Picture Books

Child’s Garden: A Story of Hope

| Tasha

A Child’s Garden: a story of hope by Michael Foreman

This story of a child’s world reduced to rubble and devastation is one that will ring true with children of war, and ring warning bells with children who have not witnessed it.  A young boy lives in ruins, separated from the green hills he loves by a fence.  In the rubble, he discovers a shoot of green which he nurtures.  It becomes a grapevine that covers the barbed wire fence, bringing butterflies and birds, and sheltering shade.  The soldiers tear down the vine, leaving it dead.  It isn’t until the next spring that the boy sees green sprouts on the other side of the fence and a little girl tending them.  Then green sprouts appear on his side of the fence, where both vines grow to cover the fence in between.

Told simply and with great respect, this slim picture book manages to evoke hope, growth, change and community.  Using imagery to make his case about war, Foreman has created a book that is accessible and profound.  What a great image of green vine covering stark wire, life absorbing death, connection replacing coercion.  At the same time, it can be read by small children as a vine, and a vine alone without losing much of its power and statement. 

Perfect for discussing peace and community with classes, this book naturally starts dialogue and questions about the world, our own prosperity, and violence.  Appropriate for ages 4-7.

Old Blue Pickup Truck

| Tasha

The Old Blue Pickup Truck by Candice F. Ransom, illustrated by Jenny Mattheson

This charmer of a picture book takes a day of errands and transforms it into a wonderful outing filled with surprises.  Everything centers around the pickup truck and its ability to carry everything they need.  It changes from a garden to a toolshed to a barnyard all in the course of their travels.  Children will see their own errands in a different way after this book and will be eager to see what the truck will be filled with next.

Ransom has created prose that is simple but sings.  She uses tiny touches to make the book come to life.  At the nursery, readers learn that inside “it smelled like raindrops.”  At the hardware store, the little girl fills a bag with nails of each size and shape.  Mattheson’s illustrations have an old-fashioned feel right at home with the subject.  The round-faced characters are friendly and they are drawn with a folksy style.  The bright colors make the book more modern than it could otherwise have been.  A wonderful combination.

This quiet book is perfect for slow Saturday mornings when you aren’t rushing on your own errands.  It is also a great way to spend bedtime reading, as you travel around the lush green pictures in an unhurried way.  Appropriate for ages 3-5.

Reviewed from library copy.

Toot Toot Zoom!

| Tasha

Toot Toot Zoom! by Phyllis Root and Matthew Cordell.

Pierre, the fox, lived all alone near a tall mountain.  He had no friends at all.  Realizing that there may be friends to be made on the other side of the mountain, he hopped in his car and heads to the other side.  Heading up the mountain, he meets Goat, who asks for a ride in his car.  Pierre then meets Sheep who also wants to find a friend, so he offers her a spot in the car.  Bear then joins them in their search for a friend too.  On their way down the windy hill, it may take a bit of shaking up to get them to notice what they have already found.

Root has created a story that makes a great read aloud.  With not only the refrain of Toot, Toot, Zoom! but also the delight of the screeching breaks when Pierre meets each new animal, this book begs to be read aloud with great flourish.  Cordell has created illustrations with lovely details that will work well with a group.  Make sure you linger slightly on the last page so that everyone can see what happened to the little red car in the end.

Add this to both your car story times and your friend ones.  Guaranteed to Zoom right off your shelves and into waiting toddler and preschool hands.  Appropriate for ages 2-4.

Reviewed from library copy.

The Negro Speaks of Rivers

| Tasha

The Negro Speaks of Rivers by Langston Hughes, illustrated by E. B. Lewis.

Hughes was a mere 18 years old when he wrote this powerful poem which evokes the strength and power of black people throughout the world.  It also is a powerful tie of their story with that of water.  Lewis nicely captures these two aspects of the poem in his watercolor illustrations.  Taking the poem line-by-line, this book pairs each line with a watercolor painting filled with water and people.  Lewis excels at creating different feeling rivers, allowing the water to be blue, but also green, brown, and even yellowy-orange.

The poem and the illustrations combined make this powerful poetry accessible to children.  It is always a thrill to see such great illustrations paired with such language.  Beautiful and strong, honoring the subject matter entirely.

Highly recommended, this book belongs in libraries across the country no matter the color of the community members.  It will prove useful in poetry units and history, but it is most wonderful when just enjoyed for its own sake.

Reviewed from library copy.

Also reviewed by Poetry for Children and A Patchwork of Books.

Day-Glo Brothers

| Tasha

The Day-Glo Brothers: the true story of Bob and Joe Switzer’s bright ideas and brand-new colors by Chris Barton, illustrated by Tony Persiani

I am always on the look-out for books that offer a great story combined with nonfiction.  This book definitely has that.  Even better, it offers a tangible example of invention that children can relate to and understand.  Joe and Bob were not similar brothers.  Bob enjoyed working and planning while Joe preferred magic tricks and problem-solving.  The two made the perfect inventing pair.  After Bob suffered an accident and was limited to living in the family’s basement, Joe joined him there to practice using fluorescence in his magic tricks.  The two worked together and created glow-in-the-dark paints.  After years of success, they found that with some tweaking they could create paints that glowed even in broad daylight – day-glo colors. 

The book is written in a style that is inviting and intelligent.  It offers lots of background information on the brothers, understanding that part of the fascination is with the inventors themselves along with their flashy colors.  The illustrations work to great effect with their vintage advertising style and effective use of bright colors. 

A great biographical nonfiction picture book about an accessible subject, this book will be snatched off of shelves for the cover alone.  Add it to bibliographies about inventors and children will be thrilled to have such a youthful title to use for reports.  Appropriate for ages 6-8.

Reviewed from library copy.

Also reviewed by Abby the Librarian with author features on Cynsations and 7 Imp.  You can also visit Chris Barton’s own blog.

Mama Says

| Tasha

Mama Says: a Book of Love for Mothers and Sons by Rob D. Walker, illustrated by Leo and Diane Dillon.

Move from one culture to the next with a brief stanza of the poem shared in both English and the language of the people being represented.

Mama says

Be good

Mama says

Be kind

Mama says

The rain will come

But still the sun will shine

That is the opening of the book, with the poem also written in Cherokee alongside.  The poem then moves through subjects like faith, hard work, dedication, endurance, inner peace, and courage.  All are universal and delivered in a way that children will understand.

The Dillon’s art is exquisite, representing the wide range of people on earth with boys who turn into men at the end.  It is a message that resonates deeply with all mothers who want their boys to turn into such men of composure and strength of purpose.  Walker’s poem is so simple but so powerful.  It is a perfect match to the strength of the illustrations.

Highly recommended for mothers and their young sons, this could also make a great gift for a graduate heading off to college.    This is a book that boys can draw strength from, learn from and see a path in.

Reviewed from library copy.

Also reviewed by PlanetEsme, A Year of Reading, and The Brown Bookshelf.

Mouse Was Mad

| Tasha

Mouse Was Mad by Linda Urban, illustrated by Henry Cole.

Mouse is hopping mad.  Until Hare tells him he looks “ridiculous.”  But when Mouse tries to hop like Hare, he tumbles into a mud puddle.  Mouse is now even angrier.  Stomping mad, in fact.  Bear arrives and shows him how he should be stomping.  But when Mouse tries, it doesn’t have the same earth shaking effects.  In fact, it’s much more Mouse-shaking and Mouse falls into another mud puddle.  Now Mouse is screaming mad.  Bobcat tries to show Mouse how to really scream, but Mouse, you guessed it, falls into another mud puddle.  The book resolves with Mouse being so angry he can’t even move.  Now the other animals are impressed and try to be just as still with limited success.  Is that a smile readers see on Mouse’s face?

The end papers of this book are great.  At the front, they show Mouse gripped by utter rage and in the end we can see him being oh-so happy.  Urban has created a wonderful mix of emotions, humor, and repetition that will be embraced by toddlers and preschoolers.  Her repeated dunking of Mouse in mud is great fun, offering the predictability that young children look for.  It is also very effective against the unpredictable emotion of anger.  The humor works well as a foil for that emotion.

Cole’s illustrations are very effective, showing Mouse really, really angry, tail twitching as he watches the others do demonstrations.  The facial expressions of the animals are very evocative of emotions.  Mouse seems to have an infinite number of angry looks that range from simmering peevishness to outright fury.  Cole cleverly builds the tension before each fall into the mud with a series of illustrations showing Mouse just before the fall, in mid-air, and finally and delightfully covered in mud.

Highly recommended for storytimes on emotions or mice, this book is a winner of a read aloud and will have all of the children in your group enthralled.  It can also be used as a book to get children moving, since you can have children stomp, hop, and yes, even scream.

(Reviewed from copy checked out from public library.)

This book has been well-covered by the kidslitosphere.  Too many places have mentioned it to list here!

The Dunderheads

| Tasha

The Dunderheads by Paul Fleischman, illustrated by David Roberts

Miss Breakbone hates children.  She is harsh, rude, and cruel.  But worst of all, she is also a teacher.  She calls her class Dunderheads, and one day goes too far in taking away a broken cat from one of the children.  His nickname was Junkyard and he had found it in the trash, a perfect gift for his feline-loving mother.  When Miss Breakbone basically dared Junkyard to try to get it back, the class turned to Einstein, a boy with a brilliant mind for figuring things out and the narrator of the story.  The children all had talents that they are nicknamed for.  Together they formed the perfect set of skills to break into Miss Breakbone’s castle of a house and retrieve the cat.

This book is a marvelous mix of impossible mission intrigue and school misfits.  Fleischman has created characters that are unique, strange and great fun.  His text is simple, perfect for readers in first and second grades who want a book with pizzazz but are more comfortable with lots of illustrations.  Roberts’ illustrations are a large part of the book.  Much of it is done with panels like a graphic novel, enhancing the feel that the book is for slightly older children than most picture books.  Roberts illustrations are dramatic, silly, and suit the subject perfectly.  His towering and glowering Miss Breakbone is a frightening figure indeed.  The danger is heightened by his illustrations rather than diminished, much to the delight of readers.

Highly recommended, this book fits a niche for picture books that will be of great interest to newly independent readers.  It is also a wonderful read aloud, filled with tension, drama and humor galore.  Appropriate for ages 5-6 as a read aloud, but also appropriate for ages 6-8 as a self-read.

Also reviewed by Young Readers, 100 Scope Notes, and Books4yourkids.

My Little Round House

| Tasha

My Little Round House by Bolormaa Baasansuren.

Jilu was born into a round world.  His cradle was round and soft.  His home, a ger, was round with a round hole at the top.  And the nest he rode in when they moved was round.  Jilu lives in a nomadic Mongolian family, moving each season.  Each time they move, they rebuild their round home, living there until another season has passed.  When summer comes around again, Jilu is a year old, happily playing under the largest roundness of all, the sky.

This book is a vivid depiction of a culture we know far too little about.  Created by Baasansuren, a native Mongolian, the illustrations are filled with small details of daily life.  Resembling folk art, they are warm, familial and colorful.  The words of the book are simple and a pleasure to read, offering the same rhythm as the seasons.  There is a sense of time here that is unusual in our culture as well as a connection to the earth.  People in the U.S. are struggling to find this sort of easy relationship with time and our world.  Here is a picture book that exemplifies a culture where that is simply a part of daily life. 

Highly recommended as a great glimpse into another culture and way of living, this book is appropriate for ages 5-7.