Artie and Julie by Chih-Yuan Chen.

The author of the great Guji Guji returns with a very clever picture book that follows the stories of Artie and Julie.  Artie is a lion who is taught by his family to walk without making a sound, roar loudly, and to eat rabbits out on the grasslands.  Julie is a rabbit who is taught by her father to listen carefully, run quickly and jump high to escape from lions.  The book is split in two, literally, with Artie’s story on top and Julie’s below.  Each story can be read on its own until they merge, or readers can read both stories in tandem.  The illustrations bridge the cut pages, turning into complete page illustrations when matching pages are open. 

The playful physical design of the book is far more than just a design trick.  It allows readers to create their own experience in the book, then start again and read it an entirely different way.  This sense of free will is such an integral part of the story itself that the design is really the theme of the book brought into reality.  The book’s themes of family allegiance, stereotypes and prejudice are softened by the use of animals as characters, but still stand strong.

The book is a joy to share with children.  It may take some wrestling with pages to use it with a group of children, but a small group would work very well.  It is a great picture book to start discussions even with young children.  Appropriate for ages 4-6.

Cat & Mouse by Ian Schoenherr.

Cat and Mouse play together, wrestling over a paper umbrella.  The text follows a nursery rhyme, changing into Hickory Dickory Dock, and then returning to the original rhyme.  As Mouse gets the best of Cat time and again, will they end up as enemies or friends?

The lively illustrations bring the old-fashioned text to vibrant life.  Both animals are captured with attention to minute details, but then are made wide-eyed and action filled to great comic effect.  Families who have kittens or cats will recognize Cat’s movements and body postures as being purely feline.  Mouse is much more human than Cat.

Enjoyable, laugh-out-loud nursery rhyme fun.  This book will work well for groups of children, and is ideal for use in story times or classroom units.  Appropriate for ages 3-5.

Mimi by Carol Baicker-McKee.

Mimi is a little pig who has two great friends, her stuffed animal Bunny and her roly-poly bug Frank.  When she tries to share some of her breakfast banana with Frank, he isn’t there!  Mimi goes on with her day, heading to the library for story time, playing at the park, taking a nap, waking up cranky, blowing bubbles to improve her mood, and finally heading for bed.  Through all of that, there is no sign of Frank anywhere.  Until Mimi climbs into bed and feels something strange crawling on her!

The illustrations are what got me to pick up this book.  Baicker-McKee combines fabric, clay and paint to create three dimensional tableaus that are eye-catching and interesting.  Her text is equally successful and child-friendly with every-day events at the center of the story.  The quiet tone of the text perfectly suits the style of the illustrations.  Both parents and children will know that they are in a soft, sweet childhood story here.

While the story is sweet, there are no saccharine overtones here.  Just a gentle story that toddlers and preschoolers will enjoy and relate to.  Appropriate for ages 3-5.

Brava, Strega Nona! A Heartwarming Pop-up Book by Tomie dePaola, Robert Sabuda and Matthew Reinhart.

While the subtitle claims to be a heartwarming pop-up book, I would describe it as a heart-stopping pop-up book.  Some of the pages fly open to form such complex and amazing structures that I found myself simply sitting and closing and opening the book again and again to see the pop-up work. 

The combination of dePaola’s simple illustrations and these amazing pop-ups is utterly charming.  Though the pop-ups are complex but stay in tune with the style of the illustrations, embracing the feel of Strega Nona entirely. 

This is a winner of a pop-up book.  My favorite spread is the grape arbor which pops to life before your eyes.  Though I must say that the one that got a gasp out of me is the noodles spilling – literally- right into the reader’s face.  Enjoyable and great fun, this of course will not survive classroom use or public checkouts in a library.  But what a treat to pull out for special storytimes.

Wabi Sabi by Mark Reibstein, illustrated by Ed Young.

Wabi Sabi is a cat who is doesn’t know what her name means.  When her master is asked by another person about it’s meaning, she replies, "That’s hard to explain."  Wabi Sabi heads out to find out what her name means.  But everyone she asks says that it is hard to explain.  Until she herself begins to experience Wabi Sabi, the beauty in the modest and simple and imperfect, she can’t understand it.

The book begins with the definition of Wabi Sabi and then the entire book is dedicated to exemplifying it.  Each double spread page is matched with a haiku poem that immediately connects the mysterious Wabi Sabi feeling with the reader.  Reibstein has created text that tells a story that lives well next to the tiny haiku treasures throughout the book.  Young’s collage art is the perfect example of humble items being beautiful.  He uses pine boughs, hair, dead leaves, and paper to create a world in this book that is pure Wabi Sabi.  Exquisitely done.

For classes studying Japan or those working on haiku units, this book is a gem.  The fact that it is also a work of art will draw in other readers, who will find themselves experiencing something at the heart of Japanese culture.  Appropriate for ages 6-9.

Pearl Barley and Charlie Parsley by Aaron Blabey.

Pearl and Charlie are great friends, but they are also almost completely different from one another.  Pearl is loud, vivacious, brave and silly.  Charlie is quiet, shy, reserved and kind.  How can they be friends?  Well, it turns out that they suit each other perfectly.  When one has a need, the other meets it.  Kindly, warmly and in their own unique way. 

All of us have a bit of Pearl and a bit of Charlie in us, so this is a picture book that speaks to everyone.  Blabey’s very short text is perfect to read aloud, often allowing the picture to tell the bulk of the story.  His illustrations are friendly, warm and quite silly at times.  What could have been a saccharine story of perfect friendship is brought to life through humor and the lovely imperfection of the two characters.  The best piece of the book is that these two different individuals did not have to change themselves to be friends, instead they took the parts of themselves that are most special and offer them to the other.  What a great message for children!

Spending time with these two is quite a treat.  Through no lecturing whatsoever, children will see what it is to be a friend without changing yourself at all.  Appropriate for ages 3-6.

Footprints in the Snow by Mei Matsuoka.

Wolf knows that most books portray wolves to be evil, greedy and cruel. So he sets out to write his own book about a nice wolf.  The book starts with footprints in the freshly-fallen snow that may lead him to a new friend.  Following the trail of footprints, Mr. Nice Wolf discovers that no one trusts him to be a friend, thinking he is tracking breakfast or lunch instead.  When Mr. Nice Wolf reaches the duck who made the tracks he has been following, his natural instincts get the best of him and the duck looks so delicious!  Wolf is torn out of his story as he falls into the bathtub where a rubber ducky is bobbing.  After drying off, Wolf hears a knock on the door and when answering it finds a trail of footprints leading away in the fresh snow.

This book is just as nicely designed as it is written.  Matsuoka has created a book with perfect action and style for children.  His text is light and inviting, though the story is deeply layered, making the book very approachable.  The parts of the book that are Wolf’s story have illustrations that are bordered in wood and often have Wolf’s hand drawing in them.  A delightful and subtle way to keep children understanding that this is a story within a story. 

Matsuoka’s illustrations are filled with small details.  The warmth of Wolf’s house in the beginning of the book is brought to life with the tiny touches of munched cookies, books strewn across the floor, and a roaring fire.  Her illustrations tell the story almost as much as the text does.  The two are inseparable and unite to become a very special picture book.

Capturing the power of imagination, the joy of a hunt across a snowy landscape, the fun of creating your own story, this beautifully designed book is perfect for wolf story times.  Appropriate for ages 3-6.

Chester’s Back by Melanie Watt.

I was a big fan of the first Chester book.  This sequel keeps the merriment and fun of the first book, and again showcases Chester defying his owner and trying to create HIS book.  In this book, Chester refuses to allow Melanie to write a book putting him in a jester costume in the Middle Ages.  He uses a variety of tactics to ruin her efforts, including wearing the wrong costumes and scribbling all over the pages with his red marker.  But Melanie may just find a clever replacement for Chester and not allow him to gain the upper hand.  Maybe.

What a delight to have a second book that lives up to the first.  Just as she did in her Scaredy Squirrel series, Watt has created a successful sequel to a wonderful book.  Watt has kept the same feel as the first book and the tone is just right.  Children will once again revel in Chester refusing to cooperate with plans.

A great book to share with a group of children.  Make sure you have your Chester voice set to go, full of cat outrage.  Ideal for ages 5-7.

The Blue Stone: a journey through life by Jimmy Liao.

A blue stone is resting for thousands of years in a forest, until humans come and split it in two.  The half that is carried out of the forest longs for its other half.  The stone is made into one sculpture after another.  Each time deep emotion is felt around the stone, it breaks a little, remembering what it has lost.  With every breakage, it becomes smaller and smaller, going from huge sculptures to a small piece of jewelry.  Eventually, the stone becomes small enough to lift into the air and float back to its beloved forest and its other half.

Liao’s illustrations are glowingly colored and deeply felt.  The use of blue for the stone is perfect, especially when it hides below other colors in the sculpture, non the match for the intensity and beauty of the stone itself.  The text is rhythmic and repeating the refrain of breaking and changing and continuing.  The tie to life’s passage and loss is inherent to the book.  Children will understand it immediately even though nothing is firmly stated except in the subtitle.

This is a gentle winner, not to be shared with a rowdy group.  Rather, it is the perfect book for introspective moments.  Appropriate for ages 6-9.