Naked Mole Rat Gets Dressed by Mo Willems.

Willems newest is a satisfying and funny picture book, just what we have come to expect from him.  Wilbur is a naked mole rat who prefers to wear clothes, something unheard of in the mole rat society.  Wilbur doesn’t understand why there is anything wrong with clothes, so the other mole rats go to complain to Grand-pah who was very wise.  He thought for some time and then decides to make a proclamation.  Wilbur heads to the proclamation wearing only blue socks, knowing that it is very important and not wanting to overstep in the fashion arena.  You will have to read the book to find out what Grand-pah said!

Willems’ text and illustrations are entirely typical of his charming, disarming, funny and clever style.  He has smart asides to the audience, illustrations that will work with a group, and of course the thrill of the NAKED mole rats.  Lovely stuff that is sure to be a hit with the preschool crowd.

The Big Little Book of Happy Sadness by Colin Thompson

George lived alone with his grandmother.  He spent his Friday afternoons at the dog shelter.  He felt most at home in the dark of the last cage where the dogs spent their final days before being euthanized.  George was surprised to find a small dog looking back at him rather than cowering in the back of the cage.  The two stared at one another and a connection was made.  The pound was about to close, but George ran home to tell his grandmother about the dog.  The hairy dog had three legs so George carries him home.  As they tried to figure out a solution for the three legs, the dog began to change George’s attitude and his grandmother’s.

Both the text and illustrations are quirky in such a wonderful way.  The text laments that dogs can’t smile, emphasizes the hopelessness of George and the dogs at the pound, and explains the ugliness of the dog in a vivid way:

"Why would you want him? We’ve got 87 other dogs here.  They’ve all got four legs and bright eyes and a coat that doesn’t look like it’s covered in lard."

The illustrations have depth, character and their own style.  There are so many small touches that surprise but offer a new take on life.  The grandmother’s face has some wrinkles, but the best part is that her skin is done in a crackled glaze so she looks like her paint is about to chip off.  The wallpaper at their home is not dingy, the counter at the pound covered in a lifetime of paw prints, and small pieces of newspaper go everywhere during a papier-mache project.

Because of the question of a dog in a pound being euthanized, adults may not want to use this with sensitive kids.  But those children who veer toward the dark and depressed with find a kindred spirit here as well as hope galore.

The Uglified Ducky by Willy Claflin, illustrated by James Stimson

Meet Maynard Moose, a moose who finds himself in a family of ducks!  Maynard wandered away from his "moosely nest" and falls asleep near a duck nest.  Mommy Ducky is alarmed when she sees how horribly ugly the baby moose is and hopes that her other eggs will come out better.  Mommy Ducky tries to raise Maynard the best she can.  She tries to teach him to quack, but he can only Gronk, Arooo!  She tries to teach him to swim, but his hooves don’t paddle well in water.  When she takes him to Dr. Quack, he worries about the lumps forming on Maynard’s head and bandages him up.  When the Ducky family practices flying, Maynard is left behind and wanders sadly into the forest.  There he finds a lake with large moose and his own special place in life.

Claflin has taken his storytelling style and transposed it whole-heartedly to the page.  It is impossible to read this book aloud and not do voices.  Each character is written with interesting sounds, unique speech patterns, and great noises are worked into the text too.  Stimson’s illustrations are modern and very funny as well, matching the tone and style of the story. 

Highly recommended for reading aloud, this book will make a storyteller of you.  I would also recommend it for anyone who has a storytelling class where you have to read a book aloud.  This one is perfection for it.  Children and adults will enjoy the tale and its style.  Appropriate for ages 3-6.

All in a Day by Cynthia Rylant, illustrated by Nikki McClure

Rylant’s poetry moves through a day filled with work, blue sky, kindness, faith and rest.  It is accompanied by the stunning paper cut artwork of McClure, which elevates this simple book to a new level.  The tiny details are what make this book work so well.  Children will enjoy poring over the illustrations as Rylant’s poem carries them on to the next. 

Personally, I love all of the little touches.  The untied shoelace, the beauty of birchbark, the small whorls of peas, and dandelion fuzz blowing past.  All of these small pieces combine to create a world that we will all recognize and embrace, just as Rylant’s poem unites us all in a single day.

Highly recommended, this book is a lovely gem that has a similar palate to The House in the Night.  Appropriate for ages 4-7.

Ready to Dream by Donna Jo Napoli and Elena Furrrow, illustrated by Bronwyn Bancroft.

Ally and her mother take a trip to Australia together.  Ally carries her backpack filled with art supplies, drawing all that she sees.  At Alice Springs, she meets Pauline, an older Aboriginal woman who is also an artist.  Throughout the month she is there, Ally shares her art with Pauline.  Pauline notices small touches that Ally considers mistakes or accidents.  Pauline shows her how each of these ties into the nature of what she is drawing, more fully expressing it.  As the month progresses, Ally takes more risks with her art, looking for media that will really explore the essence of what she is trying to capture.

I am a fan of books that get children thinking about art, media and expressing themselves in that way.  This book takes it one more level by having Aboriginal artist, Bronwyn Bancroft do the illustrations.  Her art lifts this book to another level, making it mystical, sensual and eye-opening.  Napoli and her daughter, Furrow, have captured that same feeling of freedom and expansiveness in their words that is represented in the illustrations.

Share this book with art teachers, artists and others who will appreciate its take on creativity and connectivity.  Recommended for children ages 5-8.

Trudy by Henry Cole.

Esme’s grandfather takes her to the farm auction where she is going to pick out an animal to take home.  Her grandmother is allergic to feathers, so the ducks, roosters and pigeons are out.  The pigs are too stinky and the cow is too big.  Esme picks out Trudy, a goat who is being given away free at the auction.  Trudy is given a small red barn to live in with her own fenced yard with an apple tree.  Trudy goes out every morning to her favorite spot.  Until one morning when she heads out, smells the air and returns to the barn.  That day, it snowed.  This happens again and again.  Trudy returns to the barn, it snows.  Crowds begin to gather to see the weather-forecasting goat.  But then, Trudy returns to the barn and it doesn’t snow.  What could that mean?

This book has many of the same charms as Cole’s On Meadowview Street.  Cole’s illustrations once again capture a feeling, a setting, a mood.  The setting here is especially clearly done for a picture book, with the feel in each and every picture of modern but small farm life.  The book reads aloud very nicely, with touches of repetition, moments of revelation, and its own pace.  I appreciate a book that shows a child living with her grandparents as matter-of-fact and unexplained.  Just normal and factual. 

This book is a charmer.  You may have to create a goat story time just to share this one.  Oh, and who wouldn’t want to pair it with a very different but equally great goat story – Gregory the Terrible Eater by Mitchell Sharmat.