.

What’s Coming for Christmas

| Tasha

What’s Coming for Christmas? by Kate Banks, illustrated by Georg Hallensleben

Something was coming, but what could it be?  Images of a farm family on the wintry days before a holiday are filled with snow, icicles, sleds and snowmen.  The home is filled with cinnamon, wrapping paper, and pine.  Even the animals out in the fields know that something is coming.  With lots of foreshadowing and wonderful suspense, this book has a great twist in the end that will delight everyone.

Christmas books can often leave one feeling jaded and distant from the holidays.  Santa in a swimsuit, elves bowling, and the emphasis on piles and piles of presents.  This book does a great job of being about the season itself with its scents, sounds, tastes and activities.  Banks starts each page with a refrain: “Something is coming.”  From there she uses poetry to take readers on a holiday visit to the farm with all of its wonders.  Hallensleben’s illustrations are done in lush, thick colors that reflect the warmth, spice and chill of the season. 

The best holiday book I have seen this year.  Find a spot for it on library shelves and share it for holiday story times.  Appropriate for ages 3-7.

Reviewed from library copy.

All of Me! A Book of Thanks

| Tasha

All of Me! A Book of Thanks by Molly Bang

A small child thanks each body part for how well they work.  Fine feet hold you up, hands can grab and hold, arms to hug, mouth, eyes, nose, ears, and heart.  Each bit of us is constantly supporting our life, allowing us to do what we need to do.  Every day we feel so many different things, do so many different things.  And in the end?  We are part of the universe and alive!

Bang’s art is so beautiful and simple here.  The end pages of the book feature some of her work space and then some ideas for children to start creating their own illustrations and books.  The book features felt, crayon, paint, and most importantly for its inherent feel: brown paper bags.  The brown paper creates a very organic feel to the book that works brilliantly with the subject.

Her words are simple too, allowing children to really think about what each of their body parts does. They will also realize how important each of these small functions are to their days and lives.  Bang approaches all of this with a sense of joy and playfulness that is echoed in the art.

For parents who are practicing mindfulness or daily gratitude, this book is the perfect way to get your children thinking in a positive way about small, basic parts of their lives.  Appropriate for ages 2-5.

Reviewed from library copy.

Finn Throws a Fit!

| Tasha

Finn Throws a Fit! by David Elliott, illustrated by Timothy Basil Ering

I was sold on this book from the very first page, which features a huge image of Finn hugging a peach.  The look on his face of complete and utter bliss is the essence of joy.  Then of course, the book changes… 

Today, Finn does not like peaches.  He doesn’t like anything at all.  He is just plain grumpy!  He slams doors, yells, cries, stomps his feet.  His temper is so huge that when he does these things they have disastrous effects.  His tears flood the house.  Lightning flashes when he yells.  It’s an earthquake when he stomps his feet.  And then it is over.  Readers find out why he was cranky, and now?  Now, he’d like a peach please.

For any parent who has ever survived toddler tantrums, this book hits the mark perfectly.  The drama of the fit itself is right on, cranked up to the ultimate level just as every tantrum feels.  For me, the best moment of the book beyond that charmer of a first page is the end of the fit which ends with this line:

“It lasts until it doesn’t.” 

Exactly.  Perfectly and succinctly put. 

Elliott’s writing is very simple and yet dramatic.  The short sentences on each page make this a perfect book for toddlers who just may be capable of this sort of tantrum.  Ering’s art is delightfully wild, filled with stormy clouds of emotion.  Done in charcoal, oil paint and grease pencil they work very well in both the sunny parts of the book and the dramatic. 

A perfect choice for toddler story time, you could have them yell, stomp, and more while reading.  Appropriate for ages 2-4.

Reviewed from library copy.

The Mitten

| Tasha

The Mitten retold by Jim Aylesworth, illustrated by Barbara McClintock

This is a retelling of Ukrainian folktale made popular by Jan Brett whose beloved version is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year.   A little boy heads out to play in his new hat, scarf and mittens that his grandmother has knitted for him.  While playing, he loses one of his mittens.  The mitten is found by a squirrel, a rabbit, a fox, and a bear who manage to squeeze into the mitten and be nice and warm.  But when a mouse comes by and begs to join them too, it is too much for even grandmother’s strong knitting.  The mitten explodes with a satisfying burst. The boy and his grandmother find the scraps in the snow and the grandmother knits him another mitten.

Aylesworth changes the tone and style here with great skill, creating an American folktale feel that is filled with charm.  McClintock’s art is perfectly matched here with her vintage feel.  The bright red mitten is changed from the original white, adding a punch of color on each page.  Her art and Aylesworth’s writing both evoke folktales, cold snow, warm firesides and the smell of damp wool mittens. 

This is a retelling that is equal to the original, which is astounding.  Because the text and art is reworked, it was able to take on the same story with a very different style and do it successfully.  Appropriate for ages 2-5.

Reviewed from library copy.

You and Me and Home Sweet Home

| Tasha

You and Me and Home Sweet Home by George Ella Lyon, illustrated by Stephanie Anderson

In poetic form, Lyon tells the story of a young girl, Sharonda, and her mother who have a Habitat for Humanity house built for them.  The story moves from them living in a tiny room together in her Aunt Janey’s apartment and through the process of the home being built and completed.  Beginning with the empty lot and hope, the story is built as sturdily and lovingly as the home itself.

Lyon’s poetry does not rhyme and for most children will not read as a poem, but it is.  Filled with imagery, captured moments and truth it is a powerful message of community.  Anderson’s illustrations add so much to this book.  They too are real, concrete and yet elevated.  Her paintings have unique perspectives, strong emotions and great composition that allow for deep colors. 

A beautiful picture book that really speaks to the power of hope, community, and family.  Appropriate for ages 4-8.

Reviewed from library copy.

The Secret Plan

| Tasha

The Secret Plan by Julia Sarcone-Roach

Four friends, Milo, Hildy, Henry and Harriet are always being interrupted by bedtime!  So they hatch a cunning plan to get to stay up later.  Of course, their first few plans don’t work as well as they had hoped as their parents discover them hiding around the house, see through their disguises, and not even sneaking out works.  In their final plan, they pretend to be getting ready for bed as usual, then Milo the elephant dons his big furry monster slippers to sneak up the stairs.  They head to the attic where they find costumes, books, and snacks.  Eventually they start to get sleepy and head back down to bed.

This is such a winning book.  The four main characters are real scamps and their plans and the outcomes are deliciously naughty and very funny.  I especially appreciated Milo blending in with the wallpaper by painting stripes on himself.  Their disguise is equally funny with all of them working together.  But it is the ending of the book that really makes it work.  Instead of getting into any trouble in their late night escapade, they have a quiet time with books and a tea party in the attic.  There is no parental outrage, no repercussions, just the immense pleasure of a late night with friends.

Sarcone-Roach’s art works very well here.  Done in acrylic paint, the illustrations are rich, vivid and engaging.  A lot of the humor here is visual, though the wry tone of voice of the text offers some of the laughs.  The house that the animals share is wonderfully tippy and upright, filled with stairs. 

A great book to share for a bedtime story or a special late night read.  Appropriate for ages 3-6.

Reviewed from copy received from publisher.

My Friend Mei Jing

| Tasha

My Friend Mei Jing by Anna McQuinn, artwork by Ben Frey, photography by Irvin Cheung

Following My Friend Jamal, this book captures the friendship of Monifa and Mei Jing.  The two friends both love art, the color purple, and they both plan to be veterinarians when they grow up.  Even when the two friends are different, there are things that resonate in their cultures.  Both of them have names that mean something in the language of their grandparents.  Both have grandmothers that make really weird food like chicken feet and cow foot.  And best of all, both of them are best friends!

McQuinn has created a series where our differences and similarities are celebrated side-by-side.  The power of friendship is at the core of the book and that friendship is based on the fact that the girls are so similar in personality and what they enjoy, even though their backgrounds seem very different on the surface.  The art in books is a vibrant combination of photography and painting.  Though the girls are seen with their heads as photographs, usually their clothing is painted and so is most of their surroundings.  This technique makes for visually interesting illustrations.

A book that will get all children seeing how they are more alike than they are different, this book should have a place on most school and public library shelves.  Appropriate for ages 5-8.

Reviewed from copy received from publisher.

The Big Storm

| Tasha

The Big Storm: A Very Soggy Counting Book by Nancy Tafuri

As the storm starts to blow, animals take shelter in the hill hollow.  Young readers will get to count one-by-one as the animals squeeze in together and out of the rain.  The thunder rumbles over their heads, but they soon realize that they are hearing another rumble that is coming from the back of the cave.  Readers then get to quickly count backwards from 10 to 1 as the animals run out into the newly sunny fall day.

Tafuri excels at creating concept books for the youngest of readers that are filled with great art and a basic story with a fun twist.  Her art is done in concentrated watercolor inks, pigma micron pens, and watercolor pencils.  There is a great depth to the colors paired with a delicacy of line.  The animals are all bright-eyed and friendly with the drama of the story coming from the storm and the discovery in the back of the cave!  Tafuri’s pacing is perfect for the twist with steady counting leading up to 10 animals, a reveling of the storm, and then the reveal. 

A perfect choice for stormy toddler story times, autumn reading, and a nice addition to so many specific animals story times thanks to the rabbit, squirrel, skunk and more.  Appropriate for ages 1-4.

Reviewed from copy received from publisher.