Picture Books

OK Go

| Tasha

OK Go by Carin Berger

This whimsical tribute to recycling and the environment is perfect for toddlers and young children.  The book shouts Go! immediately and readers are off following bright red sports cars as they race across the page, each filled with strange pointy nosed or beaked creatures.  Turn the pages and they get more crowded with vehicles, all clever and funny, but all pouring out exhaust.  Eventually the page is simply filled with the word “go” repeating over and over again.  Then come the dark clouds of smog, filling the page and a declaration to Stop!  The little creatures figure out many ways that they can help the environment and still get around. 

The words here are so very simple and accessible.  Older children will enjoy the fold-out page with its short rhymes about what to do to be more green.  Younger children will enjoy the cars screeching across the page.  Berger’s illustrations, all done in recycled materials, are very clever.  Even the final tips on the last page are done in a friendly tone just right for children.  Berger has taken a complex subject and made it clear, clever and concise. 

A very successful green picture book, this could easily be incorporated into preschool units on nature and storytimes as well.  Appropriate for ages 2-5.

Egg Drop

| Tasha

Egg Drop by Mini Grey

Grey returns with another fantastical tale about an inanimate object. This time it is an egg.  An egg who would not wait.  An egg who would not listen.  The Egg wanted to fly – like a bird, like a helicopter, like a round brown blimp.  But it did not understand aerodynamics, so it headed up a tower to soar.  At first the egg thought it was flying.  But it was falling instead.  Don’t despair, it did not go to waste.

Grey is wonderfully quirky in all of her picture books.  Mixing in Bernoulli’s principle and aerodynamics just adds to that strange surrealism in her picture books that make them both very different and very intriguing.  Her illustrations are mix graph paper with flying eggs, what’s not to love!  With this book, Grey has once again expanded what picture books can be about and what they can say. 

A strange and interesting picture book that does not nicely fit into units or story times, but is wonderful nonetheless.  Share this one with any quirky kids you know.  Appropriate for ages 4-6.

What a Good Big Brother!

| Tasha

What a Good Big Brother! by Diana Wright Landolf, illustrated by Steve Johnson and Lou Fancher.

So many new sibling books are about angst and worry.  This book doesn’t mention that at all.  Cameron loves his little baby sister, so he is eager to help stop her crying.  When his father changes Sadie’s diaper, Cameron helps by handing him wipes.  When Sadie is hungry, Cameron fetches the nursing pillow.  And when no one can get Sadie to stop crying, Cameron manages to get her settled by rubbing her tummy gently and kissing her toes.  It is a pleasure to see an older sibling not bubbling with jealousy, happily being included in the new routines, and able to solve a problem through loving contact. 

The text has a nice repetition, as Cameron wonders why Sadie is crying and then is asked to help out.  Cameron also kisses the baby’s toes often, his own personal way of relating with Sadie.  And mothers will be pleased because that is so often the safe spot for older siblings to shower with love.  The illustrations are a mix of collage and paintings that tell the story in paintings and then are reinforced by the collages.  The word kiss appears often in the background as well as other small words like nap.  On the pages where Sadie is crying, there are watery marks on the page and drops of color.  And there are also hand outlines and foot outlines as Sadie is being soothed.  Here the illustrations are a true extension of the story. 

Clever illustrations and a positive look at being an older sibling make this worth putting into every library collection.  Appropriate for ages 4-6.

A Tree for Emmy

| Tasha

A Tree for Emmy by Mary Ann Rodman, illustrated by Tatjana Mai-Wyss.

Emmy loves all kinds of trees, but her favorite is the mimosa tree at her Gramma’s pasture.  In spring, it had strong branches perfect for swinging on.  In summer, it had fuzzy pink blossoms.  In fall, it dropped seedpods that rattled.  And best of all, according to Gramma, Emmy and the mimosa tree were very similar: “stubborn and strong and a little bit wild.”  When Emmy’s birthday comes, she asks for a mimosa tree of her own.  But mimosa trees are not sold in nurseries, they are wild trees.  Just when Emmy is about to give up hope, she finds a tiny start of a tree growing near the mimosa tree at her grandmother’s house.  Now if it will just grow faster!

This could be seen as a fluffy little book about loving trees, but it is much more.  First, it is a great book on native species and how you can’t buy them in stores.  Second, it is a joy to have a book with a girl who is not shocked or worried by being called stubborn, strong and wild.  Hurrah!  This is a little girl with a big imagination, her own opinions, and a great sense of style.  She’s a treat to spend time with. 

Rodman’s text sets just the right tone here.  Nothing big is made of this unique little girl.  She is just herself.  The illustrations combine painting and collage into an interesting mix.  The collage is used most often for plants and for Emmy’s outfits and it works very well.

Recommended for gardening or tree story times or reading to slightly older children and discussing native species and what isn’t available in stores.  The time is right for a picture book that can lead us effortlessly into these discussions.  Appropriate for ages 5-7.

Almost

| Tasha

Almost by Richard Torrey

Jack is almost six. He is also almost a big boy.  Almost ready for a big bike.  Almost able to make his own breakfast.  Almost grown up in so many ways.  The text of the book repeats the fact that he is almost capable of all these things, but the illustrations tell the real story.  Jack fails at each of these, hence the “almost.”  Along the way, he is accompanied on most pages by his older brother whom he is eager to emulate.  The older brother is driven mad by Jack a lot of time, but when he gets hurt he is right there. 

This book cleverly captures the essence of a child eager to be bigger right now.  Nicely, the book also manages to show the point of view of the older sibling at the same time.  And all of this is accomplished with few words, vivid illustrations and plenty of humor.  The illustrations are bright, funny and will work well with a large group. 

Don’t save this one for almost six-year-olds.  Four year olds will be equally enchanted by the book and understand the eagerness to be bigger.  This one would make a great read aloud for a sibling story time or a mixed age group since both sides are portrayed so well.  Appropriate for ages 4-6.

Crazy Hair

| Tasha

Crazy Hair by Neil Gaiman, illustrated by Dave McKean

Hurrah!  Another picture book from the creators of The Day I Swapped My Dad for Two Goldfish and The Wolves in the Walls!  Enter at your own risk, but also know that you will see something amazing and unique!

Bonnie tells the man that he has crazy hair.  The man turns to her and starts telling her just how crazy his hair really is.  Birds nest in it, gorillas leap, tigers stalk, dancers dance, and pirate ships sail.  All in his head of hair.  Bonnie offers a comb to help make it less crazy and despite his warnings, she does comb his hair.  But this is crazy hair, remember, and the results are not what she expected.

Gaiman’s words have great rhythm and embedded rhymes that swirl around in poetic forms and lines.  His writing echoes the wildness of the hair, waving, mysterious and unknowable.  McKean’s illustrations are equally wild.  The hair in them is so very real even when a yellow-green, that it is spellbinding.  Intermixed with the vividly real hair, are Picasso-esque broken faces and characters.  The effect is captivating and chilling.

Highly recommended for those who like their picture books odd and interesting.  But what else could you expect from them?  Appropriate for ages 6-10.

Pond Circle

| Tasha

Pond Circle by Betsy Franco, illustrated by Stefano Vitale

Follow the life cycle in a small pond as this story builds one layer on the next in a traditional folktale style.  The book starts with the “deep, still water” and moves from one plant to creature growing and growing.  This is a simple story that culminates in a young girl looking out from her window over the pond and seeing all of the creatures and plants mentioned.  By tying humans into the story, we are connected and reminded of the world around us in a subtle way.  I also appreciated as the repetition got to get lengthy that the phrasing changed slightly and was refreshed. 

The writing is excellent with small touches that make it very special.  I appreciate the descriptive language of “jade green algae” for instance.  What takes this book to a higher level is the art.  Painted on wood, the art incorporates the swirls of the wood grain into watery waves, sunset-lit clouds, and even wallpaper.  Ingeniously selected and painted to great effect, the paintings are stylish, colorful and reflect that traditional but modern feel of the entire book.

Highly recommended for units on life cycles, this book will work well with very small children who will enjoy the repetition but also with older children who will appreciate the science and style.  Appropriate for ages 2-7.

The Fabulous Feud of Gilbert & Sullivan

| Tasha

The Fabulous Feud of Gilbert & Sullivan by Jonah Winter, illustrated by Richard Egielski

A glimpse of Victorian England and the theatre is offered in this book.  Through the lens of the Topsy-turvy kingdom, we meet the partners of Gilbert and Sullivan who collaborate on the operas.  The trouble in the kingdom is that Gilbert wants to write the same story over and over again with different settings while Sullivan wants to create the music for something completely new and grand.  The two men got in an enormous fight, with Sullivan declaring that he will no longer work with Gilbert.  The two part ways and after some time, Gilbert is inspired to write an opera set in Japan which is completely different from anything he has written before.  For this remarkable story, Sullivan created the best music of his life.

The tone of Winter’s writing is marvelously period at times, making sure that readers never lose sight of the time they are reading about.  He inserts these at just the right place where they are not intrusive and improve the pacing of the book.  Winter also gives each man a space of his own in the book, his own anger, his own frustration, his own creativity.  This is enhanced by the illustrations which often show the two men in neighboring buildings so that even when collaborating they are separate.  The illustrations are a nice mix of vintage and modern, just like the text.  Filled with bright colors and thick lines, they are cartoony and inviting.

This picture book is a longer one, allowing readers to really get a sense of the two people and the time period.  It is best read either with a small group of older children or given to a child with an interest in theater.  Recommended for ages 6-9.

Little Goose and Little Swan

| Tasha

Both of these books swam or flew across my pile at the same time.  It was impossible to not review them side-by-side because they are similarly titled, both have water fowl as main characters, but are such very different but equally wonderful books.

 

Little Goose by David Mraz, illustrated by Margot Apple

Little Goose has always like things that are round.  They all remind him of something very special to him, but he can’t remember what it is. His mother tells him that he can head off to figure it out, but he should always walk with one wing over water so he comes home safe and sound.  Little Goose heads out, meeting Turtle, Frog, and Mouse along the way.  Each of them have some ideas about what the round thing he is trying to remember may be, but none of them are right.  Little Goose has a catchy greeting that he says to each animal he meets and to his mother: “Hoinkle-oinkle” which is his young version of a honk.  By the end of the book, Little Goose can honk like a big duck and has remembered the special round thing he had forgotten.

It is a pleasure to see Apple’s illustrations here, with her great sense of pictorial humor and the bright colors.  Done in colored pencil, the illustrations have interesting lines and a childlike quality that make them friendly and warm.  Mraz has incorporated great rhythm into his first picture book.  The repetition makes this book a good choice for toddlers as does the story itself. 

Filled with just enough action and surprises to keep small children’s attention, this is a good pick for a story time on geese or mothers.  Appropriate for ages 2-4.

 

Little Swan by Jonathan London, illustrated by Kristina Rodanas

When Ko-hoh hatches from his egg, his mother and father are with him.  Two days after they have hatched, he and the three other cygnets swim in the lake for the first time.  Ten days after that, they are learning to feed underwater themselves.  Through the entire summer, the swan family stays close together.  As fall begins, Ko-hoh and his siblings learn to fly, a little farther each day, preparing to migrate.  But what will happen when Ko-hoh is attacked by a bear just before he and his family will migrate?

London has depicted the life of a young trumpeter swan with accuracy and without personification.  The name of the young swan, Ko-hoh, comes from the Kootenai Indians, who called the swans trumpet “ko-hoh.”  Rodanas’ paintings show the swans and their environment with nice details.  Yet the illustrations are not busy, but rather focus on the larger world.  They are illustrations that will work well for a group.

A great book for elementary science units, this book is scientific in nature and tells a great story.  Appropriate for ages 4-6.